St. Lucia Online: Last Week's News

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Start made on all-St. Lucian resort at Anse Cochon

Anse la Raye and Canaries can look forward to the imminent construction of an 11.5 acre resort at Anse Cochon. Work was started this week on an all-St. Lucian enterprise which will be called TiKaye Village Resort. The resort will comprise nineteen single cottages, seven two bedroom-cottages, a gym, a restaurant and a large swimming pool. "This is a 100 percent homegrown project", TiKaye's managing director Nicholas Pinnock is quoted  in The Star. "The design, drawings and engineering of the resort is all St. Lucian. Everyone on site is a St. Lucian and once the resort nears completion, all of the furniture will also be locally made. We really believe in supporting cottage industry which is terribly underrated in St. Lucia, and will be getting local potters to make our ashtrays and other craftsmen and women to make baskets and other items. ... This development is going to be very good for the area. Already, local construction workers have been employed and when the resort is finished, we will need between 40 and 50 staff at peak capacity and these people should come from Anse la Raye and Canaries".
Besides supporting local human resources and skills, TiKaye also attempts to preserve and maximise the site's natural assets. "We've kept all of the big trees on the site and those that have been cut down will be used in the making of furniture for the resort. We are trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible and to retain all of the natural attributes which the site has to offer", Pinnock told The Star. Construction of the TiKaye Village Resort is expected to be finalised in 2001.
Meanwhile, the former Odyssey Resort (Club St. Lucia) which went into receivership late last year is currently being revamped to become a Splash Resort. Phase one of the development operation was recently finalised. Managing director Kenneth Wilson and general manager Juan Melhado have so far refurbished public areas and guestrooms and provided intensive staff training to bring the 65-acre property up to Splash Resorts' standards. A new executive chef has been hired and a 'romance village' for couples-only has been developed. Splash Resorts was founded in 1999 by Carlos F. del Pino. Hilary Modeste of the St. Lucia Tourist Board has welcomed Splash Resorts to the island. The Star reports this.

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Hurricane season prediction: wild, wet and windy

Wild, wet and windy with eleven tropical storms, seven of which could grow into hurricane-strength winds of 74mph (118kph) or more. This is predicted by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, according to an article in this week's Star. The NHC also keeps check of hurricanes in the Caribbean. "But it's not all about numbers", NHC's director Max Mayfield is quoted as saying. "What really counts is where they make landfall and how strong they are when they do".
The hurricane season officially started this week (1st June) and will end on 30th November. Storm names for the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season are as follows: Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gordin, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Keith, Michael, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sandy, Tony, Valerie and William.

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Missing Bisee girl found living with Micoud family

A twelve year-old Bisee girl who had been missing since Saturday 20th March [see last week's news] has been found "safe and unharmed" at the household of a Micoud man and his mother. The man, however, has been charged with indecent assault for allegedly having touched the girl's breast. The Voice writes this. But the paper goes on to describe the man as a 'Good Samaritan' who is being punished for trying to help a girl whom he was led to believe was 22 years old, from Brooklyn, New York, and robbed of her money and jewellery by a stranger. The Micoud resident works as a security guard in Castries and was on duty when he allegedly came across the girl around midnight, carrying two bags and looking lost. He claims to have allowed the girl to sleep in the building where he was on duty and subsequently to have invited her to come home with him. She agreed and he took her to his mother in Micoud where she has been living since the 24th of May.
According to The Voice, police officers questioned the Micoud security guard "heavily" but he maintained throughout that he never assaulted the girl who, incidentally, is said to look much older than her twelve years. Before her disappearance, the girl lived at her grandmother's house in Bisee and attended the Ave Maria primary school.

