Be serious for SVG’s sake

26.JAN.07

EDITOR: St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a curious place in which so many politically partisan persons, and a few others with their heads in the sky or cyberspace, ignore or belittle solid achievement which touches on people’s lives but at the same time seek to promote trivia on the national agenda. This mixture of political madness and vanity was on show last weekend.{{more}}

By any measure the ULP government last week had a good-to-excellent week of achievement with the following:

(i) The announcement of a commercial alliance, leading to possible merger, of LIAT and Caribbean Star. Prime Minister Gonsalves has been for the last six years in the forefront of the struggle to save LIAT on behalf of the Caribbean people. This alliance – merger is a major achievement for the ULP administration, nationalists, patriots, and the people as a whole.

(ii) The securing of a debt relief of $150.8 million on the Ottley Hall debt which stood at $167 million. The NDP left that problem for the ULP and the ULP has solved it. The people will stand to benefit.

(iii) The opening of the Intermediate High School, a new school, at Mc Kies Hill. This is another plank in the ongoing and successful Education Revolution of the ULP administration.

Instead of these, the newspapers spent time on far less important issues on their front pages. Meanwhile, the salon commentators on radio sought to hype the shortening, by four months, of a minor drug convict’s sentence. The Prime Minister claimed that this convict was released early on “national security” grounds through the process of the Prerogative Committee on Mercy. They are trying, foolishly, to second guess the PM on National Security.

Some people clearly do not want to discuss serious issues. These unserious persons try to mould public opinion on trifling matters, relatively. Surely, it is high time that we do get serious. If not we will end up as a babbling nation of nothing.

Andy Providence