|
Chaotic mini-bus strike leaves hundreds stranded
Ill-advised, disorganised, unjustified and chaotic - these are the unanimous judgements in the national press following a four-day-strike by mini-bus drivers. The strike started on Monday when drivers plying the Bexon-Castries route ceased work. By Tuesday, almost all drivers on the Gros Islet-Castries and Castries-Vieux Fort routes had joined in, causing severe traffic congestion in Castries where hundreds of commuters and students were left stranded, trying to hitch a ride with private vehicles.
Up until the last day of the strike, the precise reason for the action was still not clear - with different participants offering different arguments. Grievances ranged from anger over the increased cost of route bands (from $250 to $700); the continued presence of unauthorised operators ('pirates') on the various routes; a perceived lack of enforcement support from the police; a message from the Transport Office threatening those who have not paid their route fees with police action; bad road conditions in some rural areas; the absence of public facilities near the bus terminals; questions surrounding the legality of the National Council on Public Transportation, and a perceived lack of transparency surrounding the purchase of shares in a petrol station in the Bexon area. Some bus drivers, allegedly, did not work because of fear of intimidation. The Crusader reports on working drivers having been assaulted verbally and otherwise by striking colleagues.
The Mirror concludes that the strike "illustrates not just disorganisation of bus drivers, but of the transport system". According to the paper, neither the minibus associations, nor the National Council on Public Transportation (NCPT) authorised the action by bus drivers. The drivers elected Robertson Henry to represent them, but the NCPT claims that because Henry does not operate or own a minibus himself, he cannot speak on bus drivers' behalf. Henry, in turn, accuses the NCPT of being illegal because its executive ought to have been re-elected in November 1998 - something which has not happened. Robertson Henry has called on prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony to meet with the minibus drivers.
The Voice, in its editorial, condemns the action, calling it "a clear example of how not to use power and of what self employed workers ought not to do, in the first instance, when they have a justifiable grievance". Minibus drivers, the paper continues, "can bring a virtual halt to all commercial and public sector activity. Hence, it would seem ill-advised for them to strike without a clear and distinct objective and to do so in such a fragmentary way as to render their action ineffective and of no consequence. ... No evidence was presented by the strikers to show that they had exhausted all other avenues to find a peaceful and non-adversarial solution to their problems".
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
Rochamel, Club St. Lucia urged to pay bills
The Chamber of Commerce has written letters to Rochamel Development Company and Club St. Lucia requesting that these companies honour their financial obligations to the local business community. According to a government spokesman, some businesses are owed more than $20,000 and $50,000.
The Mirror states that at least a dozen business houses are suffering from the failure of Rochamel and Club St. Lucia to pay their bills. Rochamel is the foreign company involved in the construction of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Pigeon Island Causeway. According to a creditor quoted in The Mirror, Rochamel is being paid by Hyatt to construct the hotel but does not in turn use these monies to pay for the services and goods it purchases from local businesses.
Club St. Lucia - one of the largest hotels in the island - has recently gone into receivership [see last week's news]. The hotel is said to be in debt to the National Insurance Scheme and Inland Revenue Department to the tune of several million dollars. So far, Club St. Lucia has avoided closure but the company is said to owe one of its financiers, General Motors Finance Corporation, some US$20 million. The Mirror further reports that some of the local creditors are now seeking legal advice to see how Rochamel and Club St. Lucia could be forced to pay up.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
C&W chastised despite cutting local rates
Despite announcing that local calls will be cheaper as of the 1st of March, Cable and Wireless once again met with a stoically unimpressed Calixte George - minister of Communication and Works and chairman of the OECS Telecommunications Reform Committee. George told C&W's regional director Trevor Clarke and local general manager David Wright that the announced reductions do not go far enough to fully satisfy local consumers and government and, furthermore, that they must be seen "in the context of the excessive profits that the company has been making", particularly in the Caribbean. The Star writes this. At a press launching at the Royal St. Lucian hotel last Tuesday, minister George calculated that worldwide, on average, C&W makes a profit of 60.6 pounds sterling per customer per year. In the Caribbean, however, this rate is 228 pounds sterling per customer and in St. Lucia the rate is higher still, with C&W earning 387 pounds (or EC$1,700) per customer per year. "The concessions that we are getting are nowhere near where we have to go", George concluded.
