Castries North MP and former Prime Minister Stephenson King has linked the protection and preservation of the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) victory at the July 26, 2021, general elections to economic stability and development in Saint Lucia.
King spoke of preserving the victory during an address to the annual general meeting of Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre’s Castries East constituency on Saturday.
And he responded to questions from reporters on the issue on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting on Monday.
“What I mean by protecting the victory and more so preserving the victory is that the labour party has to preserve that victory to bring a level of political stability and development to the country,” King explained.
“What has happened in this country over the last three terms, is that every term a new government comes in,” he noted.
And according to the former Prime Minister, every new administration either stops or delays projects.
King told reporters that this does not benefit the country.
As a result, he observed that Saint Lucia needs a level of political stability.
King, who formerly led the United Workers Party (UWP) which is now in opposition, recalled that when that party won the elections in 2016, the labour party had already negotiated the reconstruction of the Castries-Gros Islet highway.
“A loan was approved together with a grant to do the reconstruction of the Castries-Gros Islet Highway from the Choc bridge to Gros Islet,” he told reporters.
But King said against his advice to proceed with the project to improve the traffic flow and congestion between Castries and Gros Islet, the project was stopped.
In addition, he mentioned St Jude Hospital in highlighting the consequence of a government change.
“Immediately upon the UWP entering office in 2016 a project which was started by the UWP continued by the labour party, it was stopped and now we have, not just cost overruns. In one instance we found out that a foundation which was estimated at three million dollars, escalated to nine million dollars,” King declared.
“Then abandoned the original project of redeveloping the existing hospital and went on to start another facility,” he noted, adding that it would take over 70 million dollars to finish it.
“Why are we wasting taxpayers’ money?” King declared.
Headline photo: Stephenson King (Stock image)
