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Quotes:
"[T]he Bishops also considered the subject of family life, noting that there were many people living together in extra-marital relationships contrary to Gospel teaching, but living in a way that was better than the relationships of some married people".
Archbishop Clarke of Jamaica on the exchange of ideas at the Bishops' Conference during the Antilles Eucharistic Congress, part of Jubilee 2000 (The Mirror 19th May).
"Parliamentary permission to operate the overdraft facility (to finance the operations of the Government) is a routine exercise, except on this occasion the Prime Minister sought to borrow $3 more than on previous occasions".
David Vitalis on the House of Assembly's decision to approve a $25 million commercial loan to shore up the government's overdraft facility (The Mirror 19th May).
"You are right, but you are not correct"
Patrick Joseph, chairman of the St. Lucia Banana Corporation, responding to Wilson Sifflet during the SLBC shareholders meeting. Sifflet insisted that farmers have a right to see the dissolution account of the now-defunct SLBGA after Joseph suddenly claimed that the SLBC had "inherited tens of millions of debt from the SLBGA" (The Mirror 19th May).
"That is one of two problems the SLBC has. The greed and power for monopoly is one. And the other is the assessors on the Castries docks who reject entire shipments of farmer's fruit if they have a problem with the farmer, or if the farmer looks at their girlfriend too hard".
Wilson Sifflet criticising SLBC policies (The Mirror 19th May).
"In 1998, ... it was estimated that EC$44.7 million in revenue was collected by Government from the tourism sector. ... Against this growing contribution to Government revenues, the total budget for tourism in St. Lucia is less than EC$20 million. Now look at me in the eye and tell me that tourism is being subsidised by that proverbial 'man on the street', which unfortunately seems to be the view of some persons who occupy high office in Government - Please!"
Berthia Parle, president of the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (The Mirror 19th May).
"Jackie, 30, ... fell for Shannon as he wriggled under low-slung flaming poles at her hotel. The 6ft was equally smitten - and could not believe it when Jackie told him she had £10 million in the bank. ... Jackie earns £10,000 a month in interest alone - it would have taken Shannon over two years to make that as a limbo dancer back home. But this isn't about money, he and Jackie are madly in love and they can't wait to get married".
Report, taken from a British newspaper, on Laborie-born Shannon (22) getting married to British £10 million lottery winner Jackie. It further states that Shannon "cruises around in ... Jackie's shiny new BMW and Mercedes cars - and loves playing with the electronic gates protecting her luxury home" (Crusader 20 May).
"I am sure you can testify to the fact that your articles, no matter how lengthy, and no matter how late and no matter how distasteful, have always been published".
Franklin McDonald, editor of The Voice, to Earl Bousquet, explaining that as the government press secretary, he bears full responsibility for what he sends in for publication (The Voice 20th May). [See also last week's quotes]
"Low vision and blind persons are equally capable of performing as their sighted peers - the greatest barrier to them is the 'blindness' of the workplace which does not 'see' the ability, only the disability".
Article regarding Blind Awareness Month (The Voice and Crusader 20th May).
"I would suggest that an individual who draws a knife and stabs someone in New York or stands on a corner selling drugs in Atlanta is no more sophisticated than an individual who draws a knife in Bridgetown or stands on the corner selling drugs in Castries".
US Chargé d'Affaires Roland Bullen responding to the notion that Caribbean criminals who are deported back to their home countries have somehow become more 'sophisticated' during their sojourn in the US (The Voice 20th May).
"When the group from Cap set up their stuff on the beach it's a family outing. When the boys from the ghetto do the same thing it's a gang activity".
Lorraine Williams quoting "that famous remark by a former DPP", implying that the law is not always very even-handed. (The Star 20th May).
