Guy Joseph on Quarantine Fees: “If you can afford to go overseas and come back at will, why can’t you take care of yourself?”

If you can afford to go overseas and come back at will, why can’t you take care of yourself?”

That was the question posed by Economic Development Minister Guy Joseph on Thursday, during a call to Talk with Rick Wayne. From October 15, quarantine fees are set to be introduced in Saint Lucia. Some members of the public have expressed outrage over the cost, and believe that it should be lowered, or the service remain free of charge.

Speaking on the quarantine fees, Joseph said: “It is more than 6 months COVID has been around. People have been leaving Saint Lucia, going overseas, risking themselves, coming back and they are supposed to come back and live at the expense of the people of Saint Lucia? The government has to be spending a million dollars a month to put people into quarantine who want to live their lives a certain way?”

Pointing out that there are Saint Lucians stuck here who cannot even get three basic meals a day, he continued: “I mean, if you can afford to go overseas and come back at will, why can’t you take care of yourself? Who should be outside of Saint Lucia for more than 6 months?”

Some have also accused the government of introducing the fee to deter Labour Party supporters from coming to the island to vote in the upcoming general election. (The government has not indicated how long the fees will be in effect and elections are not constitutionally due until mid next year).

Addressing this matter, the minister said: “You know what I would say to the Opposition? If you don’t have enough people in Saint Lucia who are feeling the impact of good or bad governance to vote for you, so it’s people who are outside, who you pay a ticket [for]… to come and influence the votes in Saint Lucia?

“For that matter, the laws of it should be… you should be here for a period of time in order to be able to vote; not to come overnight. I’m not saying that they are not Saint Lucians, I have people who come from overseas to vote for me,” Joseph said.

The minister asserted that the government has done an excellent job in the handling of COVID-19, “And I say hats off to everybody who’s involved in that!”