The Office of the Prime Minister has commented that a recent post to the Facebook platform on Independence Day, attributed to Hon. Prime Minister Allen M. Chastanet was not approved by the Office of the Prime Minister.

The public is asked to note that the Government of Saint Lucia’s official statement for Independence Day, Feb. 22, 2017 was delivered on behalf of the government by the Minister for Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment, Hon. Lenard Montoute, at Wednesday’s Independence Day Rally at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium.

During the period of Independence, the Prime Minister delivered three statements which included a recorded Independence message to the Diaspora, an address to the audience at the Independence Ball and a brief impromptu introduction of Minister Lenard Montoute, who was officially designated to present the government’s Independence message at the rally.

The communications unit of the Office of the Prime Minister wishes to make it clear that as soon as we became aware of the reported Facebook post, we immediately removed it from circulation. The only persons authorized to approve postings on the page is the Prime Minister himself, and the Senior Communications Officer for the government.

Since this government assumed office it appears that there were still individuals with access to the Prime Minister’s Facebook page who made the posting without authorization. This has since been addressed internally. We assure the public this situation will not happen again, and we will do all within our power to maintain the integrity of our official social media platforms.

Despite not authorizing the afore-mentioned Facebook post, we apologize for any misunderstandings or misconceptions it may have created.