NDP VIEW -Our Pledge for First 60-Days in Government

(Excerpts of Political Leader of the NDP, Honourable Dr Godwin Friday’s Press Statement at a recent Press Conference)
The New Democratic Party (NDP) is launching a series of proposals spelling out not only what we are planning to do but when we aim to do it.  That is, within 60 days of an NDP government, we will deliver real progress for everyone. We believe in delivery and accountability—you have heard talk about accountability before.
This election is going to be dominated by grand promises from the ULP. In the past, most of them were not fulfilled. The NDP will tell it like it is, setting out what we are going to do and when we will do it.
This coming election is going to be about Delivery- who has the best plan for the economy and accountability- who can be trusted to deliver the plan. As we ramp up to the election, there will be a lot of noise and energy. I want to take this moment to make my personal pledge to the voters very clear.  You have known me for many years now:  so, you know, I don’t make idle promises or seek to take advantage of people. I tell it like it is.
My NDP government will place the economy at the center of everything we do. This is because, we understand that we must have robust economic growth to deliver more and better paid jobs, to tackle the high cost of living, to create opportunities to young people, to invest in health care, and to rebuild and expand road and infrastructure.
I want to be clear with voters on how all of our people will immediately benefit from an NDP government.  I am presenting to you my pledge in this pledge card. The NDP is pledging to immediately make people’s lives better.  Within 60 days of being elected an NDP government will do the following:
a. Slash prices- by cutting VAT on everyday goods and residential electricity
b. Give a salary bonus for all public servants.
c. Double poor relief from $250 to $500.
d. Reinstate jobs and benefits lost under the ULP government’s draconian Vaccine Mandate
We have to tackle the high cost of living. Too many families are being increasingly crippled under the yoke of ever-increasing prices. And the government has done nothing to address this.  Look at what our people are facing every day: Price of bananas has increased from $1.43 in December 2020 to $2.58 in June2025 – an 80% Increase; people will tell you they now pay a dollar for a banana. A dozen eggs increased from $9.28 in 2020 to $13.37 today – a 40% increase. Toothpaste (130g) has gone from 9.60 in December 2020 to 15.40 today (a 60% increase). Chicken (leg quarts) – 1 lb has gone $2.63 in December 2020 to $3.95 a 50% increase. A pound of flour has gone from $1.35 in December 2020 to $1.88 in June 2025 – a 39.3% increase. 1Ib of rice has gone from $1.85 in December 2002 to $2.33 in June 2025 -a 25% increase and the costs of utilities are up. This is a crushing blow for many families.
The Government has failed completely to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. We, in the NDP, have proposed ideas such as the school support payment and VAT cut to help struggling families, but this government is simply not listening to the cries for help from the people.
Accountability
I launch this card because I want to be clear with voters what they can and expect from an NDP government. We will tell it like it is, tell people what we are planning to do and then do it. I will hand this out to people in Kingstown and then across the country. I want everyone to keep it in their pockets and tick off as we complete these tasks. And of course, this just forms part of the overall plans the NDP will deliver to improve our country.
For young people, we have made the national Youth Guarantee Pledge in which we pledge that we will grow the economy so that that every young person has opportunity for a job or has access to skills training that could equip them for jobs, or be placed in an internship program with public or private sector employers that may lead to permanent employment with that employer or another employer. We will create a National Development Bank to make financing available to persons to grow their businesses and help them succeed.  This will be particularly helpful to small businesses who may not be able to get financing from other financial institutions. 
For our innovators and entrepreneurs, we will create a National Innovation Center to support you to take advantage of new technologies. For farmers, we will provide marketing support and open new markets abroad.  They can access financing through the National Development Bank. For fisherfolk we will help them improve their boats and tool, open new markets, invest in new technologies. They will be aided by the creation of a separate Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Conservation.
We will create a national investment program to invest in roads and facilities to make it easier to move products across the country, especially agricultural feeder roads. And, we will establish a well-regulated Citizen by Investment Program that will generate the funds without increasing the bloated national debt, and make those funds available to our people for development.
We will pay for our measures through the following: Economic growth by building a more productive economy that will deliver more revenue for businesses, workers and government; we will introduce a well-regulated CBI program and we will tackle waste and increase efficiency and return those savings to finance growth and development.
To anyone worried about what an NDP government will bring I say this, everyone, regardless of their political background will benefit from my NDP government. I don’t care how you got your jobs, as long as you are doing your job of serving the people, I want to you to continue to do that. 
That is my pledge to everyone in SVG, there will be no victimization under NDP government.  Anyone who says otherwise is only trying to frighten people and to take advantage of them in the upcoming election. But our People won’t fall for it.