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Ban on turtle fishing lifted: protests vociferous

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HelenAir lays off 50 workers in scramble for survival

Black Week in Anse la Raye and Canaries

New banana shipping method successful

The long clean-up after Lenny

Extra police for Xmas season

Juke Bois radio shows to be pre-recorded

House of Assembly reads Trade Union bill

Public Notice re- Work Permits

Micoud man wins bronze in world culinary arts expo

SLP Market steps meeting

Condor to fly year round

US naturalisation process speeding up

THIS WEEK'S HEADLINES

Caribbean Week News
CANA News
Caribbean Newspapers

CANA Business
CANA Busine$$(Mag)


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GIS - Government Information Service

Full Text of Blom-Cooper inquiry report

"The Wrath of Hurricane  Lenny" - Photo Gallery .
CLICK HERE

HelenAir lays off 50 workers in scramble for survival

    Local airline company HelenAir this week laid off fifty employees in a desperate bid to resuscitate business and to consolidate gains made from its more lucrative charter business. Scheduled services to Barbados, Trinidad and Grenada have been dropped and only a mini-schedule featuring daily flights to and from Dominica and St. Vincent will be continued in addition to the charter business. All newspapers report extensively on the news.
    HelenAir has been making headlines for over three months, following the sacking of three senators who did not vote in support of a government bid to guarantee an EC$4 million loan to HelenAir. Furthermore, journalists have been placing question marks against minister Mario Michel's involvement with the airline, following contradictory statements regarding the precise timing of the termination of Michel's role as company secretary with HelenAir. In a statement to the press on Monday, HelenAir's marketing director Arthur Neptune blamed "adverse publicity, deliberate or otherwise" as a cause for the airline's failure, to date, to secure a loan - despite the EC$4 million government loan guarantee.
    Where the Tuesday Voice and The Mirror choose to print HelenAir's press release verbatim, The Crusader provides a comprehensive background to the airline company's history under a front page headline 'Is This the End for HelenAir?'. Having started in 1987 as a charter company, operating with no office and just one thousand dollars in the bank, directors Arthur Neptune, Joaquim Willie and Mario Reyes within ten years managed to build up a fleet of seven aircraft. A decision to switch from charters to scheduled flights, taken in 1997, however meant high investments in staff, re-training and equipment. In July of this year, financial help was needed, and sought, resulting in the infamous government guarantee. But, as said, up to now no local financial institution has been forthcoming with a loan and HelenAir "is teetering as never before on the brink of bankruptcy" - all according to The Crusader.
    The Star puts a different slant on HelenAir's press release announcing the temporary dismissal of fifty employees. According to The Star, "at least three of the 'laid-off' workers phoned the STAR on Thursday to say "this whole HelenAir thing is meant to bluff the press, We've been fired, period". The Star also reveals that, apparently, HelenAir recently lost four of its leased aircraft, and stands to lose another in mid-December.

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Black week in Anse la Raye and Canaries

    Seven persons were injured - two of them severely - when an Anse la Raye man took a cutlass to customers in a local restaurant on Mole Street on Thursday night. At about 11 pm, the 32-year old man allegedly attacked a number of persons on the roadside, and then entered the restaurant where he continued to slash indiscriminately at those present. He was finally disarmed by a passer-by.  Most of the victims sustained injuries to arms, legs, backs and heads. The assailant has no history of mental illness but he had been released from prison just earlier this year after serving two years for unlawful cultivation of marijuana.
    Only three years ago, two or three persons were killed in a similar incident in Anse la Raye. According to The Crusader, among last Thursday's victims is a tourist couple. The Voice opens its weekend edition with the attack, and the Star also mentions it.
    Meanwhile, The Mirror and Tuesday Voice both carry on their front pages the story of a 10-year-old Canaries boy who survived a fierce stabbing attack, last Saturday. The boy was cut repeatedly all over his body by his stepfather, a 25-year-old man of Canaries. According to the papers, the man could not cope with the fact that the boy's mother - his common-law wife - had left him. After having vented his rage on the boy on Saturday, the man committed suicide on Sunday.

