OUR VISION FOR SVG

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LETTER FROM THE POLITICAL LEADER

My Dear Fellow Vincentians and Voters,

As the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and theGrenadines and the Political Leader of theUnity Labour Party (ULP), I come humbly toyou yet again to ask for your vote in theforthcoming general elections to enable myparty and government to complete certainunfinished tasks and to take the lead inlifting St. Vincent and the Grenadines to thenext level of development in the interest ofour people as a whole. In the process, Iask you to own this campaign; make ityours; it belongs to you.

Defend your country, your ULP, your family,and the gains which you have had inabundance over the past ten (10) or soyears.

The General Elections of 2010 are beingheld in the immediate aftermath of thehavoc caused by Hurricane Tomas to ournation’s agriculture, its physical

infrastructure (schools, roads, bridges, riverdefences, coast areas), hundreds of homesof our people especially those of the poorand the working people, and our people’seconomic and social lives, particularly butnot exclusively in the northern half of St.Vincent. Already, the ULP Government isvery busy at effectively rebuilding St.Vincent and the Grenadines and is dailyproviding a helping hand to all those whohave endured pain, loss, damage, andsuffering at the hands of Tomas. I feel surethat the overwhelming majority ofVincentians are more than satisfied that theULP is best placed to lead “OperationRecovery and Reconstruction” in St. Vincentand the Grenadines.

It is widely acknowledged at home andabroad that the ULP administration, over thepast ten years, has presided over the mostimpressive achievements of anygovernment in the history of St. Vincent andthe Grenadines. So, we seek your vote foranother term partly on the basis of ourrecord of outstanding accomplishments butalso on our solemn commitments to you forthe future. In the 2001 and 2005 generalelections we made pledges to you aboutwhat we would do, and we kept our word.You can trust us to keep our promisesbecause we have earned your trust not bymere words, but by real deeds, by doingwhat we promised for our nation’supliftment.

The Unity Labour Party has detailedelsewhere its people-centred vision, itsphilosophy of applied social democracy, itsmany-sided economic strategy ofsustainable development, its socio-cultural

Contents

Letter From The Political Leader .......................................................................................................... 1Operation Recovery And Reconstruction ............................................................................................. 5Helping You Rebuild ............................................................................................................................. 5The Most Successful Government In Our History ................................................................................ 6Delivering for You: Hundreds of Projects ........................................................................................... 10NDP: Turning Back The Clock On Ulp Progress ................................................................................ 18The Commitments On Which We Will Deliver .................................................................................... 20A. Finishing Argyle International Airport ............................................................................................. 20B. JOBS, JOBS, JOBS....................................................................................................................... 22C. Economic Approach Competitive Economy Sustainable Growth, ................................................. 23 Job Creation And Social Justice – Proposals For A Sound EconomyD. Private Sector Development .......................................................................................................... 28 Economic Growth & Job CreationE. Our Economic Pillars ..................................................................................................................... 31(ii) FISHERIES: Nutrition, Jobs, Wealth Creation ............................................................................. 36(ii) TOURISM: The Transformational Sector ..................................................................................... 37(iv) MANUFACTURING: Finding the Niche ........................................................................................ 38(v) CONSTRUCTION: A Growth Industry .......................................................................................... 39(vi) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES: .............................................................................. 40 Linking the World, Making An Industry(vii) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES ................................................................................. 41F. POVERTY REDUCTION: Fighting the War Against PovertyThe STAR TEAM ................................................................................................................................ 42G. FISCAL POLICY: Managing the Money With Prudence and Enterprise ....................................... 45H. THE EDUCATION REVOLUTION ................................................................................................. 47I. HEALTH AND WELLNESS REVOLUTION: Health for all in the 21st Century .............................. 53J. HOUSING FOR ALL: Lands for the People ................................................................................... 55K. PUBLIC WORKS AND ROADS: Linking the Nation ..................................................................... 57L. PREPARING FOR AND MANAGING NATURAL DISASTERS ..................................................... 58M. ENERGY AND VINLEC: Powering Production and Modern Living .............................................. 59N. WATER: Our Lifeblood ................................................................................................................. 61O. AIR TRANSPORT AND AIR ACCESS: Linking SVG to the World ................................................ 62P. SEAPORTS, MARINE TRANSPORT, MARITIME ADMINISTRATION: ......................................... 64 Letting Our Seas Serve Us ........................................................................................................... 64Q. THE FAMILY AND SOCIETY: Solidarity and Upliftment ................................................................ 65R. EMPOWERING THE WORKING PEOPLE ................................................................................... 66S. THE ELDERLY: Protection, Love and Caring ............................................................................... 67YOUTH, SPORTS & CULTURE ......................................................................................................... 69T. THE GRENADINES: Our sland Jewels ........................................................................................ 69U. GOOD GOVERNANCE: An ULP Record ..................................................................................... 72(i) Reform in the Public Service ......................................................................................................... 73(ii) Reforming and Modernising Public Enterprises ............................................................................ 73V. JUSTICE, LAW, ORDER AND NATIONAL SECURITY................................................................. 74(i) Fighting Crime and Ensuring Justice in the Courts ........................................................................ 74(ii) The Police & Security Forces: Modernising the Frontline Against Crime ..................................... 77(iii) Correctional Facility for a Safer Nation ......................................................................................... 80W. VINCENTIANS OVERSEAS: A National Treasure ........................................................................ 81X. CARIBBEAN INTEGRATION: Making Our Region Whole ............................................................ 82Y. FOREIGN POLICY: Friend Of All, Satellite Of None ................................................................... 83CONCLUSION: We Naaah Tun Back!!! ............................................................................................ 84

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quest to advance further our Caribbeancivilisation and its magnificent Vincentiancomponent, and its creative policies andprogrammes which are transforming St.Vincent and the Grenadines, for the better.Further, our ten years in government havesharpened us for greater achievementsparticularly with the unified blending of a coreof experienced stalwarts and some freshfaces of the highest quality. The ULP is thusoffering continuity, including consolidation, ofour sound public policies such as thoserelated to wealth and job creation, education,poverty reduction, housing, health andwellness, information and communicationstechnology and airport development andchange to take our nation to the next, higherlevel of development.

The truth is that the other major political partyin St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the NDP,has wasted its last ten years in opposition. Itis bankrupt of ideas; it opposes everythingwhich is progressive; it is disunited; it tradesdaily in the currency of untruths and insults; ithas a leader whom practically everyoneknows is unable to lead especially in thesechallenging times; it looks forward to the pastin full knowledge that its future is behind it,and it is yet to purge itself of backwardelements who are awaiting the firstopportunity to plunder resources of the State.Simply put, the NDP has to wheel and comeagain. The nation cannot afford themonumental gamble with this lot.

Meanwhile, the ULP has been focused ondelivering good governance most admirably,as we indeed had promised. To be sure, therecan be no perfect governance in our EarthlyCity since that exists only in the Heavenly City.In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as in everyother part of the world, we ought never tomake perfection the enemy of the good. Wehave delivered thus far. Now we ask God to

have His people return us to government soas to ensure that we do not leave behind anyunfinished tasks.

The ULP, on its return to government, willextend, consolidate, deepen, and build uponthe remarkable successes of the years since2001. We have practically doubled the wealthof St. Vincent and the Grenadines measuredby way of the universally accepted index of itsGross Domestic Product; and individualincomes have risen markedly. We havecreated some ten thousand new jobs. Wehave fashioned appropriate public policies,including targeted strategic interventions,which have made possible a significantreduction of poverty and the roll back ofindigence from 25.7 percent of the populationto 2.9 percent; in the process we have madeSt. Vincent and the Grenadines a fairer andmore equitable society. We have witnessedan unprecedented growth in the private sectorowned by Vincentians. We have embarkedsuccessfully on the Education Revolution, theHealth and Wellness Revolution, and theHousing Revolution. We have enhanced byleaps and bounds the physical infrastructureof our country, including roads and bridges.We have advanced, as never before, thepreparation for, and management of, naturaldisasters. We have strengthened our legalsystem and waged successfully the waragainst crime and the causes of crime. Wehave lifted sports and culture tounprecedented heights and, in the process,have raised up our sporting and culturepersonalities higher and higher. Similarly,workers in the public and private sectors,farmers, youths, the elderly and women, andtheir organisations, have had the quality oftheir lives immeasurably improved. Ourregional integration and foreign policies havebeen fashioned to our nation’s advantage.Overall, the people of St. Vincent and theGrenadines are far better off today, in everymaterial respect, than they were in 2001.

In our third term in office, the ULP promisesto focus further on these TOP TENPOLICIES:

1. Waging the ongoing War againstPoverty;

2. Wealth Creation and Job Creation;3. Pursuing a many-sided strategy of

sustainable economic growth anddevelopment in an increasinglymodern and globalisedenvironment, including theconsolidating of fiscal discipline,balancing prudence and enterprise;

4. Extending and deepening theEducation Revolution, including afurther emphasis on ICT trainingand the implementation of the onelaptop per child policy;

5. Making St. Vincent and theGrenadines safer and strengtheninglaw and order;

6. Enhancing the Health and WellnessRevolution, including relocation ofthe main hospital;

7. Uplifting the communities byproperly addressing the vital areasof concern, including road repairs,sports and cultural facilities;

8. Elaborate plans for the building of anew city at Arnos Vale andenhanced access to Kingstown;

9. Completing the Argyle InternationalAirport and enhancing connectivityin every way between St. Vincentand the Grenadines and the world.

10. Delivering top-notch goodgovernance all round, in every areaof public policy, including regionalintegration.

All of these policies will be implementedwithin the context, too, of the immediate“Operation Recovery and Reconstruction” inSt. Vincent and the Grenadines.

This Manifesto elaborates further otherprogrammatic details on these TOP TEN,and other, policies of the ULP. They,collectively, illuminate the only feasible pathfor our nation’s further progress, subjectalways to God’s grace and favour.

Over the last ten years it has been mypersonal joy to witness the growing list ofoutstanding achievements by Vincentians,especially the young, in all areas of humanendeavour. Our students at home and atuniversities abroad have been excelling; oursports personalities and cultural activistshave been making immense wavesregionally and internationally; our business-owners and entrepreneurs have beeninitiating and expanding their businessactivities at home and in the region; andVincentians of all walks of life have beenexuding a greater confidence in themselvesand our country than ever before. Thesehave not been accidental happenings; theyare a consequence of focused publicpolicies which have better facilitatedenterprising individual efforts. Successbreeds success and a spirit of optimismfills the air. We do not embrace thelearned helplessness and negativism ofthose whose vision and imagination arelimited and limiting. We emphasise ourpeople’s possibilities and strengths ratherthan to be dulled into a negativism whichcelebrates their weaknesses and limitations.The ULP is in love with solutions not theproblems. This mood, which becomes anenduring strength, envelopes our people, forthe better.

At a personal level I reaffirm my profoundlove and caring for, and commitment to, thepeople of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.Over the past ten years or so, I have workedvery hard, honestly, and conscientiously forthe people of St. Vincent and the

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OPERATION RECOVERY AND

RECONSTRUCTION:

HELPING YOU REBUILD

Hurricane Tomas caused hundreds ofmillions of damage to water andelectricity infrastructure, agriculture,houses and other buildings, roads andbridges, the coastline, and riverdefences. Immediate and urgent action isbeing undertaken under “OperationRecovery and Reconstruction in St. Vincentand the Grenadines:”

Helping Our Farmers The Ministry ofAgriculture has preliminarily assessed thedevastating damage to agriculture asamounting to $67.2 million and a further$61.7million is required for rehabilitation andincome support for farmers. The ULPGovernment has been mobilising domesticresources, monies mainly from the WorldBank, the European Union, the Caribbean

Development Bank, (CDB), and the Foodand Agricultural Organisation (FAO) toassist in agriculture’s rehabilitation. This isa task which the ULP will continue to pursuemost vigorously.

Rebuilding Homes: Some 1,200 houseshave been damaged, dozens of which havebeen totally destroyed. The repair andrebuilding of these houses are being carriedout mainly through the State-owned Housingand Land Development Corporation(HLDC). We have been distributingsubstantial quantities of building materialsand providing workmanship for housingreconstruction from as early as the secondday after Hurricane Tomas. Resources forthis effort have been coming fromgovernment funds, credit facilities frombuilding suppliers in St. Vincent and the

Grenadines and our Caribbean civilisation,at home and abroad. As always, I havebeen in communion with the people; I havelearnt from you; and in turn you have beensteadfast with me, even at the mostchallenging times. You have investedenormously in me and there are still morereturns for you to receive from yourinvestment. My training as a social scientist(economics, government, philosophy,history, law, administration), my workexperiences as a university lecturer andlawyer, my political activism in and out ofParliament, my functioning as PoliticalLeader of a mass party and Leader of theOpposition, my nearly ten years as PrimeMinister and regional leader, my life’sexperiences as father and husband, and myholding of the office of citizen, have all putme in good stead to add further to my life’swork in service to you, the people. I havebeen a political activist for 42 years; I havelived through epoch-making times; and I amhere to serve you again faithfully and well. Ishall be here fore you; I love you mostsincerely. My government’s enormous

successes belong not only to my party, butto the people of St. Vincent and theGrenadines. I thank you for the opportunityI have had to serve you, thus far, and I askagain for yet another opportunity to serveyou even better in our third term.

