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OECS St. Lucia project under World Bank scrutiny

The World Bank has suspended the regional component of the US$50 million Solid Waste Management project managed by the St. Lucia-based Secretariat of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), following allegations of mismanagement and corruption. Head of the Project Management Unit, David Simmons, has since resigned. This is reported in The Star and Crusader newspapers. A finance officer of the World Bank, Randall Alexander, who was working for the project first 'blew the whistle' when he alleged that: "an OECS official was involved in a corruption ring in the granting of contracts to the tune of hundreds of thousands of US dollars". The Star writes this.
In June, Alexander reported his suspicions to OECS director-general Swinburn Lestrade. But instead of investigating the issue, someone secretly changed all the locks on the Solid Waste offices located at The Morne, thereby making it impossible for Alexander to gain further access. "He was later sent home on temporary suspension", adds the Wednesday Star.
According to The Crusader, this so infuriated Alexander that he took his allegations directly  to one of the three sponsors of the OECS Solid Waste Management Project: the World Bank in Washington DC. The World Bank immediately demanded that the OECS Secretariat launch a full investigation - which was done in early July. According to the Wednesday Star: "A few days later the Secretariat informed the [World] bank that it had found no evidence of corruption and therefore there was no reason to suspend or fire any of its staff".
But the World Bank was apparently not convinced. The Crusader writes that the investigation was "labelled a sham" and was "thrown out" by the World Bank. "The bank, as a result, decided to send in their own teams of investigators to look into the OECS Solid Waste operations and its books".
This took place in mid-July. As a result of the World Bank's own investigations, the solid waste management project was suspended last week. The World Bank is in the process of deciding "whether to launch a full-scale investigation into the matter which could ultimately lead to criminal prosecution". This is reported in the Wednesday Star.
One of the allegations, according to The Crusader, is that the project manager personally gave contracts "to an employee of CDB, (his wife) using a false name".
Director General of the OECS, Swinburne Lestrade, finds himself in an embarrassing position following the allegations of corruption at the St. Lucia Secretariat. The Crusader describes the situation as "the biggest bungling ever of his career", blames Lestrade for "dragging his feet on the problem in its early stages", and wonders what "the implications will be for funding for our donor-hungry OECS countries in the future? This is surely a sad indictment on the clueless Lestrade and his other effete directors, in allowing this stink to reach the World Bank".
The OECS Secretariat, in a press release issued on Friday, admits that there have been "certain decisions by the project's management" that were "in breach of their respective rules and procedures" but goes on to state that it expects that the Solid Waste Management Project will be back on stream within two or three weeks.
Director General of the OECS Swinburne Lestrade, in a letter to the World Bank, criticises the bank's suspension of disbursements to the OECS Secretariat. Lestrade writes that he considers it: "unnecessary and precipitate, in view of the fact that the Secretariat was already taking action to place the Solid Waste Management Project on a sounder management footing". Lestrade also claims that the OECS secretariat has dealt with the project's management issues "in a proper, balanced and professional manner, and in the interest of being fair to all the parties".
Speaking on national radio on Friday, Lestrade further stated: "I want to clarify at the outset that investigations have not revealed any misappropriation of funds, it has not revealed any fraud, it has not revealed any theft". Lestrade insists that there have been "some decisions of management [that] were not in conformity with the rules and procedures either of the bank or of the Secretariat".
With respect to the resignation of David Simmons, the project manager, Lestrade said this was "based on findings that point to certain errors of judgement, or errors of management if you like".
The OECS Solid Waste Management Project was launched in May 1995 and is funded by the World Bank, Caribbean Development Bank and the European Union. The OECS Secretariat's task is to oversee the formation of local Solid Waste Management Authorities in all six OECS member states, the construction of landfills, draft environmental legislation and to provide training, education and public awareness programmes.
While the Secretariat's involvement in the project is suspended, the World Bank continues to disburse monies directly to the various local programmes that are ongoing.
Finally, The Wednesday Star reports that the government's response to the allegations of corruption at the OECS Secretariat is indicated in a statement from prime minister Dr Anthony to the effect that he "wants 'no stone left unturned' in the search for answers".

