“I never said the country was broke.”- PM Allen Chastanet

Prime Minister Allen Chastanet has sought to clarify comments he made on Sunday during an address to the nation. The address came one day after the country recorded the 29th case of COVID-19— a 48-year-old minibus driver. The source of infection is unknown and officials have expressed concern that there may be community spread of the virus.

Speaking on Saint Lucia’s COVID-19 situation, Chastanet said:

“I’m here tonight to appeal to all Saint Lucians that this is serious. What’s at stake is not only the health of our nation but it’s also the economics of our nation. It’s no secret: the government has exhausted all of the efforts, all of the resources with the NIC and donor agencies to provide a social stabilization program for the public, and for those persons who’ve lost their jobs. We have no more money! What we’re hoping to do is to regain the strength of our economy so many persons can be re-employed.

“…The reality is, that we have a battle. If in fact that there is a community outbreak we have to do everything in our power to contain it as fast as possible because if we don’t, and we lose our status and the confidence that the rest of the world has with us, it’s going to significantly impact the arrivals that we have into our country. At that point, the only way to continue the economic growth is to lower your standards and certainly that would be very difficult if not impossible for me and my cabinet to agree to that. And so therefore we have to work doubly hard to make sure that if we do have a community spread, that we can contain it as fast as possible,” he said.

Later in the address Chastanet also stressed the importance of following the protocols as a way to reduce costs. He noted that if the situation worsens to a point where hospitals are full and tourists stop coming to the country, there would be no revenue, and the state would then have to find resources to provide food, healthcare and security for the citizenry.

Chastanet revisited the matter on Thursday during an interview with Timothy Poleon. “Again you know it’s very sad that on one hand the Opposition says that you don’t play politics with health and they’re not going to play politics with COVID, but persons do. This idea that we’ve gone out and said the country was broke, I never said the country was broke. I said if in fact we have to shut this country down it is going to put significant amount of stress on our revenues and therefore it’s going to be very difficult; we’re going to have to make some tough decisions. We don’t have the cash on hand to go and re-shut the country down, restart a significant income stabilization program or feeding programs,” Chastanet said.

“…I want to give everyone the assurances that we’re meeting our bills, we’re fine. The question here is, if in fact we have to shutdown this country again— which I do not want to do— then it’s going to be a very painful process both health-wise and also economically. I’m really saying to everyone, please, we can resolve this problem together. We need strict adherence: wear your face mask, sanitize your hands and social distancing.”