PM defends party’s decision not to remove burnt billboards

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC):

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves is defending the decision of the ruling Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) not to remove two billboards in the capital, promoting himself and his party, which have been set on fire twice since they were erected years ago.

One of the billboards displays a photo of Gonsalves and his self-styled ‘Five Star General’ and ‘World Boss’ slogans, while the other displays the photos of the prime minister, his son and Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves, and Agriculture Minister Saboto Caesar.

The billboard with the trio displays the slogan ‘To continue the transformation’.

Speaking on a radio programme here, Gonsalves said “the facts are these: every billboard which the ULP has put up has been put up with the permission of the planning authorities, is in accordance with the planning authorities.”

He said that the billboards are on private property and that “there is no law, or no sensibility connected to civilisation, or civilised life and living to say you can’t have billboards up after elections”.

Gonsalves added that he also wanted to state “other facts”.

“While you’re quite correct that there is no evidence that anybody connected with the (main opposition) New Democratic Party (NDP) burnt the billboards, that you can’t say that they hired somebody to do it, or anybody supporting them did it on their own accord, or with the approval of the new Democratic Party, certainly, nobody in the ULP will burn their own billboards.

He said there are “a number of other facts”, adding that he was struck in the head and injured while on his way to Parliament two years ago.

“To the best of my knowledge, there was no condemnation of that fact. Further fact: after I got my head buss, there were drummers into the night in front of the market, ‘De World Boss get a buss head, he shudda dead’.

“I didn’t hear condemnation of that. I heard about the majesty and the authenticity of drumming, and its African connectedness, as though the solemnity and virtue of drumming can be misused and abused in the manner in which it was on that particular occasion.”