Friday says NDP has ‘realistic’ plan for SVG

Opposition Leader Godwin Friday says that the time for change is here as Vincentians prepare to elect a new government, adding that his party’s plan for the country is realistic. 

“The time for change has come,” Friday said at a rally in Sion Hill to mark the opening of the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) East Kingstown constituency office.

“Our plan that we have put forward is a plan that is realistic. We have said that we were going to rebuild the economy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines because right now, we do not have a functioning economy.”

The NDP has said that if elected to office, it would focus on the four pillars of the economy, namely agriculture, tourism, the blue economy and the new economy.

“The agricultural sector, they have allowed to die; tourism is limping along. They opened one major hotel in 25 years. You go to the other countries in the region, and you see that they have moved way faster than we have done,” Friday told party supporters.

He said wages are higher in other Caribbean countries because there is greater demand for talent in those countries. 

“And that is why our young people … look to other countries in the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States), and they see greener pastures, and they say, ‘Well, why not St Vincent?'”

He said that under the Unity Labour Party (ULP) administration, foreign workers are imported to work on major projects in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

This was the case when Sandals Resorts International constructed its resort at Buccament Bay.

And, the Taiwanese company contracted to build the US$75 million hospital in Arnos Vale, for which the government has borrowed US$125 million from Taiwan, is doing the same. 

“… we have people here who are desperate to find work and their excuse is that they don’t have the skills,” Friday said.

“Well, why in God’s name, after 25 years in office, you’re telling me you can’t teach people how to bend wire? You can’t teach people how to lay bricks and blocks? You can’t teach people now to drive heavy machinery? You can’t find plumbers and electricians? You can’t find labourers to work on a project?”

Friday blamed the ULP for the situation, saying that SVG is falling behind the rest of the region.

“It is not because of some special characteristic of the people of this country. We are hardworking. We are as talented and gifted as anybody else in the region,” Friday said.

He said Vincentians want progress and prosperity. 

“We want a brighter future for our young people. We want them to use their talents and gifts here to develop St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” the opposition leader said, adding that this has not materialised because of the ULP administration.  

“… we cannot risk another five years of that, because what will happen, … St. Vincent and the Grenadines will become a failed state…”

He said Vincentians want “a government that listens to the people, who puts the interest of the people, first and foremost…”

The opposition leader said the NDP has a plan to bring the Vincentian economy truly into the 21st Century, and elaborated on the party’s plans four pillars of the economy. 

“Come with us in the New Democratic Party. Let us build a more thriving fishing industry and a prosperous country,” Friday said.

He told farmers that the party understands their plight, adding that their challenges are falling on deaf ears because of lack of interest by Minister of Agriculture Saboto Caesar and the ULP government do not value what farmers do. 

“They look at the farmers as though they are the least of the least. I see you as the mightiest of the mightiest. You can build St. Vincent, and I want to work with you to do so.”

The opposition leader said the ULP “braggarts” in office are their own best promoters.

“They have propagandists who can tell you all kinds of things about what is happening in this country, all of it lies,” Friday said.

“… they’re travelling and flying and they’re pretending that they are moving in big circles, that they are too big for us here.”

Friday addressed a series of direct questions to the crowd as well as to internet and radio audiences.

“Do you think you are better off today than you were five years ago? Do you feel that you are better off today than you were 10 years ago?” Friday said, with the crowd responding no to each question. 

“Let me break it down: Do you find it is easier for you to make ends meet when you go to the grocery store? Do you find it easier to pay your electricity and water bills? Do you find it easier to send your children to school on a Monday morning? Do you feel safer in your communities, in your homes? Do you think that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is on the right path? ” the opposition leader further asked, to the same responses. 

“Then we have work to do, my dear people, we have to rescue this country,” he said, adding that the election offers voters that chance. 

General elections are widely expected by November, ahead of the February 2026 constitutional deadline.

“We want them to ring the bell tomorrow, but they will not. They will not because they are afraid,” Friday said. 

He said NDP supporters should ensure that young people are registered to vote when the elections are announced and know about the party’s policies. 

He said party supporters should also ensure that young people “understand that the brighter future comes from having this wonderful team that I have assembled as your ministers in government, and that they have a chance to shape that future by voting”.