Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has suggested that the 2018 poverty assessment, leaked data which showed that poverty had moved from 30.2% to 36.1 in the preceding decade was not done properly.
“When the study is properly done, the study will be subject to a peer review because they go and ask some people some questions and people gi’ they answer and on the basis of that, you going compile something? You have to interrogate it,” he told the Unity Labour Party’s gospel concert in Arnos Vale on Sunday.
“Is a multidimensional poverty study. You think anybody can fool me with these things?” Gonsalves said.
He noted that he had told students at the Community College on Friday, two days after the opposition released the leaked data that the report was incomplete.
“Anybody could tell me that on a proper analysis St. Vincent poorer than in 2001?” Gonsalves said, adding that the number of houses in the country had moved from 30,000 to 43,000.
“You used to have water in under 70% of the 30,000 houses. Now we have 98% water in 43,000 houses,” he said, adding that the situation was similar with electricity connection.
“You used to have about 8,000 cars, you have 30-something thousand now,” Gonsalves further said, adding that whereas 40% of students went to secondary school, there is now universal access.
“More people on public assistance getting support, more people on pension getting support, pension went up on four occasions. During our time, minimum wage gone up four times, one time under the NDP,” the prime minister said, adding that while the population had not increased by 2,000 people, there were now 12,000 more persons registered with the National Insurance Services.
“You ain’t see some people who writing, they writing a lot ah rubbish,” he said of the leaked report, which found that the country’s rich was getting richer and its poor poorer, even as poverty had fallen by 25% in the Colonarie census district, which includes the prime minister’s home village and part of his constituency.
He was concealing the information and pretending things were rosy. Now he is looking for a scapegoat as he always does. But the peer review will only confirm what every sensible Vincentian knows. People in this country are catching their royal. His policies are totally responsible for the abject poverty here. High VAT, no employment, no planning for agriculture, failed and failing tourism projects, millions squandered on the Geothermal pipe dream, rotting provision in love boxes, more poor relief.
What else is he hiding?
We need to know. We,shall only know when we vote him out. Get rid of him on Thursday!
“Not properly done?”
What has ever been “properly done” by this government except to properly fool the electorate with fake promises from one election to another.
Even the premier project of this regime — Argyle International Airport— was not “properly done” because it took three times longer, cost nearly twice as much to construct, and has failed to attract anything remotely resembling the million or so new foreign tourists originally projected to land there three years after its completion by tourism minister Cecil McKie.
And then there is the “properly done” deal with Dave Ames to build a successful resort at Buccament Bay, the “properly done” phoney promises of four new hotels/resorts on the mainland, plus the “property done” plans to resuscitate Ottley Hall shipyard, clean up and rejuvenate Kingstown, introduce a thriving medical marijuana industry in a world already awash with medicinal weed, create geothermal energy, increase employment, reduce poverty, and build a cross-country road, national stadium, new city at Arnos Vale, etc., etc.
“Properly done” has always meant “properly fooled” under this regime.
There is nothing like shifting the goal post when things are not going right for you! Which reminds me of this!
“What’s missing is leadership in the White House. And the story that Barack Obama does tell, forever shifting blame to the last administration, is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago – isn’t it about time he assumed responsibility?” Paul Ryan.
Therefore, when will Ralph Gonsalves take responsibility for SVG poverty too after all he has been at the helm for near on twenty years?
I agree Ralph. This is a lot of rubbish you talking. You have findings since 2018 for the poverty assessment, but because the findings were so bad, you decide to hide it, rather than publish the full report. Almost 3 years now.
But we don’t need the report to tell us that we are worse off. The study was not properly done he says, but is the squeeze we feeling properly done? you mean you ain’t done squeezing us yet? Like you planning to put all of us on poor relief.
Gonsalves got stumped by a student. He wasn’t prepared for this, so he stumbled. So he polish up and now taking a second go at answering. You still not convincing, so wheel and come again a third time. You really losing marks Gonzie !
And he takes the opportunity to embellish his answer with a few more lies.
All of mainland St Vincent had electricity, the last place done was in North of the dry river. And the Myreau project in the Grenadines had started. Same for water. The Jennings project had started. Have you done any water development since?
You can’t use the NIS to measure employment. None of the self employed persons were registered, That was just started when you came into office. And don’t forget that whereas a total 10% is paid to NIS now, back then it was about 7% , and on a lower threshold of salary. NIS was only 13 years old in 2001, it is now 33 years, so it is expected that there will be more persons registered.
Its a dastard lie to say that only 40% of children went to secondary school. Some schools were full with children who didn’t pass common entrance. But the Universal secondary education which NDP left for you to implement was botched, otherwise we should have no illiterate persons in SVG under the age of 35. Alas…..
19 years and the technical component of that program has not yet been implemented, leaving our technical people, tradesmen and artisans still blowing in the wind.
I am sure you can massage it better comrade, problem is you will not be there next term to oversee the massage parlor.
“properly done” may mean that the ULP seeks to find a “spin” on the data to make it look good instead of bad.
The proverbial “Lipstick on a pig”, to make it look sexy!
So what had prevented it from being done properly ? Vincentians are not fools , maybe a few.