This Is Guernsey

Barry Paint

My name is Barry Paint. I was born here and have lived all my life in Guernsey, apart from my time in mercantile education and at sea.

Our Guernsey way of life is unique; it is envied throughout the world and I will fight for our right to preserve its autonomy. We face many challenges both now and in the future. The world doesn’t owe Guernsey a living and we must remain competitive if we are to survive. I believe in and will support moves for Island wide elections before the next elections in 2012.

We have been forced to alter our method of taxation to Zero/10 to ensure that we can continue to trade on the European money markets. However, it is my belief that a lot more effort is needed by the next Government to diversify our economy, giving much more support to local industries, rather then being over reliant on the finance industry, as we are at present.

More land needs to be released, to build workshops, small factories, and warehouses etc. I know the Island is short of land but there are areas available in various places around the Island that could be considered.

I understand that many of the Island problems are complex; however we seem to have lost our ability for common sense. In the past we found good old Guernsey solutions too many that we face today. Matters of concern to me as we go into this election: education, law and order, work permits, traffic, agriculture, horticulture, the environment

Members of the next Government will need courage and conviction to keep this island prosperous for all. There will be many difficult decisions to make, I believe that I can make a contribution to that process if I am elected.