It is not imported talent, but the efforts of local people, that will build a thriving Montserrat, Deputy Premier Samuel Joseph said this week.
Speaking during his monthly ‘From the Minister’s Chair’ live broadcast, he said national progress is “not about bringing in a superstar workers who are going to solve things”.
“It is the people of this island, the Montserratians and visitors, and those who are interested in Montserrat, who are going to do it.”
Joseph, who is also Minister of Communications, Works, Labour and Energy, chose the topic of ‘Building Montserrat’ for his latest talk on 25 March.
He said building an island goes beyond just “concrete and steel, and nails and board”, stressing it is mainly about the people who are involved and those who benefit from it.
The deputy premier said this year’s St Patrick’s Festival was a clear reminder of how the island can thrive. There was a “buzz” around, he added.
“When you went down to Little Bay and see all your friends that you haven’t seen for the longest while, and the restaurants are full and the bars are full,” he said.
“You couldn’t find a car to rent, and you couldn’t even find places for people to go, and how supermarkets have people in them.
“How the taxi men and the bus drivers were always occupied, how the street vendors [were] getting sales.
“You see the activity that took place and you realise, this is something that Montserrat has to maintain. This is something that has to happen year-round.”
A thriving culture
Joseph said during the St Patrick’s Festival there was always an activity, adding: “You feel part of a community, you feel part of a culture – the music and the food and the festival”.
This allowed residents and visitors to imagine a flourishing future for Montserrat – and have something to drive towards, he said.
To get there, the territory must focus on training local people, not importing talent, according to the minister.
“It is about using who we have here, it is about training who we have here, it is about putting the resources in what we have here to get this country moving forward,” he said.
The deputy premier said the leaders of Montserrat are setting a vision of career education for residents, and the people need to buy into it.
“I’m saying this publicly, so that those who make decisions understand the policy direction of where we have to go,” he said.
Joseph stressed that the “hero and the saviour” that Montserrat is looking for is already on the island, in the people collectively.
“If we work together in that capacity, we are going to build back Montserrat to a stage where we did not even think was possible,” he concluded.
