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Swinging, sexy and smart TC Brown Calypso King 2001

Sexy, smart, clean, high-energy and with international allure: TC Brown, with the help of a groovy but distinguished Solange last night convincingly captured the Calypso Crown 2001. A very professional-looking Linus 'TC Brown' Cadette took the Marchand Grounds by storm when he chose to perform his up-tempo 'I Like' in the first round - where the other nine contestants tended to keep the fireworks for after the break. A totally relaxed and self-assured TC Brown sang the party number-with-a-message, signalling a wholly fresh approach to calypso in St Lucia, not only with respect to the quality and melodic variety in the musical arrangement but also in lyrical content.
Rather than tackling political issues head-on or lamenting the moral decline of society, TC Brown and his sidekick Solange carried a positive message of tolerance, basic decency and non-violence. Have fun, get down and enjoy yourself, go the distance if you feel like it - "as long as you jump and don't hurt nobody" or "as long as you pay your bills and don't owe money" - Wha' Wrong With that?
Live and let live was the basic message, 'My like is my like, and your like is your like', as TC Brown phrased it, interspersing the message of tolerance with sexy rhythmic grunts. It was a message the judges, the audience and thousands of others in the country seem to have taken on board with relief at a time when St. Lucians are weary of worrying about crime, unemployment and political shenanigans.
The other serious contender for the crown was Morgie. Many in the audience believed that Oswin 'Morgie' Joseph would walk away with the crown as generally speaking, traditional-style calypso à la Morgie can be counted on to prevail over any experimental innovations. But despite Morgie's faultless performance, up-to-date lyrics (mentioning, amongst other things, the imminent closure of Papillon and the Royal St Lucian hotels), his appealing costumes and the audience's support, Morgie's biting political commentaries were no match for TC Brown's total package. When finally the time came, well after 1:00 am on Sunday morning, for the winners to collect their prizes, both first runner-up Morgie and second runner-up Lady Spice were conspicuous by their absence.
Now that the Soca Monarch and Calypso King have been crowned, the remaining covetted titles are those of Road March winner, OECS Soca Monarch and King and Queen of the Bands. The latter competition is held at the Marchand Grounds on Sunday and will be followed immediately by the all-new OECS Soca Monarch competition. For St Lucia, 2001 Soca Monarch Invader will attempt to come out ahead of Onyan (of Burning Flames from Antigua and Barbuda), Andy Armstrong of Square One (Barbados), Hunter (Dominica), Socrates (St Kitts and Nevis), Pokeman (Montserrat), Martino Mark (British Virgin Islands), Tangler (Grenada) and Godfrey Dublin (St Vincent and the Grenadines).
From early Monday morning, the streets of Castries are expected to be jam-packed with thousands of revellers jumping up and whining behind the line of music trucks. The Band of the Year title is going to be a close call between Funatix, St Lucian Spirit Carnival Band, XS Energy, the Royalites, New Dimensions, Gen-X (formerly New Dimensions), De Originals, Cozy Guzzlers and Charmalions.
The Chamber of Commerce has sent out an appeal to employers on the island to allow employees time off on Monday (all day) and Tuesday afternoon. "Carnival is a national activity", states the Chamber, "and the private sector as the main sponsor of this event, should feel proud of their contribution and continued support and allow their staff time to enjoy and participate where possible".

