Montserrat's Chief Minister reviews achievments in Labour Day address
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| Published on Friday, June 20, 2008 |
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By Karen ‘Lioness’ Allen
Caribbean Net News Montserrat Correspondent
Email: karen@caribbeannetnews.com
BRADES, Montserrat: Montserrat’s Chief Minister’s Labour Day address detailed some of the current coalition government’s achievements and mandatory adjustments.
Chief Minister, Dr Lowell Lewis said, “When I first came into government in 2001, I made several confident predictions about economic recovery and population growth. We set a target of 8,000 by 2010, but this was dependent on our port being ready for the 2007 Cricket World Cup and Dash 8 aircraft landing somewhere in Montserrat by this time.”
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| Chief Minister of Montserrat, Dr Lowell Lewis |
Lewis continued, “We have missed these targets and are forced to revise our timetable, but the direction remains the same. Now, I say, ‘Let us try for 6,000 by 2010 and 10,000 by 2020.”
Lewis went on to reveal, “The EC$70 million port and breakwater developments are now expected to be complete during 2012, and, by that time, the effects of the capital and projects planned for the next three years should have significantly increased our economic growth and the size of the population.”
Regarding the country’s health care system, the Chief Minister said, “Good health care is a priority for my government. We lost a $20 million hospital in Plymouth, and we must work hard to generate the money to pay for all the medicines especially our children, but also generate the money to pay for all the medicines our people need and help those who have to travel overseas for specialist medical care.”
Focusing on Montserrat’s youth, the country's leader said, “We must target our young people. We have to present them with opportunities for employment, as we expand the private sector and give them opportunities to own property and business.”
Geothermal energy is a highly debated issue in Montserrat. In this regard, Chief Minister Lewis said, “Our capital aid budget this year has $4 million allocated for the research and development of geothermal derived electricity, and we expect this to be in place in three years time.”
Montserrat’s Chief Minister admitted that “a major challenge for those of us charged with the delivery of economic development through workforce performance is how to understand and link productivity, investment and savings.”
According to Lewis, “Times are hard because of the high cost of living, and government recognises the need and is doing everything possible to get the financial support to increase all ways levels within both the public and private sector.”
He reminded Montserrat’s residents that they “must be mindful that higher wages lead to higher inflation. So workers and everyone must exercise thrift…. Times are hard because of the high cost of fuel and energy and growing shortage of food in the world, but nobody in Montserrat is starving.” |
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