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Quotes:
"Other times [George] Odlum seemed to be expressing an understanding for his brother's decision to remain with the Labour Party, saying that he would never expect his brother [Jon] to follow him 'like bee-beep, cluck, cluck' into any political venture".
The Mirror (13th April).
"What wouldn't we do for a voice of reason and intelligence that we can truly trust, in this country?"
Mirror editorial on the budget debate (13th April).
"The owners of the business which is situated on the Gros Islet highway, do not have any special plans for the future, except the fact that they intend to start working for 24 hrs, instead of the 18 hrs at which they operate at present. Of course that will change with time".
One Caribbean on the new Galaxy Service Station (14th April).
"The tourists just pick up the articles, smell them and put them back. What can we do? Tell them not to look at our things? No, but at the same time the reason why they only look around is because they are provided with these same things on the ships".
Market vendor asked to comment on the unemployment situation in St. Lucia (One Caribbean, 14th April).
"So the sardines are swimming in waters dominated by the sharks".
Dr Vaughan Lewis on the prospect for Caribbean banana farmers after January 1st, 2006 (One Caribbean, 14th April).
"Odlum said that one week later the nation experienced the attack on the Cathedral, which provoked calls from all the pulpits for healing - the same getting together of the people that he had been suggesting [in his Christmas message]. Even the government expressed its horror at the attack on the Cathedral and urged unity, Odlum noted. But soon after that, he said, the Prime Minister was on the Market Steps talking about Armageddon.
Prime Minister Anthony then interjected from his chair with the retort: 'And it (Armageddon) is unfolding now'.
Odlum replied: 'I accept the threat, Mr Prime Minister; I accept the threat that Armageddon is unfolding now, because this government is well placed to tell us about Armageddon'."
The Mirror recounting part of an exchange during last Tuesday's budget debate between ex-minister of Foreign Affairs, now co-chairman of the Alliance for National Unity, George Odlum, and prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony (13th April).
"The reality of God is an objective fact. God exists".
John R. Lee, 'The Christian Mind' (The Mirror, 13th April).
"We have lost our way in the traditions of our fathers".
Edward Harris (The Voice, 14th April).
"I am asked to believe that all who created the political culture of the present are suddenly in conjunctive anagnorisis".
Christopher Hunte in The Mirror explaining... something (13th April).
"But de Brudder say he not going peacefully into de dark night. He go rage rage like Enroajay. He say RIP not no Rest-In-Peace. It mean Return-If-Possible".
'Queek-Quak' on George Odlum. Posters appeared in Castries recently bearing Odlum's photograph and the letters R.I.P. (Crusader, 14th April).
"Sir John has been very critical of such a move. 'Borrow', he said, 'dig a hole and put St. Lucia in it'."
The Crusader on Sir John Compton's criticism of the 2001/2002 budget (14th April).
"He also believed Barbados should start marketing in other cities such as Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles, pointing out those were cities with hotter summers than Barbados, so inhabitants might want to escape to cooler countries".
Barbadian hotel owner Adrian Loveridge on marketing strategies for Caribbean tourist destinations (The Voice, 14th April).
"'You know', he observed calmly, with bleary eyes and a drunken smile on his face, 'you guys are all talking a whole bunch of sh-t'. At that point, Roddy sidled, as unobtrusively as possible, from his seat and slunk out of the Town Hall. It was a fully two weeks before any of us set eyes on him."
Victor Marquis recounting a performance of 'The Expatriates', a play by Roderick Walcott, back in the 1960s. The bottles on stage had been filled with real rum instead of apple juice (The Voice, 14th April).
"In 1970, one evening I was casually walking along the side-walk next to the Parish Centre when the song Israelites by Desmond Dekker came blasting from upstairs. Somebody had just pelted an empty Heineken beer bottle in my direction, that narrowly missed my head. I was fortunate to have taken evasive action in time, thus allowing the missile to sail smoothly over my head, in order for it to make contact with its intended victim. However amidst the fracas that was transpiring, I shouted, 'Is that Desmond Dekker playing in there?' A dance enthusiast turned in my direction, and said in typical St. Lucian talk, 'no garcon dat is de Tru Tones'."
Timothy Alfred recalling successful St. Lucian bands and musicians (The Voice, 14th April).
"'Obeah', you say, 'La Rose', says your companion, 'black magic' says the other, and 'definite influence of Haitian art styles', proclaims your art critic."
