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3rd March 2001

Show of compassion takes St. Lucia by surprise

PM hits hard and low at Sir John Compton

Toddler dies in house fire in Praslin

TV program searches for old colour films

Government happy with ECCB report

C&W resumes its place in liberalised OECS

Angie Stone, not Jill Scott at Jazz 2001

Peace Corps volunteers celebrate 40 years

Strata demands apology from Mario Michel

Defeated Francois takes Harding case to Privy Council

Japan donates two fully-equipped ambulances

Brian Bernard appointed Police Commissioner

Iyanola Rastafari Council gains legal status

 

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Quotes:

"'I am the prime minister', he screamed. 'Leave the people of St. Lucia alone. Do not interfere'."
Prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony at a Market Steps meeting on the re-entry of Sir John Compton into active political life (The Star, 3rd March).

"I do not take my instructions on how I lead my life from Mr. Kenny Anthony".
Sir John Compton in response to PM Anthony (The Star, 3rd March).

"That which I send, I call back".
Prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony on his decision to no longer "send" Sir John Compton on Caricom missions (Crusader, 3rd March).

"I am not his messenger boy".
Sir John Compton in reply to PM Dr. Anthony (The Star, 3rd March).

"No more Sir John. He is plain John Compton from now on".
PM Dr. Anthony at the Market Steps (The Star, 3rd March).

"He has not given, he cannot take away".
Sir John Compton in reply to PM Dr Anthony dropping his title of  'Sir' (The Star, 3rd March).

"There are more bananas than there ever was in the thirty years of Compton's rule".
Minister of Commerce Philip J. Pierre during last Tuesday's SLP Market Steps meeting on his government's success (Crusader, 3rd March).

"The leafspot crisis has been going on for more than a year and now it threatens to drag production volumes lower than they have been over a decade".
The Mirror editorial on the state of banana fields (2nd March).

"It is common practice here for patients to be injected with Largactil or Modecate at the discretion of nurses, and without the authorisation of the doctor".
Anonymous nurse at Golden Hope mental hospital (Crusader, 3rd March).

"Martinus Francois may have his faults... of course he is not without sin, but how many of us would be brave or strong enough to tackle the issues that he has?"
The Crusader (3rd March).

"I was listening to the show with my boyfriend and heard about the child's problem and then I asked myself why should someone die for $16,000?"
Shandelle Fedee on her decision to donate $500 towards the life-saving surgery for Chris Jn.Charles, and challenge 31 other St. Lucians to do the same. Within 20 minutes, more than $23,000 was raised (Crusader, 3rd March).

"In St. Lucian terms, here was an event almost the equivalent of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes".
Rick Wayne on the spontaneous fundraising 'telethon' for Chris Jn. Charles (Wednesday Star, 28th Feb).

"While your partner's use of marijuana is a private decision, it is not a private problem - not when it can affect you and your relationship".
Thursday Voice on the potentially adverse effects of marijuana use on relationships (1st March).

"When you give a man/woman who has committed a crime such as robbery or stealing 3 weeks to pay $600.00, he is not at work, so to prevent doing time, all he has to do to find the money for the court is to do what he does best (robbery & stealing) so if we are thinking of putting a dent on crime I think that we should first correct some of the systems of the courts".
Letter to the editor (Thursday Voice, 1st March).

"Globally one child is infected every minute. ... It is imperative for political leaders and policy-makers to set aside political expedience and considerations such as fear of losing tourism revenues and foreign investment inflow. The only cost that has to be worked out is in terms of human lives lost to HIV/AIDS".
Tuesday Voice (27th Feb).

"Two HIV-infected children are born every week in Jamaica ..."
Thursday Voice (1st March).

"Is it true that when the dread word 'house slave' was mentioned, the room went silent, then one OECS Minister said that he himself is accustomed to playing bad, but he never see anything like that in the middle of serious business?"
One Caribbean (3rd March).

"Ironically the Privy Council is very liberal and anti-colonial. Our black judges here are neo-colonial in their mindset and their whole thing is to buttress the system of the day. To say to me that to shackle a man like that is OK, that it's fine and dandy, because we have had slavery, that is ridiculous. What they are saying is that we are still living in slavery. I wonder if it was a white man, if Harding was a white man, if they would have come to the same conclusion. Of course they wouldn't".
Human rights lawyer Martinus Francois on the High Court's verdict that a motion brought against the state of St. Lucia for the allegedly unlawful shackling for ten months and fifteen days of prisoner Alfred Harding was "misconceived" (Wednesday Star, 28th Feb).

