Christmas message from Mr Ivan O’Neal, Leader of SVG Green Party
Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer’s fight and death must not be for nothing. We must show respect and honour for his sacrifice on our behalf.
Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer was slain by white men while fighting to protect our lands. He must be turning in his grave now that the short-sighted and unpatriotic ULP regime is selling-off hundreds of acres of our crown lands to foreigners.
Christmas is a time for giving, but all we seem to see around our country is taking. We are losing our country to foreigners at a very fast rate. If we do not stop the sale of our lands to foreigners now, there will be no country left for our children and grandchildren. We must do like Cuba and ban the sale of our lands to foreigners, to protect and preserve our country for future generation of Vincentians.
SVG was once the land of the blessed, but now it is a land of immense poverty and hardship. The ULP regime is too economically incompetent to create revenue streams for our country and so they lazily rely upon the “easy money” philosophy of selling our crown lands to foreigners.
Christmas should be about coming together and social cohesion. However, the policy of selling hundreds of acres of lands to foreigners is socially divisive. Our people are being pushed out of their own country. Very soon, Vincentians will become second-class citizens in their own country. That is totally unacceptable.
The negative consequences of selling-off land and land grabbing have been seen clearly in Australia’s history. In 1788, foreigners invaded Australia and began land grabbing. The Aboriginal people fought back to protect their lands. For over 200 years, the indigenous Aboriginal people suffered inhumane exploitation, racist treatment and apartheid.
SVG has become like Australia. Our people are suffering the loss of our heritage lands, apartheid and unconstitutional taxation laws. Like the Aborigines, the indigenous people in SVG are being trampled on and rich foreigners are taking over our country. We must not allow Australia’s history to be replicated in our beloved country of SVG.
The road ahead is dark and difficult, but we must have faith. We have no choice but to stop our lands going to foreigners. Some of the serious wrongdoing in Australia to the Aborigines is being mirrored in SVG by foreigners, including Taiwan and the white super-rich of Mustique and Canouan.
To ensure that our children and grandchildren can have happiness at Christmas in years to come, we must do like Cuba and ban the sale of our lands to foreigners, to preserve our country for future generation of Vincentians.
Merry Christmas and may God bless us all.
Ivan O’Neal BSc (Hons), MSc, MBA
SVG Green Party
www.svggreenparty.org
Dear Mr. O’neil, You have some very good points in your platform but I’m afraid you are VERY short sighted. You obviously don’t have the international experience or have not talked with or traveled to very many other countries. Your ideas are WAY off target and its really no wonder why your “green party” is so far behind. Closed minded communistic ideas and the “copy cat” idealism’s are not the way of a leader but rather “a lost in time” follower. The Grenadines have been sold to the highest bidders while St.Vincent has been ignored. Just as a quick note, Barbados makes 85% of their gross revenue on tourism, Antigua 95%, Bonaire 90%, and St.Vincent at a lowly 13%. Most other Caribbean nations are offering reasons for airlines, businesses, investors, and tourists to visit their countries while again St.Vincent is left behind. The “super rich” as you call them are way beyond you. You can’t touch them, reach them or intimidate them. They will buy and sell you every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Taiwan is here because the Pacific Ocean has been over-fished and polluted to the point of no return. By “taking over their operations” you haven’t done anything progressive and will only contribute to bad practices. 1 fishing boat that spend $200 on fuel to go out for 8 hours to catch $2000 worth of fish doesn’t compare to the same boat filled with tourists each paying $400 for a 4 hour trip. You do the math! Mexico figured it out, so did Honduras, Nicaragua and many others. There is a saying in the Caribbean that says “when the US sneezes, the Caribbean catch’s a cold” but yet the marketing for St.Vincent in both the US and Canada has been weak at best. Targeting Europe while throwing stones at them has proven to be ineffective. Mr.O’Neil please join the 21st century and if you are going to call yourself the “green party” than show some leadership in the progressive direction of global resolution. Challenge the oil rich nations to go toward renewable energy sources rather than sell themselves out. Open your mind to advanced education including the computer networking of the entire country and government. Educate at a level that gives Vincentians an equal and fighting chance on a global marketplace. By slamming your doors closed you also slam the closed the door to the money. There are not enough “well off” locals to encourage economic growth at a rate that will support the country so outside investing is critical. I think Stevie Wonder could see this. No single individual has all the answers and rather than spouting ideas that have no thought behind them only contributes to the problems. Try coming up with “ideas” that are fresh, and encouraging, progressive and good for everyone. If you can’t find them on your own, don’t be discouraged just open up more outside channels and remember to question everything twice. Blind false leadership is exactly that.