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Newspaper expects reshuffle at top of civil service

The Voice this week breaks the rumoured news of yet another reshuffle in the top ranks of the civil service, just three months after the ministerial reshuffle. This new move would find long-standing Cabinet Secretary Anthony Severin replaced by Didacus Jules. Jules is currently the permanent secretary (PS) in the ministry of Education. According to The Voice's source - "an official close to the Ministry of the Public Service" who remains anonymous - Severin would become general manager of the St. Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority. SLASPA's current manager, Vincent Hippolyte is then free to take on the general management of the recently opened Free Trade Zone in Vieux Fort. On the cards to replace Didacus Jules are Dr. George Forde (principal of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College) or Dr. Isaac. Also expected to be moved are the PS in the ministry of Communication and Works, Joseph Alexander to become PS in the ministry of Health, whilst the current PS in that position, Marcia Jules, may be transferred to become PS in the ministry of Planning. Joseph Alexander's position as PS at Communication and Works, finally, would be filled by Alison King, who is currently the Director of Planning in the ministry of Planning.
According to The Voice's source, the rationale behind these moves would be to attain "greater productivity", although the person is said to have added that "opposition is expected from a few Ministers whose close relationship with their Permanent Secretaries are of the opinion that such a reshuffle will affect their ministry's productivity and good working environment".

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Praise for role of Guyanese immigrants in St. Lucia

The largest group of immigrants in St. Lucia - the Guyanese - received praise from Foreign Affairs minister George Odlum recently for their positive contributions to the welfare of St. Lucia. At the same time, Odlum spoke out against the laissez-faire attitude which he says characterises the St. Lucian work ethic and he castigated fellow St. Lucians for what he called their "xenophobia and false nationalist feelings". Odlum at the time was addressing members of the St. Lucia Guyana Association who had congregated to celebrate the 34th independence anniversary of Guyana. Odlum is quoted in The Star to have said: "We must not be alarmed when we see the movement of people around the Caribbean. If people are uncomfortable living in a part of the globe where they suffer seriously and they find a chance of escape, I feel that they must be free to take it. ... I rather see a productive Guyanese or Kittitian or Dominican in St. Lucia than a worthless bum on the street. One of the weak parts of the St. Lucian person is the lack of a serious and productive work ethic. I know we are creative people and I know we move from one festival to another and that's exciting. But the competition that is going on in the world today is not about excitement, it's about efficiency and productions. Competition with those who have better facilities than you, and we have the capacity to meet that challenge".
According to the Guyanese consul Lokesh Singh, there are plans to start a southern chapter of the St. Lucia Guyana Association.

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First Lady introduced to nation at last

St. Lucia's First Lady has finally been formally introduced to the people of St. Lucia - during the St. Lucia Labour Party market steps meeting last Thursday evening. According to The Star newspaper, which in the past has criticised the secrecy surrounding the PM's marriage on 12th March to Trinidad-born Dr. Rosemary Antoine, and his failure to introduce her to the nation, the PM on Thursday told the crowd: "Over the past few days you heard that I got married. I would like to introduce you to my wife. Let me introduce you to Rosemary and let me tell you that I am very happy tonight that I can introduce Rosemary before the Labour family in the Labour Party's university" [for photographs of the wedding, click here]. Several newspapers in the past few weeks have carried photographs of events such as the Jazz festival and Jubilee 2000 which included Dr. Antoine-Anthony but without identifying her either by name or position.

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Discharged men accused again, DPP frustrated daily