Please be assured that you are all in myprayers always. I thank you for keeping mein your prayers, too. Let us work togethermeaningfully for another five years. I prayfor God’s blessings upon us all.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. The Hon. Ralph E. GonsalvesPolitical Leader of theUnity Labour Party

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THE MOST SUCCESSFUL GOVERNMENT

IN OUR HISTORY

Grenadines and the region, help from theMustique Charitable Trust, grants of buildingmaterials, and monies from Venezuela, theCDB, and other agencies.

Rebuilding Roads, Drains: The secondaryroads, village roads, feeder roads, drains,culverts, bridges have been damaged, verybadly in many cases. The State-ownedBRAGSA, with resource assistance of the

CDB, European Union and Venezuela, isdirecting all work on the roads andassociated drains and bridges. A fullassessment is also ongoing regarding thesignificant and manifest damage to ourcoastline and rivers. Their restoration isbeing done with special funding from theWorld Bank while further assistance isanticipated from international agenciesconnected with adaptation to climatechange.

The ULP is satisfied that under itsleadership, and with God’s blessings, ourpeople’s resilience and focus will ensurethat this setback will be turned into anadvance.

Too many achievements to print! Get thefull list at www.VoteULP.com

In March 2001, the ULP met the condition ofour country and the government finances inan awful mess. At the same time we in theULP have had to take the country forward.We have done all this in the mostchallenging circumstances at the start of ourfirst term and toward the end of our secondterm in office. It has been our nation’smisfortune to have been faced on

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September 11, 2001, with the terroristattacks on the United States and theirdebilitating economic and securityconsequences. Then, in mid-September2008, the international economic andfinancial meltdown commenced dramaticallyand continues up to the present timeunabated, in what has become the worstglobal economic recession since 1929, over80 years ago. This global economic crisishas wreaked havoc in developed anddeveloping economies alike. Countries inthe Caribbean, including St. Vincentand the Grenadines, had nothing todo with causing this economicrecession, yet we have been on thefront line of those most severelyaffected. One clear example is thedirectly related collapse of CLICO and

British American as a consequence ofwhich, many of our citizens sufferedtremendous losses.

In between the harsh consequences of9/11 in 2001 and the 2008 to 2010financial meltdown, St. Vincent and theGrenadines has had to face more thanits fair share of other externally-sourcedchallenges, including: The largest pricehike internationally ever for oil; thecomplete removal, practically, of thepreferential price for our bananas in theEuropean market; and serious naturaldisasters almost every year. Despite allthese challenges, and more, theeconomy of St. Vincent and theGrenadines has survived and thrived,

and the quality of our peoples’ lives has improved markedly.

In spite of the challenges, St. Vincent and the Grenadines narrowed the wide gapwhich had existed between the better regional economies in the OECS

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Delivering for You: Hundreds of Projects

and ours. It is an almost unbelievable story but it is absolutely true. The ULP andSt. Vincent and the Grenadines have done commendably well, though as always,there is better still for us to do.

In ten years, the ULP Government has spent in excess of $1 billion on capitalprojects through the central government; in the preceding ten years the then NDPgovernment spent less than $400 million or less than forty percent of what we havelaid out in capital spending.

! Built a modern 2-story YWCA facility,including an Early ChildhoodEducational Centre, at the back ofGrammar School.

! Purchased, rebuilt and extended theCyrus Squash Complex as theNational Lottery Headquarters.

! Constructed a modern multi-milliondollar headquarters for the NationalInsurance Services.

! Built a modern, state-of-the-art two-storey Technical Centre atKingstown, near to Bishop’s College.

! Built an ultra-modern EmergencyOperations Centre and NationalEmergency Management Office(NEMO) Headquarters.

! Built and enlarged modern facilities atthe School of Nursing.

! Restored and upgraded the oldAdministrative Wing of the MiltonCato Memorial Hospital.

! Rebuilt and restored the former Kim’sRental Building as the modernheadquarters of the Housing andLand Development Corporation(HLDC).

! Rebuilt, reconstructed, extended andmodernised the Kingstown FishMarket.

! Built a modern, state-of-the-art two-storey Technical Centre atKingstown, near to Bishop’s College.

! Built an ultra-modern EmergencyOperations Centre and NationalEmergency Management Office(NEMO) Headquarters.

! Built and enlarged modern facilities atthe School of Nursing.

! Restored and upgraded the oldAdministrative Wing of the MiltonCato Memorial Hospital.

! Rebuilt and restored the former Kim’sRental Building as the modernheadquarters of the Housing andLand Development Corporation(HLDC).

Including:

! Repaired all primary and secondaryschools and other educationalinstitutions between July and August2001 at a cost of $5.5 million.

! Rebuilt and extended the Post Officeand Old Ministerial Building.

! Built the Leeward Bus Terminal.

! Built the George Mc IntoshCommunity Market at Paul’s Avenueand cleaned the street area in front ofBishop’s College of unsightly shops.

! Renovated Victoria Park and put inflood lights to play football. Thefloodlights alone cost in excess of$300,000.

! Restored, rebuilt and extendedPeace Memorial Hall.

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! Rebuilt, reconstructed, extendedand modernised the KingstownFish Market.

! Built and equipped a modernNational Public Library atRichmond Hill.

! Rebuilt and extended a modernCurriculum Unit Building atKingstown.

! Restored the Radio 705 AMFacility.

! Built, thirteen Learning ResourceCentres (LRCs) at: Sandy Bay,Chester Cottage, Colonarie,South Rivers, Evesham, SansSouci (North Union), Biabou,Villa, Upper Cane Hall,Questelles, Layou, Fitz Hughes,and Union Island.

! Built a modern, well-equippedSchool for Special Needs atGeorgetown.

! Extended several existingsecondary schools, namely,Grammar School, Girls HighSchool, Campden ParkSecondary, Carapan, North Union,Georgetown, Adelphi, Barrouallie,Troumaca; and EmmanuelKingstown (before the building ofa new school).

! Restored, extended and rebuiltexisting physical facilities intosecondary schools at Sandy Bay,Colonarie, Belair, Richmond Hill,and Buccament.

! Completed modern primaryschools (which had barely startedby March 2001) at Byera andSandy Bay.

! Built a modern, state-of-the-artAutomotive Repair TrainingCentre at the Technical College atArnos Vale.

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! Built a replacement primaryschool at Colonarie.

! Rebuilt and extended the LodgeVillage Primary School.

! Built a modern primary school atPeruvian Vale.

! Built two ultra-modern primaryschools at Bequia and Fair Hall.

! Established nine (9) state-operated Early ChildhoodEducation Centres at: OwiaGovernment School, Langley ParkGovernment School, ArgyleGovernment School, MarriaquaGovernment School, Cane EndGovernment School, TroumacaGovernment School, Kingstown,Bequia Anglican School, and FairHall Government School. Nine (9)

more would shortly be establishedat: Sandy Bay GovernmentSchool, Spring Village MethodistSchool, Lowmans WindwardAnglican School, CalliaquaAnglican School, ColonarieGovernment School, Park HillGovernment School, DicksonMethodist School, Rose HallGovernment School, and BelairGovernment School.

! Built three ultra-modernsecondary schools at Edinboro,Peter’s Hope, and Union Island.

! Established the National Instituteof Technology (NIT) at Ottley Hall.

! Constructed the InformationTechnology Centre of Excellenceat Diamond.

! Built three modern, well-equipped clinics at Greggs, Biabou, and Retreat aswell as a polyclinic at Stubbs.

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! Built the historic Rabacca Bridge.

! Built the Canouan Jet Airport.

! Renovated and upgraded at a cost ofseveral million dollars the airports atE.T. Joshua, Union Island, and J.F.Mitchell (Bequia).

! Built two Golden Years ActivityCentres for the Elderly at CaneGrove and Black Point.

! Built and reconstructed the entireWindward Highway, including severalbridges.

! Widened, fortified and restructuredthe Byera Tunnel and the Park HillTunnel.

! Built the multi-million dollar SeaDefence and Board Walk Project atLayou.

! Built Sea Defences at several sitesincluding major ones at Arnos Valeand Langley Park.

! Built River Defences at severalplaces, including major ones atColonarie and Langley Park.

! Built a Land Fill at Belle Isle for SolidWaste Disposal.

! Extended the collection of garbageweekly throughout St. Vincent.

! Completed the Dallaway WaterProject.

! Built the massive Windward WaterProject sourced at Jennings Valleyand distributed from North CentralWindward to East St. George.

! Constructed a huge warehouse forNational Disasters at Campden Park.

! Repaired and renovated 21 clinicsnationwide, including pharmacies at:Canouan, Biabou, Greiggs, Retreat,Richland Park, Lowmans Windward,Evesham, Barrouallie, Layou,Georgetown, Mesopotamia, Belair,Union Island, Sandy Bay, Owia,Byera, Calliaqua, Colonarie, Park Hilland Diamond.

! Rebuilt Police Stations at Owia,Sandy Bay, Mesopotamia, and RoseHall.

! Built modern Police Stations atCanouan, Biabou, Questelles andGeorgetown.

! Built a jetty at Mayreau.

! Built power facilities at Mayreau andLowmans Leeward.

! Renovated, extended, andmodernised the Bequia FisheriesCentre.

! Built a modern, multi-million dollarFisheries Complex at Owia.

! Renovated and modernised theArrowroot Factory at Owia.

! Built a Cassava Factory at Rabacca.

! Built a Coconut Water Bottling Plantat Congo Valley. (It has sometechnical operational problems whichare being sorted out).

! Built and operationalised a VacuumPackaging Plant for Root Crops atLauders, and expanded it into thebottling of fruit juices.

! Built a Chicken Hatchery atDumbarton.

! Built, so far, over 650 low-incomehouses across the country

! Built and upgraded 14 Tourism Sites.

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! The PETRO CARIBE Agreement andthe ALBA membership;

! The Medical Assistance Programmewith Cuba;

! The National Stadium Project;

! The Low-Income and No-IncomeHousing Projects;

! The Hall of Justice at the De FreitasSite at Richmond Hill;

! The Youth Empowerment Service(YES) Programme;

! The further employment of publicservants, police officers, teachers,nurses and other medical personnel;

(in fact the NDP intends to lay offsome of these employees);

! The extent of salary increases,allowances, and bonuses for publicservants, teachers, nurses, policeofficers; (the NDP plans to follow thesalary-cutting dogma of the IMF.)

! The Modern Medical Complex atGeorgetown;

! The Programme of Rehabilitation/Rebuilding and Constructing PoliceStations;

! The policy of providing economicstimulus to boost the economy;

! The targeted strategic interventionsto create Jobs and Reduce Poverty;

NDP: TURNING BACK THE CLOCK ON

ULP PROGRESS

Over the last ten or so years, the oppositionNDP took backward, obstructionist, andanti-national stances on a number ofexcellent progressive policies andprogrammes of the ULP Government.Indeed, the NDP is on record of pledging tohalt and roll back many admirable policies,projects, programmes or initiatives of theULP administration, if ever it got the chance

to do so. Among the matters on the NDP’schopping block, in the unlikely event it isreturned to government, are:

! The Argyle International Airport;

! The Cross-Country Road;

! The Education Revolution;

! Rebuilt, extended and modernised the Arnos Vale Playing Field.

! Rebuilt and renovated playing fields at Arnos Vale, Sion Hill and Stubbs.

! Built two additional courts at the Villa Tennis Centre.

! Renovated and rebuilt the Chili Playing Field.

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The ULP Government has lined upsupport from friendly governments andagencies internationally for this hugeproject which when completed wouldcost around $600 million. It is anextraordinary venture demonstratingleadership, creativity, andunquestioned boldness on the part ofthe ULP Government. What othersthought was impossible, the ULP ismaking a reality. Only the ULPGovernment can finish this necessaryand desirable international airport. Eventhe opposition forces accept this truth.That is part of the reason why theyconstantly “bad talk” the internationalairport. Argyle International Airport iscoming under the ULP.

When it comes to transportation andinterconnectivity, the new internationalairport is only the beginning. An “Inter-Connectivity Revolution” is taking placein St. Vincent and the Grenadinesthrough: The revolution in Informationand Communications Technology (ICT);

the construction of an amazinginterconnecting bundle of roadwaysincluding the Rabacca Bridge and theCross Country Road; the improvementsat our seaports and the provision ofincentives for a fast-ferry servicebetween our islands; and the vastlyimproved air access and air accessoptions, including the saving of LIAT, theconstruction of the Canouan Jet Airportand the improvements at the otherairports in St. Vincent and theGrenadines are ongoing.

