By Peter Binose From Caribbean 360

The St Vincent and the Grenadines economy is worse than a leaking bucket, it’s now like a bucket where the bottom has completely fallen out, better described as rotted out says Peter Binose.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines [SVG] our economy is worse than a leaking bucket, it’s now like a bucket where the bottom has completely fallen out, better described as rotted out.

It used to be New Democratic Party [NDP] supporters and none Unity Labour Party [ULP] supporters who couldn’t get paid for work, services, or goods supplied to the Marxist led ULP SVG government. But things have started to change, even ULP supporters and members cannot get paid. Only those who have a minister as a friend or investor in their firm can get paid, because there just isn’t enough to go around.

$100 million still owed to VINLEC [several years and increasing daily]

$60 million still owed to Traders for goods and services. [up to 10 years credit line ran out]

$6 million still owed to land owners at Argyle for land used for the new airport.

$10 million still owed to Universities.

$100s of millions owed for repayment of Bonds and Treasury Bills

$100 million owed to Petro Caribe.

$20 million  owed to us by Venezuela for the wages we have paid to Cuban workers.

$1.2 billion owed to lenders, banks, institutions and other lenders

$ unknown amount owed to the peoples NIS.

Our economy is worse than a leaking bucket, it’s now like a bucket where the bottom has completely fallen out, better described as rotted out.

If the government owe you money, to get paid you go and join a line at the treasury, and wait around for hours, whilst someone checks to see if there is a cheque waiting for you. Don’t get excited if you are told there is a cheque waiting, because more likely than not it will not be signed and will not therefore be given to you. People go through the procedure for months and years, many never get paid because they just give up.

If your bank asks for proof of assets they will no longer accept as part of your assets money owed by government, “sorry Sir/Madam that is what we class as an overdue bad debt, please don’t include it in your assets because we will not accept it as an asset”.

Yet a million US dollars, [that’s 2.7 million EC dollars] is hiked around Kingstown by a top ULP. Later some selected upper ULP members and families take big bundles of US cash to their banks, was this the same money or even more US cash being shared out. So much US dollars in circulation in Saint Vincent that grocery stores started to refuse US dollars fearing them to be forgeries.  Where did that money come from, who gave it, was it given to share out, who decided who got what share.  Was that money given by ULP supporters as a donation to the ULP? was it given towards the Argyle airport by friends of the airport?  Why all the US cash?  Was it laundering ULP style?   Any intelligent person knows that money in that amount comes to a party via a bank transfer, and if it was a lot of small donations what right did they have to share it among the few?  If it was collected in the US how did it get to SVG and were the donors aware that it would be shared for private use?  Was it declared when brought into the country?

Was this dirty money?  Was it election funding given by Cuba or Venezuela?

What we can be sure is if anyone other than the ULP regime were involved in such a matter, if it was you or I, or an NDP member or supporter, their feet wouldn’t touch the floor. They would be arrested by dozens of police in army styled uniforms and big guns. Taken to a police station where they may well be beaten into an admission of guilt, because under the ULP regime we employ police officers previously convicted of such behaviour.

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/opinion/1107287.html#ixzz2wKZDyOVh