The dire price St. Lucia is paying for having a faltering prosecution system became painfully clear this week in two unrelated incidents. Last Thursday, the man who had been the sole suspect in the 1997 rape-murder of 13 year-old Trisha Dennis but who was released "following a botched-up investigation", was once again accused of rape, this time of a 26 year-old woman in Grand Riviere. Following the alleged rape on Thursday, the man is said to have tried to hang himself and, when this failed, to have ingested a quantity of gramoxone (a deadly poisonous weedkiller). He is currently under police guard at Victoria hospital.
Also this week, a man from Leslie Land who had been acquitted just weeks ago of the charge of being an accomplice to the murder of Canadian tourist Tom Nugent because of "lack of evidence", was made to appear once again before the magistrate, this time on a charge of armed robbery. Together with another man, he is now accused of having held a man at knife point in Marchand on 22nd May and to have robbed him of his gold chains, gold watch, 300 pounds sterling and EC$8,000. The Star reports both these incidents.
The reports gain in significance when set against the background of an article in The Crusader this week, in which Tony Williams describes the conditions under which the island's Director of Public Prosecutions, Norton Jack, has to perform his duties. The Crusader says this is "practically hopeless and quite frankly borders on the absurd". Lack of sufficiently trained staff to serve summonses and civil maintenance orders; lack of reference materials and law books; police officers who err in the preparation of evidence for court hearings; incessant adjournments and an overworked and underequipped forensic laboratory are just some of the problems Norton faces.
"For defence lawyers this is their version of heaven. Invariably and without mercy they proceed to make short shrift of the ill-prepared prosecutorial opponents. The end result - cases are thrown out of court for lack of evidence or for non-disclosure of information", writes The Crusader. The newspaper wonders what newly appointed deputy police commissioner Canadian national Neil Parker will be able to improve in this situation.
The Voice, in an independent report on the new deputy commissioner, quotes Parker as saying that his "focus will be on accountability and the integrity of the Force. We have to clean up our image and our integrity". According to The Voice, Parker's mandate is to reform the local police force and to bring a high level of respectability, accountability, professionalism and all-round good policing to St. Lucia. Parker this week promised to conduct 'post mortems' on every case that is dismissed or that is lost by the state in the Assizes. A team will investigate what went wrong, who was negligent and how the problem can be fixed, writes The Voice. The newspaper in its editorial emphasises however that Parker, although seasoned in Canadian police force reform, has never worked in a developing country before and the editor concludes therefore that Parker's appointment "is certainly out of step with the national heartbeat".

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Creation of Consumer Ombudsman one step nearer

A proposed new Consumer Protection Act was dissected and discussed at length during a national consultation at the NIS conference centre, last Thursday. The act is intended to protect consumers against unfair business conduct, imposition by product makers and suppliers of unreasonable contracts, unfair contract practices, serious injury to consumers, damage to property caused by products supplied to consumers, and unsafe goods offered for sale. The Mirror writes this. Also reporting on the meeting are The Crusader and The Star. Although participants pointed out several inconsistencies, overlaps with existing legislation, and issues which still need to be sorted out, the draft bill does appear to form a first step towards the establishment of the office of Director of Consumer Affairs, also known as a Consumer Ombudsman. The Ombudsman's task would be, amongst others, to investigate complaints made by consumers, to serve as a conciliator in the resolution of conflicts between consumers and suppliers and, when necessary, to refer disputes to a Consumer Fair Trading Tribunal. The Ombudsman's role is in part to attempt to avoid lengthy court proceedings.

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New crane to triple productivity at Castries port

The acquisition of a $7.47 million harbour crane for the port of Castries promises to greatly increase the level of productivity and efficiency of the cargo loading and discharging operations. The new crane - a Liebherr LHM 320 - will be able to handle at least 15 to 20 containers per hour and, depending on circumstances, more than that. The existing crane handles no more than six to eight containers per hour and has been a burden in terms of maintenance. The engineers working with the new crane received special training in Austria as part of the package for the purchase of the crane. In order to help the St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority repay its loan on the crane, a charge of $150 per twenty foot container unit, per move, will be applied. The Mirror and Star both report this.

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Minister defends $-specific invitation to C.O. Williams