In our third term, the ULP Governmentwill build on its outstanding recordregarding air transport and air access by:

! Strengthening and expanding LIAT.

! Strengthening the nexus betweenLIAT and Caribbean Airlines.

! Enhancing the capacity of the EasternCaribbean Civil Aviation Authority(ECCAA).

THE COMMITMENTS ON WHICH WE

WILL DELIVER:

A. FINISHING ARGYLE

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,

The ULP Government is on target tocomplete the construction of the ArgyleInternational Airport by June 2012. The

earthworks commenced in August 2008and are proceeding quite well. Theconstruction of the Terminal Building andancillary facilities will be completed inearly 2012. All phases of the airport’sconstruction will proceed at the sametime. The work has been planned in thismanner.

! The distribution of 10 cents per square foot land for housing;

! The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDEC);

! The Financing and Support for LIAT;

! The Ottley Hall Enquiry;

! The subsidy to farmers on their purchase of inputs;

! St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ membership of the Non-Aligned Movement; and

! St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ progressive, independent, beneficial foreign policy.

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Canouan Developers; the generation ofsome 1,400 jobs (construction and tourism-related) of the Buccama ResortsDevelopment; by the sensitivity of localemployers; and the adaptability ofVincentians in entering own-accounteconomic activities.

In the ULP Government’s third term, we willcreate even more jobs, and quality jobs, asour policies are refreshed and thefoundations of the last ten years beargreater fruit. The combination of domesticprivate sector developments, foreign directinvestment particularly in tourism, and publicsector investments in an increasinglydiversified and competitive economy, willproduce yet more jobs. Our government’starget is to reduce unemployment in thenext ten years to below 10 percent of thelabour force. Only the ULP Governmentcan accomplish this! Our unemploymenttarget for 2020 is below 6 percent of thelabour force. The ULP has to be in office fora third term to create this level of

employment over the next five years. Readon to learn more about our big ideas andbold vision to bring jobs and opportunity toour country.

C. ECONOMIC APPROACH:

COMPETITIVE ECONOMY,

SUSTAINABLE GROWTH,

JOB CREATION AND

SOCIAL JUSTICE –

PROPOSALS FOR A SOUND

ECONOMY

The ULP is committed to its quest to build amodern, competitive and diverse post-colonial economy which is at once local,national, regional and global. Such aneconomy, by definition, must be sustainableand focused on delivering wealth, jobs andsocial justice. The central features of theeconomic approach or strategy are asfollows:

1.The harmonious and effective workingsof a mixed economy involving theprivate, cooperative and State sectors in

! Strengthening security at our airports.

Providing further training and jobopportunities for skilled personnel in everyarea of the business of civil aviation.

B. JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

A Jobs Revolution.Jobs are connected to everything we do.They are created through a strongeconomic environment across alleconomic sectors. Our policies inagriculture, tourism, aviation, constructionand much more are all developed tomaximize job opportunities forVincentians.

In its almost ten (10) years in office, theULP Government has created over10,000 additional jobs, net.Unemployment is down; employment isup. All this has been achieved throughour pro-active and strategic economic

approach as outlined throughout themanifesto; our sensible fiscal policymixing well both prudence and enterprise;our government’s commitment to socialjustice; our targeted strategicinterventions; the Education Revolutionand other sound social policies; thereleasing of the creative andentrepreneurial spirit of our people; ourfocused foreign policy which bringsresources to us; the deepening of theregional integration movement; and goodgovernance, including the maintenance oflaw and order and the enlarging of ourdemocracy and freedoms.

Even in the global economic down-turn, St.Vincent and the Grenadines has beensaved from the major job lay-offs whichhave occurred regionally and overseas. Wehave been saved from that pain andsuffering through: Sensible employmentpolicies by the ULP Government; theundertakings given to the government, andkept, by the Mustique Company and

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4.The location of social equity at the coreof the considerations in the fashioning ofeconomic policy.

5.The pursuance of a policy of balanced,sustainable, economic growth, withoutthe volatility of peaks and troughs as faras practicable in our small, open, export-led economy, and which generatessuccessful businesses and more jobs.This policy of economic growthdemands, among other things, optimalhuman resource development and anefficacious application of modernscience and technology.

6.The push for economic diversification toescape the historical trap of “mono-cropism”, though admittedly with at leastone lead or transformational sector(tourism), among others.

7.The further integration of the economy ofSt. Vincent and the Grenadines in theeconomic union in the OECS and theCSME in CARICOM.

a non-ideological and practical mannersuitable to the circumstances of St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

2. The placement of private sector andnon-State cooperative enterprises atthe centre of the economic systemalthough the economic role of theState ought not to be confined solelyto business facilitation andregulation. It cannot retreat as a forcefor good. Still, the State must not havean overwhelming presence in theownership and management ofeconomic activity or businesses.

3.The maintenance of the macro-economicfundamentals of a stable currencythrough the Eastern Caribbean CurrencyUnion (ECCU), low inflation, fiscalprudence and enterprise, fair andcompetitive tax regimes, enhancedbusiness competitiveness, engenderingnew and better attitudes to work andproduction, increased productivity, andeffective good governance.

26 27

8. The practical implementation of theNational Trade Policy which has beenelaborated, and adopted by Cabinet.

9. The further intensification of thesearch for favourable credit facilitiesfor start-up businesses, forinvestment in plant and machinery,and working capital.

10.The continued aggressive hunt forinvestors, domestic and foreign.

The strategic framework involves apackage of policies and programmes,including:

! Intensifying the diversification ofagriculture and increasing this sector’sabsolute and relative share of theeconomy;

! Enlarging the domestic productionof livestock and poultry;

! Creating more viable opportunities inagro-processing;

! Boosting and modernising the fishingindustry;

! Developing a quality, many-sided, refreshedtourism industry as the lead transformationalsector in the economy;

! Building, even in a difficult internationalclimate, a viable and sound internationalfinancial services sector;

! Targeting further the manufacturing of high-end quality products while maintaining andenhancing existing types of manufacturing;

! Enlarging further the production of services,and their local value-added, such asmerchant shipping, banking and insurance,telecommunications, and professionalservices;

! Developing the creative arts and sports aseconomic and employment-creatingactivities;

! Adding value in diverse areas such astransportation, construction, water,

28 29

! Reduction of the standard rate ofcompany tax on tourism enterprises from40 percent in 2001 to 30 percent in 2005and to 20 percent from 2008;

! Reduction of tax to 25 percent on thechargeable income in relation to exportsof manufactured commodities toCARICOM countries and to 15 percentto extra-regional markets;

! Increase in tax allowances for housingconstruction companies engaged in thebuilding of housing developments;

! Support to the housing constructionindustry through a number of othermeasures including the 100-percentmortgages for public servants throughthe State-owned National CommercialBank (NCB);

! Support for Small and Micro-Enterprises(SMEs) through the Micro-EnterprisesLoan Programme at the NCB;

! Provision of generous tax incentive orreliefs of all kinds for producers inagriculture, fisheries, tourism,transportation, manufacturing,restaurants and fast foodestablishments, telecommunicationsproviders, shipping, constructioncompanies of residential houses, andsmall enterprises, among others;

! Creation by government of six vitalinstitutions to facilitate businessesgenerally and in specific sectors,namely, Centre for EnterpriseDevelopment (CED), Invest SVG, theTourism Authority, the InputsWarehouse Company, the BananaServices Unit of the Ministry ofAgriculture, and the Commerce andIntellectual Property Department;

! Liberalisation of telecommunicationswhich, through competition, hasimproved the quality and range ofservices at reasonable prices.

D. PRIVATE SECTOR

DEVELOPMENT,

ECONOMIC GROWTH &

JOB CREATION

The ULP Government’s policy ofproviding unequivocal support for theprivate sector and of building a strategicpartnership between the private andcooperative sectors and the State, hasbeen a tremendous success in terms ofwealth and job creation, povertyreduction, social cohesion, anddemocratic governance.

No government in the history of thiscountry has been as supportive of thedomestic private sector like the ULPGovernment. Our record ofachievement includes:

! Reduction of the standard rate ofcompany tax and personal income taxfrom 40 percent in 2001 to 32.5 percentin 2009;

electricity, and government services;

!Facilitating the retailers andwholesalers in making their tradesmore efficient and competitive;

! Marketing in a more focused way, thegoods and services produced in St.Vincent and the Grenadines;

!Stimulating further thedevelopment of Small and Micro-Enterprises (SMEs) in the domesticeconomy;

! Utilising even more assuredly inenhancing business and itspromotion, the state agencies suchas Invest SVG, the Commerce andIntellectual Property Department, theTourism Authority, the Centre forEnterprise Development, theStandards Bureau, and the BananaServices Unit.

30 31

E. OUR ECONOMIC PILLARS

(i) AGRICULTURE: The EconomicMainstay

Agriculture sustains the rural economy andis still the largest single employer of labourof any of the productive sectors, outside ofthe State administration and publicenterprises.

In the BANANA SECTOR, over the past tenyears, the ULP administration hassupported the banana industry in everymaterial particular. From the outset of ourGovernment, and continuing, we:

! Took over immediately $18 million of the$30 million debt in which we met the St.Vincent and the Grenadines BananaGrowers Association (BGA) andprovided it with $2 million in cash;

! Restructured the industry twice with anew Banana Act first in 2002 and then in2008, after widespread consultation withfarmers;

! Provided substantial income support forfarmers while tackling the Moko andBlack Sigatoka diseases; on oneoccasion we paid $4 million in support atthe time of Moko;

! Provided subsidies on inputs from 2004until now at an annual level of $1.5million;

! Provided fertiliser at half-price in 2009into 2010 through the Petro Caribeproject;

! Established properly the BananaIndustry Trust to assist farmers in thefirst seven years of our government withEU money;

! Ensured reforms in WIBDECO toprovide direct benefits to farmers;

! Built the Reception and Palletisationcentre at La Croix;

! Oversaw all the changes in the industryincluding EUREGAP certification;

" Seek further credit facilities at competitiveprices for starting-up, business expansion,working capital, and private sectordevelopment generally from developmentinstitutions such as the CaribbeanDevelopment Bank the ALBA Bank, theExport-Import Bank of Taiwan, and theregional entities of the Libyan Export Groupof Companies.

" Promote sharpened competitiveness throughincreased labour and managementproductivity; an appropriate application ofmodern science and technology, includinginformation technology; a more efficient Stateadministration; facilitating the sourcing ofcheaper raw materials for production inputs;the availability of cheaper energy; and lowertaxes.

" Improve further the cleanliness nationwideespecially in the city of Kingstown;

" Include even more private sectorpersonalities on the boards andmanagement structures of the publicenterprises.

! Ensuring an independent, fair andtransparent tendering process in the CentralGovernment and Public Sector enterprisesfor building contracts and the procurement ofgoods and services;

! Reduction of the number of commoditiesrequiring input licences and generally freeingup regional and international trade;

! Providing generally a very sound investmentand business climate acclaimed byinternational agencies such as the WorldBank and the Heritage Foundation;

In the next five years, a ULP Governmentpledges to:

" Target a further reduction of the standardrate of corporate and income tax from32.5 percent to at least 27 percent overthe next five-year period;

" Make permanent the reduction of thestandard rate of corporate taxation ontourism enterprises at 20 percent;

32 33

! Increased banana exports to the regionalmarket;

! Led the way regionally in the difficultlobbying process for a sustainablemarket in Europe for CARICOMbananas;

! Established a Banana Industry Unit atthe Ministry of Agriculture in the wake ofthe dissolution of the BGA.

! Assumed all the debts of the dissolvedBGA, including the costs for severancepayment, amounting to in excess of $15million.

! In its third term, the ULPadministration will:

" Implement the Banana Production Planin the context of the National AgriculturalPlan;

" Continue to subsidise agriculturalinput significantly;

" Secure from the European Union our fairshare of the resources of BananaAccompanying Measures (BAM) which theEuropean Union in conjunction with theAfrican Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)countries are fashioning as a consequence ofthe dismantling of the preferential marketregime.

" Assist farmers even more in improvingquality and yield so as to be more costeffective;

" Strive to make WIBDECO even more farmer-friendly, cost effective, and a ready investor innon-banana agriculture;

" Ensure the continued viability of the insurancesystem through WINCROP;

" Repair/rebuild more vital feeder roads throughBRAGSA and the Ministry of Works.

