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Nation holds breath after Odlum speaks out
The nation is holding its breath as it awaits the possible repercussions which Foreign Affairs minister George Odlum's critical contribution to last week's budget debate may have on the future of the current St. Lucia Labour Party government. Odlum, who in 1981 was a central figure in bringing down the then SLP government, revealed on Tuesday in the House of Assembly that he had disagreed with the government's sacking of three senators over the HelenAir issue last year, and also that he disagrees with the current handling of the Smart Duah affair. Odlum (according to The Mirror "with shivering hands") stated that the government, "in three measly years", has somehow managed to alienate "all the important sectors of the community", including the media, private sector, farmers, public servants, teachers, churches, trusted Labour stalwarts, the opposition and some regional colleagues. Switching to the second of his pre-prepared speeches, Odlum then proceeded to praise certain specific aspects of the 2000 budget which, on the whole, he called "clever" and, in many ways, resembling "a pre-election budget". In closing, he reassured his Cabinet colleagues that "a soldier can be out of step with his entire batallion provided that he is marching to the right drum-beat". He also quoted from Governor-General Dame Pearlette Louisy's throne speech, where she stated that dissonance strengthens democracy. Despite his harsh words, Odlum finally begged to support the 2000 budget.
Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, in his closing speech on Wednesday, responded with bitterness, anger and, according to some, arrogance in countering the criticisms levelled at his budget by both George Odlum and UWP opposition leader Louis George. One Caribbean describes the PM's rebuttal most graphically as: "The wild waving of hands, the rehearsed lengthy dramatic pauses and repetition for effect. The constant turning of his back to the camera, body language that seemed to say to the people of Saint Lucia: 'I don't really want to talk to or to see you ungrateful people. Why don't you all listen to what I tell you? I am no liar".
A particular issue which neither the PM nor any of the other ministers addressed satisfactorily during the budget debate is the discrepancy between the statistics for economic growth (3.1 percent in 1999) and the perceived mood in the country which reportedly does not reflect that positive development. According to Geoff Stewart, on last Thursday's television show 'Talk', the paradox may be explained if we accept that although the figure of 3.1 percent growth is correct, the main sectors in which this took place - construction and tourism – share the trait that the money generated does not trickle down to local businesses and workers in the way that, for instance, banana money used to.
Dr. Anthony, however, opted in his closing speech for a rather more emotional response to the criticisms levelled at his government. He repeatedly asked rhetorically: "What are this government's sins?" and went on to condemn what he called "a naked and blatant attempt to suggest that there is skullduggery on the part of the government. 'A brilliant budget, but it is hiding something'. That is the level of tragedy that we have reached in this country", the PM said. "We destroy. The director of statistics presents his figures and he lies. He's lying. That's it. Somehow, when he presented his figures to the former government it was the truth. Suddenly, when the Labour government is in office, it's a lie. The psychology is don't trust those figures". Dr. Anthony also asked: "What psyche we want to build in this country? Why are we deliberately fashioning distrust in this country?"
Despite the prime minister's condemnation of what he terms cynicism and distrust, all of this week's newspapers have essentially come out in support of George Odlum.
In terms of the possible consequences of the schism within the SLP government, The Mirror reports that it understands "that some Labourites are of the view that the party should not wait for 2002 to renew its mandate with the electorate". The paper also quotes George Odlum as saying that he is prepared to face the consequences of his outspokenness.
The Voice seems to best sum up the current political dilemma. "The Prime Minister is in an unenviable position. If it is contemplated that Mr. Odlum be fired, then there must be justification, and more justification than the technical issue of his having broken ranks with his Cabinet colleagues. If, on the other hand, Mr. Odlum is kept on, the message is clear. The Government will be admitting to some blame and guilt in the accusations levelled at it by Odlum. If that were to happen, ... it would represent the dawning of a new political era where Governments admit to their human frailty and can admit to making mistakes. Democracy is not threatened, but rather strengthened by open principled debate".
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce, in an official response to the 2000/2001 budget, calls it "achievable but very conservative. The tone may be reflective of the Government's conviction that all is well in the economy, notwithstanding the whisperings that it is not. There are no surprises in the budget that will stimulate or retard the economy. The Budget does not set out in any way to jump start or catalyse the economy into higher levels of growth or economic activity. The social programmes are commendable. Overall one can only hope that the business community quickly starts to feel some of the positive real growth. The budget's attempt to maintain the status quo and not rock the boat may be, in the final analysis, its only real, but substantial flaw".
[Click here for the full text of the Throne Speech, PM's budget address and George Odlum's contribution].
