Allen Chastanet’s Government Grade on Crime and Economy
Seasons Greetings to all! We hope that everyone is having a great holiday season.
In May 2016, the current Prime Minister Allen Chastanet made the following remarks.
“We have not forgotten that five years later absolutely nothing has been done about our astronomical unemployment rate, increase crime and spike in the cost of living, despite his party’s ridiculous chorus of Job, jobs, jobs. “St Lucians are a resilient people, an unforgetting people, and wool will not be pulled over our eyes by the master of illusions this time around,” Chastanet told reporters.
Let us analyse the trajectory of these key indicators over the past few years under the stewardship of this government.
Crime Rate
Over the last few days there has been an upsurge in the number of murders in St. Lucia with the total for 2020 surpassing 50 again this year. This is of grave concern to all as it appears that the government has lost control of the escalating crime rate. From the numbers here there was an average of 33 murders per year from 2011 to June 2016 under the former administration.
“From June 2016 to December 2019, the government’s pronouncements about its ability to control crime have all failed as the island’s homicide rate continues to spiral out of control. While there may have been reductions in certain criminal acts since the government’s time in office the same cannot be said for homicides or murders as numbers like 60 (2017), 44 (2018) and 51 (2019) show the truth of the task facing the government in getting Saint Lucians to seek redress other than through a gun or a sharp object which usually results in a death.”
From 2017 to 2020, there has been an average of 49 murders representing a whopping 48% increase from the homicide average under the former administration.
Under the current administration there have been more murders in every single year 60 (2017), 44 (2018), 51 (2019), 51 (2020) than even the worst year of the last administration 39 (2012), 33 (2013), 34 (2014), 30 (2015). This government has FAILED dismally on addressing this major concern for all St. Lucians who now live in even more fear due to the escalating homicide rate over the past 4 years.
Economic Indicators
From the data on the ECCB website, St. Lucia’s 2020 GDP ($4,217B) is projected to be lower than every year from 2011 to 2019. Even the projected GDP in 2022 ($5.091B) will only be roughly equivalent to the GDP in 2016 ($5,036B). Allen Chastanet would be the first ever Minister of Finance of St. Lucia to have presided over an economy that is smaller at the end of his term than it was at the beginning of his term. This is clearly the result of a failing government.
While there was some progress in the unemployment rate from 2016–2019 as shown here it is almost certain that the unemployment rate at the end of this term of office will be worse than it was at the beginning. Even the Prime Minister himself admitted the following at a recent IMF-World Bank meeting in October 2020 “Prime Minister Allen Chastanet says Saint Lucia has suffered massive unemployment due to the closure of the tourism sector amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.” The single focus on tourism by the Allen Chastanet led government over the past four years exacerbated the impact of COVID-19 on the economy of St. Lucia and significantly deteriorated the island’s economic position. Yet again, the current government has failed to deliver on their promises and the entire island as to pay for their mismanagement.
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