By Ashford Peters
Allegations of corruption in the former Unity Labour Party (ULP) administration’s Lives to Live programme is now rocking St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the programme comes under the microscope of the 2-month-old New Democratic Party (NDP) government.
Minister of Housing Andrew John raised the issue during Wednesday’s debate on the 2026 budget, saying the millions allocated to the programme were not justified, given the number of people listed as having benefited and the living conditions of many, particularly those in informal settlements across the country.
John, MP for South Windward, used the Diamond Estate, an informal settlement site in his constituency, as a prime example.
The Lives to Live programme was introduced by the Ralph Gonsalves-led ULP administration and managed by the Ministry of Housing, with millions of dollars spent over the years on building materials and home appliances, including kitchen sinks and toilet facilities.
The programme is for the “very indigent people”, marginalised people, people with disabilities and people who have to be relocated to make way for development projects.
“Now, Diamond Estate, that settlement was originally a squatter area. And I think the government moved to formalise some of it. But I don’t think the previous government’s heart was really in it,” John told lawmakers.
“And so, Diamond is one of the places where a lot of irregularities took place,” he said.
John said Diamond is a settlement built based on a lot of needs, hence it is “entwined with the Lives to Live programme” as the previous administration was “building bathrooms and homes for the underprivileged and the poor”.
In November 2023, then Prime Minister Gonsalves spoke of a substantial amount of money from the Saudi Fund for Development, over US$9 million (EC$24.3 million) of which was allocated to the Lives to Live programme.
“And they spent $9 million last year doing that. But when you check a place like Diamond and many other places, you wonder if St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the pit-latrine capital of the world,” John told Parliament.
John said that while campaigning for the Nov. 27 general election that saw him elected to Parliament for the first time, he was “alarmed at the number of pit latrines that still exist in our country…
“We have to put a stop to that”, John said, adding, “We have decided … we are going to make Diamond Estate settlement a pilot programme for the upgrading of informal settlement.”
John said EC$150,000 has already been set aside “just to ensure that we provide electricity, potable water — that the people have bathroom facilities.
“It has something to do with our dignity. Don’t tell me that you’re comfortable in your home and you can’t see the need for these things to provide to people. And then you’re going to ask the same people to vote for you when the time comes,” he told lawmakers.
John said his government will make “a tangible effort” to upgrade the community in Diamond.
“Very early in this year, we’re going to start on that programme. We can’t have our people living below standard and when we’re done, we say they’re poor, they can’t afford it, we make all kind of excuses.
“There is something for us as a government to do. And this government is going to take the bull by the horn and get it done. We can’t be telling people that it can’t be done and finding an excuse,” John said.
John said another project in the pipeline is the construction of a proper road system at Diamond.
“I was informed by the persons who are responsible that some of the roads were already surveyed, but nothing was done, so people built their homes in the road. So, you have to go now and get that re-surveyed,” John said, noting that “it’s going to cost some money”.
John said the professionals are mapping out the area to determine what needs to be done.
Tens of millions of dollars have gone to the Jamaica-based Tankweld Ltd. to supply shipments of lumber, galvanised sheeting and cement, particularly after natural disasters.
Following the devastation by hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024, the government imported building materials from Tankweld, including shipments said to cost over US$5 million (over EC$13.5 million) and US$1 million (EC$2.70 million).
Additionally, materials worth millions of dollars were donated by local and foreign organisations and businesses, donor agencies and governments.
In 2022, the government ordered EC$5 million worth of building materials from Tankweld, citing reconstruction or repair of houses.
In January 2014, following the December 2013 devastating floods, the government ordered a shipment of over $4 million worth of materials, and Tankweld made a donation, bringing the total value of the shipment to well over $5 million.
In November 2010, following destruction by category one Hurricane Tomas, the government ordered over EC$5 million worth of building materials from Tankweld.