The Hard Truth: Part 1 - Prime Minister: Milton Cato - The Vincentian Dream.

For many decades, it was the custom of Vincentians to leave St. Vincent and the Grenadines and go aboard in search for a better life for them and their families. The trend was, as my father Hamilton Palmer and others did.

Young men before they start their families, went aboard, worked extremely hard, spend very little, live frugally, save as much as they could. With their savings, they returned home, purchase a piece of land, build a modest home and then they went in pursuit of the girl of their dream, marry that girl and start their families; in that order.

Their whole purpose was to get a head start in their life; and the trip overseas gave them that start. In those days people went to places like Aruba, Guadalupe, Trinidad and Tobago etc. Later in the fifties (1950s) there was an invitation from England to her colonies to come to England for a better life. In the nineteen sixties (1960s) the invitation, came to come to America for the American Dreams.

The American dream was the same thing the English offered to her colonist; however, the American put a title on their invite, that really resonated with people. Like the British, the American dream was advertised as a life of quick wealth, and access to the same thing the wealthy had. The only condition was: to get there and it was all yours.

Many people left their families behind and traveled to the United Kingdom and the United States of America in pursuit of this dream they all heard of, of quick wealth. While family and friend at home, who were not afforded the opportunity to go overseas, all expected a life of ease and plenty of everything. After all Daddy, mommy, uncle, aunty, etc. are in England/America.

When the people who journeyed to their international destination, found out, there was no such better life; There was no American dream, It was just a lie told by those who extended the invite to get cheap labor, it was far too late; to return home; empty handed with an excuse. To many people depended upon them, at the least: for that parcel or barrel at Christmas, filled with food stuff and a few pieces of new and used clothen.

Instead of returning to their home land, with an excuse, ashamed and disappointing everyone, they stayed and tried to make the best of a bad situation. Keeping their family at home happy and expecting. In order to do this, many of them literally became salves to the White-man, and in the process they lose their souls.

As a result, they never return home to stay, as they planned, only on extremely short vacations, because of the shame and the stigma, they were force to carry; which resulted from what they had to do, to help the people they loved. Their conscience made it impossible, for them to face their family and friend the people they loved so much.

In St. Vincent and the Grenadines there was also another big dreamer. His name was Milton Cato, he is known as the Father of Statehood and later the Father of Independence. Mr. Cato had a dream for his people, not a pipe dream like the White men in England and the United States of America offered our parents, but a realistic dream that everyone could be a part of.

A dream that did not have attached to it the possibility of becoming slaves of losing your souls. One had to actively go in pursuit of such darming self-devastation.

As a child, I have on many occasions, heard Mr. Milton Cato speak to my father Hamilton of his dreams for a better St. Vincent and the Grenadines and how he was going to accomplished those dreams. What was interesting I was able to witness Mr. Milton Cato accomplished those dreams.

Milton Cato had a good kick start from Primer ET Joshua, who like Mr. Cato used his skills before politic to fight for the rights of Vincentians. Ebenezer Joshua as a trade unionist; who fraught for workers’ rights and Milton Cato who used his skills as an attorney, to ensure our people; were no longer prosecuted for worshiping God, as the Shaker Baptist did.

Primer Ebenezer T. Joshua put into place, the infrastructure and other elements that was needed, for the development of the Banana industry. Primer and later Prime Minister Milton Cato did not require to do much to aid the development of the Banana industries, but to let the ministry of Agriculture and the extension workers do their jobs.

Milton Cato's Primary dream was to see all Vincentian of working age, become gainfully employed and be able to take care of their families. It was a hard and daunting task but he was able to do it. At one stage of the History of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, between the years of 1967, and peeked in 1984, everyone in St. Vincent and the Grenadine who wanted to work got a job or could have found a job.

Milton Cato encouraged Vincentians to invest in their country. He tapped Vincentians with means or the ability to access means via loans etc. to invest in their country. This saw the coming on stream of the following companies that were labor intensive and employed a large cross section of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines community:

1. The flour Mills.

2. The Coco Cola Factory.

3. The Dimond Diary

4. The Glove Factory

5. The Sugar factory

6. The open of the industrial Estate at Campden Park that employed more than ten thousand Vincentians, at times in two or three shift depend on the time of the year and the international demand for their product.

The Campden Park Industrial Estate was a cleaver in its conception and in its presentation. Milton Cato built large empty factory shell, and he invited companies to come to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, to take advantage of the low value of the Eastern Caribbean dollar and the low minimum wage in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Companies were given a couple hundred square feet of working space and they provided employment for thousands of Vincentians. Unlike today, where companies are given many archers of land and comparatively employ a few people.

The two most popular companies were:

a) Pico

b) (Sporting goods) Wilson Tennis Racket company

For many years, the Coconut oil factory that processed coconuts and converted the fruit into Soaps, solid and liquid (Baggas) and cooking oil; were a great source of employment for Vincentians.

The coconut oil factory was unique in its employment facets. The company employed a fairly large production staff, it also indirectly employed thousands of Vincentians, from around the country, who sold to the company the raw material need to produce the product.

However, by this time in the history of the Coconut factory, it mechanism was outdated and needed to be upgraded for it to yield a maximum profit. Unfortunately for the owners the operation was not profitable; and it was the owners intent, to close the doors of the operations and go out of business.

Prime Minister Cato understanding the important role this operation played in the life of a certain demographic (the rural poor) of our society he offered the operators some government subsidies, to make it worth the owners while to keep the factory open and bread on the table of hundreds of families.

On July 30th 1984, after Prime Minister Cato's Political party lost in the general election to the challenger the New Democratic Party. Milton Cato passed the baton onto James Mitchell to take St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Vincentian to the next level.

