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Quotes:
"Saint Lucia is developing, Saint Lucia is going places; but where? Certainly not to the casino".
Raymond Joseph (Soufriere) on the 'risky social gamble' of legalising gambling (The Mirror, 29th September).
"But when people have to wake up the leaders, that's a problem, isn't it?"... "You want somebody who can actually lead after the fact of winning the election, someone who won't spend two and a half years complaining about what the former Government did before proceeding to make it worse".
Jason Sifflet on St. Lucians pressurising the opposition United Workers Party to organise themselves (The Mirror, 29th September).
"Watching Caribbean journalists determine the colour of the rim and search for 'legs' on the sides of their glasses is entertaining; asking them to 'taste and spit' expensive wine is ridiculous".
David Vitalis on a wine tasting party held in the U.K. for Caribbean journalists, compliments of British Airways (The Mirror, 29th September).
"In Saint Lucia such areas are seen either as places to bury the dearly departed and get out before dark or to be there in time for dark to get the things of the night done. That is a cultural statement".
Dawn French on the cultural significance of cemeteries (The Mirror, 29th September).
"We have become the world's fiercest fighters against injustice, and we fight it wherever and whenever it raises its ugly head".
Jacques Compton on the historical effect of slavery on the St. Lucian psyche (The Mirror, 29th September).
"One motion sought $4.2 million from the bank of Nova Scotia for the purpose of refubishing a house in England, No.1 Collingham Gardens, for use as the offices of the Dominican and St. Lucian High Commissioners".
The full report in The Mirror of a motion passed through the House of Assembly last Tuesday ( 29th September) .
For comparison:
"The Royal St. Lucia Police Force is embarking on an extensive $2.4 million reform project aimed at improving efficiency and community support". (The Star, 30th Sept).
"Indeed, over and over it's been proven that our various priests and preachers, the so-called shepherds, precisely resemble their flock, both where looks and appetites are concerned".
Rick Wayne on the perceived lack of self-sacrifice in local church leaders (The Star, 30th September).
"At the appropriate time, I propose an amendment ... that will give the government the latitude, at the appropriate time, should it become necessary ... to allow certain categories of St. Lucians to participate in gaming if they so wish" ....
"We have to be very careful that we give certain people certain rights in this country and deny our own people those same rights. There is a system that describes this thing - apartheid"
....
"A political party must have the courage and the will to change its previous position if it is in the interest of the country to do so".
Prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony, presenting the Gaming Control Act to the House of Assembly (various newspapers, 30th September).
"We also have a disabled worker who works in the department and she has been unable to come to work for over a year now because she is in a wheel chair and cannot access the stairs. Yes, she is still on the payroll. She is still on a monthly salary".... "There are old people coming to pay their taxes and after they have climbed the stairs sometimes we have to help them lie down and fan them because they are ready to pass out".
Civil servants working at the Inland Revenue Department at Government buildings protesting the fact that the sole elevator has been out of service for more than a year. (The Star, 30th September).
"In a country where heart disease, obesity and stroke are commonplace; where the tallest building is six floors, and where we should be encouraging the elimination of elevators in favour of physical exercise, it is ludicrous to hear the CSA clamouring for a laziness device".
Henry Mangal on the above-mentioned protest (The Star, 30th September).
"After all, Kenny Anthony is our prime minister and he works for us. He is not our mother whom we have to obey".
Woman asked to comment on the exclusion of St. lucians from casino gambling (The Star, 30th September).
"And then, sadly, we have the like of Fr. Lambert St. Rose, who recently took on the kamikaze role of issuing a direct political challenge to the government in the name of the people. ... In this age of greed and sodomy, world history over the years has been replete with revelations of priests hiding criminality under their robes. Priests have been known to engage in everything from sex with minors to homosexuality. Priests have confessed to having children. Some have even been found guilty of participating in genocide".
PM's Press secretary Earl Bousquet on priests who (allegedly wrongly) challenge the political powers-that-be (The Wednesday Star, 27th September). |
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St. Lucians banned from casinos in St. Lucia
If the Gaming Control Act which was unanimously passed through the House of Assembly is also approved by the Senate, then casino gambling will become legal in St. Lucia - but illegal for St. Lucians. Clause 39 of the Act states: "A citizen or resident (of St. Lucia) shall not either personally or through an agent be permitted to place wagers or collect winnings from a game approved by the Board".
