Kenny D. Anthony exposes PM Chastanet's development claims

The former Prime Minister and SLP's current Parliament representative from Vieux-Fort South released a press statement on Thursday.

Friday, 18th June 2021

Kenny D Anthony leader of St Lucia Labour Party

The former Prime Minister and SLP's current Parliament representative from Vieux-Fort South released a press statement on Thursday. Leader Kenny D. Anthony lashed on the United Workers Party for their administrative failures. He also listed the achievements of his St Lucia Labour Party.

A full statement of Dr Kenny D. Anthony

Constituents of Vieux-Fort South looked on in amazement when Sabina Valmont declared on June 13, 2021, on the UWP Forum, that she suffered greatly under Hon. Dr Kenny D. Anthony's leadership, especially during 2011-2016. After listening to Sabina's comments and the venom with which she spewed it, many have been questioning why is she so bitter and what is this suffering that she speaks of? Believe it or not, the suffering Sabina is referring to is the fact that Dr Anthony refused to shut down the National Skills Development Centre (NSDC) in Vieux-Fort and grant her a contract to train the young people who benefitted from NSDC programmes. Sabina saw NSDC as a threat to her restaurant and thought that since she possessed the skills to do everything the NSDC does in training persons with culinary skills, she should be given the job to train people so that she can earn money to continue to operate her restaurant. As opposed to welcoming NSDC as an opportunity to educate and train the youth of Vieux-Fort and the south, Sabina thought the institution was competing and encroaching on her territory as a restaurant owner to retail food. She, therefore, demanded its closure. Sabina's complaint was that the food sold by the trainees at NSDC as part of their training programme was competing with her restaurant and so, denying her clients. In response, Dr Anthony insisted that NSDC must continue to operate and fulfil its mandate to the people of the south. He, therefore, rejected Sabina's proposal. Shortly thereafter, Sabina closed her restaurant, terminated her friendship with Dr Anthony and proceeded to openly blame him for her failed investment. This is the act that she now refers to as "suffering". To this day, Dr Anthony has never responded to her publicly or privately. In her remarks, Sabina went on to list ten points that she claimed as a fact check on recent pronouncements by Dr Anthony. Each of the points will be dealt with in turn. 1. Under Dr Anthony's Government, all the files at Radio St Lucia were being stored in a chicken coop. When the SLP took office in 2011, we found Radio St Lucia recordings in the dilapidated outdoor area. This was the UWP's doing during their 2006-2011 term. Recognizing that these are valuable historical records, we began the digitization process to restore and preserve these records. This process was being spearheaded by Mr Oliver Lawrence, who had completed 10% of the process before Radio Saint Lucia was finally shut and destroyed by the UWP in 2016. 2. Fishermen now being paid on time by the Private entity which took over the Fisheries. Sabina and every single Saint Lucian know that is a blatant lie. The media simply needs to take a trip to any Fisheries Complex on the island and interview the fishermen to know that there are many who have not been paid for extended periods, even over six months. In addition, the Fishermen are now denied access to lockers, and many have to travel to communities throughout the island, day and night, to hawk their fish as there are restrictions on how much fish they can sell to the private company. Fishermen are suffering as a result of the new tax on fuel introduced by the Allen Chastanet administration and have been granted no covid-19 relief on the price of fuel, even as the price of fuel continues to increase. 3. The Laptop Programme has been replaced. The Ministry has also built and retrofitted smart classrooms, WIFI in schools and more neighbourhoods, along with more training for educators. It is a fact that the UWP stopped the One Laptop per Child Programme. Many appeals were made to the Government to continue the programme, and the response was that children "do not eat laptops". When COVID-19 hit, and online schooling was introduced, many students were denied an education because of the lack of foresight and selfishness of this Government. To fill the void, the UWP handpicked students, classrooms and schools to give their so-called E-Learning Devices. Many students and teachers have not received a device to date, and most of the devices are in any event malfunctioning. Up to now, the Government has not disclosed the full contractual arrangements with the company which has supplied the devices. The WiFi programme the Government now boasts of was an initiative of the SLP Administration from 2011-2016. WiFi was installed in many communities across the island, and ICT centres were established to give students and residents access to computers and the internet. Many of these centres remained closed for years after the 2016 elections, and there are complaints from citizens that the WiFi no longer works or are usually unstable. The UWP has done nothing to rectify this issue. Instead, as part of their election campaign, they are now seeking to expand the WiFi to constituencies where they are losing ground. It would also be interesting to see one of these smart classrooms and training for educators Sabina spoke of because the teachers in Vieux-Fort South and other parts of Saint Lucia are just as surprised as we are about this revelation. 4. The UWP Government delivered Saint Lucia and opened the OKEU Hospital. After the UWP's 2016 victory at the polls, the OKEU Hospital remained complete and unused for many years. Instead of opening the hospital so that the people of Saint Lucia could receive proper healthcare, Allen Chastanet was busy searching for private deals with foreign interests as his Government wanted no part of a hospital which was designed, commissioned, and named by the SLP. The opening of the OKEU was forced upon the UWP because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After its opening, many questions remained unanswered about the operation of the hospital, working arrangements of staff and access to healthcare. Many nurses were forced to leave the country to seek better employment opportunities, as the UWP administration placed them on contracts and there was no transparency about the terms of engagement during the transition period. 