In OTHER AREAS OF AGRICULTURE (NON-BANANA), the ULP administration in its next termwill:

34 35

! Maintain a viable arrowroot industryespecially for the farmers in the northeast of St. Vincent;

! Ensure the successful functioning ofthe Lauders Agricultural Plant atLauders, the Cassava Factory atRabacca, and the Chicken Hatchery atDumbarton;

! Work with the Food and AgriculturalOrganisation (FAO) of the UnitedNations to ensure that all the technicalproblems at the Coconut Bottling Facilityat Congo Valley are sorted out for a fullproduction;

! Operationalise effectively the Agriculturaland Livestock (Prevention of Theft) Actin conjunction with the 20 specially-selected Rural Constables and thePolice;

! Commence full-time training for farmersand agricultural workers at the recently-

built Agricultural Training Institute atRabacca;

! Sort out the teething problems andoperate effectively the “Land Bank” foryoung, prospective farmers and otherinterested farmers in leasing land forfarming;

! Accelerate the AgricultureDiversification Programme in thecontext of the National AgriculturalPlan and the Food Security Planespecially root crops, fruits,vegetables, coconuts, cocoa,plantains, etc.;

! Facilitate further appropriate creditfacilities specially-designed forfarmers;

! Deepen cooperation with the TaiwaneseAgricultural Mission;

36 37

! Provide further training to fisherfolk inevery aspect of the fishing industry;

! Continue to pursue with the help of theMinistry of Fisheries a sensible,independent policy on whaling in theinterest of St. Vincent and theGrenadines and no other country;

! Strengthen further the institutionalcapacity in the Fisheries Department.

(ii) TOURISM: The

Transformational Sector

Tourism has become the major economicsector in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.The net effect of the ULP Government’scomprehensive Tourism Sector Plan hasbeen the significant investment in hoteldevelopment both on the mainland and inthe Grenadines, more focused training ofpersons in the hospitality industry, improvedmarketing of our destination, the ongoingdevelopment of standards, improved airaccess and the saving of LIAT and most

importantly, the creation of quality jobs forVincentians.

In its third term, the ULP administration will:

! Complete the construction of theArgyle International Airport which willrevolutionize our tourism industryand spur development;

! Encourage more and more thedevelopment of quality small hotels andguest houses, especially by Vincentians;

! Continue to work closely with thedevelopers of the Buccament ResortComplex to complete it fully (1,000rooms), by June 2012, but to havephased openings before then;

! Encourage further foreign directinvestment in quality hotels, resorts, andreal development in Bequia, Canouan,Union Island, Mayreau in the Grenadinesand at Mt. Wynne/Peter’s Hope in St.Vincent.

! Maintain St. Vincent and theGrenadines’ self-sufficiency in porkand expand production for export;

! Work closely with poultry farmers toproduce in sufficient quantities for asmuch local consumption as possible;

! Increase the production of livestockespecially cattle, sheep and goats;

! Work with ECGC to keep the price ofanimal feed as low as possible;

! Implement further the IntegratedForestry Management Plan and fullyprotect our forests;

! Put agriculture, livestock and forestry atthe centre of the Sustainable LivelihoodsProject;

! Ensure better coordination for the benefitof the rural communities the Ministries ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries;Rural Transformation; Industry; and

Social Development by way of a morestructured Inter-Ministerial Committee forRural Development.

! Repair/rebuild more feeder roads.

(ii) FISHERIES: Nutrition,

Jobs, Wealth Creation

Since 2001, the ULP administration hasbeen most active in building capacity in theindustry, improving the managementframeworks, and enhancing the physicalplant. Examples of this include themodernisation and expansion of theKingstown Fish Market at a cost of $16million; the construction of the Owia FishingFacility at a cost of $33 million; therenovated Bequia Fisheries Centre; theprovision of a special credit line at the NCBfor fishers to upgrade their vessels andequipment; and enhancing training forfisherfolk.

In its next term in office, the ULPGovernment will:

38 39

We will continue our quest for high-endmanufacturing, agro-processing, bottledwater export, and products with a “Vincy”reputation/tradition. Our government willcontinue, too, its substantial fiscal and otherincentives to the manufacturing sector. TheBureau of Standards will enhance itsalready excellent work.

(v) CONSTRUCTION: A

Growth Industry

Historically, economists and centralplanners have tended to sneer at theconstruction industry as a “non-trading”sector as though its importance is entirelyepisodic to the economy. In the case of St.Vincent and the Grenadines and other smalleconomies of the Caribbean this is amisreading as regards the centrality of theconstruction sector in providing aneconomic stimulus, job creation, andproduction linkages. The private sector,including the financial institutions, thecooperative sector such as the creditunions, and the State sector through thePublic Sector Investment Programme

(PSIP) drive the construction industry inhousing, hotels, and the physicalinfrastructure such as roads, bridges, andgovernment buildings. Foreign directinvestment, remittances from abroad, andexternal grants or soft loans to thegovernment provide substantial capital forthe construction industry.

The ULP administration has been quitesupportive of the construction industry ininnumerable practical ways such as the100-percent mortgage programme to theNCB, several other incentives; sourcingbuilding materials; a sensible land policy;efficacious physical planning laws andguidelines; as well as training in the buildingtrades and professions.

It is also manifested in the hefty PublicSector Investment Programme PSIPamounting to over $120 million annually andwhich is implemented at twice the rate ofthe NDP government in real terms. A largeportion of the PSIP is directed toconstruction.

! Pursue, in conjunction with the State-owned National Properties Company, thedevelopment of the proposed Tourismand Hotel Project at Orange Hill;

! Enhance existing efforts at marketing St.Vincent and the Grenadines as a tourismdestination through the TourismAuthority, Invest SVG, and the privatesector;

! Ensure continued, and improved,management of the Tobago Caysthrough its Marine Board, and the host ofother tourism sites by the recently-created National Parks Authority;

! Upgrade further the recently-establishedSt. Vincent and the Grenadines TourismAuthority.

(iv) MANUFACTURING:

Finding the Niche

The manufacturing industry is vital to oureconomy for wealth and job creation. Since

2001, this sector has been holding its owndespite its competitive challenges in theUSA and Canada arriving from the NorthAmerican Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and inTrinidad because of its competitiveadvantage in energy.

In ten or so years, we have notedmanufacturing expansion and increasedinvestment in the production of beer, softdrinks, wines, bread and pastry, windowsand roofing material, construction andquarrying materials, furniture, agro-processing, fish-processing, water bottling,flour, rice, animal feed, data processing andclothing, among other commodities.

In our third term, the ULP Governmentwill continue its push to target specificmanufacturing enterprises with a goodtrack record (quality product, favourablemarket prospects, and soundmanagement) for special assistance tomove them from a “cottage industry”status, to a more substantialmanufacturing enterprise.

40 41

This is an area of the highest priority forfurther social and economic development.

(vii) INTERNATIONAL

FINANCIAL SERVICES

The ULP has reformed the IFS sector,established an excellent regulatory regimeoverseen by the International FinancialServices Authority (IFSA) and itscompanion, the Financial Intelligence Unit(FIU). The ULP Government will continue tobe on the ball in reviewing its legislation,and improving IFSA so as to enable theprivate sector providers of IFS to sell awider range of quality IFS products todiscriminating clients. St. Vincent and theGrenadines is building itself as an excellentIFS jurisdiction. Invest SVG will ramp up itspromotional work in conjunction with privatesector service providers to strengthen St.Vincent and the Grenadines as a majorjurisdiction for International FinancialServices.

Similarly, the ULP Government will

continue to beef up an allied area ofservices, namely, the internationalshipping services, through the work of theShips Registry locally, and the offices ofMaritime Administration here in St. Vincentand the Grenadines and overseas inGeneva.

F. POVERTY REDUCTION:

Fighting the War Against

Poverty

Ten years ago, under the NDPadministration the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP), which measures thecombined value of all goods and servicesproduced in the country for a year, stoodat $1.1 billion. By the end of 2008, thiscountry’s GDP had jumped to almost $2billion. That is substantial wealth creationto which the ULP was, and is, committed.Correspondingly, average annual GDP perhead of population rose from roughly$10,000 in 2001 to almost $19,000 at theend of 2008. Large numbers of personsaccordingly entered the middle class; and

In our third term, the ULP administration willintensify its efforts to support the vitalconstruction industry. This is a growthindustry with substantial capital resourcesfrom overseas. We will continue tostrengthen the building code to ensure thatsound buildings that can withstand naturaldisasters are built across our islands. Wewill create training programmes that willresult in the certification of skilled artisans toensure that they are qualified to ply theirtrade and to make those artisans moremarketable in the local and regional jobmarket.

(vi) INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY SERVICES:

Linking the World, Making An

Industry

Over the past ten or so years, there havebeen impressive achievements chalked upin telecommunications. In this regard,sterling leadership has been provided by Dr.Jerrol Thompson, who has been theMinister of Telecommunications for the life

of the ULP Government thus far. Today wehave a functioning Eastern CaribbeanTelecommunications Authority (ECTEL); awell-run National TelecommunicationsRegulatory Commission (NTRC); a well-staffed and expanding Ministry ofTelecommunications (established for thefirst time ever by the ULP in 2001); over120,000 active mobile telephones of thehighest quality at competitive prices; overone-third of the homes with internetconnections and expanding; over 20,000fixed-line phones; government intranetservices and the extension of governmentVOIP PBX; the National Centre forTechnological Innovation Incorporated andits extensive national training programmes;and building of the Centre of Excellence.The ULP Government shall take us to thecutting edge of technology and willstrengthen the legislative framework. Wewill focus, too, with international partners, onthe development of a software industry inSt. Vincent and the Grenadines.

42 43STAND FIRM FOR THIRD TERM!

44 45

G.FISCAL POLICY: Managing

the Money With Prudence

and Enterprise

The ULP Government has fashioned asensible fiscal policy for St. Vincent and theGrenadines, mixing prudence andenterprise in measures appropriate to thechanging economic circumstancesnationally and internationally but always witha bundle of core benchmarks and centralelements. In the process, the ULPGovernment has had to take issue withsome of the International Monetary Fund’sjudgments and prescriptions, only to havethe IMF acknowledge that we were correctwith our assessments and policies. Infashioning our fiscal policy, the ULPGovernment works in concert with theEastern Caribbean currency Union (ECCU).The ULP is managing the money well.Still,the challenges are awesome in this difficultinternational economic and financialsituation.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines has playeda leading role in the ECCU in fashioning and

implementing the ECCU’s Eight PointStabilisation and Growth Programmereflecting prudence and enterprise.

Over the next five years, the ULPGovernment will:

1. Provide an appropriate balance betweenthe conflicting objectives of injecting afiscal stimulus and maintaining asustainable debt path. Depending onthe circumstances, prudence orenterprise will be emphasised whileensuring that they ride in tandem.

2. Pursue vigorously the policies outlined inthe Fiscal Covenant which was drawn upin concert with NESDEC. The FiscalCovenant emphasises:

(i) Fiscal consolidation;(ii) Improvement in Public Revenue

measures, including compliance andadministration;

(iii) Sensible management of deficits anddebts, including a focused debtmanagement strategy. A well-staffed

huge numbers of persons graduated out ofindigence and poverty. Still, vulnerabilitiesremain and we must strive to do evenbetter.

Poverty Reduction and the EducationRevolution remain among the top prioritiesof the ULP administration.

The sharpest reduction in poverty ever inSt. Vincent and the Grenadines has takenplace under the ULP Government. In2001, when we took office, the generalpoverty level was 37.5 percent of thepopulation and indigence or “dirt poor”poverty was 25.7 percent of thepopulation. By 2008, general poverty inSt. Vincent and the Grenadines had beenreduced to 30.2 percent of the populationand indigence had fallen dramatically to2.9 percent of the population. St. Vincentand the Grenadines had moved frombeing the poorest country in the WesternHemisphere after Haiti to one which wasamong the fastest risers from poverty. Infact, when some other Caribbean

countries have gotten deeper into povertyin the last decade, St. Vincent and theGrenadines has moved forward. Further,our society is becoming less unequal. In2001, the Gini Coefficient which measuresequality was 0.56; by 2008, it was 0.41.(The closer the number to zero, the lessinequality there is; the closer to thenumeral one, the greater the inequality).

All the material indices point to povertyreduction in St. Vincent and theGrenadines: Employment, income perhead, food and nutrition, housing, water,electricity, telephone, education, health,other social services, social protection andsafety nets, and life expectancy. Simplyput, the ULP’s socio-economic policiesand good governance effect a reduction inpoverty.

In our third term, the ULP Government willensure further reductions in poverty, byheightening the implementation of oursocio-economic and good governancepolicies which have worked in this area,including the targeted interventions.

46 47

Debt Management Unit has beenestablished in the Ministry of Finance. Itwill be strengthened further in our thirdterm.

(iv) Improvement in the Productivity of PublicExpenditure;

(v) Transparency of Public Expenditure;(vi)Safeguarding equity and the social

safety net through fiscal measures; and(vii)Strengthening further the institutional

framework for democratic controls,accountability and monitoring in fiscalmatters.

3. Continue the further reduction inpersonal income tax and company taxby:

(i) Reducing the standard rate from 32.5percent to at least 27 percent;

(ii) Keeping the rate for tourismenterprises at the current 20 percent;[ULP reduced this from 40 percent];

(iii) Reducing taxation on working peopleby raising the income threshold forpayment of income tax from $18,000annually to at least $21,000 over thenext five years. [ULP increased thisthreshold from $12,000 to $18,000].

