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Soufriere badly shaken by Hurricane Lenny

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Hurricane Lenny: 20ft waves batter coastline

Flood adds third banana company to local scene

UWP on long trek back to political prominence

Incentives for slumping manufacturing sector

Live sex shows in South attract attention

PM: ease restrictions on land and capital for foreign investors

Local produce and beef takes over the market

Newspapers unanimously concerned about freedom of media

Atlantic Rally for Cruisers '99 biggest ever

Sizeable pay increases for gov't officials

Marian Home victim of repeated burglaries

Norwegians arrested with 4.5 kilos cocaine

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Hurricane Lenny: 20ft waves batter coastline

    "The Wrath of Lenny" - Photo Gallery courtesy of KIS Photo Labs, Vieux Fort. CLICK HERE

    (November 17th)
    The west coast of St. Lucia took a severe pounding today from storm surge caused by the passage of hurricane Lenny through the N.E Caribbean in the vicinity of the Virgin Islands. Packing sustained winds of 135mph, the effects of Lenny were felt down through the island chain. St. Lucia experienced heavy rainfall and huge sea swells.
    The coastal town of Soufriere sustained the most damage from swells which reportedly started  as early as 4 am and increased in ferocity during the course of the day. Several houses were washed away and approximately 12 families (some 50 persons) had to be evacuated. Most of the evacuees managed to find shelter with family and friends although emergency shelters were activated. Early in the day, a fuel tank was washed away from the Texaco petrol station situated on the waterfront and a petrol pump was damaged, resulting in a spillage of fuel. As a result, persons living between the waterfront and the Market Square were evacuated from the area. Earlier, an electrical fire at the Texaco petrol  station was brought under control. Also in Soufriere, electricity lines came down and waves washed through the shopfront of 'Singer', flooding that store. The road at Baron's Drive was reportedly washed away, and boulders, rocks and other debris washed onto the main road along the waterfront. Six boats were reportedly washed out to sea and lost.
    Property in Choiseul also sustained damage with one house and a boat being washed out to sea.  Three families were evacuated. Police in Anse La Raye were involved in the rescue of three seabathers. Further reports from this town however so far claim that the damage to property was not severe. A small craft warning remains in effect for St. Lucia.
    There have so far not been any confirmed reports of loss of life, and the Prime Minister who visited the affected areas during the day commended the spirit of co-operation which he witnessed.

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Flood adds third banana company to local scene

    After a humiliating defeat at the elections for the board of the St. Lucia Banana Corporation, Fred Flood, leader of the Banana Salvation Comittee (BSC), this week announced that he intends to transform the BSC into a banana company which will join the currently existing SLBC and Tropical Quality Fruit Ltd. in buying and marketing St. Lucian bananas overseas. The Thursday Voice reports this on its front page. Flood says the new company will be concentrating its activities on the south of the island, and should get off the ground before the end of this year. He also expects that the new company will be able to pay farmers a better price for their fruits, since "money will not be squandered paying management huge salaries". Flood made his announcement last week at a meeting with farmers from Micoud. According to him, consultations with WIBDECO are currently underway. Flood is confident that some ninety percent of farmers in the south currently selling to the SLBC will change to the new company.

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UWP on long trek back to political prominence

    The United Workers Party (UWP) has begun its long trek back to political prominence - that seems to be the general verdict in this week's newspapers following the party's 30th Annual Convention, held last Sunday in Gros Islet. Party members unanimously ratified the nominations of Dr. Vaughan Lewis as political leader, Romanus Lansiquot as party chairman, Dr. Morella Joseph and Louis George as deputy political leaders, and Eldridge Stephens and Michael Flood as first and second deputy chairmen. Several speeches were delivered during the convention - with those made by Dr. Morella Joseph (on education) and Lady Janice Compton receiving the keenest interest in the press.
    Meanwhile, the St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) will be staging its 1999 annual conference this Sunday (14th Nov.) at the La Ressource Combined School in Dennery north, from 2.30 pm. A feature address will be delivered by professor Hilary Beckles of the University of the West Indies.

