“Economy is not all that great”- Hon. Alvera Maduro-Caines
The controversial Minister for Education and Culture, Honourable Myron V. Walwyn had also repeated those words when he claimed in a speech that “don’t mind the noise the economy is robust”.
However, Sixth District Representative Honourable Alvera Maduro-Caines told Parliament at the October 14, 2013 sitting that “the economy is not all that great”.
She said “children in the Virgin Islands are now going to school without lunch” and she knows this “for a fact”. Hon. Maduro-Caines said she had received calls from teachers requesting her to provide lunch for the students who were hungry.
“If this is a situation where the parents don’t have food then this situation is worse than we think it is, and something will have to be done…how did we get here?” the first term legislator asked.
Hon. Maduro-Caines, to support her thesis on how bad things have become in the Virgin Islands (VI) under the National Democratic Party Administration (NDP) of which she is a member, told the public that this situation is not unique to the High School or Primary Schools, “but children are going hungry at the H.Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) and this is a serious matter that we need to look into.”
We do not like each other-Hon. Maduro-Caines
The Sixth District Representative also touched on the topic of jobs for young people in the VI, which many have interpreted as throwing cold water on the Minister for Education and Culture Hon. Walwyn’s job programme for youths.
She said young people in the VI cannot find jobs and we must do something to put our people in places and into jobs.
“I have spoken to a lot of young people who have come back from colleges with their degrees and cannot find jobs…I know this one young lady who had to wait a whole year and was given the run around from the powers that be for employment...she left and went to the [United] States and in two weeks she landed a job in her field that she graduated from.”
Hon. Maduro-Caines further lashed out at the NDP Administration over retaining “our people”. She made reference to a local officer, Kareem Nelson-Hull who worked at the Premier’s Office but was not retained by government. “There is no reason why he should have been able to slip through the cracks and leave us to go work for a private firm...we as a government should have done everything to retain him [Nelson-Hull] and keep him in the service…some of the packages that are offered to expats should be offered to our local people,” she told the House of Assembly (HOA).
In closing, the Representative reinforced that “we are facing some challenging times in this great nation that we are building”…. but she believes while the seas are rough there will be calm and smooth sailing after the storm has passed”.
Hon. Maduro-Caines has now added her voice to many in the community, including the Speaker of the House of Assembly Honourable Ingrid A. Moses, Leader of the Opposition Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE, Third District Representative Honourable Julian Fraser, RA, First District Representative Honourable Andrew A. Fahie and the business community who have all disputed the statement of a robust economy given in the HOA earlier this year by Premier Smith.
As for the hungry children in the schools and at the college, it remains unclear if and when the NDP Government will address that issue and which Ministry is expected to take the lead if it’s ever addressed. To date, no announcement has been made on that matter.
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47 Responses to ““Economy is not all that great”- Hon. Alvera Maduro-Caines”
So why dont you do something constructive and water them? She is paying someone to do the job? maybe you should ask her for the job since the other person is not doing it so you could hush your mouth. I see her every day so you must be blind or you only see who you want to see. She is the most visible official on ground. She does not like the media so much like some of her other colleagues. I prefer to see her on ground as oppose on the media..Leave her alone..she is working for her people.
things so bad m**** and all had to close one of his restaurants...obviously ndp is not the answer
Cart your blind @r$e!
He is one of the lucky ones that was able to get a much better paying private sector job.
There are jobs available in government and it takes several months to fill them -- why don't you ask that question ???? As the jobless walk around wondering why they have all this education for nothing.
However some people would say Government can't hire everyone and the salaries are VERY LOW ... so the next thing is you want qualified talent and don't want to pay them what they are worth. So why do you want Kareem to stay?
We asked for BA's and MBA's put don't want to pay fair salaries that are relative to not only the persons qualifications but the cost of living here in the BVI .... people got to pay student loans, they trying to be adults and not live at home, ..... what quality of life do we have to look forward to here in the BVI???