P.O. Box 1707
                                                                                                                          St. Vincent

                                                                                                                    6th February 2007

Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves
Prime Minister’s Office
Kingstown
St. Vincent

Dear Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves,

Thank you for your letter concerning the deliberate errors and misleading statements in the 2007 Budget Address.

It is distressing to find that the 2007 Budget Address only talks about debt increases with respect to major projects as this means that the debt was even more understated than had been originally stated. Could you please supply the nation with the additional budget increase with respect to minor projects, so that we can better ascertain the true figure for the increase in public debt in 2006 and the real figure for the public debt to GDP ratio?

The real question with regard to public debt is why the ULP government believes that 25 + 40 + 11.4 + 33 = 99.9 when most people would believe it equals 109.4.

Source: 2007 Budget Address

This type of inability could be one of the reasons why the ULP government is failing to provide significant opportunities for long-term financial stability for all Vincentians.

Contrary to what you say, it is crucial to identify the sources of funds for recurrent expenditure. How can a government plan if it has no idea where the funds are coming from to pay its workers? SVG Green Party has serious concerns that the ULP government thinks it does not need to identify where the money is coming from for government employees. Government employees and their families rely upon their income to pay bills and buy food. I’m sure that all government employees would like to be reassured that the Treasury is not empty and the government has the ability to pay them. Can you therefore, please supply the nation with a list of source of funds for recurrent expenditure for 2007 or should it be taken that the ULP government does not know yet?

Even due to rounding, using normal mathematical procedures, the percentage figures given on page 48 of the 2007 Budget Address do not add up. This type of inaccuracy is illustrative of the ULP government’s lack of ability.

With regard to the outstanding debt the ULP government owes to VINLEC, if you think the figure we suggested is incorrect, can you please supply the nation with notes to the VINLEC accounts Year Ended December 31, 2004, which were published in July 2005, which correspond to the figure of    EC$ 21,678,306 for debts and prepayments?

In my letters to yourself and the Governor General on 9th January 2007, I stated that:

• SVG Green Party has discovered that the ULP regime lied to the people of this country about the true state of the economy during the election of December 2005;
• The information given on public debt on page 45 of the 2007 Budget Address is a deliberate act on the ULP government’s part of deceiving and misleading Parliament and the people of SVG.

The letter from your press secretary provides no figures to the contrary.

I stand by my original statement and believe that these matters are so serious that the ULP regime is not worthy of the mandate given to them in December 2005. SVG Green Party repeats its requests for the recall of Parliament for a special sitting in the immediate future to rectify the issues within the 2007 Budget Address that we have raised. We request again that parliament is prorogued at some point in the year 2007 and fresh General Elections be held.

Yours sincerely

Ivan O’Neal BSc(Hons), MSc, MBA, Leader and Co-founder of SVG Green Party

cc:           His Excellency the Governor General
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