5. The SLP spent $124 Million to build St Jude and received a report in 2016 that they needed another $100 Million to complete the project. When the UWP came into office in 2016, they found a St Jude Hospital which was 80% complete and all the monies required for the completion of the hospital was secured. Thanks to Dr. Anthony, the Government of Taiwan made a financing facility available to complete the hospital. Assistance was also received from friendly governments such as Mexico. Allen Chastanet stopped work on St. Jude in 2016 and work did not commence on the new monstrosity until 2019. In fact, there were numerous reports in the media that UWP intended to lease the St. Jude premises to medical schools and other private entities while the UWP explored other options such as placing the hospital in containers outside of the Stadium. St. Jude would have been completed and fully operational today if the UWP did not discontinue work in 2016. 6. The Pitons were sold to a foreigner under SLP. This is a blatant lie which continues to be peddled by the UWP. No government has done more to protect the Pitons and preserve its status like the SLP administration. In 2002, the Pitons Management Area (SMMA) was established and by 2003, the Pitons were inscribed to the World Heritage List. In 2010, under a UWP Administration, this status was in danger due to inappropriate hotel and housing development within the property. When the SLP returned to office in 2011, steps were taken to preserve the Pitons and a moratorium was placed on all new and unapproved development. No land was sold by the Government of Saint Lucia and where land which was privately owned was sold, it was done within the limits and rules of development for the Piton Management Area. It was the DCA appointed by the UWP who chose to give planning approval to the Canadian investor to construct buildings on the perimeter of the Pitons. 7. SLP spent $14.5 million on the last Jazz festival The Saint Lucia Jazz Festival was a major revenue generator for Saint Lucia. In 2005 alone, the festival earned the island about EC$62 million. The SLP ensured that Saint Lucia Jazz remained the Caribbean's premier jazz event and attracted the biggest names in the music industry. During the festival, every single hotel room in Saint Lucia was booked and every single sector of the economy benefitted. St Lucia Jazz was designed and delivered in such a way that ensured that our farmers, taxi drivers, vendors, and tour operators benefit. Allen Chastanet killed the Jazz Festival and replaced it with a series of poorly designed events. The cancellation of the opening of Jazz in Marchand and other community events denied our locals the opportunity to earn an income from Saint Lucia Jazz. 8. NICE was a 3 year Programme which came to a natural end after the 3 year period. The NICE programme was launched by the SLP in 2012 and provided employment at one stage for over 5000 Saint Lucians in the public and private sector. This programme also assisted small businesses in the manufacturing and creative industry sector by providing financial assistance for equipment and staff. The programme also assisted small farmers to cope with the cost of labour on their fields. Through NICE Saint Lucians completed technical vocational training and became qualified in various areas such as crop production and adult care. When the programme's first three-year period ended in 2015, the SLP government extended the programme and allowed it to continue. During the 2016 campaign, the UWP not only promised to continue NICE but to increases salaries. In typical UWP style, they ended the programme soon after assuming office and terminated most of the staff particularly those whom they believed were supporters or sympathizers of the Saint Lucia Labour Party. The UWP also stopped the Single Mothers Employment Programme with no explanation or alternative. 9. The Administrative complex in Vieux Fort had no planning approval and the land had not even been transferred to the NIC When the SLP left office in 2016, EC$64 million was secured for the funding of the Administrative Complex which was a partnership project between the Government of Saint Lucia and the National Insurance Corporation. The land on which the Administrative Complex would be built belongs to the Government of Saint Lucia. Therefore, access to the land is a non-issue. It is amazing that Sabina Valmont would wish to cite no planning approval for the Administrative Complex as a reason to stop its construction when, only it is just a few days ago, that the DCA finally received the drawings for electrical, fire installation at the so-called "state of the art" building for St Jude Hospital, two years after its re-construction commenced. A FACT CHECKER? How then do you claim to be a fact checker but all you produce are lies? Sabina Valmont is nothing but a failed businesswoman whose anger towards Dr. Anthony has nothing to do with his representation of Vieux-Fort South but everything to do with his refusal to use his office to grant her a personal favour at the expense of the young people of the south. No right-thinking Vieux-Fortian would seek to deny the youth an opportunity to be educated and trained simply because they saw an opportunity for personal gain. Even the UWP agrees that Sabina is an embarrassment and a liability and rejected her as their candidate for Vieux-Fort South. Sabina's relationship with her former staff and the people of Vieux-Fort South is evidence that she is not loved and respected by the people of Vieux-Fort South and as such she should be the last person to speak on a national platform on behalf of Vieux-Fortians.