The new rates mean that C&W will no longer charge local calls according to their duration but according to when the calls are made, and to which zone within the island. At the same time, the number of zones on the island will be reduced from eight to three. Currently, customers pay 27 cents per call within their zone, and 27 cents for each 90 seconds on a call to another zone. As of March, calls within any given zone will be 27 cents regardless of time of day or length of the call. Calls made to another zone will be charged at 75 cents during the day (8:00 am-6:00 pm), 60 cents during the evening, and 45 cents during weekends - regardless of duration.
According to C&W, the new rates mean a 68 percent reduction on a ten-minute call. In practice, it also means that the largest benefactors will be persons who spend relatively long periods of time on the phone.
Minister George also took C&W to task for continuing to divide the island into zones (so-called 'trunks'). "There is absolutely no technical reason or justification for trunk charges because the system is all automated and the calls are routed electronically. But it is a mechanism which has been in place to make more money, that is basically it, so it has persisted". The Star writes this. The Mirror adds that George further said that C&W continues to conduct its business in the smaller Caribbean islands with a colonial attitude. He attributes C&W's recent reductions in rates to increased pressure being applied to it by the OECS Telecommunications Reform Project which seeks to introduce competition within the local telecommunication markets. Finally, minister George also called upon C&W to reduce its rates for internet services and cellular phones. The Star, Voice and Mirror all report on the topic.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
Relocation plans for squatters made public
Squatters currently living in La Ressource, Derriere Morne, Shanty Town, Vieux Fort, Garrand, Des Barras, La Croix, Laborie, Ravine Poisson, Bexon and Piaye Village will be the first to be relocated under the government's latest initiative to deal with persons illegally occupying Crown lands: PROUD (Programme for the Regularisation of Unplanned Development). By giving squatters title to an allocated lot of land - albeit under certain conditions - the government hopes to free up valuable squatted Crown land for other forms of (economic) development. The PROUD programme was officially launched last Thursday. The Star reports this. Land will be allocated to the various squatter households according to a formula based on length and history of occupation. "Persons eligibly unemployed, senior citizens, welfare recipients and the infirm will be given 'lifetime enjoyment' of the land, which will revert to the Crown upon death of the occupier", The Star writes. "Households with a monthly income of less than $1500 will be entitled to purchase lands at a subsidised rate while a further discount will be given if the land has been occupied for 15 years or more. However, land will be sold at the market rate to persons with title to land elsewhere and where monthly income is in excess of $1500".
Furthermore, persons who purchase land at a reduced price, will be made to adhere to strict building codes and land use restrictions, and should they want to sell the land within the first seven years then the right of first refusal belongs with the Crown. Squatters will be relocated to Pomme Augier, St. Urbain, Aupicon, Pierrot, Cantonement, St. Judes, Coolie Town, Hope Estate, Bisee, Au Leon, La Perle Marigot, Conway, Sunbilt Morne Du Don, Anse Ger, Mabouya Valley, Dennery, Farmco Lands and Plateau. The Star is the only newspaper to report on the launch of PROUD.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
Apologies for phoney anti-environmentalist statement
An unauthorised press release faxed to national newspapers from the offices of the ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment this week created quite a stir because of its "scathing attack" on animal rights activists. This writes The Star. According to the statement, animal rights activists pressurise the government of St. Lucia "with the sole intent of creating scare tactics to our tourism and threatening that visitors would not come to St. Lucia because St. Lucia had reopened its turtle fishery".
The ministry of Agriculture came under national and regional attack in December after it lifted the four year-old moratorium on turtle fishing a period of one month.
The unauthorised press release further described members of the Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness as "non-belongers" who are, it claims, intent on enhancing their "income through perpetrating and encouraging negative reactions to government policy" and who wish to promote "cultural and moral issues which emanate from the developed world".
Permanent secretary Dr. James Fletcher, in a statement to the press, apologised for the unauthorised press release and distanced his ministry from its contents. "The ministry has launched an investigation into the identity of the author of the press release and the route through which it was released, and will take the necessary action to ensure that appropriate sanctions are applied", Fletcher writes. The Star and the Thursday Voice report this.
Meanwhile, the remains of a recently butchered leatherback turtle were found at Anse de Sable beach in Vieux Fort last Wednesday.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
Visitor harrassment under study
In a bid to curtail visitor harrassment, a consultant of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) visited St. Lucia this week to study the problems affecting visitors to the island and the measures employed to deal with these problems. Consultant Orville Durant spoke with officials from the National Conservation Authority (NCA), the Tourist Bureau, the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association, the police and local security firms. The investigation forms part of a Caribbean-wide study intended to heighten awareness for visitor safety, as well as to reinforce programs such as the beach ranger patrol that the NCA currently administers in St. Lucia. The Star and Voice report this.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
Record number of murder cases at Assizes
Twenty-seven cases are set down for hearing during the February Assizes, scheduled to open on Tuesday. The cases to be heard are eight murder cases (including one for double murder), one case of manslaughter, seven cases of grievous harm, three of stealing, three of causing death by dangerous driving, two of escaping lawful custody, two of unlawful carnal knowledge, one for rape, and one case of abetting to defraud by false pretence. According to The Mirror, it is a record to have eight murder cases being tried at one sitting of the High Court. Madam Justice Indra Hariprashad-Charles will take the bench.
