United Workers Party (UWP) leader Allen Chastanet, who returned unopposed as party leader recently, has told reporters that he feels ‘very strong’ while expressing gratitude to supporters.
“I feel very strong. I am just grateful for the support of our party,” the Micoud South MP stated.
And he asserted that over time, more citizens understand what building a new Saint Lucia is all about and the successes his former administration achieved.
The electorate voted Chastanet’s government out of office at the July 26, 2021, general elections, which the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) won by a landslide.
However, the former Prime Minister pointed to his then Government’s handling of COVID-19 and the administration’s recovery plan as second to none.
“The year immediately after COVID, the economy grew by twelve and a half percent. I believe the pronouncement is that it is going to grow by double digits again this year,” Chastanet said.
“And when you look at what’s going on in the economy – Cabot, Daher Mall, the Hotel at Pointe Seraphine, the Millennium Highway, the bridge in Cul de Sac, the water project in Vieux Fort, the five schools that we were redoing with CDB, community centres, the bridges the infrastructure, and then now you see tourism,” he told reporters.
According to Chastanet, his former Government opened the doors to tourism against the protests of the opposition labour party.
“Remember, they said that we were the only persons who believed that tourism would recover and that we were crazy,” he recalled.
However, the former Tourism Minister declared that the early successful reopening of Saint Lucia’s borders made the country the fastest-growing tourism destination in the Southern Caribbean.
“I think the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Mexico were the only ones that were ahead of us and that created a foundation and we saw another significant recovery in tourism this year,” the opposition leader observed.
Chastanet said he was very proud, and people increasingly recognised the merits of what the UWP government was doing.
“Those persons who were saying ‘You can’t eat roads,’ suggesting that the Government was spending money on infrastructural projects and not helping to provide support for people. People now today would appreciate that that was towards the economic recovery of the country and it was the right thing to do,” he declared.
Chastanet said he genuinely believes the people elected the SLP on a social conscience platform.
But he lamented that this has yet to translate into policy.
Chastanet will enact a minimum wage of 10 dollars an hour. If he wins the next election …
Yawwwn…….” He believe the people elected The Supreme Leadership Party on a social conscience platform ” yeah you are right the people could not take anymore of your investments without dividend the people who voted you in their social conscience was killing them .
The Flambeau’s still believe that the former prime Minster will bring in the dough in 2026
Chastanet’s record as prime minister is abysmal and devastating. His win as leader of the UWP looks like a pyrrhic victory. How can a man who accumulated such high odious debt can be proud of his accomplishments? Chastanet does not seem to have an elementary understanding of how government ought to function. The Cabot deal is sufficient ground for Chastanet to be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed. How can you have the gall to direct the social security department to loan public money to a private foreign company? In developed countries, no presidents or prime ministers are allowed such risky undertakings. Only a dictatorial leader can order such a vile and rogue decision. As for the Daher Mall fiasco, Chastanet has the temerity to call this an accomplishment. Chastanet paid $30 million for the mall and sold it for $13 million yet he has the chutzpah to consider this a gain. St. Lucia’s corruption perception index prior to Chastanet taking office in 2016 was at 71%, he brought it down to 40% during his reign of financial terror.
Lies go viral more quickly than true statements, research shows. So Chastanet is trying to benefit from his disinformation and demagoguery.