Cabot St Lucia ‘fiasco’: Another blow to the country’s patrimony, says opposition party

By Caribbean News Global contributor

CASTRIES, St Lucia – The Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) continues to resist recent events at the proposed Cabot Lodge Golf Course at Cap Estate deemed a ‘Cabot fiasco’ and another blow to the country’s patrimony, “ having revealed and confirmed the serious improprieties committed by the current United Workers Party (UWP) government in facilitating this project.

The SLP affirmed that it “stands in solidarity with the people of Saint Lucia and all other organisations which have expressed their concerns regarding the development of Cabot St Lucia.”

Besides calls for the government of Saint Lucia to immediately take steps to redress the problems of this ‘Cabot fiasco’, the SLP requested the following:

• Provide full disclosure of the terms of the loan and all other agreements between Cabot (St Lucia) Inc., the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) and the government of Saint Lucia.
• In the absence of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project, as required by law, the immediate cessation of works ongoing on the Cap Estate site until the appropriate approval process has been completed, including all relevant statutory and other assessments.
• That government immediately revokes Cabinet Decision No. 957 of 2020 in respect of granting of a 75-year lease on the Queen’s Chain until the development process is completed.
• That the government protects and secures the rights of all those currently using the beaches in that area for their livelihoods, in particular Marjorie Lambert, who has been an entrepreneur at Cas En Bas Beach for the last two decades.
• That government ensures that Cabot (St Lucia) Inc., reinstates public rights of way to Donkey Beach, Secret Beach and other beaches adjoining its property.
• That the government protects the rights of access for persons to access the coastline and the beaches in all developments including Cabot St Lucia.

The SLP further contends that the UWP administration is again urged to place the interest of the people of Saint Lucia first and not that of special interests.

At the initial stages, the SLP cautioned that, “the people’s pension funds at the NIC should not have been loaned to a wealthy foreign businessman to buy our land. Now, his ownership of the land, and by extension, the people’s money is being used to deprive Saint Lucians of their rights and access to their beaches.”