The post “Where is the comparison, Prime Minister?” – SLP appeared first on St. Lucia News Online.
PM Allen Chastanet
PRESS RELEASE – Yesterday, during his rebuttal to the debate on amendments to the Elections Act, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet read into the records of the House of Assembly, a letter from former Prime Minister, Dr Kenny D. Anthony, to a Mr. Robert Ainsworth, a developer who had proposed to purchase Le Paradis Hotel and acquire some 1000 acres of land by lease or purchase in the “south” of the island to establish a pharmaceutical industry.
The Prime Minister did so to justify his actions in signing an agreement with DSH without adequate discussion.
The Saint Lucia Labour Party knows that the letter was made available to the Press several weeks ago and has been prominently featured on social media by United Pac, the UWP Women’s Arm .
The Saint Lucia Labour Party is satisfied that the Speaker of the House was wrong to allow the Prime Minister to do so in a closing speech in a debate on a completely unrelated matter but it understands the Speaker’s is reluctance to overrule the Leader of the UWP.
However, it really boggles the mind that the Prime Minister should construe such a letter as an “agreement”. This letter, described as a “Comfort Letter,” is normally provided to developers who wish to explore investments. Nowhere in this letter would any sane individual, see any suggestion that the letter constitutes an “agreement” between Mr. Ainsworth and the Government of Saint Lucia. Indeed, the letter notes the intention of the developer to “also acquire by lease or purchase primarily to the south of the island.” How then does that equate to giving away 850 acres of land in Vieux Fort to DSH at a lease of US$1.00 per acre for ninety nine years like the government has done.
Furthermore, where in this “Letter of Comfort” to Mr. Ainsworth is there any undertaking that Mr. Ainsworth could take money from the sale of Saint Lucian passports and put it in an Escrow Account in a bank outside of Saint Lucia as the government has guaranteed the developer of DSH?
The Saint Lucia Labour Party will not stand by and allow the government to give away the lands of the people of Saint Lucia for a pittance and will use every means provided by law to ensure that the DSH Agreement is RENEGOTIATED to remove its offensive provisions.
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The post “Where is the comparison, Prime Minister?” – SLP appeared first on St. Lucia News Online.