Realising that a blanket exclusion of St. Lucians from any place of entertainment in their own country can expect to meet with firm opposition, prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, who presented the bill to the House of Assembly last Tuesday, added a verbal promise that the total exclusion of St. Lucians would not remain in place forever.
"I propose to remove the words 'citizen or resident' and replace them with 'persons listed in the schedule'", said Dr. Anthony. "I will propose introducing a schedule into the Act to list persons to be prohibited. It is a compromise. The Minister of Legal Affairs will be empowered to amend the schedule categorising the classes of St. Lucians who will be allowed at an appropriate time to participate". This is reported in The Crusader. According to The Crusader, the schedule referred to will list persons to be excluded from a gaming establishment or from participating in gaming if they have "prior convictions for an indictable offence, a crime involving moral turpitude or conspiracy to violate laws involving gaming in the Act", or "One with a notorious or bad reputation that could adversely affect public confidence in the gaming industry".
To be eligible for a gaming license under the requirements of the Gaming Control Act, a hotel must have at least 250 rooms and applications must be published in the press for public scrutiny. The granting of gaming licenses will be decided upon by the Cabinet - not the minister - and a Gaming Authority consisting of St. Lucian nationals "of good moral standing, free of criminal convictions and with no connections to the gaming industry" will perform the administrative functions of local gaming. The Mirror reports this.
According to The Crusader, Dr. Anthony admitted on Tuesday that "The government has good reason to fear that a blanket prohibition will face constitutional action". Indeed, according to The Star, former attorney-general Lorraine Williams and constitutional lawyer Martinus Francois are already studying similar laws in other islands, and are ready to file a constitutional motion "as soon as possible" once the Gaming Control Act is passed into law. The grounds are that it is alleged to be "discriminatory and unconstitutional in that it denies people freedom of movement and freedom of association". [Click here to read the Constitution of St. Lucia]
But Dr Anthony defends the prohibition and future relaxation thereof as a "compromise". The PM is quoted in various newspapers as saying: "We have thought long and hard on this issue. We have thought about the implications of denying St. Lucians the right to participate in certain activities in their own country. We have wondered about St. Lucians who are resident abroad. What will happen when they come home on holiday? They come home to spend some money and are unable to do so because of the blanket prohibition. ... We have to be very careful that we give certain people certain rights in this country and deny our own people those same rights. There is a system that describes this thing - apartheid. ... We have to be very careful not to engage in behaviour that excludes our people".
On the other hand, explained the Dr Anthony, there is a perceived need that St. Lucian culture and "the morality that guides us", need to be protected: "There is a thing called rights and whether we like it or not there is a thing called responsibility. And we have to trust persons to exercise those rights with responsibility. That's the problem. ... What has all that got to do with gaming? It is saying that you have to walk through that thin line. On the one end you have a blanket prohibition denying St. Lucians the right of access to a facility in their own country. But it is also saying that although you have that right, you may regulate it to a wider interest. Because regulation of rights is misunderstood. No right is ever absolute. ... We do not want to create any apartheid, where certain things are exclusive to some people and not others ... At the appropriate time, I propose an amendment ... that will give the government the latitude, at the appropriate time, should it become necessary ... to allow certain categories of St. Lucians to participate in gaming if they so wish".
Both The Crusader and the Wednesday Star are critical of the prime minister's line of reasoning. The Crusader writes: "Translation: the government is not convinced that at present St. Lucians (or enough of them at least) unlike Americans or Europeans, can be trusted to exercise their right in gaming with responsibility'. Moreover, even if St. Lucians have the right to patronise a casino, government can regulate (restrict?) that right if it is deemed to be in the wider public interest. Feedback from the public so far suggests that not many people are buying it".
Rick Wayne in the Wednesday Star comments: "Never before had a politician sounded so much like God. The bottom line, without the fat, was clear: St. Lucians will not be allowed any participation in this money-making thing called gaming. If later it turns out that St. Lucians are sophisticated and grown-up enough to handle it, the question will be revisited. And who would decide when the time was right? Who else but the people's main servant".
The Gaming Control Act elicited criticism not just for its blanket prohibition of St. Lucians. Church leaders also protested the bill in its own right. Despite a government survey in December of 1999 alleging that "75 percent of Catholics, Anglicans and Methodists ... overwhelmingly favoured" the introduction of casinos in St. Lucia, leaders of the Catholic, Methodist and First Baptist churches this week all condemned the passage of the Gaming Control Act. Archbishop Kelvin Felix, in a press release published in the Thursday Voice, Mirror and the Wednesday Star, calls on the government "to revisit this policy, rescind any legislation already enacted and to desist from using its majority in parliament to introduce laws that are clearly insensitive to the religious beliefs of significant sections of the population and contrary to the principles and philosophy of true human development". Despite this protest, however, it does not seem likely that any of the religious organisations in St. Lucia will undertake concrete steps to stop gambling.
