George Street in Newtown was the venue for a massive public meeting by the People's Action Movement on Tuesday night. The large crowd was vocal in its support as speaker after speaker lambasted this Administration for its failure and ineptitude in the affairs of state.
The PAM candidate for the area Mr. Glenroy Blanchette issued a clarion call to residents to rise up and rid themselves of the absentee landlord they have had to put up with as a representative to loud applause. He paid special attention to the glaring deficiencies in local life from poor or non - existent facilities to poor public services showing that unlike the man marking time in the office he is aware of what is happening on the ground and was full of ideas to correct them.
Mr. Blanchette was passionate about the issue of land and sharply criticized this Administration for its shameful denial of land rights to the citizens of this country and highlighted the sharp contrast with the PAM proposals which would empower ordinary people through land ownership.
Mr. Roy Fleming was a star with his treatment of the betrayal of former SSMC workers in the aftermath of the abrupt closure which was only supposed to happen over the dead body of the Prime Minister. The crowd could not contain its response as he exposed the egregious and deliberate waste that moved the annual loss of SSMC form 10 million annually under 15 years of the PAM to 36 million annually after only 7 years of labour which caused to national debt top skyrocket. ~~adz:Right~~
The wanton purchase of expensive equipment purely for propaganda purposes and such cynical acts as naming locomotives after the wife of a minister was laid bare for scrutiny. It was almost hard to believe that all this came from a Party that claimed that the PAM could not manage the SSMC.
The Hon. Shawn Richards spoke directly to people's pockets making the usually dry subject of public finance interesting and entertaining for the crowd as he explained just how badly this country has been mismanaged. He exposed the underhanded way an onerous tax burden has been inflicted on working people in this country and showed just how the $2.4 billion national debt is whipping 40,000 asses.
The mechanics of the VAT was examined as the crowd was reminded that we were supposed to have had a tax free budget and that the Prime Minister has still not had the decency to come to the people and clear the air about how and when it will be implemented.
The evening ran late and was wrapped up with a rousing address by Mr. Lindsay Grant. He pleaded the cause of workers in this country for whom the Labour Administration has been a plague of biblical proportions. Mr. Grant showed just how cynically this Administration has treated the most vulnerable workers at the bottom of the pay scale.
He examined the so - called benefit plan for the newly named Government Auxiliary Employees and explained how these workers have actually had the little bonus they were entitled to taken away with nothing in return. He decried the shameful treatment of the Industrial Site workers who have to work 13 months to make the monthly salary of the Prime Minister while he lies to them about wage increases.
He showed the firm support of the PAM for our police officers and enlightened the crowd about just how badly our security has been undermined along with the police force.
Mr. Grant proposed a one man march on Labour Day for all these workers and more to protest just how out of control this Administration has become in its maltreatment of workers and the crowd agreed loudly. The crowd stayed till the very end despite the late hour indicating that the days of this Administration are numbered.
