TIME TO COME CLEAN?

“This above all: to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man.” Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3.

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]it by bit, with patience and perseverance, we arrive at the truth, and discover facts. Contemplation and persistent questioning—two philosophical guide posts—came to mind last Thursday as I listened to TALK with Rick Wayne. The talk show host declared he believed the former prime minister of Saint Lucia called early general elections in 2016 because he became impatient and frustrated over the tardiness of work at St. Jude Hospital. If Rick is correct, why didn’t friends of the former PM deliver that simple message to the public instead of their tissue of lies? Reckless misinformation is the preferred route of vagabonds and miscreants. Apparently, the truth had to be hidden to save face, and to protect those in whom much confidence had been reposed.   

The former PM and his Minister of Health had announced, on at least three occasions, dates for the completion and re-opening of St. Jude Hospital. At their third announcement the hospital was only half-completed. The PM, perhaps embarrassed and fed-up, threw up his arms in disgust. Instead of admonishing those responsible, he reached instead for the presumed face-saving device of a general election. He could not have carried out the same elaborate bluff of a naming ceremony as he did with the OKEU Hospital. Rather than exposing the culprits, he may have chosen to protect them by resorting to Machiavellian tactics at the expense of the Chastanet family. Why didn’t the former PM pull the rug from under the real culprits? Did someone suggest that there was more in the mortar than the pestle?

Many have concluded that the promise of better days, underpinned by transparency and accountability, lies buried in the rubble at St. Jude Hospital. It seemed easier to bluff and obfuscate than to trust the people with verifiable facts.

The second ploy, the attempt at scapegoating the Chastanets, father and son, was worse than the first. To impute improper motives to others, rather than expose the guilty, cried out for redress. It was the first time since Independence, some 39 years ago, that a political leader had fingered a family as the target of his political vendetta. It smelt like desperation politics. Besides, a leader who had distinguished himself by his silence on important issues of foreign investments seemed out of character in his outburst. Some had argued that his frustrations with the incomplete St. Jude Hospital, and the proposed horse-racing track at Vieux Fort, together with the lease of 1,000-acres to another foreign outfit, would have aroused the curiosity of the electorate more than the attacks on the Chastanets.

Unfortunately, rather than address the nation on his stewardship and the difficulties encountered in attempting to deliver on his promise of better days, the secretive prime minister decided it was better to hide his frustration behind an early election. He paid the price! Two years later he still persists in blaming everyone else but himself for the hospital fiasco and for the election results.

The cards he kept close to his chest blew up in his face. Perhaps in disgust over St. Jude Hospital he forgot to mention that he had earmarked more lands in the south and south-east of the island to foreigners than the former six prime ministers of Saint Lucia since Independence.     

Notwithstanding the above, the former prime minister owed it to himself to make a clean breast of it and come clean after the last elections. St. Jude Hospital was regarded primarily
as an institution for Vieux Fort and its neighbouring communities. A simple apology to his Vieux Fort constituents would have sufficed. After all, they expected better from his stewardship as their MP and PM. Instead of a simple apology, he seemed to admit defeat by passing the leadership of the Labour Party and parliamentary opposition to the long-suffering Philip J. Pierre.

One hoped that once the former leader was free of his burdens he would finally summon the courage to come clean over St. Jude Hospital. Sadly, the former PM continued to do what he does best—hide behind others—as cowards often do.

It is my sincere petition that the issue of St. Jude hospital is not allowed to fade silently into the night. The good people of Vieux Fort must come together and resolve to return the town to a path of progress it once enjoyed. While we contemplate a brighter future, we must insist on knowing the whole truth about the St. Jude Hospital re-construction effort. Who were the people paid to order equipment for the hospital? Who gave the order to pay contractors before verifying their work was up to the required standard? Most importantly, when will Prime Minister Allen Chastanet and his government provide answers to these questions?                       

Alas poor Vieux Fort! My heart bleeds for you. I have witnessed your decline in words too painful to speak.Your air and sea ports are poor relics of the 1970s. Would someone care to analyze the town after these past twenty years?

The most damning thing about those wasted years, especially with the St. Jude Hospital reconstruction, is that the former PM never seemed sufficiently incensed about the waste and delay at the hospital to act more resolutely on behalf of the people of Vieux Fort, and of Saint Lucia.

One may look back and postulate that worse could have happened to Vieux Fort. For example, Hewanorra International Airport could have been handed over to a foreigner to operate; New Dock could have disappeared into the sea from neglect, and the Baccadere could have been swamped with pigs and other animals. But God is good. We pray that the people of Vieux Fort will be true to themselves in their next act for the town. We pray, too, for the long darkness soon to end!