"NIS had to address the issue of delinquent employers and now instead of just six years, we have up to 40 years to deal with them".
Charles St. Helene explaining the alleged strengthening of the National Insurance Scheme's laws (The Mirror, 2nd March).

"We want when people send their children to school they don't have to be wondering whether their children will be coming back".
Principal John Monrose on increased security at the Vieux Fort Comprehensive Secondary School (The Mirror, 2nd March).

"There are so many unanswered questions in this story that the more I think of it the more complicated it becomes and the more confused I become".
"I call them [blood thirsty animals] in a final rage of anger because when I went to take pictures of what I regard as the greatest Affront to our Soverignity [sic] two officers at the Razor Wired front entrance shouted that I am not allowed to take pictures here. I responded in the most crude language possible: What Fuc.ery you are talking. This is my Fuc.ing island Not New York. You cannot stop me from taking pictures and 'Click went my Camera'. Next week: My life is threatened".
Denis Dabreo on "perhaps the most important story I have ever written" - an allegation that the US Air Force camp at Choc Cemetery is a cover-up for 1) (anti-)nuclear weapons, 2) an anti-drugs campaign, 3) a campaign to spy on the Caribbean from Jamaica to Guyana, 4) a campaign to spy on the government of St. Lucia and "to 'see' the very most personal acts within our bedrooms", 5) a US attempt to sabotage St. Lucia's independence (One Caribbean, 3rd March).

"You know we don't need these things anymore. We have something called ice cubes. There's no need to carry ice picks. Now you escape. Tell me your problem?"
Magistrate Horace Frazer to a 22-year-old man who had been sentenced to 18 months for possession of an ice pick, and was given an additional three years for escaping lawful custody (Wednesday Star, 28th Feb).

"Poleon: 'If you had anything to change about your stewardship what would it be?'
Compton: 'I would have listened more to myself. I have listened to the people sometimes and they have pushed me into places that I have regretted afterwards'."
Timothy Poleon of DBS Newsmaker Live interviewing former PM Sir John Compton (Wednesday Star, 28th Feb).

"He assured them that things would get better because ... he had plans for a hotel en Mangue-la in Vieux Fort".
Johannes Mann, relating a promise allegedly made by prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony to a group of taxi drivers. Last month, minister of Tourism Rambally announced a string of new hotels to be built but no mention was made of plans for a hotel in Vieux Fort's Mangue or Mankoté mangrove. This mangrove area forms part of St. Lucia's first proposed National Park (Wednesday Star, 28th Feb).

"Maybe those of us who are young, black and nameless like myself should begin to wear tags - No Drugs".
Johannes Mann on the alleged discriminatory search policies of St. Lucian customs officers (Wednesday Star, 28th Feb).

"But with last year's celebrations washed away by Hurricane Lennie ..."
Prime minister's press secretary Earl Bousquet confusing the heavy rains of Independence Day, 22nd February 2000, with Hurricane Lennie on the 17th of November 1999 (Wednesday Star, 28th Feb).

"No one but the Corporation knows exactly how much calls cost in the Eastern Caribbean".
The Mirror on C&W's secrecy regarding the operating cost of phone calls (2nd March).

"Do the names CIDA, CPEC, UNDP, UNIDO, UNESCO, WB, IMF, WHO, ECCB, PAHO, EU, DFID, OAS, CDB, IDRC, OCOD, USAID, ring a bell? If you can imagine each of these organizations with their differing agendas, grabbing our heads and moving it in their direction repeatedly, you will agree that this is a perfect recipe for damaging our neck vertebrae ... Does St. Lucia's head sit firmly on its shoulders?"
Harvey Millar on St. Lucia's dependent state of independence (The Mirror, 2nd March).