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Fenwall lays of 76 on heels of PLU debacle
Fenwall Electronics, an electronics factory in Vieux Fort, this week laid off 76 of its workers following a drop in orders. The mass sacking comes on the heels of the surreptitious overnight closure of Palma, Lazar & Ulsh (PLU) at the Union Industrial Estate in Castries [see last week's news]. In a follow-up article, The Mirror reports this week that despite assurances by PLU's US-based Executive Vice-President Chris Mallon that the company's outstanding payroll (amounting to $109,000) would have been settled last week Friday, this has in fact not yet been done. Mallon has asked for a additional one week grace period. PLU has further promised the National Development Corporation that if by the 21st of April, the company is unable to negotiate new contracts or a joint venture to enable it to continue operations in St. Lucia, it will pay $70,000 in outstanding NIS payments by 30th of April. After that, Mallon says, consideration will also be given to paying terminal benefits such as severance pay. Between 72 and 80 skilled workers, earning between $1500 and $3500 a month, were all dismissed without notice.
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C&W's Odie Donald resigns - no reasons given
No reasons have been given as to why Cable and Wireless' Chief Executive Officer for the Caribbean and Atlantic Islands, Odie Donald, resigned from his post last week. In recent times, Donald has been responsible for bringing into effect a series of changes and reductions in telephone rates in St. Lucia and the region. The impression existed that Donald would also continue to oversee future changes. C&W, while praising Donald's contribution to the company's policies, refrains from explaining why the CEO has apparently chosen to resign. The Mirror reports this.
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'Secret memo': OECS unable to continue?
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) stands at the center of four different news reports this week. Topics range from The Crusader's claim that the organisation is on its last legs and will most certainly die soon, to articles in the Voice, Mirror and One Caribbean which lament that the OECS is weak in terms of presenting a unified private sector organisation, to, finally, a notice in The Star which announces a meeting at the OECS secretariat where work will begin to formulate a seven-year-strategic plan for the OECS.
The lament about the region's weakness in uniting its private sector groups comes from project manager of the St. Lucia-based Caribbean Human Resource Development Programme for Economic Competitiveness (CPEC), Melvin Edwards. CPEC is about to implement various projects within the OECS, Jamaica and Guyana, funded by the Canadian government. However, whereas working alliances have been established with organisations in Jamaica and Guyana, no strong counterpart had yet been identified in the OECS.
Most striking, however, is the full-page report in this week's Crusader, taken from an "ACLM Publication" and a "secret memo, highly confidential" from OECS director-general Swinburne Lestrade, addressed to all OECS governments, which, according to The Crusader, announces the imminent demise of the OECS. Lestrade allegedly writes that: "Member governments are either unable or unwilling to sustain the organisation at current budgetary levels". The Crusader then concludes: "In plain terms, the OECS as an organisation does not now have the money to continue to function. It is dead in the water but has not been pronounced dead. Rigor mortis, the stiffening of death, has not yet set in on the corpse that is the OECS".
Lestrade, in his memo, allegedly advances two options. "The first scenario calls for the winding up of the economic diversification unit, but retaining the Export Assistance Unit which will be donor supported by foreign countries. [Lestrade] also calls for member governments to "wind up operations" of the East Caribbean Investment Promotion Service. ... The other alternative posed by Mr. Lestrade is to merge the OECS Secretariat into the Caribbean Community and create a new office within the CARICOM office in Guyana to be known as the Caribbean Community Eastern Caribbean Office".
According to Lestrade's memo: "There is need for a more reliable financial mechanism for the Organisation. It cannot continue to function on the basis of irregular and whimsical financial contributions from Member Governments. Too much time is spent calling ministries of Finance to solicit member government's contributions, or otherwise dealing with the Organisation's financial situation. Member Governments simply do not demonstrate a sense of responsibility in these matters".
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PM asks Poverty Reduction Fund board to resign
Prompted by Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, the chairman and the entire Board of Directors of the Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF) have resigned. Their term would ordinarily have expired in June. According to a government press release in The Mirror and Star, the preliminary removal of the Board was thought necessary to restructure the PRF and make it more vigorous and efficient in its implementation of poverty reduction programmes. Recently, allegations were made in the national media concerning suspected leakages of money from the Poverty Reduction Fund.