4. Institute tax reforms so as to promoteequity, fairness, and investmentenhancement. In this regard, a raft ofmeasures will be reviewed includingproperty taxation. There will be noincrease in the tax burden. In thisregard, we shall continue our efforts atremoving VAT on even more food itemswhere practicable.

5. Look for other creative revenuemeasures which do not affect adverselythe people especially the poor andworking people. Still, we emphasisethat we are vehemently opposed tothe Opposition’s proposal to sellVincentian citizenship and passportsto foreigners. The ULP will NEVER dothat!

H.THE EDUCATION

REVOLUTION

In 2001, the ULP Government launched itsEducation Revolution as a central plank ofits socio-economic platform for living andproduction, for human and socialdevelopment. The Education Revolutionhas been a spectacular success but muchmore still needs to be done. The progressmade thus far has been hailed byeducationists locally, regionally, andinternationally. Immense strides have beenmade, as never before in St. Vincent andthe Grenadines’ history, in every area ofeducation: Early Childhood, Primary,Secondary, Post-Secondary, Tertiary,Teacher Education, Nursing Education,Technical and Vocational Education, AdultLiteracy, Continuing Education, and SpecialEducation. Both the quantity and qualityaspects of every facet of education havebeen dramatically transformed for the betterunder the ULP Government. Themanagement of the educational system andof the schools or educational institutions hasbeen lifted. The teachers, their trade union,

and parents are more meaningfully engagedthan ever. The terms and conditions ofteachers’ employment have improveddrastically. No child has been left behind;no teacher has been left behind; no parentmust be left behind. Special challengeshave been and are being addressedefficaciously. The ULP Government haspumped massive resources into educationand training: On an average since 2001,the annual expenditure has been in excessof $150 million for this area of social policy.In other words, over the ten year period(March 2001 to the present time), the ULPGovernment would have spent in excess ofa mind boggling $1.5 billion on educationand training. Details of all this are availableelsewhere in this Manifesto addressing asummary of our accomplishments and inother publications. Recurrent spending onEducation in 2010 is a whopping 25 percentof a growing Recurrent Budget overall.

In our next five years in government, theULP intends to consolidate and extendevery aspect of the Education Revolution in

48 49

in information technology and the basicsciences;

" Strengthen further our policy andprogrammes regarding universalaccess to quality Secondary Educationby:

Repairing and upgrading the physicalfacilities at a number of secondaryschools;

Completing the construction, includingthe equipping, of the modernsecondary School at West St. George;

Renovating and extending the St.Vincent and the Grenadines GrammarSchool and the Girls’ High School;

Upgrading further the ScienceLaboratories and Libraries at allsecondary schools;

Emphasizing those aspects of thecurriculum which connect directly withthe building of a modern, competitiveeconomy in an advancing Caribbeancivilisation, such as: The Sciences,Information Technology, Mathematics,Critical Reasoning, Modern Languages(English and Foreign Languages),Caribbean History and Civilisation, andApplied Business Studies.

! Delivering meaningful remedialprogrammes especially in EnglishLanguage, Mathematics, and CriticalReasoning to students who arechallenged in their academic/intellectual development.

! Develop further Post SecondaryEducation through the integrated St.Vincent and the GrenadinesCommunity College by:

the interest of all the stakeholders,especially the students, and the society asa whole. We shall emphasise Access,Quality, Performance, Relevance,Affordability. Accordingly, a ULPGovernment will:

! Make sure that every child between theages of three and five years attends anEarly Childhood Education Centre orSchool whether operated by the Stateor the private sector. Universal accessto Early Childhood Education is animperative. This will be achieved bymid-2011at the latest.

! Enhance every facet of EarlyChildhood Education in terms ofacceptable physical facilities, qualityteaching, support services for studentsand sound management.

! Consolidate, deepen and broaden theadvances in Primary Education: Our

commitment, especially in the followingareas, is to:

" Carry out another comprehensiverepair/renovation programme in all 61primary schools nation-wide;

" Focus, at every level, on remedial workparticularly in reading, literacy, andnumeracy;

" Ensure a solid primary foundation inEnglish language, Mathematics, BasicScience, Information Technology, aForeign Language, and Social Studies,including History. Critical Thinking asdistinct from “rote” learning will beemphasised. Primary education is thefoundation of the education enterprise.It will be enhanced further.

" Equip properly all the primary schoolswith facilities for teaching and learning

50 51

" Expanding the physical facilities (ThirdPhase) of the Division of Arts, Sciencesand Humanities (former “A”-LevelCollege) to include more classrooms,lecture halls, science labs, extension ofthe administrative bloc, more studentsupport service facilities (includingcafeteria), and specially-designedfacilities for Art.

" Renovating, upgrading and extendingthe physical facilities of the Divisions ofNursing Education, Teacher Education,Technical and Vocational Education.

" Keeping enrollment levels high to satisfythe demand for post-secondaryeducation at every Division of theCollege;

" Placing appropriate Technical andVocational Education centrally in theeducation system.

" Making sure that structured educationaland other systems are in place so as to

reduce the extent of non-performingstudents and to improve performance;

" Expanding and upgrading the offeringand delivery of a wider range ofprogrammes leading to university degreecourses not only those of the Universityof the West Indies, but of otheruniversities.

" Enhancing the Library facilities markedly;

" Focusing greater attention andresources on the Sciences,Mathematics, Critical Reasoning,Information Technology, and ModernLanguages so necessary to modernliving and production;

" Exploring the practical feasibility ofbuilding and running a competitively-priced Students’ Hostel for students fromthe Grenadines, North Windward, NorthLeeward, and other distant geographicalareas, and other students whose socio-economic circumstances cry out for

" Focusing university education on thoseareas of professional training wherethere is an urgent manpower need suchas in the branches and specialties in theHealth Sector, Engineering, theSciences, Mathematics, Land Surveying,Quantity Surveying, Forensic Science,the Technical areas in Tourism andHotel/Restaurant services, ModernLanguages, Economics, and Technicaland Vocational Education, and so forth;

! Deliver further quality, and enhancedaccess to, Special Education.

! Consolidate and further expand thedelivery of Adult and ContinuingEducation.

! Lift the quality of Teaching at all levels ofthe education system by:

" Training teachers in the core subjectareas to better deliver content;

" Emphasising Critical Thinking/Reasoningas the core methodology for teachers.

accommodation in such a facility. This isan urgent matter.

! Continue the aggressive pursuance ofmarked enhanced access to UniversityEducation so as to achieve the goal of atleast one university graduate perhousehold in St. Vincent and theGrenadines by 2025 at the latest, by:

" Securing more scholarships, bursaries,grants, and student support for ourprospective university students;

" Building up the National Student LoansCompany especially to facilitateeconomically-disadvantaged students.

" Expanding access to universityeducation in St. Vincent and theGrenadines, through the variousdivisions of the Community College andin collaboration with UWI.

" Encouraging actively persons to pursue,where appropriate, on-line or distanceuniversity education;

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I. HEALTH AND WELLNESS

REVOLUTION: Health for all

in the 21st

Century

The delivery of Health and EnvironmentalServices has improved significantly over thepast ten years under the ULP Government.We have repaired or renovated 21 clinics;built and equipped four brand new andmodern clinics; installed well-suppliedpharmacies in all the clinics; built a modernpolyclinic at Stubbs; improved the deliveryof health care and hospital services at theMilton Cato Memorial Hospital despite theterrible legacy left us there by the NDPincluding a badly-built hospital extension;curbed epidemics including HIV/AIDS;drastically improved primary health andpublic health services; enhanced markedlythe delivery of water of the highest quality atthe most competitive price to 98 percent ofthe houses on St. Vincent; improved waterdelivery to the Grenadines; ensured thatgarbage is collected and properly disposedof nationwide; beefed up the delivery ofsecondary health services; hugely

developed the provision of tertiary healthservices overseas by the government.Generally, every facet of health services isfar better today than in 2001.

From the very beginning of our third term,the ULP Government will ramp up furtherthe priority status of the delivery of healthservices. One signal already of this is ourgovernment’s decision to make the HealthSector the focal sector for financing from the10th European Development Fund (EDF)Programme.

In the next five years, the ULP Governmentwill:

! Embark on, as a matter of the highestpriority, the relocation of the MiltonCato Memorial Hospital. This willinvolve the construction of a modernhospital elsewhere. Arnos Vale isbeing suggested as the preferredlocation.

! Complete the construction of, and

" Making premium payments to teachersin vital subject areas especially whereteachers are in short supply such as theSciences and Mathematics;

" Achieving the goal of having employedas teachers only those who are bothtrained as teachers and competent in therelevant subject areas.

" Working with the St. Vincent and theGrenadines’ Teachers Union to lift theprofessionalism of teachers in theclassroom;

" Continuing to improve the salaries, termsand conditions of employment ofteachers;

" Ensuring that teachers in non-Stateschools who were hitherto not employedby Government, but now are, beaccorded credit for the earlier years forpension purposes;

! Consolidate further and enhance to theoptimal level possible, programmes on a

range of matters touching andconcerning education at all levelsincluding: Counseling, The School MealsProgramme, the Book Loan Scheme,Security, Health Facilities, SportingFacilities, Facilities for the PerformingArts, Parenting, Special StudentServices, Curriculum Development,Measurement and Testing.

! Integrate sports, physical recreation, thecreative arts, and music fully into theEducational System.

! Build further the Parent Teachers’Associations.

! Provide enhanced transportationfacilities for our students.

! Continue to reform the managementsystems in the Ministry of Education soas to better deliver educational policiesand programmes.

! Implement the “One Laptop per Student”policy through the acquisition of thirtythousand laptops by January 2011.

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waste management throughout St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

! Extend further and deepen thecommunity health programmes, healtheducation, and family life education towin the battle against the so-called “lifestyle” diseases.

! Examine more closely the possibleintroduction of an affordable NationalHealth Service though the NationalInsurance Services.

! Ensure that the health system is well-staffed by the appropriate healthpersonnel: Doctors, nurses,pharmacists, dentists, technicalhealth workers, and so forth.

! Strengthen further the management atthe Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

! Continue, generally and specifically, toimprove and build upon the past tenyears’ advances in public health, primary

and secondary health services, dentalservices, and health delivery generally.

! Continue to expand further assistance topersons seeking specialist tertiary healthcare overseas.

! Work with the relevant regional andinternational agencies on the issue ofClimate Change. This is vital for ourexistence and development as a small-island developing country.

J.HOUSING FOR ALL: Lands

for the People

The ULP Government has done amagnificent job in putting roofs overpeople’s heads. Our housing policy hasmanifested itself into: A Low-IncomeHousing Programme; a No-Income HousingProgramme; the 100-percent mortgage forpublic servants, through the State-ownedNational Commercial Bank (NCB); theprovision of tax concessions to privatesector builders of housing estates; the

equipping fully, within months, the ModernMedical Complex at Georgetown with allmodern hospital facilities in addition to beingthe centre for dialysis treatment.

! Implement, through ALBA, the Lives toLive Project, so as to take care of thementally and physically challengedpersons.

! Build two more fully-equippedPolyclinics, one at Marriaqua and one inBuccament;

! Build Doctors and Nurses Quarters onthe sites for the Polyclinics and at UnionIsland;

! Implement, in conjunction with a regional“Health and Wellness Revolution”, acomprehensive programme to tacklechronic non-communicable diseases andillnesses or injuries related to violenceand/or accidents.

! Work closer than ever with the OECSPharmaceutical Procurement Services

so as to improve further the delivery ofpharmaceutical services run by theState.

! Continue to wage aggressively the fightagainst HIV/AIDS through the well-staffed HIV/AIDS Unit and anadequately-resourced strategy.

! Continue the “Vision Now” EyeProgramme with the Cubans.

! Implement the plans to rehabilitate theLewis Punnett Home within the 10th EDFProgramme.

! Elaborate further and continue toimplement a programme, includingimproved physical facilities, for the betterdelivery of quality psychiatric services.Funding is earmarked for this under the10th EDF programme.

! Keep the environment clean, enforce theenvironmental laws, and enhance solid

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! Strengthen further the planning andinstitutional frameworks to facilitatebetter housing construction and landuse.

! Implement further on an orderly basisthe Informal Human SettlementsProgramme with central elementsincluding: Surveying; land titling; drainsand roads; electricity and water; securityand solid waste disposal; sports, shopsand churches; schools and clinics.

! Train more technical persons in everyaspect of housing and landdevelopment.

! Implement the National Lands Policyapproved recently by the Cabinet.

! Make land available for housing atreasonable prices, especially for thosewho have been long in occupation/use ofState-owned lands and who aredisadvantaged.

