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Quotes:
"Morella's Umbrella"
Nickname for the new National Alliance for Unity, led by Dr Morella Joseph, George Odlum and Sir John Compton (Crusader, 26th May).
"Questions like, how many microwaves are in your house, how many cars does your family have. I mean all of that is personal. That's the only thing I didn't really like".
"They're asking quite a few impertinent questions, like what kind of metal do you use to cook, whether you have a washing machine or a microwave, whether you are in a common law relationship. All these things!"
Two people's impressions of Census 2001 (The Star, 26th May).
"The Alliance is sending the wrong message that things will get magically good with just the right men in place".
Letter to the Editor, criticizing what it claims is the National Alliance's tendency to promise "perpetual prosperity" instead of the "belt tightening and stoicism" required to weather the ups and down in the economic tide (The Star, 26th May).
"Kenny Who?"
Ascribed response by president George W. Bush to the news that he was supposed to meet with prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony during the Republican Youth Convention in Miami. Dr Anthony had been invited by a St. Lucian-born member of the Young Republicans' Association who subsequently failed to inform Dr. Anthony's delegation that president Bush would not attend after all (Crusader, 26th May).
"Meanwhile, the world famous wrestler The Rock will be at the Florida conference as advertised, and the PM will no doubt get some wrestling tips from him, which might serve him well in the forthcoming Armageddon elections".
Romanus Lansiquot on Dr. Anthony's failure to meet with president Bush at the Republican Youth Convention (Wednesday Star, 23rd May).
"A Castries man whose sudden attack of diarrhoea led him to a grapefruit harvesting, pleaded guilty to stealing when he appeared before Magistrate Fraser".
Tuesday Voice on case of a man who, after relieving himself in someone's yard, decided to steal some grapefruits (22nd May).
"Apart from anything else, this is a little casino on a little island. Why would anyone be interested?"
Dale McDaniel, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, on why a casino at the Hyatt won't attract corruption and organised crime to St. Lucia (The Star, 26th May).
"And that leaves us facing the reality that we are employing, in the Royal St. Lucia Police Force, individuals who are as criminally-minded as Sherlock Holmes' Dr. Moriarity, as well as being as stupidly inept as any one of the Three Stooges. Either way, our standards certainly need looking into".
Editorial on disappearance of $10,000 or $12,000 from the Gros Islet police station. The sum was replaced by counterfeit notes which ought to have been long since destroyed (Tuesday Voice, 22nd May).
"This was his first time, and it was supposed to have been a learning experience for him as he is one of the persons who we wanted to train to be able to conduct hikes along the new trail".
Forestry officer on the tour guide who got lost in the rainforest with a party of fifteen and allegedly panicked, leaving ten people to fend for themselves (Wednesday Star, 23rd May).
"We recognise that many people who are poor are people who are not educated and people who have not had the opportunity to be taught not to be poor".
Jon Odlum on government's plans to eliminate poverty in St. Lucia (Wednesday Star, 23rd May).
"All aimed at shifting the current 'par mele' culture, away from the situation whereby individuals see their vehicles as an extension of their virility and social status, and towards one which encourages a greater sense of social responsibility. ... In as much as it is welcomed, the Xavier family need not only our condolences, but also our commitment to ensuring that something like this does not happen again".
Wednesday Star on the need to increase road safety, following the death of three children of the Xavier family in Mon Repos (23rd May).
"The blood, sweat, toil and tears that go into what one German-Trinidadian called 'a grim determination to have fun', cannot be underestimated".
Description of carnival (Wednesday Star, 23rd May).
"His face twitched; his eyes rolled; his lips curled after each searching question. Long pauses and superficial grins, followed by the words, 'unfortunately...' preceded his responses or 'I am embarrassed to admit...' it was the police who were under investigation".
David Vitalis describing police commissionner Brian Bernard's TV appearance to explain the disappearance of $10,000 or $12,000 from Gros Islet police station (The Mirror, 25th May).
"Only this week, the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), meeting here, reaffirmed such confidence by approving large loans the bank's new president said he is sure St. Lucia was in a position to repay".
Press statement by the St. Lucia Labour Party on what it alleges is evidence of "continued progress in the economy". The SLP celebrates its fourth anniversary in office this week (The Voice, 26th May).
"By now, Saint Lucian managers must be getting tired of the call for increased productivity and higher levels of performance".
