Progressive plans: Free legal services, elderly healthcare, lunches under Fraser regime
Chairman of Progressives United (PU) Julian Fraser is promising a reformed Labour Department, free meals for students, as well as free healthcare, legal services, and transportation for the elderly if he is elected into office.
Fraser made the pledge on Friday during the official launch of his party in Sea Cows Bay.
Free student lunches
He said a Fraser-led government would build cafeterias and provide free meals for students.
“It’s the right thing to do,” he said. “They have no gymnasium, no cafeteria, no auditorium … have you seen this in the 21st century [Virgin Islands]?” Fraser asked.
The PU Chairman said he also plans to allocate $1 million per annum for research on chronic diseases which he said have claimed the lives of too many in the territory. He also said that under his reign, he would appoint a Junior Minister for Youth that would ensure that young locals have a say at the decision-making table.
Fraser said, if his party becomes the next government, he would make changes to the Labour Department in his first 100 days in office. These changes, he said, would ‘redirect’ the focus from facilitating work permits for outsiders to one that reduces unemployment in the territory for locals.
He explained that this would be done through training and job placement. “Every working-age, able-bodied Belonger is entitled to a job, ” Fraser maintained.
Penalties for discrimination
He further said discrimination in the workplace would be met with “harsh penalties”. The PU Chairman further vowed to focus on agriculture, having free healthcare, legal services, and transportation for the elderly in the territory.
The party unveiled four candidates for the upcoming general elections so far. They are Stephanie Brewley for the First Electoral District, former Virgin Islands Party legislator Dr Vincent Scatliffe for the Fourth Electoral District, former Customs officer Dirk Walters for the Fifth Electoral District, and Fraser who will seek re-election in District Three.
“At this time we don’t have all the seats covered, [but] we have [other candidates] and it’s been our practice that we don’t call any names,” he said to our news centre while remaining tight-lipped.
“It has a lot to do with when the House of Assembly dissolves,” he added. “I have always felt that based on what I have seen so far that we have a good chance [at winning the upcoming general election] and I still feel that way,” he added.
He said his party comprises experienced members who are no strangers to the political arena, and youth who will ‘bridge the generational gap’.
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DELIVERING THE GOODS
WILL MR FRASER AGREE TO SUPPORT A WHISTLEBLOWER LAW IF ELECTED?
If we can eliminate or reduce the prospects of corruption we can come together and work together to rebuild our broken country.
he just talking bull
My family is still looking for onemart ad this week to compare prices with other competitors. What’s going on with the people store. Just asking for those who look out for these savings online for the weekends. Carry on with the politics, nevertheless, poor people still got to eat.
Famous last words. “There is no such thing as a FREE lunch”. Mr Fraser seems to be campaigning on the “Free Ice Cream if you vote for me” platform. It may have worked in grade school but not in real life. Pack your bags and move along.
OK, but how do we pay for all of these things? Or are we planning to cut other public services to free up money to pay for them?
Mr. Frasier…Mr. Frasier. Were you not the person in your 2018 Christmas message to the country who painted a grim picture of the BVI’s economy?
https://bvinews.com/bvi-economy-in-doom-i-wish-gods-blessings-during-our-sadness/
How on God’s earth are you going to deliver on all these free services when as per you:
“Just this year we had to borrow money to balance our budget. That was a historical first. It meant that we are making less money than we need to support ourselves. The definition for any country that has to borrow money to pay for its operations, is broke.”
Well, if the country is broke; the country is broke. It cannot be broke last Christmas (less than a month ago), and be rich enough to pay for all these free services you are promising by the time you could potentially run the country.
Medical and legal services are not cheap and quite often is a major expense. If the country is broke, where is this money going to come from to provide these services freely Mr. Frasier?
Clearly what you are promising can not be delivered in the 100 days post election unless you know something the rest of us does not.
You cannot have it both ways Mr. Frasier. The country is either broke or it has the money to do what you are promising.
Now, I do think that your suggestion of providing students with free meals is long overdue, and elderly transportation is a practical goal.
No school kid in the BVI in this day and age given our wealth despite our setback with the hurricanes should ever have to show up to any school, elementary, primary, or high potentially on an empty stomach.
Quite frankly, I think this should be a collaborative effort between the government and the private sector to provide meals to our young ones so that they can better lean.
Mr. Frasier, I think you need to re-think those promises. I do not think you can deliver on them even if you had an opportunity to do so.
Don’t set yourself up for future criticism by over promising.
Finally, what about personal responsibility? I have a problem with everything being free. Every able grown man and woman should assume some responsibility for their plight in life.
