Sports Minister Patrick Simmons has blamed repayment of national debts as the main reason why the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) was unable to fulfil all of its plans and promises to the people since taking up office in July 2008.
Addressing a political rally of the NDC on Sunday in the parish of St. Andrew, Simmons, who will be contesting one of the four constituencies in the parish, said that since taking up office the NDC has repaid more than EC$350 million in debt.
“Because of the repayment of these debts, we have ourselves in a position where we are unable to treat and deal with issues as we will like to; it has affected our plans,” he told the massive crowd of supporters, who had gathered at the Carlton junction of the eastern parish.
“We are unable to provide social benefits, we are unable to repair our schools and roads,” he added.
Claiming that the New National Party (NNP), which was voted out of office in 2008 after serving for 13 years, is responsible for high national debt, Simmons said that during those 13 years, the previous NNP administration undertook guarantees for loans and projects that did not bring any benefits to the country.
“Increasing our national debt to almost two billion [dollars] and now we have to pay, you have to pay for it,” he said, while pointing out that the repayment of national debt in an atmosphere where the global economy is in a downturn has affected the ruling administration’s ability to obtain the required support and assistance to successfully implement the plans of the party.
Grenadians are scheduled to go to the polls on February 19 to elect a new Government. The main contending parties are the incumbent NDC and the main opposition NNP. Over the past few weekends, supporters of the parties have gathered in their thousands, attending meetings as candidates present their plans for the island and the various constituencies.
There are 15 constituencies in Grenada, four of which are located in the parish of St. Andrew’s.
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