ALP will Establish Independent Government Procurement Commission- Broadcast by MP Lester Bird

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Politics

Monday, 14 May 2012 08:50

By press release

My fellow Citizens and Residents of Antigua and Barbuda. Again, I want to thank the large number of people who came out in support of the combined march by the Antigua Trades and Labour Union and the Antigua Labour Party last Monday.

Young and old came out. Healthy and ill were there. They came out despite the inclement weather.

They looked to the AT&LU and the ALP at this time of great strain in their lives.

They demonstrated that they reject the recent Spencer government slogan that they are “a safe pair of hands”.

The people spoke on Labour Day by turning out at the AT&LU-ALP march and rally. Hundreds of others supported them quietly.

They may not have marched to show their rejection of the UPP, but they spoke of it in their homes, at their gatherings and in their quiet support.

They know that the Spencer government is no “safe pair of hands”. They know that many of them have lost their jobs.

They know that in this week alone another 136 people were put of work. They know that many of them have lost their homes because they cannot pay the mortgages.

They know that many of them have lost their cars because they cannot keep up the payments.

And, they know that all of this has happened because the UPP lied to them in 2004 when they said they would not impose income tax but went ahead and did so.

They know that the real take-home pay of many citizens and residents of this country was reduced significantly by income tax.

They also know that their spending power was also reduced by Spencer government’s imposition of a sales tax, even though they lied and said they would not do so.

The people also know that despite all the taxes that the UPP government imposed, no new jobs have been created.

How could this be a safe pair of hands?

The people know that every year close to 1,500 young persons are leaving school with no jobs in sight.

These young people have been deprived of the best years of their youth when they should be working, enjoying life and contributing to society.

Instead, they remain dependent on family.

Unemployment is now at the highest level it has been for over forty years. When the Labour Party left office in 2004, it was 5 per cent.   Today it is close to 20%.

And, the only reason it is not higher is that many of our people have emigrated over the last 8 years.

They have gone to seek jobs and opportunities in the US and Canada. Regrettably, families have been broken-up. 

Had they stayed, unemployment would have been higher and so too would be the level of misery. How could this be a safe pair of hands?

Not only have no new jobs been created, the UPP government has actually reduced the number of jobs by their policies.

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Now they have turned to taxing people’s hard earned allowances – their travel and meal allowances.

Over the last eight years, the Spencer government has collected almost three hundred million dollars ($300 million) a year in more taxes than was ever the case under the Labour Party.

We imposed no personal income tax and no government sales tax.

But we had close to full employment, and our people had the second highest per capita income in the Caribbean, and the most savings in the banks.

The UPP government has nothing to show for all these additional taxes. There are no new jobs, no sustainable development projects, and people have been forced to live off their savings.

Where is the safe pair of hands?

What is more, over the last eight years, the Spencer government has borrowed millions and millions of dollars.

What have they done with all the money they borrowed plus all the taxes they imposed?

Where are the jobs?  Where are the sustainable projects?  Where are the schools?  Where is the basic furniture for schools?  Where is the laboratory equipment?
 
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean has just revealed in an official report that foreign direct investment in Antigua and Barbuda has declined steadily every year since the ALP left office.

It went from US$361 million to US$101 million in 2010 and a very low figure of US64 million last year, 2011.

This means that foreign investors do not trust this government.

This is the same government that sued investors to stop their projects, and blocked the roads to stop the supply of material to work sites.  Even arson was condoned.

And, there is no point in them blaming the international economy.

For, despite the international economy foreign investment increased in several neighbouring Caribbean countries.

Foreign Direct investment increased in St Kitts-Nevis; it increased in St Vincent and the Grenadines; it increased in the Bahamas; it increased in the Dominican Republic; it increased in Guyana; it increased in Suriname; and it increased in Haiti.

It is complete distrust of the Spencer government that has caused this steady and continuous decline in foreign investment in Antigua and Barbuda.



They are certainly not a safe pair of hands.

We also do not know the extent of the decline in local investment because the government hides the figures.

But we know from our own eyes that many local businesses have closed and some have reduced the size of their operations.

Consequently, local businesses too have been forced to reduce the number of people they employ.

And, the worst sufferers are young people, and single mothers.  All of this is happening amid increases in the cost of living.

We have all cut back on electricity and water; we have cut back on the number of times we put gas in our cars; we have all cut back on the foods we eat.

Yet, it is difficult if not impossible to make ends meet. This situation cannot and must not continue.

Income tax must be repealed. The Government sales tax must be reduced. Pensions for elderly people must be increased. People must have money in their pockets.

Foreign direct investment must be encouraged by radically new policies and by confidence in a new government.

Local business people must be given incentives to invest and to employ. People must have jobs.

A new ALP government will lead the way in encouraging high-end tourism and other services industry; in revolutionizing the way the internet and telecommunications can make Antigua and Barbuda a centre for back-office work for the world.

Further, I will propose to my Party’s executive this week that we agree that one of the first things we will do under a new ALP administration is introduce a law establishing an independent Government Procurement Commission.

No more will Cabinet be allowed to give out contracts for government purchases. The people must have a voice in what is bought, from whom and for how much.

The independent Procurement Commission that I am proposing will have representatives on it of the elected representatives in parliament.

It will also have representatives of trade unions and the private sector organizations. And I will insist that one of the representatives must come from a youth organization.

The award procedures of the Commission will have to be made public and they will have to be justified.

They will also have to be tabled in Parliament for public scrutiny by both Houses of Parliament.

My brothers and sisters, you know that neither the present affairs of the country nor its future is in a safe pair of hands.
Our country has been - and is being - seriously damaged.

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You know that people are worse off now than they were when the UPP came into office.

The Antigua Labour Party has been holding public meetings around the country to air big issues and to hear what people are saying in all the constituencies.

We have heard the voices of frustration; we have heard the cries of hardship; we have seen the adversity and we have felt the anguish.

Our public meetings will now go on and intensify over the next few weeks.

It is time to recapture our country and recover its economy for the good of all citizens and residents of our beloved country.
Join us to bring an end to the UPP’s mismanagement, victimization, persecution and economic failure.

I pray God’s blessings on us all.

Thank you.

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