Given away things freely even in the richest country is not a good thing, and takes away from people assuming responsibility for own their lives and the decisions they make.
So, as some of my fellow bloggers would say: Roll and come again. This pill you are pushing is too bitter for me to swallow, and I hate bitter things.
A basic election tenet from earlier times is to over promise, for a candidate stands a better chance of being elected from overpromising for if one does not promise one will not get elected in the first place. The basis for overpromising is that most voters may not remember the promises so there will be little if any penalty; the benefits will outweigh the cost. A better practice is to under promise and over deliver.
The Hon Julian Fraser (D-3) is making a lot promises that will be free supposedly to selected segments of the population. However, there is no free lunch (no pun intended); every service has a cost. Nonetheless, what the member is not indicating how he will pay for the promised services. Will taxes need to be raised to pay for them? What is the opportunity cost (what will be sacrificed to provide these services) of providing these services? Moreover, the Hon Fraser or any other politician cannot be allowed to make bold promises, especially free ones, without outlying how they will be paid for. The first question after every promise is how it will be paid for.
Moreover, there are 13 elected members in the HOA and it takes at least 7 members to form a government. It is disappointing that mere days before the general election that Progressive United only roll out 4 members. How can a party wax about forming a government and it has not to date roll out at least the minimum number of candidates( 7) to form a government. Even with 7 candidates, the party will have to run the table. Is the Hon Fraser hoping for a coalition government in which he can leverage his party victories to his becoming Premier? Though probable, this is a long shot at best. Time will tell.
Why didn’t he offer those things when he was in office? Dude,please stop trying to fool the people with your empty promises
How could he had done that and he wasn’t the premier?
Don’t be foolish. He was in office and could have influenced Ralph so stop chatting c**p
No, no mr fraser, all the freenees over for you. No more 1st class, lemo service and 5 star hotel. You people go away and spend OUR money, while we here living and eating bad and you enjoying out tax $$$. Enough is enough!!!
People not dumb . New ways of thinking Whreeveoukd you squeeze the money to fund free health care free legal services go sit down Frazer . Where you going getbthe money .Taide taxes ???! You sound lame . You need to be a People’s Man . You too fake and pretentious. Only when it is time to get votes al you reach out to people
If we are going to have free school lunches let’s also pledge to source as much of that food as possible from local organic farmers. This then becomes a part of a self-supporting circular economy for the BVI.
Ting te tark! The Hon J. “Liberator” Fraser, D-3 Rep, seems to be running as populist/socialist, offering nuff freeness. Free education, free healthcare, free legal services, free transportation……etc. But stuff cost real money, not monopoly mondy, so how is he proposing to pay for them. With a limited a pie, the territory cannot meet all its need at once so it will have to prioritize the expenditure of its limited resources. Perhaps, the territory should commisssion a scientific poll on how, when, where and on what the territory should spend its scarce/limited resources. The bottom line is that there is no free lunch.
I do agree with schools providing lunch but it should only be free to families that have been assessed and that fall at the poverty line. ( i.e They are not making enough money to be expected to properly feed their kids and that is not the whole country) Those kids should be given vouchers for free lunch. Everyone else should be bringing their own lunch or paying for it at what it cost to produce.
Real talk. Students receiving free school lunches should be means tested. Others should pay the subsidized cost.
Some of these promises such as school lunches are deliverable . Others are too expensive . Spending a million for chronic disease research is not practical . This million would be better spent on upgrading the sewer system system all around the island .
If NDP has left the Treasury in such a bad state according to the opposition then where will all this money come from for their pie in the sky initiatives? PUP, PVIM, VIP all saying NDP left the country broke but yet with no real revenue generating initiatives being proposed, they have all these grandoise plans. So there is a lie somewhere. Are they lying on NDP or are they lying about their plans? We the voters will decide! This s**t is just too funny!
Nothing is free except political bull.
Pies floating in the sky
Free lunch for school kids. Lol i heard of a mother who had a child with one of your Supporters and let me tell you, the woman used to beg like a dog for him to take care of his child while be was busy getting paid to build the wall in sea cows bay and to support Frasier. But the lady gave up and decided to leave it up to the Lord almighty to deal with things accordingly. So good luck this year, the wicked will not be blessed
Hot dogs and dry bread for alllllllllll
Sort of like the “Pumpkin Soup for everyone” solgan by Pickering years ago! LOL
Mr. Fraser hoping you did not forget our water problem in Sea Cows Bay we are suffering for 7 years.