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Conservative wind blows through St. Mary's College

Former attorney-general Parry Husbands this week called for greater discipline at St. Mary's College - if necessary effected through highly conservative measures such as reverting to an all-male teaching staff, obtaining the services of a religious teaching order, and reintroduction of a system of school fees and screening of boys' parental homes. Husbands makes his plea in support of the school's principal, Fr. Linus Clovis, who earlier this week chided students who had not attended the blessing of the cornerstone of the new science block [see last week's news].
The students had been asked to attend the blessing ceremony but some failed to do so. This resulted in Fr. Clovis sending a letter to the parents of these students, in which he wrote that the child in question "belongs to that category of students who are bent on destroying the reputation and even the physical structure of the school. In the last five months the college has been subjected to six major acts of vandalism ... Your son/ward's refusal to give us moral support indicates to me that though he may not be directly involved in these activities, he is not opposed to them (Mt. 12:30), and consequently, he is unappreciative of the Lord's gift that has enabled him to attend St. Mary's College. His lack of support also indicates to me a mean spirited person who lacks even that most fundamental of social virtues called gratitude. I can well understand the Lord's grief that only one out of the ten lepers came back to give thanks for his healing. Fortunately for St. Mary's more than one student in ten came out to support us, unfortunately your son/ward was not one of them".
Although The Thursday Voice editorial judges that the letter "must have angered many a parent, and rightfully so", Fr. Clovis receives full support from Parry Husbands in the weekend edition of The Voice.
Husbands states that he is "appalled at the depth of indiscipline" at St. Mary's college - the island's first-ever secondary school which is attended by boys only. "This [indiscipline] must be arrested and the School regain its pristine standing in the Community", writes Husbands. The measures Husbands prescribes include a reduction of the school population, reversion to an all-male staff and attempts to obtain the services of a Teaching Order such as the Presentation Brothers "of yesteryear" - albeit with the provision that the headmaster must be a St. Lucian. Husbands also advocates that St. Mary's College "should revert to the status of an assisted school obtaining a grant from Government". This means that fees would have to be reintroduced to yield additional income. Currently, St. Mary's College selects its students on the basis of educational achievement. Husbands, mindful of this, adds: "Some arrangement could be made for a bright boy who is unable to pay fees; but I would take a hard look on this one for the poor who declare they have no money for fees are amongst the first to enter Mindoo Phillip Park for musical entertainment".
Finally, Husbands advocates "proper screening" of new entrants. "The parents must be interviewed. The criterion must not be success at the Common Entrance or any other test. So often one hears parents boast, 'Garçon mwen pass pour Collage'. The students should come from homes where there is love and discipline. Whilst I served as president of the Parent-Teachers Association I was firmly of the view that there were many boys who should not have been at the College. In every case the parents had no control over their children".

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Eucharistic Congress grand success but sparks debate

Although culminating with what was possibly one of the largest congregations of people ever recorded on the island, the Antilles Eucharistic Congress 'Jubilee 2000' also sparked a debate about the precise relationship between State and Church in St. Lucia. This follows a decision by the minister of Education, Mario Michel, to close all schools on the island for two days to accommodate the Congress.
"Is church dictating State Affairs', reads an article in The Star this week, and a letter published in both the Star and The Mirror similarly queries what it perceives to be as the Catholic church pulling "the strings of Government". Catholicism is still the predominant religion in St. Lucia, with the 1991 census indicating that 79 percent of the population identifies with this church - but other churches such as the 7th Day Adventists (6.5%) and Pentecostals (3%) have been attracting avid followings over the past years. "Would schools be closed if a major conference were taking place here, so members of the minority faith could participate?" asks The Star. According to permanent secretary Didacus Jules, the minister of Education "consulted with the other denominational schools asking them if there would be any objection to the closure of all schools in order to facilitate the full participation of teachers and students in the activity". According to Jules, there were no objections.
Sunday's meeting at the Mindoo Philip Park brought together thirty bishops and archbishops, 100 priests, some 1500 pilgrims from the 15 dioceses of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, and some 14,000 St. Lucians. The event is generally hailed in this week's issues of The Mirror and Star as having been an overwhelming success. The Star goes so far as to dub Mindoo Phillip Park 'The Cathedral of the Nation'.

