Opposition Leader gives 5 priority areas should NDP form government

Leader of the Opposition, Dr Godwin Friday has highlighted his party’s five priority agenda items, should they form government after the next general elections in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Friday, who is also political leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) spoke of the party’s priorities on Sunday October 8, as he addressed a town hall meeting at Friends of Crown Heights in Brooklyn, New York.

Speaking to a group of mostly Vincentians, Friday said his party’s number one priority will be to create more and better paying jobs in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Secondly, the NDP will seek to build an economy that provides opportunities for all.

Another agenda item is that the opposition party is promising to make our communities and our country safe from crime.

Health care is number four among the priority areas, as the NDP said it will ensure reliable and affordable health care, that Vincentians can trust.

Infrastructure is the fifth priority item, with a promise to improve our roads and general infrastructure across St Vincent and the Grenadines.

During the town hall meeting which was organized by the St Vincent and the Grenadines Progressive Organization of New York (SPOONY) and dubbed ‘Hope for Home’, the NDP leader said Vincentians in the diaspora are a blessing to us all.

“By the money and the material you send home for your families, the support that you give to your favourite projects back at home and the investments that you make when you build your home, or you fix up the family home.”

He noted that St Vincent and the Grenadines is a “wonderful country,” but expressed the opinion that “we are headed in the wrong direction.”

Unemployment and crime, were among the areas of concern raised.

“Crime has spiralled out of control,” Friday said.

According to him, the crime situation is “causing fear and frustration among our people.”

Friday charged that the length of time that the government has been in office has given rise to complacency and arrogance, and that they are no longer in touch with the real needs and concerns of ordinary people.

“They have simply been there too long,” the NDP leader stressed.

“We cannot afford to stall any more or to drift any further,” he stated; as he said that we cannot afford another term of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) administration.

While admitting that the NDP is working to bring about political change; Friday argued that this move “is not about ambition, this is about the future of our country.”