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Quotes:
"'Ladies and gentlemen', said the evening's MC Isi Hall, 'please welcome the Prime Minister and Mrs Anthony'. The announcement went down like a pork chop at a Jewish wedding!"
Christine Larbey on the audience's disinterested response to the PM's presence at the Calypso Monarch finals (The Star 22nd July).
"It wasn't that her songs were works of literary art. Barbara Cadet, Boo, and even Marius Wilson's words had more depth. Neither was singing the best. Again TC Brown and Mary G have stronger professional voices. Her performance itself was not better than Invader's presentation of 'Guilty' nor Morgie's delivery of 'Massa Days Eh Done'. Yet for good old bang for your buck, Lady Spice was finger-licking, foot-stomping, tonsil-rattling, wood-in-the-shed, bumper-banging, naughty girl, damn-dot-com-good. Well done woman".
Lawson Calderon on this year's Calypso Monarch, Lady Spice (The Star 22nd July).
"One of the ways NDC informs squatters of their illegal acts is by spraying the words, 'SEE NDC' on their building. But some squatters ignore such instructions".
Kingsley Emmanuel on attempts by the National Development Corporation to stem the expansion of squatter communities in the south (The Mirror 21st July).
"'You next, you are a virgin', she exclaims, pointing towards a youngster".
Woman accosting a girl after Bisee residents on Thursday morning found dead sheep with deep puncture marks in their necks. Some claimed the animals were killed by vampires, others think dogs were the culprits (The Mirror 21st July).
"It is a truth that has been faced by Pelay, Invader, Educator, Pep and most severely by the crackhead Christ, Ashanti. It is one being learnt by last year's King, Bachelor. The mob will exalt you, lift you up high above them and then mash you down, cheering even more as they kick you on the floor".
Jason Sifflet predicting that next year, the audience will turn against Lady Spice - just because that is how the St. Lucian psyche works (The Mirror 21st July).
"When you think that Smart [Duah] might sue us for his wrongful imprisonment, and so many Lucians are wrongfully imprisoned with no one to sue on their behalf, you see the sense of stalling his refugee status issue until the statute of limitations passes on him being able to sue the Government".
Jason Sifflet speculating on why Smart Duah, the Nigerian who was unlawfully put in jail for 3.5 years, still awaits a decision on his refugee status (The Mirror 21st July).
"He said he will not be teaching people to fly high in the air and make loud noise like what is shown on television".
The Mirror on the goals of the senior instructor of the newly opened Wing Chun Martial Arts Academy in Vieux Fort (21st July).
"I wonder if it is fair to discuss freedom of expression and thought in a region where the immense majority of the people are either totally or functionally illiterate: it sounds like a cruel joke, but it is worse. Many people in the world not only lack freedom of thought but also the capacity to think".
Fidel Castro on the combined evils of illiteracy and the immense sums spent on commercial advertising (The Crusader 22nd July).
"Needless to say an endless line of men and women relieving themselves on the beach is not the view of the Pitons people expect to get when they visit St. Lucia".
Visiting yachtie's plea to build proper toilet and shower facilities for "the good people of Soufriere" (The Voice 22nd July).
"Politeness is the cheapest and often the best capital in the world. You can draw upon it in unlimited quantities. It pays a large interest and costs nothing".
(The Voice 22nd July).
"In fact, those teenage mothers are said to be very reckless and very often self-abuse the 'forbidden fruit', making it [a] useless organ in terms of its supposed elasticity and virginity at age 13. Incredible!"
Frank Girard in an article decrying the demise of teenage virginity (in girls) (The Voice 22nd July).
"I neither can, nor do I pretend to be completely accurate in matters of journalism much less in the more important points of language and manners, but at least, having shown my resolution to overlap whatever barriers the prudence of others has raised, I have been brief in noticing that which is more peculiar to myself. As vulgar as a journalist will allege sometimes, his toilsome and minute research must incapacitate him, compound his vocation, and revert it to that of a tale-teller".
Pat Brown confirming in the second sentence what he admits to in the first: a certain lack of accuracy in language (The Voice 22nd July). |
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Milestone: Fair Trade bananas enter UK market
The banana industries in St. Lucia and the other Windward islands passed an historic milestone last week when for the first time ever, three thousand boxes of bananas from St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Dominica entered the United Kingdom under the Fair Trade label. The inaugural shipment is described in The Voice and Crusader as "a major triumph" and comes at the conclusion of five years of intensive discussions between WINFA, WIBDECO, several banana associations and companies in the islands, the Fairtrade Foundation, UK Geest and various marketing agents and supermarket chains in the UK, including Sainsbury's. The talks were aimed at reaching an agreement under which the bananas could be shipped.