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Phase one of National Stadium underway
The ground-breaking ceremony last Thursday afternoon signalled the start of site preparation work for the National Stadium in Vieux Fort. Located at St. Urbain, near the turn-off to La Ressource on the Castries-Vieux Fort Highway, the National Stadium will be constructed by the People's Republic of China, with land and supporting infrastructure being provided by the government of St. Lucia. The Mirror reports this. Site preparation work, which is being undertaken by a local company, is expected to be complete by June of this year. After that, the Chinese will take over. Expectation holds that construction will last between 18 months and two years - bringing the completion date somewhere near January/June 2002. The stadium will house a 400 meter all-weather track and a football field of international standards. It will accommodate 15,000 covered seats - 8,000 of which will be built by the Chinese and the remainder by the St. Lucian government. Also according to minister Mario Michel, the design and financial arrangements for a national Cricket Ground in the north of the island are currently being finalised.
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SLBC angry about WIBDECO bonus payments
The St. Lucia Banana Corporation (SLBC) is unhappy about an arrangement in which the Windward Islands Banana Development Corporation (WIBDECO) is set to pay out one million pounds sterling in bonus payments to banana farmers - excluding, however, those farmers who sell their produce to the SLBC. The SLBC deems the bonus payment a form of "unfair business practice". The SLBC further alleges that the bonus payments are meant to provide the other banana companies "the necessary advantage to destroy the SLBC". It is not quite clear from the SLBC press release if it has already taken legal action to prevent the bonus payments from being made, or if it is still contemplates doing so. Matters are further complicated by the fact that the SLBC is itself a shareholder in WIBDECO.
In an advertisement, also in The Voice, it is announced that the SLBC intends to hold its second annual shareholder's meeting on Monday 17th April, at the La Ressource (Dennery) Primary School.
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Zaka invited to Design Biennale in France
Zaka, producer of colourful Caribbean masks and totems and winner of the first Ste Lisi par Excellence Award 2000 for Arts and Crafts, has been invited to exhibit at the Biennial Design Festival to be held in Saint-Etienne in France, in October of this year. This is reported in The Voice.
Some 750 of the best new international designers from around the world are invited to show their work at this Biennale, which is supported by the Museum of Modern Art and the Regional School of Fine Arts. The exposition is guaranteed to attract large media coverage. Symposia and seminars on the economic, social and cultural challenges of design are part of the Biennale also. Zaka started producing painted and plain wooden masks and totems three years ago and has since attracted a number of regional and local awards for originality and power of expression. Some of this work may be viewed on the web: http://www.zaka.cc/
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Agnes 'Ma Benny' Henry turns 100
Mrs. Agnes Henry, better known as 'Ma Benny', this week celebrated her one-hundredth birthday. The mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother is described by her family as a "wonderful, loving and caring" person and "a source of strength, motivation and guidance. She has always been a light on our family and so we wish her strength and a longer life, God's blessing and God's protection in the future". The Voice's Canelles dedicates attention to St. Lucia's latest centenarian.
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Interest-free loans for young entrepreneurs
A Youth Venture Capital Programme aimed at providing financial assistance to business-oriented young people will be established soon. This was promised by Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony in last week's budget address. The fund will provide persons between the ages of 18 and 35 with the capital required to set up a small business. Interest-free loans of up to $20,000 will be given, repayable over a period of up to five years. The programme is meant to be a revolving fund, in order to ensure its continuity. This is reported in the Voice.
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Press secretary: scores suffer Duah's fate in jail
St. Lucian lawyer Trevor Cozier, in a letter to the editors of The Voice and Star, calls upon the government to launch an investigation into the circumstances which led to the wrongful 3-1/2-year imprisonment of 24-year-old Nigerian Smart Duah [see last week's news]. "In the event that the inquiry found culpable negligence or failure to perform statutory duties on the part of officials, [one would expect the government] to take appropriate action against those officials". According to Cozier, the central issue in the Smart Duah case is the question of how "the system of criminal justice in St. Lucia [could] have produced a situation where Mr. Duah remained imprisoned for nearly four years for a minor infraction of the Criminal Law without having been tried and sentenced to imprisonment by the Courts?" Cozier, who says he is a member of the St. Lucia Bar Association, chides this organisation for having maintained "utter silence" on the matter, thereby giving "the impression that it is unconcerned with malfunctions of the legal system of which it is an integral part and which malfunctions can, and do, lead to injustice".
Meanwhile, press secretary Earl Bousquet, in a two-page article in The Star, alleges that as far as Smart Duah is concerned, he overstayed his visitor visa, "the law caught up with him and he was accordingly detained". Bousquet implores Duah's supporters ("from inside the government to the opposition, from the press to the pulpit, from the legal fraternity to the not-so-legal fraternity, from former Attorney-Generals to wannabe lawyers, from political losers to those who simply lost their marbles"), to "stop be so gullible in the name of sorrow and compassion" and, instead, to stick with what the law says insofar as applications for political asylum or refugee status are concerned. Bousquet states that the Duah case has been exploited "for cheap political gain, simply for the sake of getting at or getting back at the Labour Party or the prime minister and his ministers".
