7 June 2018
Soufriere/Fond St. Jacques UWP Constituency Branch is dismayed by SLP playing partisan politics withhealthcare
Press Release:– The Soufriere/Fond St. Jacques UWP Constituency Branch is dismayed by the St. Lucia Labour Party persistently playing partisan politics with the healthcare of the people of St. Lucia.
While we share the St. Lucia Labour Party’s concern about the closure of the Soufriere Hospital we are disgusted by their Press Statement on June 4th. Their statement was saturated with unbridled hypocrisy and dishonesty. It is common knowledge that the St. Lucia Labour Party knew that the Soufriere Hospital was closed as a result of damage caused by two fires. The first one occurred in November 2017 and the second one, a fire deemed to be arson, occurred a mere six weeks later in December.
The St. Lucia Labour Party also knows that the hospital remained closed while the St. Lucia Fire Service and subsequently the Royal St. Lucia Police Force carried out their investigations into the cause of the fire. The reports from these investigations were presented to the relevant authorities approximately two months ago. Since then, an assessment of the damage caused by the fire was commissioned and rehabilitative works to restore the hospital to a state where it can operate efficiently and safely has already commenced.
Furthermore, we would like to remind the St. Lucia Labour Party that between May 1997 to June 2016 Hon. Walter Francois and Hon. Harold Dalsan, both members of the St. Lucia Labour Party, were the Members of Parliament for Soufriere/St. Jacques, a total of twenty years! What was their contribution to improving the condition of the Soufriere Hospital during those two decades? The last improvement works at the Soufriere Hospital occurred in 2011 during the tenure of a UWP government. The then scope of works included the complete replacement of the roof, renovations to several wards, painting, plumbing and electrical works. Such is the hypocrisy of the St. Lucia Labour Party.
The Soufriere/Fond St. Jacques UWP Constituency Branch would like to reassure the people of the constituency including the St. Lucia Labour Party that the Soufriere Fond St. Jacques District Representative, Honourable Herod Stanislas, will not rest when the rehabilitative works on the existing Soufriere Hospital is complete and the hospital reopens. HE would like to inform everyone that the plans for the new Soufriere Hospital Project are already in motion and that the Government of St. Lucia will begin the implementation of the project before the end of 2018.
Honourable Herod Stanislas would like assure his constituents that he is focused on delivering on all of his campaign promises. He urges everyone to be patient and do not be distracted by histrionics of the St. Lucia Labour Party. Rome was not built in two years.