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No support for ministers' $1,000,000+ backpay

There may be uncertainty surrounding the precise figures, but regardless of the various amounts suggested, there is not a word of support in this week's newspapers for the prospect of government ministers taking home gross salary backpay amounting to somewhere between $65,304 and $160,000 each. Last January, government ministers increased their salaries after a Salaries Review Commission recommended bringing the rewards for St. Lucian ministers in line with those of some of their colleagues in the wider Caribbean. This week, officials confirmed that at a recent cabinet meeting, the ministers decided to backdate this salary increase to January 1997. For the current ministers, this makes for a total of 31 months worth of backpay, the newspapers contend.
According to The Mirror, the new measure will cost the country an estimated one million dollars or more. The Crusader suggests that the backpay measure may cost St. Lucia as much as 3.5 million dollars in total. The Star estimates the total cost to be around the 2 million-dollar mark. In an advertisement in The Voice, paid for by a group calling itself 'The St. Lucia Association for Good Government', prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony is asked: "Is it fair to us as St. Lucians that in these days of depression and recession you and your cabinet should insist on taking the high salaries that you voted for yourselves in parliament? And backpay too?"
The advertisement then proceeds to detail the prime minister's salaries for 1999 and 2000, and the salaries of government ministers over those two years. According to these calculations, the PM in 1999 received $73,920 as basic salary, and $136,850 in 2000. He further received travel, housing and telephone allowances, and an entertainment allowance which remained the same ($21,600) for both periods. However, for 1999 the PM's 'constituency allowance' was $6,000 compared with $30,000 in 2000. This raises the PM's total gross salary from $101,520 in 1999, to $188,450 in 2000 - an increase, according to the advertisement, of 85.6 percent.
The calculations given for ministers are as follows. Basic salary: $60,480 in 1999 versus $93,141 in 2000. Travel allowance constant at $16,800. Telephone allowance was in 1999 paid for by government and in 2000 is limited to $2,500. Entertainment allowance for 1999 was $8,400, and in 2000 will be $17,997. An 'inconvenience allowance' did not exist in 1999 but is set for 2000 at $12,000. The constituency allowance has been raised from $6,000 to $30,000. The resulting totals see an increase in gross takings for ministers from $91,680 in 1999, to $172,438 in the year 2000 - an 88.1 percent increase. The advertisement concludes by asking why, given these figures, "you could only give Civil Servants 2 percent? And who are the Ministers who are so 'Inconvenienced' by the job that you have given them to want to ask for an inconvenience allowance?"
Figures quoted in The Crusader are at variance with the above, quoting annual salaries (including allowances) for ministers at $96,480 in the past, and $130,423 since the pay hike. The PM's salary has been increased from $121,932 to $150,535 annually, writes The Crusader.
The United Workers Party has condemned the backpay agreement as "totally unjustified and unjustifiable". The Voice, in its editorial writes: "Of all the debatable, some would say controversial, things that the Government of St. Lucia did, directly or through commissions, in its first three years in office, none is more controversial and stirs more emotional responses in certain sectors than the raising of salaries for Ministers. ... Interestingly enough, this increase was not based on Ministerial performance but on a political philosophy which tries hard to convince that the way to keep a Minister clean, a way to keep him from becoming corrupt or being influenced by financial or other considerations, is to pay him or her a high enough salary. ... It would not be too far-fetched then or overly critical for one to say that it is unconscionable for an employee, especially one of the people in a developing nation, to get a salary increase from $91,680 to $172,438 after one month of performance".
The Mirror, in its editorial, urges the PM and the ministers "not to proceed with this. We beg them, please, have a heart for the country at this critical time".
Salary increases for ministers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines recently provoked rioting and intense public unrest. This opposition movement was supported, ironically, by St. Lucia's prime minister. During the recent budget presentation, the PM announced that St. Lucia's economy has grown in 1999 by 3.1 percent. However, several (business) persons have since publicly questioned these figures, saying that they are instead experiencing a contraction of their cash flow.

