THE Hon. Philip J. Pierre has given 25 years of sterling representation to the Castries East Constituency. And that Silver Jubilee of representation will be observed on Monday, 23rd May, 2022.
Hon. Pierre first entered representative politics in 1992 and was beaten by the then incumbent Romanus Lansiquot. He was undaunted by the thrashing but instead used the experience presented by the thrashing to comeback and emerge victorious in the following election of 1997.
Indeed, Philip Pierre showed the strength of a master politician by beating Romanus Lansiquot in the General Election of 23rd of May 1997. He has won every election since then: General elections of 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016 and the most recent, 2021. The constituents of Castries East have returned him repeatedly to the House of Assembly or the House of Representatives.
Philip Pierre had given a good account in the following Ministries:
Minister for Civil Aviation from May 1997 to 2001; Minister for Commerce, Trade and Industry, 2001 to 2006; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Port Services and Transport from 2011 to 2016; Leader of the Opposition and Political Leader of the St. Lucia Labour Party from 2016 to 2021. And in 2021 he became the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Development and the Youth Economy.
Hon. Philip J. Pierre, Prime Minister believes in the development of people and has demonstrated that by the nature of the work he has done in his constituency which is a serious attempt at transforming the lives of people. Some of these projects are: The construction of the children’s Park in Tou Rouge. Not just that, but he made Wi Fi available to the community, particularly for the students attending school. Those children who had no Wi Fi at home were able to use the technology which was at their disposal.
He constructed a multi-Purpose court at Pavee. The court is available to all the people of Pavee including young people with a burst of energy.
The Parliamentary Representative for Castries East constructed a state-of-the art public Facility in George Charles Boulevard. That is a facility that was badly needed by the community. And the people made very good use of the facility.
He then went on to do the reconstruction of the Marchand Grounds. Now those of us who are born and grew up in Marchand would know that we played on the grounds for most of the day, particularly on weekends. However, by dusk we had to go home because it became dark. But he went on to install lights on the grounds, which gave the sports men and women an opportunity to engage in their sporting activity much longer.
The Parliamentary Representative for Castries East resurfaced many roads in his constituency. Those include roads in Entrepot, Boacge, Independence City and Ravine Chabot. Evidence of work on the roads network could still be seen in his constituency today.
We come now to the electrification of all the dark areas of the constituency. There is hardly a place where a cluster of people reside that has no electricity.
Indeed, major repairs have been done on the Marchand Community Centre and the Romanus Lansiquot Human Resource Development Centre. In both buildings members of the community have congregated for one activity or the other over several years.
Only recently the Entrepot Human Resource Development Centre was renamed the Romanus Lansiquot Human Resource Centre. Now Romanus Lansiquot and Philip J. Pierre went after each other in the political arena. But outside the arena they were on very friendly terms. At that time, it was ‘healthy’ politics. Not the kind of ‘dog eat dog’ and deception that we experience in our politics today. The politics of that era was gentlemanly.
Major footpaths can now be seen in areas of the constituency where residents had to change shoes in order to get to church, the shopping centres and other leisure time activities.
Indeed, there are several other ways in which he assisted his constituents. The construction of the Marchand Police was done under his stewardship. And the station is serving the community well.
As a Minister of government, he served the nation with excellence. As minister of tourism, for example, he caused to be built several hotels on the island,
But it is as Prime Minister of St. Lucia that, along with his capable team of ministers, that he will create greater impact.
Coming out of the last general election was the mantra “Putting People First” And. the 1.8-billion-dollar budget present and passed in parliament reflects that mantra.
The Youth Economy, which he refers to as a developmental focus for young people will be implemented during this year 2022.The young people who make up about 72% of the Saint Lucian population will get the opportunity to be engaged in the economic development of our country.
The 2022/2023 budget contained something for everyone: In addition to the Youth Economy Project, the budget will cater for the public service, fishers, taxpayers, entrepreneurs, farmers, school children, people receiving public assistance, farmers, persons with disabilities, persons living in dilapidated homes, and manufacturers, among others.
The last line of the Jaycees Creed reads….” That service to humanity is the best work of life.” Indeed, the prime minister of St. Lucia is well poised to bring services to the St. Lucian people. He has earned the prime ministership through dedication, hard work and perseverance. And I have no doubt that he will deliver.
Let me wish him a happy silver jubilee celebration of political achievements in our country.