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Chaotic mini-bus strike leaves hundreds stranded

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Dennery fishing crew still missing at sea

Emergency blanket aerial spraying to curb leaf spot disease

Club St. Lucia placed under receivership but operations continue

SLBC-Geest deal disputed, clash over boxes: banana bickering continues

Fifteen top public servants risk fines and imprisonment

BA and AA cut back agents' rates - Virgin announces increase

New Tunnel Road to open next week

Regional Rastafarians to petition for legalisation of  ganjaa

LUCELEC much-maligned billing method under review

More remedial work in Black Mallet land slippage

Schools unite in observation of Culture of Peace

NCB shares up 20 percent since going public

New census in May; 500 trainees needed

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THIS WEEK'S HEADLINES

Casino Survey Report

Full Text of  Blom-Cooper inquiry report

"The Wrath of Hurricane  Lenny" - Photo Gallery .

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Quote:

    "Walcott's drama reveals a profound understanding of the plight of the black and poor and a determination to give a voice to the downtrodden. Yet, like Sir Arthur, he has never allowed himself to become so consumed with anger at the white world and its values so as to become distracted from his programme. He is a creative writer - this is his business and by remaining focussed on his programme he has given of his best and excelled".
    Travis Weekes (The Mirror) on the likeness between St. Lucian Nobel Prize laureates Derek Walcott and Sir Arthur Lewis.


Dennery fishing crew still missing at sea

    Three weeks after they went missing, three fishermen from the eastern village of Dennery have still not been found. The men left Laborie on board a 40 ft. fibreglass boat which had just been purchased and which they intended to deliver to Dennery. The purchaser of the boat, who had travelled to Laborie with the three, was not aboard the vessel for the return journey. Fishermen in Laborie confirm that the Dennery men did indeed set out from Laborie. The crew, captained by Robert Sealy, was also spotted in Vieux Fort, en route to Dennery. But once they entered the Atlantic Ocean, there were no further sightings of the boat and its crew. "The waves were very high and the wind was very strong" that day, witnesses agree. This is the first crew to have gone missing this year.
    The Fisheries Department calls on the public to alert them as soon as possible whenever a crew goes missing at sea. According to a spokesperson at the department, it is often informed only days later, which seriously hampers the effectiveness of sending out a search party.

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Emergency blanket aerial spraying to curb leaf spot disease

    Emergency blanket aerial spraying of banana fields is due to start any day, in an attempt to curb the alarming spread of leaf spot disease island-wide [see last week's news]. In doing this, the ministry of Agriculture makes use of a special statutory instrument that allows the minister to exercise these powers under the Plant Protection Act of 1998. This is reported in both the Tuesday Voice and the Star.
    Last week, the chairman of the St. Lucia Banana Corporation (SLBC), Patrick Joseph sounded the alarm bell, warning that due to prevailing weather conditions, the spread of leaf spot disease was fast spinning out of control. "If urgent action is not taken the situation will assume crisis proportions in the next four weeks", Joseph wrote in a letter to the minister of Agriculture. An SLBC official further added that as of Monday 17th January, fruit production levels would fall below projected levels since fields with leaf-spot infestation above a certain level must be cut back, lowering production levels for the ensuing thirteen weeks. The Eastern, South-western and West-central region appear to be the worst affected. The SLBC called on the government to step in, saying that it has shouldered the financial burden of providing crop protection since October 1998, incurring over EC$1.5 million in losses because of it.
    Other sources attribute the alarming increase in leaf spot disease to banana politics, namely an "impasse in the industry about who should be responsible for crop protection". The Star writes this. Whatever the reason, in the short term, the ministry of Agriculture will execute the emergency blanket aerial spraying. However, in the long term, the ministry has asked the St. Lucia Banana Industry Trust to assume responsibility for contracting services for adequate crop protection. Regular spraying of banana fields will be financed by introducing a banana aerial spraying levy.

