The Unity Labour Party administration is exploring extending beyond Dec. 31, the assistance that it has been giving to various categories of Vincentians to cushion the impact of the COVID-19.
“… one of the questions which I have to determine with Edmund Jackson, the director of Finance and with Camillo, the minister of finance, is to see if we can extend it a little further into the new year,” Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said on NBC Radio on Wednesday, as he discussed the nation’s fiscal situation.
“It’s costly. But can we afford not to do it? Because the next few months, I would say up to October next year is going to be a difficult few months,” he said.
Gonsalves noted a Grenadian journalist told him recently that St. George’s had suspended similar assistance four months ago.
“We have to be very careful, to be very enterprising yet very prudent,” he said of Kingstown’s approach.
He said that in budget discussions with the Ministry of Health, he had asked that they postpone setting up their own oxygen EC$1.6 production facility and continue to purchase from the private sector.
The prime minister said this is part of efforts to stimulate the economy.
He said there is also a three-year programme for the repair of clinics.
Some of the clinics should have been repaired this year but that had not been done because of the slowness of preparing the estimates.
Gonsalves said he told health ministry officials that the programme was taking too long.
“We have spent five, six million dollars already in a two and a half-month period repairing schools. We can do it with the clinics…
“They have this programme with bit-by-bit things with the hospital. I say, ‘Let’s do the stuff man!’ It would have a better impact on everything, one people going there, the nurses, the doctors, and so on, but importantly, too, you are creating jobs, even though they are short-term jobs in what is going to be a problematic situation.
“So you have to do that while you are doing the large strategic things, like the port, the hotels, you have to look for many areas in which to help to create work.”
The prime minister said that is why he is telling people all over the country, including young persons, to be on the lookout for where jobs are being created.
“… the work is not necessarily going to come into your village. Some will come into your village. And try and improve your skills, on an ongoing basis in all different areas,” Gonsalves said.
“And that’s a message again today and those who are working, we want to have better attitudes to work and production, we have to resolve that, in the private sector and in the public sector. Too many of us don’t work hard enough or smart enough. How many times we have to talk about this? But if we don’t do it, we’re injuring ourselves.”
Meanwhile, Gonsalves said that at the end of November, total revenue and grants, compared to the first 11 months of 2019, went up 6.8% while current revenue increased by 4.3%.
“If it were not for … some terrible months where we had some big drops in revenue collection because of COVID, this year would have been a fantastic year but we face life as we meet it,” the prime minister said.
To illustrate, he said that despite the increased revenue and grants, the total expenditure was over 18% higher and the capital expenditure went up by over 106%.
“The capital expenditure to the end of November — and it will be larger than this because some of the numbers have not come in yet — $170 million,” the prime minister said.
“The state created a lot of work on coastal projects and we spent a lot of money on COVID-related things, to keep things going. That’s why we kinda help to cushion the impact,” he said adding that a journalist in Grenada told him last Sunday that they had stopped giving money over four months ago,” he said.
The more governments spend the more money available to steal for some of them
Someone is cowering that the people is everyday realizing that nothing is happening for them and if this stranglehold continues unabated there could be serious consequences on the ground. So Mr PM come again with these make belief innuendos and half baked rantings about job creation.
Corruption remains unchecked and the stealing of another election is on everyone minds as they are beginning to realize that you’re a big talker.
If you continue to use money and positions to control people there will come a time when your puppets will be too much to feed especially if the money pot is drying up. So, as the dominoes are lining up to fall you trying everything in that playbook of yours to make people believe that something is happening.
One of the disadvantages to a corruption government in office for so long is that SVG is a small place and there are few things that can be carried out for a long time without being noticed.
Checkmate!
“And that’s a message again today and those who are working, we want to have better attitudes to work and production, we have to resolve that, in the private sector and in the public sector. Too many of us don’t work hard enough or smart enough. How many times we have to talk about this? But if we don’t do it, we’re injuring ourselves.”
Very true!
The Prime Minister also needs to follow his own advice. First he should ask “Where does the money for revenue originate?” Along with this think of the first rule of prosperity: “produce more than you consume”…so you can sell the excess. This can tell you in part where money comes from. Money from a printing press does not bring prosperity. In order to bring money to SVG we have to insure it is a place where money wants to go. High taxes and duties achieves the opposite. arrange a situation where investment wants to happen HERE, not elsewhere! Doing so may just cause some job creation. When are we going to “pull our heads out”?
By demanding less, we can get more. Stop passing out free money! The PM should read his own quote above. What happens to a person’s ATTITUDE TO WORK when they get stuff without working? Why have an economy where the reward for hard work and smart-thinking is just more and higher taxes and duties?
A TOTAL RESTRUCTURING OF OUR ECONOMIC SYSTEM IS IN ORDER. THIS HAS TO BE DONE WITH THE OPPOSITION. IF OUR LEADERS CARE ABOUT THE COUNTRY, PUT POLITICS ASIDE. NOW, right after the election, IS THE BEST TIME EVER!.
Cumrod it’s always bern difficult for the majority of vincy people, that’s nothing new. Covid or no covid Vincentians are suffering. Who are we fooling? Trust me it’s only gonna impact the greedy people in your circle..that’s the main reason you’re moaning .You need to stop that nonsensical behavior. People are seeing through your rubbish.
There is a common adage that a country gets the government that they deserve. Most of these politician are just self serving bureaucrats. They export the poor and vulnerable.