K.PUBLIC WORKS AND

ROADS: Linking the Nation

The ULP Government has repaired, rebuilt,and built far more miles of roads (main,village/community, and feeder roads) thanany other government in St. Vincent and theGrenadines. Still, there is so much more tobe done in this regard. It is for this reasonthat the ULP Government has establishedthe Buildings Roads and General ServicesAuthority (BRAGSA) to facilitate the repairand rehabilitation of roads, bridges, drainsand government buildings even as it worksin tandem with the Ministry of Works whichhas oversight in respect of the majorinfrastructure projects. The mountainousterrain of St. Vincent and the Grenadines,the heavy rainfall, the hitherto ill-constructedroads, and increased heavy-duty traffic,create technical and financial challenges fora comprehensive road-repair/rehabilitationprogramme. Still, it must all be done for amore efficient economy and an increasinglysophisticated society with an abundance ofmotor vehicles:

monies paid by purchasers of State-ownedlands; the reduction of interest on arrears’payments for State-owned lands; and thefacilitation of people obtaining their titledeeds quite easily for these lands.

In its third term, the ULP Government will:

! Build more low-income and no-incomehouses to satisfy the demand.

! Continue to deepen and extend everyaspect of our government’s establishedpolicies on housing. Utilise even morethan hitherto the HLDC, in partnershipwith the private sector, to implementhousing programmes for youngprofessionals and middle-incomefamilies.

! Mount a special housing-repairprogramme between the private sector,the State, the National CommercialBank, and Credit Unions.

revamping of the Housing and LandDevelopment Corporation (HLDC) to bettercarry out the housing policy; the elaborationinto law of a sensible building code; theprovision, more than ever, of buildingmaterials for the disadvantaged and needy;the cleaning up of the mess which the NDPleft at Gibson Corner and Diamond (ColonialHomes); the facilitation of the secondarymortgage market; and the structureddevelopment of Informal HumanSettlements. We see affordable housingas a human right.

Accompanying this housing policy has beenthe allied land policy of “turning deadproperty into live property” through thefollowing: The enactment of the PossessoryTitles Bill which has been delivering landtitle to those who have been in “adversepossession” of the land for 12 years ormore; the selling of State-owned lands tothe people for as low as 10-cents persquare foot; the refunding of excess

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Management Office (NEMO) under theOffice of the Prime Minister; we rescued theEmergency and Disaster ManagementProject for which the earmarked financinghad been withdrawn by the World Bankbecause of non-performance; we built awell-designed and equipped NationalEmergency Operating Centre at OldMontrose; we laid out, for the first time everin St. Vincent and the Grenadines, acomprehensive Strategic DisasterManagement Plan which NEMOimplements on an ongoing basis; we havedone exceptional disaster mitigationphysical projects such as the LayouWaterfront, and Sea Defences and RiverDefences; we constructed and stocked ahuge warehouse at Campden Park; wehave completed a Hazard MappingExercise; addressed the draining issues inKingstown; and carried out extensive publiceducation and training.The recent commendable efforts byNEMO in handling the disaster ofHurricane Tomas attest to the policy andprogrammatic initiatives in disaster

management by the ULP Government.

In our third term, the ULP Government willfurther elaborate and refine its strategicDisaster Management Plan andaccompanying Work Plan; execute thisStrategic and Work Plan in conjunction withsister agencies regionally andinternationally; strengthen further NEMOand its affiliate associations nationally whichare engaged in managing disasters. Moreresources will be provided in this area,including our financial contribution to theWorld Bank disaster insurance initiative.The drainage issues in Kingstown will becomprehensively addressed within theframework of an Urban Development Plan.

M. ENERGY AND VINLEC:

Powering Production and

Modern Living

The steep increase in the cost of energysince the year 2000 (from US$30 per barrelto over US$70 in crude oil prices) coupled

! Complete the bits and pieces, includingthe rebuilding of the Colonarie Bridge,which remain from the massiveRichmond Hill to Fancy RoadReconstruction.

! Rebuild the entire main LeewardHighway from Hospital Road toBuccament.

! Resurface the deteriorating sections onthe main access/travelling roads,including from Buccament toFitzHughes, and the main internalroadways, and village/community roadsthroughout St. Vincent and theGrenadines.

! Complete the construction of the CrossCountry Road.

! Build a proper roundabout at theintersection near to the former Ju-Cbuilding.

! Facilitate the building of capacity withinthe private sector road construction andbuildings’ construction industries.

! The ULP will implement acomprehensive traffic plan which isbeing elaborated. Where necessary,practical by-pass or other accessroads will be constructed on aplanned basis, including from theproposed new development at ArnosVale by way of a tunnel under CaneGarden to Kingstown.

L. PREPARING FOR AND

MANAGING NATURAL

DISASTERS

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is amongthe countries world-wide most prone tonatural disasters. When the ULP came tooffice in 2001, there was only aramshackle institutional arrangement toaddress disasters. There was one officerassigned to this task and he was in theMinistry of Local Government with littleor no resources. That was a disaster!Under the ULP Government, we set up awell-staffed National Emergency

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with the worst financial and economic crisissince the Great Depression created a majorenergy challenge. In response, wefashioned a comprehensive and modernNational Energy Policy (NEP).Accompanying this NEP is a detailed WorkPlan. This included the sourcing of asignificant quantity of energy products underthe attractive financial arrangements ofPETRO CARIBE and the ALBA, the focusedquest for renewable energy sources, thefurther modernisation and expansion ofVINLEC, energy conservation, the pass-through pricing mechanism, particular fiscalmeasures, relief for hoteliers, and a targetedtransport subsidy, have all been part of theULP Government’s efforts to stabilise andadvance our work in the energy sector ofthe economy.

In our third term, the ULP Government will:

! Complete the current phase of VINLEC’smodernisation and expansion so as tocontinue to satisfy the increasingdemand for electricity and to deliver

even better its supply uninterruptedlyand at a better, more competitive price;

! Complete the vital installation of storagecapacity at Lowmans (Leeward) ofdiesel, gasoline, and aviation fuel, insufficient quantities for energy security ina modern, productive economy.

! Continue to provide LPG (CookingGas) at a lower price to consumersunder the Petro Caribe Agreement.

! Build out VINLEC’s “Wind EnergyProject” and place its supply in thenational energy grid;

! Continue our focused quest to exploreand build out the supply of geo-thermalenergy. This holds enormous strategicsignificance and it is a real practicalprobability imminently;

! Implement the review of the Pricing ofElectricity for all categories of

98 percent of the households have pipe-borne water directly in them.

Since 2001, the ULP Government has donea most admirable amount of work in theprovision of low-priced quality water,especially through its agency, the CentralWater and Sewerage Authority (CWSA).Among other things, we completed theDallaway Water Project; started andcompleted the Windward Water Projectat a cost of EC $23 million; commencedand completed the new water treatmentplant at Marjorca; improved vastly thedelivery of water to the Grenadines(especially Bequia and Union) throughthe building of additional water storagefacilities or their upgrading; built astorage tank at Kelbourney; built a 400-ftpipeline at Layou; provided water for thefirst time to several elevated areas of St.Vincent; upgraded the water distributionsystem; removed the water-meter charge of$16 for consumers who are 65 years of ageand who are on public assistance; and

consumers to satisfy, among otherthings, the requisite of fairness to them;

! Ensure that all Informal HumanSettlements are provided withelectricity so as to lift electricityconnections from 95 percent of thehouseholds to practically 100 percent;

! Continue the Rural ElectrificationProgramme and the Street LightingProgramme;

N.WATER: Our Lifeblood

We assert without fear of contradiction thatSt. Vincent and the Grenadines boasts thebest delivery of quality water to all its peopleat the lowest price in the entire Caribbean.St. Vincent itself has one of the best watersupply systems in the world. In 2001,quality pipe-borne water was available tosome 70 percent of the households in St.Vincent and the Grenadines. Today, some

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service between our islands; and the vastlyimproved air access and air access options,including the saving of LIAT, theconstruction of the Canouan Jet Airport, theimprovements at the other airports in St.Vincent and the Grenadines, and theongoing construction of the ArgyleInternational Airport.

In our third term, the ULP government willbuild on its outstanding record regarding airtransport and air access by:

! Completing the construction of theArgyle International Airport in June2012 and commencing its operation.

! Maintaining and improving further thedelivery of service at each of the otherairports: E.T. Joshua (until June 2012),Canouan Jet Airport, and the airports atBequia, Union Island and Mustique.

! Developing further LIAT as the principalintra-regional air carrier in conjunctionwith the other two shareholder

governments of Antigua-Barbuda andBarbados. Other regional governmentswould be pressed to provide marketsupport or to become equity partners.Further restructuring and enhancedefficiencies at LIAT to reduce the cost ofair travel are on the agenda. Fleetrenewal is imminent for LIAT andrequires substantial investment.

! Strengthening the nexus betweenLIAT and the State-owned Trinidadian,Caribbean Airlines (CAL).

! Enhancing the institutional capacity ofthe Eastern Caribbean Civil AviationAuthority (ECCAA) as our sub-region’sregulator of civil aviation, so essential inmaintaining safety, security, and ourhard-won Category One Status, amongother things. ECCAA will continue towork comparatively with other regionaland international regulators.

! Strengthening security at our airports.

strengthened the CWSA so as to ensure itsefficiency.

In our third term, the ULP Government willbuild on this most impressive foundation.Our focus will be on:

! Addressing more than ever, in a mostcomprehensive way, the special waterneeds of the Grenadines.

! Building another storage facility in theSouth Leeward area of Vermont tofacilitate enhanced supply for thegrowing demand in that part of St.Vincent, including the BuccamentResorts.

! Providing further training in all technicaldisciplines touching and concerning thedelivery of water.

! Achieving 100 percent access to qualitywater supply directly in households.

In terms of the collection and disposal of

solid waste, since 2001, the CWSA hasperformed extremely well. The ULPGovernment targeted island-wide garbagecollection on St. Vincent, and this wasachieved by October 2001. The Belle IsleLand Fill was constructed and opened foroperation to complement the one atDiamond. In the Grenadines (Bequia,Union, Canouan and Mayreau) garbagecollection and disposal have been enhancedmarkedly. On Mustique, the MustiqueCompany handles this matter very well.

O.AIR TRANSPORT AND AIR

ACCESS: Linking SVG to the

World

An “Inter-Connectivity Revolution” is takingplace in St. Vincent and the Grenadinesthrough: The revolution in Information andCommunications Technology (ICT); theconstruction of an amazing interconnectingbundle of roadways including the RabaccaBridge and the Cross Country Road; theimprovements at our seaports and theprovision of incentives for a fast-ferry

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! Continue to work with the private sectorin the fishing industry to upgrade St.Vincent and the Grenadines’ fishing fleet.

! Renovate and expand the portfacilities at Bequia, Union Island andCanouan.

Q.THE FAMILY AND SOCIETY:

Solidarity and Upliftment

A central plank of the ULP’s programmaticplatform is to empower the family, tostrengthen its bonds of solidarity, and touplift it.

In the ULP’s 2001 Election Manifesto, wemade nine specific pledges in this policyarea and they were addressed. In our 2005Election Manifesto, we expanded on them,brought new focus to them in changingcircumstances, and pursued them and othertargeted strategic interventions directedtowards Family Empowerment. In the nextfive years, the ULP Government will:

! Strengthen the institutional capacity ofthe various agencies of governmentwhich work in this broad policy area,including the Family Affairs Division, soas to better execute government’spolicies;

! Broaden and deepen the CommunityPoverty Alleviation Programme currentlyfinanced by ALBA CARIBE;

! Implement fully the recently-enactedChild (Care and Adoption) Bill;

! Expand the Children Against PovertyProgramme;

! Operationalise fully the Crisis Centre forWomen and Children;

! Implement a comprehensive policyregarding “gender affairs”, including

! Improve markedly the physical facilitiesand service delivery at the CampdenPark Container Port (CPCP).

! Build a Cruise Ship Facility in NorthLeeward.

! Provide very generous fiscalincentives to the private sector toacquire and operate inter-island andregional fast ferries and ships/vessels.

! Continue to build St. Vincent and theGrenadines as a reliable, quality flag-state for ships’ registration.

! Strengthen further the division ofMaritime Administration in St. Vincentand the Grenadines which wasestablished by the ULP administration.

! Expand and beef up the St. Vincentand the Grenadines Coast GuardService.

! Providing further training opportunitiesfor skilled personnel in every area of thebusiness of civil aviation, including themanagement of airports.

P. SEAPORTS, MARINE

TRANSPORT, MARITIME

ADMINISTRATION: Letting

Our Seas Serve Us

The very extensive seascape of St Vincentand the Grenadines is vital to the economiclivelihood of our people and its managedexploitation is at once sensitive and critical.

Accordingly, in our third term, the ULPGovernment will:

! Continue the process of restructuring theSVG Port Authority to better provide itsservices to its clients.

! Carry out extensive repairs andreconstruction of Port Kingstown,including the Cruise Ship Pier.