The Voice (26th May). |
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Fifteen lost overnight in rainforest
A badly signposted trail and the inexperience of a guide resulted in fifteen St. Lucian hikers spending a night in the rainforest, exposed to the elements and in uncomfortable and potentially dangerous conditions. The Department of Forestry, as the authority in charge of marking out the trail and training the guides, has accepted responsibility for the mishap - in which no one was injured - and offered its apologies to the hikers. The Star reports this.
The incident occurred last Sunday, when 45 persons set out on a trip organised by the St. Lucia National Trust to hike some ten miles from the Barre d'Isle, past Morne La Combe, south to Mahaut and the Troumassee River, near Micoud. The group set out fairly late, at 9:30, for what was expected to be a 7 to 8 hour hike through rough terrain and including a 1,000 feet climb up Morne La Combe. Before long, the group broke up into three parties, with a trainee-guide in charge of the middle section comprising 15 persons. One of the participants here was Magnus Alnebeck, manager of the Ladera Resort in Soufriere. Alnebeck told The Star: "At about 1:30 pm we made a wrong turn and followed some markers similar to the ones tied to the trees on the main trail. We followed the turn off to a very high ridge, got to the end and the trail stopped". The trainee-guide, said Alnebeck, "kept saying that he did not know the way. We were not told before that he was unfamiliar with the trail". Using a cell phone, the group contacted officers of the Department of Forestry who advised them to go down to the Troumassee River and follow it as far as possible. "By that time", recalled Alnebeck, "We were totally out of water so we filled our bottles. At about 6:30 pm I tried to get the group to stop walking and to set up camp. Our guide panicked and said there was no way that we could stay in the forest because it was too dangerous. He took off. I ran after him to get the cigarette lighter so we could use it to light a fire. He then left with four others and the rest of us remained by the river".
Alnebeck's group of ten ended up spending the night on a large rock in the middle of the river, to avoid possible encounters with snakes, but conditions were miserable. "We were huddled together, the ten of us. It was raining and cold. There was an elderly lady who I had to give my jacket to". According to The Star, "The fact that hikers were missing was not realised until [the last group of hikers] emerged from the forest about 9:45 pm".
The fifteen hikers who spent the night in the forest eventually found their way down to the Mahaut bridge the following morning, around 8:30, from where they were taken to Sadoo's gas station in Micoud for breakfast, and then back to Castries. Both the Forestry Department and the National Trust have expressed deep concern over the mishap, apologised to the participants and assured the public that nothing like this has ever happened before, and that all will be done to see that it does not re-occur. The Forestry Department has closed the trail until a rest hut is constructed, and an emergency escape route to communities in the valley completed. The wrong turn taken by Sunday's party was part of an older abandoned trail. The department has also promised to plan hikes in greater detail, and make sure that all guides used are adequately trained for the task. The National Trust organised a dinner party at 'Jambe de Bois' restaurant at Pigeon Island to apologise to the fifteen lost hikers.
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American administration pulls out of St. Jude's hospital
By July, St. Jude's Hospital in Vieux Fort will become a statutory body - in essence making it a government-run institution comparable to Victoria Hospital in Castries - now that the United States-based Mercy Hospital has that announced it will be no longer assist the Vieux Fort hospital. The Mirror reports this. In 1966, North American nuns of the Order of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother reinstated the abandoned World War Two hospital building for the benefit of residents in the south of St. Lucia. Although for much of its existence, St. Jude's Hospital was run at a financial loss, Catholic charitable organisations in the United States continued to support the project, with hundreds of mostly North American doctors, nurses and other medical staff volunteering their services over the years - some for just one or two weeks at a time, others remaining for as long as several years. Despite occasional clashes between foreign and local staff and ongoing financial difficulties, over the years, St. Jude's Hospital has enjoyed a relatively good reputation in terms of the health care provided. The Mirror does not state any particular reason for the decision by the Mercy Hospital to now severe its ties with the St. Lucian hospital. Quoting the current interim administrator, Bill Thaer, who succeeded administrator Kathy Comito some weeks ago, The Mirror reports that "Mercy is a big organisation and there are lots of other things that it needs to do". Thaer is further quoted as saying that "he is not aware of any problem between Mercy and the Government, or any major concern that had prevented it [Mercy] from managing the hospital in the way that it would like to". Thaer reportedly added: "We decided that it is time for the Government to create the type of structure that will enable the hospital to be managed without the assistance of Mercy Hospital".