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Club St. Lucia placed under receivership but operations continue

    Club St. Lucia intends to continue operating as usual despite having been placed under receivership following financial problems. Last week, Greenville Phillips was appointed to the position of receiver/manager. Bill Stewart, the original owner of Club St. Lucia, continues to act as consultant in the new management company. According to Greenville Phillips, it is not the intention to curtail the operations of the hotel nor to wind up the company but to restructure and improve the operations of Club St. Lucia. The Tuesday Voice reports this.

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SLBC-Geest deal disputed, clash over boxes: banana bickering continues

    Banana industry leaders once again clashed this week after the St. Lucia Banana Corporation (SLBC) announced on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with Geest to start selling bananas directly to that company as of 6th February - thus bypassing WIBDECO. SLBC top brass met with Geest representatives in London last week. But within 24 hours, WIBDECO countered the announcement, saying that no agreement yet exists between the SLBC and Geest. However, St. Lucia's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Julian Hunte, who attended the meetings, confirms that indeed an agreement does exist - albeit in principle - between the SLBC and Geest to start trading directly as of 6th February. "What is required is the formalities in terms of finalising it", Hunte told the Voice on Thursday.
    WIBDECO, together with Fyffes, is Geest's main shareholder. "As a private company, SLBC has a right to sell its bananas to whoever it wants, including Geest and Fyffes", WIBDECO's chief executive Bernard Cornibert told The Mirror. But in the Thursday Voice, Cornibert is quoted as saying that direct trading between the SLBC and Geest would be "foolish".
    As if that was not enough, the feud between the SLBC and WIBDECO became even more grim on Thursday, when SLBC chairman Patrick Joseph prevented the latest newcomer to the privatised banana industry, the Agricultural Commodities Trading Company (ACTCO) from shipping part of its first load of bananas because a number of boxes bore the imprint 'Supplied by SLBC'. In The Star newspaper, Patrick Joseph accuses ACTCO of doing what its other competitor, Tropical Quality Fruit Company (TQFC) has allegedly been doing for some time, that is "stealing our boxes to sell fruit to WIBDECO". Joseph is quoted as saying: "This is just another WIBDECO plot to weaken the SLBC. We had an agreement that WIBDECO would not purchase bananas from other companies in our boxes, but then again they have never adhered to any agreement they have had with us". ACTCO's general manager, Andrew Desir, was unavailable for comment but a WIBDECO director, in a reaction to The Voice, declared that he had spoken with Desir about the issue. "We hope the matter has been rectified... But next week we will find out". According to The Mirror, the WIBDECO director says that ACTCO knew from the start that it was not to ship its bananas in SLBC boxes but he suspects the mix-up may have occurred as a result of farmers moving between the various banana companies.
    Patrick Joseph is less forgiving, however. In The Star, the SLBC chairman not only blames WIBDECO but the government as well for the continued infighting in the island's main income-earning industry. "The government is to be blamed because they are the ones who privatised the industry and they did not put any regulations in place to direct the industry. While every other industry has rules to guide its behaviour, in the banana industry - which supports the economy - everyone can come in and do as they please", Joseph said. He explained that the SLBC has always provided farmers with boxes on credit - but is now finding that some farmers use the same boxes to sell to its competitors.
    News of the alleged deal between the SLBC and Geest "has sent shockwaves through the Windward Islands", writes the Mirror, "where SLBC's motives are being scrutinised and Patrick Joseph is widely seen as a maverick who could potentially destroy the industry he fights so hard for". The newspaper believes that the entry of ACTCO into the local market could cause more serious problems. So far, ACTCO reportedly has recruited 300 farmers and managed to ship 40 of the 100 tons it had expected to ship from Vieux Fort. The squabble over boxes on Thursday at the Castries docks prevented five pallets of fruit from being loaded.

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Fifteen top public servants risk fines and imprisonment

    Fifteen top-ranking government officials risk being fined up to $50,000 and five years imprisonment for failing to comply with the Integrity Commission Act which requires them to declare their income, assets and liabilities. The five-member commission that administers the Act this week completed its examination of declarations. The final deadline to do so was last October. The names of the fifteen defaulters are to be published in the Government Gazette which is due to come out in mid-February. All government ministers and most parliamentarians have already complied with the Act - 101 in all. The remaining fifteen defaulters are certain senators, chief technical officers and heads of department. The Act became law in May 1997 in an attempt to ensure the financial accountability and integrity of persons holding top positions in the public service. Both The Mirror and Voice report this on their front pages.

