At Monday’s regular press briefing, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre addressed public concerns surrounding Sunday’s handover ceremony for St. Jude Hospital. Responding to opposition claims, Pierre maintained that the facility is complete and has officially been transferred to the Ministry of Health for commissioning.
“But while we are doing that, the administrative block in the building has been completed and people are working there, the kitchen and the laundry are functional, and the physiotherapy ward is ready for use,” the prime minister told reporters, adding that a fair amount of the hospital’s equipment had already arrived.
“The hospital is going to be a real modern facility, and the commissioning and accreditation will be done simultaneously.”
Pierre did not, however, offer a timeline for when that process would be completed.
Asked about his and the Saint Lucia Labour Party’s confidence heading into the December 1 polls, he replied: “My fate is in the hands of God and the people. That’s my faith.”
He pointed to the government’s record, including a published booklet outlining its achievements. “We have delivered; we have a booklet of our deliveries; the first government that has put out a booklet of their delivery. What we’ve done, we’ve actually documented what we’ve done for the people of Saint Lucia, that’s there on the record, 34 pages, could be more so,” he said.
“We are asking the people to allow us to continue on that delivery because we have delivered. The case is clear what we delivered to all sectors of society.”
Pierre also reaffirmed his pledge to grant Saint Lucians a VAT-free day in December if re-elected.
“The only reason why the government can afford to give a VAT-free holiday is because our revenue has performed satisfactorily and we can give back to the public of Saint Lucia the 12.5%,” he said.
“Our economy has performed better than expected as far as revenue is concerned, so we can give back to the people something for the effort …,” he said. “They are the ones who helped by their production, by their work to help us to do well in our revenue, so we can give them back a day.”
Spoken like a true politician. *Gak!