In remembering the late first chief minister, H. Lavity Stoutt, we should not forget that he was adamant that the territory would focus on drawing a limited number (possibly only two or three a day) of upscale, medium-sized cruise ships, not larger vessels.
What a difference a few years make. There are still plenty of people who think that was a good idea and should still be the norm, but it seems greed or something has got the better of the latest governments.
Our deputy premier recently started a speech saying we must adhere to green, environmental, clean and renewable energy policies — and then went on to say we must expand the airport and cruise ship pier. How does that help? Bigger, dirtier planes and ships; more people; more energy requirements and more garbage will probably negate any little real improvements we can make.
First, the government has to change the law regarding self-generation of electricity by any means, including fossil fuel, solar and wind. Or is the present law just to be ignored like that on gambling and several others on the books that are now outdated?
Then our minister of communications and works suggests electricity prices will come down in the next 12 to 24 months! Can we hold his feet to the fire? Why doesn’t anybody seem to understand that the fuel surcharge is not the problem? That is a device to hide the fact that the unit cost of electricity has not been increased for years and years, but the cost of fuel, equipment and labour goes up all the time. The cost of new engines, greener though they may be, and of renewable energy systems is such that there is no way our bills will be reduced!
Greenhouses, roadwork
Meanwhile, there were no expressions of interest for the greenhouse project. There’s a surprise! I expect they took one look, read the conditions and requirements, and ran a mile. This government is still tossing up whether agriculture or fishing should be the third pillar of our economy.
So the first road project on Tortola with the Caribbean Development Bank loan will cost $800,000 and just give us a little bridge and some drainage at Pleasant Valley. Congratulations to contractor Greg Hodge for trying to expose our terrible contracting system, but how is this little, expensive job going to help with our main road structure? I’m still not sure exactly which roads were damaged in a storm and have not been fixed, though of course many roads, especially in the east, need fixing urgently, and not by the two-men-and-a-wheelbarrow method.
NPT funding, water supply
The director of the National Parks Trust reckons it will be a few years before the agency has sufficient income not to have to rely on government for funds. I should think it would be forever if they keep organising ridiculous events like that pop concert. Friends who visited Sage Mountain recently tell me it is an absolute mess up there.
Regarding the promised 24-hour supply of water (Wow: It is 2014, you know! Sorry, Huntums Ghut!), when are they going to allow Biwater to complete their project of turning seawater into freshwater? Only then will Biwater build the required sewage infrastructure, then fix the leaks in the supply system, and then give the Water and Sewage Department a decent accounting system.
I still get two identical, separately mailed, copies of my water bill, even though the new director announced that they would no longer be sending out bills, and customers should go to the office to collect and pay their bills. Even so, they either don’t read the meters, or they read them but do not input them into the accounts, so we only ever get charged for the meter rental. After several months of no change in the meter readings, I go down there and negotiate what I owe from my own readings! What a way to run a business. And the confusion among customers at their office is amazing.
High school
Isn’t it terrible, though not surprising, that most students leaving the high school are ill-prepared for college and need a year of remedial work? No wonder we need so many expatriate workers to manage our economy. The leader of the opposition, who was leader of the government for years and years, has just noticed this, and thinks an extra year at school is a good idea! The government should stop giving jobs in the civil service to dead wood; set up succession programmes; operate the acting post situation properly and fairly; and retire staff at the correct age.
(I could go on writing about the cruise pier, exquisite boats and so on, but I’m exhausted!)
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