Retired British Royal Air Force Warrant Officer Ivan Bertie O’Neal BSc (Hons), MSc, MBA, who was awarded the Royal Air Force ‘Meritorious Service Medal’, strongly believes that neither the NDP nor ULP has upgraded their own education enough to ski-lift SVG into prosperity. Neither team has the relevant education in Financial Management of Public Finances and Economics to boost the SVG economy and create prosperity for our country.
The NDP and ULP are just picking up a monthly salary for being in the St Vincent and the Grenadines House of Assembly, whilst spinning top in mud and focusing on tourism. Our country and economy are going downhill, because the ULP and NDP do not have the education needed to eradicate poverty and destitution in SVG.
Warrant Officer Ivan Bertie O’Neal BSc (Hons), MSc, MBA has lived in Singapore and New Zealand and is making a very strong call on the NDP and ULP leadership to pay a very urgent visit to Singapore and New Zealand. In those countries you will see that it was governments with appropriately educated people that managed to substantial grow the economies of those (two) countries and create prosperity. This has led to a high quality lifestyle for the people of these countries and a good environment in which to live.
Visit Singapore and New Zealand and see how they are producing budgets with a fiscal surplus year on year. Take a look at the housing in Singapore and in New Zealand and the clean living environment. They have a very high quality of housing and lifestyle, not like SVG where too many parts of our country have been neglected and resemble slums with high levels of poverty and destitution.
Also, note that both countries have free, high-quality education from preschool to their own universities, in their own countries. Singapore and New Zealand have created a university-educated generation of younger people, qualified and skilled to operate and prosper in a knowledge-based economy. In SVG, the ULP regime built a new big Jail in North Leeward and too many of our generation of younger people end up in there.
The unemployment rates in Singapore and New Zealand are low. In SVG, the unemployment rate is very high.
It is quite obvious that we urgently need a new government in SVG with a new team of Ministers who have the education in Financial Management of Public Finances and Economics needed to boost the SVG economy and create prosperity for our country.
Forty-two years of independence from the UK and look around – too much slum and destitution and we do not even have a science and technology university. It is shameful and outrageous. The ULP regime has had five terms in office, but still we do not have a team of Ministers who have the education in Financial Management of Public Finances and Economics needed to boost the SVG economy and create prosperity for our country.
Why are Singapore and New Zealand so successful in building very high-quality, knowledge-based prosperous economies with a Fiscal Surplus, whereas SVG cannot achieve a Fiscal Surplus for one year in decades? The answer: poor quality of education of the members of the SVG House of Assembly.