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Incentives for slumping manufacturing sector

    St. Lucia's manufacturing sector has not been performing up to scratch in recent years. In fact, performance has been on the decline since 1993 and growth in the sector has fallen by about eight percent between 1996 and 1998. The main problem bewitching manufacturers, according to minister of Industry and Commerce Dr. Walter Francois, is the burden of cost on the manufacturer - and hence, the consumer - as a result of the Consumption Tax which is being levied against manufactured products. Therefore, Francois this week presented a proposal to the House of Assembly to start an incentives programme whereby manufacturers can get a rebate of up to sixty percent on consumption taxes paid on measures connected to the improvement of their businesses.
    The Mirror reports this. Under the incentives programme, manufacturers who can show increased employment, increased domestic and export market share, research and development, acquisition of modern equipment, and recommended production targets, would receive a rebate of twenty, forty or sixty percent of their total consumption tax paid on requirements for their businesses.
    But executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, Brian Louisy - although supporting the measure in principle - does not believe that rebates represent a "complete solution" to the problems manufacturers are faced with, especially "if the environment is difficult and associated services are unreliable".
    Meanwhile, The Voice reports that prime minister Dr. Anthony is undertaking a two-day visit of industrial estates around the island this week, together with minister Francois and representatives of the National Development Corporation. 

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Live sex shows in South attract attention

    After months of silence, the local media are slowly latching on to the subject of live sex shows occurring in the Vieux Fort area and Bellevue. Following a report in BAVA, the latest addition to local newspaperland, last week, The Thursday Voice this week dedicates its editorial to the (un)desirability of allowing sexual entertainment to take place unchecked. Reporting that for an entrance fee of twenty dollars and an additional fee of ten or fifteen dollars, local men participate in manual and oral sex, on stage, with female entertainers, The Voice editor remarks that: "One school of southern thought has described this form of entertainment as promiscuous and profane while another as exceedingly exciting. Whichever school prevails, one thing is certainly sure, and that is, this activity is another form of degradation of our women folk whether they are from Trinidad, Dominican Republic or St. Lucia". And he goes on to write: "With two notably unsolved rape and murder incidents in this country the authorities may very well question the wisdom of allowing such a form of entertainment to take root and grow". In a separate article, Kingsley Emmanuel states that "Investigations reveal that some policemen in the South facilitate the activities taking place at these clubs. A source close to one of the clubs says some police officers in the South are being hired to perform security duties at the clubs".

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PM: ease restrictions on land and capital for foreign investors

    "Investment growth in many of our [Eastern Caribbean] economies is still impeded by a number of archaic regulations and restrictions", claimed prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, speaking last Tuesday at the opening session of the 3-day Eastern Caribbean Hotel and Resort Development Conference. "Restrictive operating and trading licenses, outdated work permit regulation along with obsolescent Alien Land Holding legislation are issues faced by potential investors which result in delayed and deferred investment. Unquestionably, there is a need to streamline the application and approval process for prospective investors, to reduce the incidence of required licenses and approvals and to ease restrictions on land, capital and share acquisition", Dr. Anthony continued. The prime minister then went on to explain to his audience the proposed transformation of the National Development Corporation into a "one-stop shop", intended to make the organisation more responsive to investors' needs. The Star reports on this.

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Local produce and beef take over the market

    More locally produced fruits, tree crops, ground provisions and other condiments have been marketed through local supermarkets during the first half of 1999 than during the same period last year. This announcement comes from the ministry of Agriculture, in a press release to all newspapers. Only vegetables showed a slight reduction in the volume of local produce purchased (5%). Fruits, however, increased by 8.5% (especially cantaloupe, pineapple and watermelon), tree crops by 18.2% (especially avocados), ground provisions by 15.2% (especially sweet potato), and condiments by 64.3% (especially celery, chives and ginger).
    Meanwhile, the Tuesday Voice reports that the ministry has identified a promising market for the sale of young bulls and heifers between the ages of 9 and 14 months. The ministry is asking cattle farmers who own such cattle to contact its veterinary division at tel. 450-3213. Since the beginning of 1999, the ministry has worked hard at strengthening the local livestock sector.