"[Patti] LaBelle put the nervous group of guys through their paces. These guys were up for anything and did their best to keep up with LaBelle, some singing notes that have not yet appeared on any music score"
The Star on last Sunday's performance by Patti LaBelle, where she invited members of the audience to sing along with her. This resulted in a number of record producing offers for young St. Lucian Teddyson John, who greatly impressed the crowd and LaBelle alike. Teddyson is currently lead singer with the group Sojourn (20th May).
"This was a pageant with a difference: neither talent nor costumes formed any part of the presentations by the seven contestants".
"The three appearances by the contestants were very well executed: elegantly casual in which the contestants performed a short choreographed dance to a Latin American rhythm, the Mambo. I thought, though, that they ought to have been taught the basic Mambo movements".
Jacques Compton on the Miss Commonwealth Caribbean contest (The Voice 20th May).
"Oh my God, his saliva actually fell on me".
Young lady "screaming at the top of her voice" during the performance of sex machine Keith Sweat on Sunday at Pigeon Island Jazz (One Caribbean 20th May).
"'Do you know why we stopped you, sir?' one of them asked me.
'No officer', I said. 'I haven't the foggiest idea'.
'Well, sir, you drove off without first looking into your rear-view mirror'. ... We don't mind you killing yourself, sir, but you might have killed someone else'.
British police officer to Jacques Compton, several years ago, on a deserted Streatham High Road in London at two o'clock in the morning (One Caribbean 20th May).
"And is it true that a motion in Cabinet by a Brother to set up a Commission of Inquiry into the [Poverty Reduction] Fund was rejected, because one of them said Blom Cooper would give them the wrong answers again?"
'Mr. Editor, are these ridiculous things true?' - weekly column in One Caribbean (20th May). |
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Top talents form National Dance Theatre Company
What happens when ten of the absolute best dancers on the island come together and, with the support of UNESCO, form a National Dance Theatre Company? This weekend, St. Lucia finds out. On Saturday evening, the National Dance Theatre Company of St. Lucia is being launched with a free performance at the Castries Comprehensive School. The new company is to perform a combination of folk and contemporary original pieces such as 'The Legend of Pai Banan', 'The Artist', 'Street People', 'Dancers' Spirit', 'Collage', and 'What do You Feel?'
"And we don't want anybody to think that this is just another dance company either", says Christine Samuel, who initiated the National Dance Theatre Company. "This is about a level of excellence. There are people from all different dance companies here and that doesn't matter".
The ten top dancers on the island hail from four different companies. They are Darcel Frederick, Nicole Aubertin, Jenna Jolie, Tenniel Thomas, Germaine Alexander, Trevor King, Bert Wilfred, Claudie Pierre, Michelle Auguste and main choreographer, Christine Samuel. Several of the ten dancers have auditioned successfully to attend the prestigious Alvin Ailey Dance Company in the US but are prevented from going because of financial constraints. Both The Mirror and Voice report on the formation of the National Dance Theatre Company.
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PRF: administrative lapses or misappropriation of funds?
"Contrary to the fascinating tales and rumours that have followed the audit and the submission of its findings, Honourable Members will note that there has been no misappropriation of funds". This stated prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony last Tuesday, when he submitted the audited accounts and the report of the Director of Audit into the operations of the Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF) to the House of Assembly. Dr Anthony did admit, however, that "several administrative lapses and infelicities" had taken place at the PRF since its establishment in April 1998.
The prime minister's choice of words comes under heavy fire in this week's One Caribbean and The Star. Lorraine Williams, in a weekly commentary in The Star, says the Blom-Cooper report came to mind, "as Dr Anthony went about perfuming the disturbing smell emanating from the Poverty Reduction issue". Williams' response to the PM's judgement that there has been no "misappropriation of funds" at the PRF is as follows. "What a lot of nonsense. My dictionary defines 'misappropriation' this way: 'To appropriate dishonestly for one's own use'. .... As for 'lapse', the definition is: 'To deviate from a prescribed or accepted way'. Infelicity? Well that's just a lawyer's way of saying someone has acted not in accordance with the rule".
