Thursday, December 17, 2009

1.7 Million Euros For SSDF

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4 comments:

ixi lixi said...

While I welcome this injection of funds (about EC$2.85 million for each of the next two years, accordingly) I must wonder how sustainable any of this is, without any integrated direction for tackling poverty. Poverty in my opinion stems principally from three things: 1) Lack of Skills and Education; 2) Lack of Community and Individual Empowerment; and 3) Structural Impediments (e.g. the woman who cannot work because of lack of child care, the man who can't source work because of unsuitable public transport). There's no wonder that we have continued rural-urban migration. This is in fact normal for all countries which shift from primary to other levels of economy. The problem in Saint Lucia lies in the absence of dealing with urbanisation for years. This challenge is over 40 yrs old and the approaches have largely been failures. In such a small country, a proper public transport system, even if subsidized, would liberate so much potential. The person in Canaries might continue to enjoy living in Canaries if there were provided to her better communications and the amenities that come from the communications revolution. Why is there not one ATM on the east coast between Castries and Vieux Fort? Why do we still fool ourselves about producing purely academics when all nations require a workforce that is aware and skilled? These are the major solutions towards tackling poverty: education, skills and training; communications & technology; localized government and amenities; better public transport.

December 17, 2009 at 7:39 AM
Anonymous said...

How about lack of opportunities? You can have all the skills in the world but what's the use if you can't find a bloody job? I and many others had to leave Fair Helen in order to find work, we didn't have a choice.
The Islands are small so you can't find as much opportunities as say countries like America or the UK or Canada. So ixi lixi and your likes, I say enough with your bull.

December 17, 2009 at 12:49 PM
ixi lixi said...

@ Anonymous,

I'm of the opinion that one of the best "opportunities" you can avail someone is a sound education and skills. The ability to be employable anywhere in the world isn't a failing. You should consider that Saint Lucia will always be relatively small and may not always have opportunities for everyone. Its our reality. If we sufficiently embue our populace with a love of country and and a commitment to its progress even when living/working outside of it, then we still stand the better. The state of Israel was built largely by the influx of the diaspora who were well trained and influential abroad. "Brain drain" can be a gain in many ways if well managed. As Saint Lucia develops, more opportunities will arise. Please remember this article was directed at poverty, and I think it would be fair that you see my "bull" within that context. If a man has skills including entrepreneurial skills he will look for opportunities within and without Saint Lucia. Consider your own life progress. If you didnt' better yourself in Saint Lucia, I'm sure wherever you went afterwards you improved your education and skills, so as to better your chances of getting that job.

December 18, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Anonymous said...

It was poverty and lack of opportunities that drove most of us so far away from our families and the land of our bith.
As for the Israelis, what keeps them together is their fanatic religion, their Zionism and America, birds of a feather flock together.

December 18, 2009 at 9:30 PM

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