Annu Rata on the work of Saltibus sculptor Anthony James (The Voice, 14th April). |
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Odlum okays budget but says it 'mamaguys' people
A free-speaking ex-minister of Foreign Affairs, George Odlum, on Tuesday lambasted his former government colleagues for being vindictive, for beating their own chests and for 'spin-doctoring' the true state of the economy. Odlum further called the 2001/2002 budget a 'bellelesh' affair, implying to the people of St. Lucia (in The Mirror's interpretation) that "it's nice but you can't get it". He also warned prime minister Dr Anthony not to "mamaguy the people", that is, not to try and "score points through the lips of the spin doctors". The Crusader quotes Odlum as saying that to his mind, no deep thought had gone into the budget and that "New Labour uses figures like a drunken man uses a lamp post, for support rather than for illumination".
Odlum's critique of the figures quoted by prime minister Anthony to support the notion that St. Lucia's economy is doing well, is shared by the only other opposition parliamentarian, Louis George (United Workers Party). According to George, figures from the government's own statistical department show that the island's economy expanded "by a marginal 0.9% in the year 2000". George stated in his contribution to the budget debate that this is "the lowest figure of economic growth ever recorded" but the PM denied this, saying that the lowest growth rate ever was in 1996/7, under UWP prime minister Dr Vaughan Lewis. Nevertheless, George persisted in his criticism, claiming that the Labour government prefers to hide behind "very theoretical and very abstract" reports of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to convince St. Lucians that the economy is doing well. Using ECCB and IMF information, prime minister Anthony quoted a growth rate of 2 percent and added that this must be regarded "as positive, considering increases in the price of fuel, the drop in the value of the pound sterling, and the decrease in banana prices".
Opposition leader Louis George was also critical of what he claimed was a "steady decline in revenue collection by government and a deterioration of the capital stock of the country over the last three years". The Mirror writes this. The paper quotes George as saying: "While there has been a steady decline in revenue, we see a dramatic increase in recurrent expenditure at a particular level: Grade 20; jobs for the boys. First time we have so many permanent secretaries; 27 posts at Grade 20".
Another moot point, in George's view, is the deterioration of capital stock and "bad economic management". He argued that since the SLP came into office, "not one school has been rehabilitated or repaired in this country". Further according to George, an estimated five million dollars is tied up in the "graveyard for police vehicles" at La Toc. Some of these vehicles have been discarded, according to George, "because the government was unable to purchase air filters".
Finally, on PM Anthony's argument that the fact that local banks have been extending more loans than in previous years signifies that the economy is doing well, George countered this by saying that "he believed that much of this borrowing went towards supplementing the incomes of many people, who found it increasingly difficult to meet regular expenses such as their children's books and school transportation. [George] said the banks and hire purchase firms were repossessing vehicles and other consumer durables in high numbers because their borrowers could not repay".
George Odlum, in Tuesday's response to the budget presentation, drew a distinction between 'Old Labour' and 'New Labour'. In Odlum's perception, 'Old Labour' "was forged out of the trade union movement and as a result of the struggles of the people". Odlum is quoted in The Crusader as saying: "For within the frail frame of George FL Charles lies the real heart of Labour". 'New Labour', on the other hand, allegedly originates from the corridors of the University of the West Indies, "where a group of young men banded together and decided that they were a government in exile", writes The Crusader. "These men invited those who were in St. Lucia, (elements of the PLP, CDP, The National Front) 'and put their emphasis on their heads as distinct from their hearts (the cerebral aspect of politicking and government)'. ... Odlum lamented the fact that there was a tendency on the part of the new regime to alienate people like him who are of the old school. According to him, they do not recognize that the inexperience of youth requires the level of experience of those more politically mature ... According to Odlum, there is something in the psyche of the government which refuses to face the reality of things. He observed that during the budget debate, they were applauding each other and such behaviour was tantamount to the attitude of people who belonged to a mutual admiration society".
Finally, Odlum criticised the government for a passage in the Governor-General's Throne Speech, where Dame Pearlette Louisy stated: "My government has demonstrated a degree of tolerance and magnanimity unprecedented in the political annals of St. Lucia". The former minister of Foreign Affairs reminded the prime minister and his cabinet that the Throne Speech is supposed to be devoid of political opinion and hence should not have "adumbrated" government's policy. Moreover, claimed Odlum, there was remarkably little magnanimity or tolerance in, for instance, government's decision to dismiss three senators (Tessa Mangal, Rick Wayne and Patrick Joseph) because they abstained or voted against a $4 million loan guarantee for Helen Air.
