I listened to the Leader of the Opposition Philip J. Pierre in his address to the nation and it is more than clear that Mr. Pierre continues to show all Saint Lucians that he is stuck in a time warp. It is very clear from his speech that he is out of touch with the many developments that have taken place in Saint Lucia and his message of doom and gloom is in sharp contrast to the positive changes happening in Saint Lucia, as highlighted by the prime minister in his New Year’s Address. The United Workers Party believes that times have changed and so have the expectations of the people, which causes us to do things differently but unfortunately the Labour party has not. In effect, everything that Mr. Pierre said in his speech has been said before and these promises are unfulfilled echoes from his manifesto in 2011.
For example, Mr. Pierre said in his address that under his leadership he will make a visible commitment to the youth and create a “youth economy”, providing access to funding and training in areas of ICT, Entertainment and Creative industries. Putting aside for a minute that even the Governor of the ECCB was puzzled by this non-idea, in the first page of Mr. Pierre’s SLP manifesto in 2011 he said he will:
1. Introduce a grant programme for business to provide skill training for secondary school students;
2. Develop the creative industries . . . to create exciting new employment areas;
3. Develop the ICT sector . . . to create employment;
4. Establish a Job Placement Centre that will match available skills with demand for labour;
5. Provide support for private sector youth entrepreneurship initiatives;
6. Upgrade and establish new vocational centres in rural communities;
7. Introduce a national youth mentoring programme.
And there are many more promises he made for youth initiatives that he and his party failed to deliver. So the question is: What is new? Same promises repackaged. And may I remind Saint Lucians that he won the elections in 2011. He was in government and did not fulfil any one of these promises made to the youth. And so his newfound love and acknowledgement to the youth now is just a political tool to use the young people of Saint Lucia to gain political mileage.
Whilst he is claiming to care about the youth, he is opposed to:
• the employment of over 300 young Saint Lucians in the ICT sector at OJO labs with support from the government;
• the introduction of a sports academy in Gros Islet to train and provide greater opportunities for our young talented sports men and women;
• the government pumping over EC$30 million into our sports infrastructure to upgrade and put lights on our playing fields around the island, put tracks and a cricket ground in Soufriere and put a swimming pool for our kids in Micoud;
• the provision of $20 million in the SLDB for youth entrepreneurs and to help build their homes.
So neither the youth nor Saint Lucians are fooled by Mr. Pierre and his empty promises. This UWP administration already has a track record of meaningfully helping the youth, with actions not empty words.
I can give you another example of Pierre’s unfulfilled promises because in his address he said that under his leadership he will encourage the growth of indigenous business by giving tax and other incentives and he will promote and assist micro business though the provision of incentives and financial packages and he will simplify the tax structure.
Again Pierre is stuck in time. In 2011 he promised to:
1. Provide an employment tax credit for new companies;
2. Stimulate growth in the business sector by reducing the rate of corporate tax;
3. Encourage new employment opportunities by exempting small business from the payment of tax.
Again, did he do any of these? He was in government and was deputy prime minister. What has changed? Same stale fish, barely repackaged.
Mr Pierre should note that under this UWP administration we have made available $20 million to micro and medium entrepreneurs at the SLDB to start their own business. Under this UWP administration we continue to grant duty-free concessions and tax incentives to micro and medium business. We are implementing a new user interface which will make applying for business licences and other documentation much easier than before. So, contrary to Labour propaganda, we are not only for the “big guys”; we help all people, regardless of their standing.
Mr. Pierre also spoke to the non-completion of St. Jude Hospital. Again, stuck in time and trying to mislead the public. When it comes to health care and St. Jude, Mr. Pierre needs to tell Saint Lucians that he was deputy prime minister during the period 2011-2016 when he inherited an 80% completed, refurbished St. Jude. He needs to tell people of this country it was under his leadership and five years of him being in government that St. Jude was still not completed and nurses and patients were allowed to languish at the stadium. It was under his leadership that the government spent over $100 million and still cannot account for where or how the monies were spent, hence the reason we had to conduct an audit into the mismanagement of both government and donor funds. It was under his leadership that money was spent to have a naming ceremony but no allocation was made to commission and open OK-EU Hospital.