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Actor shot dead while filming gas station robbery

Bizarre and tragic, are the terms used to describe the fatal shooting of 35-year old Franklin Gilbert, last Sunday, by a member of  the management of  Jn. Marie's Service Station on L'Anse Road in Castries. Gilbert, an employee of Sentinel Security Ltd., was part of a team involved in filming a television commercial for the security firm. As part of the script, Gilbert was required to play the role of a robber. According to spokesmen for Sentinel and the production company involved, Dove Productions, all managers and employees at the gas station were informed of the simulated robbery beforehand. Furthermore, the production crew had been milling around the premises for about an hour with cameras and lights, before the robbery was staged. Despite this, while Gilbert was acting out his robbery attempt, a member of  the management team in an adjoining office spotted this on a security camera, grabbed a gun, entered the cashier's area and proceeded to shoot Gilbert several times in the back. According to the Tuesday Voice, three shots were fired, two of which hit Gilbert. The husband and father of two died in the ambulance, on his way to hospital. The man responsible for the shooting was questioned by police but subsequently released without being charged. The Mirror reports this. According to the newspaper, an inquest will be held to determine whether charges will be pressed. The Wednesday Star confirms this, with The Crusader also reporting on the tragic event.
Meanwhile, speculation is rife as to what underlying factors may have contributed to the incident. The Mirror wonders: "Maybe it was pent-up frustration felt by [the member of management] with the years of victimization of gas stations by armed robbers. Maybe it is a result of the proliferation of both legal and illegal firearms in St. Lucia. Maybe it was just a fatal mistake".
There have been a number of violent robberies of gas stations around the island over the past year, some of which ended in fatal shootings, and more recently, gas station owners collectively protested the wave of violence directed at them [search news archives].

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Government to step up censorship of broadcasts

The government is to step up its censorship of material that is being broadcast on radio and television in St. Lucia. To this end, a new Broadcast Act is being drafted, together with strategies to increase censorship of broadcasts. A Broadcast Authority will also soon be established. This was announced by minister Calixte George last Friday, in a speech marking the launch of a new radio station, Hot FM (105.3 and 96.1 FM). According to minister George, the dissemination of information and the provision of entertainment must never violate "moral principles". This is reported in The Star. Over the past year or so, the government has been on the receiving end of sometimes severe criticism from callers and hosts of television and radio talkshows.

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SLHTA refuses government's 'unreasonable requests'

The St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA) will no longer accommodate the "unreasonable requests" and "ridiculous suggestions" placed on it by the government and its agencies. This statement came from outspoken SLHTA president Berthia Parle, during the association's second quarterly meeting, held last Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The meeting was attended, incidentally, by the ministers of Tourism, Legal Affairs and Agriculture: Menissa Rambally, Velon John and Cass Elias respectively.
Over the past few weeks, the SLHTA has convened at least two emergency meetings with the prime minister, minister Rambally, police top brass and others, to try and stem the  worrying trend of visitor harassment, crime against tourists, water shortages, and other urgent problems affecting hoteliers, restaurateurs and others in the hospitality industry [search news archives].
Reporting on these meetings to the SLHTA membership, president Parle said that the government's approach to the problems is that "the Association and its members should take the lead in mobilising resources to kick-start the implementation of solutions to these problems, especially in respect of crime and visitor harassment". This, said Parle, is "a clever approach by the Government to deflect responsibility to the Association". Nevertheless, she revealed, the SLHTA will take the suggestion "constructively" - but at the same time it will not allow government to escape its national responsibility to ensure that St. Lucia is a safe, secure, clean and comfortable quality tourism destination.
Parle then went on to respond to the "unreasonable requests" that the government and its agencies tend to place on the SLHTA (a private sector association). "To these we will not yield. We will not, for example, provide the police with any more fax machines, photocopiers or cellular phones, which is one of the most ridiculous suggestions we have been faced with recently. ... We will not put money into anti-litter campaigns while the government utilises the proceeds of the environmental levy only to finance general expenditures".
On the topic of water shortages experienced in the north, Parle suggested that "perhaps hoteliers should refuse to pay WASCO the new higher rates for a service that continues to deteriorate", while hoteliers remain at the mercy of commercial trucking companies "charging exorbitant rates per truckload of water". Both The Star and The Voice report on Parle's hard-line stance.

