Leader of the Opposition of Saint Lucia Hon Philip J Pierre on Wednesday September 5th 2018 addressed the nation on the upcoming Saint Lucia Labour Party led National Protest and Rally on September 9th 2018.

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Address to the Nation
by Leader of the Opposition Hon Philip J. Pierre
September 5, 2018
Citizens of St Lucia.
Once again, I have found it necessary to address you on matters of grave
concern to our lives, livelihoods and the future survival of our country. The last
time that I addressed the nation on healthcare, I asked the government to be
transparent, direct and clear with its intentions for our two major hospitals and
for health financing in general. I asked the government to remove the
uncertainty surrounding the relocation of the hospital from the George Odlum
Stadium to the St Jude site at Augier and the transitioning of the Victoria
Hospital to the Owen King European Union Hospital (OKEU Hospital). I asked
that the government remove the confusion and the speculation created by its
refusal to come clean with St Lucians. I indicated that it is the absolute right of

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every St Lucian to be kept informed of the decisions for the provision of
quality, accessible and affordable healthcare. I reiterated that the privatization of
our hospitals is not an option that any sensible or sensitive government should
consider.
To date, the government has refused to respond to these important questions.
Instead, with its usual style of ignoring the voices of those who challenge their
unwise and unfair policies, the Prime Minister and his cabinet of enablers have
arrogantly gone ahead. Indeed, behind closed doors, they are colluding with
foreign entities whose only interest is profit from the opportunities that both
hospitals present to them, and not the welfare of the citizens of St Lucia. Why
hasn’t the Government considered working with our friends in Martinique and
Cuba who have generously and traditionally assisted and continue to assist us
with our health care needs?
This UWP administration has totally failed the people of St. Lucia in this most
vital area of health care and as we speak today the situation is even more
critical. While the government is engaging in games of delay, doublespeak and
confusion, the family and friends of St Lucians have had to deal with very real
and tragic consequences ofa compromised healthcare system. National
healthcare continues to stagnate and worsen as the UWP administration finds
itself hamstrung and unable to advance its healthcare mandate and health care
continues to be a matter of serious concern.
Even now, fiberglass poisoning at the George Odlum Stadium housing St. Jude
and the less than optimal conditions at our hospitals are real risks to the lives
and wellbeing of those working in or seeking healthcare. Our doctors and nurses
are not miracle workers. They should not be expected to work in conditions that
compromise the level of care that they should give. The government must be
held accountable for its reckless decisions. A patient who dies while on dialysis,
irrespective of the situation, should never be dismissed with a callous offhand
remark by Prime Minister, Chastanet, that his death was not the first to ever
happen. “Do you think that people have not died on dialysis previously”? What
type of leader would express such a cold, uncaring sentiment? What type of
government would be unaware of the pain that such sentiments could evoke
among the family and friends of the deceased? We need to create a movement
to put an end to this callousness.

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The missteps and blunders surrounding healthcare are mirrored in other areas.
One may recall the issue of the NIC $100M loan particularly as it relates to the
security of pension benefits. I have posed a number of direct questions to the
government.
We all need and deserve an answer to this question. Did the NIC purchase any
bonds during the recent sale of Saint Lucia government bonds?
The government needs to answer why Saint Lucia has lost the Black Bay Hotel
Project which would add jobs and much needed investment in Saint Lucia.
Another example of the incompetence and mistakes of the government. We are
asking the Government to respect the people of this country and admit to the
facts surrounding the loss of the Range Hotel Project at Black Bay. Mr.
Dominic Fedee’s spin will not suffice. Tell the people the truth.
The Government also needs to account for its use of the funds from the CIP
Programme. It should not be allowed to continue to violate the rules of the
programme.
It is difficult to imagine how a government can forgo an offer by the World
Bank to seek finance, monitor and manage the construction of Hewanorra
Airport without one additional cent of loan funds but that Government will
instead chooseto redevelop the airport through a loan that will increase the
national debt by over US$150M and in so doing mortgage the future of our
children.
There can be no secrecy in the affairs of the state when the money of the
taxpayers of Saint Lucia is being wasted.
Another example of this Government’s loose use of State finances and the
recklessness of the Prime Minister is his recent startling announcement of his
intention to demolish the Parliament Building, the Court House and the National
Printery building before the end of this year and replace them with a park.

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Where has his sense of priority gone? Where has the need for consultation on
such an important national matter gone? Where is the regard for the value of our
institutions of government, our history and our heritage? Where is the
sensitivity for the fate of the workers at the National Printery who will
needlessly lose their jobs?
How can the Prime Minister give priority to a $32M contract to a foreign
consultant to prepare designs and repeat over and over, there is no money for
health care or to commission the OKEU Hospital or to complete St. Jude
Hospital? The Prime Minister’s priorities as it regards our people are ill
conceived.
The government also needs to show more respectfor the gifts from friendly
governments to Saint Lucia. The abandonment of the newly constructed
National Abattoir at Beausejour is a prime example of the insensitive disregard
shown by the government to a necessary gift from the Government and people
of Taiwan.
When the taxpayers of the European Union donated the new national hospital to
Saint Lucia, their intention was for it to improve health care for the people of
our country; they certainly did not regard it as a vehicle for profiteering.
The Saint Lucia Labour Party has observed the government’s attempts to
muzzle the media as reporters, journalists and calypsonians work to reveal the
truth of what the government is doing behind closed doors. As some media
practitioners attempt to shine a light on the government’s actions, we are
hearing of particular opinion writers being banned from certain newspapers. We
see the Prime Minister’s attempt to undermine reporters as they challenge his
false statements. It is clear that this government’s approachis to try to
victimize, intimidate and silence anyone who demands transparency and
accountability. This is a threat to our democracy that must not and will not be
tolerated.
The Labour Party hears the daily lament of people devastated by the bad
decisions and actions of this government, and therefore our Party is determined

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to stand in solidarity with the cause of the suffering people of our country. We
will not be silenced, dismissed or intimidated. As a party, we will continue to
marshal supportagainst the unjust and unsound plans that this government is
formulating for healthcare. We believe that as a people, we must collectively
demonstrate our opposition to the government’s intolerable approachto
healthcare and to governance in general. This is why we are staging another
march and rally on Sunday, September 9th, the anniversary of the fire at St Jude
Hospital, to demonstrate, once again, our people’s right to be heard on the
issues of affordable healthcare as well as sound, transparent and just
governance.
I want to assure Saint Lucians of all walks of life that we will stand in solidarity
with them where there is intimidation, bullying or victimization whether you are
a teacher, nurse, police officer, civil servant, farmer, customs officer, member of
the national trust, vendor, hotel worker, mini bus driver, business man.
A chain is as strong as its weakest link and strength lies in numbers. As St
Lucians, we must come together on September 9th to form a strong chain of
resistance against a government that is jeopardizing our lives and that of
generations to come.
The situation in our country calls for all Saint Lucians regardless of political
colour to form a solid movement to end this madness – to end this runaway
reckless incompetence that passes for government in Saint Lucia.
We need to show that we are serious by joining this protestmarch and rally on
September 9th. This struggle is not just for ourselves but also for generations
yet to be born.
Our country is not for sale, our country is bleeding, lets show our disgust for the
actions of this government on 9th September, 2018. Let’s assemble at the Vigie
(Sab) playing field starting at 2:30 PM.
ENDS.

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BREAD * JUSTICE * FREEDOM