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BA and AA cut back agents' rates - Virgin announces increase

    After American Airlines cut back the commission it pays to local travel agents from 9% to 6%, British Airways is following suit. As a result, travel agents in St. Lucia see their real income reduced by almost one-third. Fears are that Air Jamaica, which has announced a similar measure for its agents in Jamaica, will do the same in other Caribbean islands in the foreseeable future. While AA's measure came into effect without any warning [see last week's news], BA's cut-back comes into effect as of March 1st. According to a spokesperson for BA, "the risk of remaining at our current commission rate, while our competitors operate at a lower cost of distribution, is simply too great for us to bear in the marketplace".
    Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic surprised both friend and foe by increasing the commissions it pays to travel agents from 9% to 10% for the duration of the month of March, "to show appreciation to travel agents for what they have done for the airline". The Voice reports this.
    Meanwhile, local travel agents are working hard to cope with the overall reduction in income. The president of the St. Lucia Travel Agents Association (SLTAA), Gerard Bergasse, is quoted in The Mirror as saying that travel agents are considering the implementation of a service fee. "We are providing unbiased expert advice to our customers and we feel they would be willing to contribute to that effort". The SLTAA has also obtained government support in its attempts to direct business away from BA and AA, towards indigenous and other regional carriers, and to help these to improve their schedules, routes and services. Furthermore, the government has agreed to re-consider the exclusivity of American Airlines' ground handling contract when this comes up for renewal.

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New Tunnel Road to open next week

    The ride to Castries will never be quite the same again after next week, when the Castries-Cul de Sac Highway, better known as the 'Tunnel Road'  officially opens for use. Twenty-five years of conceptualisation, three years of hard work and seventy-five million EC dollars were needed to create the 4.9 kilometers of road, including two tunnels - the first 100 meters and the second 150 meters long - bringing to an end the days when the only way in or out of Castries was over the steep, winding Morne roads with their 25 degree inclines. The highest gradient on the new tunnel road is 10 degrees. The new road is expected to reduce the number of accidents and improve the opportunities for development in the Cul de Sac Valley once additional flood protection works there are completed.
    The Voice dedicates its center spread to a history of the construction of the Cul de Sac Highway, showing photographs and a map of the work undertaken. The formal opening of the tunnel road is scheduled for 3:00 pm on Thursday 3th February. Unofficially, the Tunnel Road has been in use since December. The first accidents have already been reported.

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Regional Rastafarians to petition for legalisation of marijuana

    Rastafarians from St. Lucia and elsewhere in the Eastern Caribbean region are currently rallying to galvanise support for a regional demonstration to petition for the legalisation of marijuana. The demonstration is set to take place on 1st March. On that day, Rastafarians will march and offer petitions to various government leaders to press for the legalisation of ganja. Rastafarians consider marijuana a sacred herb. In addition to calling for the legalisation of ganja, Rastafarian organisations assembled regionally within the Eastern Caribbean Rastafari Organisation (ECRO) also intend to set up an education and awareness programme featuring panel discussions, public meetings and media events. Furthermore, ECRO intends to have the Rastafari Church registered in all countries of the sub-region by April of this year.
    In islands where no organised Rastafarian groups exist as yet, ECRO encourages local Rastas to unite. Meanwhile, existing groups such as the National Council for the Advancement of Rastafari in St. Lucia and the Barbados Rastafari Working Committee will attempt to register themselves as national umbrella organistions.
    This move by Rastafarians comes on the heels of 'Operation Weed-Easter', last December, when American troops (temporarily based in Vieux Fort) and Regional Security Officers cut down and destroyed tens of thousands of marijuana plants in St. Vincent.  While this military-style activity took place, Rastafarians from various Eastern Caribbean islands were congregating at the fifth summit of ECRO. St. Lucia was represented by Bongo Wisely Tafari and Ras Denis Elibox. The next ECRO summit is scheduled to take place in Dominica, from Thursday 27th April until Monday 1st May. The Mirror writes this.
    Every year, dozens of Rastafarians in the region are arrested, charged and punished for the illegal possession or use of marijuana.

