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Hundreds attend Xavier kids funeral; driver accused

Hundreds upon hundreds of relatives, friends, schoolmates, government dignitaries and others attended the funeral, last Tuesday, of Sherraiah (9), Shernilia (5) and Sherbiyah (7) Xavier, the two sisters and one brother from Mon Repos who were all killed last week when the driver of a car lost control and crashed into the children, who were waiting for transport at the side of the road. Two others were injured, one of whom, a 14-year-old girl, remains in a serious condition with injuries to the collarbone, hip and legs.
The accused driver, a 27-year-old man of Derniere Riviere, appeared in court earlier this week and was charged with three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He was released on $10,000 bail with two sureties. The Star reports this. According to Sgt. Albert James in last week's Star, the accident occurred at around 4:30 pm on Tuesday, 8th of May, when the 27-year-old driver attempted to overtake a truck on the Micoud bypass. He lost control of his vehicle and collided sideways with the truck. "The car was forced off the road and hit a retaining wall before crashing into the children who were waiting for transportation to go home". The accident occurred in front of Sadoo's gas station.
Speaking at the funeral of the children last Tuesday was Thomas Roserie, an elder in the congregation of the Assemblies of Yahweh. Trying to console and encourage the children's parents, Roserie compared their lot with that of Job, who similarly lost his family and all his earthly belongings. The Mirror reports Roserie as telling the congregation that, "Things happen in life that seem so unjust... in the years to come we will receive a reward if we remain very patient. We have a shepherd and the shepherd is Yahweh who will go with us to the shadow of death".
A friend of seven-year-old Sherbiyah told The Star of an incident that had happened on the day of the boy's death. "On Tuesday Sherbiyah did something that we still don't understand, he prayed with us in our (Roman Catholic) church. His religion does not permit this but he told the teacher that he wanted to go. We don't know what led him to do this and we did not know that this would be the last time we would see him".
In February of this year, the Xavier family also lost its youngest child, a two-and-a-half-year old, as well as all of their possessions, when their house in Praslin burnt down. The Xaviers have seven other children.
Joseph Xavier, father of the victims, told a reporter from The Star after the funeral: "There is no way we can explain anything that has happened. We comfort ourselves that Yahweh knows what's best and of course we are brokenhearted but we continue to put our trust in him". The children's mother reportedly told friends, "They were not mine. They were Yahweh's children".
The Star further reports that the Xavier family is receiving a lot of support from local firms, the teachers and students of the schools their children attended and other friends and relatives, all of whom are attempting to help them in rebuilding their lives and home.

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Unlimited internet acces but at 75 cents p/call

Unlimited internet access for a flat rate has finally hit St. Lucia - albeit it at a local call charge of 75 cents per call. Cable & Wireless announced on Thursday that for a fixed EC$129 per month, subscribers can spend as many hours surfing the net as they care to. Furthermore, C&W promised that all new customers who sign up for the service by June will have their registration fee and first month's usage fee waived. The Star reports this. The Voice adds to this that general manager Donald Austin is looking to provide e-commerce facilities locally. "This will allow local merchants to complete sales over the internet with customers, including banking", Austin is quoted as saying. "We have already formed an e-Commerce Task Force with Government. This Task Force will look at e-Commerce initiatives for local business entrepreneurs and e-Government initiatives". In the not too-far-off future, it may hence be possible to perform customs transactions, NIS payments and other dealings with government institutions on-line.

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Calypso tents gearing up for Carnival action