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Dance Theatre Company debut 'heartwrenching victory'

The island's ten best dancers on Saturday night launched the National Dance Theatre Company with a performance at the Castries Comprehensive School Auditorium which led Mirror reporter Jason Sifflet to write: "It was a heartwrenching victory for them. To paraphrase one of them, they were the canvas. Their bodies were the pages and their movements were the words. Pictures cannot speak the thousand words per second that each and every one of them gave last Saturday night".
The National Dance Theatre Company is the brainchild of Christine Samuel and includes Darcel Frederick, Nicole Aubertin, Jenna Jolie, Tenniel Thomas, Germaine Alexander, Trevor King, Bert Wilfred, Claudie Pierre and Michelle Auguste. "Most of The Ten Best have been invited to join one of the best dance schools in the world, but without the funding support, or the prospect of a future in dance in their own home, they must opt to have a safety net career - teaching, business administration, clerical, marketing, information technology and fishing", writes The Mirror.

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Record ganja case dismissed, prosecution frustrated

Because the prosecution could not secure the services of a drug analyst in time, a $4.5 million marijuana case was dismissed this week and the three accused sent home. The Star reports this. During a raid at a house in Bois d'Orange on 18th March, police officers found a record amount of packaged marijuana valued at $4.5 million dollars [see news archives]. Two St. Lucians and a Colombian citizen were arrested and charged. The same day, a judge allowed the two St. Lucians bail at $30,000 while the Colombian remained in detention. According to The Star, the case was called before the court at least twice, but was twice adjourned after the Department of Public Prosecutions explained it did not yet have access to a drug analyst. Last Wednesday, police prosecutors sought yet another adjournment, explaining that they had finally found such an analyst but now needed a time to prepare a report. The magistrate, however, was not receptive to the argument and decided to dismiss the case for lack of evidence.
In response to the court decision, an anonymous police source is quoted in The Star as saying: "We are really fighting an uphill battle. We get no sympathy or cooperation. Not from the government, not from the courts and certainly not from the public who see us as totally incompetent, if not in cahoots with the crooks. ... Very often lawyers secure adjournments with no trouble whatever. Sometimes they claim they have not been properly briefed when in fact what they mean is that they have not yet been paid. But they get their adjournments. What does this kind of thing do for the image of the police and the administration of justice in St. Lucia?" The same person is also quoted as saying that hundreds of hours of police work have gone into the investigation of the case, "all for nothing".

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Jazz 2000 figures show record visitor arrivals

Preliminary estimates indicate that a record number of 11,044 persons visited St. Lucia this year especially to attend the Jazz Festival. Furthermore, a 36 percent increase in ticket revenue was achieved in comparison with last year, making Jazz 2000 the most successful so far in the festival's nine-year existence. This is revealed in a Tourist Board statement carried by all major papers. Of the 11,044 visitor arrivals, the largest share came from the Caribbean region (4,417), followed by the United States (3,227) and the UK (1,944). Only the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe showed a slight decrease in interest. Apart from being well-visited, the festival also received wide general acclaim, with many visitors saying the festival was the "best one yet". The 2001 Jazz Festival is scheduled for 4-13th May.

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Freedom Party rouses little interest in Boulevard

The launching of St. Lucia's latest political party, the Caribbean Freedom Party, did not go quite as well as its leader, lawyer Martinus Francois, had predicted [see last week's news]. According to The Star - incidentally the only newspaper to pay attention to the event - Saturday's fundraising event in the Boulevard in Castries was "a dismal failure" and "nothing more than an ad hoc get together of a few Rasta youths with Martinus Francois hovering in the background". Leaflets were handed out but no copies of the party's manifesto (a book entitled 'Reforming Government') were available for sale. A banner called for the liberation of black people, reports The Star. According to the newspaper, Francois himself made a late entry and disappeared early. He told the reporter however that: "This party is working towards a particular vision, and if anybody else has a plan regarding a third party they can go ahead and work towards their plan. We are drumming to a particular beat. As time goes by more people will get in tune with our melody".