Meanwhile, The Voice reports that the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has recently expanded its professional staff with the addition of two Crown Counsels and a deputy director. DPP Norton Jack calls the new additions "much-needed" and says that his office will now be better equipped to help with the training of police prosecutors, to provide investigative training for all police officers, and to enhance the prosecution of matters through the Magistrate's court.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
Overseas press to write about local investment climate
Overseas journalists from the Berliner Zeitung, Business Facilities Magazine, World Trade and the Atlantic Journal of Transportation are being hosted by the National Development Corporation (NDC) this weekend as part of a year-long external promotional campaign meant to put St. Lucia more prominently on the map of overseas investors. During their stay, the journalists are scheduled to discuss the island's business environment with Commerce minister Dr. Walter Francois, Public Utilities minister Calixte George and various tenants of the NDC. The journalists represent a cross-section of publications. Recognising the significance of third-party endorsements as a marketing strategy, the NDC will also use the published articles in a direct mailing program. The Voice reports this.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
UWP raises alert for Belle Fashions workers
The United Workers Party (UWP) this week called on the government to immediately ensure that Belle Fashions in Dennery does not ship any further factory equipment or materials out of St. Lucia, in case those assets have to be used by government to raise funds to ensure that all financial entitlements of the workers are met. Belle Fashions has not reopened for work after its Christmas break, leaving workers at a loss about their employment situation. In a release to the press, the UWP states that many of the employees of Belle Fashions "are women with financial commitments acquired over the years". The party therefore calls upon government "to make sure, even while discussions are proceeding with the owners of the company, that the legal rights of the workers are secured in the event of the closure of the factory". In particular, the UWP urges that the government ensures that in the event of lay-offs, adequate notice is given to the workers; that severance pay due to workers must be paid, and that all payments due by the company to the NIS have been paid up. The Thursday Voice reports this.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
Attempts to unify various banana partners
St. Lucia's ambassador to the UK Julian Hunte has been instructed by prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony to request a special meeting of the WIBDECO board to consider the request of the St. Lucia Banana Corporation (SLBC) to trade directly with Geest. On February 5th, the SLBC's contract with WIBDECO runs out. The SLBC announced earlier that it wants to cut out WIBDECO as a middleman and trade directly with Geest - the joint venture company owned by WIBDECO and an Irish company, Fyffes.
The St. Lucian banana industry has been plagued by infighting and controversy in recent weeks. The prime minister's instruction to ambassador Hunte came as the result of a debriefing held last Sunday between the PM, SLBC Board of Directors, the government's representative on the board of WIBDECO, ambassador Hunte and the minister and permanent secretary for Agriculture. The Thursday Voice writes this.
Meanwhile, both the United Workers Party (UWP) and the National Farmers Association (NFA) are calling on all parties involved in the banana industry to unite. The UWP calls on the government to "take the lead in ensuring that the arrangements for the transition to privatisation do not become a burden and deadweight on the farmers whom these very arrangements were intended to help".
The NFA reckons that "it would make more economical sense for the various banana companies to work together in obtaining a lucrative contract with WIBDECO or whichever company they choose to do business with. It is hoped that good sense will prevail among the various companies in trying to get the best possible return to the farmers". This is reported in The Mirror and the Tuesday Voice.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
Nature reserve and historical site at Fond d'Or
Work has started on the infrastructure of a Nature Reserve and Historical Site in the Fond d'Or area in Mabouya Valley, Dennery. The $75,000 Nature Centre is scheduled to open in February. According to consultant to the project, Gregor Williams, the site will cater primarily to school children, although there are also plans to turn the sugar mill area into a site for cultural activities and weddings. "The site has tremendous potential for tourist development, for recreational development, for educational development for the people of the valley, and it's going to be a nice surprise when people go there", Williams is quoted in the Tuesday Voice.
The project is being funded by the European Union, the Nature Heritage Tourism Programme and the Mabouya Valley Development Project. It is part of the St. Lucia Heritage Tourism Programme.
ñ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ...
|
