Former Prime Minister and United Workers Party (UWP) leader Allen Chastanet seems to have developed a very selective memory, or perhaps, a deliberate disregard for truth, as he now attempts to rewrite one of the most painful chapters of his administration’s record.
At a live event in Gros Islet on October 5, 2025, Chastanet boldly claimed that his government “expanded” the National Initiative to Create Employment (NICE) program. For many Saint Lucians who remember the turmoil of 2017, this statement can only be described as delusional, misleading, and deeply insulting to the thousands who were affected by the program’s dismantling.
Let us be clear: the record shows that Chastanet’s administration did not expand NICE! It effectively terminated it! Less than a year after assuming office, the contracts of over a thousand NICE workers were not renewed by March 31, 2017. The decision sparked island-wide outrage and protests, including demonstrations outside Parliament, where displaced workers decried what they described as blatant political victimization. One former worker from Castries East spoke for many at the time, saying:
“Out of 24 workers that were working with NICE, they only selected 2 people to continue… Tell me if that’s not real victimization.”
Sponsored
The NICE program, introduced in 2012 under former Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, was designed to provide employment, skills training, and social support, particularly for women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. It’s sudden dismantling left hundreds of families without income and countless vulnerable citizens without essential caregiving support.
Even members of Chastanet’s own Cabinet contradicted his recent claim. Then-Minister for Social Transformation, Lenard Montoute, openly admitted, “I have always been against NICE… that agency was not necessary.” Montoute’s remarks made it clear that the administration’s intent was not to “expand” the program but to eliminate it. He even went as far as to justify the mass dismissals as an act of “equity,” saying that if one group held those jobs for years, it was only fair that another group get the opportunity, a hollow defense that fooled no one.
To now return, eight years later, and boast about an “expansion” of NICE is an affront to the truth and to the people who lived through that injustice. Saint Lucians are not forgetful. They remember the tears, the protests, and the families left struggling after the program’s collapse.
Chastanet’s latest remarks are a reminder of why accountability and honesty matter in leadership. A leader who attempts to erase or distort history to score political points only deepens the public’s mistrust. The people of Saint Lucia deserve better than revisionist storytelling, they deserve truth, transparency, and respect for their lived experiences.
Sponsored | Article continues below
History cannot be rewritten by wishful thinking or campaign rhetoric. Saint Lucians remember. They will never, never, never forget the reality of Chastanet’s so called “ expansion” of the NICE.
