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The Government of Montserrat is looking to strengthen confidentiality within the public service. This follows concerns over the unauthorized release of information, including details of recruitment processes. Premier the Honourable Reuben T. Meade, speaking on the “What’s on Your Mind” radio programme stated: “That’s a matter which I have to discuss with the deputy governor in relation to confidentiality.”  The Deputy Governor has delegated responsibility for the public service. Premier Meade acknowledged that confidentiality breaches are not confined to central government, pointing to a recent recruitment at the Montserrat Arts Council (MAC): “And it’s not only in government. The same thing happened in MAC, where due process was followed. He also defended the integrity of the recruitment process within the public services. “I did not even know who the applicants were until I read it on social media. And then all of a sudden, oh, we did not follow due process, etc., etc. They are obliged to follow due process.” “The things which you need to fill out in the application, you did not fill them out, then your application becomes null and void. So let us not believe that because I was this or I was that, that you should just select me based on my name. It has to go through a transparent process, so that when the board comes to me and says, this is the person that was selected, I would know that they went through a transparent process, and I can then take it to cabinet. It’s all about transparency. And when we do all financial risk assessments and other assessments, these are things which those international companies come in and look at. Premier Meade further that the FCDO “does the same thing in relation to monitoring what we do in spending government’s money. “Remembering that 67 cents on every dollar that we spend comes from the FCDO. So we have to follow their rules. We can’t break their rules because that will mean it jeopardizes not only the relationship, but the funding that we have fought so hard to obtain from them.”

Minister for Agriculture, Lands, Housing, Environment, Youth Affairs and Sports, Honourable John P. Osborne, says the Government of Montserrat is continuing efforts to remove barriers that can make long-term residents feel like outsiders, despite their contributions to Montserrat. Speaking during last Wednesday’s Citizenship Ceremony, Minister Osborne highlighted several measures aimed at making Montserrat a more welcoming place for non-nationals and their families. “So, it’s a government’s job not only to say thank you with words but it’s our job to also remove those barriers that make people feel like guests in a place that they have already given their lives to. So we have been waiving alien landholding license requirements for non-nationals. We’ve started with Vincentians and Guyanese so far, and we’re not actually stopping there.” Mr. Osborne the government is looking throughout the OECS and CARICOM “to regularize on a reciprocal basis for our brothers and sisters across the OECS and CARICOM so that when you come here, you can hold land in a place that you already love without having the extra burden of having to pay for landholding license. So spread the word that our government is actually working on that for our OECS and CARICOM nationals.” The Minister says the government plans to go further, having already regularize health fees for children of non-nationals. “One other thing that we have done, and this is on the health care side, is that as a government, we felt that when you bring your children here even though your children aren’t nationalized, we felt that we shouldn’t treat children differently because of where they’re from. So we’ve regularized the fees throughout the hospitals on children. And what that does is just basically saying that a mother in this country should not feel like her child is worth less than any other child. On this island, every child’s future to us matters the same.” Minister Osborne encouraged attendees to continue contributing to the Montserrat’s development by investing their skills, starting businesses, supporting community institutions and helping to build the nation’s future. The minister said citizenship is not simply a status that is granted, but a responsibility that comes with helping to shape Montserrat’s future for generations to come.

Discussions on the implementation of geothermal energy on Montserrat are in progress. According to Premier the Hon. Reuben T. Meade, the topic of renewable energy was broached during his recent trip to the United Kingdom. He says “we also had discussions on geothermal and the possibilities for geothermal after quite a bit of work was done by the Oxford University, Oxford Institute. So we’re following along and using their guidance as well in terms of what are the possibilities.  The premier also reveals his request that a tender document be prepared for the production of geothermal energy using the existing wells. “Not for exploration but utilizing the wells that are there for the production of geothermal. And that’s straight tender rather than looking for requests for proposals. So that we’re expecting that once those are out that we’ll be in a position to handle those,” the Premier explained.