Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, just back from a near week-long absence from office, has taken sharp aim at the leader of the opposition for what he calls “falsity of the highest order” in relation to an ongoing SSDF matter.
According to the prime minister, a letter said to be from the office of the leader of the opposition, reportedly copied to regional and international organizations, criticized the government for not carrying out the required annual financial audits of the operations of the St. Lucia Social Development Fund {SSDF}. Prime Minister Pierre mentioned the Caribbean Development Bank {CDB} as one of the institutions receiving the letter in question. The letter, the prime minister said, was grossly misaligned with the facts with the facts. He clarified that during the 5-year reign of the United Workers Party {UWP} administration {2016 – 2021}, not one SSDF audit was done. In fact, he said, the lone audit of that era was done in March of 2023 under his St. Lucia Labour Party {SLP} administration. “Upon assuming office, the current board of directors, initiated the process of auditing the financial statements of the St. Lucia Social Development Fund recognizing the importance of ensuring that financial records were necessary. The process initially focused on clearing the outstanding audits for the financial period 2016 – 2021 under the United Workers Party government.”
The prime minister, who was speaking at the weekly government press briefing Monday, said due to a lack of adequate pertinent documentation the subsequent audits proved to be difficult to complete hence the decision to proceed to advance the ‘outstanding financial statements as qualified statements.’
“This approach allows the SSDF to address the outstanding years and advance the auditing process despite the documentation challenges encountered. The SSDF is now looking ahead and is pleased to advise that the auditors have committed to delivering unqualified audited statements, once the records are there, for the financial years 2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025. The board is working closely with the auditors who have been appointed with the objective of having these statements finalized by the end of 2026. The only reason why statements have not been prepared is because the United Workers Party, under the present leader of the opposition, failed to present audited statements for these years.”
Pierre also highlighted that prior to 2016, audited statements were done and available. The prime minister revealed that work on repairing St. Lucia’s name has to begin because of the damage that has been realized due to the reported circulated letter, largely evidenced by the numerous calls from outside institutions flooding into the government. Pierre is convinced that this matter should have been dealt with in parliament and not in the international stage which could have implications for the critically important SSDF and its funding of vital social responsibility.
The SSDF is an amalgamation of the Poverty Reduction Fund {PRF} and the Basic Needs Trust Fund {BNTF}.