There are currently 377 farmers from fifteen farmers' groups in St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Dominica involved in growing bananas under the Fair Trade label. This label means that farmers produce their crops under more environmentally friendly conditions and use improved production practices. In return, under the Fair Trade agreement, they get 'a fair price for a fair job': a guaranteed minimum price which will not be below the farmgate cost of production, plus a collective social premium which can be invested in social projects. The Fair Trade movement attempts to eliminate the middlemen involved in bringing goods to the market, thereby maximising the profits returned to producers. Fair Trade Organizations also strive to educate consumers about the often hidden human costs of their "bargains".
In recent years, the whole concept of buying goods that are produced under the Fair Trade label has been gaining considerable support in Europe. Although it means that consumers pay a slightly higher price for these products, at the same time it allows them to have a clear conscience about the circumstances under which these goods have been produced. Already, more than five percent of total European sales come under the heading of Fair Trade, encompassing not only bananas but also coffee, tea, honey and several types of manufactured items. Besides the Caribbean, producers in Asia, Latin America and Africa are also benefitting from Fair Trade agreements - particularly women.
In January of this year, Fair Trade bananas were launched onto the UK market from non-Caribbean countries but market research reportedly revealed that British consumers continue to have a distinct preference for Caribbean (Fair Trade) bananas.
Besides The Crusader and The Voice, no other newspaper this week mentions this historic achievement in the island's long-suffering agricultural export industry.
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Minister grants Mountain Air Cargo new license
Mountain Air Cargo has been granted a one year-license to base a second and upgraded aircraft in St. Lucia, thereby helping to expand St. Lucia's capacity to transport mail and small packages in and out of the island. This was announced by minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Menissa Rambally and is reported in The Voice. Being a foreign-owned company, the granting of a license to Mountain Air Cargo raises the issue of the government's position when it comes to protecting local airline companies. The Voice quotes minister Rambally: "The government is committed to promoting the interest of locals, and I will be meeting very shortly with the local operators to see just how we can assist them in overcoming the challenges which this upgrade and expansion will pose. However, as a government, we could not simply bury our heads in the sand and permit stagnation to occur, simply for fear of competition. We owe it to the business community and the public in general to provide this country with the most reliable, efficient and expansive service possible. ... I do not believe that we should draw insular or territorial lines in this context".
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St. Lucia misses World Heritage site deadline
The St. Lucia World Heritage Committee has missed the June deadline for submitting their request to have the Pitons designated a World Heritage site. This means that instead of a decision this December on whether or not the Pitons will rank alongside attractions such as the Grand Canyon, Macchu Picchu and the Taj Mahal as a cultural or natural site of 'universal value', this decision will now not be taken until late next year. St. Lucia has been preparing a request to the UNESCO Committee for almost ten years now. According to the director of the National Trust, Giles Romulus, the latest delay is a result of the heavy workload of the officers involved in the project. Also, some of the consultations have not been completed. "Many other islands have tried to go for World Heritage designation and failed. Jamaica has tried, St. Kitts took quite a number of years and only last year were they successful. This is not something you just do in a quick amount of time", says Romulus in The Star. "We are still very committed. This is a dream that I have had for some time now and I will be very happy when we submit the document, but before that, we want to make sure it is the very best that we can submit".
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Alfred Harding's case to continue 31st July
The case of Alfred Harding versus Attorney General Petrus Compton will resume on Monday 31st July, before Madam Justice Hariprashad-Charles. The Star reports this. Harding, a Barbadian prisoner who has been convicted for illegal possession of a firearm and resisting arrest, was kept shackled and chained in a St. Lucian prison cell, in the area reserved for death row prisoners, continuously for a period of ten months and fifteen days [search news archives]. Recently, a constitutional motion was filed on his behalf by lawyer Martinus Francois. Francois and Harding also seek damages in the sum of $250,000. The minister of Legal Affairs, Velon John, and the prison superintendent in recent weeks defended the treatment of the Barbadian prisoner by claiming that he is an 'escape artist' and therefore a security risk.
Incidentally, there are no further reports in this week's papers regarding the disturbances that shook the island's sole male prison last week [see last week's news].
