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Quotes:
"For the New Year I want to stop drinking. I promised my girlfriend that I would stop last year but I didn't so I am going to surprise her".
Construction worker on his New Year's resolution (The Star, 30 Dec).
"'What the F###!' said Lady Spice. She dropped the mic and stamped off the stage".
Disappointed Lady Spice fan, relating how the Calypso Queen left the stage when, due to technical difficulties, her microphone cut out in mid-song (The Star, 30 Dec).
"Take HTS' Call Centre project. Here we have a local company led by some young people taking a major step into the future. The project will create some 700 jobs - not in a year's time, not in two years time, but next month, in January 2001. ... But hardly any of the mainstream media houses have seen it fit to give headline or feature status to this obviously significant and ongoing news item".
Earl Bousquet, PM's press secretary. His lament is followed by the (editor's?) remark: "[Could it be the media is waiting until there really is something to report? Other than promises, that is]". (The Star, 30 Dec).
"Make no mistake about it: Cable & Wireless needs St. Lucia just as much as St. Lucia needs an efficient and inexpensive provider of a telecom service".
Letter to the editor. C&W last week threatened that it might have to invite the government to buy it out, if C&W's position in a liberalized telecommunications market, after March 2001, is not soon clarified. C&W is a British-based multinational company (The Star, 30 Dec).
"As I travel up hill I wish to tell all the people of Desablon, Savann-an-Ho, La Guerre, Chicken Back Street that there is good news. Tell the World that Jesus Christ is amongst us and let us celebrate his presence offering peace and joy to all. The water and road situation, I'm sure, will be addressed soon".
Christmas message by Michael Gaspard, Parliamentary Representative for Castries North - West Babonneau (The Voice, 30 Dec).
"Tourism is often touted as our current Number One industry, as if indeed we also had dollar-producing number two and number three industries".
Lorraine Williams (The Star, 30 Dec).
"This cost factor, however, must be analyzed in view of the very large number of reported cases of thievery committed by those public phones, due to their continued malfunctioning, resulting in various acts of public vandalism - with good cause!"
Frank Girard, explaining how the frustrations induced by public phones allegedly 'stealing' consumers' coins leads to those phones being vandalized by the public, something which Girard concedes costs Cable & Wireless "a hefty sum annually" (The Voice, 30 Dec).
"Preparing for the arrival of twins is much like preparing for the arrival of just one baby, only more so".
The Voice, educational article on breastfeeding twins (30 Dec).
"Commercial products are available to make the faeces unpalatable".
Veterinarian Dr Fenton Thomas on how to prevent dogs from eating their own excrement (The Voice, 30 Dec).
"Some years ago I recall having supper at the home of one of Heinemann's editors, and he astonished me with the information that Sir Vidia Naipaul's publishers considered themselves lucky if they managed to sell four hundred copies of Naipaul's books in the West Indies. That, surely, must be the most embarrassing condemnation of our society".
Jacques Compton (One Caribbean, 30 Dec). |
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Emotional double funeral for Castries photographer
In an emotionally charged double funeral service at the Castries Cathedral, St. Lucians on Friday bade a final farewell to well-known photographer McNeil JnMarie (58) and his mother, who died within days of each other. McNeil JnMarie passed away on Sunday, December 24, just two days after learning that his mother had died in Canada, and after having suffered a prolonged illness himself. McNeill is remembered in The Voice as "an extremely quiet and unassuming man who, throughout his life, approached everything with an equanimity, calmness and tolerance which bordered on the remarkable. Blessed with a quiet good humour, he had that kind of personality which enabled him to regard all that went on around him in a lighthearted and easy-going manner, a rare quality in our time". JnMarie was well-known as a portrait photographer. He was his mother's only son.
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Objections to Noel Cadasse on Gaming Board
The appointment of senator Noel Cadasse to the post of chairman of the Gaming Control Commission has stirred up some controversy, with the opposition United Workers Party deeming the appointment "politically tainted" and demanding that the decision be revisited. Noel Cadasse, an insurance executive and former hotelier, is also a senator. It is reported, however, that he has resigned from that post in order to take up the chair of the Gaming Control Commission. But the UWP continues to express concern about Cadasse's appointment.