Tuesday's passage of the bill further raised eyebrows in some quarters because of that fact that the bill was presented by the prime minister and minister of Finance Dr. Kenny Anthony and not, as was expected, minister of Tourism Menissa Rambally. Although the Gaming Control Act is first and foremost the result of the perceived need by government to diversify the island's tourism product and create more employment in that sector, and although the bill was presented for its first reading in December of last year by the then minister of Tourism Philip J. Pierre, on Tuesday, it was Dr. Anthony and not minister Rambally who brought the bill to the House of Assembly. The PM accounted for this by saying that gaming falls under the responsibility of the minister of Finance since it is an economic initiative and will be crucial in providing revenue. This led Star editor Rick Wayne to remark: "Agriculture was also 'crucial in providing revenue' but agriculture bills have always been presented by the Agriculture minister, not the minister of Finance".
Although a practising Seventh Day Adventist - a religious organisation strongly opposed to gambling - in her speech to the House on Tuesday, minister Rambally stated, according to The Mirror that: "As minister responsible for Tourism, I welcome the introduction of this particular piece of legislation. Certainly, it will go a long way towards enabling the local hotels and tourism ministry to thrive in an increasingly competitive environment". Dr. Anthony also denied that Rambally might harbour a "certain discomfort" with the Gaming Control Act.
Finally, United Workers Party parliamentarian Louis George voted in favour of the Act, despite the fact that the UWP leadership only last week issued a press release calling for the withdrawal of the Act. Both The Crusader and The Mirror applaud George's action, saying it transcends partisan politics and opposition-for-opposition's-sake.
Dr. Anthony, in defence of his party's 180 degree turn on the casino issue since its days in opposition, reportedly stated on Tuesday: "I make no apologies to anyone on this matter. A political party must have the courage and the will to change its previous position if it is in the interest of the country to do so".
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Government borrows EC$4.2 to 'refurbish' UK office
The House of Assembly approved a commercial loan to the tune of EC$4.2 million which was requested by prime minister and minister of Finance, Dr. Kenny Anthony, for the refurbishment of a house in London for use as the offices of the St. Lucia and Dominican High Commission. According to The Mirror, the only newspaper to mention the loan, the 4.2 million dollar loan was a "routine motion". The house in question is located at No.1 Collingham Gardens, London. It is not clear from the newspaper report whether the Dominican government will also contribute towards the renovation of the house, and if so, how much.
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Evaluation of Jazz 2000: success but beware
The final evaluation of Jazz 2000 was released this week by the St. Lucia Tourist Board, hailing the May event as a "resounding success". Although The Mirror laments the absence in the report of any financial statements, "or any sense as to how much money went into the event", it does mention that the Tourist Board collected a record EC$1,431,113 from ticket sales and that visitor expenditure amounted to "a whopping" EC$40 million during the festival. Although the overall daily expenditure of jazz festival visitors is lower than during the winter months (at US$175 per day), the festival has managed to radically change the traditional May slump in tourism arrivals and expenditure figures. With respect to the background of the 11,041 people who came to St. Lucia specifically to attend Jazz 2000, it is interesting to note that 40 percent of these came from within the Caribbean, and 29 percent from North America. Of the North American visitors, 60 percent had Caribbean roots and so did 51 percent of arrivals from the United Kingdom. Recommendations from friends and relatives prove to be the most effective form of advertising for the St. Lucia Jazz festival.
Getting bigger and better each year has however a downside: something which is noted in the Tourist Board's report: "It is clear that the existing human and financial resources used to host the St. Lucia Jazz Festival have become inadequate. It is imperative that the Board plan and coordinate sufficiently to control the standards of the festival".
Toni Nicholas in The Mirror adds to this: "That the festival has been attracting larger numbers is a good thing, but how to keep those visitors from reaching saturation point and long for something fresher is probably a herculean task not to be ignored. The self-destruct theory of tourism which points to a mass market turning its back on the area which has become too commercialized, too overrun and too popular must also be considered with a view to striking a balance". The Mirror, Tuesday Voice and Wednesday Star all write about the report.
