To judge by the misinformed talk regarding the failure to complete, after ten years, the reconstruction of St. Jude Hospital in Vieux Fort, one might be forgiven for thinking this island had been landed with more than its fair share of idiots, nincompoops and morons. Still, it prides itself as the only Caribbean island with two Nobel laureates to its name. I stick my neck out and say that we are a better than what a smart foreigner may conclude listening to local talk radio.
Whether or not we admit it, it is the voice of opposition politics that’s behind the negative comments about the US Navy Hospital ship scheduled to visit Saint Lucia to provide free medical services to people in need. Gullible supporters accept as gospel whatever is handed down to them by misguided leaders.
Bearing in mind the exchanges that have focused on healthcare and the mechanics of the much discussed national health insurance plan, by which everyone is expected to benefit, it seems strange that in the interim there should be such opposition from certain quarters to the proposed visit of that goodwill US medical hospital ship. We complain bitterly about the lack of proper healthcare on the island, yet demonstrate willful ignorance when help is offered by a friendly government.
It is a truism worth repeating that thoughts and opinions have their origins in information received, and how the brain processes such information. One must add that the way information is processed depends on the ability of the particular individual to decipher information gleaned (and stored) from infancy. This expands over time by the way the mind has been trained to receive, interpret and analyse new information. This ability to correctly make sense and interpret new ideas is the Achilles heel and burden of those that have been neglected and denied comprehensive formal education.
In today’s world there are many opportunities for those who wish to improve their social and economic situation through education and skills-training. These processes must, however, be packaged and presented in such a way that makes sense to the learner/recipient.
Surely, the negative uses to which technology can be put must be a concern to educators and parents alike. We are aware that some miscreants spread false information and lewd pictures that offer little hope of social or financial improvement in the lives of recipients. What can be done to counter such purveyors of gloom and doom? The latest example in Saint Lucia is the false information by someone who may have overstayed his or her visit to the USA and cannot access medical treatment. And since she can’t get medical care in the USA, no Saint Lucian who has not made the effort to get to the USA as she did, should be afforded US medical care in Saint Lucia.
The USA is not the only country that offers an international medical service on board a ship built for that purpose. It would be of interest to note the reaction of a visit here by a Chinese hospital ship to provide the same medical services as are being offered by the US medical ship.
Someone charged with the responsibility should have explained at the time of the announced visit by the US medical ship that it should be seen as a diplomatic gesture by the US government. It may be the result of representation made on behalf of the people of Saint Lucia by Prime Minister Allen Chastanet in his private conversations with President Trump. The announcement that in the not too distant future Saint Lucians travelling to the US will be checked at Hewanorra airport by US-appointed Customs officials is further indication of the warm relations Saint Lucia is presently enjoying with the USA.
The relations between Saint Lucia and the USA ought to be navigated in a way that will redound to the benefit of the island and the region. Our personal feelings about President Donald Trump are irrelevant to our medical and other needs. It may be useful to remind the sceptics that countries do not have their interests, hence the reason they establish diplomatic relations. Putin’s Russia and Trump’s USA are a perfect example of the changing tides of relations between countries and the new interests that are still unfolding.
The excesses of President Trump do not disqualify him from being recognized as a friend of Saint Lucia. How governments approach their relations with the USA during and after President Trump is a matter for each country to decide in its own interest. What must guide our approach in the proposed visit by the US hospital ship is whether our people and our qualified professionals stand to benefit from the visit. The answer is most obviously yes.
As was recently demonstrated, there are many people in our midst who would happily see Saint Lucia destroyed by a hurricane rather than have Allen Chastanet in the prime minister’s chair.
