Senator Henry says 2016 election defeat was “painful”; He is ready to replace the “poor representation” in Castries South East

Senator Joachim Henry believes that the people of Castries South East deserve better representation. Last month, Opposition Leader Philip J. Pierre announced that Henry — who was defeated in the 2016 general election by MP Guy Joseph — was endorsed by the party’s executive again to contest the seat. On Tuesday evening, Henry was interviewed by businesswoman and former SLP hopeful Lisa Jawahir. “Following my defeat at the last election,” Henry said, “it was indeed a painful kind of experience for me and for persons who were supporting me. And immediately after, my response was that I would not give up.”

Asked what made him the best candidate and why should constituents vote for him, Henry said: “The Castries South East constituency, for the past 15 years under the representation of the current parliamentary representative, has left a trail of dissatisfied constituents, as well as the absence of basic infrastructure to poor households and to vulnerable populations.” Some residents, he said, are without pipe borne water.

The senator believes that the constituency has not been addressed from a number of angles. He bemoaned that there has been no investment in the people, and that social interventions are unheard of in the constituency. “I’ve never heard of for example, a program associated with drug abuse, capacity building in life skills that can respond to the issue of violence, anger management…We have a number of communities, 22 communities over in Castries South East, where a lot of young people are now involved in deviant behaviors. Now you hear of crime in Castries South East in a way that we didn’t have that before.”

Then there was the issue of the Bexon highway. By now, he, said, one would’ve expected the installation of sidewalks or guardrails to protect people adjacent to the economic highway. Henry says it signals “poor representation” that the area has not been made safer, since the issue of vehicular accidents has not been addressed.

The “extremely high” unemployment rate was also among the senator’s concerns. He says that the emphasis is being placed on infrastructure, without investing in people and communities, and promoting sustainable livelihoods in areas other than construction. He acknowledged that equipment operators, civil engineers and persons involved in road construction are getting by. However, he says that there isn’t the capacity in construction to benefit all constituents.

“Post COVID, the approach for governments in the small island states cannot be business as usual. So certainly, it cannot be infrastructure, we now have to look at other forms of developing livelihoods because persons now are unemployed in an unprecedented way.

“So we do have a challenge on our hands and I certainly think that the posture of the current parliamentarian will not cut it for Castries South East, or for any community that has a poor population. It will be a challenge, we need to redirect the effort into areas of farming, manufacturing, the arts, the skills of individuals. This is not backhoe time, this is time when you invest in people! That is what I think will make a difference,” the senator said.