Managing SVG ain’t easy

Our problems are not those of the Middle East. They have had dictators ever since God “mek” morning . In SVG, commencing with adult franchise in 1951, we have had elections at most every five years and have not hesitated to get rid of many incumbent regimes.{{more}} Indeed, as recently as December last we held elections, and all observers agreed they were not only free and fair but conducted in an exemplary manner. Moreover, a few months earlier we had a referendum to see if our democracy could be improved. The people decided not. I still think that we would be better off with a two-term limit for Prime Ministers and an electoral system which combines both first-past- the post and proportional representation. That, however, is another matter.

We have not too little, but if anything, too much freedom. As SEARCHLIGHT pointed out last Friday, we need to do something about sidewalk vending and selling fish in the street. Aggressive begging, too, is becoming far too common.

The critical issues of the moment are finance and efficiency. The finance problem can be divided into ordinary and extraordinary. The extraordinary arises from the alarming frequency with which we have been experiencing natural disasters. When we say SVG is disaster prone, we mean it lies in the hurricane belt and has an active volcano.We can, therefore, expect problems, say, once every twenty five years. However, with hurricane Tomas and some fierce rain storms, we have experienced two genuine disasters in a matter of weeks. Not only do these disasters impose a heavy burden on our people but they also make us look like a basket case forever begging the world for disaster relief. Our private sector, particularly the Mustique Company and LIME, has tried to help.The Government has, however, rightly directed its appeals to the official aid agencies: the World Bank, IMF, EU and CDB. These institutions have long been aware that climate change is a very real and a very dangerous business, particularly for small islands like ours. They are, therefore, to some extent equipped to help.

Of course, not only small islands are affected by climate change. Look at what happened in Alabama, the worst tornadoes in almost 40 years. But Alabama is just one of the 50 states that comprise the USA, and it does not have to go to the World Bank for help. The President of the USA simply announces that aid will be given to Alabama.

Balancing the budget during the long drawn out financial crisis constitutes the Government’s ordinary financial problem, as opposed to the extraordinary difficulties discussed in the two previous paragraphs. Countries as diverse as the UK, Greece, Ireland and Portugal, individual State Governments in the USA, and indeed the US Federal Government itself, have to confront this issue. In an earlier article I mentioned the need for our Government: to deal with the double pension situation, to restrict the number of civil servants and to curb foreign travel. Now there is no NCB to provide overdrafts, statutory bodies and government companies must finance themselves and not be a drag on the Budget.

Finally, when your nation is as small as SVG, there are two generalizations that can be safely made. Firstly, the country will have to live by its wits, and secondly, Government will have to play a major role in the economy. It follows, therefore, that every effort must be made to have the brightest and the best in Government. At the political level, there is not much that can be done. We live in a democracy and one has to make do with those whom the people have chosen. The addition of PR to our first-past-the post electoral system can, however, help. On the PR list can be placed high-calibre people who could not win a constituency but who would be elected because of the total votes received by the party. No one can deny that the present Government has been strengthened by the inclusion of Dr.[Douglas]Slater, Dr.[Jerrol] Thompson and Mr.[Julian] Francis. PR would allow more scope for this, and in a more democratic way.

At the Civil Service level, the issue is far less complicated. Singapore has dealt with it in its usual straightforward way. Their Permanent Secretaries are among the best paid in the world, and it is reported that they are real highflyers. We cannot hope to match that, but surely, we can reduce the number of ministries to a minimum and try much harder to get the best permanent secretaries we can.