The United Workers Party (UWP), at a press conference on Thursday, outlined a six-point plan for government to reduce the economic burden on citizens.
Noting that the high cost of living is an issue which continues to afflict all sectors of society, Chairman of the UWP, Andy Daniel, stated that “when asked about (the) possibility of relief from the global inflation problem, the prime minister indicated that nothing can be done to curb the current situation of rising living expenses.”
Thus, the party is proposing a six-point plan (listed below) to ease the squeeze on citizens “as a result of this volatile time in our country.”
1. The United Workers party sounds an urgent call for the government to continue and expand on the Electricity Bill Support Initiative that we carried out at the height of the COVID 19 pandemic as many were without work and income. By reinstating this programme and making it available to more vulnerable households, pain will be relieved on many families.
2. Extend a helping hand to our farmers and provide seeds, fertilizer and animal feed to bolster local livestock and crop production. However, production must be complimented by guaranteeing markets for farmers so that there is confidence to go out and produce. It is our firm view that the produce from farmers should be purchased by the government and distributed to vulnerable households.
3. Reduce the VAT rate now and add more items to the list of exempted and zero rated items basket. Conduct the necessary research and implement measures to give the people relief; relief at the supermarkets, relief at the drugstores, relief at the cooking gas vendor. Saint Lucians will be reminded that it was a manifesto policy of the United Workers Party to reduce VAT from 12.5% to 10%. A high VAT rate continues to be a major contributor to the rising cost of everyday household commodities.
Simply putting our hands- up and saying “nothing can be done” is not an option. We also call on the government to implement these additional three measures immediately to ease the pain:
4. Maintain the current price for a gallon of gasoline fuel at the gas stations. The government must not allow the price of gas to exceed the current price. This will allow the price of transportation, locally manufactured goods, and other related commodities to remain stable.
5. Scrap the recent increases in the 20 LBS and 22 LBS cylinder of LPG cooking gas and reinstate the original price. The current increases only add to the burdensome high inflation which continues to pressure many vulnerable households.
6. Make good on the promised $1,500 income support to many small businesses and self-employed individuals. These include vendors, taxi drivers, fishermen, and several others. The former United Workers Party administration mobilized income support for 11,000 registered workers and 6, 000 additional self-employed persons from a wide range of sectors.
Chastanet has made himself a cack-handed symbol of everything enraging St. Lucians. He engages in empty platitudes and mindless stupidity. Why stimulate an economy that’s on the verge of recovery? St. Lucia under Chastanet was ensnared in a full-blown debt crisis. Credit-rating agencies like Fitch Group, Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, CariCris downgraded the country’s government bonds. He advocated belt-tightening when an economic stimulus was absolutely necessary. To be fair, Chastanet cannot even tell the truth in front of a mirror.