The United Worker Party (UWP) has come out hitting hard this week in response to the government’s position on a number of key issues plaguing the country.
UWP’s Wednesday press conference, it seems, was in direct response to Monday’s government press briefing held at the office of the prime minister.
Dominic Fedee, Leo Titus Preville and Marcella Johnson took to the mic at the office of the leader of the opposition at Hewanorra House in Sans Souci to lay their positions on the table.
Former Anse La Raye MP Dominic Fedee took sharp aim at Tourism Minister Ernest Hilaire and his utterances in parliament last week concerning the Citizen by Investment (CIP) program. Fedee is confident that the government’s poor handling of the CIP is the main reason for the revocation of St. Lucia’s visa free status in the UK and expressed his disappointment with what he describes as Hilaire assertion, that the visa affair had nothing to do with CIP. “This is not a bureaucratic adjustment, this a statement about our nation in the world. It is a retreat from the trust we once held as a member of the commonwealth family. The UK home office under Home Secretary Shabana Mamood has been explicit. They have stated that our visa free entry has been because of two main reasons. One, the increased number of asylum seekers from St. Lucian nationals, but also, they have made it absolutely clear that our CIP program, which in the view of the opposition has been badly mismanaged by the St. Lucia Labour Party administration, has been a major source of concern for the United Kingdom.” Fedee say the government must table the outstanding CIP reports in an effort to repair St. Lucia’s status on the international stage. Fedee also asked questions concerning CIP escrow accounts and its management, the proposed Rock Hall and Canaries housing developments. The St. Lucia Labour Party {SLP}, then in opposition, had accused the UWP government under Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, of numerous failings including cheapening the program, lack of adequate and timely reporting and loosening key security measures.
Leo Titus Preville said St. Lucians were “paying a heavy price” for not listening to the UWP during the campaign of the last general election on the issue of the CIP. While he supported Fedee’s assertions, his main goal was to attack the proposed borrowing of the government, a total figure the UWP says is an unprecedented EC$600 million in one sitting. “After this borrowing the debt stock, total debt our country would have to pay, would be in the region of $5.7 billion. So, in lest than 5 years, this administration in office would have increased St. Lucia’s national debt by nearly $1.8 billion. The government has added more than EC one million dollars to St. Lucia’s national debt every single day since they have taken office.” Preville admitted that the $600 million figure was not entirely government loans and included a loan guarantee for a SLASPA project at berth 4. Deputy Prime Minister Ernest Hilaire addressed the issue Monday explaining that the project was centered around a damaged cargo dock not being able to adequately handle the equipment load it is expected to handle. Preville pointed to the SLP manifesto which he says made clear that cargo operations would be moved to Cul de Sac. In his submission he appeared to question whether the project was being undertaken for the benefit of the GPH port deal and whether the project should have been undertaken by GPH themselves. Preville insisted that his questions needed to be answered.