The National Newspaper of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
FRIDAY,
JULY 26, 2019
VOLUME 113, No.26
IN THIS ISSUE OF : THE VINCENTIAN
DPP powers not reduced Page 4
www.thevincentian.com
‘Charge upgraded to murder Page 5
Cornwall on a Mission Page 16
EC$1.50
1979 Footballer recognized Page 17
Ballantyne takes TT tittle Page 27
ÂRENEWAL AT 40Ê LAUNCHED
THE NATION CELEBRATES THE 40th year of independence in October this year, and the period has been declared as a time to reflect on the successes, and work on building the future of the country. And towards creating a national thrust in this direction, the ‘Renewal at 40’ programme was officially launched last Saturday at the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, Villa, under the theme ‘With Strength, Honour and Dignity, we stand Resolute at 40 and Beyond’. “Tonight, we commence this process of taking a fresh guard — that is what we mean
Kenneth ‘Vibrating Scakes’ Alleyne performed his ‘Our Nation is Born’ that will be expected to be the undercurrent of the ‘Renewal at 40’ celebrations.
by the ‘Renewal at 40’,” Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves told the launch. “In short, therefore, ‘Renewal at 40’ is designed to make our country better; to make optimal the outcomes from our strengths and possibilities [and] to reduce the effect of our limitations and weaknesses,” he continued. The programme is expected to run from the launch date and end on October 26, 2020. “The 15-month period will encompass multiple activities across various sectors and interests led by the state apparatus,” the Prime Minister explained. During the past 40 years, this country had made tremendous strides and, according to Dr. Gonsalves, these have been evident in areas including education, housing, sea and river defences, air and sea ports among others. But there were also some challenges, and he noted that we had to believe in our capacity to deal with some of these challenges, which included high unemployment, pockets of indigence, citizen security, debilitating patriarchy, political divisiveness and the threat of climate change. “We have made immense progress, but there are things we have to do. I want to say this, that no progressive society has ever been built on an addiction to leisure, pleasure and nice time. I like them, but you cannot have an addiction to those things; progressive societies are built on hard-work,” Prime Minister Gonsalves cautioned. Among the activities included in the Renewal at 40’ programme, as disclosed last Saturday by Minister of Finance Camillo Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves set the tone for Gonsalves are plans to refresh the country celebrations, activities and a list of state undertakings that will physically. Continued on Page 3 run for the next 15 months.