Chastanet Raises Concern Over CIP, Other Matters In Open Letter To Pierre

Opposition leader Allen Chastanet has again taken the Philip J. Pierre administration to task over its governance of Saint Lucia, raising several issues in an open letter to the Prime Minister.

Among the issues was what Chastanet described as a major unfolding crisis at the National Housing Corporation (NHC) and the behaviour of House Speaker, Claudius Francis.

He also voiced concern about Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP).

“We now have the British government breathing down our necks to determine whether Citizenship by Investment programs in Saint Lucia and other OECS islands compromise their national security,” the former Prime Minister noted.

Chastanet’s February 9 letter appears below:

An Open Letter to the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia — Practice What You Preach

Dear Honorable Prime Minister,

On several occasions before and since coming into office, you have expressed to the people of Saint Lucia your commitment to transparency, accountability and good governance. Sadly, you have treated this commitment as you have your countless other promises to this trusting country of ours. You have failed to deliver.

It is especially depressing that by your words and by your actions, you offer every day more proof that you were never cut out to lead, that you do best as a follower.

It is becoming increasingly evident that your sole ambition is to appear to be a better version of your true self. Also painfully obvious is the price our country is paying for your delusion.

Prime Minister, let me remind you that some birds cannot fly despite having wings. Your repeated stories about your humble beginnings and what your parents did for a living, never mind that you consider yourself a general despite Saint Lucia does not have an army, none of that will improve the lives of our citizens. Chickens will never soar with the eagles. Your lofty notions and your high-handedness only add to this nation’s countless problems.

Your constant “protect the victory” reminders to the people you put first sound hollow in the ears of the majority of our citizens who fell for your empty promises. Your words in relation to crime remind of the Pharisees: “Do as I say, not as I do.” You preach to our young people about keeping good company. You talk to them about small infractions that can lead to the most serious crimes, then you turn around and do precisely what you seemed to condemn.

The Scriptures tell us: “Beware of false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” Also: “You will know them by their fruits. A good tree cannot—cannot!—bear bad fruit. Neither can a bad tree bear good fruit.”
Prime Minister, look around you. How many bad trees do you see? How many good? Which of your trees bear good fruit tree? If you cannot tell a good fruit tree from a bad fruit tree, the people certainly can.

It would appear that your government considers the mandate it won in the last general elections was a license to exact revenge on its critics. As if to confirm the growing perception, leading representatives of your government arrogantly abuse their offices, issue cowardly threats at every opportunity, whether in parliament or via the media.

The people have not taken lightly the recent threats of violence by the Speaker against those who do not support the St. Lucia Labour Party. They are grossly disappointed, Prime Minister. They realize now that they were taken for a ride in 2021. As the saying goes, they believe they were given a six for a nine. And they are losing patience. They are fed up with pious talk, empty promises and false philanthropists.

They are tired of being made to feel like blind beggars, when they were promised opportunities to better their own lives and the lives of their dependents. They get up every morning knowing there is no guarantee they will not be the latest crime statistic. They are tired of waiting for repeated promises with no delivery dates. They want you take by your sixes and to deliver the nines they were promised.

Worst of all is the contempt shown the people on a daily basis. Mr. Prime Minister, we have just witnessed in the courts a historic judgment handed down against the Speaker of the House of Assembly. Having been sanctioned by the courts—with huge costs that already over-burdened taxpayers will have to bear, the Speaker has now resorted to challenging the Leader of the Opposition to file a motion of no confidence against him.

This is the same palpable arrogance that left the Speaker no choice but to acknowledge he had abused the power and authority given him by our Constitution. Of course, he has good reason to be confident that no matter what, the earlier mentioned bad-fruit trees will continue to shelter him from the storm he created. In effect, the Speaker is mocking the judge and the consent order recently issued against him. And in effect he is mocking all right-thinking people.