With the tenth St. Lucia Jazz Festival 2001 barely over, Carnival is already making its advent known in this week's crop of newspapers. The Tuesday Voice announces that this Saturday, carnival will be launched in Vieux Fort, followed on May 25th by the launching of the Take Over Tent and, on May 26th, Ambassadors. Soca Village comes on stream on June 1st at the National Cultural Centre, and the South Calypso Tent on June 2nd.
June 4th will see the Lucian Lime Jam, June 8th the Gros Islet Calypso Show and June 10th the official launch of Carnival 2001.
This year, nine bands are set to participate. New Dimensions has changed its name to Generation X and is set to portray Arabian Nights, expecting 300 adult revellers and 200 juniors. De Originals expect 400 revellers, the Royalites comes with six sections under the theme 'Aqua Zone'; Cozy Guzzlers comes in four sections presenting 'Raiders'; St. Lucian Spirit presents 'Ole' with seven sections; XS Energy features seven sections for adults and one band for juniors and focuses on 'Dreams ... the Future Reality'; Charmalions portrays 'Sea Shell Treasures of the Caribbean' with its junior band; Funatix will do 'Faces of Emotion' with six sections, and the newcomer Untouchables 2000 will perform 'From Quadrille to Salsa' in five sections. Visiting groups from Martinique, Dominica and Guadeloupe are expected to join in the fun.
The Star adds to this the news that Soca Village Tent will feature not only 'old-timers' Invader, Educator, Lord Help Me, Super Sweet and Teddy Zee, but has also accepted the applications of Mary G, Yardie, Running Man, The Media and Chippy.
Just as for Jazz 2001, the St. Lucia Tourist Board says that it will also be doing its best to promote St. Lucia Carnival 2001 far and wide.

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Petrus Compton: justice system fails in drug cases

"So often your work (in drug interception) bears fruit only to see the fruit wither before the judicial system. The judicial system has failed us so often. Hopefully, you can provide us with some advice as we continue with efforts to reform the justice system". This lament comes from none other than St. Lucia's Attorney-General, Petrus Compton, speaking at the 8th annual Drug Commanders Conference which was held in St. Lucia last week.
In the past year, a number of serious drug offences have been dismissed by the courts - at least two of them for want of a (properly assigned) drug analyst to testify that the substance in question was indeed illegal. In May 2000, magistrate Nigel Toussaint had to dismiss a $4.5m marijuana case after prosecutors failed at least twice to secure the services of a drug analyst [search news archives]. As a guest on DBS talkshow 'Talk', three weeks later, Toussaint explained that according to the law, suspects must be tried as soon as possible and that it is the duty of the government to make efficient prosecution possible. This, she explained, includes having access to the services of an analyst if so required. In drug cases, an analyst is always required to testify that the substance presented is indeed what the public prosecutor claims it to be. Nevertheless, Toussaint's decision was heavily criticised at the time by police officers, government officials and members of the public for her strict application of the law. In August of that same year, the ministry of Legal Affairs did not renew Toussaint's contract, while at the same time bringing in five lawyers to act as temporary magistrates.
More recently, in March of this year, a female special police constable who had been apprehended  at George F.L. Charles airport with 18.6 kilos of compressed marijuana in early February, was released on a similar technicality - despite what magistrate Frazer deemed "overwhelming evidence". In this case, a team of three defense lawyers claimed that the analyst who tested the substance and confirmed that it was in fact marijuana, was not at the time of this test authorised to do so. That is: the man had been appointed to the post of analyst but by law, his appointment required being gazetted subsequent to his appointment. In reality, it was gazetted on the same day the appointment was made - something which is forbidden by law.
At the time of the woman's arrest at G.F.L. Charles Airport with an estimated EC$96,000 worth of illicit drugs, The Voice reported that in an attempt to restore confidence in the already battered image of the police force, "the police are scrutinizing, with particular closeness, all facets of this present drug incident".
At last week's Drug Commanders Conference, Attorney-General Compton urged those present "to consider the need to strengthen other areas of the justice system" to prevent what he called "failings of the judicial system" from re-occurring.
Meanwhile Brian Bernard, St. Lucia's Police Commissioner, called for more attention to be focussed on reducing the demand for drugs that are en route through the Caribbean. "I am suggesting a multi-agency approach which not only works to enforce the laws on drugs but to help support the social welfare agencies which provide critical support like rehabilitation", said Bernard.

