17 Nov 2022
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3 Nov 2022
Even more alarming is that the Government reportedly invited no media to the signing of the October 20th 2022 Memorandum of Understanding with the foreign entity who will reportedly own Saint Lucia’s main port and the Government only released a vague report from the office of the Prime Minister. There was no opportunity for questions or additional information about the project. Neither has the Government, that campaigned under the banner of transparency and challenged the signing of a framework agreement with DSH, released the MOU with GPH to the public.
The question must be asked: What is the Government hiding? What was the temptation to rush this deal?
I have noted that neither the citizens that this project will directly impact nor the media or the wider public have been given the opportunity to review the deal before the MOU was signed.
There is also growing concern that the signing with GPH for the Castries and Soufriere ports will mean that the southern Home Port project which was scheduled for Vieux Fort is dead in the water. The Home Port plan for Vieux Fort was expected to attract a certain class of ships, which would enable Saint Lucia to be more competitive as well as provide increased economic activity in Vieux Fort and surrounding southern communities, such as Laborie, Micoud and Choiseul. The agreement by the UWP administration with Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean would have seen the Government achieve both the southern port and the upliftment of Castries, without sacrificing much needed revenue. The Vieux Fort port would have been able to accommodate the latest and most innovative ships in the cruise industry, with the additional attraction of the proximity of the Hewanorra Airport, the construction of St Jude hospital and the horseracing track, as well as hotel projects earmarked for the south. This would by extension spread the economic activity throughout Saint Lucia.
During my tenure as Prime Minister, I prioritized the south as a strategic area for development. The prospect of the Home Port project in the south is being shelved as well as other southern projects.
A home port generates significantly more revenue to the state than any other type of cruise business that would be coming into St. Lucia. Home porting would pay your airport tax, hence more people would be contributing toward the cost of the airport. Then you would have pre- and post days visitors who are coming in early and are staying a couple of days before they catch their ship.
There’s also a greater opportunity to grow attractions in the South than there is in the North. The prospects for increased business for taxi drivers, the impact on the improved value for Saint Lucians that own property, the employment that would have been created in the south is all out the window with this deal.
The Opposition notes that its more alarming that SLP MPs for these constituencies would turn a blind eye as this deal was signed.
The expectations of the people of the south have been dashed once again by the SLP who continuously show that the development of the south is not a priority and that it never would be. They stopped St. Jude, stopped road developments and now an item that was included in the Labour Party manifesto has gone the same way.
Questions also surround whether Saint Lucia is forfeiting too much in the GPH deal, with the developer expected to put in $47 million, yet make an estimated over $300 million.
There are so many more questions than answers. Revenue collected by Invest Saint Lucia and SLASPA, could in jeopardy.
Will rents increase for tenants at Pointe Seraphine or La Place Carenage? What about the vendors arcade? Will they be able to afford the costs imposed by the new company?
We’re talking about a private concessionaire, who is primarily concerned with generating a return.
When the United Workers Party received the GPH deal this was among the reasons it was not signed as well as the condition that there would not be a Vieux Fort home port project.
The UWP’s plan was to build a hotel at Pointe Seraphine, improve the city of Castries, move the container port to Cul-de-Sac in order to free up that land and create more commercial activity.
Why has the Government rushed into this deal?
Why has they deal not been made public?
What are the terms of the deal?
Has due diligence been done on GPH and other ports they manage?
What are the terms under which GPH will receive a return on their investment?
What will be the role of SLASPA?
What will happen with the rental costs for the vendors facility?
Meanwhile, I am still hopeful that a Home Port will be built in Vieux Fort and that the SLP Government will honour the agreements made with Carnival Corporation and consider the benefits for the entire island. The Opposition calls for consultation and for the full agreement to come before the public for scrutiny.
I am also calling on previously vocal pressure groups to find their voice once again and demand that the SLP administration fulfill its campaign promise of transparency. Based on the current trend there has been no evidence that they intend to practice what they preach.
1 Nov 2022
29 Oct 2022
28 Oct 2022
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The Political Times are Changing
By Anthony Serieux
Allen Chastanet and the United Workers Party scored an important victory over the Labour Party in the Courts this week. In terms of the political situation in the country at this time, this victory was huge.
