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Quotes:
"Last year the police trained 26 officers and lost 20. When the prime minister claims, as he did on Thursday evening, that the force comprises 766 he is not lying. Not really. But it would have been truer to say that the number included special police constables, with only a few weeks of training under their belts. A cut above police La Rose".
Rick Wayne on Dr Anthony's address to the nation on crime (The Star, 30th June).
"'I now want to outline specific measures that government will be immediately implementing to deal decisively with the situation', said the prime minister. 'We have directed the police to take back the streets'.
Cute, huh?"
Rick Wayne on Dr Anthony's address on crime (The Star, 30th June).
"Shamefully I find that the women are doing very well and holding their own. I mean it's not that I don't support the female calypsonians, but I would rather that a man win the crown".
Man commenting on calypso competition (The Star, 30th June).
"I hope she comes out with something new because that 'Lick me pan', I don't like that".
Woman commenting on Lady Spice's calypso (The Star, 30th June).
"He said further that there was no truth to the rumour that the Minister of Legal Affairs Velon John had seen JnPierre from the parliament window and had ordered his arrest because government was not going to put up with that sort of thing! 'There is absolutely no truth to it', he said. 'Absolutely none'."
Arresting police officer on the case of Laurent JnPierre who, dressed as a pregnant woman, on May 29th displayed a sign in Constitution Park with the words 'Labour Has Not Delivered' (The Star, 30th June).
"'I would like to have my mask back', he told authorities after the case was withdrawn. Police told him it could take 14 days, but he insisted that he needed his mask before Carnival".
The Mirror on masked protestor Laurent JnPierre after his court case was dismissed (29th June).
"In the case of HTS/Radio 100, a policy pattern has emerged over the past two years and now seems to be firmly in place. The reporter with responsibility for the station's newsroom has recently publicly stated it's [sic] policy of 'ignoring the Press Secretary'. In this particular case, only he knows what considerations have been allowed to overtake his professional responsibility to seek or ascertain the facts from the persons and institutions appointed to provide information to the press".
Press secretary Earl Bousquet (The Star, 30th June).
"But from childhood she was - and until I go to meet her in that big, busy mas' camp in the sky, she will always be - my friend Shirley. Bye girl!"
Victor Marquis commemorating the death of his carnival band buddy Shirley Prudent Leonce (The Voice, 30th June).
"I hope you will find your car there when you get back".
Magistrate to two men, both of whom he sent to jail for 18 months for stealing (amongst other things) two tyres for their car (Wednesday Star, 27th June).
"In my opinion, first of all, the police shouldn't have released the men just because their identity was mistaken".
Woman commenting on wrongful arrest of four men accused of having committed the armed robbery on a rumshop in Laborie, two weeks ago. The accused men's names were released and their faces shown on television before police realised their mistake. No further arrests have as yet been announced (One Caribbean, 30th June).
"I also want to warn anyone who is now engaged in criminal activity or even thinking about it, that law enforcement will be hard and uncompromising. The police will deal with you speedily and efficiently".
Prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony in his address to the nation on the crime situation (The Voice, 30th June).
"Is it true that the Car Park is digging financial blues, so Government is moving more government offices in there so that Government can pay back the NIS the loan money that the Car Park is supposed to pay? And is it true that means that Government is using your taxes to pay the NIS back for your pension funds that the NIS took and lend the Car Park, so you are paying twice?"
One Caribbean, 'Mr Editor are these ridiculous things true?' (30th June).
"The Alliance is not a political party, although it is rapidly assuming the shape of a political party. The UWP is not giving up its identity. It is joining together with the Alliance for this election. After the election, we might decide to stay with the Alliance, but we have the option to move on. The National Alliance doesn't mean the end of the party system or democracy. What it means is that everyone with the interest of St. Lucia at heart can participate in governance, without giving up their own identities".
Dr Morella Joseph, vice president of the new Alliance for Unity (The Mirror, 29th June).
