O’Neal says Vincentians more sensitized to issues

“Vincentians no longer see me as a crazy man, instead people are now looking at the pertinent issues that I have been raising,” says Ivan O’Neal, Leader and Co-Founder of the St. Vincent Green Party.

On Thursday, January 12, O’Neal, at Murray Road, staged a one-man protest near the Embassy of the Republic of China on Taiwan, calling on the Taiwanese to leave the shores of St.Vincent and the Grenadines. {{more}}

He said people are no longer having negative perceptions of him, rather they are becoming more sensitized to the issues that he has been raising.

Under the burning sun, O’Neal sat and sometimes stood near to a huge protest card.

Besides protesting outside the Embassy of the Republic of China on Taiwan, O’Neal on the day of the protest distributed press releases highlighting similar issues to the Governor-General, the President of Taiwan, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the President of the SVG Christian Council, the Organization of American States, President of the National Youth Council, CARICOM Secretariat, OECS Secretariat, CANA and the local media.

O’Neal cited “No Incremental Advantage” as his chief concern. He supported his argument by explaining that the lack of incremental advantage makes SVG’s economy weak and vulnerable.

“Our assessment of Taiwan’s twenty-four years in SVG has not identified any incremental advantages derived from Taiwan to enhance our economy,” said O’Neal.

O’Neal in his press release stated that in 1965 a concerned citizen of Singapore recognized that the British presence there offered them a false hope of sustainable economic development and prosperity. He said a serious call was made for the British to depart from their country and they did.

“Singapore has never looked back since that historic decision. Today Thursday, January 12, 2006 the SVG Green Party is making a similar serious call for Taiwan to leave SVG,” O’Neal appealed.