Rufus started his budget presentation in the House of Assembly with the excuse that he was sick. I wish he would make full disclosure about his illness to us in the way that Magic Johnson did to the world. He only confessed that he felt better after a magical dose of Bush Tea medicine from an old lady from La Fargue, Choiseul. Based on information from Rick Wayne on “Talk”, a Minister of Government some time ago infected a young lady with a deadly virus and according to information circulating on LucianTalk (a Lucian Blog), the culprit is none other than Bruce Tucker! So it is no wonder that from time to time that the Minister has to go through those painful “crises” which render him ill and even bed-ridden.
As Tucker prepares to make his exit, our fear is his legacy: not the illusive achievement he claims but a dozen fatherless kids and a decimated Choiseul/Saltibus population. Nonetheless, we want him to know that while we may have issue of a political nature with him, we do empathize with him and his health issues; and we truly wish him the best.
Yesterday, he sounded a somber note toward the end of his presentation. It was as if he had sensed his imminent demise and was therefore bidding us farewell; and we understood that very well. But even in his twilight moments, he continued to mislead the House of Assembly and the people of St. Lucia on vital issues.
During his presentation, Tucker peddled a proliferation of lies and bluffs; and even went as far as to declare ‘War on Lorne”. The reality however is if he knows Lorne, he would know that he is fighting a losing war just as his colleague Kaddafi is; for Lorne has in record time broke the back of his support base like no other politician could.
Let us look at some of the budget bluffs and lies which we have come to associate with him.
LIE #1: BREAKING MOMMY'S ARM
Everybody knows that Tucker broke his mother’s arm; she herself confirmed the fact. Yet as is typical of any criminal, he had the audacity to deny that fact, even in the House of Parliament. How boldface he can be!
LIE # 2: KENNY SOLD THE SEA AND THE FISHES
“St. Lucia no longer owns the sea. Kenny sold the Sea around St. Lucia to a private company for a royalty of $26,000” to be paid to the “Minister”. This must be the “lie of the century”. How can anyone sell the sea? Who has ever sold the sea?
Obviously, it was a prevarication from the Flambeau handbook designed to brainwash the people of St. Lucia. It was a Super 8 strategy. According to the prevarication (which was obviously masterminded by Richard Frederick), Kenny gave an exclusive maritime lease to RSM for purposes of oil exploration; and under that lease, an amount of $26,000 was due and payable to the Minister of Finance (on behalf of the State); but Tucker never said anything about monies being paid to him by the Taiwanese, Portuguese and Moroccan governments which never went into the state treasury.
LIE # 3: TOP STUDENTS GOT COMPUTERS
Tucker lied when he claimed that top students got computer. A member of “Biscette” family from Reunion and a “Simeon’ from Saltibus were maliciously deprived of their just rewards. It was a sad day for education in Choiseul/Saltibus and a heart-wrenching one for the children victims who felt betrayed by their district rep. However, in the end, the communities and relatives came together to raise funds to come to the children’s rescue.
LIE # 4: NO OTHER DISTRICT REP HAS ACHIEVED SO MUCH
Even when Tucker had done nothing in Choiseul, he claimed that he had done everything. That’s the extent of his dishonesty! I reproduced a part of an earlier post by Cyberboo:
“Here are 12 development projects that happened under the SLP during Fergy’s tenure that we all can be proud of:
(1) Between 80 - 90% of the road network was rehabilitated. The RDP 1 & 2 cost over $100 million; the TRRP roads which started from Victoria – and going through Mongouge, Le Riche, Morne Portalese to lower Morne Sion, La Pointe - Delcer and going all the way back to Etangs; also from Ravineau to Derriere Morne; from the Le Riche Junction to Constitution park. Then the Cafeiere/Dugard road; the Morne Road. The total cost of those roads is in excess of $150 million.
(2) The construction of the Piaye School and the expansion of the Choiseul Secondary School; the refurbishment of the Delcer and the Mongouge schools; the Saltibus Water upgrade and Health Centre were started during Fergy’s tenure.
(3) We also benefitted from Universal Secondary Education which ensured that no child is left behind in education.
(4) Universal Health Care was on well its way; today, the people of Choiseul have to depend on a Good Samaritan for paying the bills for medication and transportation of the elderly from Roblot to and from the Health centre. What about the ambulance service we have?
(5) The people of le Riche, Mongouge, Morne Sion and Ravineau enjoyed a quantum leap in telecommunications with high speed internet and Cable TV
(6) The Choiseul Fishermen got a state of the art Fisheries Complex
(7) The people of Piaye and throughout the constituency of Choiseul/Saltibus benefitted from the Piaye/Balembouche development where land was being sold at $1 per square foot.
(8) Choiseulians received countless scholarships to pursue university education in medicine, engineering, nursing, education etc.
(9) The Miracle eye care programme helped many Choiseulians with eye care problems
(10) The STEP programme provided employment for the poor and unemployable.
(11) The liberalisation of the Telecommunication sector resulted in a “communication revolution” which brought about huge benefits in the mobile phone service sub-sector and now the service is universally available.
(12) The timely de-silting of rivers as a proactive disaster management/prevention strategy
The total value of those achievements approaches ¼ billion dollars, if not more. Compare that to Tuckers “Ti Canal” achievements which are perhaps total less than 5 million dollars.”
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
I' beg to differ with you Mr Editor. I agree with Bruce Tucker/Rufus Bousquet that he has done the most. He has done the most HARM to us! In the next few years, we will lose about a 1/4 of our population from AIDS . . . thanks to him. He has totally transformed our beautiful community into a Ti Canal capital. He has taught us how to bluff and lie!
ReplyDeleteDid the member for Laborie ask Bousquet to declare his real name for the records? And what was his answer? We will give him a Nobel Prize for being the politician with the most names.
ReplyDelete