"Magistrate Frazer asked [X] why he had escaped lawful custody months before. 'I didn't', [X] replied. 'I just walked out'."
Wednesday Star (27th June). |
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Organic banana production set to take off
With organically grown fruits and vegetables being the fastest growing retail sector in Europe, the Windward Islands Banana Exporting and Development Company (WIBDECO) has managed to secure EC$150 million from the European Union for the development of organic banana production in St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and Grenada. For some weeks now, government and industry officials in these islands have been discussing how to best make the organic programme work. The first move will be to set aside 150 acres of land in St. Lucia, Dominica and SVG dedicated solely to the organic production of bananas - for which a concession of EC$4.1 million will be made available. Meanwhile, Grenada can look forward to receiving EC$8.3 million for the development of 300 acres of organic bananas. The Star, Mirror and Voice all report this.
The idea that by entering the specialised organically-grown fruit market, the Windward Islands may be able to find a lucrative niche to replace the steadily declining 'normal' banana market, is not entirely new. In February of last year, The Mirror published an article based on the rumour that one of Britain's leading supermarkets, Sainsbury's, had chosen St. Lucia and Grenada to become its sole suppliers of organically grown tropical fruits within the next three years. It was also rumoured, at the time, that St. Lucia had offered four large farms to Sainsbury's, with a total area of between 120 and 160 acres, for the production of organically-grown bananas, mangoes, coconuts and passion fruit. Finally, the Mirror article held that small nation-states like St. Lucia ought to pay more attention to what is known as 'fair trade': an alternative trading system that can guarantee stable prices in an otherwise volatile world market by cutting out the intermediaries. Supermarket shelves in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe are allocating more and more shelf space to organically grown produce and products grown or manufactured under established 'fair trade' standards. Although generally somewhat more expensive than mass-produced items, consumer awareness of the conditions under which various goods are produced and traded is increasingly overriding purely price considerations.
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More intensive policing to stem crime surge
Increased police presence on the streets, expansion of the Rapid Response Unit, stiffer penalties for gun-related crimes, and a call for the public to more readily trust the police with information relating to criminal activity – these were the short-term solutions offered by prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony in an address to the nation on the crime situation in St. Lucia. In addition to these measures are two other plans, namely the development of a crime strategy with the help of the Washington-based organisation Police Executive Research Forum, and the calling of a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, this July, "specifically to debate the issue of crime and to engage all political parties and interest groups in deepening the solutions that we are going to implement against this scourge. This will be an historic meeting", said Dr Anthony.
The PM's speech started off by stating that the current upsurge in crime is "not an overnight event" but rather "the cumulative expression of that disrespect that has been allowed to fester for many years". He then went on to outline his administration's "record of investment" which, he said, is "more than any previous administration" has invested in law and order and justice in St. Lucia. He specifically mentioned the construction of a EC$40 million prison and the construction of a new police station in Marchand, plans to construct new stations in several other communities, as well as completed and ongoing repairs of police stations elsewhere in the country. Furthermore, said the PM, fifty new recruits have been drawn into the force, and 24 motorcycles and 21 vehicles procured. Comparing figures for the period June-December 2000, with those for January-June 2001, Dr Anthony contended that more drug-related arrests have been made, and more illicit drugs seized. "There is no valid reason therefore for any individual or organisation to keep promoting the view that our collective efforts to fight crime lack direction, or have been in vain", the PM added.
He then went on to outline his government's measures to fight crime. "We have directed the police to take back the streets", he announced - one of the measures being the deployment of the SSU in "trouble spots around the country". Secondly, said the PM, "I want to warn those persons who own illegal firearms that they will now face stiffer penalties when they are caught". Both fines and terms of imprisonment have been increased under the Firearms Act of 2001.