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“teen mothers”, young boys and girls atrisk, women, and young men;

! Continue the implementation of thePastoral Care Programme for StreetChildren;

! Adopt all relevant internationalconventions regarding Women, Children,the Protection of the Elderly, andPersons with Disabilities;

! Accelerate further the programme of re-entry of teen-aged parents intosecondary schools;

! Implement the “Lives to Live”Programme for persons with disabilities.This is a major programme to build uponexisting work in this vital area.

! Develop further the Liberty Lodge Boys’Training Centre.

! Ensure appropriate safety netarrangements are in place for various

family members, including through thePublic Assistance Programme, theNational Insurance Services, and othertargeted welfare/social developmentinitiatives.

R.EMPOWERING THE

WORKING PEOPLE

This ULP Government has done remarkablethings to advance the working people’scondition of life, including: Payment of $3million in severance payments to some1,000 former estate workers whom theformer NDP government refused to payfor 17 years; payment of other severancepayments due, but not paid hitherto forseveral years, to workers including thoseat the Banana Growers’ Association,Sanitation, Diamond Diary, and Belle VueArrowroot Factory; payment of annual taxfree bonuses to central governmentemployees; increasing thrice all NISbenefits; reduction in direct taxation onworkers at the top and bottom rates; funding

from January 2003, the workers’ pensionscheme at NCB up to 15 years arrears at acost of $2 million; strengthening severancepay and protection of employment laws;ensured that the workers’ union at theBanana Depot/Port in Kingstown got thecontract to operate the facility; the setting upof the Workers’ Institute for Research andEducation; the strengthening of the LabourDepartment; and the reclassificationexercise in the government service to thebenefit of the employees; the creation ofover 10,000 job since 2001; the increase inwealth in the country; and the enhancedbenefits of the working people from therange of government programmes includinghousing, education, health, public works,and social services generally.

In our next term, the ULP will build uponall this excellent work. We assertemphatically that we are a “Labour”government, a working people’s governmentwhile at the same time being a truly national

government for all Vincentians, includingbusinessmen/women and entrepreneurs.We will continue to modernise the labourand social protection laws in the interest ofthe working people; we will continue topursue socio-economic policies whichcreate jobs, increase wealth, ensure equity,and strengthen the social safety net. Wewill always carry out targeted strategicinterventions for the working people.

S.THE ELDERLY: Protection,

Love and Caring

Since 2001, the ULP Government hasaddressed the condition of the elderly in amore focused and satisfactory manner thanany government hitherto in St. Vincent andthe Grenadines. Indeed, the ULPGovernment’s work in relation to the elderlyhas been outstanding. We must do evenbetter in the next five-year period. We oweit to the elderly who so selflessly built thisnation.

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! Make sure that the pension benefits ofelderly persons are protected through astable currency, low-to-moderateinflation, and appropriate fiscalmeasures.

YOUTH, SPORTS & CULTURE

Our Youth Manifesto, “Let the Youth SoarLike Eagles” will highlight ouraccomplishments and vision for ouryoung people, our unique culture andour sporting future.

T. THE GRENADINES: Our

Island Jewels

In the ULP’s first two terms (2001 to thepresent), a tremendous amount ofdevelopmental work was done in theGrenadines including:

" Built a modern secondary school inUnion Island.

" Improved markedly the access to andquality of secondary education, including

universal secondary education since2005.

" Built a modern primary school in Bequia,a learning resource centre in UnionIsland and both a Marine ResourceCentre and a new police Station inCanouan.

" Rebuilt, modernised and extended theBequia Fisheries Centre.

" Built a modern Jet Airport at Canouan.

" Upgraded the Canouan FisheriesCentre.

" Enhanced the health facilities in Bequia,Canouan, Union Island and Mayreau.

" Built an Electricity Power Plant and ajetty at Mayreau.

! Rebuild substantially the Lewis PunnettHome under the 10th EDF Programme;

! Extend further the Home Help for theElderly Programme;

! Build two more Golden Years Centres:One in the Kingstown area, the other inMarriaqua;

! Increase payments to recipientsunder the Non-Contributory NISprovisions by at least $30 monthly in2011, and under the Public AssistanceProgramme by one quarter (25percent);

! Train more persons and create morejobs in the area of the elderly care;

! Provide supports to, and a properregulatory framework for, private caringinstitutions for the elderly;

! Working closely with the NGOs whichfocus on the elderly;

Since 2001, among the achievements of theULP Government are: Increasing thenumber of elderly persons on the non-contributory schemes at the NIS, and onPublic Assistance; increasing thrice themonthly sums paid to the elderly throughthe NIS and Public Assistance; removingthe monthly water-meter charge for persons65 years if they are on public assistance;instituting the Home-Help for the ElderlyProgramme of some 400 elderlybeneficiaries and 100 Helpers; building twoGolden Years Activity Centres; beefing upgeriatric care in the hospital services;providing free health services for personsover the age of 60 years; providing elderlypersons with more building materials thanever; renovating the Lewis Punnett Home;better protecting the security and safety ofthe elderly; and the elaboration of a NationalPolicy on the Elderly/Aging.

In the next term, the ULP Government will:

! Implement the comprehensive NationalPolicy on the Elderly;

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" Forfeited the 100 acres of land atChatham Bay because of investors’breaches of conditions to the AliensLand-holding Licence. This matter is incourt. The Government has won at theHigh Court. The investors haveappealed to the Court of Appeal.

In the ULP’s third term, we will build uponthis impressive list by:

! Working closely with the foreign andlocal investors to further develop tourismin Bequia, Union Island, Mayreau,Mustique and Canouan. Literallyhundreds of millions of dollars ininvestment are in the offing.

! Providing more housing lots at affordableprices to the “native” islanders in theGrenadines.

! Cleaning up fully the environmentaldisaster left by the NDP government atthe so-called Union Island Project.

! Building a secondary school onCanouan.

! Improving markedly the quality ofsecondary education in Bequia.

! Renovating the Port Elizabeth HealthFacility.

! Building Nurses and Doctors Quarterson Union Island and Bequia.

! Building a Learning Resource Centre onBequia.

! Renovating the Fisheries Centres atCanouan and Union Island.

! Building a Coast Guard Base inCanouan in conjunction with theAmerican government.

! Set up consultative Local Governmentsystems in the Grenadines.

" Built additional quality water-catchmentfacilities on Union Island and Bequia.

" Built the Hugh Mulzac Square in Clifton,Union Island.

" Repaired all the schools in theGrenadines.

" Purchased back the Canouan BeachHotel and placed the property asGovernment’s equity in a DevelopmentCompany with the Canouan Developersand other Equity Partners to build amodern marina and real estatedevelopment project on the south ofCanouan.

" Established a Court House in Canouan.

" Established a Sustainable LivelihoodsProject in the Tobago Cays and placedthe Marine Park under soundmanagement.

" Enhanced the harbour at Port Elizabeth

as part of an overall “BelmarDevelopment Plan” for Bequia.

" Devised with Edstone Associates(EDSA) a comprehensive developmentplan for Canouan, which we have beenimplementing.

" Provided building lots in Canouan,Bequia and Union Island for persons“native” to those islands.

" Updated the Mustique Agreement to theimproved advantage of the people of St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

" Returned to the Anglican Church itsschool property in Bequia which wasillegally taken away by the former NDPadministration.

" Renovated the Union Island Airportincluding the complete resurfacing of therunway.

" Rehabilitated the JF Mitchell Airport onBequia.

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Integrity and Anti-Corruption measures forpublic discussion and comment. TheConstitutional Reform issues are now on thepolitical back-burner but we shall, within thecontext of the existing Constitution of St.Vincent and the Grenadines, continue topress for still more improved goodgovernance.

In our third term we will build on our solidfoundation of good governance. GoodGovernance remains at the heart of ULP’spolitics. It would be a good thing if certainpersons in the opposition would come cleanand not seek to delay further the work of theOttley Hall Commission of Enquiry by Courtchallenges. They must speak to the wholetruth on Ottley Hall.

(i) Reform in the Public

Service

Substantial reforms have been carried out inthe Public Service under the ULPGovernment. These include: Reform infinancial administration with the passage ofthe Financial Administration Act of 2004 andthe Audit Act if 2005; administration and

organisational changes; the ReclassificationExercise; the Performance Managementand Development System (PMDS);improvement in terms and conditions ofemployment; and more and better training inthe public service.

These reforms have been directed towardsgreater efficiencies, transparency,accountability, enhanced job satisfaction,and better service delivery.

(ii) Reforming and Modernising

Public Enterprises

The reform and modernisation process hasalso been in train in public enterprises underthe ULP Government. Internal processes ofgood governance coupled with oversight bythe Monitoring Committee on PublicEnterprises (MCPE) and Parliament havedelivered excellent outcomes in most publicenterprises. Still better can be done. Weresolve to continue our work in a focusedmanner in this regard. Private Sectorpartners are being sought for some entitiessuch as the Fish Marketing Company and

U.GOOD GOVERNANCE: An

ULP Record

The ULP Government has distinguisheditself on its good governance record. TheBritish and American governments have sopraised us; so, too, has the World Bank andregional organisations. In 2006, theGuyana-Caribbean Institute for Democracybased in New York awarded Prime Minister,Dr. The Hon. Ralph E. Gonsalves its“Democracy Prize”. Recently, the HeritageFoundation scored St. Vincent and theGrenadines very highly for its “EconomicFreedoms”. These accolades are testimonyto the fact that the ULP has delivered on itspromise of providing “good governance”.In our first two terms, the ULP Governmentaccomplished, among other things, thefollowing in the area of good governance:Reform of the Public Service and StateAdministration; Reform and Modernisationof the Police Force; improved the workingsof Parliament, including its broadcasting onradio and television; made the tenderingprocess for the procurement of goods and

services, open, transparent, andcompetitive; cut out completely the abuseand misuse of government vehicles byministers of government; made sterlingefforts at stamping out official corruption andwaste of government’s resources;established a “Together Now” approach andmoved against political victimisation;strengthened the office of the Director ofAudit and its independence; cut out sweet-heart mortgages at the NCB and anypreferential treatment to anyone on theground of political affiliation; ceased theimmoral and illegal practice, of selling Statelands at knock-down prices to governmentministers and friends in high places;improvements in the Judiciary including theMagistracy; enhanced popular consultationsand the establishment of NESDEC; thesetting up of the Ottley Hall Commission ofEnquiry; building a culture of politicalhygiene; releasing public servants fromunreasonable restraints on their freedom ofexpression; encouraging the promoting ofpersons according to merit in the publicservice; and published Bills relating to

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" Improving the physical facilities andequipment, including the provision ofcomputer and IT systems, in theMagistracy and the High Court.

" Toughening the laws in relation to illegalfirearms, drug trafficking, and moneylaundering.

" Ensuring a better use of the Coroner’sInquest especially in cases where it isalleged that persons have been killed inengagements with the Police.

" Making it more difficult for criminals towalk free by closing certain proceduraland evidential loopholes whilemaintaining the full panoply of rights forindividuals who are charged with criminaloffences.

" Providing the best possible securityarrangements for Judges, Magistrates,and their families. St. Vincent and the

Grenadines is rated the best in theOECS in this respect.

" Establishing the Commerce andIntellectual Property Office (CIPO).

" Setting up the independent PoliceOversight Body to investigate allegedabuses of people’s rights by the Police.

" Passing a huge number of Bills inParliament touching and concerning arange of subjects designed to deliverquality justice and improve the people’swell being.

" Building independent, quality Offices ofthe Attorney General and Director ofPublic Prosecutions.

" Collaborating regionally andinternationally with other Court systemsand agencies to better deliver justice.

Food City. The veritable “crown jewels” ofthe State such as NCB, VINLEC, NationalProperties are being jealously guarded inthe national interest. Privatisation for theULP is not an ideological matter; it will beconsidered only if in the particularcircumstances, the national interestdemands it and the purchase price of anyshare of these “crown jewels” is mostsatisfactory, fair, and reasonable. Forexample, in pursuance of our long-standingpolicy of possible divestment of a proportionof the shareholding of the NationalCommercial Bank to a regional bank andlocal investors, our government signed aMemorandum of Understanding with thatbank and has engaged the CaribbeanDevelopment Bank (CDB), too, in theexercise. This process is ongoing.

V. JUSTICE, LAW, ORDER AND

NATIONAL SECURITY

The ULP Government places greatemphasis on its policies and programmeson matters of security, law, order andjustice.

(i) Fighting Crime and Ensuring

Justice in the Courts

An independent judiciary of the highestquality possible in a democratic society isessential for the delivery of justice for all. Inour ten years in office, thus far, the ULPGovernment has not merely talked the talkbut walked the walk in the delivery of qualityjustice.

In its ten year governance of St. Vincent andthe Grenadines, thus far, the ULPGovernment has been tough on crime andtough on the causes of crime. We haveaddressed the challenge of crime throughan admixture of socio-economic policies andthose targeted specifically to the detection,prosecution, and punishment of criminaloffenders.