 

PM's 2001 New Year Message

The Constitution of St. Lucia 

Budget 2000 speeches

Casino Survey Report

Full Text of  Blom-Cooper inquiry report

 

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Show of compassion takes St. Lucia by surprise

    In an outpouring of generosity that took the nation by complete - but pleasant - surprise, viewers of the DBS talkshow 'Talk' on Sunday evening, perhaps for the first time since the New Year's eve attack on the Castries Cathedral, lifted the cloud of malaise that has seemingly been hanging over the island. Show host Rick Wayne highlighted the plight of 12-year-old Chris Jn.Charles from Anse la Raye, who is badly in need of brain surgery but whose mother could not afford the $16,000 or so needed for the operation One caller to the program, bank clerk Shandelle Fedee, started a spontaneous 'telethon' by  pledging $500 towards the cause, at the same time challenging thirty-one other St. Lucians to do the same. Dozens of people called the show pledging money so that Chris Jn.Charles' life might be saved. To the shocked amazement of Rick Wayne, within twenty minutes, more than $23,000 had been pledged - with Castries businessman Greg Glace vowing to make up the difference if the $16,000 mark was not reached. "Thank you St. Lucia!" shouts the headline of The Star's Wednesday issue, and all other newspapers also carry articles praising the compassionate, spontaneous initiative.
    In a background report, The Star further reports that Chris Jn.Charles was flown out to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados on Wednesday morning, in the company of her mother and a paediatric nurse, courtesy of LIAT. Although it was initially expected that she would be operated on before Friday, the weekend Star reports that Chris' situation was worse than the doctors had expected and she will first have to undergo a series of tests and scans. Chris' mother Sasha "was close to tears as they boarded the aircraft with her daughter. 'I just want to thank everybody who has helped Chris. It's a miracle. I can't believe this is happening this morning. I'm so very grateful'."
    Chris' condition - a brain tumor - was first diagnosed in June 2000. The government at that time paid for a surgeon to come to St. Lucia and Chris underwent surgery, but complications occurred. Surgery was again required five months later, and a metal plate was inserted into her head. She was then discharged, but the tumor has since begun to grow again. The Star continues: "Three weeks ago, Chris was re-admitted to Victoria Hospital. The prognosis was grim. The tumor had grown to an enormous size". The only option would be for Chris to undergo surgery in Barbados, at a cost of $16,000 for hospital bills alone. "The doctor told me that Chris had to be in Barbados by Friday to have the operation or she might die", said Sasha Jn.Charles, who has six other children besides 12-year-old Chris. According to The Star, an official at the ministry of Health informed the distraught mother that "there was no money available for the operation". Other fundraising activities such as local charity fetes and the like could not raise the required sum either, hence the desperation of Chris' mother. The result of Rick Wayne's show last Sunday - mobilising the generosity of dozens of St. Lucians - has enabled Chris Jn.Charles to undergo the possibly life-saving surgery she needs so badly. "I was completely overwhelmed by what people have done for my daughter", said Chris' mother. "Last weekend I was facing the possibility of watching her die at home. Now she has a chance. I'm so very grateful to everybody who has helped".
    A special account for Chris Jn.Charles has been established at Barclays Bank, A/C number 6889377.

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PM hits hard and low at Sir John Compton

