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	*Informing The Uninformed....*

JOAN UNDERWOOD'S "PEOPLE'S PARLIAMENT" ADDRESS

JANUARY 11, 2004, UNDER THE HISTORIC TAMARIND TREE IN BETHESDA

COMMITMENT & SACRIFICE IN THE STRUGGLE

FOR A

NEW & CORRUPTION FREE ANTIGUA & BARBUDA

[Salutations]

Since it was announced that I would be speaking here today in the People’s Parliament, I have received quite a bit of feedback. Most of it has been positive – i.e. words of encouragement. However, there are others who have warned me not to get involved; there are some who have condemned me for speaking today without hearing a word of the speech that I am about to deliver and there have been a number of people who have questioned my motives for being here today.

In order to remove all doubt as to my motives for appearing in the People’s Parliament, let me be very pellucid - first of all in explaining why I am NOT here and then to let you know why I AM here.

Ø I am the President of the Professional Organization for Women in Antigua & Barbuda – but that is NOT why I am here!

Ø I have known Sherfield Bowen for over five years. I was introduced to him in July 1998 by Dawson Nathaniel. We were sitting in Road House Restaurant & Snackette just up the road from here. At the time I was hiring staff for the soon-to-be-opened Crossroads Centre. Sherfield was then a candidate in the upcoming general elections, and he indicated that he had a number of constituents who wanted to work at Crossroads. I gave him a list of the positions that I needed to fill, and he sent a number of people to be interviewed. I hired quite of few of those people. Five years later, almost all of them are still working at Crossroads.

Since 1998, I have had other opportunities to observe and interact on a professional basis with Sherfield Bowen and, in his words and in his actions, I have witnessed a commitment to serve the people of this constituency and the country as a whole - but that is NOT why I am here!

Ø I disapprove of mature men getting involved with young, immature girls who are ill-equipped to deal with the emotional roller coaster that such relationships represent - but that is NOT why I am here!

Ø Last month, this country experienced a tragedy when a young woman was shot and subsequently died. Like many in this nation, I sympathize with her family as they mourn the loss of this young life - but that is NOT why I am here!

So, WHY AM I HERE?

ü I am here, because forty years ago my grandmother buried my navel string under a plum tree in her back yard in Villa.

ü I am here because, like the Monarch Sir McLean Emmanuel, I love Antigua way beyond measure.

ü I am here, because my niece who is studying law in England told me that one of her classmates when he found out that she was from Antigua referred to the land of my birth as “that corrupt place”.

ü I am here because in 2004 I don’t think that I should have to be dealing with power outages, no water and horrible roads. The other day I heard a caller to Observer Radio say that people who are drunk usually swerve from side to side when driving. However, in Antigua you know that someone is probably drunk when they don’t swerve from side to side to avoid the potholes! Winston Derrick has been asking people to measure how deep the potholes are. I want to warn you not to do as he says. If you go down in some of those potholes to measure them, you might never be able to get back out – they are soooo deep!

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of my friends throughout the Caribbean asking me how Antiguans put up with so much corruption and scandal.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of being afraid to show my Antiguan passport when I travel.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of the stench that overwhelms me when I walk the streets of St. John’s.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of having to get up at strange hours of the night in order to iron my clothes, because I might not have electricity in the morning.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of an administration that takes out Medical Benefits and Social Security from workers’ salaries and never pays in the money to the statutory bodies.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of an administration that thinks that it is okay to pay an Asian Developer millions of dollars to get back our land when he never paid us for it in the first place.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of the fact that my taxes are being used to fund a sickening propaganda campaign on LESTERVISION – also known as ABS Television.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of living in a country where a Minister thinks that it is okay for him to fire an entire Board, because he doesn’t like a decision that they made.

ü I am here because our Prime Minister in his most recent weekly address brazenly stated that the citizens and residents of this country have to bribe public officers to do their jobs. Yet his Administration has done nothing to eliminate such corrupt practices.

ü I am here because our Prime Minister in that same speech admitted that the public sector is grossly inefficient. Yet his Administration has failed to implement the public sector reform that was recommended by the PriceWaterhouseCoopers consultants several years ago.

ü I am here because the farmers of this country get no support from the Administration. Because, while the government says that it gives farmers duty free concessions to bring in equipment, you can’t get that concession unless you curry favour with the Minister and his cronies.

ü I am here because the farmer of the year from years ago is still waiting for his prize.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of the fact that, although we pay lip service to tourism, we do nothing to market the country abroad.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of this Government’s failure to invest in the education of our youth. Because after 27 years in government, in 2004 our government has finally decided that it is time to invest in education.

ü I am here because I am sick and tired of being sick and tired! When some people are sick and tired they say “gimme an aspirin”. Well, an aspirin can’t help me. The only thing that can help me is a CHANGE!

ü I am here because I WANT A CHANGE.

ü I am here because I am committed to working for that change – even if it means personal sacrifice.

ü I am here because I want to see a new and corruption free Antigua & Barbuda.

ü I am here because I am convinced that we will not see a new and corruption free Antigua & Barbuda unless we change the way we govern this country.

