VIP Gets Words Of Wisdom
From Vincentian Prime Minister

Support for the recognition of those persons who have contributed to the development of this territory and a challenge to the ruling Virgin Islands Party to continue efforts to bolster the BVI's economy.

This, from the Right Honourable Sir James Mitchell, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, guest speaker at the VIP's 29th Anniversary and Recognition Dinner held at the Long Bay Beach Resort on Saturday March 4th, 2000. Sir James, referred to by his friend and colleague, BVI Chief Minister Hon. Ralph T. O'Neal, as the Dean of Caribbean Prime Ministers, applauded the Virgin Islands Party for its leadership of the territory over the years. "Your founding fathers have laid the foundation, Ralph and his colleagues are carrying on, it is for you to make sure that you get the message to the young people and they in turn, carry the message forward," he said. He said it was a pleasure to see how organized the VIP was and to be part of a function honouring the people who laid the foundations for this society. "As I listened to the text of the prayer and the point being made about the Virgin Islands producing opportunities for people in the rest of the Caribbean, I felt that it was particularly addressed to me, as there are so many Vincentians working out here among you," the Prime Minister noted. He used the opportunity to not only thank the Virgin Islands government, but to thank those founding fathers of the Virgin Islands who created opportunities, not only for the people of the Virgin Islands, but for other people.

The Vincentian leader said he was sorry he was unable to attend the funeral of the late H. Lavity Stoutt, whom he had known for a very long time. He said he met Mr. Stoutt about one year after he was elected as a Member of Parliament in St. Vincent and the Grenadines at a meeting in Guyana of the Caribbean Meteorological Council. "I since then met your present Chief Minister and several other Ministers and I have certainly enjoyed working with Ralph over the years," Sir James said. Chief Minister O'Neal has been heard giving credit, many times, to this respected Caribbean leader, who was very instrumental in lobbying for European Union funding for the construction of the Beef Island Airport and the airports in Nevis and in Bequia in the St Vincent Grenadines. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines leader noted that his cabinet named the airport in Bequia in his honour. "I see absolutely nothing wrong about naming something after people while they are alive...it is very important that you honour people who serve...if we in these islands don't honour our own people, who will honour them?"

He commended the BVI for the marvellous job it has done in developing tourism and offshore financial services. But he cautioned that there is a new ballgame, as the developed countries feel they are being cheated out of their tax revenues and they call it "harmful tax competition". "Once upon a time, we were in communism, they wanted us to develop, but now that they find out that we know how they developed, they don't want us to go down the same road," Sir James stated. He said we have got to work together and co-operate to make sure we have proper regulatory regimes and we don't harbour crooks and bandits, but that we make sure that some of that good wealth that is floating around in the rest of the world, that we service that wealth and create opportunities for our own people.

The Prime Minister confirmed that the life of a politician is not an easy one, as he/she goes about trying to improve the quality of life for all. He noted that those who come forward to give service have to make sacrifices along the way - the family putting up with a lot of absence, the priorities of other things in government and the fact that the politician is taking bread away from his table and putting it on the table of others. "When you earn a living as a professional or as a contractor or a builder or as a merchant, it is your money, when you earn a salary as a politician, everybody believes the salary is theirs," he noted. "We have to continue the business of educating our people to understand what those of us who come forward to give service, what we're really doing and what price we pay sometimes." The Dean of Caribbean Prime Ministers offered words of encouragement to his colleague. "We are the builders of our society and it should not matter to us, to the politicians, whether people like it, appreciate what we do or not. What really matters is that we pursue our vision and that we deliver the goods!" He said politicians have two problems - "First of all, we have to deal with need and after you have satisfied need, you have to deal with greed!" He said the reality of it is that you will help some people all along the way and you keep looking for the poor to help them forward, but those you help to become rich want you to help them to become richer and don't want to give your time to help the poor. According to Prime Minister Mitchell, with 29 years under its belt, the Virgin Islands Party should be pretty well grounded in society and a permanent institution in the history of the Virgin Islands for all times.

"I'm very pleased to see an honouree and his son as President now of the Party. It shows that you're going from one generation to the other and that is good," he commended. He said political parties must be based on loyalty, discipline and "no matter what the trials and tribulations are, you got to know how to...take the pressure." Mr. Mitchell said he has had his share of pressures. He said he is the only man in the Caribbean for which the constitution was amended to make sure he was not Leader of the Opposition. He said when he was in the opposition, he was not allowed to be on the radio, "now I've freed up the media and I'm the one they want to curse everyday! " Sir James reflected on the larger islands that once referred to these islands as "small islands" and noted that we now have a good quality of life, are constantly improving and attractive to the international community. "And let me tell you something, we would not be in that position if your leaders were not doing something right," he declared. The Prime Minister concluded by saying that he is satisfied that the quality of life in a country does not depend on the resources of the country, but on the leadership of that country.