United Workers Party (UWP) leader and former Prime Minister Allen Chastanet says Saint Lucia is under mounting strain from rising living costs, deteriorating public services and escalating crime, warning that the country cannot continue on its current path.
In an interview with St. Lucia Times ahead of Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre’s announcement of a general election for December 1, Chastanet laid out what he described as the most urgent failures under the current administration, while signalling the priorities of a UWP-led government.
Cost of living No. 1 issue
He argued that the cost of living has worsened sharply, blaming an “unprecedented increase in taxation” by the St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) administration. He said this came on top of post-COVID-19 inflation and created a multiplier effect.
Chastanet criticised the health and security levy, arguing that it failed to deliver the promised funding.
“The budgets of both health and security stayed the same, and in some instances were reduced when the tax was first introduced,” he said. “It would actually have been simpler to have just increased the VAT rate, but by making it a levy, it became a compounded tax.”
The tax burden, he said, was made heavier by fuel price hikes and the government’s failure to cap prices, which filtered down to consumers.
“And as a result of it, they had to allow bus fares to go up and the price of bread,” Chastanet pointed out. “The price of bread almost doubled…. People saw a significant increase in the cost of living, but there was not a commensurate increase in salaries. And there are a lot of people in this country who are struggling.”
Health care ‘in crisis’
Chastanet identified what he said was the declining state of health care as another major issue, arguing that the SLP administration has struggled to provide proper services.
He pointed to letters written last year by the Saint Lucia Medical and Dental Association, which warned about the poor state of health care and cautioned that doctors and nurses would resign or migrate if conditions did not improve. According to him, the government failed to act, and many medical professionals have since left.
“As a result of that, the government brought in Cuban doctors and nurses to make up the [shortfall], and now that programme is in jeopardy because of the pressure being brought upon us by the US,” Chastanet said, referring to the Donald Trump administration’s threat of visa restrictions for governments participating in what Washington labelled “forced labour” schemes.
“I see that other countries in the Caribbean have gone to Ghana. Some of them have gone to the Philippines and India. We’ve heard nothing from our government.
“People are feeling it because you go to the hospital and people are lying on the ground. People are going to the hospital and there’s not even Panadol, there’s not proper medication. The maintenance of the buildings has continued to deteriorate,” he added.
Chastanet questioned the viability of the government’s proposed universal health care system, warning that it would see VAT increased past 18 per cent if the SLP is re-elected.
By contrast, he said a UWP administration would implement its national health insurance model with employee and employer contributions and government support for vulnerable groups.
“Once you earn above a certain salary, then there would be a contribution… The government had agreed to pay for pensioners, single mothers and the unemployed,” Chastanet said as he claimed that some families were exhausting savings or having to get second or third mortgages to afford health care.
Meanwhile, the long-delayed St Jude Hospital was a sore point.
During his address to the nation announcing the election date, Prime Minister Pierre declared the hospital construction in Vieux Fort complete. On Thursday, he announced a handover ceremony scheduled for this Sunday.
At the time of his interview with St. Lucia Times, Chastanet was sceptical that the facility would be operational soon.
“I believe that the elections will come and go, and no patients would have been moved into the place,” he said. “They’ve spent $300 million on St Jude and the hospital is still not open.”
Crime: ‘Three ministers… and yet nothing’
On crime, Chastanet noted an increasing homicide rate, which he said was fuelling fear.
“People don’t feel safe, and sadly, the government’s response to this has not been good,” he said, criticising what he saw as ineffective leadership.
“We have a minister of national security – that’s the Prime Minister, we had a minister responsible for the police, and then we have a minister of crime prevention, and yet nothing,” he said.
A UWP government would tighten border control and take more decisive action, Chastanet said.
Water, infrastructure, and stalled projects
Chastanet criticised delays to major capital works, including the Hewanorra International Airport redevelopment and the Castries-Gros Islet highway.
He also described the island’s water situation as “a vexing issue”.
“People are going… weeks, in some cases months, without water,” he said.
He blamed ageing distribution lines and infrastructure and said increasing demand from migration and construction in the north would worsen shortages without urgent investment in desalination, smart metering and replacement mains.
“We have to go to desalination. When we examined it, put a desal plant up north so you have water coming from the south and water from the north, particularly to be able to take the hotels at least off the grid, because it’s just too much of a consumption. And then the other [solution], the longer-term one, is to fix the pipes,” Chastanet said, estimating that about 60 per cent of water is lost through leaks.
He said this requires smart metering, with meters placed on either side of sections of pipe to detect leakage. Some have argued for a full overhaul of Castries’ system, he noted, but its location below sea level makes leaks difficult to detect.
Agriculture ‘has died’
Chastanet accused the government of neglecting agriculture, citing low banana exports and limited support for the sector.
He said a UWP government would “revive seven key crops” — cabbage, tomato, lettuce, sweet pepper, watermelon, cantaloupe/honeydew and pineapple — to reduce imports.
Chastanet also pitched cocoa as a resilient, value-added alternative to bananas.
“We believe that cocoa is the next big crop,” he said, adding that farmers should form cooperatives that also hold shares in production.
A pension plan for farmers is also on the UWP’s agenda.
Tourism: ‘Arrivals are meaningless numbers’
Chastanet called for a more sophisticated approach to evaluating tourism performance.
The former tourism minister said arrivals alone were “a meaningless number”, arguing that bed nights and visitor spending determine the sector’s real value.
He also questioned the lack of updated analysis from the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, asking where the report was that should outline global trends and show whether the region is keeping pace with world growth in room stock and rates.
Chastanet reaffirmed support for village tourism, which started under his watch and has since been rebranded as community tourism, promising support for local investors.
“This is an incubator,” he said. “So, a person who has worked at the hotel and becomes a food and beverage manager becomes ideal to run a restaurant, but they need the accounting support, they need the design support. Someone who was in room service could eventually own their own little guest house. But again, we need to provide them with the full network of services that they’re going to require to succeed.”
Coming up in the next edition of St. Lucia Times: an exclusive interview with Prime Minister and Saint Lucia Labour Party Leader Philip J Pierre.
