St Lucia government to probe corruption allegations against former administration

St Lucia: A special prosecutor will be appointed by the St Lucian government to probe allegations of corruption against the former government of Allen Chastanet. This announcement was made by the Deputy Governor-General – Errol Charles.

While delivering the traditional Throne Speech at the start of the new parliamentary session on Tuesday, Charles informed legislators that “My government in recognition of the wide-spread, unprecedented reports of alleged corruption during the tenure of the last administration, will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of corruption in the government.” 

Charles further added, “This appointment is required to be completed soon and that the government would strengthen the Integrity Commission to return the island to a system that respects democratic norms and the rights of the people.” 

He further noted that his administration would reactivate the bipartisan parliamentary committee to review Justice Suzie D’Auverenge’s Constitutional Report and the parliamentary recommendation to adopt final recommendations for implementation.”

Following the statement, Charles noted that the integrity Commission would enable it to begin the more meaningful action against public officials and politicians engaged in corruption. He noted that the government is also planning to review various projects which the previous Chastanet administration undertook. 

The projects under examination will be the – multi-billion dollar Desert Star Holding (DSH) project after the Hong Kong-based company started an agreement with the St Lucia government to develop the – Pearl of the Caribbean for the southern region of the island.

The Previous month, PM Pierre lead the Saint Lucia party obtained 13 seats out of 17 constituency assemblies of 2021 and was sworn as 8th Prime Minister of St Lucia. It was a massive win for the St Lucia Labour Party – SLP. While two seats were won by the independent candidates. 

The people of St Lucia went out on the streets to celebrate the victory, while the citizens of the Caribbean island have stated that they have a lot of hopes from the SLP government.