The São Tomé Prime Minister admitted, on Monday, that the first year was not easy, but the good news is that the Government was able to put the country on the path to economic recovery, ensuring that “2024 will be unquestionably better”, result of the implementation of policies to recover purchasing power.
“We are fully aware that our country is in bad shape. But we are equally aware that throughout this first year we were able to stop the degradation and put the country on the road to recovery”, stated Patrice Trovoada, in a message published on Facebook, as a balance of the first year of his mandate.
The Prime Minister insisted that he inherited from the previous Government a country with “contracts harmful to the State” and, above all, “a disorganized, unmotivated, corrupt and commandless administration”, with officials “experiencing aberrant situations of injustice and not rare cases of favoritism , malfeasance and nepotism”.
A year after taking power, with an absolute majority of 30 of the 55 deputies in Parliament, Patrice Trovoada stressed that “the recovery, to be robust and lasting, must be based on solid foundations, which include reforms in the Justice sector, taxation, the business climate, the financial and payment system, the social protection system and changing mentalities”.
He mentioned that the high cost of living “has been a constant concern” and the subject of all the Government’s attention, being “addressed from various angles” and tangible improvements are expected soon.
“The year 2024 will be unquestionably better, it will finally see the start of important works, such as the requalification of the waterfront and the bridges in the north of the country, the resumption of works and projects that have been suspended such as the reference hospital, financed by the Kuwait fund, and the completion of many other works that were delayed, for various reasons”, he promised.
Patrice Trovoada also said that he awaits “important contributions” next year from investors with whom investment contracts have already been signed in areas such as new technologies, real estate, local production transformation industry, port logistics, ship repair and oil refinery.
According to the Government leader, in 2024 work will begin on “construction of a new, modern airport and raising air safety standards at the country’s only international airport”, in a public-private partnership. The head of the Sao Tome Government said he was aware that “the last 12 months have not been easy” and asked for “renewed support and confidence from the people” to “serve better”.
“We were elected for a four-year term. It is not a straight line. But we are on a journey in which we know where we are going, the obstacles have been identified for a long time and, above all, we are prepared to overcome them”, he said Patrice Trovoada. On Monday, the president of the São Tomé and Príncipe Liberation Movement – Social Democratic Party (MLSTP-PSD), leader of the opposition, accused the Government of having promised the people “that there was a solution for everything, in some cases, even miraculous”, but today what we see “is that the mountain gave birth to the mouse”.
“There is a lot of difficulty in the country, the people are suffering, the youth are desperate. There is a stampede, people are looking for anything to escape from here at any price, it doesn’t matter what they find outside, it’s an escape tube and this isn’t it can continue like this”, said the leader of the MLSTP/PSD, Jorge Bom Jesus.
Agreement with the IMF
Patrice Trovoada, said that the lack of agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a year after taking power, has conditioned economic activity, and negotiations will force more difficult measures for the population.
“The difficult and complicated negotiations with the IMF, which are still ongoing, will undoubtedly force us to implement other equally difficult measures, for which the Government has been negotiating and adopting all mitigation measures within its reach with the aim of reduce the impact on the lives of the most disadvantaged sections of the population as much as possible”, said Patrice Trovoada, in a message published on Facebook.