Seven reasons why ULP should be re-elected – Gonsalves

Political leader of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) and Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has urged voters to be wary of the New Democratic Party (NDP) as progress made by the ULP will be stagnated and in some cases even reversed if the NDP gets into power.{{more}}

“When we came to office, we met a tremendous mess and we had to clean it up…there are many initiatives that the NDP will bring to and end if you make the mistake and put them in office,” said the Prime Minister last Saturday during a rally at the Grammar School playing field at Richmond Hill.

Speaking at the rally, which was held to announce December 9 as the election date, Gonsalves gave seven reasons why the ULP should be re-elected, 20 major policy promises that they have fulfilled and “15 stars of development” for the next five years.

The PM said that the NDP will stop, among other things, the construction of the Argyle International Airport, the Petro Caribe Agreement and the ALBA membership, the Low-Income and No-Income Housing Projects, the Lives-to-Live Housing Programme and the distribution of housing lots to the people at knock-down prices.

“What they going to do, they going to bring austerity; they not going to do geothermal project, they won’t support and finance LIAT, the expansion in sports and culture they will put on the back burner. Eustace already say he will have nothing to do with the modern city at Arnos Vale,” said Gonsalves.

He said in his opinion, the NDP will stop the Youth Empowerment Service (YES) Programme, the Support for Education and Training Programme (SET) and also the Farmers’ Support Company and low-interest loans to farmers and fisherfolk programmes and there will be no money from Petro Caribe.

The Prime Minister stressed that under an NDP government, the nation’s education revolution will be at a standstill because the NDP will do away with the Student Loan Company and the economically-disadvantaged student loan programme for post-secondary and tertiary education, the provision of free education and training for nurses and the grant of a monthly stipend for nurses-in-training of $1,000 per month, while there will no longer be an unprecedented number of tuition scholarships and other scholarships and bursary programmes for our university students.

Gonsalves said that the ULP will do the exact opposite to what the NDP will do and over the next five years pledges to consolidate and further extend its existing public policies and programmes if given the opportunity to govern when country votes on December 9.

He said that they currently have several major initiatives for full implementation over the next five-year period ending on December 31, 2020, the 15 stars as he called them.

Among them are, the further creation of jobs and wealth; the push to Zero Hunger and the further reduction of poverty; the imminent opening and operation of the Argyle International Airport; the delivery of 12-Megawatts of geothermal energy within an overall plan for enhanced utilization of renewable energy; the relocation and modernization of the port to the Bottom Town area; extension and enlargement of the Cruise Ship Pier at a new location in Arnos Vale; the further modernization of the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, and the relocation of some of its major departments to, and enhanced health delivery at, an Acute Referral Hospital to be built at Arnos Vale; the consolidation and deepening of the Education and Housing Revolutions; and the start-up of the building of a modern city at the Arnos Vale site of the ET Joshua Airport, consequent upon the commencement of operations of the Argyle International Airport.

The ULP, if given another five years, will also roll out a road construction and rehabilitation plan (including bridges) and the building of sea and river defences; construct a national stadium; re-develop and uplift capital city Kingstown, while looking at the further building of resilience to climate change.

“You see what this election is about?” asked the PM, stressing that the Government has plans that point to the development of significant tourism plants including at Mt Wynne-Peter’s Hope, Canouan, Union Island, Mayreau and Bequia; assorted tourism services such as the attendance of overseas students at the four medical schools; cruise, yachting and “nature” tourism will be further developed; the facilitation of major developments in agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing, assorted services (including the expansion of ICT); and the initiation of massive confidence-building measures to reduce markedly unwarranted political divisiveness and to aid the process of reconciliation, love and unity among our people.

“You see what this election is about?” asked Gonsalves.(LC)