User:Jerado1/“We do not have the luxury”

Luxury is a word for those who can afford and often times those who can afford it avoid it. The Caribbean has struggled with this from the point in which they gained independence to this day. One must ask the question, is the Caribbean playing the Luxury game? Can we actually afford to play this game? The Caribbean was left with a number of old out dated ways of handling the affairs of a country and the running of a Public Service. Our former colonial masters have undergone tremendous reforms to upgrade and to become more efficient in key areas of public service and governance. The Caribbean countries which have continued to struggle with development clearly do not have the luxury for inefficiency, wastage, corruption and other divisive flaws which exist within the region.

The public service is one of the agents of government which is charged with the implementation of policies. A body which has a fully functioning brain with body parts that does not listen to the orders of the brain would be inefficient if not even chaotic. Hence the public service is a vital agent that needs to undergo constant reform to ensure efficiency. One author describes public servants as “cradle to the grave employees” referring to the almost impossible task of removing them. The key here is to note the importance of their role and to understand that the Caribbean simple do not have the luxury for inefficiency. In the Caribbean, the Public Service is the largest employer and seeing that it is charged with a vital role, workers ought to see and know how their actions or lack thereof affects the countries development. We simply do not have the luxury for inefficiency and nepotism within the Public Service and stalling of government policies in the Caribbean.

We simply do not have the luxury for the misappropriation of funds and corruption within the Caribbean. A region already struggling due to its small size and vulnerability does not have the luxury for capital wastage. The region, despite having some relatively okay ranking for some countries on the corruption perception index, is still not where they should be. Government corruption is still rampant in many Caribbean countries with commission of inquires being launched into various government projects. Millions of dollars misappropriated throughout the region in governmental projects is simply not acceptable as we do not have the luxury. A region already under pressure due the composition of the international system does not have the luxury of getting things wrong if it is to develop to its true potential.

The region simply does not have the luxury of losing its most brilliant minds due to lack of jobs or opportunities thereof. Human resource is one resource the region definitely cannot afford to lose as it is instrumental to its development. Development through human resources is imperative for the Caribbean and this relies heavily on the University of the West Indies as the regions premium institution for higher education. Our region cannot afford to lose our academics, we do not have the luxury.

Our countries in the region cannot continue to be divided and to operate in isolation instead of cooperating; we do not have the luxury!!!!! Regional integration is a key ingredient to Caribbean development. Together the region can achieve more goals and create better lives for its citizens and improve its economic prosperity. We cannot afford to be separated; we do not have the luxury!!!!!!!!

We do not have the luxury, let’s work together to achieve our goals together we can get to where we want to go.