Jersey has a lesson or two from us
HAS anybody noticed that a couple of Jersey ministers have popped into the island in the past few weeks, trying to get a handle on how we do things?
It’s quite interesting that the Jersey government, held up so often as a paragon of excellence, or a basket case, depending on your political view, should be seeking to take advice from little old Guernsey, the sibling who so often seems to be disregarded from 20 miles away on the ‘big picture’ issues.
We’ve had the education minister touring schools looking at collaborative working between the islands (seems to makes sense, but good luck) and looking to pick up some ideas too.
'To see the commonalities between the two is a really interesting thing to do,' said our Jersey visitor.
The ESC president said ‘it would be a huge waste if we didn’t seek to work together’. We shall wait and see on that one.
Talking about waste, Jersey’s Infrastructure minister has also been across to see how Guernsey does recycling (a damn sight better than Jersey is the answer, with recycling rates in this island about double).
After the ferry tender debacle, many, maybe most, in Guernsey would be sceptical, or at least more sceptical, about what we could ever do together with Jersey.
But if we can show the other island the best way to do things, then there’s no harm in sharing.