Sound leadership by Ralph and the ULP

Editor: In these difficulties times of global economic crisis and its terrible effects on the Caribbean, it is a good thing that Ralph Gonsalves and the ULP government continue to provide sound leadership to SVG and to our region.{{more}}

This conclusion came to me as I listened to the excellent discussion last Thursday night by the leaders of the member governments of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, ECCU, and the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Sir Dwight Venner.

I was most impressed by the presentations of Sir Dwight and our Prime Minister Dr. Gonsalves, who chaired the proceedings in his capacity as chairman of the General Task Force of the OECS and the ECCU designed to coordinate the response of the sub-region to the economic crisis.

As a Vincentian, I was pleased to hear Sir Dwight thank and praise Dr.Gonsalves for his “outstanding leadership” in steering the OECS-ECCU in these challenging times. This must have galled the blind critics of Ralph in SVG.

Surely, Sir Dwight is not a bootlicker as the Ralph-haters proclaim, anytime anyone praises the Comrade. Clearly, he is recognized as the leader of the OECS-ECCU group by his colleagues, and we should celebrate that fact. It was pleasing, too, to read two editorials in the Searchlight newspaper in the space of one month or so, commending the ULP government on its programmes in the areas of education and poverty reduction.

One of the editorials gave the government an “A+”, the top grade for its Education Revolution.

The second editorial praised the government for its role in causing general poverty to be reduced from 37.5 percent of the population in 1997, to 30.2 percent in 2008, and for having “indigence”, that is dirt poor poverty, reduced over the same period from 25.7 percent of the population to 2.9 percent. The Poverty Assessors were the same ones used by the NDP in 1997 and in 2008 under the ULP; they are reputable consultants out of Trinidad known as Kairi Consultants.

In 2001 and 2005 general elections, the ULP focused its attention on Education and Poverty Reduction. It has delivered and it is still delivering despite much work that remains to be done in both areas.

I am satisfied that, all things considered, Ralph and ULP deserve a third term to consolidate and continue the good work. A social democratic revolution is underway in SVG and it is making some backward people and conservatives like Eustace, Leacock, Bassy Alexander and Dougie De Freitas very uncomfortable. Lets add to their discomfort as we continue to progress as a nation,

Sincerely Yours
Margaret Dublin-Jones