Tourism in St. Vincent and the Grenadines must not merely create jobs, but careers, says East Kingstown MP, Fitz Bramble, an opposition MP.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) said that tourism, along with agriculture, the blue economy and the new economy, are the four pillars on which it would build the Vincentian economy, if elected to office in the next general election.
Bramble, an economist, said the government must create opportunities in tourism, adding that tourism is supposed to be one of the strongest pillars of the economy.
“We welcome it, we depend on it, and we want it to grow?” he said as the NDP opened its East Kingstown office in Sion Hill on Saturday.
“But let’s ask a real question: when these big projects arrive, are our families reaping the benefits? Tourism must not just create jobs, it must create careers,” Bramble said.
“We want Vincentians to be employed at every level of our tourism sector, from greeting the guests, to managing departments, leading teams and shaping the industry.”
The MP said hotels must buy their fish from Vincentian fishermen, their produce from Vincentian farmers, and their crafts from Vincentian artisans.
“Tourism must circulate money within our economy, not drain it away,” Bramble said, promising that an NDP government “will make tourism work for the people, not just for the privileged few”.
He said he had the privilege of experiencing when agriculture fed St. Vincent and the Grenadines and built the economy.
“And let me tell you, it can happen again, and it will happen again with a New Democratic Party administration.”
Bramble said agriculture must become the cornerstone of the nation’s economic revival and is an important pillar of national development.
“We will no longer accept a system where farmers are underpaid, undersupported and overlooked. The New Democratic Party will make farming profitable again,” Bramble said.
He said that in East Kingstown, the NDP will revitalise the agro lab in Frenches, “using science and technology to add value to our produce and make us more competitive.
“We will expand access to land and tools and use the new Kingstown port to export Vincentian produce across the region and beyond, helping our farmers export more and earn more so our young people can see farming not as a struggle, but as a pathway to success.”
He said the ULP administration has also neglected infrastructure.
“When it comes to East Kingstown, all you have to say is bad roads, and you know we are talking about; you know what I mean,” he said, adding people are “tired of this patch, patch work: today a patch, tomorrow a pothole”.
He said projects are rushed before elections, “and then what happens after cracks, delays and broken promises.
“That is not progress, that is deception. And after five in a row, we have nothing to show.”