There follows a paradoxical argument, in which Bousquet first alleges that "St. Lucia has no dirty record when it comes to accommodating foreign nationals on our soil We in St. Lucia have absolutely no notorious human rights record to defend when it comes to our treatment of foreign nationals", then adds: "The length of the African's detention was an unfortunate product of a legal and judicial system that we all, including the government's critics, have long accepted to be horrible in terms of respect for the rights of persons in police custody. [Duah] was not the first and will not be the last person (of any national origin whatsoever) to suffer from such abberations as long as our legal and judicial system remains the way it is. Being African ... does not insulate or protect Mr Dua from the obvious deficiencies in our legal system, our immigration laws or the way we handle detainees while their cases are pending. Nor does it give him any special right to compassionate consideration than the scores (maybe hundreds) of St. Lucians who every year face just what he faced in the same jail, for whatever reasons".
Meanwhile, it is still not clear what Smart Duah's fate will be.
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Gala-reception and awards for St. Lucians in Canada
St. Lucians in Canada were reportedly full of praise following a recent gala-reception organised by the St. Lucia Consul General in Toronto to celebrate the island's 21st year of independence. Consul General Winhall Joshua handed out twenty-one awards to St. Lucians who were working hard in the St. Lucian community in Canada, long before the consulate opened its doors last year. The happy recipients were Mary Felecia Alcindor, Lenilla Kaunda-Welch, Dennis James, Mary Williams, Franklyn Ford, Ursuline Husband, John Tracy Charlemagne, Mary Lorimer, Ken Chitolie, Tony Ischmael, Malcolm Hinkson, Priscilla Archibald, Winston Mauricette, Kenny Husband, Joel Sylvester, the St. Lucia-Toronto Association, the St. Lucia - Ottawa Association, the St. Joseph's Convent Alumnae, and the St. Lucia-Calgary Friendship Society. Over 350 St. Lucians and their guests attended the gala. Both The Voice and Crusader report this.
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NH International to build new prison
Work on the Bordelais Correctional Facility at Dennery is scheduled to start in April. The contract for construction of all facilities and external works has been awarded to NH International (Caribbean) Limited - the same company that carried out work on Hewanorra Airport, Castries Market Redevelopment, Castries Financial Centre, Sandals Halcyon hotel and LeSport hotel. Situated on 33 acres of the rolling hills of Dennery, the new high-security prison will focus on the rehabilitation of convicts, with a view to enabling them to function as productive members of society upon release. The ministry of Legal Affairs is preparing the training of personnel for the day-to-day functioning of the Bordelais Prison. The Voice reports this.
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Calypso and Carnival preparations gain momentum
With roughly one hundred days to go, preparations for Carnival 2000 are slowly gaining momentum. In this week's Crusader, National Carnival Development Committee (NCDC) director Gandolph St. Clair announces a rough programme for both the Calypso season (due to start on Friday 19th May) and Carnival 2000, which will kick off on Whitsuntide with an NCDC pyjama party on Friday 7th July. The NCDC is expected to make a formal presentation during the Jazz Festival, in early May. View the Carnival 2000 programme: http://www.slucia.com/carnival.html
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PM: St. Lucia duty-free shopping Mecca
Although the St. Lucian business community, with only a few exceptions, continues to sit back and wait, one of the most powerful commercial outlets of the entire Eastern Caribbean is due to come on stream in St. Lucia. "I have this dream of transforming St. Lucia into the shopping Mecca of the Eastern Caribbean", Prime Minister Dr. Anthony revealed last week in a speech made at the Cimpex Independence Day Bankroll presentation in Vieux Fort. Since his appointment as minister of Finance, Dr. Anthony said, he has approved over fifty applications for duty free outlets in the north of the island alone. In the past year, a large number of warehouses have been built along the old airport runway in Vieux Fort, courtesy of the People's Republic of China, to form the island's newest free zone area. According to the chairman of the Cimpex Group, "I don't think people in St. Lucia have yet fully realised the impact this free zone will have. ... Already we have foreigners coming into the Castries area, because St. Lucia is one of the cheapest places, believe it or not, to buy stuff. If these entrepreneurs get together, these people could change their lives entirely. The OECS has some 500,000 people right now and this is what we need. We need the population, the buying power and within a short space of time one would be surprised to see the level of trade". Both The Crusader and One Caribbean report this.