It may not have overshadowed the rampant crime and violence of the past week, the murders, the holdups, the robberies and so on, but the Privileges Committee decision was of tremendous importance because it stopped in its tracks the ongoing attempt by the Labour Party government to ride roughshod over its opponents, especially Allen Chastanet, and by extension the people of St Lucia.
The decision by the Court to stop the process initiated by the Speaker to “try” Chastanet in its “kangaroo” privileges Committee had another telling effect: it began to galvanize public opinion against the government that would certainly have resulted in hundreds of protesters descending on Castries on Tuesday had Speaker Francis attempted to go ahead with the hearing.
Francis, in his usual show of arrogance and bravado, attempted to portray himself as being unfazed by the Court action, but he must surely have realized by now that he will have a fight on his hands pursuing his agenda of trying to punish Chastanet.
Could you imagine the gall of these people? Not being satisfied with harassing Chastanet at every meeting of the House since July 2021 with a gang of criminals forever at his throat in a vendetta reminiscent of the Mafia mob, they now want to try him with a biased Speaker in the chair and two notorious antagonists prosecuting, how on earth could this be considered fair?
But listening to the Speaker one forms the distinct impression that he believes he can defy the Court although in fact that is an exercise in futility.
What annoys many St Lucians however is the fact that while the Speaker and his henchmen in parliament are pursuing Allen Chastanet, crime is raging in the country at a most alarming rate. The business sector has become a sitting duck for gun-toting bandits, gang rivalry continue unabated and the people are being traumatized like never before, not knowing what the next attack will bring. In fact, unless I miss my guess, with the Christmas season upon us, St Lucians can look to a reign of terror from criminals.
Adding fuel to the fire is the escalating prices of foodstuffs and other necessities, the failure of the government to provide any kind of relief to the people and the increasing climate of hopelessness that is now in evidence all over the island. In the midst of all of this, the Prime Minister decides that he needs a vacation so he goes off to wherever leaving St. Lucia in the hands of a deputy whose integrity is still in question over the Rovergate affair.
The platform for all what is currently taking place was laid months ago. It started with the St Lucia Labour Party presenting us with a slate of candidates for the general election that was studded with people who had ran foul with or had been involved with the law. That move simply told every misfit, every gangster, every young criminal that crime pays and set the stage for what is going on.
What about the hundreds of jobs that were lost through the recklessness of the SLP in stopping vital projects with economic impact: the airport, the St Jude Hospital, the roads including the Rodney Bay project, the housing projects. On top of all this were the lies told by the SLP to get into power, the wild promises to put money in peoples ’pockets that were all dishonored and in reality only left them penniless. For the first time in this country we saw a government engaged in institutionalized dishonesty and showing no remorse about it.
The SLP has not created a single new job since coming into office except those it gave to its supporters. It has not brought in a single new investment, only piggy backing on those left behind by the same Allen Chastanet. Its main contribution to St Lucia the past 15 months has been in continuing to spew the same quality of garbage that brought it into power. The only problems is that the narrative is no longer working. Still it keeps preaching the racism, hatred and division that worked before, But then people are seeing all your Ministers traveling the globe and bringing back noting; they see the children and wives and friends of Ministers and former stalwarts living high off the land with jobs and positions and trips abroad that many are not qualified for. They see criminals in positions of power and authority.
Labour does not understand that peoples’ eyes are now wide open and they are beginning to rebel. In just 15 months, the party with a15-2 mandate in the House of Assembly has been a dismal failure, unashamedly taking money from the Taiwanese they once harassed for a so called youth economy that is still to be clearly defined. It takes decisions to put vital national infrastructure under the control of foreign entities for decades rather than continue plans it found on assuming office, just because they were initiated by Allen Chastanet and his government.
When one considers that the Labour Party has no record of having advanced St Lucia’s development during 15 years in office since 1997, when one realizes that it has precious little to show for its massive spending and the unconscionable taxes it imposes on the people, that the followers of its cultist clique are always the main beneficiaries of its tenure, it shows how useless Labour really is, despite all of its chest-beating.
And all the while the country is hurting and bleeding, those who should be taking a stand at least to express concern about our rapidly deteriorating circumstances—stay on the sidelines, neither seeing nor hearing the evil. The Chamber of Commerce, the trade Unions, the Churches, the professional organizations all of whom should be concerned about the economic, political and social conditions in the country remain intimidated by the power of Labour’s House of Assembly majority. But time is the catcher.