Williams bases her criticisms on the findings of the Director of Audits and Chartered Accountants Skeete & Boland. The two audit reports found, amongst other things, "that staff loans and advances were issued without the approval of the Board; that overpayment of staff was still outstanding; that not all assets purchased by the PRF were available during the physical count by the auditors, though they were subsequently made available; that fuel was being purchased with vouchers but no bills were being submitted to account for the quantity received; that an officer was being paid fixed mileage allowance; and that two members of the Board were paid stipends for the month of April although no Board meetings were held for that month". The Mirror reports this.
The Star does not carry the government's press release but instead carries an article based directly on the Skeete & Boland report. Besides a more detailed reiteration of the above-mentioned flaws as reported in The Mirror, The Star further adds the following. "There were no budgets in place for sub-projects implemented by the PRF. An amount of $648,415, representing 48% of total expenditure for the period, was spent on sub-projects, the main thrust of the PRF's activities. An assessment of most of the projects undertaken during the period were categorised as small capital projects. Road and drainage works, and building retaining walls. No evidence of the Board's explicit approval for any of the projects undertaken during the period were seen. In most cases auditors saw no evidence of cost estimates and details of the projects undertaken. In many instances auditors noted that payment vouchers were written without supporting invoicing or bills. Therefore Audit could not ascertain the validity of some of the expenditure".
The auditors also investigated the goings-on at the James Belgrave Enterprise Fund - a fund set up by minister of Finance Dr Anthony to function as an entity separate from the PRF. According to The Star, auditors Skeete & Bolland, in their report, state that they could find no policies or procedures under which the James Belgrave Enterprise (JBEF) Fund could operate. The Star reports: "Despite the situation where the JBEF appeared not to be under the jurisdiction of the Board of the PRF, the executive director of the PRF signed a contract of US$100,000 for consultancy services for JBEF and the Board of the PRF approved expenditure under the JBEF by signing a cheque for EC$81,552 as part payment under the contract. Auditors also noted that the contract value is a little under 50% of the value of the JBEF, which stood at EC$600,000 for the 1999/2000 financial year. Also noted by auditors was that the total amount of EC$600,000 was paid as an advance by the government to the PRF. By the end of October 1999 most of this amount was utilised for the PRF expenses. At the time of the report only US$30,000 has been paid under the contract of US$100,000".
The newspaper concurs, with Lorraine Williams, that "Whatever the prime minister might say, there was clearly misuse, abuse and misappropriation of funds".
The PRF was established in April 1998 by the new St. Lucia Labour Party government as a facility to provide basic human services, such as repairs to homes and small projects which would generate short-term employment for the poor and needy. The chairman and members of the Board of Directors are all appointed by government. Some weeks ago, the PM asked the Board of Directors, chaired by Elijah Greenidge, to resign. A new Board is now in place, chaired by trade unionist Lawrence Poyotte. According to The Mirror, Dr Anthony "announced that 'all the problems' identified in a report prepared by the Government's own Department of Audit at the request of the Prime Minister 'had been addressed and resolved'. ... The new Board, the Prime Minister said, was in the process of compiling a priority list of matters and measures in response to the recommendations by auditors and the need to tighten up the operations of the PRF. He believed that the PRF was well poised for the future since, according to Dr Anthony, the World Bank continued to be impressed with the concept and philosophy of the facility".
Meanwhile, observers in One Caribbean and The Star call for an investigation into the PRF akin to the Blom-Cooper inquiry, which was instigated by the new SLP government because of alleged 'public service delinquencies' under the previous United Workers Party administration. Sir Blom-Cooper concluded that there exists, in St. Lucia "a culture of studied indifference or, at the very least, inattention to the practice, even the concept of public accountability" [click here for the full report].