Although prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony this week described as "injudicious" a letter from the ministry of Communications and Works to contractor C.O. Williams in which the contracting firm is being invited to submit an estimate for specific road rehabilitation works (available funds for which are also given), the ministry in a paid advertisement this week nevertheless seeks to defend its actions. One Caribbean, for four consecutive weeks now, has published the ministry's letter, which is signed by deputy chief engineer Albert Jn.Baptiste. In it, Jn.Baptiste asks the general manager of C.O. Williams Construction to "Kindly provide this Ministry with an estimate for the partial rehabilitation of the following roads in the North". The letter is dated 17th April 2000 and headed "Re: Capital Programme of Works - Fiscal Year 2000/2001". There then follows a list of 21 road reconstruction and rehabilitation projects. In the case of the first seventeen projects, a total amount of $900,000 is cited as "available funds". In the case of the last four projects, individual allocations of monies are given for each project.
The deputy chief engineer's letter concludes by asking the general manager to "kindly liaise" with a certain engineer "with respect to the above".
For several weeks now, One Caribbean publisher Dennis Sinclair Dabreo has suggested that the procedure outlined in the letter makes a mockery of the system whereby projects such as this ought to be put out to tender.
Last week, Dabreo discussed the issue on television with Rick Wayne. This week, the prime minister at a press conference called the ministry's letter "injudicious" and said it should not have been written. This is reported in this week's One Caribbean. In a paid advertisement in The Mirror, Star and Voice, however, the ministry itself responds to One Caribbean's queries by saying that C.O. Williams is the only company that has the technology to perform a so-called 'cold-in-place recycling' technique which is allegedly more efficient in road repair work.
The ministry writes: "The primary objective of the exercise was to determine from C.O. Williams Construction's submission, a reliable cost per kilometre for the full rehabilitation ... using the 'new technology for comparison to our tradition [sic] road rehabilitation methods'. The submission of fiscal limits to C.O. Williams presented a common denominator for the comparative exercise. In other words the question would be... let us see what can be done with $1.6m using the Cold-in-place recycling method vis-a-vis, tried and tested traditional methods".
The ministry further claims that the invitation was "nothing more than a call for an estimate. There is nothing abnormal or wrong with this". It also says that the ministry "reserves the right to approach any contractor, with the request to submit an estimate". At the same time, the ministry claims that it "does not have the legal authority to award a contract of that size to any contractor".
Finally, the ministry takes issue with Dabreo's implicit suggestion that it might be secretly by-passing other (smaller) contractors in the island and defends itself by saying that the letter in question was, after all, copied to the minister, permanent secretary and two senior engineers in the ministry. "In other words there was nothing secretive about the request. Corruption does not stem from openness. The Senior Officer writing the memo manifested complete transparency in the undertaking by ensuring that senior personnel were clearly aware of the request".
Dabreo, in this week's One Caribbean, asks prime minister Anthony what action he intends to take to censure minister Calixte George of Communications and Works. Furthermore, Dabreo adds, he has instructed his lawyers to start a libel case against the Permanent Secretary and/or his assistant whose signatures appear under this week's paid advertisement, the second-last paragraph of which reads as follows: "In conclusion, it may be said that, Mr. D. Sinclair DaBreo has sought maliciously to mislead the St. Lucian public, with the specific objective of bringing the Ministry of Communications, Works, Transport and Public Utilities into disrepute. He has been unscrupulous in his presentation of the facts and has clearly shown without a doubt that he is totally ignorant of what investigative and responsible journalism are about".

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Ministers decide against backpay to 1997 after all

Government ministers have decided against the idea of taking home salary increases dating to back June 1997: their first month in office. Last week, the island's newspapers carried a variety of financial estimates for these gross salary backpay packages ranging, the papers claimed, from $65,304 to $160,000 per minister. The newspapers unanimously rejected the prospect of backpay for ministers at a time when many persons in St. Lucia are allegedly having a difficult time in making ends meet. On Monday, prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony announced that the ministers had realised that there are some "very urgent demands on the public purse" to be attended to first. Therefore, the PM announced, cabinet had decided to implement "without delay" retroactive payments for one year only, effective January 1, 1999". Speaking at a St. Lucia Labour Party meeting at the market steps in Castries on Thursday night, the PM further illuminated his cabinet's decision. "You said to us, do not take the backpay. We listened, we heard you and decided not to take any backpay". If the backpay really would have amounted to $160,000, the PM said further, "That amount would have been unfair and unreasonable and you would have been entitled to call us all the names you wanted to". Instead, Dr Anthony said: "Our ministers have decided that the Cabinet will assist the workers of Dennery by making sure the same money that was allocated for them to get backpay will go to the workers at Belle Fashions to tide them over". Foreign-owned garment factory Belle Fashions closed suddenly over the Christmas period, without paying social security monies or severance compensation to its workers.

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