We are the government

Fri, Feb 10. 2012

Editor: The Bible tells us of a story about some men who took a woman to Jesus, caught in the act of adultery, enquiring from Him what they should do with her. It was the custom that such a woman should be stoned to death. Jesus said to those men, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.”{{more}} None of them were able to do so, they just leave the woman standing there and went there own way. The reason is quite clear. They were all guilty of sin.

Very often, those who are guilty of wrong doing are usually the very first ones to accuse others of the same.

In the Prime Minister’s Budget presentation recently, he made mention of a small increase in the water bill which was announced by the CEO of the Central Water and Sewerage Authority.

The Leader of the Opposition, in his reply, stated that he understood and has no problem with the increase.

It seems as though Daniel Cummings, the member for West Kingstown, didn’t hear his Leader’s response. He is now on a mission trying to fool Vincentians and trying to make us think that he cares so much about poor people. No number of shouts of murder, advantage, can fool me for sure.

He is quick now to cast the first stone, but Mr. Cummings forgot that he was the manager of the CWSA once, and what he did to the poorer classes of the society.

Can you tell us, Mr. Cummings, who was the one who disconnected most of the stand pipes across this nation? Did you care about the poor people who relied on those stand pipes to get their water at that time? You should be the last one to be talking now.

Mr. Saunders stated that if the government were to pay all that it owes to the CWSA, there will still be a need for an increase. He also stated that of the $8 million increase they had asked for in 2007, they only got half.

Mr. Cummings, you accuse this prime minister and this government of not caring about poor people. Tell me, sir, who was the one that caused poor people who worked on those plantations many years ago to get their severance pay? Who was the one who increased the public assistance for the poor people? Who made it possible for poor people to now have low and no income houses? Who was it that made it possible for poor people to go to university?

Every child of secondary school age has an equal opportunity now to go to a secondary school. Who was responsible for this?

The answer to those questions, sir, is the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Hon Ralph E Gonsalves.

You cannot step in this prime minister’s shoes where it concerns caring for poor people.

You know who you can fool, but you cannot fool me.

Most right thinking Vincentians will know that the increase in the water rate has nothing to do with the Prime Minister or no member of his Cabinet. If we want quality we must be prepared to pay the price for it.

Mr. Cummings, sir, you accused the government of not paying its water bill. Answer me these questions. Who is the government? How does a country get its revenue to run its affairs and to pay its bills? Who uses the water in the schools, the hospitals and clinics? Who uses the water in the various offices of the state and our police stations? Who uses the water at the few stand pipes we still have?

For any country to be able to run its affairs, or to pay its bills, they must have the revenue to do so, and this is obtained through taxes, loans and grants.

The government is made up of the people, mostly the taxpayers, and those members of the party that won the elections. It is the tax payers who work in those various departments and our children who attend the schools and those patients at our hospitals who use the water in those buildings. So it is us, all tax payers, who will have to pay the bills.

If all of us as citizens, who are entitled to pay taxes, should pay our fair share of tax and stop robbing ourselves (the government) of that well needed revenue, then we will have the money we need to pay our bills.

In our homes where there are people of that family who are working, it is expected of every employed member of that family to contribute towards the paying of the bills in that home. The family is like a government. The father or mother might be the head of that home and responsible to pay all the bills. What each member contributes will be the taxes.

The same principle applies to the country, but on a wider scale… If you in that home don’t play your part, things won’t go well for the family. The same thing goes for our country.

It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that we cut down on the wastage in these various departments, schools, police station and other government buildings. We should make it our civic duty to report these short comings to the relevant persons when we see them occurring. And have them fixed in a quick time. I do that at the area where I work. Sometimes all it needed is the change of a washer, and I will sometimes do it myself.

Another area we have to pay careful attention to is the amount of electricity we consume daily. Some of this can be reduced if we care a bit more. See the office or where ever we work as an extension of your home. What you won’t allow to happen in your home, don’t let it happen at your work place. After all we are the ones who have to pay the bill because we are the government.

SKIM