Among the ULP’s governmentsachievements in this regard are:

" Setting up a Serious Offences Court inKingstown and a Magistrate’s Court inCanouan.

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! Reviewing and publishing a new set ofbound volumes of the Laws of St.Vincent and the Grenadines in a moremodern, up-to-date format. Thisprocess is nearing completion.

(ii) The Police & Security

Forces: Modernising the

Frontline Against Crime

A modern, efficient Police Force, includingthe Coast Guard, and allied institutions ofquality are vital in the fight against crime.Indeed, they constitute the front-line in thatbattle. No government in the history of St.Vincent and the Grenadines has spent somuch resources and expended so mucheffort as the ULP administration has doneinto building the Police Force into a highlyprofessional outfit, the best ever in ournation’s history.

Between March 2001 and today, the ULPGovernment has done spectacularly well inmodernising and uplifting the Police Force in

fighting crime in a number of ways,including:

" Adopting in Parliament a 14-PointStrategy on Crime Prevention andelaborating an accompanying Work Planin which the Police have a central place.

" Establishing a Permanent NationalCommission on Crime Prevention(NCCP) which interfaces with the Police,the Youths, Community and ReligiousOrganisations in the fight against crime,the prevention of crime, and therehabilitation of offenders.

" Setting up the Durrant Commission onthe Reform of the Police Force fromwhich recommendations have emergedfor corrective action and development.

" Carrying out a Reclassification Exercisein the Police Force which has resulted inmassive salary increases and improvedworking conditions for the Police asnever before in our history.

" Making St. Vincent and the Grenadines’contributory payments on time to theOECS Supreme Court System and theCaribbean Court of Justice.

In our third term, the ULP Government willbuild upon its excellent foundation in thisarea of public policy and will focus furtheron:

! Pushing for speedier criminal trials in theMagistracy and the High Court andensuring a veritable permanent CriminalDivision of the High Court.

! Building the modern Hall of Justice at theformer De Freitas property at RichmondHill.

! Providing further resources to ensurethat the Possessory Titles Act workseven better for the people.

! Putting in place a modern system of landtitling and registration upon which workhas already commenced.

! Working with other OECS governmentsto regionalise the Magistracy along lineswhich have already been fashioned.

! Mounting a programme of rehabilitatingcriminal offenders.

! Enacting a modern Legal ProfessionalBill, which has already been drafted, soas to properly regulate, monitor, andfoster development of, the legalprofession.

! Continuing and extending the provisionof training in law, its various branches,and in legal administration, includingthe training of more and betterProsecutors in the Police Force.

! Reforming further the criminal law andpractice so as to make it more difficultfor criminals to get away withoutcompromising fundamental humanrights, including the presumption ofinnocence.

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women, and the payment of annualbonuses, as never before in ourcountry’s history.

" Increasing the number of policemen/women significantly.

" Building the St. Vincent and theGrenadines Cadet Force from adeclining institution of 100 persons tosome 800 members, including a MarineWing, from across all the nation’ssecondary schools and other youngpersons. The Cadet Force’s facilitieshave improved markedly.

" Working closely with the RegionalSecurity System (RSS), CARICOMSecurity arrangements, the USA, Britain,France, Holland and Canada in the fightagainst transnational crime and drugtrafficking.

" Passing appropriate legislation to fightPraedial Larceny and the recruiting of 20

Rural Constables to assist the Police instamping out theft of agricultural produceand animals.

" Establishing a Forensic Laboratory.

" Civilianising and improving theImmigration Department.

" Building a sound working relationshipwith the Police Welfare Association.

" Instituting the Machine ReadableCARICOM Passport with special securityfeatures.

In the ULP’s third term in government, wewill continue to build on the excellentfoundation thus far and will:

! Continue the reform process inaccordance with recommendations fromthe Durrant Commission and the realexperiences in the Police Force.

" Equipping the Police Force with ahuge increase in new vehicles, twomobile Police Stations, one motorisedPolice Station, new Fire Tenders, aCoast Guard Vessel, several RigidHull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs),household facilities, and moderntelecommunications equipment.

" Establishing the highly-regardedFinancial Intelligence Unit (FIU) whichdeals with the proceeds of crime andmoney-laundering, and which worksclosely with the Police.

" Establishing with the assistance of theGovernment of Trinidad and Tobago, aRadar System to better detect, and aidin the apprehension of, criminal activitiesat sea.

" Setting up in the Police Forcespecialized crime-fighting units such asthe Rapid Response Unit and the MajorCrimes Unit.

" Equipping far better than ever the FireServices, including the acquisition ofmodern Fire Tenders.

" Building modern Police Stations ofthe highest quality at Biabou,Canouan, Questelles, andGeorgetown.

" Renovating or rebuilding PoliceStations at Owia, Sandy Bay, Stubbs,Marriaqua, Kingstown (Fire Division),Retreat, Rose Hall; and placing theStation at Spring Village in anotherbuilding.

" Repairing every other Police Station inSt. Vincent and the Grenadines.

" Facilitating the training and education,including university and professionaltraining, of police personnel.

" Enhancing the salaries, allowances,and conditions of service (includingthe retirement age) of policemen/

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! Pass a modern, comprehensive PoliceAct to improve the delivery of the PoliceServices and to better build the PoliceForce.

! Continue the programme of buildingmodern Police Stations. Two which areimmediately on the agenda are for UnionIsland and Spring Village.

! Place one of the two non-motorablemobile Police Stations at Mayreau, andthe other at Fancy.

! Continue the process of further repairing/renovating Police Stations including theHeadquarters at Kingstown and at OldMontrose.

! Enhance further training and educationalopportunities for police personnel.

! Build up further the Fire Brigadegenerally and specifically for the Argyle

International Airport, Canouan Jet Airportand other airports.

! Acquire four new Coast Guard vesselsat a cost of $19 million. The contract isalready signed. Delivery starts in 2011.

! Receive two fast interceptor boats fromthe American government in 2011.

! Continue to improve markedly the salaryand working conditions of the PoliceForce.

! Build a Coast Guard Base at Canouanwith the assistance of the Americangovernment.

(iii) Correctional Facility for a

Safer Nation

In the Prime Minister’s first meeting with thethen Commissioner of Police, OsborneQuow, Prime Minister was told that the mostserious security problem in the nation was

the Prisons. The prisoners ran things. TheULP Government acted swiftly. We put inproper leadership; fashioned a disciplinedregime while recognising prisoners’ rights;improved the physical conditions andfacilities at the Prisons; trained the Prisonstaff; recruited better personnel; and setabout to build a new Prison.

In our third term the ULP Government will:

! Move into the modern CorrectionalFacility at Belle Isle with the minimumand moderate security prisoners, whoare the bulk of the prisoners.

! Complete the final phase of theCorrectional Facility so as to place themaximum security prisoners from the oldPrison.

! Emphasise the rehabilitation of prisonerswhile punishing them in accordance withthe judgments of the Courts.

! Assist in the process of reintegratingprisoners into mainstream society.

! Make the Prison overall an institutionfor enhanced safety of the nation.

W. VINCENTIANS OVERSEAS:

A National Treasure

Vincentians overseas are a treasured part ofour nation. They contribute immensely tothe support and development of theirfamilies and country. Residing in ourdiaspora, scattered overseas are personswith skills, material resources,entrepreneurship, cultural and sportingtalents which we can, and do, utilise in ournation’s development. Still, much more canbe done on all sides to deepen the bondsand to make greater use of the treasurewhich is our diaspora.

Accordingly, our government has beenmaking great efforts, on an ongoing basis,to strengthen these ties that bind. In this

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X. CARIBBEAN INTEGRATION:

Making Our Region Whole

The ULP is deeply committed to regionalintegration. Indeed, we push always for themost profound integration which the politicalmarket can bear. Thus, we favour whateverthe best form of integration is possible, andpracticable in the circumstances, including apolitical union, first with the OECS member-states and then with the wider CARICOM.In the meantime, we push for the EconomicUnion in the OECS, the Single Market andEconomy in CARICOM, and the mostfavourable governance arrangements in theregional bodies. To us, all other alignmentsor associations take second place to theOECS and CARICOM.

In our third term, the ULP Government willensure that the new Treaty on OECSEconomic Union will be operationalised.We will endeavour, too, to make certain thatthe CSME becomes fully implementedprovided that all the necessary safeguardsare in place to protect the interests of St.Vincent and the Grenadines and the OECS.

regard, the ULP Government hasestablished the well-staffed RegionalIntegration and Diaspora Unit (RIDU). Ithas been doing excellent work. We shallcontinue, in our third term, to build on allits worthwhile initiatives.

Further, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs willfortify the delivery of quality consularservices for our nationals abroad. Therehas been immense improvement in thisarea since 2001. They will be furtherenhanced.

In our third term, too, we shallestablish a “Diaspora Forum” whichshall meet on-line with RIDU and face-to-face every two years to strategise onthe Diaspora-Nation linkages. All this ispart of a Policy on the Diaspora which hasbeen adopted by Cabinet for ongoingimplementation. We have engaged theWorld Bank in a process for assistance inimplementing the ULP Government’spolicy on the Diaspora.

Our government will continue to deepenfunctional cooperation, coordination of securityand foreign policy within CARICOM. We arestrong advocates of better governancearrangements in CARICOM. We shall workalways to make our region and our Caribbeancivilisation whole.

Y. FOREIGN POLICY: Friend Of

All, Satellite Of None

The foreign policy of the ULP Government overthe past ten years has been bold andpragmatic; principled yet realistic; creative andat the same time well-grounded. We havefashioned a foreign policy in our nationalinterest; we have been a friend of all and asatellite of none. The central purpose of ourforeign policy has been to enhance our nation’scapacity to address more efficaciously, morecompellingly, its external environment in theinterest of the people.

Indeed, the foreign policy of St. Vincent and theGrenadines has been hailed as a success byindependent observers.

In our third term, the ULP Government willbuild on the sound foreign policy foundationand further, will:

! Strengthen relations with traditional alliessuch as the USA, Canada, the UK,European Union, Taiwan, Japan, andKuwait while at the same time deepeningproductive relationship with othercountries such as Cuba, Venezuela,Mexico, Brazil, Libya, South Africa,Ethiopia, Turkey, India, Russia,Malaysia, Morocco, Qatar, Syria,Portugal, Austria, and Australia.

! Make regional integration in the OECSand CARICOM the bedrock of ourforeign policy.

! Continue to work within ALBA and thePetro Caribe Agreement to advance ourregion’s interests through solidarity,complimentarity of members’ economies,non-reciprocity on trade matters, and thedefense of our sovereignty andindependence. These arrangements

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are complementary to, not subversive of,our regional integration treatycommitments to CARICOM, the OECS,and other regional entities, including theECCU and the RSS.

! Continue to build our nation’s multi-lateral partnerships such as the AfricanCaribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries,SIDS, the Group of 77, the Non-AlignedMovement, and the Commonwealth.

! Participate actively in the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) through CARICOMand its regional negotiators.

! Step up our preparatory work for non-permanent membership of the UNSecurity Council for the 2019-21period. St. Vincent and theGrenadines would be the smallestcountry ever to sit on the UN SecurityCouncil.

! Establish diplomatic relations with yetmore countries throughout the world tobetter promote our nation’s interests.

! Continue to put national security

concerns and the fight against terrorismat the centre of our foreign policy. St.Vincent and the Grenadines addressesits national security issues through theRegional Security System, CARICOM,the United Nations, the OAS, andthrough bilateral arrangements withBritain, the USA, Canada, France andHolland.

! Continue to take progressive, nationalistand internationalist stances on a rangeof issues such as Haiti, the InternationalCriminal Court, Human Rights, andDevelopment Financing.

! Make the “Climate Change” issue amajor one for St. Vincent and theGrenadines. Climate Change is a threatto our very existence.

! Extend diplomatic and consularcoverage through the appointment ofmore Honorary Consuls of the highestquality.

! Review and refine our “Foreign PolicyStrategy” which has been formallyadopted at Cabinet.

CONCLUSION: We Naaah Tun Back!!!

The ULP Government has performed exceptionally well since March 2001. Our people-centred vision, its social democratic philosophy applied to our Vincentian condition, itsbundle of progressive policies, its sensible and practical programmes, and itsCaribbeanness, provide the correct path for our nation to follow. Our government’s tried andtested leadership has delivered. Now is the time to journey with us to the next level ofdevelopment. Our “Dream Team” of candidates for these general elections, the policies andprogrammes in this Manifesto, our record of good governance, and our quality leadership,place the ULP in an excellent position to consolidate our nation’s gains thus far and, incommunion with our people, to lift St. Vincent and the Grenadines higher and higher. Wepray that Almighty God will ensure that we leave not behind an Unfinished Task.

WE NAAAH TUN BACK!!! STAND FIRM FOR THIRD TERM!