Guy Joseph
The main opposition, the United Workers’ Party (UWP) has decried the state of the public service system, promising to improve it, if elected into government.
That statement was made in light of what the party said are the many issues being encountered in the efficient delivery of services within the public sector.
Parliamentary representative for Castries South-East, Guy Joseph, accused the St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) administration of frustrating citizens daily due to these hiccups.
Joseph said he receives numerous complaints daily from people living in communities, island wide. He singled out the Ministry of Infrastructure and said a common grievance is that it is challenging for citizens to get the necessary help they require from that ministry.
“It is more difficult to see somebody in the ministry and I can tell you because people come to me all the time and lodge complaints…It is like going to a ministry in a foreign country.” This development, he said, affects many people and is a clear indication of failure on the part of government.
Joseph recalled that while serving as minister of communication under the UWP government, there was a specific day set aside each week, where people who had issues, whether to do with roads, drainage, landslides, water or electricity, would bring them to the attention of his ministry. Joseph said he made it his duty to listen to the concerns of the public and further accused the government of not giving the citizenry a listening ear and always approaching issues from a negative standpoint.
Moreover, Joseph commented on what he said were challenges posed to citizens seeking to access the recently relocated St. Lucia Development Fund (SSDF). The organisation’s office is now located on the Millennium Highway, an area which he is convinced, is not easily accessible.
“Some of the elderly people who cannot walk up the steps of the ministry and use the elevator are sent to walk these flights of steps of the Millennium Highway, to the new SSDF office… How many of these people can really do that and then when they get there they tell them they cannot handle the issues,” Joseph said.
According to Joseph, another common complaint about the SSDF is that many individuals who come to the Fund with problems are referred to their constituency council and when they do not get through, are further directed to their parliamentary representative.
He stressed that this is a costly exercise for persons in poor communities with genuine concerns. He argued that in some cases citizens go through long burdensome travels and are still left unsatisfied and with many unanswered questions.
“I want this Labour Party government to stop spinning top in mud with the people of St. Lucia and when you cannot do something for them, tell them you cannot do it. It is not fair to the elderly people of this country or to anybody in need to cause them to travel up and down so many times when you know it’s a run around that t the government is giving,” he said.
Joseph claims that majority of complaints are unresolved and citizens are told by government that there is no money to solve the issues at hand. He said he hopes that Prime Minister Kenny Anthony will take greater responsibility for these issues and ensure that the citizens’ concerns are addressed promptly and efficiently.
He accused the prime minister of choosing cabinet members who cannot defend the cause of the people. He further lashed out at the Public Service Minister Dr. Fletcher, calling him incompetent and inexperienced for the job.
Joseph further opined that the government hires too many consultants.
“We have a bunch of elected people in the Labour Party, who has no say and they cannot even stand to defend the cause of the people who voted for them,” he added.
Meanwhile, Leader of the UWP Allan Chastanet, in proposing a plan to improve the public service, said his party plans to decentralise the database system with the creation of government information centres, once elected.
Chastanet said five centres could be set up around the country to deal with this. It could help to centralise all government records. The UWP leader believes that privatising this service could also help to break the tradition of government not being able to deal with the public across the counter effectively.