Wake up St Lucia!

By James Stanislaus

How much more do we want to know about the people running our country before we decide to take punitory action against them for their misdeeds? Do we intend to remain as quiet as mice until the house collapses? St Lucia is a small island state with limited sources of income, but lately, we have witnessed a very strange turn in the wrong direction. A direction where our income streams are severely compromised by way of fishy donations and profligate spending of our scarce resources. Extravagant spending which has gone completely haywire on a series of intangible events.

Here are the real concerns for all St Lucians.

1. The closure of the Rodney Bay road project and the two roundabouts have cost the nation over fifteen million dollars as a result of the poor decision making of this government.
2. The closure of the two housing projects in the north of the island, have cost the nation over fifteen million dollars as a result of the poor decision making of this government.
3. The stoppage of the HIA terminal will run into several million dollars of needless additional cost. The final cost will depend on how long it takes for the project to recommence.
4. This government’s failure to complete the new St Jude Hospital and instead it decided to return to an 80-year-old make-shift structure will cost the tax payers an additional one hundred million dollars in unnecessary expenditure. Why? Because the government refused to complete the new, purpose-built St Jude building for petty partisan politics.
5. The government preposterous donation of the cruise line terminal and the Soufriere docks through a thirty-year lease with an optional ten year extension will bring about revenue losses of up to several billion dollars to the people of this country. This money thrown down the drain represents assets and cash that belongs to all St Lucians.

The SLP administration has taken it on its own to dispose of those assets and all the attendant revenue without proper consultation with the people. Assets and money which could have gone into so many projects like creating affordable housing, strengthening the healthcare system at all levels, improving our water supply and distribution, cushioning the crushing impact of high inflation, high fuel prices and the spiraling cost of food and the rehabilitation of our road network throughout the nation.

On top of all those giveaways, we have now witnessed the outrageous agreement for the construction of the Halls of Justice. The government entered into a BOLT (Build Own Lease Transfer) arrangement with a Trinidadian company signing agreement to an outrageous cost that is significantly more than the present-day square footage dollar rate in St. Lucia.

Then there is 78,000 sq. ft of space at Orange Grove Plaza which has been completed since January 2024. Is it true that the government is paying $300 thousand in rent to Orange Grove for 78,000 sq. ft. of space & the government has not occupied the space preferring to lease offices elsewhere at a much higher rate? How can the nation disburse all those payments on behalf of the state without running into financial difficulties down the line? How can the government be so reckless with our meagre resources?

Today, the government has issued government bonds paying 7.5% interest per annum when in the past the maximum rate seldom surpassed 4.5%. This high interest rate is a reflection of our steadily diminishing credit worthiness on the international financing arena.

Now we understand why our leaders have become so desperate to risk creating new and highly questionable schemes for our Citizens by Investment Program (CIP). Arrangements which will inevitably land us in even bigger trouble when the US, UK and EU, our major partners, intensify their scrutiny of our dubious practices within the Program. These dubious machinations of the program will give rise to consequences which pose a clear and present danger to the national security of these countries .

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 scot-free. HOW VERY SAD!!