Commentary: Caribbean Citizen Payments

CAYMAN ISLANDS – Guyana made news recently with an initial payment to every citizen from their newly discovered oil wealth. They are not alone. Taiwan just made a payment to every citizen from their AI income. Alaska has been making an annual payment for years from its oil revenue.

So what is happening to the rest of the Caribbean.

Trinidad has oil wealth and the Cayman Islands, as well as many others, has their financial services wealth, but no distribution has been forthcoming. Worse, there has been no discussion about a sovereign fund for the dry years to come.

Then there is the no small matter of the Universal Basic Income tried out by Finland with a monthly payment that has been discontinued. It may well be that this is more an European thing but it could have application to small, prosperous Caribbean tax havens with a limited population target seeking to offset the perils of youth misbehaviour and general crime.

Norway gives a grant to every citizen leaving high school to fund a gap year before university. It is an oil producer but does not distribute money to citizens instead it pays for infrastructure and public services.

This would be an enticing proposal for the entire Caribbean, especially among tiny, wealthy islands. It could start with free water before pursuing the holy grail, electricity, whether by solar or cancelling rates. It may sound revolutionary to some but the times are changing for populations no longer content to grab at crumbs while leaders parade in the most recent SUV model with chauffeurs.

Our summers are sweltering. It can injure or kill.

Caribbean governments appear to have rested on the laurels of philanthropy from the diaspora and others to fill recurring gaps in their budgets. From scholarships to medical care, gifts from abroad are not accompanied by declarations of failure by respective officials.

This will continue until the largest Caribbean populations abroad begin to demand not only accountability but integrity.

To receive help we must help ourselves.

As my cousin in Belize says, every man is a world.

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