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Police returns Cap Estate videotape erased

Crime, both domestic and against visitors, and the lack of efficiency of the police in dealing with this, remains a hot topic this week, with several talkshows, letter-writers, columnists and journalists adding to the debate. The police came in for heavy criticism last week following their failure to arrest two burglars who were captured 'in the act' by security cameras at a Cap Estate home last February. The pair again returned to the same house and proceeded to injure the lady owner with a cutlass [see last week's news]. Following this latest incident the plolice are now in an even worse position following their apparent destruction of potentially vital evidence. Dr Olav zu Ermgassen, the Cap Estate resident whose wife was the victim of last week's attack, revealed in The Star this week that a police officer insisted on taking away the original security camera recording for investigative purposes. When Zu Ermgassen finally managed to get the videotape back, it proved to be blank. Although copies exist, these are of inferior quality. "I could not believe it", says Zu Ermgassen in The Star. "This goes beyond ineptitude. To me this smacks of sabotage and raises some serious questions about the police who are investigating this case".
Besides destroying - whether wilfully or accidentally - potentially vital evidence in a burglary/assault case, police spokesman inspector Albert Fregis further commented on a broadcast of the security video during the HTS evening news, last Monday. During this, Fregis said he doubted that the pictures were good enough to allow for identification. But Police Commissioner Francis Nelson says that the police did not authorise HTS to broadcast the video and condemns the TV station's unauthorised copying of the tape as "unethical". He states that Fregis had only taken the tape to the HTS studio to try and get the images enhanced. Nelson does not, however, explain how or why Fregis would then have made his comments about the tapes on television.
Zu Ermgassen's opinion however, is clear. "How on earth could the police allow the case against the suspects to be prejudiced in this manner? Can't they see that any defence laywer could use this broadcast and the comments from the police as evidence to break down the prosecution case?"
The Star dedicates two more pages to Zu Ermgassen's analysis of the crime situation in St. Lucia, in particular the "conspiracy of silence" which he perceives exists amongst authorities within the police force, the legal system and the tourism industry, and which helps to perpetuate the situation which threatens life, property and the economic future of the island.

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Strike cripples port work on Thursday

Work at the Castries port was disrupted last Thursday when workers of the St. Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA) who are also members of the National Workers Union, decided to go on strike over perceived injustices in the salary difference between workers of long standing and newcomers. The Crusader reports this. SLASPA recently reclassified the salaries it pays and introduced promotion criteria based on merit and hard work, instead of  just seniority.

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FedEx and Eagle Air reach 'satisfactory' agreement

While the debate raged on for yet another week, local airline operator Ewart Hinkson of Eagle Air, and Federal Express (FedEx) reached a settlement which is being described as "mutually agreeable". Details of the agreement have not yet been released.
Three weeks ago, it was announced that Eagle Air would lose its contract with FedEx following a decision by the St. Lucia Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB) - with the consent of Aviation minister Menissa Rambally - to grant a one-year license to US airline company,Mountain Air, to operate a second aircraft out of St. Lucia. Although the ATLB had stipulated that FedEx must give local carriers such as Eagle Air special consideration, FedEx immediately cancelled Eagle Air's contract as of the 27th of August. A debate broke out as to whether the government and ATLB had betrayed an indigenous businessman, or whether Eagle Air was proving itself incapable of competing in a global market [see last week's news].
Last Tuesday, as a result of a series of meetings involving prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony, minister Rambally, FedEx, Eagle Air, a delegation from the private sector and the chairman of the ATLB, some sort of settlement was reached - although details have not yet been publicised. According to the Thursday Voice, however, the agreement "practically guarantees a role in FedEx's future operations here for the local operator, Eagle Air". In full page advertisements addressed to 'The Government & The People of St. Lucia', in The Mirror, Star and Voice this weekend, FedEx thanks all parties involved and announces that it has "assured Eagle Air of a transitional fixed-term engagement and consideration for future opportunities, as FedEx continues to grow and enhance its operations in St. Lucia".
The Voice demands to know what exactly the details of the satisfactory arrangements are, "in view of the interest which was demonstrated by everyone in this affair".

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Painter Peter Walcott stages one man-show

Architect and painter Peter Walcott (45) is opening his first one man-show this Wednesday, at the Pyramid Alliance Francaise at Pointe Seraphine. Walcott, who was born in Jamaica and is the son of St. Lucian Nobel laureate Derek Walcott, used to work in Trinidad but now resides in St. Lucia. His grandfather was also an accomplished water colourist. Peter Walcott's show at the Alliance Francaise will bring to the public over twenty paintings in a semi-realistic style and executed in acrylic paint. The show lasts until the 29th of September. The Star and Crusader both report this.

