It's hard to be honest in St Lucia, says government minister

(MENAFN- Caribbean News Now)

By Melanius Alphonse
Caribbean News Now associate managing editor

CASTRIES, St Lucia – Guy Joseph, Saint Lucia's Minister for economic development, housing, urban renewal, transport and civil aviation, during the 2019/20 budget debate in parliament, gave an insight into his honest thought process. Specifically, he portrayed a culture, antithetical to the rule of law and receptive to corrupt governance .

'It is a challenge to be honest in this country. I can tell you. I suffer it every day,' Joseph said, in a display of hubris in the parliament of Saint Lucia.

It is noteworthy what Joseph said in 2017. 'I'm not worried. If there's an investigation, I welcome the investigation,' referring to his reported involvement with alleged corruption associated with the Hewanorra International Airport (HIA) Redevelopment Project in 2008/9.

In 2017, Joseph, who knowingly made false representations to Taiwan in the matter of Constituency Development Programme (CDP) contracts, said, 'I had to compile a list based on the contracts that were in the ministry, pretend as if the projects had not been done and submit it to the Taiwanese for approval.'

This utterance calls into question the integrity and gives rise to questions surrounding a pattern of creating a false record(s).

Furthermore, anyone making false statements designed to impede or obstruct an investigation commits a criminal offense. And, knowingly to participate in and/or make false representations can amount to criminal wrongdoing termed fraudulent misrepresentation.

On broadening relations and strategic alliances with Saint Lucia, Taiwan funded the CDP, focused on social and economic programs to enhance the infrastructure of various communities throughout the island. In the process, improving the way of life for constituents, creating jobs, building capacity and community enhancement, aimed at stimulating economic growth.

In 2017, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet said, 'Moving forward the concentration must be on [an] overall economic environment of constituencies,' in reference to non-traditional village tourism projects, agricultural, health and infrastructure projects.

In a social media post, leader of the opposition Philip J Pierre registered his disapproval towards the government of Saint Lucia's use of the Taiwan-funded CDP to settle political vendettas, facilitate blatant discrimination and corruption.

'I wonder what the taxpayers of the Republic of China (Taiwan) would think of their tax-funded dollars being used to settle political vendettas,' Pierre said.

He likewise requested clarification after listening to Chastanet's budget address and utterances about the need to unlock opportunities that will create a better standard of living for every Saint Lucian through economic participation and wealth creation.

'I sat in parliament and listening to the United Workers Party (UWP) parliamentarians boast about projects in their constituencies from the CDP, funded by the Taiwanese government. Regrettably, the residents in constituencies represented by the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) have not benefited from any programme initiated by the opposition elected parliamentarians,' Pierre said.

At the same sitting of parliament, Chastanet sanctioned behaviour that substantiates a pattern with his repeated declaration that 'Transparency should not be so onerous that it takes precedence over development,' besides, 'Impractical and subjective mechanisms are unsustainable.'

Pierre's Facebook post further questioned why opposition members of parliament 'only see things happening in their constituencies without their input and told there-after that these are being financed by the CDP.'

'These Saint Lucians are made to suffer because they exercised their democratic right and voted Labour. This sinister plan has been tried before by the UWP hoping to frustrate people in SLP held constituencies,' Pierre explained. 'We understand UWP politics of vindictiveness, but when it reaches the stage where residents are made to suffer and their needs neglected all in the name of politics, something is wrong.'

'I think the public and social commentators should condemn that blatant discrimination practised by the UWP in the same way they commented on a ‘handshake,' Pierre said, alluding to Chastanet's so-called gesture of a handshake to former prime minister Kenny Anthony, after the budget debate.

The proffered handshake was ignored by Anthony, leading to much discussion and Pierre took the opportunity to assure all right-minded citizens of the value of fairness: and affirmed his commitment to 'protect all Saint Lucians from dictatorship and intimidation.'

The budget for 2019/20 revelled in the fact, in consideration of rebasing, that the GDP ratio for 2018 is 64.9 percent. There was a decline in the growth rate from 3.3 percent to an estimated 1.5 percent. Central government domestic public debt accounted for 51.1 percent of the total public debt and the remaining 48.9 percent was categorised as external debt.

The unemployment rate remained constant at 20.2 percent at the end of 2018 and 2017. The inflation rate stood at 0.1 percent for the end of 2017, while inflation grew to 2.6 percent at the end of 2018. Consumer prices increased as high prices were recorded for food and non-alcoholic beverages up 3.0 percent housing gas and utilities up 17.3 percent and communication up 0.5 percent.

'This is the state of our island,' Pierre asserted. 'Time is running out and we expect more desperate acts from the government,' referring to opposition member of parliament for Castries South, Ernest Hilaire's declaration in parliament that 'there is every reason to suspect that citizens are being spied on electronically and otherwise and information used for political reasons."

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