Ferdinand Responds To Joseph: ‘We Are Not Playing Politics!’

The President of the National Council on Public Transportation (NCOPT), Godfrey Ferdinand, has denied suggestions that the organisation is ‘playing politics’. “We are not playing politics. We work with any administration that is there is to ensure the public and the bus operators are satisfied,” Ferdinand stated. Former Transport Minister Guy Joseph, himself a former NCOPT President, recently called out the Council. Joseph did so at last week’s opposition United Workers Party (UWP) news conference. The former Minister noted the NCOPT’s inaction regarding the deplorable state of Saint Lucia’s roads and wanted to know whether the organisation was ‘playing politics’. Joseph recalled that bus drivers went on strike over potholes on less than a mile of road in Belair. However, Council President Godfrey Ferdinand explained that the Belair strike involved an individual bus association. Ferdinand told St. Lucia Times that an individual association also went on strike in Soufriere-Fond St. Jacques over poor road conditions on Monday. The one-day protest ended after assurances from the Ministry of Infrastructure. But the protestors have warned they would resume the strike if the Ministry does not address the road conditions. The NCOPT President declared that his organisation works with whichever administration is in...