Gov’t wined, dined ‘criminal’ instead of focusing on school reopening — John

Opposition politician Andrew John has accused the government of minding a criminal when they should have been paying attention to the reopening of school, slated for Monday.

“St. Vincent is a great nation, St. Vincent and the Grenadines … but from what I have been seeing happening over the past, let’s say, few weeks, I am of the opinion that the ULP government has abandoned its role of leadership in our country, they have abandoned their responsibility to our people,” John, the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) candidate for South Windward said Wednesday night.

“Right now, we are talking about the reopening of school on the second of September, according to what they are telling us. But if you walk along your constituencies, various constituencies, you will see that we are nowhere close to being ready for the reopening of school,” John, a retired educator, told an NDP village meeting in Enhams.

“… when the leadership was supposed to be going around and examining the buildings — and not even after the hurricane, even before — …  they up and down, jumping up and winding up and dining … with criminals and leave our children stranded,” he said.

Apparently, John was referring to the visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines earlier this month by Jamaican dancehall sensation Vybz Kartel, who was released in July after 13 years in prison in connection with a murder charge.

Several schools across SVG are being used as shelters for people affected by Hurricane Beryl, which damaged or destroyed thousands of buildings across the country, especially in the Southern Grenadines, where over 90% of buildings were damaged or destroyed. 

John said:

“They are moving the shelterees from one place to the next, and they are now in a mad rush. They are in a mad rush trying to repair 40 schools in a week. That is what we have become accustomed to under this government headed by our prime minister. They don’t care. They don’t care.”

John also addressed several issues, including Vincentian Shafiqua Maloney’s performance in the Paris Olympics.

He said that Maloney and Handel Roban, another Vincentian Olympian, should be celebrated for their performance at the meets.

“I want to see Shafiqua Maloney being dined and wined all over St. Vincent. I want to see Handel Roban being wined and dined because they have represented us in the international arena at the Olympics, and they have represented us well,” he said.

John noted that he spent about 40 years teaching, adding that he is a serious person when it comes to the development of the nation’s children. 

“And we have to be serious about that because the greatest pain you could feel is losing a child. Too many of our young people are going down the wrong road, and we are not doing anything to stop it.”

John endorsed the NDP’s Youth Guarantee Pledge, which says that by the end of the first five-year term of an NDP government, every young person must either be in a job or undergoing training.

“That’s how you develop your country — from the people up,” John said.

“What have we been seeing? We are developing our country by building huge-debt-ridden white elephants. A lot of them are actually white elephants, and we have not been giving any account as to how we are getting the money, how we are spending it…”

He said that the government is buying money to construct many of these “white elephants”.

“We need for you to tell us how you plan to repay the huge amount of debt that you keep piling up on our people. Talk more about that,” he said.

“It may go down to great-grandchildren. In truth, may very well go down to great grandchildren,” John said, responding to comments from the audience. 

John, who is also a trade unionist, said he is in solidarity with public sector workers who were dismissed in 2021 under the government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The court has ruled that the government acted illegally when it fired the workers, but the government appealed that ruling. 

The ruling of the Court of Appeal has been pending since May when the court reserved its judgment.

John said that Opposition Leader and NDP President, Godwin Friday has committed to reinstating the workers with all benefits intact on the first day of an NDP administration. 

“That’s a serious commitment on the part of the NDP, and I appreciate that. It makes me feel good. We cannot have our teachers who have worked for 10, 20, some, up to 30 years, going home without anything to fall back on,” John said.

On Thursday, the government announced that most schools will reopen on Monday, as scheduled, but the opening of others will take place between Wednesday and Sept. 16.