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LUCELEC much-maligned billing method under review

    Long-standing and vociferous public indignation about the way in which St. Lucia Electricity Services Ltd (LUCELEC) conducts its billing is finally to be addressed. A three-man commission headed by prof. Ken Julien is currently working on an independent review of the operations of LUCELEC. But whereas minister of Communications and Public Utilities, Calixte George, has called for abolishment of the fuel surcharge in order to reduce the cost of electricity for consumers, the chairman of the review commission has refused to support the minister on that suggestion. Julien told journalists this week that his commission will be making recommendations about the structure for determining rates, but not will not recommend what those rates should be. For more than a decade, electricity rates have been determined on the basis of a mathematical formula which, writes The Mirror, "is too complex to be understood, and therefore remains largely a mystery. ... " And again: "Over the past three years or so, radio call-in programmes have been inundated with consumer complaints about the high cost of light bills and insufficient information from the Company on the subject. Even when there is an attempt at providing explanations, many people say they are difficult to understand". It is up to the Review Commission to now come up with a sound alternative.
    Following the commission's cue, LUCELEC's general manager, Bernard Theobalds, this week defended the existence of a fuel surcharge (instituted in the 1970s to insulate LUCELEC against the burden of high oil prices). Theobalds told reporters: "There is not a cent made in profit on fuel cost". The Mirror and the Tuesday Voice both report on the issue.

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More remedial work in Black Mallet land slippage

    Land slippage problems in Black Mallet and Maynard hill continue to demand attention, forcing the government to spend more money on remedial measures. Already, $1.2 million has been spent on disaster relief since the first signs of land slippage back in September of last year. Major de-watering works are set to start this week to prevent further disaster. This announcement came on Monday, after prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony led a delegation of specialists through the affected areas. A Trinidadian firm will be executing the de-watering operation. The PM also emphasised that: "Demolition of damaged houses must continue and clearing crews need to be hired for removing the huge amount of debris. I would also like to see a tree planting exercise to assist in soil stabilization and in beautifying the area". Meanwhile, a US$500,000 loan from the Caribbean Development Bank to finance the re-settlement of residents awaits approval by parliament. The Star, Crusader and Thursday Voice all carry a press release to this effect.

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Schools unite in observation of Culture of Peace

    Children and teachers in 35 schools island-wide are taking part in a special UNESCO programme to observe the International Year for the Culture of Peace. A jingle and debating competition, peace festival, and observation of world environment day are some of the activities scheduled to take place as part of the programme which was launched last Wednesday by the minister in charge of UNESCO affairs, Mario Michel. The Star reports on this. It quotes Michel as saying: "In recent years we have witnessed an increasing tendency to resort to violence in the settlement of conflict whether at the level of school, home or community. Issues of peace and tolerance are very important for our country and in particular non-violent modes of conflict resolution is absolutely essential, as is the promotion of international cooperation and understanding".

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NCB shares up 20 percent since going public

    Since going public on November 26th the of last year, the valkue of a share in the National Commercial Bank (NCB) has increased from $5.00 to $6.00 - meaning that initial investors have seen their stock purchases appreciate by about twenty percent in just a few months. So far, six trades have taken place with 2,700 shares changing hands. This is reported in The Crusader. The St. Lucia Development Bank acts as the official resale agent for NCB shares.

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New census in May; 500 trainees needed

    St. Lucia seems set to be subjected to a new census - probably in May of this year. Some five hundred persons will have to be trained as enumerators for the activity. According to the Thursday Voice, statisticians Caribbean-wide are in the process of drawing up plans for the introduction of a new, 'user-relevant' census. In St. Lucia, director of Statistics Edwin St. Catherine says the island is well-prepared to implement these new directives. Some of the new areas that will fall within the objectives of the May census are statistics relating to the environment, poverty, the availability and adequacy of health, education and other social services, drug abuse and the status of special groups in society such as children, the elderly, women and the disabled.

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