The opposition New Democratic Party’s (NDP) candidate for North Leeward paid very scant regard to the incumbent, Carlos James, of the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) at the NDP’s convention in Petit Bordel.
Shallow, a first-time candidate, referred to the one vote by which James won his seat in 2020 after a contentious record, on his second attempt to wrest the constituency from the NDP’s Roland “Patel” Matthews, who was seeking a third five-year term.
“Now, I know you all want me to talk about ‘One Vote’,” Shallow said at the event on Sunday.
“Not today, not today, and only for one reason… My mother taught me that when a man is down, don’t kick him. … And de man dey down,” Shallow said.
“In fact, a friend of mine tell me he nah dey good at all. But all I will say to ‘One Vote’ now is one vote, one term.”
Shallow used his speech to focus on what he said were the opportunities in North Leeward and the ULP’s neglect of the constituency, which it has held for almost 14 of the 23 years that it has been in office.
He said that the constituency is by far the largest in the country by landmass and is up to five times larger than some of the other 14 electoral districts.
“And if you have this constituency in neglect, then it’s quite obvious that the country cannot advance. It cannot progress with that mindset and with that leadership,” Shallow said.
He said he had met in Richmond a 30-year-old farmer who vented his frustration with the ULP administration’s attitude to agriculture.
“… a young man, handsome young man, too, who we could identify and have as a model to our young people to get into farming. But yet we are not supporting him, and we are neglecting him, and in fact, we are trying to put him out of business.”
Shallow said this was the case although the young farmer had been a ULP supporter.
“So, I said, this is not only NDP supporters struggling. It’s everybody. It is the entire country, Vincentians struggling.”
Shallow said there are agricultural lands all over North Leeward. “… but all being neglected. And the NDP administration, when we take office, we are going to address that”.
He said there are opportunities in tourism in North Leeward.
“… look at the water, flat water,” he said, referring to the calm Caribbean Seas on the leeward coast of St. Vincent.
“People want to know why are we hiding this paradise. But yet we are not promoting this.
“The Government of St. Vincent, the last 20-plus years has not been promoting North Leeward as a tourism destination.”
Shallow said the beach in Chateaubelair — the only town in North Leeward — is the “most beautiful beach in this country.
“A long beach; you can’t even find a stone, a pebble. But yet, we’re not promoting that. We are not promoting you.”
He noted that Cumberland, which has a world-famous anchorage, is “ripe for investment”, adding that some of his friends who had visited from Dubai for the Cricket World Cup were amazed by the beauty of the bay.
“… they couldn’t stop taking photos and videos; true beauty. But yet we are not promoting that. As I said, our entire country is ripe for investment when it comes to tourism.
“And, again, I repeat, under this New Democratic Party, we are going to show them how to make our tourism package a product that will sell to the rest of the world. And that, of course, will drive businesses in North Leeward and throughout the length and breadth of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
Shallow said that small businesses and individuals will benefit whether through vending or other opportunities.
So peculiar a man can win a national election by one single vote. That is in and of itself just suspicious. Then you can’t appeal cause them in charge of the ballot box. Lets see what going to happen this time around.