In summary, the 2001/2002 budget presentation and debate appear to have merely served to increase feelings of cynicism and resignation. The editor in The Voice lists not only government's claims of what it has achieved over the past four years, but also a summation of promises "yet to be fulfilled". An article in The Crusader quotes young St. Lucians as saying that the budget debate "seemed more like a provocation sport where the ministers of government played the role of interrupting Odlum at every opening they could find". One student claimed that "a group of primary school children could have debated in a much more dignified manner". The Mirror's editor, finally, opens with a cry from the heart: "What wouldn't we do for a voice of reason and intelligence that we can truly trust, in this country?" The editor concludes: "At the end of this week, the most concise, most concrete, most memorable analysis of this year's Budget came from a politician who abandoned his party, in the hopes that he can form a national unity government. He called it a 'bellelesh' budget. How deep is that? Who suffers when one of the most important planning processes of this island is reduced to a political football, to be muddied and tossed around year after year. Without greater commitment to truth on the part of political, professional and intellectual leaders, people will have no choice but to check their pockets to see how things are going. And that's trouble, especially in an election year. Because if people can't get a true and reasonable picture of the state of affairs in their country, then the next election is going to come down to who can provide the best pay-offs".
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EU/US banana deal: 'sardines swimming with sharks'
Caribbean banana farmers and their colleagues in Africa and the Pacific will be faced with the gradual implementation of a tariff-only system for their produce in the European market, following an agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States of America, last week, which puts an end to nine years of banana disputes that culminated in a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling in favour of the USA, subsequent defiance of this by Great Britain, and the imposition of trade sanctions by the USA against Britain. Under the new agreement, Caribbean bananas will be able to continue to enter the European market under a licensing system which guarantees producers a set quota (based on historic reference), until the 1st of January, 2006. After that date, however, bananas from the ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) will have to compete with those from producers elsewhere - in particular from Latin America, where several United States multinationals operate. The only advantage ACP banana producers may hope for, after 2006, is tariff protection, which means that the European Union can impose higher duties on Latin American bananas than on those from elsewhere. Other than tariff protection, bananas will most likely enter the European market on a 'first come, first serve' basis after 2006.
The EU/US agreement is a compromise. Although a quota is guaranteed for ACP countries until 2006, this has been reduced from 850,000 metric tons per year to 750,000 tons. At the same time, the US has promised to cease its $191 million trade sanctions against British products. The Crusader and Voice report this.
Former St. Lucian prime minister Dr Vaughan Lewis, in a guest editorial in One Caribbean, reckons that with the compromise, "the European Union has given more to the US and the Latin Americans than they really wanted to give. They have taken 100,000 tons formally allocated to the ACP, and given it to the Latin Americans, which for the most part means giving it to the American multinationals. But we in the Caribbean cannot complain, since we have not been able to meet our quota for some time".
After 2006, writes Lewis, "the sardines are swimming in waters dominated by the sharks". St. Lucian farmers had better make sure that by 2005, they are strong in the market, so that they can negotiate tariff levels with the EU that will be high enough "to really give us a chance in the market. ... Which is another way of saying that it will depend, for us in St. Lucia, on whether we have been able to get our production back up to about 120,000 tons from the measly 65 thousand projected for this year". Lewis goes on to urge the government, farmers, banana companies and WIBDECO to get the banana industry back on its feet. "This is a tall order", concludes Lewis.
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NCB and SLDB to merge: Bank of St. Lucia Ltd.
