Prime Minister of St. Lucia Responds to Allegations by the Leader of the Opposition

Friday, February 1, 2008 – Over the past few days, the Leader of the Opposition, former Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony has, on more than one occasion, accused the Prime Minister, the Honourable Stephenson King, of having wrongfully caused the State to meet the cost of rental of his private residence.

Such payment from public funds, Dr Anthony contends, is contrary to the recommendations of the Salaries Review Commission, and therefore not in keeping with existing regulations.

The Leader of the Opposition first made the allegation at a political meeting on the Market Steps on Thursday January 24, 2008 and subsequently repeated it during a television appearance.

He has called on the Prime Minister to refund the amounts in question or “face the consequences.”

If anyone should be familiar with the recommendations of the Salaries Review Commission, that person is Dr. Kenny Anthony.

It was during Dr. Anthony’s tenure of office that the Commission was appointed, in 1998, to provide a basis for what was then an extraordinary increase in salaries to himself and his ministers.

This increase of over 100 percent was awarded at a time when Public Servants were being offered an increase of 0, 0, and 1 percent per annum over a period of three years.

The report of the Salaries Review Commission addresses the subject of an Official Residence for the Prime Minister in considerable detail and considers the matter of the Prime Minister’s entitlements if he chooses to live in his private residence.

In order for an appreciation of the Commission’s thinking and conclusions to be conveyed, it is necessary to quote directly from the report.

On pages 12 to 13 of the report dated December 1999, at Sections 4.15, 4.16, and 4.17, the Commission states:

“The Commission recommended the provision of official residences to the Governor General, Prime Minister, and Ambassadors resident abroad. These residences can be either state owned or rental accommodation and must not only befit the status of the office but must also be appropriately located and appointed to perform the social roles of the office e.g. official entertainment.

At present state-owned official residences are available to the Governor General and the Prime Minister. However, there is concern about the appropriateness and suitability of the Prime Minister’s official residence in terms of location. Proximity to the busier international airport and the associated noise and traffic levels make the location unsuitable as a reasonable accommodation for a Prime Minister. In fact, for the last ten years or more, none of the three serving Prime Ministers has fully used the official residence but for some official entertainment and for use as an additional office. It is quite costly to continue to maintain an official residence that is not optimally used and/or for the full purpose that it was intended.

The Commission is unanimous in the view that the Prime Minister must be provided with fully furnished and maintained official residence, and that the existing accommodation, though in partial use for sometime, is not appropriate to function as an official residence for a Prime Minister. The Commission is also unanimous in the view that as a matter of urgency, the state should find suitable alternative accommodation to serve as the official residence. This should be either acquired and refurbished, or constructed. But it is recognised that even though the decision is taken immediately, as it should be, there will be a lapse in time before a suitable accommodation could be made available, and during this time rented or leased accommodation would have to be made available for the Prime Minister’s use”.

There is no ambiguity in the Commission’s language.

It states quite clearly that “rented or leased” accommodation should be made available for the Prime Minister’s use.

The Administration headed by Dr. Anthony accepted the report in its totality. So much so, that it proceeded to use this same report to justify the payment of “inconvenience allowances” to certain Ministers.

Elsewhere in the report the Commission also recommends that where an Official Residence is not used for living purposes “the state bears the cost of such utilities as telephone, electricity, water, gas and security wherever the Prime Minister resides.”

When Dr. Anthony was the Prime Minister, the State (taxpayers) met the cost of all utilities including electricity, water, telephones, ADSL internet, Cablevision and cooking gas as well as the cost of providing security at what was his private residence and property.

The State also paid for a Domestic Assistant (maid) and a Gardener at his premises.

The records are there, and in the current circumstances, it is important that they are revealed to the public so that a clear understanding of the matter can be arrived at.

The following are the amounts that were paid from the Treasury on a monthly basis:

1. Domestic Assistant : EC$ 1,078.24

2. Gardener : 1,237.01

3. Electricity (Average) : 1,292.92

4. Water : 14.70

5. Telephone (Average) : 1,193.67

TOTAL $ 4,816.54

As Prime Minister, Dr Anthony had four telephone lines at his house paid for by the State as well as two cellular phones. In addition, there were two ADSL internet lines and Cablevision, the cost of which is not reflected in the figures listed above.

The cost of providing security for Dr. Anthony, as Prime Minister, was nothing short of astronomical.

One aspect of this cost is related to the issue by Dr. Anthony, of a contract to a local contractor for the construction of a security house (not a security hut) on his private property at Cul-de-Sac, at the expense of taxpayers, in the amount of $38,870.00.

By the time it was completed, the cost had increased to $46,317.64 demonstrating, that even in the construction of a security house, Dr. Anthony could not avoid a cost over-run.

This security house was also furnished at the expense of the State and it is still on Dr Anthony’s property.

A full investigation is being conducted into the “Security House Affair” that appears to contravene financial regulations and, should any basis be found for this, the sums of money involved will be recovered from Dr. Anthony.

It is common knowledge that Dr Anthony travelled throughout Saint Lucia with an army of security officers in a convoy of vehicles.

This represented a huge financial burden for the State, and was totally unnecessary, for if he was trying to protect himself from the people of St. Lucia his efforts were in vain. They got their chance to remove him by peaceful and democratic means on December 11, 2006.

In contrast, since assuming the office, Prime Minister Stephenson King has never had more than one orderly (driver) and one security official in his vicinity at any time, and then, only on official engagements.

On the subject of the rental of a residence, the Prime Minister discussed this matter extensively with the Secretary to the Cabinet and the Director of Finance, before accepting the recommendation contained in the report of the Salaries Review Commission.

The Prime Minister opted for rented housing accommodation at a cost of $4,500 per month on the specific condition that he would not allow the State to pay his utility costs and would meet, from his own resources, costs associated with domestic assistance and gardening.

It is necessary for these facts to be made available so that a determination can be made as to who has been more discreet and prudent in the management and use of the resources of the State.

The answer is clear when a monthly cost of $4,500 for the rental of a residence, is compared with the extravagance of Dr. Kenny Anthony and the outrageous costs incurred by the State when he was Prime Minister.

The allegations, and the smear campaign mounted by the Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues, will not distract this Administration from discharging its mandate to pursue policies that will improve the standard of living of the people of Saint Lucia. Neither will this Administration be swayed from its objective of righting the wrongs, and correcting the ills that were inherited after two terms of mismanagement by the Kenny Anthony Administration.

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