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Mirror bypasses issue of Shantytown squatting
The National Development Corporation's (NDC) concern about the problem of illegal squatting ('spontaneous settlement') on NDC lands in the Vieux Fort area is the topic of the front page article in The Mirror's southern section this week . However, the article does not address the status of a remedial plan that was to have gone into effect some time last December. Whilst lamenting the "rampant" squatting that allegedly takes place in Shantytown, Cantonement, La Ressource and Derriere Morne - all in the Vieux Fort area - reporter Kingsley Emmanuel fails to mention the fact that in 1999, plans were disclosed by the representative for Vieux Fort South, prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, which stated that hotel development would take place in the Shantytown area [see archive link], and that Shantytown households would receive legal title to a plot of land in the Cantonement area. At the time, it was also disclosed that the government would cover the cost of dismantling the Shantytown homes and transporting them to the new site.. Although preparations have allegedly started to put infrastructure in place at the Cantonement site, the Mirror article does not mention whether any other progress has been made in executing last year's promise to the people of Shantytown. Several months ago, local landowner Martin Devaux, claimed on a television news broadcast that the proposed hotel development for Vieux Fort had been aborted.
The Mirror article does however make mention of the Programme for the Regularisation of Unplanned Development (PROUD) which intends to regulate and alleviate the problem of squatting islandwide. PROUD is targetting, amongst others, the La Ressource and Derriere Morne areas.
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Hundreds of scouts meet in Vieux Fort
Hundreds of scouts from the Caribbean and as far away as Ireland are expected to congregate for a big jamboree in Vieux Fort this week, from Wednesday 26th July until the following Wednesday. The Mirror and Thursday Voice report this. During the jamboree, the Chief Commissioners of several Scout Associations in the Caribbean will conduct a special two-day seminar to discuss the development of scouting in the Caribbean under the theme 'Scouting: making it relevant and effective'. Ernest Hilaire, permanent secretary in the ministry of Education, Youth and Sports will open the conference which is being held at the Skyway Inn.
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House of Assembly and Senate meet this week
Both the House of Assembly and the Senate are due to meet this week. On Tuesday 25th July, the St. Lucia House of Assembly will be presented with six bills, four of which will go through all their stages. They are the Statutes (Amendment), the National Insurance Corporation, the Disaster Preparedness and Response, and Meteorology bills. Also at Tuesday's sitting, prime minister and minister of Finance Dr Kenny Anthony will lay the following reports: NIS annual report 1999, St. Lucia National Lotteries Authority annual report 1999, and financial statements for the year ended 31st March, 2000.
The St. Lucia Senate is set to meet on Friday 28th July. Among the bills for discussion are: Legal Profession, Land Acquisition (Amendment), Brewery (Amendment), and Companies and Intellectual Property (Registry). Furthermore, the leader of Government Business will lay the following reports: Audited report of the Poverty Reduction Fund, NIS annual report 1999, St. Lucia National Lotteries Authority annual report 1999 and financial statements for the year ended 31st March 2000. The sitting is expected to commence at 10:00 am. The Voice and Star report this.
Public call to clear the air on police brutality
Alleged police brutality once again features prominently in this week's issue of The Crusader, with one article telling of the experiences of a Castries man who, on two occasions, has allegedly been picked up by police and put in jail without good cause and without being charged. In the process, the man claims, he has been beaten up by a police officer and by fellow-prisoners and was robbed of seventy dollars. This money, he claims, was given by a prisoner to a police officer with the request that he buy chicken for the prisoners.
The same edition of The Crusader contains an open letter to the Commissioner of Police, written by Robertson Henry, in which Henry asks that the air be cleared "on the continuing acts of police brutality prevalent in the Force". The reason for this, writes Henry, is that "the public cannot continue to live in fear of both the criminal element and the police force".
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St. Lucian soccer teams in Canada raise profile
The St. Lucia Ambassadors Soccer Club was launched recently - the first-ever St. Lucian soccer club in Ottawa, Canada - in the presence of Winhall Joshua, St. Lucia's Consul-General in Canada, and Jean Francois Michel, minister at the OECS High Commission in Ottawa. Joshua, in his speech, hailed the St. Lucia Ambassadors Soccer Club as a reflection of the initative, drive, motivation and desire of St. Lucians in Canada to deepen their togetherness and, at the same time, heighten their profile in Canada. He also promised that the St. Lucia government would continue to assist the club, its players and supporters in every way possible. In their first match, the Ambassador Soccer Club drew four-all against Statistics Canada. The Consulate General also supports the Lucian Strikers Soccer Club in Toronto. The Voice reports this.
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OECS Chief Justice Denis Byron receives knighthood
Denis Byron, Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and formerly the High Court Judge in St. Lucia, was recently knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. The Star reports this. Byron, born 56 years ago in St. Kitts, gained fame when he presided over the Maurice Bishop murder trial in Grenada. During the knighting ceremony, the OECS Supreme Court Chief Justice was praised, amongst other things, for his vast knowledge of the law and brilliance, and for the role he plays in introducing new rules to the court and in modernising and upgrading the court system within the OECS.
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