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New banana shipping method successful

    Following the successful trial transport of two shipments of  bananas to the UK using containerised transport with the Maersk Line instead of the traditional means of shipment with Geest, the St. Lucia Banana Corporation (SLBC) intends to move ahead with this new form of banana transport. Most of all, SLBC officials say, containerised shipment of bananas "drastically reduced the incidence of pre-ripening which has been a major source of complaints from the industry's key players". The Crusader and Thursday Voice both report this. The trial shipment left Vieux Fort on 11th October, with bananas packed in two forty-foot cube containers. The shipment arrived in Felixstowe on 26th October and, from there, the containers were dispatched to Glasgow and Dewsbury. According to a report from Maersk, "We consider the trial to be a success and it has given us valuable information on how we can improve the operation even further". The Crusader and Thursday Voice report this.

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The long clean-up after Lenny

    Disaster relief efforts have sprung into action to deal with the consequences of the effects of hurricane Lenny, which passed in the northern Caribbean between Wednesday and Saturday, last week. Lenny caused serious and unexpected damage to the north and west of St. Lucia, washing away houses, boats, ramps, roads, beaches, jetties, trees and public facilities. Only the third hurricane to have started in the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and moved eastwards, Lenny surprised inhabitants of the leeward sides of the island chain. On Wednesday, the town of Soufriere was hit hard and again, on Saturday, Soufriere, Gros Islet and Rodney Bay sustained severe damage, caused by extremely high waves and gusts of wind. Government has set up the Soufriere Rehabilitation Fund and a EC$250,000 disaster fund. Donations for this can be made payable to the Office of the Accountant General.
    Damage in Soufriere, before the weekend, was estimated at EC$9 million. Seventy persons are reportedly still living in a shelter. After Saturday's onslaught, Gros Islet is estimated to have sustained another EC$1,868,000 of destruction. Bay Street and the sea wall will need to be reconstructed and damaged houses, the abattoir and a public laundry and the vegetable and fish market must be rebuilt. Also on Saturday, the already damaged vendors' market in Soufriere lost its roof.
    The Star quotes an officer of the Meterorological Office, who explains that "While high seas were expected with Hurricane Lenny, no one expected massive 20 ft waves this far away from the storm. ... Reasons for the unusually high seas included low atmospheric pressure, the very deep water of the Caribbean sea and the absence of large natural break waters such as coral reefs or large land masses, and the fact that the astonomical tides (influenced by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon) were rising" While there was little or no wind earlier in the week, the Meteorological Office recorded average sustained winds of 23 mph with gusts up to 40 mph over the weekend as Lenny shifted position".
    The Voice, Mirror and Star all carry photo reportages on the havoc wrought by Lenny
    [see also Kis Photo gallery].

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Extra police for Xmas season

    During the Christmas season, extra police officers will be put on duty to deal with an expected upsurge in crime. This announcement comes from Assistant Commissioner of Police Hemangild Francis. Earlier in the week, police had to deal with a masked robbery at the Castries branch of the National Farmers Association. Three men made away with three thousand dollars in cash and property.

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Juke Bois radio shows to be pre-recorded

    Popular Kweyol radio announcer Juke Bois (Sam Flood) will see his programme-making liberties seriously curtailed after a directive from the managing director of Helen Radio this week announced that, as of December 6th, the producer on duty will  have the final say in the content of Juke Bois' programmes. Also, Juke Bois' massively popular Saturday night programme will be dropped from Helen Radio's schedule.
    This is reported in The Mirror. Both Sam Flood and his collaborator Earl Huntley were notified of the changes in a letter signed by the managing director of Helen Radio, Linford Fevrier. Furthermore, the morning programme 'Leve Ste. Lucie' will no longer be allowed to carry any commentary which includes 'Pawole Juke Bois', and all evening programmes are to be pre-recorded daily under the guidance of a producer who will have the "absolute and final say over the content of the programme", according to Fevrier.
    All of Juke Bois' investigative pieces, too, must be pre-recorded and aired as a regular feature twice a week. The Kweyol phone-in part of the programme will also be aired twice a week - live - but again, the preceding hour will be pre-recorded. According to The Mirror,  Fevrier is curtailing Juke Bois' radio-making liberties to "allow for proper research and presentation", and "to take care of 'some serious concerns' which the Station had about the direction of the programming".
    Meanwhile, Sir John Compton in a letter to Linford Fevrier in which he congratulates the latter on his election as president of the Chamber of Commerce,  neverhteless also expresses concern with Fevrier's decision to curtail Juke Bois' radio presence, something which Compton deems "creeping censorship and an infringement of the public 'right to know'".

