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Public calls for swift execution of death sentences

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DPP  plugs loophole in October Assizes

Last minute reprieve from gallows for convicted murderer

Internet server off-line for 3 days: C&W waives basic monthly fee

Future Carnival celebrations set for July

Pierre praises Air Jamaica - urges LIAT to pay  debt

Hurricane Floyd hits Bahamas - Gert expected to miss Caribbean

Illegal sand miners sent to jail

Luther Francois teaches jazz at School of  Music

Act passed: island ready for int'l financial services

Forty percent of top officials still to declare assets

Book of Outstanding Sports Personalities in St. Lucia

Reconstruction work commences at GFL Charles airport

Laborie, Banse, Augier community plans future

New Director for St. Lucia Peace Corps

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DPP Norton Jack plugs loophole in October Assizes

    By designating a separate day to handle all cases of prisoners who have pleaded guilty, Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Norton Jack is plugging a loophole which, in the past, has proven to be a serious obstruction to the procedures for the Assizes. This is reported in The Voice. In an interview with the newspaper, Jack explains that there has been a trend for prisoners to plead 'guilty' at the Preliminary Inquiry and subsequently change that plea to 'not guilty' at the Assizes, thus forcing the prosecution to scramble for witnesses. This is particularly frustrating in cases of grievous bodily harm, Jack explains, when a medical doctor may be needed to testify on the extent of the wound inflicted. Knowing that doctors in the South of the island are often foreign volunteers working on short-term contracts, prisoners have taken up the habit of changing their plea at the Assizes, knowing that there is a good chance that the case will have to be withdrawn because of the unavailability of a witness. Norton Jack has changed the procedure in such a way that prisoners wishing to change their plea to not guilty must follow proper procedure, which includes giving notice in writing to the Registrar. All prisoners who have pleaded guilty at the Preliminary Inquiry and who have not formally changed that plea, will be heard on a separate day, prior to the opening of the Assizes on 5th of October. All these cases are set down for sentencing.

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Last minute reprieve from the gallows for convicted murderer

    Death row prisoner Morel Cox who was due to be hanged on Thursday of this week has been granted a last-minute reprieve by Justice Suzie d'Auvergne. Cox' death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment. This was reported on national radio and television on Wednesday. Last week, Cox was read his death warrant which had been signed by Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy. Earlier this week, however, a team of local lawyers headed by Kenneth Foster successfully presented a case in the High Court pleading for a stay of execution.
    Emotions ran high on the island following the announcement of the reprieve. Almost all callers to the phone-in program 'Newsmaker Live', which featured a panel consisting of Kenneth Foster, Albert Deterville and Isabella Shillingford, on Wednesday night questioned the decision.
    Morel Cox was sentenced to death in 1994 for the brutal rape and murder of a young woman. The last time a man was hanged in St. Lucia was on October 17, 1995. There is presently one prisoner still on death row on the island.
    Meanwhile, earlier this week, another condemned prisoner won a last minute reprieve in the High Court of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, just minutes before he was to be sent to the gallows. On Monday morning, a High Court judge agreed that Everslay Thompson (37) must be allowed the moral right to be given another ten days to try and contact a British law firm which filed a motion on his behalf with the UN Human Rights Committee, eighteen months ago. A final ruling on Thompson's fate is expected on the 24th of September. Thompson is asking that his death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. This is reported in a separate article in the Star. One Caribbean also makes mention of the Vincentian case.

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Internet server off-line for 3 days: C&W waives basic monthly fee

    Local internet users were off-line for 72 hours earlier this week when Cable and Wireless' main server crashed. Working around the clock, C&W managed to transfer all customers to a back-up unit and have the system back online by mid-week. The Star and Crusader carry full reports. Realising the inconvenience caused, the telecommunications company will waive the EC$50 basic internet fee for all existing customers this month. The crash was unrelated to current operations to install new, state-of-the-art equipment to handle heavily increased domestic traffic on the web. By early October, C&W promises, slow connections and busy lines will be a thing of the past in St. Lucia. Furthermore, as C&W is phasing in a new internet platform and support service, the company is soliciting input from subscribers. Write to the internet department: webmaster@candw.lc.

