The ruling Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) candidate for West Kingstown, Keisal Peters, has dismissed the promise by Opposition Leader Godwin Friday that a New Democratic Party (NDP) administration will focus on people rather than projects.
“I saw a news clipping the other day from the Leader of the Opposition saying that the NDP will concentrate on people and not projects. Sir, were you absent from class? Everything that the Unity Labour Party does is about the people — everything,” Peters said at the ULP’s rally in Richmond Hill, Kingstown.
“The housing projects are about the people; the BERRY (Beryl Emergency Resilient Recovery) Project is about people. The Fisheries expansion project is about people,” said Peters, a first-time candidate.
“The Rabacca Bridge was about people. The Modern Medical Diagnostic Centre is about people. The Acute Referral Hospital is about people. The Argyle International Airport is about people. And because we have AIA, it led to Sandals Resorts, which employs our people.”
Peters is making a bid to unseat NDP Chairman Daniel Cummings, who has been representing West Kingstown since 2010.
In 2020, Cummings retained the seat for a third consecutive five-year term by 714 votes, up from 444 votes in 2015 in a three-way race that included the ULP and the now-defunct Green Party.
The ULP was returned to office in 2020, for an historic fifth consecutive term, winning nine of the 15 seats, one more than in the previous election, even as it lost the popular vote for the first time since 1998.
Peters said Labour is strong “because we have vision, and our prime minister can see miles ahead”, citing the Contingencies Fund as an example.
“Do you know when the prime minister proposed the establishment of such a fund, the NDP opposed it?
She pointed out that the government has been able to draw on the Contingencies Fund for immediate relief after a natural disaster
“The opposition wants us to respond to a storm that happened today — they want us to respond like yesterday, but they opposed the establishment of a contingency fund,” Peters said.
Peters said Cummings and his party opposed the AIA, saying it was “a vanity project, that you’re wasting time on the mainland because tourism is in the Grenadines.
“And don’t get me wrong, I love the Grenadines, but you don’t see the untapped potential on the mainland, and you’re representing a mainland constituency?
“They have no vision left in them. We will still be using ET Joshua (Airport) and having to go through Barbados. Vincentians just want to get on a plane and come home. Tourists just want to get on a plane and come to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. We have vision.”
Peter’s Vision for West Kingstown
Regarding her vision for West Kingstown, Peters said:
“I am on a quest to correct the wrongs that were committed by the NDP. When the NDP was in office, they allowed people to live on lands in the absence of roads and bridges and drains, no infrastructure.”
She said that although this was the case, Cummings is bragging about the NDP’s land reform project.
“As an engineer, what kind of engineer is he? Bob the Builder? Comrades, when I tell you that one road at a time, one step at a time, one bridge at a time, I have a vision to create access for every constituent of West Kingstown.”
Peters said Labour is strong because it is “a serious government. We have demonstrated how serious we are when it comes to the education of our children. We have demonstrated how serious we are when it comes to our position on local, regional and international matters.”
Peters, a senator in the last Parliament, created history by becoming the first woman to serve as SVG’s minister of foreign affairs, remaining in the post for three years, before being reassigned to the Ministry of National Mobilisation in July 2024.
“To know Keisal Melissa Peters is to know that I am a serious woman. And when it comes to the constituency of West Kingstown, I do not play,” she said.
“So, when I joined Cabinet, and when I became caretaker for West Kingstown, the Edinboro road was in a state of disrepair, and my opponent was telling West Kingstown people, ‘Well, when I get into office, I will fix it.’
“Well, let me tell him something Keisal Melissa Peters is a serious woman, and the Edinboro road is completed,” Peters said of the road that missed several deadlines before being completed earlier this year.
She said that when she was the foreign minister, she secured funding for a project to rehabilitate the Edinboro Hard Court.
“And it is after the work started my opponent came to Parliament and pretending that he cared about the hardcourts and asking Minister Brewster about the hardcourt, and Minister Brewster told him in so much words, ‘Well, Keisal already dealing with that. Keisal already secured the funds for that.’ And as we speak, the Edinboro Hardcourt is being rehabilitated.
Labour embraces, empowers the youth
Peters said that Labour is strong because it embraces and empowers the youth.
“A lot is said about our prime minister. When you look at the slate of candidates, you have the young, you have the not-so-young, and you have the young at heart,” the candidate said.
“And people always tease us about our prime minister’s age, but the prime minister is a smart man, and let me tell you why the prime minister is preparing for the future of St Vincent and the Grenadines,” she said of the 79-year-old leader.
“And he is passing on his wisdom to the younger ones like myself… Comrades, this is how we’re setting up the thing for the future. This is how we own the future.
“The New Democratic Party, on the other hand, they are afraid of young people. The NDP candidate for East Saint George said, ‘Oh, well, we don’t do on-the-job training’, as if young people don’t have sense,” Peters said.
“The prime minister took me before I was 35 and made me a minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and he could shut his eye and send me to any of the four corners of the earth. Then he entrusted me with the heart and soul of the government. The prime minister is not afraid to embrace and empower our young people,” Peters said.
She said Cummings knows that “the temperature in West Kingstown is rising, especially among the young people”, adding that Cummings’ team was encouraging people in West Kingstown to stay at home on election day.
“Young people, anybody who wants to silence your voice and silence your vote is dangerous. They cannot be trusted,” she said and urged people to register and vote for Labour in the Nov. 27 general election.
I am sure I saw a video of Ralph asking ULP supporters to come out on election night to have a conflict with the NDP supporters. I hope the supporters will stay at home and come out the next day to celebrate.
This attitude by Papa Doc brings me to the conclusion that he knows that he will lose the elation. I believe it will probably be a 9 NDP and 6 ULP, or 8 NDP and 7 ULP.
The constituencies that the NDP may claim are North Leeward, North Windward and Central Leeward.
The two seats that appear to be moving towards the NDP are Central and North Leeward.
Brewster has done very little for his constituency and will lose the election if Huggins comes out of Baga with a majority.
The NDP will not have an easy and clear take-over because of the empty cupboard it will inherit due to the amount of borrowed money the ULP has accumulated.