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85% of kids under ten consume alcoholic drink

A survey conducted by students of the Sir Ira Simmons Secondary School shows that "an alarming number" of children under the age of 16 drink alcohol and smoke marijuana "in large quantities". It is further stated that as much as 85 percent of children under ten years of age consume Shandy - a soft drink that contains alcohol.
Although no more precise figures are supplied, the school's principal Ms. Pascal is quoted in The Voice as saying that the findings do not come as a surprise to her. "Ms. Pascal said that she has witnessed parents giving alcohol to babies in Shandy form, mothers packing Shandy in pre-schoolers' lunch boxes, and numerous young people walking into supermarkets and purchasing alcohol without any questions asked". According to the principal, one of the contributing factors in this abuse is the fact that "many adults sell alcohol to children without any thought" and that "there are smokers and drinkers on all street corners, and children frequent these corners regularly. Hem [hemp] is also being legally sold on all street corners and hem has the same effect as marijuana". The Voice reports this.
Lorraine Williams, in her weekly commentary printed in The Star, comes down hard on the nation's lackadaisical attitude with respect to alcohol abuse. "The hardly subtle suggestion is that you really can't call yourself a patriotic St. Lucian if you don't regularly fill up on the Spirit of St. Lucia". She also condemns the fact that alcohol-producing companies are widely engaged in sponsoring youth and sports events and are hailed as examples of profitable business ventures. Just weeks ago, the minister of Commerce showcased the Heineken brewery's financial success to demonstrate that manufacturing in St. Lucia is on the up. In St. Lucia, the Heineken brewery is the sole producer of Shandy. Says Williams: "The government cannot continue to encourage school sport that is sponsored by liquor companies who, in the scheme of things, have to be categorised as drug pushers. Ditto cigarette companies. ... We cannot usefully tell our kids they shouldn't be consuming certain beverages, that to do so is to court a kind of suicide, and then turn around and treat the producers of such beverages as saviours of our manufacturing sector".

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SLP celebrates election anniversary

The ruling St. Lucia Labour Party is celebrating the third anniversary of its election victory this Sunday with a party on Jn.Baptiste Street in Castries, where several Calypsonians and other local performers are set to make apperances. The meeting starts with a church service and addresses by the prime minister and other leaders of the SLP.
Meanwhile, Shelton Daniel was elected chairman of the Micoud North Constituency Group during the group's annual conference, last Saturday. Micoud North is the only constituency not in the hands of the governing SLP administration. The Star reports this.

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EC Express puts fire brigade on stand-by

The 9am EC Express flight from Barbados to GFL Charles airport last Tuesday morning called out the fire trucks - but nothing occurred to warrant the fire brigade's active help. The pilot of the EC Express aircraft in a statement in The Star explains that a warning light in the cockpit had indicated that there was a minor problem with the hydraulic system that controls the landing gear, and that it is standard procedure in such cases to warn the control tower. The airport authorities, in turn, are bound to place the fire service on standby. "It's a normal thing, and something that happens on a day to day basis at other airports", captain Bishop explains in The Star. The warning signal applied to the automatic landing system. The crew reverted to manual control of the system instead and landed without incident.

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Two students gain international acclaim for excellence

St. Lucian students are making headlines this week, as Janeka Simon earned one of four highly valued annual international scholarships to attend the US Coast Guard Academy, while Cornelius Henry, also of St. Lucia, was awarded the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellency at the Delhi campus of the State University of New York. Henry is a culinary arts major who last year made a name for himself by winning five medals in the American Culinary Federation competitions. The Star reports this.

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Pirate telephone service disabled

An illegal telecommunications provider whose operations bypassed those of Cable and Wireless (C&W) - thus also depriving the government of revenue - was shut down last week when police officers confiscated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment from rented space in the American Drywall building along the Castries-Gros Islet Highway. According to The Star, the company had been operating for three months and was headed by a foreign national, with a St. Lucian operating as front man and managing director. According to minister Calixte George, whose ministry cooperated with C&W in uncovering the scam, the illegal operation had obtained ten telephone lines from C&W with which they ran a call-back service via satellite, thus bypassing the normal system. The equipment used was apparently brought into St. Lucia secretly. According to The Star, the operation has "deprived the authorities of huge sums" of money.

