The time for serious discussion is here

We here in St Vincent and the Grenadines are now distinctively on the eve of our next general elections. It is the process by which we select the persons whom we consider are equipped to manage the business of the people of our land for the next five years.

There are two parties who are contending for the position and the citizens must select those persons whom they consider to be suitably qualified to be entrusted with this sacred responsibility. At the conclusion of the exercise the party enjoying the greater support as reflected in the larger number of their candidates winning at “the voting”, will have the honour of administering the business of the state for the next five years. That is a serious responsibility which demands maturity and fair-minded consistency on the part of those who have been so honoured.

It must never be forgotten that our constitution declares, that we believe in the supreme authority of Almighty God and the freedom and dignity of man.

So, as we approach this date for decision making, all the eligible citizens who must make the selection of these important persons, should be now beginning the necessary serious discussions of the issues related to the welfare of our nation SVG.

In view of the fact that one of the parties, the ULP, had been in control of the administering of the business of the state for the last twenty five years, it seems reasonable to presume that a studious examination of that significant time block and the factors which had impacted our people positively and negatively, and the quality of their ULP responses to the then prevailing conditions, would provide a sufficiency of relative information which could be used to effectively determine their efficacy during their tenure.
Even before a stringent examination is pursued there are some issues which have been negatively impacting our society for some time and which have been traceable to the distinct untrustworthiness of the ULP administrators whom the people had elected in 2001. In those areas quiet a large number of citizens had been seriously burdened.

It cannot be forgotten that in the months prior to the general elections of 2001, this country of ours experienced serious socio-political turmoil which carried us to the brink of a violent explosion. The broad underlying reason was that the NDP government led by James Mitchell, was distinctly beginning to exhibit indifference to the general welfare of the citizens of the country. They were also perceived as being arrogant! They had declared that we could not depend on agriculture to effect economic development and they declared that they were going to concentrate on Tourism. So, they abandoned the feeder roads which were vital to the farming operations, which they offered expatriates our land at very generous terms, so that they could build hotels and employ our people. That is what they called development.

The opposition seized the opportunity and with the help of the Unions the ODD and several other influential groups in the community, the public outcry intensified. Bloodshed was averted when Mr. Mitchell agreed to cut short his term in office and call general elections.

In the season of campaigning prior to those elections the ULP promised that they were going to revitalize the agricultural sector, they were going to pay serious attention to the feeder roads. They promised that they were going to fortify the banana industry. They even had a gentleman, supposedly an Englishman, speaking on the rostrum at one of their public meetings, declaring that once we had put the ULP in Government we would not have any difficulty selling our bananas in the U.K. Where are the feeder roads and what is the state of the banana industry today?

Let us have those serious discussions now, it should help us when we go to vote!

Leroy Providence