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Friday, September 5,
2008: The Leader of Her Majesty's
Opposition is compelled to call upon the
Government of Grenada to respond with
urgency to the cries of the people of
this Nation who have been complaining
that their financial suffering has
increased dramatically since the new
Government assumed office.
The social safety
programmes provided by the New National
Party Government have been put on hold,
which has resulted in depriving the most
vulnerable persons in our society of
urgently needed assistance. The voucher
programmes that provided uniforms,
school books (for secondary schools),
transportation and milk and food are no
longer available to families in dire
need.
Road works and
construction have ground to a halt,
putting significant pressure on
construction companies, suppliers and
their employees: Many of whom were
working on a daily paid rate and are now
without income at all without warning or
notice. Activity among the foreign
investors has slowed, and in some cases
stopped, causing lay-offs and loss of
revenues for workers, suppliers and even
bus operators who used to bring those
workers to their places of employment.
Store owners are
complaining about reduced sales
resulting in hardships for their
businesses and employees. The house
repair programme has been put on hold,
leaving families waiting for much needed
assistance unable to repair their homes
with repairs still waiting to start as
well as some very uncomfortable
circumstances where roof repair projects
for example have been stopped
in-progress causing great discomfort for
them.
There was also a
programme that provided rent assistance
valued approximately between $400-500 a
month for families waiting to move into
the housing projects sponsored by the
Chinese and Venezuelan Governments. This
rental assistance provided the only
means available to these families for
one of the most basic human needs –
shelter.
Bus operators are
reporting a decline in the number of
customers riding their busses as people
try to reduce costs by travelling on
essential trips only, which is now
making it more difficult for bus
operators to manage with the soaring
cost of fuel.
The Leader of the
Opposition would like to remind the
Government of Grenada that every dollar
invested in the social safety net
programmes now on hold provided trickle
down effects in Grenada's economy, and
the removal of this social spending is
impacting a cross-section of society
that goes far beyond the immediate
beneficiaries of the programmes.
The extent of this
problem is highlighted by the
overwhelming number of cries for help
the Opposition has received in recent
week, causing terrible concern about the
plight of Grenadians. Therefore like to
extend an invitation to the Government
of Grenada to put partisanship aside to
work to assist them in any way possible
to immediately address these urgent
needs before the consequences of failing
to do so spiral beyond control. |
