A number of people have mentioned to the Leader of SVG Green Party, Warrant Officer Ivan Bertie O’Neal BSc (Hons) MSc, MBA, the poor state in which our country is in. Some have said that SVG is in such a desperate state that the country has not gone ‘to’ the dogs, but ‘beyond’ the dogs.
People who are in their sixties and seventies have said that the country is the worst they have seen in their life time. They say the roads are very bad in many parts of the country and need to be fixed.
They talked also about the high levels of unemployment and the poverty that can be seen throughout the country. They mentioned also the high level of crime that we see around the country.
They want the country to be better, but have no faith in this ULP government. They said they don’t believe that the ULP regime has the ability to make the country prosperous. They have no idea why the ULP regime has not built factories to create jobs for people. They talked also about the ULP regime’s failure to create sustainable sources of income for the country to create a strong economy.
Nearly everywhere you travel to in SVG, the cries are the same: that of destitution, too much crime, no jobs, no money circulating, some parents cannot afford to send their children to school, and others can only send their children to school on a hungry belly. These children are being left behind.
SVG needs change
Our economy is too narrow – dependent on tourism. There is little, if any, net revenue from tourism.
SVG Green Party has always strongly supported value-added, manufacturing and education industries as the engine for SVG economy, with tourism playing a smaller, complementary role. By fully utilising our vast indigenous resources in a multi-sector, export-driven economy, we would create over 3,000 new sustainable jobs and generate over half a billion dollars in revenue. This will provide the needed change for the SVG economy.
Under a Green government and a Green economy, we would focus on enhancing the SVG Budget to $4 billion annually. This figure can be achieved by focusing on high-yield variables. A Green government would use economic profiling to look at key indicators of economic inactivity and demographics and help small businesses play a pivotal role in strengthening SVG’s economy.
A Green economy is the solution to the weak economy in SVG and would create thousands of new jobs and new, sustainable revenue for the country. We need to bring prosperity to our people and use our indigenous resources to create new products for export to stimulate economic growth. SVG must plough heavy investments into education and move away from the economic delusion of tourism.
Since independence, our citizens have been victims of bad governments and now the people must have a positive change. SVG Green Party understands that people want a better life and more money, and only with a strong Green economy will people get opportunities to achieve their dreams of a better life and more money.