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Bishops at Jubilee 2000 speak out against death penalty
One of the outcomes of this week's 'Jubilee 2000' activities - a mass celebration by some 20,000 Catholics and other faithful held in St. Lucia - is a statement made by regional Roman Catholic Bishops to the effect that they wish to see the death penalty abolished. The Antilles Episcopal Conference met at the Mount of Prayer at Coubaril, earlier this week, as part of the Antilles Eucharistic Congress. Conferring about issues that affect the church and society, the Caribbean Bishops arrived at a united condemnation of capital punishment - despite the fact that there appears to be strong public support for the death penalty in many Caribbean islands.
"We see life as being of tremendous value", Archbishop Edgerton Clarke of Jamaica explains in this week's Mirror. "We are asking ourselves what is the motive behind [capital punishment]? Why are we so anxious to execute? Where is the whole sense of reconciliation, of trying to help the offender to redeem himself? ... You can execute somebody and later on discover that he or she is innocent. You talk about deterrence, but capital punishment is a violent act and we need to take all of that into consideration. Most people talk about justice but what they are really looking for is revenge. They say justice, but what is really justice? A life? ... What would Jesus do if he were here and called upon to make a judgement on some of the lives that are being executed?"
According to The Mirror, the Caribbean Bishops are expected to make statements on a number of other topics as well, before Jubilee 2000 comes to an end this Sunday with a mass celebration at Mindoo Philip Park.
Jubilee 2000 has attracted some 120 bishops from around the world, led by Pope John Paul's personal representative, His Eminence Cardinal Jose Rosalio Castillo Lara of Brazil. The Cardinal on Thursday blessed and laid the cornerstone for a new, three-floor science block to be built at St. Mary's College, later this year. Phase one of the project is expected to cost around EC$1 million. The money comes from a fund established in 1989 by the school's Old Boys Association, and currently stands at EC$1.3 million. The fund came under debate last year after money from it had been used on an unrelated project - something allegedly approved of by St. Lucia's Archbishop Kelvin Felix. The Star, Voice, Mirror and One Caribbean all carry articles regarding these issues.
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John Compton intervenes for Belle Fashions workers
Sir John Compton, former prime minister during the United Workers Party administration, twice made news headlines this week, first for having been asked by former Belle Fashions factory workers to negotiate on their behalf, and secondly for having been selected to head a team of Caricom observers to the parliamentary elections in Haiti, this Sunday 21st May.
Belle Fashions, a garment factory in Dennery, closed without warning over the Christmas holidays. Some four hundred workers received no payments in lieu of notice, severance pay or NIS contributions. According to a press release in The Star, Thursday Voice, Crusader and One Caribbean, Sir John has been communicating with the ministry of Labour and the National Development Corporation on the matter since January but, according to Sir John, "to date there has been no reply".
The Star, One Caribbean and the Thursday Voice all report on Sir John's chairmanship of the Caricom observation team to Haiti.
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Growing L'Express des Isles clamours for facilities
Allow Martiniquans to use an ID card instead of passports for short-term visits to St. Lucia, and build an appropriate reception area for the almost 60,000 persons who enter St. Lucia every year via the L'Express des Isles ferry. That was the message with which L'Express des Isles general manager Roland Bellemare and local representative Catherine Cooper took to the media this week. The Martinique-based ferry service saw the volume of its four-weekly services from St. Lucia to Martinique increase by 25 percent after the French administration abolished the visa requirements for short-term stay, two months ago. Conversely, however, the St. Lucian administration sometime last year reinforced the requirements demanded from Martiniquan visitors to St. Lucia. In the past, Martiniquans were allowed into the country if they could produce an ID card - something all Martiniquans have. Nowadays, however, St. Lucian immigration officers insist on seeing a passport - a document few Martiniquans possess since their ID card allows them entry into France and several European countries, and passports cost around EC$200. The same applies to many of the near half a million visitors who travel from Europe to Martinique every year, and who might also be enticed to spend a few days in neighbouring St. Lucia if entry regulations were less stringent.
