Recently there has been quite a lot of talk from the First District representative about the work that he has done or says he isn’t getting a chance to do because of the present government attempting to “intimidate” him. As a person chosen by the people of the First District, I think he has a right to speak out on issues concerning the people of that district. I do not believe, though, that he should use the privilege of being elected by the people of this territory to bully and manipulate his way back into being a minister of government.
For far too long, I’ve watched the First District representative bring shame to the people of his district by repeatedly attacking Education and Culture Minister Myron Walwyn. Mr. Walwyn has been very busy doing what the people of this territory sent him to the House of Assembly to do: govern. He has also been doing it for the entire territory, and not just one district.
I do not think it is fair that the former minister of education and culture tries to manipulate his district and the wider community by making it seem as though Mr. Walwyn isn’t supporting his district. When he was in office, it seemed as though only one district was able to get attention when it came to education, culture and anything to do with young people.
Laptops for all
The problem the former minister doesn’t seem to get is that all students deserve laptops if the government’s money is going to be spent to purchase them — and not just the ones who live in his district. The former minister does not seem to get that the young people of East End, Belle Vue and Road Town also need access to transportation to the college if the government is going to be paying for transportation: It shouldn’t be restricted to one particular district. The former minister really needs to understand that a government minister’s job is to utilise the territory’s resources for the Virgin Islands and not for his or her personal gain or the gain of the people who do not stand up to foolishness.
At his recent meeting, during which he made comments that were aired over and over again on the radio, the First District representative did not seem to realise that he is being extremely disrespectful to the government of the VI — which means he is disrespecting the people of this territory. I find it tactless and shameful that this young man would use the position he was granted by the good people of the First District to personally attack the leaders of our territory. That type of behaviour he would not have accepted in his classroom when he was a teacher, and that type of behaviour should not be accepted coming from anyone who wants to call himself a leader in this territory.
‘Jealous?’
The First District representative seems jealous of the work that is finally being done to better prepare our children in education. Instead of being a man and thinking about the VI, he seems more interested in tearing this territory apart just so he can get a chance to be minister again. The VI has too many problems right now, and we need people who can produce and help us get out of the mud we are in. If the representative for the First District has good ideas to help us, let us hear them. But if those ideas are old, tried, and have failed, we the people of the VI respectfully are glad to try a new minister of education and culture.
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