The Dr. Shetty Hospital groundbreaking ceremony that took place on Monday at East End was executed with much pomp and circumstance as befits “the largest private sector undertaking in the history of these islands”.

If all goes to plan, but as premier Bush said there are still “hurdles” to get over, and nothing is set in stone until the last stone is cemented in place, it could put our Islands back on the road to recovery.

We most certainly have an illness here and it is a fundamental desire to tear down anything that is proposed and look at it with much suspicion whilst playing up the negatives but treading hard down on the positives.

There is nothing wrong with being suspicious. There is nothing wrong in constructive criticism.  Heaven knows I am very critical but there is a balance and I have always tried to do this.

What always has irked me is when the criticism becomes destructive. When it is just downright political. And we have many political voices opposed to anything the other party, independents, groups may dream up. Worse is when a project is lauded during a particular government’s tenure, whether private or government, and then the opposition party at that time gets into power. How often have we seen this.

The two vociferous members of the opposition, the ones closest to the Shetty Hospital, have not exactly given it their welcome with “open arms”.

Not everything the UDP government has proposed is bad for the country. Not everything about the Shetty hospital is perfect. The location of it at East End and the beautiful “wildlife” and “natural unique roughness” of the landscape is now going to be lost is some of the rumblings. Then, the owner(s) of the land are going to make a huge profit, as if that is a sin.

People are worried about the impact on the infrastructure, the loss of revenues being given away by the government to the Shetty people. Haven’t these persons ever heard of “bulk buying” and the discounts that go with it? It is better to have 500 persons paying 25 cents than 50 paying 75 cents. You do the maths.

Yes, it is going to cost the government and then read “us” to get everything in place before a stone is first laid in position but it can be done if all of us are behind it.

If all of us are behind the projects that have been announced with much heralding but haven’t seen even the light of day.

We are all suffering. Look at the businesses that have ceased trading. Shops and office premises lying empty. Banks mercilessly seizing properties that have been secured and selling them way below the appraised valuations from a year ago just as long as the bank recovers their loan plus all interest.

Banks only lose when they bend their own rules and speculate to make a “fast buck” or knowingly pass “drug/terrorist weapon” money through their accounts at high interest. The perpetrators should be locked away but that is the fate of the bank employee who “borrows” the odd thousand to pay his/her pressing bills.

These are the diseases that are an epidemic running through us. Can the Indian doctor save us from them?

If Health City Cayman Islands, as the Shetty Hospital is officially called, comes to fruition I do believe he can. It certainly is the best of our country’s life savers at the moment.