They interred His Holiness last Saturday. The funeral service commanded the presence of world leaders given the pontiff’s unique position as a head of state (Vatican City) while he remains head of the ‘Holy See.’ (The Catholic Church.)
The world is paying a keen interest in who emerges from the conclave as the next pope and whether his policies will cast any light on what can only be described as the increasing displays of inhumanity across the globe.
Mutual respect is at an all-time low. Peace appears to only be a word in the dictionary; The self-serving application of power is scandalous and human rights are being abandoned, even by self-proclaimed custodians, in almost criminal ways.
No matter, the world order is changing at a terrifyingly rapid rate. The very artificial intelligence and humanoids created by man, if they continue to develop at the almost exponential rate that they are, it is likely that they will free themselves from the control of human programmers and programme themselves. Then, all bets are off.
Still, we must protect our fragile democracies while we adopt our policies to suit the demands of a world that appears to be in free fall and where the thirst for power and control eclipse all else.
But in the end, we are, primarily, human; from the highest placed to the lowest and we want all the services a country can provide to improve our lives and contribute meaningfully to the development of the economy.
As we contemplate the US economy which provides us with the basis for at least half of ours, we can only express consternation that the belt tightening has begun even at the lowest rungs of the ladder.
And while we may claim that our visitors are a more prominent group than McDonalds’ clientele who are ‘eating in’ due to uncertainty; We wonder how high that loss of confidence in the economy goes.
Yet, we are grateful that American Airlines (AA) has helped us to ease our dependence on our next-door neighbours for guests’ arrivals.
But AA has its challenges with flying into the BVI although BVI is a lucrative market.
We know the issues:
• No night flights; Perhaps due, in part, to a short runway.
• Diverted flights to Puerto Rico when the runway is wet.
• Overbooking and bumping passengers seems to be a standard in aviation that causes tempers to flare and feelings to run high. None is exempt.
• Poor visitor experience when flights are returned to Miami.
We are down to as few as 3 flights per day from as many as 6 flights per day although service is now available year-round.
While the AA flight is a boon to BVI tourism, the runway extension project is urgent and important to our economic survival. We are getting a second chance at it having thrown away the first opportunity over party power struggles.
But there have been many changes in the global economy since the last attempt so we expect a significant increase in costs.
And if we miss this opportunity, the price tag for the next generation will likely be prohibitive. And they would wonder, in their disgust, if the current leadership never grasped the concept of ‘solidarity’ on matters of national interest.
Even now, they are looking to see if there will be any unity in rejection of certain sections of the Law Enforcement Review Report; Volume 2.
Seeking to maintain Customs and Immigration under government’s control is critical. It is the difference between reading stories to your children and teaching them to read the stories themselves.
It is a matter of personal and institutional development; Maintaining a sure footing on a higher rung of Maslow’s pyramid.
The Minister for Aviation Services told us that last Friday he received the KPMG report on the business case for the airport extension project. He has been methodically involving the public as he used the UK ‘green book’ to advance the consultations.
We expect his transparency to continue.
Our history tells us that major airport improvements have usually happened under a green government. The greens have demonstrated the ability to pull their members in line and avoid sacrificing important manifesto promises to individualism and personal ambitions.
They know that “…the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” (Kipling: The Law of the Jungle.)
Others, for their considerable wisdom, fail to grasp that concept.
Sometimes the race is not to the swiftest, the brightest, nor the best.
And sometimes it cannot be entirely run on Fridays.
Happy Friday!