Dear Sir:
A few friends have called me to ask why I would have stated at the House sitting on Tuesday, October 29, that I don’t want the toys offered by Guy Joseph.
My position is simple. Former parliament representatives, Jon Odlum and Robert Lewis have hosted children parties for decades. It is a tradition that I am continuing and God spare, I hope to continue for many years to come. It is difficult to get toys for every child, but we have done so in the past and will continue to strive to do so.
But are toys the most important things to give to parliamentarians to distribute?
What about the Community Development Projects (CDP), that provide much-needed help to build drains, walls, pathways, and repairs throughout the community? Additionally, it provides small contracts to constituents to give them a sense of independence and who in turn can buy their toys of choice for their kids.
Castries South has been starved of projects. The four small projects which were given were done through United Workers Party (UWP) operatives. I am certainly not impressed as I am the duly elected parliamentary representative and never consulted on any development being executed within my consistency; simply for political expediency.
What about the Short-Term Employment Programme (STEP)? Now called the stimulus program.
Whether we like it or not, it provides significant relief to so many persons who are unemployed and maybe even unemployable. These constituents are from both sides of the political divide, they are Saint Lucians.
The stimulus programme is now a political victimisation tool, as it is severely limited to a few political operatives and a lot of people are suffering because of the abandonment of the STEP, worsen now by the highly selective approach to the stimulus programme.
I am sorry. I don’t need just toys, especially toy horses, for the constituents of Castries South. I need jobs. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.
Ernest Hilaire
First Deputy Political Leader, Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP)