The National Commercial Bank of St. Lucia (NCB) and the St. Lucia Development Bank (SLDB) are proposing a merger to form the Bank of St. Lucia Ltd. - an institution which, they hope, will offer their combined services, and better so. The Bank of St. Lucia Ltd. will be a private sector bank, with a maximum of forty percent government ownership. During the budget presentation, prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony announced that the merger will not result in any members of staff being laid off. According to an article in The Voice, "The goals of the new bank are to make more and larger loans available at lower cost, to provide better returns to depositors, to provide more appropriate finance and related banking services to St. Lucians and local companies, while being an exemplary, consumer-sensitive corporate citizen and providing an attractive return for its shareholders". The paper also reports that if the merger is agreed to by the NCB shareholders, the Bank of St. Lucia Ltd. will be the largest bank within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
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'The Light and the Dark' at the Lighthouse
"How many of us, despite education, foreign travel and social sophistication, deep in our heart of hearts believe in the power of obeah?" That is the question posed in the announcement of a play by Stanley French entitled 'The Light and the Dark', which will be staged on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th April at The Lighthouse Theatre in Tapion, from 8:00 pm. The play was last performed in St. Lucia in 1986 and, before that, in 1972. This time, the cast is made up of Anthea Octave (Gertrude), Richard Ambrose (Amos) and Nathaniel Reynolds (Fons). Director of this weekend's version of 'The Light and the Dark' is Kendel Hippolyte. According to announcements in The Voice and Crusader, the play takes the audience on a "fascinating, thought-provoking, sometimes terrifying and always entertaining journey into the soul of traditional St. Lucia". And it may even reveal some long-held beliefs in the souls of St. Lucians who thought they had put obeah well behind them. According to the press release, "The play tells the story of Gertrude, a St. Lucian country woman who believs she is plagued by the obeah woman of the village, Ma Clovis. Gertrude is haunted, harrassed, made sleepless and dangerously nervous by Ma Clovis who 'won't stop playing tricks on me'. Gertrude's nephew, who now lives in Castries, dropped by one evening and she turns to him for support and comfort only to find that her little Amos, whom she had partly raised, is now a sophisticated, educated, skeptical young man who scorns all her beliefs as superstition. Although they have not seen each other for years, his friendly visit quickly turns into a full-scale quarrel which no one is winning. ... The playwright, within this suspenseful drama, raises questions about the traditional versus the modern, town versus country, education versus common science, science versus religion. The answers are not simple because Amos and Gertrude are actually, in their different ways, very similar. Both are very intelligent, articulate defenders of their different beliefs. Who represents the dark and who the light is one of the provocative questions in this highly entertaining and stimulating piece of St. Lucian theatre". Following each performance, a "freestyle discussion" will be held on the issues in the play.
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Six arrested in stolen goods and drug deal
Four St. Lucians and two Vincentians were arrested last Saturday during a combined operation of the St. Vincent Coast Guard and the St. Lucia police in order to put a stop to the long-suspected but never before proven illegal trade between St. Lucia and St. Vincent in stolen goods and marijuana.
The six men were intercepted by marine police while travelling in a fishing boat off the north-west coast of St. Vincent. With them, they carried a 12-gauge shotgun, a motor scooter engine, a chain saw, a 9.9 Yamaha engine, a stereo system, cassette deck, amplifier, disc player, equalizer and two speakers, a small cutlass and some personal items. The estimated value of the goods amounts to some $20,000. The four St. Lucians are all fishermen from Vieux Fort, ranging in age from 24 to 34. After having been arrested by Vincentian police on Saturday, the St. Lucians were brought back to their homeland by detectives of the St. Lucian police the follwoing Wednesday, and charged with housebreaking. According to The Mirror, some of the items have already been identified as having been stolen. Police public relations officer Sgt. Albert James is quoted in The Mirror: "Local intelligence is well aware that there is a frequent trade between the two islands involving stolen goods and marijuana. But we have neevr actually caught anyone before". Having made the first step, James noted, it was now incumbent upon police to strengthen intelligence gathering "now that the trade between stolen goods and the drug trade is not just an abstraction anymore".
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Largest ever census kicks off this week
The most comprehensive census ever to be held in St. Lucia is due to start on Tuesday of this week, lasting until the 31st of May. Six hundred trained enumerators will visit 414 enumeration areas in St. Lucia, each of which contains 100 households. With a detailed cartographic map of their area in hand, the enumerators will perform a 'visitation record', numbering every building in sight, adding any new building that was not on the map already, and labelling all buildings and newly added significant roads, footpaths and other structures. The enumerators will also visit every household in their area, and interview its residents on matters of health, social and economic issues and infrastructure. One Caribbean reports this. Further according to a special Census Supplement in The Voice, the 2001 Housing and Population Census includes, for the first time, in-depth questions on disability, crime, health and employment as well, in addition to collecting data on housing, educational achievement, family size, overcrowding, lighting, cooking, fuel usage and availability of pipe-borne water. The Census 2001, "will allow analyses to be conducted, which will address such issues as traffic congestion, small business and informal business ownership and the resulting growth and structural issues in various sectors of the St. Lucian economy and social fabric. The 2001 Census makes available critical information on the size, distribution and characteristics of St. Lucia's population, which is essential for describing and assessing economic, social and demographic circumstances, and for developing sound policies and programmes".
The Statistics Act of 1973 guarantees that all information collected during the Census will be kept confidential and that the result will not reveal the identity of any individual but will only be published in aggregate form. All census enumerators have taken an Oath of Secrecy and will be carrying a Certificate of Authority while performing their duties.
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Female prisoners receive computer system
Prisoners in the female section of Her Majesty's Prison in Castries were presented with a computer system last week, courtesy of the Business and Professional Women's Club and the resident British High Commissioner, Peter Hughes. The Voice and One Caribbean report this. The Business and Professional Women's Club has for some time been liaising with the inmates of the female prison, visiting them and sharing some of their skills with them. Courses have been offered in arts and crafts, sewing, flower arranging, basic English, accounts and computer literacy. According to the press release, with many of the female inmates being (very) young women, the creation of income-generating skills is extra important to enhance their (self)employment prospects upon release from prison.
