Do not burden gov’t in the early stages
BVI News Staff - Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 at 8:42 AM
Scatliffe
Talk show host Ulric Scatliffe believes residents should not depend on government to do everything but instead should take initiatives to propel development in their communities.
Scatliffe, host of the radio programme ‘A LooK at the Community’, was discussing the way forward for the new government.
“We cannot burden down the government in the early stages to get all that they promised us for the first couple of months or couple of years because you know the situation the country has been in for the last couple of years,” Scatliffe said.
“We are still in a recession and therefore you have to give them some time to see how things are going to work out and then hold the government responsible for things that they say they were going to do during the political campaign,” Scatliffe added.
“We have two areas that keep the economy going. We have tourism and the financial services. And we have to start improving the quality of stuff that we offer to our tourists when they come, be a little more polite, warm and hospitable and try to make a few more things available for them so that they will always want to come,” he noted.
Scatliffe suggested playing music and displaying the BVI’s culture at the port of entry to welcome tourists to the territory.
“This will take commitment but in the long run will benefit the entire country,” he said. “Let’s forget about self and think what we can do to make this place a better place than what it is right now. We need to work together in harmony.”
Scatliffe believes there are a lot of untapped resources in the territory and hopes the new government will start making use of them.
“In every area we have trained people to do things and sometimes some of them are not given an opportunity to see what they can do to building up the country and there are many ways this can be done. For example at the new hospital, before it’s completed, people can offer themselves for training because we are going to need different people. We need technicians, nurses, caretakers. Let us start offering ourselves for training so that when the hospital is ready we have a pool of people to draw from to put into the hospital to do the work,” Scatliffe said.
He also claimed that he has been monitoring the health services for some time and from the information he has been receiving, the present hospital under the management of the Health Services Authority comprises 30-odd doctors, over 120 nurses, a 50-bed hospital. He believes the Authority is overburdened – the demand is weaker than the supply and something needs to be done about it.
“We have personnel like these individuals who have to get big salaries and you always going to see where there is a falter or failure in the collection of revenues to meet up to the demand that is placed on the system, so if we can reduce those numbers and start saving some money, we can see better.
“And the ones that look for the most services are the community health services. We do not collect a lot of money from that department, as a matter of fact, I don’t think we collect any money at all because these are the seniors who are the grunt and the brunt of this country and now they are getting something back in return so community health services should be something separate from the medical health services,” Scatliffe explained.
Scatliffe, who was unsuccessful for an at-large seat in the 2007 general elections, was awarded a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2010 for outstanding community service in the Territory. He has served as an educator trained in design and technology and pioneered Scato’s Bus and Taxi Service in 1983, the sole public transportation service on Tortola at the time.
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7 Comments
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I agree that you should give them some time to get sorted out, but what I am very concerned about is the fact that persons have been removed from their jobs already!!! Are we really living in a “free” society where demorcracy is suppose to be the thing of the day?? This is victimization!! and it is not good at all…it has nothing to do with which government you worked with, these are our people who are being moved from their jobs because the government which was duly elected by the people want to have their strong supporters in various positions…this is too early for that sort of behaviour and it should not happen if the persons are doing their jobs!!!!!
I agree sir. But isn’t that why the NDP was voted almost completely out and now the VIP got the boot. People want results now as was promised by the new NDP.
Mr. Scatliffe you made a lot of scenes I am with you all the way if people listen to your words and put them to action this British Virgin Islands will be a better place.
aww mehn Mr. Scatliffe It has been some years since i’ve heard or seen you…… i agree with your opinions… it is based under the philosophy that rome wasn’t built in a day ……. and to you “star”. i’m sure you have goals in life that you want to accomplish… but you dont see ppl breathing down your neck to get it done in one or two weeks!! your comment is plain out simple minded….. and thats my opinion
why??? put the heat on early…they had alot of talk….put them to the test…..dont ease up
Seems to me that you are not the brightest star but perhaps one of the really dim ones.
LMAO @ Seems to me that you are not the brightest star but perhaps one of the really dim ones.
You made my day with that comment, THANKS!!
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