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Expansion of Rodney Bay forges ahead at full speed
The expansion of the Rodney Bay area is going ahead at full speed on lands opposite the Marina, between Bonne Terre Road and Bella Rosa Road. By July, an area comprising thirteen acres will have been sub-divided into residential lots (at the back) and commercial properties at the front. The former will measure between 10,000 and 15,000 sq.ft. and the latter some 20,000 sq.ft. Deposits have already been received for all lots in the development. Zai Mohammed, general manager of the company involved, Rodney Bay Ltd., explains in The Star that the latest expansion is part of the masterplan for the development of Rodney Bay, and will become known as Rodney Commercial Boulevard and Rodney Residential Terraces. "It is not our intention to make Castries a ghost town but a lot of people have accused us of this", Mohammed is quoted as saying in The Star. "Our intention is to develop Rodney Bay as a hub where you can find everything you need. Employment in the north, ease of traffic congestion and bringing sub-government offices to Rodney Bay is hopefully where we are heading. We have had complaints that the Rodney Bay area is catering only for the tourists and the facilities and shop prices are too high for the working class. But I believe that the type of development we are doing will remedy that. What people can expect from the new commercial centre is more sustainable employment, first class service and comfort".
Soon after completion of Rodney Bay Commercial Boulevard and Rodney Bay Residential Terraces, writes The Star, Rodney Bay Ltd. expects to push ahead with the development of Rodney Estate: a 40-acre project in the vicinity of the Pigeon Island causeway.
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Martiniquan tourists hindered by immigration rules
Rain or shine, some seventy-thousand people every year continue to have to wait in cramped, unsheltered conditions, entering or leaving St. Lucia for Martinique on L'Express des Iles: the ferry service that is fast replacing airplanes as the favourite mode of transport between the neighbouring islands. While flights between St. Lucia and Martinique have been cut back, traffic between the islands is actually increasing, says L'Express des Iles owner/chairman Roland Belmar, according to The Mirror. In May of last year, Belmar and local agent Catherine Cooper (for Cox & Company) urged 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 arrival and 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 years", Belmar said in The Mirror of 20th May 2000, "and I think we can ask for this". Already lastyear, L'Express des Isles brought in more people per boat trip than any one of the regional airline companies. The Star reported at the time that SLASPA deputy general manager Michael Fedee did not expect that construction of a facility for the ferry service would start before January 2001. In response, Catherine Cooper stated 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".
Almost exactly one year later, the prospect of a decent facility for ferry passengers is no nearer, reports The Mirror. SLASPA has designated the southern docks, near Faux-a-Chaux for L'Express des Iles arrivals and departures but for that, banana-loading operations must first be transferred to Vieux Fort. Although this was scheduled to take place last month, reports The Mirror, no progress has yet been made.
Another issue that has been raised repeatedly by L'Express des Iles is the matter of the required documentation for Martiniquan travellers. Whereas last year, Martinique relaxed its visa restrictions for St. Lucians - resulting in a 30 percent jump in travel - St. Lucia still does not offer Martiniquans the same privilege. Instead, reported The Mirror in May 2000, the St. Lucian government at some stage in 1999 actually reinforced the requirements demanded from Martiniquan visitors to St. Lucia. Whereas in the past, Martiniquans were allowed into the country if they could produce an ID card - something all Martiniquans have - nowadays, St. Lucian immigration officers insist on seeing a passport. This, however, is a document which few Martiniquans possess since their ID card allows them entry into France and several European countries, while passports cost around EC$200. The same stumbling block continues to prevent many of the some half a million visitors who travel from Europe to Martinique every year from spending a few days in neighbouring St. Lucia as well. In this week's issue, The Mirror explains that a relaxation of passport requirements for Martiniquans and other French nationals will have to wait until the police reform process is finalised, by which time the Immigration Department is due to be run by civilians.
