How much more do we want to know about the persons running our country before taking any disciplinary action? Do we intend remaining as quiet as a mouse until the house collapses? St Lucia is a small island state with limited sources of income, but lately, we have witnessed a very strange direction where our income streams are severely compromised by way of donations and spending has gone completely haywire on a series of intangible events.
Here are the real concerns for all St Lucians.
- The closure of the Rodney Bay road project and the two roundabouts have cost the nation over fifteen million dollars as a result of poor decisions.
- The closure of the two housing projects have cost the nation over fifteen million dollars as a result of poor decision making.
- The stoppage of the HIA terminal will run into several million dollars depending on when the project will recommence.
- The failure to complete the new St Jude Hospital and return to an 80-year-old structure is costing the government one hundred million dollars in unnecessary expenditure by failing to complete the new St Jude’s.
- The donation of the cruise line terminal and Soufriere docks over a thirty-year lease period will bring about losses of several billion dollars. All these moneys thrown down the drain represents assets and cash that all St Lucians own and the SLP administration has taken on its own to dispose of those assets and all that cash which could have gone into so many projects like housing, refurbishing and supply medication for our hospitals, water and updating our roads throughout the nation.
On top of all those giveaways, we have now witnessed the outrageous agreement for the construction of the Halls of Justice with a square footage dollar rate which is several times expensive than the highest current rate. Then there is 78,000 sq ft of space at Orange Grove Plaza which has been completed since January 2024 with government paying the landlord three hundred thousand dollars monthly in rentals and have declined to move into the premises for no real reason. How can the nation disburse all those payments on behalf of the state without running into difficulties down the line?
We are now seeing that government bonds are paying 7.5% interest per annum when the maximum rate before never surpassed 4.5%. We now understand why our leaders are becoming so desperate in creating new agreements for our CIP funds which is likely to land us in trouble when the US, UK and EU are our major partners in the tourism industry. Insanity is a curse which we don’t necessarily have to inherit but some of us walk into this trap and hope that some good Samaritan will let us out scotch free. HOW VERY SAD.