The Speaker once again is demonstrating his total lack of understanding of the processes of good governance and the serious nature of the court’s ruling, in the same way he assumed a power he never had. He is well aware that a no-confidence motion would not be acceptable to his fellow protectors of the victory, even though his own attorneys acknowledged his lack of authority to pursue his biased intentions toward the Leader of the Opposition.

Prime Minister, the Speaker’s continuing attempts at grandstanding are utterly senseless and puerile and represent the very behavior you seemed to condemn in your New Year address. Another case of do as I say, not as I do? Honorable men are supposed to behave honorably, Mr. Prime Minister.

And it is pointless resorting to whataboutism, the usual response from the government when its members are called out for one reason or another. If the Speaker refuses to step down regardless, then you must do the right thing in the name of transparency, justice and respect for the people who handed you your big victory in 2021.

The Speaker has diminished the stature of our parliament with his carelessness, his arrogance, his crassness and his demonstrated incompetence. But we are not at all surprised. When he was appointed Speaker, Saint Lucians were well aware of the gentleman’s history, his reputation, his encounters with the law. But that is no excuse for quo. Spare the nation further embarrassment and confusion, and stop trying to force this obvious square peg into a round hole.

Mr. Prime Minister, there is unfolding at this time, a major crisis at the National Housing Corporation (NHC). You are on record as promising to discipline with dismissal any member of your Cabinet who is found to be engaged in acts of corruption. However, we are still to hear of any attempt by you to get to the bottom of these reports that are bound to tarnish the image and reputation of the NHC.

Here, we have a Minister who seems to be over-riding the decisions of his own Board in the purchasing and selling of State assets and has the nerve to announce publicly that he used his personal position to make a deal on behalf of the government with a person involved in one transaction.

From where does Minister Richard Frederick obtain such power? Is this a new style of governance that the Saint Lucia Labour Party has introduced into Saint Lucia? Prime Minister, Saint Lucians are waiting and watching to see how the NHC controversy plays out.

As if this were not enough, we now have the British government breathing down our necks to determine whether Citizenship by Investment programs in Saint Lucia and other OECS islands compromise their national security. Of note to us in Saint Lucia is the fact that we have recently announced our intention to allow Iranians to take part in our program.

Surely, you must be aware of the international sanctions on Iran and Russia as a consequence of the on-going Russia-Ukraine war and the danger to Saint Lucia or any other country that is seen to be giving comfort to either. We note your expressed confidence that due diligence will eventually prove Saint Lucia’s CIP to be strong and above board. However, given the problems which our small islands have had in the past with blacklisting by regulators in Europe, we must hold our breath.

Mr. Prime Minister Saint Lucians continue to express their dissatisfaction with your government’s decision to lease two of their ports to a foreign entity for as many as 40 years. The rationale or justification for such a decision is baffling and in the absence of any details of the transaction, suspicious.

As I said at the beginning, it is your government that promised Saint Lucians to be transparent and accountable and yet, on a matter of such grave importance and involving significant national assets, you have chosen to leave them completely in the dark.

There can be no doubt in the mind of any right thinking Saint Lucian that this decision represents a colossal blunder that will have implications for the national image and integrity of our country. After all, the Castries port holds an important place in the history of Saint Lucia as a coaling station at the beginning of the 20th century and later for its role in the Second World War.

These vital national assets should forever remain under domestic control. We urge you, Mr. Prime Minister, not to proceed with this plan. As I have mentioned before, it is worrying that your government has also taken the deliberate decision that there will be no development of the port of Vieux Fort during the life of this agreement. Here, too, it is difficult to understand the reason for this move, in the absence of an official explanation.

The matters raised here have serious implications for the future of Saint Lucia. We therefore urge you, Mr. Prime Minister, to give to them the attention they need so that the Saint Lucian public can be assured of the true intentions of your government in matters relating to the development of their country.

May God continue to bless our beautiful Saint Lucia.

Sincerely,
Leader of the Opposition