United Workers Party (UWP) member Sarah Flood-Beaubrun has accused Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre and his administration of deceiving the public over the newly implemented Health and Citizen Security Levy (HCSL).
Effective October 2, 2023, the levy is applied to invoices for goods and services.
The measure intends to enhance healthcare services and national security infrastructure.
However, in her heated address during a recent UWP event, Sarah Flood-Beaubrun claimed the government’s true intent was to secure a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
According to the former Health Minister, the Prime Minister had used the promise of improvements to health and security as a front for raising the necessary revenue to qualify for a $42.7 million policy-based loan.
She quoted Pierre’s remarks from the introduction of the HCSL Bill, stating that the funds were, in reality, to modernise tax administration and land management in Saint Lucia, not to enhance health services or national security as initially stated.
“But you know today, tonight, you know what I want to say tonight? Philip J. Pierre, the Minister of Finance, he owes every single Saint Lucian money. He owes every single Saint Lucian a cheque or cash in their bank account,” Flood-Beaubrun proclaimed, accusing the government of deception.
The former Castries Central MP likened the situation to obtaining money under false pretenses, asserting that Saint Lucians had been misled into supporting the levy, believing it was for healthcare and security when, in her view, it was not.
Flood-Beaubrun’s remarks included a direct call for financial restitution to the public: “When they collect that money, if they decide they want to use it for something else, they either have to come back to ask you permission or they have to give you back your money.”
The Prime Minister, however, has maintained that the levy is necessary for the government to meet its financial obligations and improve the quality of life for Saint Lucians.
He argues that the funds will directly benefit healthcare and public safety infrastructure, addressing critical needs in those sectors.
Huh? Where did she surface from?
If I had to believe Sarah or Philip no contest …End
Another one again. When will these people end and allow new blood to chime in with new and fresh ideas? UWP need it and Labour better take heed as well. It’s the same old rhetoric.
The Swamp.
AA she rose from the dead ☠️
@SMH – does it matter where she surfaced from!? AA. She’s a citizen with a message that she thinks it’s valid enough to share on her chosen platform. I guess the message just flew over your head because of the messenger? Mwe memm!!
Health and Citizen levy doesn’t make the hospitals any better or make citizens any more safe. Taxation without representation.
When the opposition was In power, they did nothing for the people so the people rejected them at the polls 15-2 not even a minimum wage that they enacted when they know that over 20 thousand people were earning 3 to 5 EC dollars an hour but the very same reject want to come back in power just to make their money and keep the people in abject poverty
Sarah, you are obviously deceitful in your apparent attempt to discredit Pierre. So who do you think should pay for security and infrastructure in a society? Is it not the people of that society? The Prime Minister, has obviously instituted the minimum wage, brought unemployment down to near single digits, boosted the economy and increased tourism numbers among other things. So it is indeed appropriate that the nation as it becomes more affluent, as GDP grows, as people have a sense of more money flowing into their pockets, it is only fair that the people can pay a little more for their security and infrastructural needs. Whether that be through securing a loan from the CDB or raising the finance through a levy. You are disingenuous to propose such. It is the people who has to pay for it. This is how development happens by little incremental steps forward in infrastructure, security, health, tourism etc etc. Saint Lucia has enjoyed a little boost to its confidence. Ms Julien Alfred’s 100 & 200 metre exploits at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the success of the Jazz festival, carnival and the many other activities that bring economic benefit to the Island. The Bank of Saint Lucia is now the biggest bank in the OECS tells you much you need to know. So Sarah, don’t try to pull the hood over our eyes trying to hoodwink the people. With this economic success, it is the people who must pay for their needs and that is done by the people paying via their taxes for the needs…..So Sarah, I can tell you now, if SLP continues to put the people first as SLP show and claim to be doing (let SLP record speak for itself), UWP will be in a political desert for a very long time to come. Politics is all about the people, not self or party. When you put people first, you instantly create the conditions for a better society because everyone gets a sense of being part of the greater whole. Well at least the vast majority gets that sense. 15-2 at the polls should tell you a lot…