Thank you pastor Archbold for those encouraging words of prayer. Lord knows we need them now more than ever.
It is in this spirit that I feel obliged to make a brief comment on the events of last weekend before turning to the items on our agenda today.
In his critical report, Sir Robin Auld cited a number of systemic weaknesses as just cause for the suspension of our constitution. One wonders therefore what he would make of the systemic weakness that led to firefighters going on a wildcat strike and forcing the closure of our airports.
This weakness of course is a failure of this interim administration to properly communicate not just with the public but even with civil servants. And it has become epidemic and, in this case, very costly.
Frankly, I cannot blame the firefighters for having so little trust in this administration duly heeding their concerns when this administration has demonstrated time and again its unwillingness to heed the informed concerns of members of this body. But I fear for the future governance of our county if civil servants become convinced that going on strike is the only way to negotiate effectively with the government.
Thank God this strike was resolved relatively quickly. However, the exact cost is in the region of $5M. And this does not take into account the reputational damage done by having stranded tourists vent their understandable frustrations in viral messages that went around the world in an instant.
Which brings me to this earnest plea:
My fellow citizens, no matter our grievances with our British overseers or how much we sympathize with the firefighters, it behooves us to be ever mindful that any damage done to our tourism product, which is the lifeblood of our economy, hurts only us. For despite clear signs of their political insensitivity and administrative incompetence, our British overseers will always get paid.
We should also be mindful of those in our midst who seem to believe that leadership amounts to little more than inciting people to engage in all manner of civil disobedience and unrest without regard for the consequences.
Yet, notwithstanding setbacks, disappointments and distractions, I pray for God’s guidance upon those of us who remain committed to constructive engagement with the British.
For only this approach will foster a relationship between the TCI and UK that is truly based on mutual consideration, mutual cooperation … and mutual respect; more importantly, only this approach will enable us to build a country that can govern itself, protect itself and sustain itself. And as unbelievable as it may seem to many of you, I believe there are some British folks who want this too.