"The Chairman of the Gaming Control Commission must be seen as an individual who is impartial and has the confidence of the country", writes the UWP in a press release that is carried in The Voice. "We in St. Lucia are aware of Mr. Cadasse's role within the St. Lucia Labour Party. Mr. Cadasse is a senator of the ruling SLP government and an ardent supporter and member of the SLP. The Prime Minister preaches one thing and implements another. This appointment promotes political divisiveness ... We recommend the government seek for a retired judge or a retired senior civil servant".
The basis of the UWP's objections to Cadasse's appointment is supported by the editor of One Caribbean in a commentary headed 'More Jobs for More Boys'. "We do not for one moment suggest that Mr. Cadasse as Chairperson would or could be subject to any ministerial directives that would affect the independence of the Gaming Commission. We ourselves hold him in high regard. [But] As our Prime Minister has had occasion to say time and time again, particularly in relation to activities of government personnel, it is important that things not only be done properly, but they must be seen to be done properly". According to One Caribbean, Noel Cadasse "has been, for years, a member of the executive of the St. Lucia Labour Party and, if we are not mistaken, sometime Chairman of the Party. It is no secret that Mr. Cadasse has been anxious to serve as a Labour representative for the Anse-la-Raye constituency and actively sought the Party's nomination for the 1997 General Elections. Would these qualifications sound, to the ordinary man in the street, as the hallmarks of the required 'independence' judged necessary for the post? Give us a break, Dr. Anthony!"
Commenting on the UWP's objection to Cadasse's appointment, SLP public relations officer Henry Charles does not explicitly deny that Cadasse's appointment may have been (partly) based on partisanship. Instead, according to The Star, "Charles said that the UWP, when in power, had continually made appointments knowing the appointees would be loyal to the administration".
The newspaper also quotes Cadasse himself, as saying: "I have accepted the position and when I assume the post I can assure you that the Board will begin to work immediately to put in place the necessary institutional infrastructure needed to bring the gaming idea to fruition". The other two to four members of the committee will be named shortly, as will the name of a new senator to replace Cadasse.
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Hess Oil gives Lucelec discount on fuel
With the Lucelec Review Commission having drawn attention to the fact that electricity rates in St. Lucia are high partly because the rates that Hess Oil charges for fuel are relatively high, the oil company this week agreed to reduce the price per barrel by one US dollar. The price reduction will last for one year, from January 1st until December 31st, 2001. This is reported in The Voice. According to a letter from Hess' parent company, Amarada Hess Corporation, addressed to prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony, "Hess understands the burden that higher fuel costs have exerted on the people of St. Lucia. Consequently, I want to confirm now in writing that our company is offering a one dollar (US$1) per barrel temporary voluntary allowance on Gasoil sold to Lucelec for power generation". Recently, the government decided to allow the prices for fuel and cooking gas to be increased, due to rising oil prices at the world market. Lucelec passes on a surcharge to its customers for the fuel it uses to generate electricity.
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New Police Commissioner expected by February
For the second time this year, the issue of who will succeed retiring police commissioner Francis Nelson is rearing its head, with the same uncertainty still prevailing. Nelson was due to retire last July but was asked to hold on for an additional six months, "while Government scrambled for a replacement", as Micah George puts it in The Voice. No replacement was found at the time, however, and some commotion followed remarks allegedly made by minister of Legal Affairs Velon John last March, on the occasion of the appointment of Canadian Neil Parker as Deputy Commissioner, to the effect that no local policeman was "found fitting" to succeed Nelson. According to The Mirror of 17th March, minister John told media workers that "if local officers were not found fit to serve [as Commissioner], then obviously, the Canadian would be expected to fill the role". This was later repudiated by prime minster Dr Kenny Anthony, who in late June announced that no foreigner would head the Royal St. Lucia Police Force, that Parker would remain deputy commissioner, and that a St. Lucian would head the police force. The Voice reported at the time that the PM considered the lack of local successors a legacy of the past. "Over the past few years we never consciously developed on officer corps. Over the last few months we had to engage in some rapid promotions through the ranks to begin building an officer corps", the PM said last June. He added that he thought it necessary that the Royal Police Force be "overhauled".
This week, The Voice reports that although both locals and foreigners are invited to apply for the post of police commissioner, this is a technicality due to "the funding structure for that post. ... However, the decision to select someone to the post lies with the Prime Minister".
Francis Nelson will vacate his post as of January 31st, 2001, says The Voice.