    Leaders of the St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) this week took up the gauntlet thrown down last week by former prime minister Sir John Compton, in the process hitting back hard at the former UWP leader and, according to some, hitting low as well. During an SLP meeting at the Castries Market Steps last Tuesday, prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony said that with his return to active politics, John Compton could no longer expect to be treated "with the respect normally reserved for knights and statesmen. No more Sir John. He is plain John Compton from now on", announced Dr Anthony. Furthermore, the SLP leader and current prime minister also informed his audience that he would "pull the plug" on John Compton by no longer "sending" him on CARICOM missions, such as observing the general elections in Haiti - a role Sir John has assumed on several occasions in the past. According to an article in The Star, Dr Anthony "in full throttle", told his audience: "Because he is a statesman I sent him to Haiti. I chose to send him to Haiti. He returned and I sent him to Haiti again. He came back. I will not be sending him again".
    The comment has incurred the indignation of the United Workers Party, which released a press release voicing its "deep shock and dismay" at the "callous statements". Sir John himself, in an interview with The Star, dismisses Dr Anthony's remarks regarding his CARICOM missions. "The prime minister never sent me to Haiti. I have been involved in the Haiti thing since 1987. From the time of Baby Doc. I have visited Haiti over eight times at the request of Caricom and at the request of the OAS and the request of the United Nations. He could not have sent me to Haiti. I am not his messenger boy. They requested me to go as a matter of diplomatic courtesy. A number of times I have headed delegations at Caricom's request. I do not take instructions from Dr Anthony".
    Regarding the matter of Dr Anthony ignoring his title of knighthood, Sir John reportedly replied: "Kenny Anthony cannot drop the Sir. It was not given to me by him. ... I did not receive the award from Dr Kenny Anthony. I received it from Her Majesty the Queen for public service in St. Lucia and the Caribbean. He has not given, he cannot take away".
    Although the 'Sir-question' seems to have created the greatest political waves, PM Anthony and a number of cabinet ministers did address other matters as well at the Market Steps, including negotiations with Cable & Wireless (C&W), the banana industry, youth programmes, and law and order. Negotiations with C&W are now reportedly progressing satisfactorily at the level of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States' telecommunications body ECTEL - after having ground to a halt under the chairmanship of St. Lucia's minister Calixte George who allegedly insulted the C&W Legal Director, refusing to shake her hand and calling her "a white man's house slave". On Tuesday, Dr Anthony appeared to hint at minister George's faux pas but defended and, moreover, lauded his negotiating skills none-the-less. "Yes, Calixte George has said some things in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he is the best negotiator", the PM told the audience last Tuesday, according to The Star. PM's press secretary Earl Bousquet, in his version of Tuesday's political rally, reports that Dr Anthony said that "George had been viciously 'maligned by the company [C&W], both at home and abroad', because of his forthright, decisive and sometimes uncompromising approach to the task of seeking lower telephone rates for St. Lucians".
    Relieved that C&W's threat to pull out of St. Lucia has seemingly been averted - at least for the time being - by the intervention of the ECTEL negotiating team, the SLP reportedly "used the meeting to all but declare victory against Cable & Wireless in the tense battle to introduce competition in the telecommunications sector". David Vitalis writes this in The Mirror.
    Another speaker at Tuesday night's rally was minister Phillip J. Pierre, who was re-endorsed unopposed earlier that evening to run for the Castries East seat in the next general elections. Pierre will most likely face Peter Josie who, the previous Saturday, was chosen by the UWP to succeed Lorraine Williams as UWP 'caretaker' for the Castries East constituency. Williams's withdrawal from that position came as somewhat of a surprise. She herself had taken over from Dr Vaughan Lewis after he, also in a surprise move, decided to retire from active politics in St. Lucia to concentrate on his work overseas [search news archives].
    Pierre, like minister Damian Greaves and party chairman Thomas Walcott, appeared totally confident that at the next general elections, the SLP will win not just sixteen seats, but all seventeen "and not a damn seat for them", as the party chairman told the crowd, according to The Mirror. Mirror reporter David Vitalis established that: "The Castries Market Steps meeting had the intensity, anticipation, picong and urgency of a campaign in high gear, with speakers supremely confident of victory in the next poll". Prime minister Dr. Anthony, in similar style, promised supporters "the Armageddon of elections". The Mirror interprets Dr. Anthony's words as meaning that the next elections "would make a clean break with the politics of the past". The editor of The Voice, however, deems that a term like "Armageddon has no place in the lexicon of political language of the 21st Century". He bases this opinion on a close reading of Revelations 16:16 and the Concise Oxford Dictionary. The latter defines "Armageddon" as: "Ultimate or large scale conflict". The Voice editor reckons that the PM was "ill-advised to allow himself to use the extremes of language when the effect of that language could be the incitement of violence in St. Lucia".
    The Crusader, too, felt that Dr Anthony's speech had strayed a long way from the "soulful plea for the healing of the nation" he had made just two months ago, after the attack on the Castries Cathedral. Last Tuesday, The Crusader judged, "the mood and tone of his remarks were destructive and vindinctive". According to the paper, "Many listeners at Tuesday's Market Steps meeting expressed their disgust with the hints of victimisation and violence which marked the Prime Minister's speech". On the whole, The Crusader felt that "St. Lucians were once again served the same old platter of political rhetoric this week on the Castries Market Steps ...".
    Meanwhile, speculation continues as to what will come of Sir John's return to active politics, what role exactly he will assume, and what - if anything - may be expected of the much-rumoured but as yet nameless 'new alliance', also referred to as the 'third party' or the 'concerned citizens group'.
    Sir John himself, on 21st February as a guest on DBS' talkshow Newsmaker Live, provided no decisive answer. Asked if he was in favour of a Government of National Unity, Compton replied: "I am for the detribalisation of politics. We are deeply divided in this country. And politics has created the problems, the economic problems we face now. It's really found in the tribalised roots of politics. ... The people are now fed up with party politics. We need the best brains. Perhaps I am not one of them. There is a popular movement. ... If I can play a part I will. ... I think we are in for a hard time but I think we can get out of it if we work together. St. Lucia has a lot to offer. If the resources are properly mobilised, the prospects are good".
    Prime minister Dr Anthony, for his part, indicated that Compton's involvement with a third party can only further weaken the opposition United Workers Party (UWP). According to The Crusader, the PM told his audience: "Today the same political party that John Compton created, that he used since 1964; today because Morella Joseph is leader of the party and he is out, he can't live with that. So he is out to destroy Morella. Kill her! Kill her politically. To make sure she doesn't survive under the banner of the UWP".
    Paradoxically though, it could be that by directly challenging Sir John Compton from an SLP platform and warning him to stay out of the political arena, Dr. Anthony may just help to galvanise into action the forces that could become his most dangerous political opposition yet since sweeping the polls in the general elections of May 1997.

