The rains are worrisome.  They are striking at the wealth of the (nation).

It takes a lifetime to acquire wealth, most of which is invested in homes/property.  And in a matter of hours, if not minutes, it could all be gone.

After hurricanes Irma and Maria, when many of our elderly beheld the damages to their properties with no means for repair, they took the low road and checked out of the game of life.  

But even more important than the individual circumstance is the state.  If the financial health of the Territory is good, we can reopen for business quickly with minimal impacts to the economy.

COI happened; We know.  But the lone commissioner who stripped our legislators of the ability to help, especially the elderly, has gone back to mother to enjoy the social safety net that she provides.

There is something wrong about that!

To be fair, we were irresponsible in our management of the political slush fund but the medicine stuffed down our throats is bitter.

Still, it should have been a wakeup call to government to better manage the country’s financial resources.  But what it may become is an excuse to do nothing.

With nature out of control, we all lose.  The scary and rapid movement of water that threatens everything in its path; Mud slides, hydroplaning of vehicles, collapsing retaining walls; 

Lost and damaged goods; Lost work and revenue; concerns us deeply.  And this is only a rain event of short duration at the start of what is forecast to be a highly active season.

Some of the chickens are already coming home to roost.  Filling in wetlands and ponds; paving the bottom of ghuts have made things more precarious.

The question is, is the treasury’s health sufficiently robust to address the infrastructure?

Even if it is, if we continue to expend resources to put band aids on the same sores, the Territory will stagnate.

And each time we have the kinds of events that are classified by jurists as acts of God, they show off the rotten underbelly of the state’s infrastructure.  It also brings some residents to the brink of ruin.

We cannot throw up our arms in hopelessness but we are no match for nature especially with a faulty infrastructure.

Let us pay close attention to the advice of the Department of Disaster Preparedness.  They have helped us through many a difficult period in the past and they can do so again.

And let the Minister of Works join us, on our Fridays to demand an infrastructure that may increase our resilience.

Happy Friday!”