Things are not looking good in Fair Helen

What is happening in St. Lucia today is beyond words. One can’t help but wonder whether the present government cares about this country and whether it cares about the people, the same people who put that government in power. From the time Sir John Compton died Saint Lucia has been moving from one controversy to the next all caused by the action/s of this government, meaning its ministers.
Faced with rising commodity prices, increasing inflation, a sluggish economy, and questionable actions from its own Ministers, to name a few of the problems facing it, this government today looks like it has no idea how to handle these issues.
Granted, some of the issues facing them are caused by outside forces that are beyond their control, however this does not prevent them from coming up with ideas as to the best ways to deal with those issues, ideas they could share with their own people.
Where are the economic packages that could stimulate the economy? Faced with rising prices all other countries are trying their best to help their citizens one way or another, if not by releasing tax refunds earlier it’s by subsidizing by 100 per cent or more a major commodity.
What is the government doing to cushion its people from the economic and social hardships that they have to live with on a daily basis? The government appears to be doing nothing to ease the plight of Saint Lucians, a people, which by any stretch of the imagination should be the number one priority of the government.
Instead, what Saint Lucians are faced with almost on a monthly basis is controversy after controversy over government Ministers actions and behaviour that speaks more about the self interest of those ministers rather than the self interest of the country.
From allegations ranging from all sorts of things that include millions of dollars to handing concessions to themselves, to being detained by police for questioning to allowing what could be termed “the rape of our patrimony” like the beaches and the pitons this government appears to have squander the trust Saint Lucians placed in them on December 11, 2006 the date in which they were elected into power.
Government maintains a deafening silence on the issues and allegations that are slowly destroying this country.
Minister Richard Frederick for instance claimed that he will expose and deal with the root cause of the situation at Piton Mitant in Soufriere, where permission was given to an Italian couple to build in a place that carries the World Heritage designation.
His press conference last week was silent on the root cause of the situation in that he never admitted who gave the Italians permission to build now that it is known that their application was deferred.
Secondly he made a big deal about the Labour Party giving an Alien Landholding Licence to the Italians in June of 2006, yet he deliberately left out the fact that his government gave the same Italians an Alien Landholding Licence in March of 2007 to buy a larger piece of land in the same area.
He admitted that the Development Control Authority faltered in doing its duty yet he failed to say what would be the repercussions; after all he is the Minister for Physical Planning, Housing and Urban Renewal. And what does he mean when he says the DCA faltered? Is he admitting that the DCA did something wrong? And where is the DCA in all of this? Why are they quiet?

The Customs Department’s interrogation of Frederick for under invoicing to the Customs Department investigation into Minister Mondesir regarding the concessions given to him for his villa in Rodney Bay, to the numerous questionable conduct of other government ministers, to the inability of government to point a finger on something it has done that is presently bringing relief to the masses, the situation in Fair Helen is rapidly deteriorating.
The privatization of the water sector is now the most recent of controversies with government’s mind already made up that the sector will be privatized. One questions why government still intends carrying out public discussion on the matter now that its mind is already made up? There is strong protest against the privatization from civil society but that has not deterred government. The deal is as good as done so much so that government has announced the beginning of the New Year as the time the new company will commence operations.
The situation in this country has reached a stage where our revered Nobel Laureate, Sir Derek Walcott has called on Saint Lucians to take to the streets in protest of the construction taking place at Piton Mitant. The famed poet and writer is now questioning not only the ability of this government to lead but its sincerity in protecting what is sacred to Saint Lucians.
But to most Saint Lucians what matters to them is how to survive today with prices increasing on almost everything in this country. What Saint Lucians do not know is that the promise made by this government to work to make certain commodities cheaper has not been fulfilled. The joke is that while the government has placed more items under price control none of those items are cheaper today. Some of them are costlier today while others have remained at the same price they were when they were placed under price control. I have not touched on bread yet and the decision of the Bakers Association to stop producing the type of bread that is a life saver to some families.
Having said all of that, what is most shocking is the silence of Prime Minister Stephenson King on the issues buffeting his government. One wonders whether the prime minister knows of the pain and anguish his government is putting the country through or whether he simply does not care.
And talking about Minister, where is Sports Minister Lennard Montoute? He seems to have gone AWOL. There are some government ministers one hardly sees or hears in this country. And talking about government ministers, will Education Minister Arsene James explain why schools are promoting students with ridiculously low marks to a higher form, students who clearly need to be taught some more instead of making laughable comments like universal education being the cause of illiterate children graduating from school, or words to that effect. The Ministry’s emphasis should be on schools and the commitment of teachers to educating their charges not on the universal education system. If Minister James places greater emphasis on the schools instead of seeking to blame a system that has good attributes to it he would be doing more to assist the slow learners in schools.
All in all things are not looking good in Fair Helen and the government must take a large proportion of the blame. Saint Lucians put them in power to make things better for them not for the politicians, which is what seems to be happening.