The main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) says it is stepping up its outreach to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with a public meeting at Heritage Square next week Wednesday, Jan. 31 from 7 p.m.
Party president and Leader of the Opposition, Godwin Friday, said the public meeting has been called because SVG lacks “ proper leadership”.
“Leadership that cares about the welfare of the man on the street. Leadership that does not give platitudes and rhetoric when families are going hungry and young girls and boys have to prostitute themselves to survive. Our people need hope,” Friday said.
The public meeting will be held under the theme, “We can do better: Let’s make SVG work for all Vincy.”
This public meeting comes on the heels of the summary report from the Ministry of Finance for September 2017 which shows that the economy of SVG, when compared to the same period in 2016, has worsened, and the 2017 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV Consultation Staff Report for SVG, which clearly states that Vincentians are worse off today than they were in 2001.
The NDP said it will outline its “plans of hope for all Vincentians”.
Speakers at the public meeting will include Friday, NDP Vice-president and Member of Parliament for Central Kingstown, St. Clair Leacock, NDP chair and MP for West Kingstown, Daniel Cummings, former opposition leader and MP for East Kingstown, Arnhim Eustace, NDP vice-president and MP for North Leeward, Roland “Patel” Matthews, and Sen. Kay Bacchus-Baptiste.
1. The NDP has no answers to our many problems, if only because many of our problems can never be truly addressed given our small land and population size compounded by our limited resources and the unwillingness of politicians of whatever political party to enact the draconian, vote-killing policies that would have long term (i.e., 10 years or more) benefit. Electing the NDP next time would be like rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic.
2. It is sheer economic ignorance to say that we are worse off today than in 2001: the level of living of most of our people is much higher; proportionately students are going to school for a longer period (albeit learning not much more in the process); and a much higher proportion of woman are in the work force because there are more jobs for them. Yes, unemployment is stagnant or increasing slightly but this is because so many more women are trying to enter the work force than any time in or history, thereby making things look worse than they actually are when a higher proportion were not even counted as part of the work force, and hence considered unemployed.
There are many other indices of a higher standard of living today which I will elaborate on in due course, some of which the ULP has addressed in many of their newspaper columns.
Whether this higher standard of living is a result of good ULP policies or are simply connected to higher global growth is a worthy subject of debate. My view is that we could never do much locally to raise our standard of living and that we are simply the lucky beneficiaries of external economic growth.
Who has the answer then? What you suggest then, do nothing?
You sound like a ULP…………. yes you guessed right. No hope for us with people like you around
ULP NDP DRP GP doesn’t matter. People fighting over politics and hungry when all party leaders eating drinking and be merry.
IT’S QUITE OBVIOUS, WHO ARE A FREEKING ONE EYED CLYCLOPS WITH ONE EYE IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR FACE, AND CAN’T SEE YOUR NOSE. EASY TO TELL YOU ARE EATING FROM THE BACK END. NOTHING MUCH IS EXPECTED.