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Christmas fire leaves 6 families homeless
Six Vieux Fort families spent a distraught Christmas after their homes were burnt to the ground in a fire that started on Christmas Eve at around 8:45 pm. An elderly couple, two young men, a family with three children, an elderly woman and a single man all lost their homes when the fire quickly spread through their wooden houses, located on Clarke Street and an alley leading westwards from there. The Voice reports this.
Donations in kind or money for the victims of the fire can be made to Hubert Pierre of the St. Lucia Red Cross, located at Vigie next to the playing field, tel. 452-5582.
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Velon John promises to battle police brutality
Police officers accused of brutality or other misconduct will be "vigorously investigated" and those found guilty will be dealt with "definitively and punitatively, but within the confines of the law". This promise came from minister of Legal Affairs Velon John who, for months, had chosen to remain silent on the subject, throughout a spate of incidents of alleged excessive use of force by police officers, such as was demonstrated by the police shootings of Paul Hamilton and Alfred Harding [search news archives].
But this week minister John finally spoke out on the issue - and he did so on the occasion of his Christmas message to the nation. According to transcripts of his message in The Voice and The Star, minister John promises St. Lucians that: "Acute attention will be focussed upon the reform process within the Royal St. Lucia Police Force and immediate measures will be taken to curtail the disturbing excesses of the police. ... We are receiving too many reports of police violence, police brutality, of conduct unbecoming [of] a police officer. That problem needs to be addressed quickly and definitively. If nothing is done, then that public confidence in the police, which is of vital importance for the essential integrity of that institution, will be subverted and thus exacerbate the situation of lawlessness and disorder in this country".
Velon John continued: "No man is above the law and on that premise, the police cannot be a law unto itself. And so, those few officers of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force who by their misconduct and unprofessionalism directly or indirectly bring this noble institution into disrepute, and by so doing, pose a grave danger to the society, must be dealt with definitively and punitively, but within the confines of the law". The minister goes on to urge members of the public "who happen to be a victim of, or a witness to, police brutality or misconduct, to report this matter to me and the Commissioner of Police. In this way, two files will be kept on the offending officers; and those matters will vigorously be investigated. If an Officer is corrupt, violent, arrogant, disrespectful, a pattern in short order will emerge which will lead to specific and conclusive actions of redress".
The minister implores people to make use his Crime Action Line (tel. 458-2880 - which now appears to be working again) or his personal fax (451-6506) - where concerns can be reported anonymously.
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Mandatory death sentence challenged in court
The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal is expected to rule within the next week or two on whether the mandatory death sentence that accompanies murder convictions is constitutional. The constitutionality of this sentence is being challenged by St. Lucian death row prisoner Peter Hughes and his Vincentian companion, Newton Spence. According to an article in The Star, Hughes and Spence first took their appeals to the Privy Council in the UK, but "the government of St. Lucia and St. Vincent asked the Privy Council to send the matter back to the Eastern Caribbean Court". This was done and Hughes and Spence's cases were heard by the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal earlier this month. They were represented by Dominica's constitutional lawyer, Anthony Astaphan. The Star reports that "Astaphan says that because of the importance of the case, whoever loses is expected to take [the case] back to the Privy Council".
The ultimate ruling on the issue of the constitutionality of the mandatory death sentence for murder "could have implications for the application of death penalty in the region", writes The Star.
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Promotion of horse racing off to a good start
A Day at the Races in St. Lucia may soon be more than the occasional New Year's horse racing event on an old runway or makeshift track - that is, if it is up to the members of the revamped St. Lucia Turf and Jockey Club. According to an article in The Star, the Turf and Jockey Club is set to bring horse racing in St. Lucia on a par with that in Trinidad, Barbados and Antigua: with proper race track facilities, appointed regulatory bodies to improve and maintain standards, and a good stock of stables, trainers, jockeys, dealers and craftsmen.
The promotion of horse racing in St. Lucia is being spearheaded by president George Long and public relations officer Thomas Trim - nephew of Renee Trim of Trim's National Riding Stable. In a concerted effort, the Turf and Jockey Club has been organising a series of races to try and awaken an interest in the sport. A first race, last month, drew "a huge crowd" despite rainy conditions which forced organisers to cancel two of the seven races. The next race is scheduled for January 2, at Trim's National Riding Stable at Cas-en-Bas, Gros Islet, from 1 pm onwards. Riders of some of the island's established riding schools are due to participate in this, as well as a number of individual horse owners. According to Thomas Trim, the prospects for horse racing in St. Lucia are "very encouraging", showing as it does the support of "various businesses, locals and tourists".
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