Thirdly, government is offering rewards (maximum EC$1,500) "to anyone who provides the police with information which results in the successful retrieval of an illegal firearm. This measure will come into effect immediately and will last for a period of six months after which it will be reviewed". Added to this is a repetition of the gun amnesty which the government tried shortly after coming into office in 1997 (which did not yield a great many illegal arms at the time but was yet deemed a success by minister of Legal Affairs Velon John). The owners of any illegal firearms handed in before August 31st to one of six designated high-ranking police officers, will not be prosecuted. Fifthly, Dr Anthony announced that Castries will receive two more Rapid Response Units - making for a total of three - and Soufriere and Vieux Fort will also receive one such unit each. Finally, saying that he realises that "the public is yet to fully trust the police with information", the PM announced the formation of a 24-hour Crime Stoppers Unit - a unit independent of the police force to which members of the public can report information on criminal activities or ongoing investigations twenty fours hours a day, seven days per week. Finishing off his address to the nation, Dr Anthony once again called on St. Lucians to obey the laws of the land - all laws, that is, and he warned the public that even violations of parking restrictions, traffic lights, noise regulations or use of violent and abusive language will from now on be strictly punished. "Fellow St. Lucians, I feel confident that with the measures I have announced, and with an intensification of police work, I can bid you a safe night, and look forward to calmer and more secure days ahead", the PM concluded his address. The Voice carries the full text of Dr Anthony's speech, while The Mirror - whose press deadline preceeded the speech - speculated on its content. The Star, in its commentary on the PM's address on crime, condemns it on its frontpage as "More Hot Air!" In a caustic article on pages 2 and 3, Rick Wayne reiterates a painful history of recent crimes, including crimes within the police force, that have not been solved or settled in court, and concludes that "Never mind our police taking back the country's streets, the vast majority of citizens would settle for just one night in bed free of worry! ... Did no one tell the prime minister the simple truth? That until citizens can be reasonably certain a tip-off was not the equivalent of firing a bullet into their own heads, there would be no confronting crime with a 'united force'." The solutions offered are nothing but old wine in new bags, is Wayne's conclusion, "just more hot air - little more".
Meanwhile, Victor Marquis in the Thursday Voice suggests - after an idea launched recently by prime minister Lester Bird of Antigua - that it would be a good idea for the islands of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to join their police forces into one regional force. "I can find hardly any negatives with it", writes Marquis. "We know that a huge chunk of the Police-Force-problems we are having here stems from the fact that everybody's somebody's brother, sister, cousin or aunt. It is rumoured that, not only are the members of the Force sometimes reluctant to arrest family members who have committed some crime, they actually warn them in advance, if other officers are dispatched to surprise and arrest them. Take away that slice of the Police-operations pie; let a large number of the officers serving here be from various other rslands, and I am strongly convinced that the level of police efficiency will shoot up like a rocket bound for outer space: something we are in dire need of, presently, right here in St. Lucia. Add to that the amount of invaluable experience of the way of life in other countries; of the police procedure methods practised elsewhere - add the boost for regional unity which this all represents, and you have an experiment which can do naught but be of benefit to us all. Lester Bird has an excellent suggestion here. Let's sit up and take a serious look at it".
[Full text of PM's speech]
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Health minister silent on future of St Jude Hospital
Although ostensibly refusing to inform the media on the issue, minister of Health Sarah Flood-Beaubrun has reportedly travelled to the United States to ask officials of the Mercy Hospital there to continue to run and manage St. Jude Hospital in Vieux Fort - at least for another couple of months. Mercy Hospital announced last May that it intended to withdraw completely from St. Jude Hospital as of this week, July 1st. As a result, St. Jude's would have to become a statutory body, thus in essence making it a government-run hospital comparable to Victoria Hospital in Castries. St. Jude Hospital in Vieux Fort has been managed by Americans since 1966, first by nuns of the Order of the Sorrowful Mother and, since 1993, by the Mercy Hospital. Volunteer doctors and nurses, mostly from the United States, have provided their services over the years, working alongside a core team of St. Lucian doctors and nurses.
The Star reports this week that "for several weeks", it has "tried unsuccessfully to get an update on the situation or a comment on government's plans for the future running of St. Jude. As has become the norm, the minister and the permanent secretary were always at a meeting or out of the office. Calls were not returned".
