THE Barbados electorate has spoken with one voice and expelled an administration in an unprecedented fashion. This defeat begs many questions and answers but on the other hand it clearly indicates that the Caribbean region is not prepared to accept business as usual. Amongst the reasons for this major rejection stems from the following:
- Excessive taxation of VAT and social taxes to the tune of 27% (17% VAT and 10% social taxes) which was seen as a disincentive for investors.
- Mismanagement of the nation’s finances accentuated by the lack of confidence in the administration.
- Printing millions of dollars annually in paper money to support an ailing economy.
- The failure of the administration to meet with the business community in a meaningful manner to address a deteriorating approach to business.
- The failure to implement agreed decisions taken in concert with stakeholders.
- The decision by the leader of the DLP to move away from the CCJ and appoint independent judges as a last resort.
- A one seat majority which curtailed the authority of the Prime Minister to keep his cabinet of ministers in line.
St. Lucia, Grenada and Antigua have all gone in the same direction and hopefully these current administrations will take heed that the electorate within their nations are no longer prepared to sit back and pretend that it is business as usual. On the other hand, Jamaica which scraped through in ousting the incumbent by one seat has taken drastic measures in their administrative system which so far has produced major dividends for the nation by reducing unemployment to 11% and increasing a growth rate from negative growth to 1.9%. Here in St. Lucia despite the on-going campaign by the opposition from day one of their defeat, the current administration was forced to address a massive cleaning up of the nation’s finances, infrastructure and addressing foreign investment. To date, the UWP has achieved the following (1) reduced VAT by 2.5%, partially opened the EU hospital, provided the funding to stabilise the St. Jude hospital at the stadium additionally embarking upon the construction of a new 75 room hospital to be completed within 14 months.
The first phase of the DSH race track will be completed July 31st, 2018, the HIA (Hewanorra International Airport) project breaks ground on August 30th, 2018, the Il Pirata site for the new 250 acre cruise-ship terminal will commence December 2018 as all testing results will be completed by August 30th 2018 in order that tenders can be distributed. The ground breaking of the site to accommodate the desilting of the John Compton Dam is in progress and the desilting of the dam will commence once the site has been fully prepared. Sandals La Source comprising 400 suites in the amount of US $300 million has commenced and the Cap Golf Course is undergoing extensive upgrading under the signature of Greg Norman. The Sab Richard project has been fully cleared and all drainage restructured for construction works within the next couple weeks. The Tomazo Bridge has been completed and opened to the public; the main thorough-fare through Choiseul village has been completely resurfaced and is now a sight to behold. Major road works are on-going over the island and the new highway from the new Hewanorra air terminal to the La Resource road is on-going. The Cannels project at Honey Moon beach is expected to commence in mid-December 2018 where some 300 rooms plus an undisclosed number of villas will be constructed. The west coast road including the rehabilitation of the Millennium Highway is scheduled to commence mid December 2018 to mid-January 2019. The new highway from Gros Islet to Dennery will commence February 2019. A container berth in Cul de Sac will commence January 2019 and the Bananes area will be transformed with a facility similar to what exists adjacent to the George F. L. Charles Airport together with a pier for the fisher folk and tour operators.
Based on all the above projects is an indication that the current administration is not taking the public for granted and are determined not to repeat the errors of their predecessors.