The Transformative Power of Politics

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ast week I wrote that politics has the power to transform a people and society for better. Two events last Sunday served as further proof: the opening of the half-done St. Jude hospital to visitors who wished to see for themselves the costly mess, and the opening of a spanking new road at Dugard and La Coureville, in the Micoud South constituency. I decided a follow-up article on the transformative power of politics was necessary, given the two events. I was persuaded to extend my earlier thesis after witnessing the design and civil engineering works that went into the road project as compared to the rehabilitation works at St. Jude Hospital.

During the road handing-over ceremony, the usual speeches from government officials and contractors were delivered on cue. I’ve listened to so many of these over the decades that I pay scant attention, except to matters of cost over-run delays, and so forth. Instead I seek out members of the recipient community to hear firsthand their comments on the new project, how it will impact their lives. Besides, I had used that earlier mentioned route for at least forty years, when bananas were “green gold”.

At the opening ceremony two young men from the community delivered words of appreciation to the prime minister and his team. Both lauded the PM for so soon delivering on his promise while campaigning for office in 2016. By all I heard, naming the road after the prime minister was a community decision. After the ribbon-cutting, the largely partisan crowd held an impromptu motorcade which ended near the La Coureville basketball court, the venue for a scheduled UWP rally.

The motorcade became a ceremony of sorts with all the tooting of horns and flag-waving, reminiscent of election campaigns. The chairs on a makeshift stage at the basketball court were soon occupied by government ministers, leading supporters and other invited friends of the party. The ever-popular “Champagne”, one of the Hewanorra Airport Red Caps, was the event’s master of ceremonies, and did not disappoint. Clearly Champagne enjoys the rough and tumble of politics, Saint Lucia-style. 

The meeting proved a powerful show of UWP team effort, with the crowd loudly applauding at every opportunity, especially the government’s pledges to focus on transformative political change, particularly in the areas of healthcare, education and national security. Assurances of the development of a brand new hospital at Vieux Fort, to replace the engineering nightmare that is St. Jude, were repeated by several speakers. It became clear that right-thinking Saint Lucians also want a proper accounting for the millions already spent with little to show that’s useful.

Based on all that has been spoken and published so far, certain questions force themselves upon the public conversation. These questions demand to know what, where and why things went so awry, and where the buck stopped. In an incisive and thoughtful response, nothing must be allowed to be swept under the carpet. No additional expenditures should be undertaken unless the following questions are fully answered by the former prime minister and minister of finance:

•  Why were there no approved drawings and plans for the new additions which the Labour government undertook at St. Jude?

•  How many contracts were awarded without the approval of Cabinet or the Department of Planning and who signed and approved payments of these contract awards?

•  How many times did workmen demolish badly constructed walls and flooring at St. Jude
hospital and at what cost?

•  What do foreign experts opine regarding the acceptability of St. Jude hospital as a top medical facility, if it is completed along the lines in
which the Labour government left it?

•  Why didn’t the former prime minister and MP for Vieux Fort spend more effort ensuring the completion of the St. Jude hospital reconstruction project?

•  Why is the opposition Labour Party creating such a smokescreen around St. Jude and healthcare, and why are they trying so hard to divert the public’s attention away from the real issue of accountability of wasteful expenditures? What is Labour trying so hard to hide?

It is my ardent wish and prayer that the UWP government closely investigates the St. Jude construction money trail in order to lay bare the mistakes made and by whom. The wheels of justice grind slowly, they say. We can only hope that the transformative political process here grinds more quickly and that in due time each shall receive his or her just desserts.