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New telephone scam concerns Cable & Wireless
St. Lucians are once again falling victim to a telephone scam. In quarter-page advertisements in One Caribbean and The Crusader, Cable & Wireless warns the public that "an individual posing as a phone technician, will ask you to dial nine (9) zero (0), the pound sign (#) and then hang up". However, warns the telecommunications company, "Dialing 90# and hanging up ... gives the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your home phone number". Cable & Wireless therefore urges St. Lucians to be aware of this scam, "and do not dial 90# for anyone!".
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Families of killed farmers compensated
The families of farmers Randy and Julius Joseph, who were both shot and killed by police during the banana riots of October 7, 1993, have finally been financially compensated for their loss. Cheques amounting to $56,000 and $80,000 were handed over to representatives of the two men's families by Tony Torrence, parliamentary representative for the Mabouya Valley, where the disturbances took place. The Mirror reports this. (One Caribbean mentions amounts of $53,000 and $75,000 respectively). The 1993 riots took place as part of a no-cut strike staged by farmers and supported by the then Banana Salvation Committee (BSC) in a bid to get better prices for bananas and more say in the running of the banana industry. Former secretary of the BSC and ex-chairman of the St. Lucia Banana Corporation, Patrick Joseph, received the cheque on behalf of the family of Randy Joseph. One Caribbean quotes Patrick Joseph as saying "that compensating the families of the two men would be a futile exercise while those responsible for their deaths are still at large".
Parliamentary representative for Mabouya Valley Tony Torrence, however, espoused the hope that government's compensation to the farmers' families would help "to bring an end to a sad chapter in the recent history of the island. What we are doing here today is trying to bring some measure of correctness to a grave historical wrong", quotes The Mirror.
The deaths of Randy and Julius Joseph occurred under the United Workers Party government. Recently, however, former UWP prime minister Sir John Compton has been campaigning for the support of banana farmers once again, now on behalf of the new political Alliance for Unity of which he is co-chairman. If last week's One Caribbean is to be believed, Compton has not been unsuccessful in his bid for farmer support.
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Hurricane prediction: 8 hurricanes, 2 intense
Ten named storms, six hurricanes and two intense hurricanes - that is the prediction for the upcoming rainy season (1st of June until 30th November) according to United States hurricane forecaster and Colorado State University professor William Gray. Although focussing more on the chances of a hurricane hitting the United States coastline, Gray's predictions are significant for the Caribbean as well, with St. Lucia finding itself at the south of the hurricane belt. Last year, Gray predicted one tropical storm and one hurricane too many. The long-term average from 1950 to 1990 is 9.3 named storms, 5.8 hurricanes and 2.2 major hurricanes per year. This year, however, the signals are mixed, says Gray. "Signs this season are that El Nino could cause strong westerly winds that work against hurricanes, but warmer water temperatures and barometric pressures in the Atlantic Ocean suggest a more forceful season". According to Gray, except for a calm year in 1997, the last six years have been "the most active on average that the Atlantic has recorded".
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Animal Protection society warns against dog fighting
The St. Lucia Animal Protection Society (SLAPS) is sounding an alarm regarding what it deems "a nasty trend" which is currently "springing up in St. Lucia", namely dog fighting. According to a short article in The Mirror, "it is a dirty secret kept by those who enjoy this cruel sport, carried on and usually bet upon in out-of-the-way places, as is cock fighting, another very cruel sport". Besides raising objections to the inherent cruelty of the so-called sport, which results in two animals "tearing each other to pieces, sometimes leading to the severe injury of one, if not death", SLAPS also warns that dog fighting can pose serious dangers to human beings in society. "[T]hese dogs are bred to be especially aggressive and [are] often beyond control". Because of this, warns SLAPS, the dogs "are very likely to attack other dogs, animals or children. Heaven help the youngster who innocently approaches one of these dogs which, through no fault of its own, sees the child as a threat".
Finally, the animal protection society also warns that St. Lucia's quarantine rules are being circumvented. "[I]llegal dogs are being brought into St. Lucia for the express purposes of fighting. These are not checked for illness and could pose a health problem for all dogs on the island if one were to bring in some contagious disease".
For more information, SLAPS can be reached at tel. (758) 457-7527 or (758)458-0728, write to P.O. Box 1114, Castries, or visit http://www.geocities.com/slapss
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