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Shots exchanged during Wintrade robbery
An exchange of gunfire accompanied the third armed robbery in six months at Wintrade's Supermarket in La Clery, Castries. Around 7:00 pm on Tuesday night, two armed and masked men raided the store in the presence of several members of staff and customers. Holding a gun to the cashier's head, one of the robbers ordered her to open the till. When it jammed and set off an alarm, the robber fired four shots at the till, one of which ricocheted and shattered a freezer door. Another hit a wall. Alarmed by the shots, police commissioner Nelson, who lives opposite the supermarket, and two other armed men appeared on the scene. An exchange of gunfire followed during which a robber fired at Nelson at close range. The bullet missed. Both robbers escaped. No one was injured and apart from two bottles of rum, nothing was taken. The Crusader reports this.
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Four drownings over weekend
Four persons drowned over the weekend in a series of unrelated accidents. The first drowning occurred on Saturday, when divers of the Marine Police Unit were called to retrieve the body of a young man from Micoud who drowned in the sea. The second tragic accident happened on Sunday at around 1:30 pm, at the Cul-de-Sac river. Dead is 48-year-old former Corinth School principal Williams Adams of Monier, Gros Islet. When he did not return after excusing himself for just a brief period, his wife called for help. Adams' body was found floating in the river some hours later.
Later that same day, around 5:30, the body of 20-year-old Andy Charles from Sarrot was carried out of the Sarrot River by a volunteer diver of the Marine Police Unit. The young man is said to have fallen off a banana stem on which he had been floating together with his brother and a friend. In some sections, the river is 27 feet deep. Charles could not swim.
The fourth alleged drowning probably also happened on Sunday but was not discovered until the following Monday morning. The body of 23-year-old rastafarian Ivan Phillips was washed up on the Rendezvous Beach at Vigie at 9:35 am. He is said to have left his home early on Saturday morning, not indicating where he was going. He is suspected to have drowned in Choc Bay.
Both The Star and One Caribbean report on the drownings. The Star spoke with the president of the Swimming Association, David Peterkin, who revealed that some eighty percent of St. Lucians are unable to swim. The St. Lucia Life Saving Association is currently lobbying to make swimming lessons compulsory in primary schools.
Meanwhile, a near-drowning at Anse de Sable beach in Vieux Fort two weeks ago revealed that beach rangers appointed by the National Conservation Authority are not instructed in first aid and life-saving techniques.
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ACP Francis not to speak to press
Assistant Police Commissioner Hermangild Francis, who has been the main spokesperson for the St. Lucia Police Force since assuming his post last year, has recently been told by the minister of Legal and Home Affairs Velon John "not to speak with the press". This directive apparently includes all police matters, including this week's series of tragic drownings. This is reported in The Star. It is unclear what prompted the gag order. Meanwhile, police are yet to make a breakthrough in the shooting murder of minibus driver Elias Lionel [see last week's news]. A police inspector last week reportedly claimed that a possible drug link was being investigated but that statement has since been denied.
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Irishman Collins at helm of LIAT
Regional airline carrier LIAT (1974) at an emergency board meeting in Antigua on Thursday appointed a new chief executive officer. Taking over from Osmond Lake is Irishman Gary Collins. Under Lake's temporary leadership (since the middle of last year), LIAT's fortunes nose-dived because of the cash-strapped company's failure to attract new capital. LIAT owes shareholding governments millions of dollars in outstanding landing fees. LIAT is currently seeking to implement a voluntary rescue operation recommended by Speedwing, a British Airways consulting firm. The Star writes this.
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Frances Michel St. Lucia's representative in Cuba?
"According to usually reliable sources, the Kenny Anthony government has appointed a diplomatic representative in Cuba. The lady-in-waiting is none other than 70s political firebrand and no-nonsense unionist Frances Michel". This writes The Star. According to the paper, Frances made her political debut in the radical early 1970s, when she sported "a neat Angela Davis afro, green fatigues and boots, and talked a language nearly as salty at times as Peter Josie's". In his budget address, minister of Foreign Affairs George Odlum last Tuesday announced that St. Lucia will, in the next few weeks, open a consulate general in Havana, whilst Cuba, as was announced some weeks ago, is soon to establish an embassy in Castries. Mr. Odlum, in the company of prime minister Dr. Anthony, is scheduled to visit Cuba this Tuesday.
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PM's wife to act as labour consultant
Dr. Rosemary Antoine-Anthony will act as a consultant during the process of reforming St. Lucia's labour code. This was revealed during this week's budget presentation by Labour minister Velon John. Dr. Antoine-Anthony married St. Lucia's prime minister on 12th March in Trinidad. At the time, it was announced that the new first lady was a lecturer in Law at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies.
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