{"id":218911,"date":"2024-12-14T06:34:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T10:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=218911"},"modified":"2024-12-14T09:35:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T13:35:36","slug":"letter-what-is-there-to-smile-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/letter-what-is-there-to-smile-about\/","title":{"rendered":"LETTER: What is there to smile about?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dear Editor,<\/p>

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Ever so often, the Prime Minister boasts that there is a growth in the country’s GDP & the country’s economic landscape is transforming into an Economic Powerhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, as a  resident and a common man in this country, I can’t say that I am a direct beneficiary of this growth neither am I feeling that transformation.<\/p>

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At the moment, I am a govt worker and sadly, my salary has been stagnant for several years which sadly does not allow me to afford a low income house that the govt is presently constructing for low income earners. <\/p>

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I am presently a tenant and the rent is so high…. These days, the landlords have no mercy on their tenants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, there is nothing for me to smile about. People in our small 268, are going missing and cannot be accounted for which is now causing serious concerns for myself & many others who are feeling very uneasy. We don’t know who is next; be it a loved one or otherwise.<\/p>

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Some patients at SLBMC, our main & only hospital are having some dreadful experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, some of these medical cases seem to have been pushed under the carpet to protect the practioners who were involved in\u00a0 some of these alleged malpractices that has taken place. In addition, there also seem to be a shortage of supplies such as medication & linen and manpower. <\/p>

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Sadly, the long waits to see a doctor is not even improving.<\/p>

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Children who have graduated from universities including students who have graduated from Med school cannot get a jobs. Some of the students who are on scholarship programs are still having challenges to receive their stipends and their tuition fees on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides the upgrading of the main road arteries, the smaller roads have become very congested with vehicular\u00a0 traffic thus causing us, the pedestrians to have limited space to commute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is now a fear that a vehicle may collide with a pedestrian at any moment or at any time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although, there has been some efforts to improve the water supply, persons including myself are still faced with issues of not getting water for 2 and 3 days consegatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pensioners are still awaiting for over a year to get their pensions from Social Security and it has now caused some serious concerns for many of us including myself, who are looking forward of becoming pensionable in the next several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, I have one question to ask. Why isn’t the common man feeling the dividends of GDP? It seems to me that while the pockets of the politicians & their cronies are getting fat and living in comfort & fashion, the common man like myself are still living in misery, from hand to mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, it is only the common man who is presently feeling the economic pressures. ]Cost of living is astronomically high and the govt seems not to be providing much cushion for us the common man who is earning a salary at the lower end of the salary spectrum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With these situations still existing I think that we have far to go before we really become an Economic Powerhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Editor, Ever so often, the Prime Minister boasts that there is a growth in the country’s GDP & the country’s economic landscape is transforming into an Economic Powerhouse. Unfortunately, as a  resident and a common man in this country, I can’t say that I am a direct beneficiary of this growth neither am I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":177756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLETTER: What is there to smile about? - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/letter-what-is-there-to-smile-about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LETTER: What is there to smile about?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Editor, Ever so often, the Prime Minister boasts that there is a growth in the country’s GDP & the country’s economic landscape is transforming into an Economic Powerhouse. 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