Results - 2001 Calypso Finals:
1) 832 points - TC Brown - Ambassadors
2) 821 points - Morgie - Ambassadors
3) 804 points - Lady Spice - Soca Village
4) 793 points - Robby - Ambassadors
5) 774 points - Lady Leen - Ambassadors
6) 772 points - Bachelor - Ambassadors
7) 764 points - Walleigh - Take-Over
8) 757 points - Pelay - Ambassadors
9) 754 points - Educator - Soca Village
10) 751 points - Juliana - Soca Village

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Royal and Papillon close till Dec: 300 sent home

Three hundred hotel employees were sent home this weekend as two of the three Rex Resorts International properties in Rodney Bay close their doors as of Sunday 15th July, due to declining business. The all-inclusive Royal St. Lucian and Papillon Hotel together employ 300 workers, all of whom will be left without a source of income as of this week until December 15th, when the more lucrative winter season is expected to start again. The third hotel in the chain, the Rex St Lucian, will remain fully operational. Members of staff were unprepared for the announcement, last Monday, and expressed shock and dismay. The Wednesday Star quotes an employee as saying: "People are devastated. There are a lot of people with children and [they] are at their wits' end. They are stunned and don't know where they will find a new job and get money to look after their families".
Management of the Rex Resorts Group responsible for the properties in St Lucia cited as reasons for the decision to close two of its three hotels, the reduced number and frequency of flights from the United Kingdom and Europe, a general downturn in the economies of Europe and North America, resulting in fewer people going on holidays to the Eastern Caribbean, the effect of dollar exchange rates vis-à-vis European currencies, and competition from similar destinations such as Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, "which remain well served by airlines and whose hotels are able to provide high standards at lower operating costs and related rate structures". The Thursday Voice reports this.
The Rex' statement is pessimistic about the current state of St Lucia's tourism industry, saying, "The tourist industry has been in decline for some time, maintained only by decreasing rate structures which, with low occupancies experienced and projected, now make the operation of these hotels in their present status totally unviable".
This view differs substantially from that of minister of Tourism Menissa Rambally, who in response to the news of the impending closure visited the Royal St Lucian and Papillon Hotels. After expressing her sympathies to the now unemployed workers (saying, amongst other things, that she was "inspired" by their "resilience in the face of this unexpected news"), minister Rambally maintained that the upper end of the St Lucian market "remains reasonably vibrant with quite a number of hotels reporting healthy occupancies". This leads The Star newspaper to comment: "It should be remembered that the Royal St Lucian, a five-star property, is at the upper end of the market and a cursory glance at other prestige properties tells a different story. Staff at the Hyatt Regency have had their hours cut and the hotel's Admiral Rodney Restaurant has been closed to cite one example".
Similarly pessimistic news can be found in the St Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association's (SLHTA) column in this week's Voice, where it is reported that Club St Lucia by Splash is also suffering considerably as a result of inadequate airlift. According to Club St Lucia's general manager Juan Melhado, occupancy rates which had been expected to be around 72 percent for this month (July), are as low as 58% percent. "The effect of this reality is that Club St Lucia by Splash will be operating below budget the entire year. That's despite the fact that Splash Resorts have spent US$1.2 million promoting the resort and the island in key markets", reports the SLHTA.
According to The Star, Minister Rambally on Friday morning repeated earlier announcements about the resumption of various flights for the winter season, and promised to push for expansion of the tourism marketing budget. "I think a strong and convincing case had been made for an immediate infusion of funds into the marketing of St Lucia, particularly for the up-coming winter season and indeed the remainder of the summer".
Only last February, an up-beat minister Rambally revealed figures and other information painting a rosy future for St. Lucia's tourism industry. Claiming that visitor arrivals had increased in the year 2000 by 16.5 percent to a record 725,454 (both in cruise and stayover arrivals), and with new investment plans on the table, the minister gave an optimistic prognosis. She said, amongst other things, that: "The inspiring performance of the tourism sector during the rather challenging year just gone has laid the foundation for consolidation and a sustained environment of growth and prosperity in the years ahead".
Following news of the dismissal of 300 employees this week, minister Rambally reportedly promised that she "intends to pursue discussions with the Rex's executive management with a view to minimizing the negative impact on the workers and their families". The Voice reports this. The newspaper crowns Rambally's press release with the headline 'Air of Optimism despite Layoffs'.
Management of the two closed hotels has expressed its regret at having to resort to temporary closure and mass lay-offs. "We hope once we start operating again in December we will be able to re-employ those who have been laid-off", says general manager of the Royal St Lucian, Ross Stevenson in the Wednesday Star. The Thursday Voice quotes from a press release by the owners of the hotel chain, in which it is stated that: "The decision to concentrate operations on the Rex St Lucian at this time has ... been taken to protect the owning hotel company and to ensure its ability to re-commence trading when market conditions and other related factors improve, thereby also protecting longer term employment of management and staff".
Refurbishment of 96 luxury suites at the Royal St Lucian will proceed as scheduled, despite the closure.
Prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony, who was in the Bahamas attending an OECS Heads of Government meeting, issued a statement in which he reportedly said that it is "unacceptable" that the hotel's management group informed him only this week of the imminent closure. Rick Wayne, on Thursday evening's DBS TV show 'Talk', took issue with the PM's statement, asking "whether there is a law in this country that stipulates that you have to inform the government if you're about to go bankrupt?" Moreover, Wayne claims to have documents which prove that some two months ago, the hotels' management group did in fact meet with prime minister Anthony to discuss various issues.
Former prime minister Dr Vaughan Lewis in a letter to The Voice calls "the revelation by the Prime Minister that he did not have advance notice of the closure of the Rex properties truly astounding". Dr Lewis continues: "There have been indications for some time that there has been a gulf between the business and investment sector and the Government". Moreover, says Lewis, "there must be something terribly wrong in the communication between a major industry and Government, when what happened this week occurs. Clearly there is a serious breakdown in institutional relations, the monitoring capability of the Government and the openness of Government to major stakeholders".

