CASTRIES, St. Lucia--Declaring that he is merely a St. Lucian patriot hurting at the plight of the people under the Allen Chastanet administration, former diplomat Peter Lansiquot has called for a “massive” national strike over the situation in this country.
Lansiquot originally made the call in a comment posted on the official Facebook page of the opposition St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) and reiterated it in an interview Wednesday with St. Lucia Times.
He had earlier this year announced that he is “very interested” in becoming the candidate for Castries Central for the SLP.
But in the interview with St. Lucia Times, Lansiquot made it clear that he was not speaking on behalf of the party.
“I am not a member of the executive of the SLP, neither do I belong to any other area of the hierarchy of the party, so I am speaking as a St. Lucian citizen with concerns,” he explained.
Lansiquot expressed the view that the situation in St. Lucia currently is “so dread” that it is time citizens get up and have another major strike.
He asserted that such a strike would make it clear to the government that St. Lucians cannot endure what they are going through any more.
“What particularly grieves me as a St. Lucian patriot is the state of the health care sector,” Lansiquot told St. Lucia Times.
He asserted that Victoria Hospital is practically on its back, while the Owen King EU Hospital is still to be properly commissioned.
“They have neglected to open the St. Jude Hospital,” Lansiquot noted.
He said two hospitals that should have been opened to the public to give better health care to St. Lucians have not been opened, with no clear indication that this will happen soon.
Lansiquot is a former Head of Mission of the Embassy of St. Lucia in Cuba and a former Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of St. Lucia in Washington DC. ~ St. Lucia Times ~
