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Decision by Senior Public Servant Saved Country Costly Debt Burden, Pierre

Prime Minister Philip J Pierre has credited a decision by a senior public official to take a $70 million arrangement to the Office of the Attorney General for review as saving taxpayers from a costly debt burden.

Pierre, at a House of Assembly meeting last week, revealed the financial details behind this $70 million dollar arrangement by the previous administration, saying in fine print, the client agreed to enter into a payment plan, which required the Government of Saint Lucia to pay within 12 months architectural works costing $22,883,000 and ground floor works amounting to $34,143,000.

Pierre noted that all in all, the grand total of this arrangement amounted to $70,773,864 for the ground floor of a hospital.

He said the arrangement was drawn up days before the July 26 general elections and only needed a signature to proceed, and that the payment would be carried over a one-year period in the following manner:

ā€œWithin three months of signing this agreement the client will pay EC$26 million dollars, the sourcing being a loan from the Republic of China in Taiwan, identified as loan agreement 602184007.

ā€œThis same loan agreement was air marked to do something else. The second quarter payment carried out by the client paying to the company EC$10,762,000. The third payment will be carried out by the client paying the company EC$ 18,710,000 the source being the Government of St. Lucia. The fourth quarter payment EC$14,478,494.80 sourcing being the Government of St. Lucia. In the case of late payment of any invoice submitted by the company. The client will have an interest of 1% a day to the amount overdue, which would be $69,000 a day,ā€ Pierre said.

1 Comment

  1. Pity that same Senior Public Official wasn’t put in charge of the St.Judes Reconstruction a decade or more ago, then perhaps there would be money in the kitty to ease the burden of increasing costs for the less well off amongst the population

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