Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Editor: Some people had all their savings in Silicon Valley Bank and were in danger of losing everything when that bank went bankrupt. I had one life insurance policy in Clico and when bankruptcy took place and no local security deposit was kept according to law, I stood to lose everything. Those responsible are yet to be held accountable. We have a number of banks and credit unions that should enable us to spread out our savings to make them more secure.

All across the country many hotel projects have started and seem to be stalled. In all of those cases we need to adopt the James Mitchell model of completing small units that can be put into operation in quick time and capitalize on the market. More units can be added as resources are available. As it stands now with the unpopular use of our NIS funds to construct massive hotels, it appears that our monies are going down the drain and nothing is being completed. These funds cannot be depleted on a project that appears to be failing and would apparently produce no returns in the near and medium term.

More can be accomplished if we complement our central government with local government, and constituency funds.

Every house that is being constructed should make provision for at least one self-contained room that can be rented or possibly add to the available hotel rooms in the country.

We saw the fallout of the mono-crops of the past. Cotton, sugarcane, arrowroot, bananas, coconut, root crops all had their glory days. The funding for diversification around bananas was intended to break this cycle and insure the farmers’ survival in the event of failure of one of these crops. Fruit trees, cocoa, coconut, vegetables, root crops, and seasonings can help us to diversify our farms. Poultry, goat, andcattle can complement our farms.

Schools too must not focus only on academic subjects, but must teach their students a skill that can help them to live and make a living.

Too many offices of government and businesses, and even homes will tell you, “The Boss is not in and so nothing could be done”. With shared responsibility, much can be accomplished. To increase productivity, let us not put all our eggs in one basket. If the basket falls, you will be left with nothing as all the eggs would break.

Anthony G. Stewart, PhD