ü I am here because, like my friend and colleague D. Giselle Isaac, I long for good governance, for transparency, for effective planning and management and for being the best at something other than corruption.

In John 21, the apostle relates an account of a conversation that Jesus had with Simon Peter. Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. The scriptures tell us that Peter was “grieved” that Jesus asked him the question a third time. He responded “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus then repeated for a third time “Then feed my sheep.”

Like Peter, you might wonder why Jesus kept asking the same question. How many times did Peter have to profess his love? The lesson in this story is that love is meaningless without actions. Love is meaningless if we are not prepared to make a commitment. Love is meaningless if we are not prepared to make a sacrifice.

I ask you today; tell me: People do you love Antigua & Barbuda? (Repeat 3x)

If you love this country, then I want you to make a commitment today to make the necessary sacrifice in order to help in the struggle for a new and corruption free Antigua & Barbuda.

I like to collect motivational quotations and sayings. One of my favourite quotations comes from a Seventh Day Adventist publication. Today, I am going to take the liberty of adapting it to suit our situation here in Antigua & Barbuda.

The greatest need in this country is the need for men and women – men and women who will not be bought or sold, men and women who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men and women who do not fear to call corruption by its right name, men and women whose conscience is true to duty as the needle to the pole, men and women who will stand for the right though the heavens may fall.

Ø Ladies and Gentlemen, are you such men and women?

Ø Are you prepared to tell corrupt politicians that they cannot buy you or your vote?

Ø Are you prepared to be guided by your conscience and to do what you know is best for this country?

Ø Are you prepared to say that wrong is wrong even if it means that you will be in the minority?

Ø Are you prepared to stand up for what is right even if it means that you will be criticized, victimized, slandered and threatened?

People often ask me if I am not afraid of what might happen to me as a result of my speaking out. My answer is a resounding NO. You see, like Paul

I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, my Lord.

But I also know that faith without works is useless. So, while we must have faith, we must also act on it. We cannot just sit back and wait to be delivered from the corruption that has taken over our fair country.

On Wednesday February 19^th, 1997 the CARICOM Heads of Government signed a resolution adopting the Charter of Civil Society. That historic event took place right here in Antigua & Barbuda.

Five years earlier – i.e. in 1992 - in declaring their commitment to developing such a Charter, the Heads of Government declared that such a document would be an important element that would form an integral part of our society and that it would deal with such matters as:

“…free press; fair and open democratic process; the effective functioning of the parliamentary system; morality in public affairs; respect for fundamental civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights; the rights of women and children; respect for religious diversity; and greater accountability and transparency in government.”

If CARICOM Leaders – including our own leaders here in Antigua & Barbuda – made this commitment over eleven years ago, why is it only now in 2004 as we lead up to a general election that our Prime Minister is promising to create a code of conduct for ministers and parliamentary secretaries if elected.

Paul Keens-Douglas in one of his presentations highlighting Caribbean culture tells us that Caribbean people have their own special way of indicating that it is “story time”. That breed of persons known as politicians signal story time by saying “if elected…” Antiguans and Barbudans would do well to remember that as we listen to the after-election promises that have already begun and will continue as campaigning moves into high gear.

In signing the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society our government also pledged to establish:

“…a framework for genuine consultation among the social partners in order to reach common understandings on and support for the objectives, contents and implementation of national economic and social programmes and their respective roles and responsibilities in good governance.”

Ø I ask you the People’s Parliament, has the ALP Government established such a framework?

Ø When was the last time that your Government consulted you about the national economy?

Ø When was the last time that you were consulted about any social programme?

Ø Has the Government ever given you or any organization with which you are associated the opportunity to discuss good governance and what role you should play in order to ensure that there is good governance in our fair land?

Ladies and Gentlemen, in 1992 the West Indian Commission Report boldly proclaimed that it was a Time for Action. It is now eleven years later, and Antiguan & Barbudan residents and citizens must transform the love and commitment which we profess for our country into ACTION.

Fellow citizens, it is not enough to continue to talk about our patriotism. Our actions must speak louder than our words. In some cases this will require us to make personal as well as national sacrifices. Some of you may think that you cannot make a difference on your own. I assure you that it is not so. As the songwriter penned,

It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around will warm up to its glowing.

As we stand here today in the People’s Parliament, I challenge each and every one of you:

Ø I challenge you to make a commitment to be that spark;

Ø I challenge you to make a commitment to actively participate in the struggle to create a new and corruption free Antigua & Barbuda.

Ø I challenge you – if you are sick and tired of corruption – don’t say “gimme an aspirin” but rather make a commitment to make a difference by making a change.

Ø I challenge you to identify one example of corruption in your immediate environment – whether it be your family or in your office or in your village or in your political party. Once you have identified the corruption, speak out against it! Demand that a stop be put to it! And if you don’t see the desired change, shout it from the mountain tops. Let the world know that the corruption exists and that you refuse to be a part of it.

Ø I challenge you to be men and women who will not be bought or sold, men and women who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men and women who do not fear to call corruption by its right name, men and women whose conscience is true to duty as the needle to the pole, men and women who will stand for the right though the heavens may fall.

ARE YOU UP TO THE CHALLENGE?