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Mindoo Phillip's mum 'Aunty Fi' scores a century
"She did it the hard way: no boundaries, no fours or sixes; no fast-running between the wickets, getting a two here, a three there. She got there one by one. And that's not easy". On Saturday 26th May, Martha 'Aunty Fi' Polius, celebrated her 100th birthday and to hear her life summed up in the words of her cricket-hero son, Francis 'Mindoo' Phillip, it has been quite a century. A single mother of seven children in what was then known as 'Monkey-Town' (Marchand), Aunty Fi earned a living as a washer-woman. Her sons Tony and Dennis reside overseas, in Trinidad and the U.K., but Francis 'Mindoo' and daughters Alexandrine, Madelaine, Anselma and Tonia all still live nearby in St. Lucia. A special church service was held on her birthday at the Marchand Church, followed by an official ceremony in the player's pavilion at Mindoo Philip Park. Relatives from as far away as the U.K., United States and French Guyana, as well as Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy are all expected to join in the celebration of Aunty Fi's century. The Voice and Mirror both report on the milestone.
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Police error causes case dismissal
A mistake made by an attending police officer may have been responsible for the dismissal of the preliminary enquiry against Lambert Soomer Jones, better known as singer 'Sky' of local band Amate. Last week the charge of having caused the death of 27-year-old Anthony John, in June of last year, by dangerous driving was dismissed. Marcus Foster, acting for Soomer, successfully argued that because the attending policeman had recorded the wrong vehicle number in his pocket notebook, and that since the original pocket book notes were not disclosed to him, this policeman ought not be allowed to give evidence in court relating to the accident. With no supporting witnesses, and the available evidence not being sufficiently strong to indicate dangerous driving, magistrate Frazer decided not to allow the case to proceed to the trial stage, and to grant lawyer Foster his no-case submission.
Shortly after the accident, Soomer had refused to provide the police with a urine or blood sample to test for drugs or alcohol, but when reminded of this by the prosecuting lawyer, magistrate Frazer replied that Jones had not been charged with anything relating to alcohol or drugs, and that it was within his right to refuse the tests. The St. Lucian police does not have breathalysers to test for alcohol levels, despite the high incidence of grave or fatal road accidents in which alcohol abuse is suspected.
Meanwhile, Leevie Herelle and Samuel Bowers, also in the Wednesday Star, clamour for stricter treatment of traffic offenders, in the aftermath of the deaths of three young brothers and sisters two weeks ago, who were hit by a car while waiting at the side of the road in Micoud. That driver has also been accused of causing death by dangerous driving. "There may be no formal statistics for St. Lucia, but anecdotal evidence does strongly suggest that alcohol plays a major part in the majority of traffic accidents", state Herelle and Bowers. "The police should therefore be sufficiently resourced so that individuals engaged in traffic violations can immediately be breathalysed and if found to be over the limit, suffer appropriate sanctions".
The Thursday Voice reports that the Trinidad and Tobago government this week announced "zero tolerance for traffic violations whatever their nature, more rigourous inspections of heavy-duty vehicles; and the most stringent requirements for the issuance and renewal of driving permits", following the death of six people in what prime minister Basdeo Panday described as an "horrendous accident".
Meanwhile, another man reportedly lost his life in a road accident in St. Lucia, last week.
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Civil servants fire warning shot over wage talks
The Civil Service Association (CSA) has issued a first warning to the government, saying that wage negotiations must get underway soon to replace the previous pay agreement, which expired on March 31st, since a delay "is not in the best interest of either party". The Wednesday Star reports this. President of the CSA, Terrence Leonard, said his union had been assured that government would initiate talks last month, but nothing has happened yet. "We know that retroactive pay does not come with interest and, of course, the worker will be at a loss", explains Leonard. "[A]lso any sudden big payout by the government would have big pressures on the fiscal situation of the country".
The Crusader, in its 'Queek-Quak' section, hints at a certain level of unrest among the civil servants following reports that the government recently used 15 million dollars that had been set aside for civil servants, to settle part of its debts with local business houses. "De Civil Servants ain't feeling so civil dese days after de Minister of Finance highjack dere fifteen million dollars to make opiage for the Private Sector".
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Barbados gets low-cost AIDS drugs for region
Ministers of Health within CARICOM are negotiating with pharmaceutical companies to attempt to substantially lower the cost of drugs used to treat HIV and AIDS patients in the region. The effort is spearheaded by Barbados minister Philip Goddard, who so far has managed to reduce the cost of treatment from US$1,300 per month to US$750 per year. "It would mean that generally speaking if we were to get in fact the drugs at this price our AIDS patients would be able to afford them, while some may require the assistance of governments to purchase these drugs", minister of Health in St. Lucia, Sarah Flood-Beaubrun says in the Wednesday Star. Recent reports indicate that rates of HIV infection and AIDS in the Caribbean are the second-highest in the world, ranking after sub-Saharan Africa.