The most recent news, according to The Star, dates back "several weeks", when parliamentary secretary in the ministry of Health Michael Gaspard, was reported as saying that minister Flood-Beaubrun had asked Mercy Hospital for an extension. On the question as to how much more time the government was asking for, Gaspard replied: "Probably another year". The Star adds to this that: "There are fears in some quarters that if the government takes over the management of St. Jude the quality of care at the hospital will be diminished".
None of the other newspapers report on what is happening with the hospital's management now that the official deadline has been reached, although several carry articles on a recently held annual fund raising dinner organised by the Friends of St. Jude's Hospital, where Michael Gaspard was one of the speakers.
Meanwhile, press secretary Earl Bousquet, in the Wednesday Star, dedicates half a page to what he claims are the "positive and progressive" changes made over the past four years in the quality of health care in St. Lucia. Within the restrictions posed by the old buildings of Victoria Hospital and Golden Hope Mental Hospital, says Bousquet, "the vast majority" of patients award the delivery of health services "top marks", "especially those there at this point in time".
Even so, writes Bousquet, government is set to spend EC$40 million on the construction of a new hospital somewhere along the Millenium Highway. But Bousquet, too, avoids mention of the future of St. Jude Hospital in Vieux Fort. "While plans for the new hospital continue to take shape, improvements are also underway at the other hospitals around the island. St. Jude at Vieux Fort offers some specialised services. We also have the complementary quality services offered by the private Tapion Hospital ... So, things aren't as bad as some would have us believe", concludes Bousquet. If anything, the press secretary argues, "a rich industrialised country like Britain" could take a page out of St. Lucia's book when it comes to the speed with which patients are admitted to hospital.
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Calypso and Soca competitions heating up
The Calypso and Soca Monarch competitions are heating up, despite earlier reports that the quality of lyrical content and musical delivery lags behind that of the past two years. Eighteen calypsonians have gone through to the semi-finals scheduled for Sunday 1st of July and another twenty will compete for the Soca Monarch crown in the finals on July 14th. There are six women competitors for the Soca Monarch title, and five for the Calypso Crown. Walleigh, Nadiege, Alpha and Struggler (take Over Tent), Mahandra and Lord Believe Me (South Tent), Bachelor, Morgie, Robbie, Pelay, Lady Leen, T.C. Brown and Solange (Ambassador's Tent) and Educator, Juliana, Invader, Chippy and Mary G (Soca Village Inc.) are doing battle on Sunday to be among the last nine who will vie in the finals for Lady Spice's Calypso Crown.
In the Soca Monarch competition - the more upbeat sister of calypso - women also make up about one-third of the field of contestants, with Lady Spice, Singing Cynty, Mary G, Lady Leen and Black Pearl encountering Lord Believe Me, Prosper, Dycer Fontelio, Duval, Journalist, Invader, Yardy, Educator, Super Sweet, Bobby Fresh, Oba, T.C. Brown, Bachelor and Si. Last year, US-based Rootsy won the coveted Soca Monarch title with the fast-paced song 'Hilary'.
Both The Mirror and Wednesday Star carry in-depth articles on this year's calypso season, analysing the trends in lyrical content and describing audience response to the various performances last weekend.
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Masked protestor sees charges dropped in court
Lone protestor Laurent JnPierre, who was arrested by police on May 29th while peacefully demonstrating in front of the House of Assembly dressed as a pregnant women, wearing a carnival mask and carrying a placard with the words 'Labour Has Not Delivered', saw charges against him dropped this week. After his case was moved from one court to another for some weeks, last Thursday, his lawyer Colin Foster managed to convince magiistrate Horace Frazer and the police prosecutor that the charges of 'wearing a mask' and 'resisting arrest' were unfounded and in conflict with the constitution, which allows for freedom of expression. JnPierre, who at the time explained that his protest was prompted by his disappointment in the government's failure to help him obtain a scholarship to finish his Master's degree in Ethnobotany at the University of Kent in Canterbury, called last Thursday's dismissal of the charges "a victory for democracy and human tights, and freedom of expression. I hope it sets a precedent that people have the courage and boldness to stand up for what they believe in within the ambit of the law". Asked by The Star if he would stage his protest again, he reportedly answered, "Of course. I retain the right to freedom of expression. To express myself as a citizen in whatever satire I like. I think they were too insensitive - showing their intolerance. They were embarrassed. ... The prosecution realised from day one that there was nothing to it. It was just a lot of cane fire. They blazed and banged. They just flowered and died. Really and truly they wasted my time. They wasted the public money and they wasted the court's time". The Mirror and One Caribbean also report on the matter.
