by Southern Grenadines correspondent.

The jerseys read “Our Choice is Clear, We voting Ollivierre” as Terrance Ollivierre marched surrounded by his zealous supporters from the Ashton cross roads to the empty plot of land opposite the police station.

The plot was alive with the sound of speeches and music wrapped up in an atmosphere of confidence and jubilation as the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) presented Terrance Ollivierre, its incumbent candidate for the Southern Grenadines seat last Saturday 18. {{more}}

The Who’s Who of the NDP had descended on Union Island. Among the speakers of the night were former Prime Minister and NDP founder Sir James Mitchell, party President Arnhim Eustace, Northern Grenadines Parliamentary representative Dr. Godwin Friday and NDP candidate for the North leeward constituency Roland Patel Matthews.

But undoubtedly the man of the hour was Terrance Ollivierre. Urged on by his two thousand or so supporters, he touched on a variety of issues in what was a forthright but calm presentation.

Among the many issues he raised was that of the role of Grenadines Affairs in the Government. “There must be a ministry totally dedicated to Grenadines Affairs not as a unit in some other ministry,” declared Ollivierre.

He reflected on developments that came in Union Island under the government of the NDP suggesting that the current Government had not built sufficiently on the foundation left by his party. Ollivierre also reiterated that national heritage, such as the Tobago Cays, must not be sold off in the name of development.

Education was also high on the agenda. “We cannot build the future for our youths, but we can build our youths for the future” he said, as he outlined the needed improvement in the education system. He called for a broader scope of educational emphasis, stating the academic, sporting and technical among other aspects of education must be developed to give students a wider scope of opportunities as they enter the adult world.

The buoyant supporters lapped up their representative’s words with respectful attentiveness and they were trilled and spurred on by the performances of Ras I, the NDP calypso champion and Vynette Frederick who did their popular political numbers “Mr. Lynch Mr. Lynch” and ‘Can’t wait to vote them out” respectively.