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National Alliance adopts traditional UWP colours
The National Alliance (NAU) will contest the upcoming general election under the traditional colours of the United Workers Party (UWP) - red, green, gold and black - but will not use the party symbol of a flambeau (torch). This was decided at last Sunday's meeting of the UWP National Council at the Skyway Inn hotel in Vieux Fort. In what The Tuesday Voice describes as a "positive and enlightening" meeting, UWP stalwarts who had previously felt that their leader, Dr Morella Joseph, moved too fast in establishing an alliance with Sir John Compton, former Labour Party minister George Odlum and others to form the National Alliance for Unity, had their minds set at rest. "Better late than never" was the tenor of their eventual consent, writes Victor Marquis in the Tuesday Voice. Marquis further states: "Although there still remain some ancillary questions to be ironed out, such as the choice and selection of candidates in a number of constituencies (and in some of those, there seems to be considerable wrangling, jousting for position, difficult choices and hard decisions to be made ahead), it seems to be a fait accompli that the amalgamation of the UWP and the NA will go forward".
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Rastas convicted despite religious claims
In two separate court cases, two members of the Nayabingi Order - a Rastafarian congregation - were convicted and ordered to pay fines for possession of marijuana, or face prison sentences. Both men, in their defense, explained that they smoke the illegal drug as part of their religious sacrament. The Thursday Voice reports on both cases. In one, a Castries resident was found with $200 worth of marijuana in his pocket, and another $80,000 worth of marijuana at his home on Jn. Baptist Street. "When charged [X] said that he was a 'churchical' man, a member of the Nayabingy order and [that] the marijuana was an offering for the church and not for commercial purposes". In court, he further explained to the magistrate that the 25th of May is "Black Liberation Day" and that the marijuana "was set aside for the feast". The father of nine was fined $35,000 for the illegal possession of the large batch of marijuana (or nine months in jail), another $1,500 for illegal possession with intent to supply (or three months in jail), and $2,000 fine for the small packet of marijuana (or two months in jail), bringing the total to $38,500 in fines to be paid within three months, or fourteen months in jail.
Also fined was a Marchand man who had been arrested for having $40 worth of marijuana in his pocket. This man, too, in his defense said "that he is a 'churchical' man .. from the Nayabingy order. He said that he uses the weed as his daily sacrament". He was fined $1,000, to be paid within one month or else spend three months in prison.
In June of last year, the National Council for the Advancement of Rastafari (NCAR) took to the streets of Castries to clamour for the decriminalization of marijuana as a drug, to propagate the use of marijuana in industrial pursuits, and to defend the weed's use for social and spiritual purposes. The organization was met, however, with criticism from both within and outside.
Ras Peter 'Ipa' Isaac (a co-founder of the NCAR) in the Crusader at the time explained that instead of taking to the streets for the legalisation of marijuana, the NCAR should have approached the decriminalization of marijuana as a religious issue. Ras Ipa felt that the NCAR should explain the structure of the Rastafarian religion, what it believes in, and what it holds to be sacred - marijuana, amongst other things - rather than attempt to pressurize government into legalizing the use of marijuana across the board. If Rastas are to take to the streets, Ras Ipa said at the time, there are several other issues that deserve attention first, such as victimization of Rastas on the work floor and in prison, unemployment, poverty, education and family issues, as well as the need to push for Rastafarianism to be recognized as a religion.
More recently, in March of this year, Rastafarians incorporated the Iyanola Council for the Advancement of Rastafari Inc. (ICAR) and elected a general council and executive council to work on behalf of the Rastafari community in St. Lucia.
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Fadlien shows abstract expressionist work
Local artist Shallon Fadlien is showing her abstract expressionist art at the Alliance Francais at Pointe Seraphine from May 28th until June 11th. According to the Crusader, Fadlien - who is an art teacher at Castries Comprehensive - has developed her own unique style over the years, with arresting black and white sketches, as well as vibrantly colourful tableaus and collages. "More than visually stimulating, her work is emotionally charged, so much [so that] it has been known to generate intense debate". Fadlien is a former participant in the M&C Fine Arts Awards.
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