Our country is being failed by this SLP government, by those who claim to be leading our country but, instead, are only damaging it. Let me start by saying responsibility for the GPH fiasco falls at the feet of the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and the Minister of Investment, who appears to have been the one who brokered this one-sided transaction. Now we know that this was not a good deal for Saint Lucia and key port assets have been disposed of in a manifestly improper manner.
Who is the Minister with responsibility for ports and SLASPA? Who was entrusted as the custodian of these assets? It is Minister Stephenson King. Under his watch, strategic assets have been disposed of, some say given away. The port is not functioning as expected, resulting in long delays in the clearance of goods, adding costs and frustration to conducting business. And it is you, citizens of this country, who are paying the price for his failures.
But this is not altogether unusual, look at the state of our roads: the worst they have ever been. Our water supply: we are in a rolling crisis, with some communities suffering a lack of access. Why is this administration not taking care of our infrastructure and our people?
On the GPH Deal: What we know about this is minimal.
The government has handed control over our port to a foreign company. Saint Lucians need to understand WHY one of our most valuable national assets has been given away.
We know that before the GPH deal, the cruise passenger head tax was $6.50 USD, of which $1.50 went to solid waste management and $5 was split between the government and SLASPA. Today, the head tax is $12.50 USD per passenger, but GPH receives $10, SLASPA $1 and Solid Waste $1.50.
Let me repeat: GPH gets $10, SLASPA gets $1 and Solid Waste gets $1.50.
Why would Stephenson King, who has responsibility for SLASPA, allow a deal which robs SLASPA of a critical revenue stream and gifts a foreign company $10 USD? Why? This must also be understood in the context that SLASPA needed support to strengthen its balance sheet, which was already under pressure.
Based on the 2022–2023 financial statement, if one were to subtract the Airport Development Charge from SLASPA’s income, which grossed $37 million and cannot be used to meet operational expenses, it would have suffered an operating loss of $4.4 million. The financial position of SLASPA is likely to have further deteriorated in the financial year 2023-2024.
Let me be clear: the Minister of Ports, who has responsibility for SLASPA, rather than helping to strengthen the balance sheet of SLASPA, allowed for a transaction that would starve our Port Authority of much-needed revenue, needed to cover liabilities, maintain staff and invest in the ports in the interest of Saint Lucians.
Now we have heard from the government that this is a good Foreign Direct Investment. Really? Why then did GPH have to borrow our money, your money, from a local institution to pay off a debt of $17 million USD? Money borrowed by SLASPA for the construction of the dolphin berths at Pointe Seraphine to allow the port to accommodate Quantum-class vessels.
Why did GPH not use its own funds? Why did it have to borrow our money? This WILL be investigated and the answers to these questions WILL be revealed. A foreign investor comes to Saint Lucia, acquires an asset and uses that asset as the basis of getting a loan from a local bank? Does this sound familiar? Do we remember when Cabot did the same? What did the then Opposition say? What did Ernest Hilaire and Philip J. Pierre say? What did the so-called independent voices say? They vilified the investor and said that Allen Chastanet was giving away our patrimony.
But today, we hear a deafening silence from those who shouted from the top of the mountains that Cabot was not a bona fide foreign investor because they relied on mezzanine finance from a local institution.
Such hypocrisy. Where are they now?
If this was not enough, why has the Vieux Fort Port been left out of the deal? Was this because the previous UWP administration, under Allen Chastanet, wanted Vieux Fort to be a home port, a project that would have boosted the south’s economy? Instead, the GPH deal has effectively made SLASPA a passive observer to Saint Lucia’s development.
Any government’s decisions and actions MUST be taken in the interest of the people of Saint Lucia. This HAS TO be the key motivation and driver. Again, I ask, when this steal took place, because it is certainly not a deal, where was Stephenson King?
We need answers from Senior Minister in the Labor Cabinet, Stephenson King:
- Why would the Government of Saint Lucia give up a critical revenue stream in a time where is so much to do in our country?
- Who is responsible for the redevelopment of Berth 4?
- What role did you, Minister Stephenson King, play in this outrageous transaction?
- Why has there been a decline in cruise ship passengers since the deal came into effect?
- Who will compensate taxi drivers, tour guides, restaurateurs, market and arcade vendors for their loss of income because of lower arrival numbers?
Let me summarise all the little we know
- Minister King and his colleagues agreed to a deal that reduced government income from $6.50 USD to $2.50 (with $1.50 to solid waste and $1 to SLASPA).
- This was done at a time when SLASPA’s balance sheet was already under pressure.
- This was done against the clear advice of SLASPA and the Minister of Finance.
- The government then increased the passenger tax to $12.50, most of which, $10 USD, is given to GPH.
- GPH borrowed over $40 million dollars from local institutions to complete the transaction.
- The GPH deal bars the government from making a critical investment in the south of the island.
- The increased head tax has made Saint Lucia less competitive, and other islands are now attracting the ships that once called at Port Castries.
- SLASPA must now find $80 million to fix Berth 4 and make it available to GPH.
- And all of this was done through a lease that gave up our most important assets for the princely sum of $1 a year for up to 40 years.
This is a failure and this is evident.
What is not clear is why, Minister King, who is squarely responsible in this area, is not acting. Acting to provide answers to the people of Saint Lucia and to remediate these situations.
Acting to leverage the beauty and potential of our island to make our country and our people grow.
This is the same Minister King who, in the last election paraded himself as an independent voice. We have heard nothing independent from Minister King on this outrageous GPH deal nor on any other matter whatsoever over the past four years.
He simply tows the line of the Labor party government and enjoys his perks at the expense of this nation. This is a travesty of a deal and yet another glaring example of gross mismanagement and incompetence by this Labour government and its agents like Stephenson King.
Saint Lucia, we call on you to make your voices heard, to fight for this country and to restore good governance. The time for change is coming.
Stephen Fevrier