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Toddler dies in house fire in Praslin

    Sherelah Xavier, a two-and-a-half year old girl from Praslin died in a fire that razed her wooden family home to the ground early on Monday morning. The child was at home alone. Her mother, who was on her way back to the house when someone told her about the fire, could do nothing to save the child. According to eyewitnesses, the flames spread extremely quickly. Firefighters, too, could not prevent the fire from killing the child and reducing the house to ashes. The Mirror reports on the tragedy.

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TV program searches for old colour films

    The producers of two internationally acclaimed television series, 'The Second World War in Colour' and 'Britain at War in Colour', have issued an appeal to the St. Lucian public to help them unearth colour film footage and home movies shot between the 1930s and 1970s. This is reported in The Mirror. The producers say they will consider any footage that features "any aspect of everyday life in St. Lucia and the West Indies during this period". For more information on the project, please contact Rebecca John at: rjohn@imgworld.com

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Government happy with ECCB report

    A government press release quotes extensively from the latest report of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in demonstrating the soundness of its economic policies. According to the Government Information Service (GIS), the ECCB report praises the government for its "strong and prudent fiscal discipline" in the management of the economy and predicts that "with continued prudent macro-economic management, the island is well-placed for 'a self-propelled private sector growth'."
    The ECCB did note however that economic growth slowed down in 2000 "as a result of the completion of a number of major capital projects", but at the same time, expansion was seen in the agricultural and tourism sectors. GIS states that the report deems the Rural Enterprise and Rural Economic Diversification projects "key initiatives in an anticipated continued increase in non-traditional agricultural production". As for tourism, the ECCB concludes that "There is a high level of business confidence in the tourism industry as evidenced by the number of planned extensions and renovations to hotels". The Mirror, Crusader, Wednesday Star and Voice all carry the press release.

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C&W resumes its place in liberalised OECS

    Cable and Wireless is no longer desperate to leave St. Lucia. The telecommunications multinational has committed itself to once again supporting the St. Lucia Jazz Festival in 2001, and C&W has also just pledged US$8.3 million to the West Indies Cricket Board for the next three years. While many St. Lucians quietly sighed a breath of relief, negotiations are not yet over. However, agreement between C&W and the regional telecommunications board ECTEL were "ninety percent complete", according to C&W's director for Barbados and the Windward Islands, Trevor Clarke, last Friday. Once the last ten percent of outstanding issues is solved, St. Lucia will be able to enter an era of liberalised telecommunications on April 1st, where "cellular phone services, internet provider services and the controversial VSAT capability will all be free of Cable & Wireless monopoly".
    All newspapers save The Crusader carry articles on the C&W issue, interpreting the near-pull out from various and varying angles - from the victorious (The Mirror) to the wary (The Voice). The Star carries a photograph of C&W general manager Donald Austin presenting minister of Tourism Menissa Rambally with a $163,000 cheque for Jazz 2001.

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Angie Stone, not Jill Scott at Jazz 2001

    Angie Stone will be performing instead of Jill Scott on May 12 at this year's St. Lucia Jazz Festival. Jill Scott reportedly asked to be released from her contract after having been offered the chance to go on a month-long tour with Sting. However, Jill Scott has promised to instead do a show on Easter Sunday, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Angie Stone will be replacing Jill Scott and perform alongside Carl Thomas, Eric Benet and Miriam Makeba. Also billed are Luther Vandross, Montell Jordan and Lady Smith Black Mambazo. Two years ago, the Jazz Festival suffered a problematic series of cancellations. According to The Star, organizers hope to be spared a repetition of that experience.

