Rain was wetting me says PM Gonsalves

By Kenton X. Chance 09.NOV.10

The official residence of the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is leaking.{{more}}

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves made the announcement to supporters of his Unity Labour Party (ULP) during a rally on Sunday, November 7.

He made the disclosure while outlining his government’s plans to improve the circumstances of citizens affected by Hurricane Tomas which battered St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the end of October.

“You know, I didn’t talk about these things before everybody gets back their electricity and people coming out of shelters. You see the residence up there with me? Right now, in Soleil (his younger daughter) room, is four bucket there catching water from the roof,” Gonsalves said.

“Yes. Because the old part of the roof, they need to change it and the water batter it down,” he said.

Gonsalves said that on October 31, after returning from Owia on the northeast coast, where he had gone to assess storm damage, he had to abandon his bedroom.

“I had to come out of the bed in which I am sleeping in the master bedroom in the Prime Minister’s Residence and go in my study and sleep on the couch because rain was wetting me,” he said.

He said he did not want to comment on the situation publicly “while I still have the schools not opening.”

The government suspended school last week because of damage to some buildings, while others were being used as emergency shelters.

As of Sunday, only three of the nation’s schools were still not fit for use by students, according to Gonsalves.

“I could talk about it now. Now, all of us have to be in this thing together,” he said.

Gonsalves further responded to suggestions by “a minority of people, one or two well-meaning” that he form Cabinet committees “with the opposition and the Green Party and this group and that group.”

“You see, what happens is this: there are some people who believe in mock unity. I don’t believe in mock unity. The real unity is the unity among the people, realising that we can have political differences but we are united for the purpose of recovering and reconstructing in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said.