By Dr. Richard A. Byron-Cox
Having had the good fortune of traveling to diverse parts of this globe for the last 30-plus years, I have come to appreciate that the streets, more precisely, life in the streets tells, broadly speaking, a lot
about a country’s state of affairs generally, from its politics, economics, and health standards, to its
level of security, education, culture, and corruption. For example, in the many kleptocracies, autocracies, dictatorships, andwestern-engineered failed states across the African content, the streets
of their capitals and other cities are of chaos, poverty, filth, and unbelievable noise pollution.
Normalcy in these places is daily confusion, reminding one of a seriously disturbed huge nest of crazy
ants. Slums abound, and the visitor/ foreigner who hails from a land where social organization matters,
is appalled by these conditions of life and living. He immediately understands that society is politically, economically, and socially diseased.
Just by prima facie observations – I have done no profound study of these dispiriting cities -, I conclude that these states/governments don’t have the nation’s interest at heart. Their role is principally to protect the political directorate and their tiny circle of rich friends, who together run these
kleptocracies. I have also subjected SVG to this observation, and while it would be total falsification to claim that ours is a state governed by kleptocrats and autocrats, or that we have descended into abject poverty and social disorder on a grand scale; our streets and roads say a lot about SVG’s malpractices in politics, economics, and social organization.
There is no need for me to tackle here the issue of gun violence that happens sometimes in broad daylight in public. We all know that this country is presently number one in the world as regards murders per 100, 000. Two weeks ago, I tackled the question of the deadly bus culture and these disco hearses that command our roads. Suffice to repeat that the government doesn’t give a damn!! Like the poor
and desperate in those African cities, we the ordinary Vincentians must make do with risking our lives every day by simply using the roads. The Prime Minister is however immunized from this danger as he has outriders and security. His Ministers, inner circle, and the rich do not use public transport, and
therefore, these dangers are of little if any concern and consequence to his government.
Apart from those running from north windward to north leeward, our roads are by and large
nightmarish and disgraceful!! Once you leave the so-called highways, using most of them is like crossing the Bequia Channel when the sea currents are at war, and the winds have decided to give full vent to pent-up anger. Yes, we heard the Minister of Finance saying millions will be spent on roads as outlined in the 2024 budget. I take the Minister’s word with ample salt, recalling we were told the roads would be fixed on completion of the AIA. The airport is in its eighth year of operation. These roads are no better. The fact is, they are worse!! This brings me to the question of taxes as these pertain to the issues of road construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance.
The government has advised that it costs a minimum of 3 million dollars to rehabilitate 1 mile of road.
This means that the annual revenue from vehicular and driver licenses cannot pay to fix two miles of
road, bearing in mind the administrative costs that must be covered as regards revenue collection and issuance of these licenses and other overheads, the logic is simple: the money must come from some other source. To make matters worse, the government continues to practice socialism for the rich by
constantly reducing corporate taxes, and granting concessions of all sorts to big business, while making circumspect efforts to state involvement in the commercial economy, in the foolish belief that the rich care about the society. All of this starves the treasury, while government pretends that the functions of the state can be realized without taxes.
As a student of history, I know of no state that ever existed
without its nation being taxed. Indeed, Benjamin Franklin at the founding of the USA, the self-styled bastion of democracy made famous the statement, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” If our country is to have proper roads then we MUST pay for them.
The Taiwanese and Venezuelan taxpayers are not our debtors; endless borrowing is only placing millstones
around our children’s and grandchildren’s necks! It is our responsibility to pay for the construction,rehabilitation, and maintenance of OUR roads! Taxes are NOT intrinsically evil.