Again we have had to clean up the mess left by his administration at St. Jude and OK-EU. We have spent over $2 million to upgrade the facility at the stadium, to remove the dangerous roof that his report in 2015 spoke about and to renovate the sewage and electrical systems at the stadium. We have begun the partial transition to OK-EU and will be fully transitioned before the end of this year. In addition I urge Mr. Pierre to take a trip down south so he can see the accelerated construction of St Jude Hospital. The UWP guarantees Saint Lucians that the renovation and reconstruction of St. Jude will be completed, and we will do in three years what Pierre could not do in five years.
There is a sudden concern by Mr. Pierre for the fishermen and the banana farmers of Saint Lucia. Where was Philip J. Pierre when the fisheries complex was owing the fishermen millions of dollars for the sale of their fish, to the extent that these fishermen had to go on strike? What was the solution when the government had to be bailing out the fisheries complex every year to pay the fishermen?
But now, Mr Pierre and the Labour party are opposed to a home grown Saint Lucian owning and operating the fisheries complex. He is opposed to the fishermen getting cash sales for their fish and no one owing them. In effect he is opposed to any stability in the fisheries sector.
With respect to the Banana Farmers, what Mr Pierre did not tell you is that over the last 3 years we have seen substantial growth in the agricultural sector especially in the production of Bananas. We have seen an increase in farmers returning to the Banana industry, we have seen an increase in acreages of banana cultivating and we have seen an increase in exports in bananas. Again, Mr Pierre did not tell you that we have embarked on a project to produce and eventually be self-sustainable in 7 crops such as tomatoes, Lettuces, Bell peppers and other crops. This is an extensive diversification project and not an empty promise by Philip J Pierre who promised to create a land bank for agriculture and diversification.
It is no secret then that Philip J Pierre’s party is opposed to any form of stability in Saint Lucia. Mr Pierre said that he is concerned about Saint Lucia’s rising debt level. Again, Mr Pierre has convenient amnesia because it was under the leadership of Mr Pierre that the country saw an explosion of rising debt. When the Labor party came into office in 1997 our debt stock was 718M. When they left office in 2006 our debt had risen to 1.62billion. Under Stephenson King we stabilised our debt but when Pierre came back in office in 2011 he further brought our debt to 3.07 billion.
Under the visionary leadership and prudent management of our Prime Minister Hon. Allen Chastanet we have stabilized our debt portfolio. We have implemented a policy of creating a revenue stream for every new debt incurred. That’s why we implemented the airport redevelopment tax to cover the repayment of the loan and not burden Saint Lucians and the 1.50 road tax to cover the loan for the repairs and maintenance of our roads.
It must be noted that had Mr. Pierre not removed the airport development tax back in 2011 we would have accumulated sufficient funds to cushion the cost of the airport redevelopment.
The United Workers Party is very pleased that one of the priorities of Mr Pierre will be the intolerance and investigation into corruption. Indeed no political party nor government should tolerate or accept any form of corruption. This is what our party stands for. And so in solidarity with this position we encourage Mr Pierre to start the focus on the fundamental issues of corruption and begin investigation into acts of corruption in the Grynberg matter, into the Rochamel matter, into the famous Juffali affair, to name a few. Mr Pierre must also conduct investigation into alleged corruption acts in the awarding of over 419 million dollars in direct awards during the period 2011-2016. This was under his tenure and under his leadership. And so if the awarding of direct awards amounts to acts of corruption then certainly we encourage Mr Pierre to investigate.
I know that the Labour party is very disappointed about the success of the reduction in the VAT from 15 to 12.5 percent.
I know that Pierre is very disappointed that we have had 3 years of positive growth after 5 years of regression and no growth.
I also know that Pierre is very disappointed after the meetings with the IMF and the ECCB who both projected growth for 2019 and 2020. So Saint Lucia is on the right path. The UWP stands with the Government as it continues:
• The path of increased growth in tourism arrival
• The path to reduce unemployment from 25% to 17%
• The path to increased investment
• The path to road rehabilitation and improvement in our infrastructure
• The path to increase spending of over 20 million dollars to improve and rehabilitate our schools infrastructure
And so if Mr Pierre truly has Saint Lucia at heart like he say he does, he would do the honourable thing and applaud this government for their prudent management of the economy. Mr Pierre should cut the political rhetoric and put Saint Lucia first.
-By Nancy Charles