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Peace Corps volunteers celebrate 40 years

    Peace Corps volunteers the world over - including twenty-three men and women in St. Lucia - are celebrating the fortieth birthday of their programme's existence with a series of activities designed to highlight the Peace Corps' presence. This is reported in The Mirror and Thursday Voice. From the programmes' inception in 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, Peace Corps volunteers have worked in St. Lucia, as well as in dozens of other developing countries around the world. According to the newspapers, "The Peace Corps is a governmental volunteer organization in which qualified persons dedicate two years of service to a host country". During this time, they are financially maintained by the United States, but the host country directs their services. There are currently Peace Corps volunteers working in the fields of education, business and public health in St. Lucia. Over the years, more than seven hundred Peace Corps volunteers have left their mark on St. Lucia and St. Lucians.

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Strata demands apology from Mario Michel

    Strata Engineering Consultants has demanded that sports minister Mario Michel retract a statement made last week to the effect that the firm had presented an incorrect report on the subsoil conditions existing at the site of the National Stadium in Vieux Fort. "He also suggested that as a result of our report the Chinese contractor had to do further subsoil investigations which delayed the construction of the National Stadium. It is with these remarks in mind that Strata Engineering has decided to publish the factual position surrounding the preparation of our report and to require the Minister to retract his statement".
    Michel, whilst addressing the 2000 Annual Sports Awards ceremony at the National Cultural Centre two weeks ago, reportedly told his audience that "we may have paid $50,000 for a soil test which report proved to be inaccurate and now the stadium is likely to be delayed by a few months". The Mirror reported this last week.
    In a page long article in The Mirror and Voice, Strata Engineering Consultants Ltd. explains in detail the various conditions which it found at the Aupicon site near Vieux Fort, and what recommendations were made in its report. The article's conclusion is clear: not Strata Engineering but the firm responsible for installing the piles is at fault. "In the author's presence, the piling contractor at the National Stadium site chose to install the bored piles without using steel casing and encountered difficulty with the installation due to the continuous collapse of the pile shaft in the sand when the auger is removed and groundwater flows rapidly into the shaft. Repeated attempts to install the pile without the steel casing support were unsuccessful. If the piling contractor had followed the recommendations made in our report and used steel casing to successfully advance the pile shaft in the sand and silt soil, there would be no stoppage of work at the National Stadium site". The article ended with a full paragraph noting Strata Engineering's executive engineer's long-standing geotechnical experience, both at home and overseas. Strata Engineering was responsible, amongst others, for all geotechnical engineering work for the Millennium Highway.

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Defeated Francois takes Harding case to Privy Council