Jazz Festival 2001 will run from the 4th - 13th of May.
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National Trust to move; Walcott Museum on cards
The St. Lucia National Trust has made a first step on the way to moving its headquarters from its current location at Vigie, to the old Ministry of Agriculture building on Manoel Street. The House of Assembly on Tuesday approved the guarantee of a EC$2.6 million loan from the National Insurance Scheme for the conversion of this building into offices and a museum. With the construction of the inner relief road, the area around Manoel Street is expected to be the target of more intense demolition, reconstruction and beautification, thus, in the words of prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, removing "one more eyesore from the city centre".
Minister of Foreign Affairs George Odlum, whilst applauding the loan guarantee, further suggested that the childhood home of Derek and Roderick Walcott on the Chaussee Road (lately the home of Lithographic Press) be acquired by the government, restored to its original character, and made into a Walcott Museum. The Mirror and The Voice both report on this.
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St. Lucia proud of its Olympians
Jamie Peterkin, Dominic Johnson, Sherry Scobie-Henry, Verneta Lesforis and Ronald Promesse: no gold, no silver, no bronze medals perhaps but keeping St. Lucians all over the world glued to their television screens nonetheless, hoping for a glimpse of their own young sportsmen and -women. Both Jamie Peterkin and Sherrie Scobie-Henry set new St. Lucian swimming records on the 50 meter freestyle: Peterkin with a time of 25.33 sec, and Scobie-Henry with 28.81. Ronald Promesse, the talented Vieux Fort runner who earlier this year ran the 100 meters in a whopping 10.17 - which would have placed him sixth in the finals in Sydney - suffered a terrible disappointment as due to injury he was unable to complete the race and was taken off the track in a wheelchair. Gold-medal winner in the Caribbean Games Verneta Lesfloris ran her 400 meters in Sydney in a time of 54.67, coming sixth in her heat. She, too, has run faster in her career. Dominic Johnson, finally, must also have been somewhat disappointed with his results in the men's pole vault, when he failed to clear 5.55 meters. His personal best stands at 5.70 and he placed first at the Central American championships in 1999 by clearing a height of 5.61. The Mirror, Voice and Star all report on the St. Lucian Olympians.
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Bickering continues but more security at Golden Hope
Whilst relations between nurses and the ministry of Health remain tense, the beginning of a solution to some of the problems plaguing St. Lucia's lone mental hospital, Golden Hope, does seem to be on the horizon. Two more security officers were promised this week, after months of complaints by nurses over allegedly unsafe working conditions at the mental institution [see last week's news / search news archives]. The president of the Nurses Association, Marilyn Paul, who has been heading the protest actions and who has complained about a lack of response from the minister of Health, Sarah Flood-Beaubrun, came under heavy fire this week in a letter from the prime minister's office. The PM blames nurse Paul for making "demands, threats and challenges", which the PM says were "unfortunate, ill-advised and inappropriate". Paul had openly called for the dismissal of minister Flood-Beaubrun and the entire hospital administration.
Since then, Paul has been "put on ice" as The Star puts it, and told to say no more, by the members of her own organisation, the Nurses Association. Minister Petrus Compton of the Public Service rather than the minister of Health has since moved in - beginning by allocating two more security personnel to Golden Hope. Compton has also convened a "special task force on mental health" on which the Nurses Association will be represented.
The Tuesday Voice, Voice and Wednesday Star report this.
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DPC Parker to lead radical police reform
Over the next eighteen months, the the Royal St. Lucian Police Force will be seeking to seriously improve its efficiency and community support, through the implementation of an EC$2.4 million reform programme, coordinated by Deputy Police Commissioner Neil Parker and supported by a team of consultants (funded by the British Department for International Development) and a team of senior St. Lucian police officers. According to The Star, the consultants all have extensive experience with similar police reform projects in the Caribbean, Africa and the United Kingdom. High on the agenda of things to fix or improve within the St. Lucian police force, according to the project, are community policing and crime prevention, training, restructuring, corporate support functions, corporate administration, operations and crimes work and legislative review. In addition, community audits and 'fear of crime' surveys will be executed to gauge at the grass roots level what St. Lucians would like to see improved in the Royal St. Lucian Police Force. Both the Tuesday Voice and The Star report at some length on the police reform plans. The project will be formally launched next month.
Over the last year or so, the St. Lucian police has repeatedly come in for severe criticism from the public.
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