Fourteen months after the hurricanes, when are the government, the minister of communications and works, and the postmaster general going to get something done about the appalling state of our mail service? Are they short of money? Staff? Vehicles? Or what?
It should only take a few thousand dollars to rehabilitate the post boxes so that customers do not all have to go to the main post office in Road Town to collect their mail. In the old days, this work would have been done by the Public Works Department, but I am not sure what, if anything, that agency does in the way of public works these days.
Despite a notice, post office staff are very inconsistent in asking for identification. Furthermore, if they proffer you mail wrongly addressed to your box, they won’t just take it back, but state that you have to put it in an envelope, stamp it and post it back to the sender!
Before the storms, the quality of service wasn’t too bad for outgoing mail, but for incoming mail, especially from Europe, and even across town, it was, and still is, awful.
I was going to say the same about the traffic lights being a simple job to fix, but I see government has just signed a contract to replace them — only 14 months after they were destroyed.
Customs forms
It seems customs is using old, cumbersome forms for those entering the territory because they ran out of the newer, more efficient variety. And why is that? Apparently because they did not have the money to pay the printer, and he won’t deliver without being paid. If the government can’t prioritise small amounts of money to get straightforward things fixed, then we really are in trouble.
Former VIP gov’t
I often agree with the things Opposition Leader Andrew Fahie is saying lately, but can’t forget the sort of things his Virgin Islands Party-led government got up to when they were in power. Lately, he has been pointing out what he says are questionable practices by the present government, points with which I agree. However, he then goes on to say that we shouldn’t need the Recovery and Development Agency Act to oversee our recovery spending. But that is exactly why we do need it.
Our income has amounted to billions of dollars over the past few years, and what do we have to show for it? Precious little, I’m afraid.
Successive governments have shown that we cannot be trusted with the public’s money, and the United Kingdom wants to be sure that loans are spent correctly. Even if overseas contractors are employed, goods, services and local labour will mean funds spent in the territory — hopefully (there is that favourite VI word again) without too much going “astray.”
Campaigns, WE terminal
I bet the public (the radio stations anyway) are all looking forward to months of electioneering adverts up to the general election — or perhaps not. Like Brexit, we will all be thoroughly bored soon enough.
Meanwhile, one despairs of seeing a new West End ferry terminal or the new building for the Department of Disaster Management (what a misnomer that turned out to be) anytime soon.
High school concert
Finally, at this time of year I like to remind readers, especially expatriates, that next Sunday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m., the annual high school Christmas concert will be held at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College. It would be great if a big audience showed up to support the kids who are so musically talented, and who work so hard for this annual event.
Many of their instruments were lost in the hurricanes, and some of us have made donations to replenish their stock, so please come out and support the event.