St. Vincent and the Grenadines Government Trapped in “Bubble of Their Own Making” – Opposition Leader
Friday, St. Vincent and the Grenadines – Opposition Leader Dr. Godwin said
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC—Opposition Leader Dr. Godwin said Friday that a careful analysis of the EC$1.8 billion national budget presented to Parliament on Monday shows that the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government is trapped “in a bubble of their own making.”
Friday, leading off the debate on the fiscal package that Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves presented, said that Parliament “can’t take the minister at his word.
“We’re seeing that over and over again, the numbers and the fiction presented in the estimates and the promises made in the budgets that we cannot trust the government to mean what they say.”
Friday said this is the case despite the promises that the Finance Minister outlined in his budget address, which the government fulfilled last year from that year’s budget.
“Recently, we have had natural disasters, which have been compounded by many artificial errors, many of which stem from the government.
“We have had social and economic hardships thrust upon us, but much of them are also made by our own hands, and again compounded by governmental indifference, neglect, and downright incompetence, and the devastating impact of Hurricane Beryl was the most recent and the most tragic that we have had,” Friday said.
He said his duty is to represent the country’s people and that he and his colleagues will hold the government accountable.
“We’re not all doing this to be negative, but it’s simply the role entrusted to us,” he said, adding that the opposition commends the government when things are done well.
“This is not a game. This is not a sport. It’s a serious business, especially in this particular exercise, the budget, where we are here to represent the best interest of our people.”
He said that over the years, the opposition, including the previous leader, Arnhim Eustace, has had “a challenging task of trying to get this government to respond constructively to what we point out to them.
“They have been stubborn and pig-headed in their approach, believing or giving the impression that they alone are the only fountain of wisdom, not just in this Parliament, but on the planet.”
Friday, however, said that circumstances have caught up with the government, and it is clear for all to see that the government has lost its grip on the nation’s affairs.
“They have lost touch with the issues, and as a result, the actions have been ineffectual, resulting in our country falling apart. It is evident in the most obvious things, like the infrastructure. Never mind the bragging boasted by the minister yesterday; the things we can see are
“It is also evident in those things that we have to uncover, …. through diligent research and careful analysis of what is before us, but they, on the other side, after so many years in office, they have allowed themselves to become trapped, if you like, in a bubble of their own making.”
The Opposition Leader said that what is worse is that the situation is “inflated every day by their egotism and their self-adulation, which has kept them more and more isolated from the concerns of our people, and deliberately or otherwise, they have become oblivious to those concerns.”
He said this approach cannot continue without causing “irreparable harm to our nation.
“Our people have taken note of it. They tell me this when I walk about in Kingstown, maybe not in the same words I’ve used here today; they tell it to me when I go to the villages in the country’s far reaches when I go to the southern Grenadines. The lament and concern are consistent: the government does not appreciate their circumstances.”
He said that more people are seeing the realities beyond the rhetoric of the members of the administration.
Friday said in his interaction with the people, “They turn to me with a certain urgency and say, ‘We gotta get a change in this country Friday, and we’re relying on you to make it happen.’”.
Conclusion
In his address, Friday emphasized the need for a change in the government’s approach to address the nation’s issues and to restore public trust. He urged Vincentians to demand a better performance from their leaders and to hold them accountable for their actions.
FAQs
* What is the current budget presented to Parliament by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government?
EC$1.8 billion
* When is the expected election date in St. Vincent and the Grenadines?
By November this year, before the February 2026 constitutional deadline
* What is the current situation of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government, according to Opposition Leader Dr. Godwin?
The government is trapped in a “bubble of their own making” and has lost its grip on the nation’s affairs.