An Opportunity To Downsize Government!

The resignation last week of Dr Ubaldus Raymond as the Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Business Development, Investment and Consumer Affairs presents the St Lucia Labour Party Government with an opportunity to make a responsible decision with respect to the post which he held. In this regard, the United Workers Party is strongly recommending that Prime Minister Kenny D Anthony takes the deliberate decision not to reinstate the position of Parliamentary Secretary in that Ministry.

Based on Dr. Raymond’s own admission he was under-utilized within the current Administration. This can be interpreted to mean that his appointment as Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry in question was not critical to the functioning of Government. During a recent interview with the Mirror Newspaper Dr. Raymond stated the following: “I felt that I was not in a position to make a contribution to the development of the country”.

Given these revelations by Dr. Ubaldus Raymond and Government’s expectation (according to a document from the Ministry of Finance recently made public) that public servants should consider “foregoing salary and wages increase for the 2010 to 2013 triennium”, the United Workers Party is of the view that it is in the best interest of the country that the post of Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Business Development, Investment and Consumer Affairs be left vacant. In so doing Dr. Anthony would be relieving tax payers of the burden of sustaining his over-sized Cabinet which is underpinned by highly paid consultants and at the same time demonstrating that his Government is prepared to subject itself to necessary austerity measures.

—United Workers Party