South Windward MP, Frederick Stephenson says the Unity Labour Party (ULP) government has transformed Diamond from an area where the former New Democratic Party (NDP) sent people to squat into a commercial hub.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony of the 93-room Holiday Inn Express and Suites to the government on Saturday, Stephenson said it was a day of rejoicing.
“I feel like shouting. It’s a happy day. We need to give God thanks and praise for this day. Let us put our hands together and say, ‘Thank You, Lord for your very blessing upon us’,” said Stephenson, a former Anglican lay minister.
He recounted that when he was a boy, Diamond used to be “a dark and lonely area”.
The area was the location of the country’s first airport and, later, its first drive-in cinema.
“Then we had sugarcane, then we had the Diamond Dairy,” he said, adding that after the sugarcanes, “we had cows and cows and more cows and the area…
“You had a sign there saying, ‘Industrial Estate, Diamond’ and nothing was industrialised. … But now you have in Diamond supermarkets, we have hardware stores, we have a pharmacy … We have one of the most developing communities here in Diamond,” Stephenson said.
“People used to just be sent to squat and everybody built a house here — your kitchen is next to somebody’s toilet and washroom. But we have changed all of that in Diamond, and we are continuing to change that in Diamond.”
Stephenson noted that there are technical and maritime institutes in Diamond.
“And we have it here because we know that we are going to build a hotel here. And many of the young persons who are here this evening, who are working at the Holiday Inn Express have been trained right here at Diamond.”
Frederick said there will be many more development projects in the area and in the constituency, which is also home to Argyle International Airport.
“Today, I’m very happy. I’m delighted to see where we are, the newest Holiday Inn Express and Suites in the world, and here in the constituency of South windward, Diamond and here in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
“… I know that several of the workers here are from the constituency of South Windward and I’m very happy for you, and I look forward to seeing many more persons from this constituency being gainfully employed here,” he said.
And what exactly did the ULP government did to transformed Diamond to an industrial hub? If there is a remedy or recipe for transformation, why is it not replicated in other run down communities? Fools ah talk but ……
How could this be true South Windward MP, Frederick Stephenson says the Unity Labour Party (ULP) government has transformed Diamond from an area where the former New Democratic Party (NDP) sent people to squat into a commercial hub.
The ULP has been in power over twenty years, So everything bad is NDP fault.
Samo, strongly agree that after twenty years they still accusing the ndp, something is so wrong , a curse , a blight is on the people, so sad. 🙏
That’s so true samo