United Workers Party (UWP) Deputy Leader Guy Joseph has taken aim at Agriculture Minister Alfred Prospere over remarks suggesting that the government is not responsible for stray cattle on Saint Lucia’s roads.
Speaking on the UWP’s weekly Sunday Live broadcast, Joseph criticised Prospere’s position that livestock owners, not government, are responsible for keeping animals off roads and highways.
“Can you believe the Minister of Agriculture comes on national television and radio and says the cows that are on the road is not the responsibility of the government, it’s the responsibility of the cow owner?” Joseph asked.
He argued that motorists should not have to “compete with cows on the road” and suggested the minister should not be drawing a salary for a “foolish statement”.
“The roads are the responsibility of the government,” Joseph said. “If there’s a tree overhanging the road and the tree falls on your vehicle, it should be the responsibility of the government.”
Joseph accused the administration of being “clueless” and failing to enforce “basic traffic regulations”. He recalled that under a previous UWP government, stray cattle were seized and impounded.
“How stupid can a man be, to not understand basic rules and guidelines?” Joseph said. “You’re a minister, you’re a legislator, you’re in parliament voting on laws to govern a country and you don’t understand a basic thing as the Traffic Act and the traffic regulations.”
Prospere, speaking at a cabinet press briefing in May, declared that livestock owners must take responsibility for wandering cattle.
“The government is not responsible for ensuring that residents are safe from our roads,” he said at the time. “A farmer who is a cattle owner, who is a livestock owner, it’s his responsibility to ensure that his cattle do not move away from the pasture onto the road.”
He urged cattle owners to “find a way, find a new mechanism, to at least put a fence around your pasture to avoid those animals posing a risk to persons’ lives”.
Joseph’s remarks come amid renewed frustration over stray livestock on Saint Lucia’s highways, an issue that has resulted in accidents and increased concerns for both road safety and animal welfare. Acting Director of Agricultural Services, Kemuel Jn Baptiste, told St Lucia Times last week that the government is exploring land owned by Invest Saint Lucia, as well as sites in the south, including pasture land near the Hewanorra Airport, where farmers could securely house cattle.