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Bisee 12-year-old girl been missing for a week

A twelve year-old Bisee-girl has been missing since Saturday 20th May, around 8pm. Nyocha Nelson was staying at her grandmother's house who left her alone for about half an hour to run an errand. When she returned, Nyocha had disappeared. Nyocha is of dark complexion and has a slightly lighter birth mark on her left leg. She wears her hair in a single plait. She looks older than her age and measures five feet and three inches. Nyocha Nelson is a student of the Ave Maria Primary school. The Voice newspaper asks anyone with information about the girl's whereabouts to please call 451-7280 or 459-0508.

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St. Lucian returnees establish association

St. Lucians who have lived abroad for extensive periods of time but have since returned to their home island, have recently formed the St. Lucia International Association. Membership to the group is open to all returned St. Lucians, irrespective of where they have lived overseas. During the inaugural meeting, the following persons were elected onto the Board: Angus Philogene (chairman), Michael Augustine (vice-chairman), Kenneth Haywood (treasurer), Eugenia Philogene (secretary), Monica Logan (organising secretary and PR office), Willyana Nelson (welfare officer), and John Francis, Dominic Medar and Peter Cenac (trustees).
The St. Lucia International Association is non-political and aims to provide an avenue for the social, cultural and educational upliftment while participating in the improvement of the general St. Lucian community. The members meet once a month at the Castries Lions Club in Sans Soucis. The group intends to work closely with similar groups. For more info, call 452-0757.

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Entrepot Secondary wins Young Leaders award

The Entrepot Secondary School will be representing St. Lucia at the regional Caribbean Young Leaders contest to be held in Trinidad later this week. Last Monday, the Entrepot school beat the Choiseul Secondary School who, for two years in a row, has topped the Caribbean Young Leaders programme. The Young Leaders project is now in its third year and is sponsored in St. Lucia by the Caribbean Banking Corporation. Under the programme, form four students develop a project which helps them to learn leadership skills, team spirit, helpfulness and thrifty attitudes. At the end of the year, the various programmes are compared and the best ones rewarded. Entrepot won this year's award for establishing an 'emotional' bank account. Choiseul came second with a Peace Concert, and third in this year's contest was the Corinth Secondary school, whose students conducted research and compiled a report on St. Lucian Heroes. The Star reports this.

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Goods Distribution Freezone open for business

Almost one and a half years after construction commenced, the Eastern Caribbean's first Goods Distribution Free Zone (GDFZ), situated in Vieux Fort was officially opened this weekend. Encompassing a central administrative building plus eleven commercial blocks, the GDFZ will allow persons to receive goods from foreign markets such as the US or Europe, and subsequently make these available at duty free prices to customers from the region, including Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Guyana, Martinique and Guadeloupe. Entering and leaving the freezone is comparable to entering and leaving a country via an air or seaport. According to articles in The Star, Mirror and Crusader, "goods entering the GDFZ for commercial or operating purposes will be exempt from customs duties, taxes and related charges. Government places no quotas, restrictions or taxes on foreign exchange transactions taking place in the GDFZ". It is further stated that the main building houses "a travel agency, banking facilities, freight forwarding and customs administration".
Another press release states that "so far goods identified for sale at the GDFZ include clothing, electronics, jewellery, alcohol, books, perfumes, hardware, household items, ornamentals, car parts, toys and electrical fittings.
Vieux Fort was singled out for the GDFZ because of its seaport which can accommodate major international shipping lines, its nearby Hewanorra International Airport, and its generally good infrastructure in terms of roads and telecommunications. The GDFZ was constructed by the People's Republic of China, using local craftsmen. The complex was opened on Friday by the Vice Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Trade of China, His Excellency Sun Guangxiang.
The GDFZ will be managed by the Freezone Management Authority, with representatives of the National Development Corporation (NDC), the St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority, St. Lucia Marine Terminals Ltd, the Customs department and representatives of the private sector. Despite a familiarisation campaign, the GDFZ has not yet been overwhelmed with applications from entrepreneurs interested in operating there. More information can be obtained from the NDC's website, www.stluciandc.com or by e-mailing devcorp@candw.lc.

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Just one quarter of businesspersons return questionnaire

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