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Burnt man was previously attacked by teenaged gang

Davidson Sylvester, the homeless man who was doused with petrol and set on fire on Thursday of the week before last, and who subsequently burnt to death at the bottom of the stairs in the CDC apartment building on Jeremie Street in Castries, had previously been the victim of a gang of teenage boys. Information provided by the victim's sister and niece in The Star newspaper reveals that one month before his death, a gang of 18-year-old boys had beaten up David. At the time, David, with the help of his niece, had made a report to the Central Police Station and identified his attackers. The young men were brought in and questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department, says David's niece, but were later set free.
Davidson Sylvester was born and raised in Bexon. He worked for many years as a Red Cap at Hewanorra Airport, and later worked on a yacht. He also lived in Martinique for a while. Upon his return to St. Lucia, David became depressive and began to hear voices. He received intermittent treatment at Golden Hope for this but more recently, he stopped taking his medication. Although living on the streets, general concensus has it that David Sylvester was a quiet man, who did not beg or bother people. He was 37-years old when he died. According to a police spokesman, the inquiries are ongoing and the belief now is that "more than one person was involved in David's death". The Star reports this.

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Amazona Versicolor expands to 800 birds

The national symbol of St. Lucia, the Amazona Versicolor, better known as the St. Lucia Parrot or simply the Jacquot, continues to expand in numbers. A census carried out on the 22nd and 23rd of August along 32 watch-points in Forestierre, Miller, the Barre d'Isle, Coin de Lance and Egmond Forest reveals that there are presently some 800 parrots in St. Lucia. This is about 300 more than at the time of the last census, in 1996, when some 500 birds were sighted. The Star reports this. In the 1970s, there were only 150 birds left and it was considered certain that the Amazona Versicolor, with its distinctive blue head, red breast, and green plumage, would not as a species see the year 2000. But thanks to mass education campaigns in schools and the media, the passage of the Wildlife Protection Act and the expansion of forest reserves, the St. Lucia parrot is now alive and well.

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New 18-hole course puts island on golfing map

A fully-irrigated, 100-acre, 18-hole golf course was opened last Friday at the St. Lucia Golf and Country Club at Cap Estate. The old 9-hole course has been upgraded to the tune of US$10 million to create a golf course which can now seriously place St. Lucia on the international golfing map. Speaking at the opening ceremony was chief operations officer, Richard Michelin. "Serious golfers are only interested in playing 18 holes; therefore the opening of this course ... creates a new and exciting marketing opportunity for all hotels and guest houses in St. Lucia, to target golfers all over the world who wish to have a sporting vacation". In the year 2004, the Caribbean Golf Association Championships will take place in St. Lucia and starting on Friday, there is the St. Lucian Open, as part of the OECS Golf Championship. Mention was also made of the Golf and Country Club's commitment to encouraging young St. Lucian golfers, through charitable tournaments. The club currently employs 50 members of staff. The Star reports this.

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Ten new Peace Corps help in youth and education

Ten new American Peace Corps volunteers take the oath this Saturday, before commencing their various tasks in St. Lucia, mostly in the fields of youth development and education. They are part of a contingent of 51 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in the Eastern Caribbean five weeks ago. There are already seventeen Peace Corps members active in St. Lucia. Of the latest group, three will be assisting with the Junior Achievement Programme, three will work with the ministry of Education's 13-plus programme, two will work as teachers with CARE, and the remaining two will be attached to the ministry of Education's Special Education Pilot programme. The Voice reports this.

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Robert Lee publishes 'Artefacts. Collected Poems'.

John Robert Lee last week launched his eighth volume of poetry during Carifesta VII, in St. Kitts. Under the title 'Artefacts: Collected Poems', this volume brings together some of the best of Lee's writings of the past 30 years. The books have been printed by Mayers Printing in St. Lucia and will be distributed internationally by Ian Randle Publishers of Jamaica. A local launching of the book is expected to take place soon. The Mirror reports this. Robert Lee is currently director of the Government Information Service.

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Lobster season open but strict rules apply

The lobster season is open again as of 1st September, and the Department of Fisheries has issued its seasonal warnings to hotels, restaurants and other purchasers to remind them that it is illegal to buy lobsters that are undersized, carry eggs or have been spearfished. Furthermore, fisheries wardens and marine police officers are set to carry out surveillance to ensure that no illegal landings or exports of lobsters occur. The strict regulations surrounding the harvesting and purchase of lobsters were instigated some years ago in an attempt to ensure the sustainability of this much sought-after marine species.

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