During his address at the Saint Lucia Labour Party’s town hall meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre made some sweeping announcements in the areas of salary increases and police investments.
A huge declaration by the Prime Minister was that come July this year, pensioners will benefit from an additional wage increase. “I have made 3,500 people who are getting less than $500 a month in pension get more money. And I’m smiling because I will increase that pension come July this year. That is why I’m smiling,” Pierre announced on Tuesday.
This announcement comes just after the government delivered a one-time Christmas bonus in the sum of $500.00 to civil servants and government pensioners. Pensioners and civil servants are also set to receive their backpay dating back three years. Correspondence from the Office of the Prime Minister states that the government spent XCD 32 million to meet the backpay obligations.
Pierre adds that his administration will continue bolstering the human resource capacity of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force by adding over 150 new recruits. This comes as the government added 79 new recruits to the rank and file of the Force last year. The Prime Minister also announced bulletproof vests for all members of the Force, to be distributed later in the year.
“I have increased the numbers of police officers by 79 and before the end of this year I will increase it by 160. If you go to Gros Islet now, you will see that the government is spending nearly 50 million dollars on a brand-new headquarters for the police. I am smiling because I have agreed to give every policeman in this country in the next six months a bulletproof vest,” he exclaimed.
The government’s estimates of revenue and expenditure are scheduled for tabling in Parliament on March 25th.