"We are certain that if the passport restrictions are removed then the number of persons who travel from Martinique to St. Lucia will increase as dramatically as did the numbers from St. Lucia to Martinique", Roland Bellemare is quoted as saying in The Star. "We are hoping that the Government will help change the law books to help more Martiniquans and French people come here, especially since they spend more money in smaller St. Lucian businesses than some other types of tourists", Bellemare adds in The Mirror.
At the same time, L'Express des Isles is lobbying the minister of Tourism to put pressure on the St. Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA) to make haste with the construction of a small dock and arrivals/departure lounge, which would allow the ferry's passengers to be sheltered from sun and rain while they wait to go through customs and immigration. "We paid $2.5 million in passenger taxes alone in the last five year", Bellemare says in The Mirror, "and I think we can ask for this". According to the paper, L'Express des Isles brings in more people per boat trip than any one of the regional airline companies. The Star, asking SLASPA deputy general manager Michael Fedee for a response, reports however that the authority does not expect to be able to start building a facility for the ferry service until January 2001 at the earliest. Local representative Catherine Cooper states that her company is willing to wait, "but we want to feel that there is a sort of urgency and a concerted effort is being made to find a proper place to construct the facilities we need". The Thursday Voice also reports on the issue.
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Loans approved: three new schools in pipeline
The House of Assembly on Tuesday authorised government to borrow US$6.39 million from the Caribbean Development Bank, to build three more schools on the island: a new primary school at Union, a new technical vocational institute at Ciceron and expansion of the Vieux Fort Senior Primary School. The loan is part of the government's Basic Education Reform Project. The school at Union, with place for 1,050 students and to be the largest primary school on the island, is expected to relieve the pressure of the shift system at the Ave Maria and RC Boys schools in Castries. The vocational institute at Ciceron will accommodate 525 students, "especially those who are unable to gain entry into Sir Arthur Lewis Community College to pursue vocational training", writes The Mirror. Overall, the government's objective with the planned construction is to "increase access, quality and efficiency" of primary and senior primary education in Castries and Vieux Fort. The Star, Voice, One Caribbean and Mirror all report on this.
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Jazz 2000 makes way for new Carnival season
Although figures and post-mortems still have to be added up and executed, there is no doubt that the grand finale of Jazz 2000 at the Pigeon Island National Landmark was the biggest and best ever held in the festival's nine year existence. Last year, 6,000 people made their way to the Sunday spectacle. Preliminary estimates put this year's visitor total around the 10,000 mark. Minor grumbles about traffic jams aside, all newspaper reporters and all those interviewed agree that the performers at Jazz 2000 on Sunday gave the very best of themselves. By one o'clock, the Sunday session which was due to kick off at two, was already packed to capacity. Local all-female band Sisterhood "did St. Lucia proud", writes The Star, and Spyro Gyra, Hiroshima, an explicitly sensual Keith Sweat and, finally, main attraction Patti Labelle, brought the audience to their feet and close to ecstacy. All main newspapers on the island carry reviews and several photographs of the finale of Jazz 2000, which ended appropriately with colourful fireworks over Pigeon Island. Already, organisers are promising that the tenth edition of St. Lucia's enormously popular jazz festival, next year, will be even bigger and better than this year.
Meanwhile, the Carnival season is fast approaching, with several calypso tents coming on stream and Carnival Queen contests being announced. For a comprehensive programme, see [www.slucia.com/carnival.html]
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New Caribbean Freedom Party received with scepticism
The newly launched Caribbean Freedom Party (CFP), under the leadership of lawyer Martinus Francois, has announced that it is holding its first fundraising event this Saturday (20th May) on the William Peter Boulevard in Castries. Francois announced in The Star and Voice that during the event, party leaflets will be handed out and a new book, 'Reforming Government', which is also the party's manifesto, would be on sale.