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Future Carnival celebrations set for July

    The die is cast: July will be the month for future Carnival celebrations in St. Lucia. After some two years of national consultations and one experimental July Carnival, the decision was announced this week by Gandolph St. Clair of the National Carnival Development Committee (NCDC). This is reported in the Star. Traditionally, St. Lucian Carnival has been celebrated in February but in a bid to attract more participants and funds, the festival has now been permanently rescheduled. Much emphasis is also being placed on the fact that St. Lucian Carnival must be unique, and not a copy of overseas festivities. Last Wednesday saw a (poorly attended) meeting between band leaders, NCDC officials, tourism officials, out-district carnival committees and members of the press. The Star reports on this meeting at some length.

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Pierre praises Air Jamaica - urges LIAT to pay  debt

    Tourism minister Philip J. Pierre has urged regional airline company LIAT to pay up the EC$4 million its owes the St. Lucia government in landing fees. This is reported in the Star. "While we do understand the nature of  [LIAT's] problems", Pierre is quoted as saying, "we do expect to get paid". According to the Star, Pierre expects that the CARICOM ministers of Aviation, when they meet next, will have "a frank and open discussion on the future of LIAT and decide on ways of dealing with the massive outstanding arrears owed to member states". Pierre also stated that LIAT must understand that the days of airlines being operated for sentimental reasons are over.
    Also last week, speaking at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony to hallmark Air Jamaica's move into the former American Airlines terminal at Hewanorra International airport, minister Pierre praised  Air Jamaica's decision to expand its local operations in St. Lucia. Pierre said Air Jamaica's increase in services (from six flights a week to fourteen) and the company's opening of new airport check-in counters, a city office in Castries and expansion of staff could not have come at a better time. Pierre indicated that after the withdrawal of American Airlines, in April this year, Air Jamaica has "in a sense, saved the day". The Star, Mirror and Voice newspapers all carry Air Jamaica's press release on the opening ceremony.

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Hurricane Floyd hits Bahamas - Gert expected to miss Caribbean

    Hurricane Floyd killed one man and destroyed hundreds of homes, businesses and other property when wind gusting up to 190 miles per hour (304 kph) hit the north-eastern islands of the Bahamian archipelago on Thursday. Floyd is the worst hurricane to have hit the Bahamas since hurricane Andrew, in 1992, also a category five hurricane. The Star and Mirror newspapers report this. Later on Thursday, hurricane Floyd reached the coasts of North and South Carolina in the US, its wind speeds having dropped somewhat to 110 mph (177 kph). Meanwhile, hurricane Gert, a category four storm with wind speeds up to 145 mph (233kph) is travelling on a path north-east of Floyd. Although expected to increase in ferocity, hurricane Gert is expected to miss the Caribbean, travelling north-east of Bermuda.

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Illegal sand miners sent to jail

    Three men who were all arrested in separate incidents of illegal sand mining at Grande Anse earlier this week, have been sentenced to thirty days in jail, as well as being fined between $800 and $1,500. All three were caught red-handed by police, whilst driving trucks loaded with sea sand away from Grand Anse beach, without having the required permits. Grand Anse beach has been seriously eroded by sandmining over the years.

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Luther Francois teaches jazz at School of  Music

    Returning from a teaching position in Martinique, noted jazz musician Luther Francois this month takes up his new appointment as Wind Tutor and Coordinator of Caribbean Jazz Studies at the St. Lucia School of Music. This is reported in the Voice.
    Francois brings with him a wealth of experience as performer, composer, arranger and director and a well-established regional reputation as a jazz musician. The School of Music anticipates that Francois' appointment will result in a considerable expansion of enrolment by wind and jazz students. Besides teaching wind students and directing the school's jazz ensemble, Francois will also be teaching a series of new courses with a specific focus on St. Lucian and Caribbean musical idioms.