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UWP Council meets; Alliance starts rallying

Both the National Alliance for Unity (NAU) and the National Council of the United Workers Party (UWP) are kicking into action, with UWP party delegates congregating at the Skyway Inn hotel in Vieux Fort this weekend to discuss the party's recent close association with the NAU. At the past meeting of the National Council, reports the Tuesday Voice, delegates empowered their political leader, Dr. Morella Joseph, to pursue discussions and negotiations with the Alliance "and to report back to them, so that they may decide whether it was desirous and in the Party's best interest to undertake a political association with the new body". Clearly, the UWP leadership has since gone ahead and forged close ties with the Alliance - perhaps, the Tuesday Voice hints, to the irritation of some UWP supporters, who feel that they have not been duly consulted on the matter. However, writes the Tuesday Voice, "it is expected ... as has become a hallmark of United Workers Party procedure, that all these matters will be resolved in a spirit of non-confrontation and final consensus at this weekend's upcoming meeting".
Meanwhile, the weekend issue of The Voice reports that "the newly elected political leader of the Alliance" [see last week's news], George Odlum, announced that the National Alliance for Unity "will be moving into higher gear". On Sunday 27th May, the NAU is set to begin a week of political activity, starting with a church service at the St. Joseph the Worker Church, followed by a rally. The Voice quotes Odlum as explaining: "In light of the attack on church worshippers last year and the promise by the Prime Minister that this election will be an Armageddon of election, the Alliance must put God in everything it does if it is to unite and heal the country after it wins the general election".
Other activities planned for the week of 27th May - 3rd June are a forum on economic policy, a meeting with trade unions and economic organisations (28th May), meetings with media workers and a radio phone-in programme (May 31st), a consultation with farmers and their associations (1st June), and a church service and rally in Vieux Fort (3rd June).

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Vieux Fort: fish plant open; stadium progresses

The fish processing section of the Fisheries Complex in Vieux Fort was finally been put to active use this week, after having been officially opened on June 11th last year - more than eleven months ago. The complex, which took more than a year to construct, was an EC$54 million present from the government of Japan and is the largest of its kind in the sub-region. The complex contains an additional 400 tons of cold storage capacity, offices for the Goodwill Fishermen's Cooperative, a retail outlet, ice-making and a fish processing facility and a man-made harbour where fishermen can moor their vessels.
According to The Mirror, some 36,000 pounds of fish have been processed at the plant since the 2^nd of May. The only section that still requires completion is the canteen.
Meanwhile, The Mirror also reports that work on the National Stadium in Vieux Fort - a present from the government of the People's Republic of China - is progressing well again, after a delay around Christmas time when problems were encountered with the foundation works and work stalled for some weeks. Work however was resumed on April 3rd, writes The Mirror, and general manager Haoram Song reports that a changed design for the foundation ensures that it will be "much stronger". The project currently employs 80 Chinese and 70 local workers.

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Domestic abuse: ministry talks, crisis centre walks

Nine months after minister of Health Sarah Flood-Beaubrun promised delegates at a large international meeting on domestic violence that the government of St. Lucia had already spent some $800,000 on a building to act as a shelter for victims of domestic abuse, and more than a year after the minister suddenly cancelled a project supported by the British government to donate a shelter for victims of domestic abuse to St. Lucia, thereby inviting vehement controversy, [search news archives], permanent secretary in her ministry, Michael Gaspard this week announced that "funding has been secured for the implementation of a comprehensive programme aimed at addressing gender-based violence on a national level". Gaspard made the announcement at a training workshop for nurses and other healthcare providers. According to a press release printed in the Thursday Voice and Wednesday Star, the ministry's new programme has three goals. These are, firstly, establishing a temporary safe house or support centre for victims of spousal abuse; secondly, setting up a national committee to initiate and monitor responses to gender-based violence, and thirdly, public education and sensitisation to gender-based violence.
The release further states that "The Ministry of Health has over the past three years deliberately placed increased emphasis on eliminating gender-based violence from society through various means" but it does not explain if and when the shelter that was announced in August of 2000 will be completed. "Building works are going on", the minister declared in August 2000, and although she could not give a time limit for completion of the work, "a functioning shelter" should be operational before long, she promised nine months ago.
Meanwhile, former president of the St. Lucia Crisis Centre Ione Erlinger-Forde, in an article in the Tuesday Voice, describes the difficulties experienced by that voluntary organisation, after it had to move into a new home following its inability to pay the rent. "Our new landlady has come to the rescue otherwise those doors that welcomed those weary feet and tired hearts would have been shut, perhaps forever and those dreadful incidents in the family lives of our beautiful island - those victims of beatings, psychological abuse, separations, rapes, murders, incest and despair, those who have been rescued from the throes of suicide, abortions, prostitution and sheer lunacy - might already have been an irreversible tragedy. We thank God for those benefactors, the landlord past, the landlady new and we hope and pray for people who will heed the financial problems we faced and still face while we keep the Crisis Centre doors open. ... With some help, we will be able to condition everyone toward zero tolerance of any form of abuse, and a new dawn of mutual respect for one and all; man and woman, parents and children, old and young toward each other".
The offices of the St. Lucia Crisis Centre are now located at the Chaussée Road, opposite the gates to George V Park.