    Human rights lawyer Martinus Francois has lost his High Court appeal on behalf of now deceased Barbadian fugitive, Alfred Harding, and is preparing to take the case to the Privy Council in Britain. Justices Satrohan Singh, Redhead and Matthews unanimously decided that Francois' motion was "misconceived" and ought to have been dismissed by the original trial judge, Madam Justice Indra Hariprashad-Charles. The trio set aside the original ruling in which Hariprashad-Charles judged that Hardin'g treatment amounted to torture. Newspapers at the time quoted from Hariprashad-Charles' verdict stating that the "shackling of [Harding] for an extended period of ten months and fifteen days, including while he slept and ate, without the order of the Visiting Justices was brutal and a severe assault on the person and psyche of the applicant. Mercifully, it was only the intervention of his counsel that led to the permanent removal of the shackles. This is a clear breach of the Prison Rules. It amounted to a form of torture. The occasional shackling of the applicant whenever he visits the bathroom or is visited by his legal advisor is also a violation of the Prison Rules. ... The solitary confinement of the applicant for ten months and fifteen days is also a breach of the Prison rules and is a form of torture, inhuman and degrading punishment. .... Even if there were good reason to confine a prisoner to a cell, he must be allowed reasonable access to exercise and sunlight". The Thursday Voice reported this on August 5th last year.
    Hariprashad-Charles at the time awarded Harding $25,000 in damages. Harding and his lawyer Martinus Francois decided to appeal, having originally sought damages in the region of $500,000. But following his release from shackles and handcuffs, Harding escaped from prison, on the 19th of November, and was shot and killed two days later, allegedly in cold blood, by an off-duty policeman. The circumstances of his death are still under investigation.
    Despite Harding's death, Francois proceeded with the appeal - now on behalf of Harding's mother - but lost the case.
    Francois spoke out bitterly against the verdict, describing it as "shocking, preposterous and possibly political", and further saying that "the judicial branch of government is 'determined to thwart and frustrate attempts by me to vindicate human rights in St. Lucia against growing incidents of authoritarian abuse by the government of St. Lucia'." The paper quotes Francois as saying that "Our judges are the system's judges, they are there to buttress up to the politicians and the system. ... This was a very political decision. It was political. They flew in the face of all legal reasoning and took a decision that was very political. And I think the decision was to stop all that I have done - to crucify Martinus Francois. ... There is no human rights in this country under the rule of law. ... I don't know how the judges can look at me straight in the face saying that the shackling of Harding for ten months, and to keep him in a cell in solitary confinement is nothing. It flies in the face of all the authorities and all the cases. This could never happen anywhere else in the world. This is historical. ... Basically, what they are saying to me is that to shackle Harding for that length of time for doing nothing, is nothing. It is fine and dandy basically, for the government to shackle people".
    With the exception of seeing the Harding case through to the Privy Council, Martinus Francois has decided to "hang up [his] boots" and witdraw all other human rights cases he has pending before the courts. In The Crusader and Star, Francois says he is no longer "able or motivated" to advocate human rights in St. Lucia through the courts. Meanwhile, The Voice reports that lawyer Mary Francis, also a human rights activist, has pledged to continue the struggle.

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Japan donates two fully-equipped ambulances

    The St. Lucia Fire Service last week received two ambulances from the government of Japan, to allow it to expand its services in Castries, Dennery and Vieux Fort. The well-equipped ambulances represent a value of some US$56,296 and are part of Japan's Grassroots Assistance programme. The intention is to offer better and more rapid relief at times of emergency. The ambulances come equipped with full medical supplies, including a micro-resuscitator, oxygen cylinders, roll/roll off type stretchers and an oxymeter which monitors temperature, blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation. The Tuesday Voice, Crusader, Wednesday Star and Thursday Voice all report this. In the past, there have been occasional complaints from relatives of accident victims to the effect that the ambulance services did not operate effectively.

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Brian Bernard appointed Police Commissioner

    Brian Bernard is the new Commissioner of Police for a period of two years. Bernard was chosen unanimously over four other candidates, Hermangild Francis, Peter Cherry, Martin Carasco and Moses Charles, to lead the police force through the next phase of reform. Bernard is a former Assistant Police Commissioner. According to The Voice, he was "a casualty of Government's attempts to establish broad parameters for reform within the Police Force in 1997". Bernard, who at the time was Assistant Police Commissioner in charge of Operations, was removed from the force and given a position in the ministry of Foreign Affairs as Chief Protocol Officer. Nevertheless, he came ahead of his contestants on the tested criteria of knowledge of the job, required skills, work experience, physique and academic qualifications. Bernard was appointed last Thursday. His predecessor Commissioner Francis Nelson is now retired. A government press release states that Bernard will be expected "to provide firm leadership and enthusiastic support for the reform process, which is designed to produce a new police service based on fairness, accountability and efficiency". The release continues: "The reform activities to date have revealed that for a successful transition from a demoralized and ill-disciplined force to an efficient and professional service to take place, the quality of leadership in the Police Force must undergo a radical change. The Government of St. Lucia has, therefore, secured the assistance of the British and Canadian Government to provide in-depth and long-term training in senior management and modern leadership skills for the most talented senior officers of the force. Over the next two years these officers will travel overseas for such trainings so that a pool of well-qualified officers, familiar with the principles of modern police management will be available from which a successor to Mr. Bernard can be identified".

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Iyanola Rastafari Council gains legal status

    The Iyanola Council for the Advancement of Rastafari Inc. is convening a meeting at Vieux Fort this Sunday (4th March) to elect a general council and an executive council to run the organization's affairs. Iyanola recently received its certificate of incorporation under the Companies Act of St. Lucia, giving it legal status. The council intends to work on behalf of the Rastafarian community in St. Lucia. The venue for Sunday's meeting is the Nyabinghi Centre in Vieux Fort. The Crusader reports this.

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