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Perfect success rate for local ballet students
All eighty-four candidates from the St. Lucia School of Ballet who took the 2001 Royal Academy of Dancing Classical Ballet Examinations received passes, with New Zealand examiner Lynn Richardson saying she was "impressed with the technical prowess of the students". The students are aged between five and fifteen. Their success will be celebrated on Saturday July 14th at a ceremony during which they will be presented with their certificates and awards, and a short recital called 'She, a prelude'. The Star reports this.
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House of Assembly passes law for NCB/SLDB merger
The House of Assembly on Tuesday passed the Companies Amendment Act 2001 which makes possible the merger between the National Commercial Bank (NCB) and the St. Lucia Development Bank (SLDB) to form the Bank of St. Lucia. Also passed was legislation to permit and establish the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE), which will facilitate the buying and selling of financial products within the member states of the OECS - including corporate stocks and bonds and government securities. The Star, Voice and One Caribbean report this. According to prime minister and minister of Finance Dr Kenny Anthony, passage of the latter bill is important in that it provides companies in St. Lucia with a chance to source funding on the regional market. A third bill that was passed was the Registered Agent and Trustee Licensing Amendment Act 2001. Up for first reading was the National Development Corporation Bill.
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Summer Safari heads for ninth session
The St. Lucia Natonal Trust has begun registration for its Summer Safari Programme, which will run from July 23rd to August 3rd under the theme 'We are losing ground'. Castries, Soufriere and Vieux Fort have been chosen as the three venues for this year's two-week environmental project which exposes 7 to 12-year-olds to lectures, field trips, case studies, video presentations, social interaction and cultural expression,. Prime issues are the effects of coastal and soil erosion, mass wasting and siltation of rivers and water ways. This is the ninth year that the National Trust will be running this popular summer programme. Sponsorship is available for underprivileged children to (help) cover the EC$250 fee. For registration and information, call 452-5005/3195 or 454-5014. The Star, Mirror and Voice all report this.
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Scholarship for University of East London
An officer from the University of East London is visiting St. Lucia this week to discuss with potential students the courses on offer and the chances St. Lucian students have of obtaining a scholarship for studying at UOL in England. This is announced in advertisements in the Thursday Voice and Mirror. The meetings are scheduled to take place on Monday 2nd and Wednesday 4th of July, at the conference room at the ministry of Education. Appointments can be made by calling the department of Human Resource Development, tel. 468-5230 or 468-5231.
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US Airways to fly direct Philadelphia-St Lucia
US Airways will, as of December 15th 2001, commence operation of two non-stop flights from Philadelphia to St. Lucia. This was announced by minister of Tourism Menissa Rambally, earlier this week. Each Saturday and Sunday, an A320 airbus (offering 223 seats) will leave Philadelphia at 9:45 am, to arrive in St. Lucia at 3:30 pm. Flights will leave St. Lucia at 4:20pm, arriving back in Philadelphia at 8:30 pm. One Caribbean reports this and quotes minister Rambally as saying: "Certainly we've been looking forward to increasing our capacity because many of our hoteliers and hotels do depend significantly on the US market and it has always been a challenge because for some time now we have not had direct air service out of the US market. This is going to signal a very positive addition to St. Lucia's air capacity and will speak volumes for the potential that will exist for us to increase our reach in the US market".
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