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Over 200 CDB delegates to meet at Hyatt

Five regional prime minsters and some 200 delegates from more than 30 countries are expected to congregate at the Hyatt Regency hotel in St. Lucia this week, for the 31st annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Presiding over the meetings is St. Lucia's prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony, in his capacity as current chairman of the Board. The Star reports this. St. Lucia is the recipient of several large loans from the CDB, including $75 million for a road improvement programme, $5 million for its PROUD programme (aimed at helping landless St. Lucians to acquire land), and its housing projects. The CDB was specifically established, back in 1970 under the leadership of Sir Arthur Lewis, to serve as the Caricom region's principal source of development financing for public-sector sponsored projects.

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SLHTA: drop in crime against tourists

Crime against tourists is down, says president of the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association Berthia Parle, and although work still remains to be done to completely eliminate visitor harassment, more intense policing appears to have been having a positive effect. No major incidents involving visitors to the island have occurred recently, and Parle believes that "a lot of our visitors are beginning to feel safe because of the fact that they see a heavier police presence". She adds, however, "that we have a lot more to do", particularly in the area of solving some of the serious crimes that have been committed in the past, and in bringing cases before the courts faster. The Star reports this. Finally, Parle calls for greater accurateness in news reports whenever a crime does occur in St. Lucia. Having been confronted with some overseas newspaper articles regarding the Cathedral attack, Parle said "I could not believe some of the things in the articles, because they were totally erroneous and some of the things cited in the articles never took place". Some articles claimed that twelve people died and as many as ten or twelve Rastas participated in the attack. According to official sources, two people died in the attack (Sr. Theresa Egan, who died on the spot, and Fr. Gaillard, who died some months later of a heart attack while recuperating from serious burns sustained in the attack), and two attackers were involved - both of whom are now in custody and awaiting trial.
Parle agrees with international journalists whom she met recently, in that reporters must display sensitivity, restraint and accuracy when reporting visitor crime, particularly in this day and age, when news stories are carried worldwide almost immediately via the internet.

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SCIC denies producing poor quality fertilizers

The Vieux Fort-based fertilizer factory SCIC has denied that the deficient quality of its products is one of the main reasons for the current decline in banana production. With a figure of just 600 tons, St. Lucia's banana production reached an all-time low a few weeks ago. Besides leafspot infestation and the effects of contention between the several rival banana companies, the quality of SCIC's fertilizer was quoted only last week as having contributed to the fall in banana production. This week, SCIC's management strongly denies this allegation, saying, "Our process is carefully monitored for quality. We produce fertilizers as good as or better than any other fertilizer factory. Moreover, it is only since we opened our factory that farmers have had a consistent supply of fertilizers". Instead, says SCIC management, banana productivity has suffered from a drop in prices paid, with the result that many farmers could no longer purchase the required inputs (particularly fertilizer) or maintain their fields. According to SCIC, the sales of fertilizer fell from 5824 tons (in July 20, 2000 - April 13, 2001) to 2192 tons during the same period in 1999/2000), representing a 62 percent reduction in sales. Both the Thursday Voice and Mirror quote SCIC management as stating that "even if the proper field practices are implemented now, it will take at least nine months before any substantial increase in production occurs". Rather than look for "scapegoats" and "quick fixes", advises SCIC management, leaders and scientists in the banana industry ought to "begin to act like professionals".

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