We are all familiar with the expression/proverb – ‘Charity begins at home,’ which insists that a person’s primary responsibility is for the needs of his or her own family and friends. When extending the so-called ‘red carpet’ for visitors and strangers, one should ever be mindful of the pressing issues and concerns of those closest to him or her. It is downright hypocritical and disingenuous to ‘kill the fatted calf,’ and host a feast, and make all sorts of grandiose gestures of hospitality for visitors, while neglecting to see to the sustenance and upliftment of those closest to one.
Sadly, here in Antigua and Barbuda, we are seeing a wilful and callous disregard for the people of this fair State, while ‘the fatted calf’ is being prepared for the Small Island Developing States (fourth international) Conference (SIDS4) attendees, to wine and dine in luxury and splendour. Yes, the thousands of delegates who are supposed to be descending on our fair State in the next few hours, will be seeing a country that is far removed from the Antigua and Barbuda that ordinary citizens are familiar with, and have been enduring. While the SIDS4 conference attendees will be driven on patched-up streets with newly-installed street lights, and traffic markings and signages, the rest of us plebeians (plebs) or ordinary folk, will continue to grin and bear the intolerable commute on roads that would make the roads in a jungle outpost look like the famed German autobahns. While we will be forced to contend with spotty internet, and electricity outages and a filthy city called St John’s, and disgusting garbage receptacles, and broken sidewalks, and missing manholes, and all the other glaring signs of neglect, the SIDS4 delegates will be whisked hither, thither and yon in the air conditioned comfort of the commandeered school buses, and so on and so forth.
It is all so pretentious! Such phoniness. This is an administration that does not give a fig about the appearance of Antigua, never mind the health and safety of the citizenry. (see the derelict Botanical Gardens, the rotting Sunshine Hub Car Park, the Catholic Church on Independence Avenue, the astonishing way in which Independence Avenue has been neglected, the disrepair to be seen in the gutters, and on the sidewalks and streets all over St John’s. The people weep! Things have never been this bad.
Of course, the wide-eyed visitors to our bit of Paradise will see none of this – not if this hide-and-seek administration has anything to do with it. Our leaders will hide and conceal. They will obfuscate. They will engage in assorted happy-talk, regaling the visitors with fairy tales and Brer Anancy stories about what good stewards we have been of the environment, and how we are pursuing sustainable development, blah, blah, blah. Yawn!
But mamagism and hot air notwithstanding, we trust that our visitors will be able to fly over the Peace, Love and Happiness (PLH) project in Barbuda, and witness the move to build a mansion in the Frigate Bay colony in the Codrington Lagoon. We trust that they will see how a part of the forest in Barbuda was decimated so that an airport for the rich and famous could be constructed, the habitat for Barbudan wildlife be damned.
We also certainly trust that they will be able to get a peek at the desecration in the YIDA and the Western Imperial Special Economic Zone (WISEZ). Alas, what might have been, eh? Look at what this pathetic administration signed-off to, in the name of development? Seems, with this administration, all is fair game, all can be sacrificed, especially the environment, on the altar of development. Thank God that those investors in the Special Economic Zones did not have the resources to inflict a national environmental nightmare on us.
But the visitors will see none of this YIDA or WISEZ. Those are State secrets. For the next few days, our administration will be playing a grand game of Blind Man’s Buff.
Here’s what our evening newscast had to say yesterday: “The Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) is a critical forum aimed at evaluating the progress and challenges faced by SIDS in achieving sustainable development goals. From addressing the climate crisis, to fostering economic resilience, SIDS4 seeks to establish a robust framework for the next decade of action.” We hope! But based on the outcomes of many of these grandiose international conferences, replete with hifalutin speeches and much preening and prancing by world leaders and potentates, forgive us for being cynical. But again, we remain hopeful . . .
We certainly extend the heartiest and warmest welcome to all the visitors to our shores for the SIDS4. We trust that your stay here, albeit a brief one, will be pleasant and productive – that much that is meaningful and lasting will result from the deliberations.
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