“U nah fed up rite?” My answer was, “Ah did stop write u kno, but wen ah drive through d mainland on Independence Day, I shame, shame real bad, eh!” It’s the worst condition I’ve seen the grass verges along our main roads, on both sides of the island, bush and overhanging trees; I wondered if the Forestry Department, VINLEC and Local Government Department still in existence.
Now I explicitly omitted mentioning those at central government, whose duty it is to ensure that a functioning local government structure exists.
The role of central government, among other things, is to ensure markets for our agro and tourism products, seek opportunities that benefit most Vincentians, not just a selected few.
The central government must also engage in dialogue to create employment and educational opportunities, while we plan to establish our own university to give more Vincentians the opportunity to pursue higher education, right here at home, allowing parents with children the opportunity to continue their studies without having to be separated from their loved ones, and the list can go on of the duties and responsibilities of a central government structure.
Maintaining our roads not only requires patching/repairing the broken and worn asphalt, which vehicle owners pay for in the form of vehicle and driver’s licenses, but the drains and trees and vines overhanging the main and feeder roads MUST be maintained no less than six times per year, as it relates to trimming the grass and shrubs along our main roads.
Vines seem to love utility poles, and with our regular rainfall, grass emerges just days after they are cut almost flat. So constant work needs to be done on our main roads and not just twice a year to coincide with the opening of the school year or Christmas time, as seems to be the norm over the past years.
With a proper local government structure, our village roads and main roads will again be the pride and joy of this beautiful country. When you look at the main roads in sister isles Grenada and St. Lucia, you get that feeling of national pride by keeping your country clean and colourful.
Let me give you a true story. When I worked with the GIS, which was changed to API by the former administration, I asked every minister of government, including the late Sir James, why they stated in their manifesto that they would institute local government and never did so.
While asking the same question to the then Minister of Communications and Works Glenford Stewart at his office, his phone rang, I told him to take his call. After the call ended, he shook his head and said, “The same thing we are just talking about”. Someone called him to look into “a toilet seat for the Canouan school”.
I told him that they are the ones to blame, because if they had set up the local government structures in EVERY constituency where those and other needs can be addressed, then such “trivial” matters would not have to be addressed by a Minister at central government level. He agreed.
If the current government falls short on establishing a local government policy and structure, their demise time will shorten!
In closing, let me digress a bit, but for an equally important unresolved matter. Since 2001, when the NDP lost to the ULP, the NDP had tabled a proposal in Parliament to introduce National Health Insurance (NHI) for SVG. That was the most progressive piece of legislation that was being proposed.
The ULP did absolutely NOTHING about a splendid proposal that, in 2026, would have matured into an institution that would guarantee poor Vincentians had access to the best medical care through a robust NHI. But it isn’t too late to resurrect a noble idea that would ease the medical burden for generations unborn.
No one knows what the fortunes in life will present, and having an institution that can help absorb the burden of cost for complex medical procedures and their diagnoses will give all nationals a sense of comfort instead of worry, as is common these days. Every week you read or hear of someone needing help to cover some medical expenses in Trinidad, Barbados or elsewhere for services/procedures/tests which cannot be done in SVG at this time.
With NHI, local medics will invest in high-tech equipment because they know that the NHI will cover those costs, which the working population has contributed to over the years. Need I say more? Let’s get that NHI bill passed in Parliament by the next sitting. No excuse; the bill is already there and you have the majority in the House to make it happen. That is the news Vincentians at home and abroad need to hear and will support!
Donald De Riggs
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