Dear Editor,
How much longer will the Council of Ministers continue to strive on their immaturity and further stagnate the progress of this country? Haven’t these appointed officials come to the realisation that they are being listened to and analysed all over the world? This childish behaviour cannot be the mode in which ministers keep responding sarcastically to matters that require a simple, concise and intelligent answer.
Case in point: the Chairlady of Parliament devised the concept to have a Question and Answer Hour to accommodate the pressing inquiries of MPs and to better serve the public. Instead of embracing the idea, most ministers found that the suggestion does not warrant their time, nor their efforts to research the information and relate it to the Members of Parliament. What a sad situation and a very harmful state of affairs!
Hearing two of the meetings by chance, I expected a relaxed, casual, yet professional interchange. Instead, it was the usual combative, non-substantial discourse by a former teacher and school manager – a person who previously and desperately pursued the position of Minister of Education, but especially during the UD formation. If he was given the desired portfolio, what would be his responses to the MPs and journalists, in regard to that ministry?
Why the sarcasm? And, why does he read everything from a paper, rather than exercise his skills as a teacher? The Question and Answer Hour is a golden opportunity for him to set the tone for his colleagues to imitate, but instead, he displays this don’t care and spiteful attitude. How depressing it is to see someone who stood in front of a class and went on to be a school manager exhibit such behaviour in a position that is just temporary.
Joining the bandwagon of sarcasm is the Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings, who was so critical when he was an MP. Why does he allow Members of Parliament to irritate him when he understands their role? Why not be more professional in his deliveries and responses, rather than expressing derisive remarks and fighting with the MPs? This is plain juvenile and a spectacle of limited education.
In fact, the entire Council of Ministers has disappointed the population. Their performance is the worst ever. Two of them are competing to see who can speak the best; one mumbles everything; another speaks, reads and acts like a third grader; whatever this minister says, one has to take it with a grain of salt; one minister is intimidated by his former colleagues; and it’s quite difficult to follow the trajectory of this other minister, who has not gained traction in a field that he is familiar with.
The biggest downfall of this Council of Ministers is that they are not willing to take advice from anybody; not even persons within their own party who have the expertise to guide them through. If the ministers listen to the press briefings and their presentations in Parliament, they would realise that all of them have received a failing grade. If one has to snatch the paper from them, what kind of dialogue would they have with the press and the population?
This Council of Ministers needs to take a page from local professionals who were invited to Parliament to speak. Experts like Joane Dovale-Meit – Audit Chamber; Eileen Healy – Mental Health; Nadya Croes-van Putten – APS; and Nilda Lynch-Arduin – Ombudsman. The common factor among these specialists is that their discussions were transparent, smooth and easy to follow. Why? They understood their roles and responsibilities and then they dialogued from a place of knowledge.
Attorney Roland Duncan and Richard F. Gibson are two individuals that I missed in their capacity as ministers. They also had the ability to apply and impart their knowledge to the community unsparingly. When they spoke, even the unschooled were duly informed, because they were passionate about the portfolios that they represented.
It has been proven that one cannot express what he or she does not possess. I wish there was a way that the population could dismiss this Council of Ministers with immediate effect. It’s an ungrateful and useless bunch that feeds on their egos, rather than being indebted to the community for giving them the privilege to serve!
Joslyn Morton
