Two Shores, Two Priorities
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In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines today, we are witnessing a tale of two fisheries - one lifted high on political platforms, the other left to rot in the salt and spray of neglect. On one shore, the government champions foreign billion-dollar seafood companies with ribbon-cuttings, drone footage, and grand speeches. On the other, the proud people of North Windward stand watching the Owia fishing complex crumble, waiting year after year for promises that never seem to arrive.
The government moved mountains to court Rainforest Seafood - a foreign corporation. But for the hardworking fishers of North Windward? Not even a repair crew. Not even urgency, only delays, and “soon come.” Foreign Investors get red carpet while vincentians get rust
Think about it, fast tracked land clearing for Rainforest Seafood, press conferences, praise for investors and millions in concessions, political fanfare, and public relations followed. But when the sea destroyed the Owia fishing complex- a lifeline for a proud and hardworking community- where was that same passion? Where was that same “development energy”?
Owia didn’t get ceremony. Owia didn’t get urgency. Owia didn’t get priority. Owia got forgotten.
Who Is Development Really For? Government officials love cameras and headlines about foreign investment. But real development is not measured in grand openings - it is measured in how you protect and empower your own people. You cannot preach “blue economy progress” while the fishers of North Windward are left without a functioning landing site, without proper facilities, without the respect owed to the people who feed North Windward and by extension-the nation, from the sea.
Industrial seafood factories for foreign markets, while North Windward fisherfolk struggle to ice their catch?
Cameras and speeches on one coast, silence, sea weed and rust on the other? That is not progress.That is misplaced priorities. Owia deserves What Rainforest got; respect, investment and action. This doesn’t require miracles. North Windward should get what every Vincentian deserves: Infrastructure that works, government attention that is real, not seasonal and respect for a community’s livelihood and dignity.
If the government can move with lightning speed to satisfy foreign companies, then they can move with equal or greater speed to rebuild Owia’s fishing complex. Anything less is a betrayal of the people who built this country’s fishing tradition long before investors ever looked at our shores.
This is not just about a building. It is about who matters in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Do foreign corporations matter more than poor, rural, hardworking Vincentians?
Do political photo-ops matter more than people’s ability to earn a living?
The coastlines that shaped our identity cannot be left behind while foreign interests are pushed forward. A government that claims to care for its people must prove it where it matters most, in the lives of ordinary citizens.​