Opposition candidate Israel Bruce told St Vincent Times on Thursday that he will not legitimize statements made by current Member of Parliament Saboto Caesar.
During a meeting in Lowmans Windward, Caesar stated that Bruce must elucidate to the nation the reasons for his dismissal from the teaching position at the North Union Secondary school.
Bruce told the St Vincent Times that he intends to address a multitude of issues rather than validate Caesar’s rhetoric, including the farmers’ ID scheme, which he claims has become a conduit for corruption.
See Bruce Full Statement Below
I want to speak to the non-performance, neglect, and political negligence of Saboto Caesar as a representative for South Central Windward.
I want to speak to Caesar’s inability over the last many years to assist the young men on the block in South Central Windward to find meaningful jobs so that they could bring themselves out of the economic crisis and malaise in which they find themselves.
I want to speak to the manner in which, under his stewardship, the agriculture sector of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has taken a dive for the worse. Yes, I want to talk about how in the Agricultural Ministry the Farmers I.D. programme has been a source of corruption under the leadership of Caesar.
That the Fisher Folks I.D. has been a source of corruption under the leadership of Caesar, that farmers in this country are catching hell to find markets for their produce locally, regionally or internationally. Because of the laziness of Saboto Caesar as a minister of agriculture and a representative for an agricultural constituency.
I want to respond to the fact that, across this country, farmers are experiencing praedial larceny, and Saboto, as Minister of Agriculture, has decided to end the rural constables programme, which previously helped farmers deter thieves, however minimally. They’ve stopped that program.
I want to discuss how farmers have stayed away from their lands because access to their lands has become atrocious because feeder roads to and from the farms across Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, including and in particular the constituency of South Central Windward, have been left to run down, to almost rubble, hitting the dirt base. It is difficult to distinguish the road from the dirt patches. Those are the things that I want to talk about.
If Saboto wants to talk and engage in other foolishness. I am not going to legitimise any discussion. With Saboto, by Saboto, of Saboto, my focus and the focus of the Democratic Party is steadfastly on how we improve the lives of the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