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House of Assembly reads Trade Union bill

    The House of Assembly is meeting this Tuesday (30th Nov.) at 10 am to discuss five bills for first reading. These include International Organisations and Overseas Countries (Immunities and Privileges) (amendment); National Honours and Awards; Copyright (amendment); Geographical Indications; and Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits.
    Another four bills are down for second reading. These are: International Banks; International Mutual Funds; Registration, Status and Recognition of Trade Unions and Employers Organisation; and Equality of Opportunity and Treatment in Employment and Occupation. This is reported in The Voice.

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The Voice and Star both carry the following public notice: Public Notice re- Work Permits.

    A committee has been formed to review the Legislation and Procedures relating to the operation of the work permit regime in St. Lucia and to advise Cabinet accordingly.
    The committee seeks comments from the General Public related to the above. All responses must be received no later than December 15, 1999, and should be addressed to:
    The Chairman
    Work Permit Review Committee
    PO Box 1020
    Castries, St. Lucia.

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Micoud man wins bronze in world culinary arts expo

    Cornelius Henry of Up the Line, Micoud, placed third in the prestigious Societe Culinaire Philantrophique Annual Salon culinary competition in New York City. Henry is a culinary arts major at the State University of New York at Delhi. He competed against professional chefs and other students in what is the world's largest freelance culinary arts exhibition. The Societe is the oldest association for cooks in the US.
    Henry won his bronze medal with a cold dish, Catskill Turkey Buffet Platter for six. "There are about 500 steps involved in preparing the entry", culinary instructor Tom Recinella commented about Henry's dish. "It is a very intense competition and the students were preparing for about five days". The Star reports this.

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SLP Market steps meeting

    The salaries review commission report, new developments in the tourism industry, proposed increases in water rates, the banana industry, recent disasters at Black Mallet and with hurricane Lenny, opportunities for the unemployed and the crisis in the new United Workers Party. These are the topics to be discussed at the Market steps on Thursday, from 7.30 pm at a meeting called by The St. Lucia Labour Party. The Star and Thursday Voice report this.
    At a closed meeting, last Sunday in Gros Islet, SLP delegates elected the following officers to serve on the National Executive for a one year-period: Thomas Walcott (chairman), Oswald Wilkinson (vice-chairman), Oliver Scott (Asst. general secretary), Henry Charles (public relations officer), Clarence Rambally (treasurer). The Crusader and Thursday Voice report this.

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 Condor to fly year round

    Condor Airlines will continue to fly from Frankfurt, Germany, into St. Lucia throughout the summer of next year. This was agreed this week by a delegation of tourism officials, including minister Philip Pierre, and Condor management during the World Travel Market, held in the United Kingdom. The WTM is one of the largest trade shows for the travel industry. The St. Lucia delegation also reached an agreement with Geest Industries for joint promotion of St. Lucia, and St. Lucian bananas, through a sweepstake promotion. Some of the prizes to be won in the sweepstake are trips to St. Lucia in the summertime. The Crusader, Star and Thursday Voice all report on this.

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US naturalisation process speeding up

    The process by which immigrants become citizens of the United States had greatly improved in the last year, according to new figures released by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Thanks to the improvement, waiting periods for Caribbean immigrants wishing to become US citizens have been siginifcantly reduced. This is reported in The Crusader.
    According to US Attorney General Janet Reno, in the fiscal year 1999, more than 1.2 million naturalisation applications were completed, as against 610,547 in 1998 - representing a 105 per cent increase.
    At the same time, the INS has managed to cut down the average length of time to process an application from 28 months to 12 months. Next year, this should be reduced even further, to six months.

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