Francois appeared on two DBS television talkshows this week, Wednesday's 'Newsmaker Live' with Timothy Poleon and Thursday's 'Talk' with Rick Wayne. On both occasions, Francois criticised the ruling St. Lucia Labour Party government for a lack of vision, but failed to satisfy questions from hosts and callers as to who exactly are affiliated with his party, and what his new party's main programme points are. Dissatisfied viewers called to tell Francois that he is "not ready yet". The party leader, in turn, told viewers that nobody can tell him how to run his party. He also asked to be given time to further develop the party, saying that over the past "weeks, months and years", the CFP had worked on developing its philosophical foundation and that this process had only been completed "in the last couple of days". He did disclose, however, that the CFP has so far had very encouraging support from "the youthful population" of St. Lucia and that it will "continue to grow".
In his statement to the press this week, Francois says: "This party is very different in many ways. We will move away from what we have seen so far regarding public meetings where we talk at people, and shout through loud speakers. We want to be able to talk to people on their level. ... The fact that the party has brought out its manifesto two years before elections highlights the difference between this party and the others. Our manifesto is creative, our policies are creative and the fact that we are coming out two years before elections is also very creative".
Francois, who twice in the past decades has launched new political parties, also announces that a CFP party convention will be held this August, where leadership and executive elections will be held. The vacant posts, says Francois, "will be advertised locally and through the Internet so that St. Lucians both home and abroad will be able to fill them".
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PM concerned about low minimum wages in factories
Prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony this week stated his government's commitment to upwardly adjusting the minimum wage limit. The PM made his statement following a two day visit to industrial estates in the south of the island, last Monday and Tuesday. The visit is described as "a success" in One Caribbean and The Voice. It is said that the PM was "impressed with some of the businesses" he visited, and felt "enlightened" by the activity. The PM was accompanied by officials from the National Development Corporation (NDC), including general manager Elizabeth Charles-Soomer. Besides touching upon the issue of low minimum wages, the PM also expressed some concern at the physical state of the buildings - all of which are supposed to be maintained by the NDC. On Friday of this week, the 26th of May, the Goods Distribution Freezone in Vieux Fort, next to Hewanorra Airport, will be officially opened. Enabling the importation of goods from the US and Europe for duty-free sale to consumers in St. Lucia and the sub-region, this is the first such facilty in the entire Eastern Caribbean. One Caribbean and The Voice both report on this.
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New faces at helm of local police force
Major changes in the Royal St. Lucia Police Force were announced in this week's Tuesday Voice and Star newspapers, where it is reported that as of 1st May, the Public Service Commission has either announced or approved the following appointments: Superintendent Joseph Francis to be Assistant Commissioner of Police for Operations, assisted by new appointee Superintendent Peter John. Assistant Superintendent (AS) Moses Charles to be Superintendent (second in command) for Community Relations and Training. AS Joseph Eugene to the post of Superintendent (second in command) for Discipline and Prosecution. AS Andre Cox to be Superintendent for the Marine Police Unit. JnBaptiste Robinson to be AS for the Complaints Unit. Inspector Ethelbert Edward to be AS in charge of the Central Police Station. Inspector Pancras Albert to be AS in charge of the Vieux Fort Police Station. Inspector Nicholson Alexis to be AS for the subdivision Gros Islet Police Station. Inspector Alphonse Francis to be AS for the subdivision Soufriere Police Station. Inspector Headen Lionel to be AS in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department at Police Headquarters. Inspector Winston Mitille to be AS (second in command) at the Police Marine Unit. Inspector George Deterville to be AS in charge of Special Branch. Inspector Vernon Francois to be AS in charge of the Police Training School. Inspector George Modeste to be AS in charge of the Traffic Department at Police Headquarters. Inspector Brian Jawahir to be acting AS in charge of the Special Services Unit (SSU), assisted by Inspector Alexander Blanchard, AS at the SSU.
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