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Act passed: island ready for int'l financial services

    A major step towards launching St. Lucia into the world of international financial services was made on Tuesday, when the House of Assembly passed the International Business Act. The Star reports on this. The act allows international business companies to register in St. Lucia. A Registered Agent and Trustee Licensing Act was also passed, and an act to make money laundering an offence in St. Lucia. The Star quotes minister for International Services, Philip Pierre, as saying that: "We entered the International Financial Services sector very late. But our lateness is an advantage in that we can learn from the mistakes of our neighbours and correct them". And: "... the integrity of the good name and reputation of St. Lucia must not be compromised on the altar of expediency and economic gain".

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Forty percent of top officials still to declare assets

    Although a third and final letter was sent out earlier this month, so far, only about sixty percent of persons who hold top public office in St. Lucia have returned mandatory declarations stating their assets and liabilities. This week, the Integrity Commission, headed by Archdeacon of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church Randolph Evelyn, has begun to examine the about 70 declarations which it has received so far. Under the constitution , about 117 top officials are liable. The objective of the Integrity Commission's work is to keep track of the assets, liabilities and income of parliamentarians and other top officials, in order to provide checks which may deter these persons from using the powers and privilege of public office to illegally enrich themselves.
    A similar commission had been appointed under the previous administration but never really functioned. In a release to the press this week, the Commission states it is allowing persons who are required to file declarations "reasonable time to file the required information". The commission says it expects that the remaining forty per cent of officials who have not yet declared their assets will comply before the next stage in the process is set in motion, which is publication in the Government Gazette of defaulters, and reporting to the Director of Public Prosecutions for further action. Defaulters risk a fine not exceeding $50,000 and imprisonment not exceeding five years upon summary conviction. The Mirror, Voice and Crusader carry the commission's press release this week.

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Book of Outstanding Sports Personalities in St. Lucia

    Rupert Branford's weekly columns in the Mirror newspaper on outstanding historical sportsmen and -women in St. Lucia are about to be brought together and published under the title 'Outstanding Sports Personalities of St. Lucia'. "I have ensured that a common theme runs through the fabric of the stories on our great athletes", Branford states, "the qualities of discipline, commitment, loyalty and dedication to sport - all virtues which could serve as incentives to our youth". Agreement has been reached with the ministry of Education to put the book on the curricula of senior primary and secondary schools in the island as of next school year.

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Reconstruction work commences at GFL Charles airport

    Two reconstruction projects at GFL Charles Airport at Vigie are expected to cause some delays to travellers in the next three months or so. Due to growing aircraft activity, an additional so-called 'parking apron' is being constructed which will create an extra 35,000 sq. metres of aeroplane parking space on the western side of the existing parking facilities. During construction, aircraft can use only one taxi way. The Air & Sea Ports Authority apologizes for any air traffic delays caused. Other reconstruction work at GFL Charles airport concerns coastal protection of the western end of the runway, where wave action has caused some erosion. Construction of the parking apron is expected to last 96 days and cost EC$1.48 million; that of the runway protection will last 203 days and cost EC$2.39 million. The contractor is C.O. Williams Construction Company. Both the Voice and Mirror report on this.

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Laborie, Banse, Augier community plans future

    More than one hundred people are expected to gather at the Laborie Boys' School on Sunday for a broad-based community meeting organised to formulate plans for the future of Laborie, Banse, Augier and surrounding communities. The Mirror reports this. The Laborie Development Planning Committee comprises a strong core of more than forty persons drawn from all sectors and social groups in the community. The group hopes to submit a plan to cabinet for formal endorsement by the end of the year.

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New Director for St. Lucia Peace Corps

    Earl Phillips is the new director of the US Peace Corps in the Eastern Caribbean. Phillips, who has a solid background in human resource management, urban affairs, community development and education and who is the recipient of an impressive number of international awards, is to be based in St. Lucia. Earl Phillips replaces David Styles. The Voice, Mirror and Crusader report this.

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