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Newspapers unanimously concerned about freedom of media

    All newspapers this week express concern - albeit in varying terms and degrees - about statements made by prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, last week, in the context of the government's decision to change Radio St. Lucia (RSL) from a government-controlled corporation into a government-owned company. Without spending much time discussing this constitutional change as such - according to David Vitalis, in The Mirror, it amounts to "six of one and half a dozen of the other" - journalists islandwide seem to have perceived in the prime minister's comments a threat to the freedom of the media. Particularly the PM's statement that "We have seen enough, enough of modern journalism on certain radio stations operating under licenses approved by this government to fully understand their quality" has media workers up in arms. The editor of The Mirror deems it "a veiled threat that these stations better watch their tails" and goes on to condemn "the power game that is behind this decision". One Caribbean carries an article headlined "The road to totalitarianism" on the subject, while both this paper and The Star dedicate their 'people's pages' to the government's relationship with the media. The Tuesday Voice, like the previous week, devotes a full page to the issue of 'Press Freedom around the World'. The general feeling appears to be in line with what a member of the public wrote to The Crusader: "We do not need the prime minister or the government to protect us from ourselves. Not in a democracy".
    Meanwhile, however, the PM's press secretary, Earl Bousquet, blames The Voice newspaper for sending out an incorrect message in last week's edition, where the paper headlined: "Government to take over RSL". Bousquet writes that: "No one - absolutely no one - can accuse this government of any direct involvement in the daily operations of RSL. Under this government, programming has always been and will continue to be the business of professionals and staff at the station, and not the business of the political directorate". The Voice carries Bousquet's entire statement on its front page but remarks on it in the editorial on page 4, saying: "The Press Secretary may be right now, but the manifestation of the Prime Minister's vision may well prove him wrong".

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Atlantic Rally for Cruisers '99 biggest ever

    The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers '99 (ARC) is promising to become the biggest ever, with a record 250 yachts from all over the world having registered for participation in this trans-Atlantic crossing. This news came last Thursday at a press conference given by minister of Tourism and the Tourist Board. The ARC gets underway on the 19th November in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria and will finish at Rodney Bay Marina in Castries roughly a fortnight later. In the course of its 14-year history, the ARC has become "the most popular way to sail across the Atlantic", the Star writes.

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Sizeable pay increases for gov't officials

    The Salaries Review Commission, appointed by the government to review salaries of senior government officials, has recommended "some sizeable pay increases". This is reported in The Mirror. According to the paper, the prime minister's annual income could increase from $79,932 to $150,535, and that of other cabinet ministers from $61,680 to $113,827. Lesser increases are recommended for other senior officials of government. Although the Salary Review Commission has reportedly recommended deductions in the level of duty allowances for members of cabinet, the salary increases will more than compensate them for this. The Salaries Review Commission is headed by the managing-director of the NCB, Marius St. Rose, while other members come from the ranks of government, opposition, private sector, public service unions and the general public. The Commission makes its recommendations to the Governor General, after which they will be forwarded to cabinet for consideration and to the two houses of parliament for adoption.

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Marian Home victim of repeated burglaries

    Residents of the Marian Home, the Girls Vocational School, the Corpus Christi Day Nursery and the Home of the Corpus Christi Carmelite Sisters all live in fear after their premises have been burgled repeatedly in the past three weeks. In an open letter to the newspapers, the administrator of the Marian Home for the Elderly, sister Nyra Anne Pajotte appeals to the public for some form of assistance to stop the spate of intrusions and thefts of foodstuffs and personal belongings of residents and members of staff. The editor of The Voice on Tuesday suggests that a security agent be made available to the Carmelite sisters at no cost.

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Norwegians arrested with 4.5 kilos cocaine

    Three Norwegians - two women and one man - who were arrested at Hewanorra airport in Vieux Fort on 3rd November in possession of 1.5 kilos of cocaine each, have been fined $100,000 each, to be paid immediately, or face three years in prison. The three attracted the suspicion of a customs guard whilst in the departure lounge. Body searches revealed that each had a bicycle tube filled with cocaine tied around their waists. The Thursday Voice reports this.

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