Eustace’s presentation of his party’s Strategic Economic
Plan placed special emphasis on the stimulation of private sector
development as the major engine of job creation, economic growth
and wealth distribution.
Copies were sent to members of the private sector and all the major
stakeholders in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The general consensus amongst the Vincy decision-makers was that
the Plan “was long overdue, well put together and practical
in its application”, said political commentator and radio/television
talk show host, Junior Bacchus.
Last Saturday, also, Gonsalves presented the ULP’s manifesto,
which highlighted what was achieved during his past four and a half
years in Office, and what he hopes to achieve in a next term.
Popular Jamaican entertainer Luciano and top Antiguan band Burning
Flames were employed to catch the crowd, which was comparatively
smaller that the attendance at the NDP meeting.
Bacchus, who is also president of the National Consumers’
Association (NCA), said people are interested in the issues.
“There are other suitable occasions when they can fete.”
He told TnT Mirror: “Many local commentators have observed
that a number of projects identified by the ULP as achieved during
their four and a half year tenure were actually projects conceptualised,
initiated and developed under the previous NDP administration.
“In fact, more that 70 per cent of their achievements can
be attributed as a continuation of NDPs programmes and policies.”
Bacchus said growth was stagnant and the country’s debt had
shot past EC$983 million during Gonsalves Prime Ministership over
the past four and a half years, almost double the EC$500 million
accumulated over the previous 17 years.
“Gonsalves has been boasting that there is growth but he is
not saying that there is no improvement in the economy and that
there has in fact been a decline in the population,” Bacchus
said.
“The growth figures presented by Gonsalves are not consistent
with those issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Eastern
Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).”
Bacchus said that last year saw highest rate in serious crime, with
28 murders, “which for a country with a population of merely
100,000 is very high”.
This compares to 21 murders in the previous year.
Bacchus added that unemployment skyrocketed, with an estimated 12
per cent unemployment rate.
He said that it was generally accepted that the poverty level, which
was put at 37.5 per cent in 1996, had increased rather than decrease
because of high unemployment, made more acute following a recent
50 per cent workforce retrenchment by Cable and Wireless.
He pointed out that the once lucrative banana industry and other
productive sectors had declined by over 50 per cent.
Manufacturing has also dropped and the offshore banking sector has
experienced a pullout because the international community has blacklisted
St. Vincent and the Grenadines for failure to strengthen its banking
laws.
Bacchus said that the country faced serious problems with respect
to an ever-increasing recurrent public expenditure, which is used
to prop up social welfare.
He added that under the prevailing situation, “it seems that
the electorate would be unwilling to give Gonsalves a second term,
especially after he pumped EC$7 million to set up a call centres
project that has collapsed and the highly touted Biggut Water project
has not borne fruits as expected.
Another issue highlighted by Bacchus is Gonsalves swing from a communist
outlook to totalitarian, with about 67 per cent of the government’s
portfolio under his direct control.
“It’s like a dictator, and it could get worse,”
he said.
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