This proverbial baton was passed, when Milton Cato resigned from the parliamentary office and walked away from politics although he won his seat. He wanted to give the less competent James Mitchell the opportunity to take St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the next level as he did when he took over from E. T. Joshua.

Milton Cato as well as the Vincentian populace, underestimated James Mitchell's intent and his affection for the dominantly black community that makes up St. Vincent and the Grenadines. James Mitchell ran on the election promise to create One thousand (1000) Jobs in the first one hundred (100) days and the diversification of the Argo-industries.

It was a long way from 1865, Slavery was abolished in St. Vincent and the Grenadines one hundred and nineteen (119) ago. The Israelite (Black) population, the Calinago, the Garifuna and the East Indian had stop crying, we dried our last tears, we wiped the snot from our noses, we licked our wounds and we moved on. hand in hands with the children of the slave master in unity; together singing kumbaya.

Although James Mitchell were in the crow, holding hands with the victims of white oppression and singing loudly the words: kumbaya. What we did not understand was, the Slaver masters and their children were never contented, with our freedom and rise. The Israelites should have suspected something was wrong, when the oppressors refuse to employed the newly freed slaves and opt to bring in the East Indians instead. The East Indian who the oppressed and exploited on foreign soil. However, that was also a long time ago.

When James F. Mitchell, became Prime Minister, his hate was evident, Not just for Prime Minister Milton Cato but for the entire none white population. Like only a mad man motivated by hate could. PM James Mitchell forgot his promise and instead of creating a thousand (1000) job within the his first one hundred (100) days in office; he did the very opposite.

The man who we are forced to address as Sir. undo everything Milton Cato did. he put more than twenty thousand people on the unemployment line; within his first term in office. He did not care that the coconut oil factory were the sole bread earner for thousands of families in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

James Mitchell use the now defunct argument that coconut oil was unhealthy, which we knew was bull shit; and he took away the government subside, that kept the coconut industry going and in so doing he took the bread from mouths of thousands of Vincentians and their abilities to put food on their tables.

James Mitchell closed down all of the industries, his office give him authority to with no regard as to how his action affected the people who voted him into office. James Mitchell reported to the Cocoa Cola main office so-call irregularities with the operation in S.V.G. This cause the franchiser to stop the operation in S.V.G, pending the owner Rondalph Russell rectify the problems. by this time Mr. Russell who had his hands full, was too tired to go the extra mile. Over one hundred jobs were lost with that white move.

James Mitchell give to and encouraged selected shop keepers who supported him, in the Frenches and other areas, pieces of rusted metal, which they conveniently put into the package of sugar, to discredit the sugar factory and the quality of the product that came from the factory.

I could remember my father Hamilton questioning P.M. Cato about the allegations of people finding pieces of rusted metal in the sugar they purchased. Prime Minister Milton Cato assured my father, that it was impossible for that to happened. He also told my father his trusted friend, when he first heard of people discovering pieces of metal in the product that came from the Sugar factory, he paid a visit to the operation.

The workers showed P. M. Cato the process of sifting the sugar, the process by which they were able keep each grain of sugar the same size. As well as the process by which they can enlarge or reduce the sugar grain. and from his understanding and the technical staff explanation, it was totally improbable and impossible for any such metal to bypass the sifting process, Mr. Cato was also satisfied with the demonstration he was privilege to it was not possible for such to happen. The factory technical staff was sure someone (James Mitchell) was behind the defamation of the operations.

But how was the Prime Minister Cato going to quiet the fears of the people who were faced with a real problem, of rumors people were finding foreign object in their sugar. As a result, when James Mitchell became Prime Minister one of his first piece of business was to stop operation of the sugar factory and ship the factory back to Guyana at the expense of the people. Once again it did not matter to Sir. James Mitchell how this affected Sugar cane farmers, Cain cutters, factory workers, etc.

The truth is: "Prime Minister James F. Mitchell never create a job in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, however, he cause more than a significant fraction of our ninety thousand population who were gainfully employed; people of all races to become unemployed.

By this time in my young life. I became very good friends with Trade Unionist and General Secretary of the Commercial Technical and Allied Trade Union: Noel Jackson. This was while trad negotiation were going on between the workers of the Campden Park industrial Estate and the companies. Don't forget Noel Jackson is still alive this could be verified.

In one of our conversations I had with Mr. Jackson about his meeting with Prime Minister James Mitchell, with regard the negotiations with the various companies at the Industrial Estate. According to Noel Jackson: Prime Minister James Mitchell told him; If the companies cannot afford to operate in St. Vincent and the Grenadines they must go out of business.

This declaration was made without any consideration of how such will affect the workers at the Estate. However, when James Mitchell told the trade unionist who represented the workers at the Campden Park Industrial Estate this, one of whom was Noel Jackson, He felt he had the Prime Minister support with his actions. Unknown to Noel Jackson; Sir. James Mitchell had a more sinister plan up his short sleeves.

What was interesting is; some forty years or there about later; the companies who operated at the Industrial Estate, left our shores, they set up business in other countries, thousands of workers lost their only means of income, The condition in St. Vincent and the Grenadines have not changed, James Mitchell is dead. And most of the businesses that operated in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are still functioning and profitable.

The son of the Slave Master: James Mitchell was hell bent on seeing black Vincentians suffer; and he used his office as Prime Minister and the instruments of Government to ensure that happened. As a result of James Mitchell's actions thousands of people future became uncertain, many became homeless and panic ensued. This led to mass squatting and mass street vending a problem that still exist today.

Later when Prime Minister Mitchell was pushed out of office by the lawless Ralph Gonsalves. The now infamous "Grand Beach Accord" was one son of the slave master: A white man, handing over the operation of the colony, to another white man. Vincentians were doomed to failure and poverty under James Mitchell and Ralph Gonsalves.