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Former Soufriere representative dies of food allergy

Edward 'Eddoes' Innocent, former junior minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports and parliamentary representative for Soufriere from 1992 to 1997 under the United Workers Party administration, unexpectedly died last Sunday (8th July) as the result of a hypo-allergic reaction to some seafood which he had consumed earlier in the evening. Innocent was just 39 years old. He was studying for a degree in International Law at Wolverhampton University in the UK and was in St. Lucia on holidays when he fell ill and died. According to articles in all major newspapers, Innocent had attended a First Communion party in Soufriere, when he began to feel unwell. He managed to drive himself to the Soufriere Hospital but collapsed in the car in the parking lot. Attempts to revive him failed and Innocent reportedly passed away without regaining consciousness. A post mortem revealed, according to The Voice, "respiratory failure, secondary to airway obstruction, consistent with a hyper-allergic response". Innocent reportedly knew he was allergic to certain seafoods but had reportedly eaten some lobster earlier on in the evening.
There are tributes to 'Eddoes' life and works from former prime minister, Sir John Compton, as well as the National Youth Council (NYC), of which organisation Innocent was a founding member and the first assistant-secretary. In a statement to the press, the NYC states that "Even though Mr Innocent adopted a partisan vehicle to attain political power, he never deserted the cause of the youth. He consulted constantly with youth leaders at the community and national levels, and the NYC was fortunate to always find a friend in him, even when his colleagues in Government were at loggerheads with the NYC. The NYC is proud to have been touched by his warm presence. We thank our lucky stars for the benefit of his wisdom and his commitment, and we join his friends, his family, his community and his country in celebration of his short but heroic life".

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Overall Common Entrance results slightly higher

With an overall score of 91.67 percent, twelve-year-old Rossini Martyr of the Anglican Primary School beat 4,507 other primary school students to gain the highest points this year in the island's Common Entrance Exams. The average score this year is 44 percent: a three percent increase over last year's results. The minimum average score required to gain a secondary school place is set at 38 percent. The Mirror reports that: "Of the 4,508 candidates who sat the Common Entrance Exams, 2,109 obtained the national average of 44%, or higher, and 2,482 (55.05%) are assigned secondary school places". The others will have to try the exam again next year, or resign themselves to a standard 5 class instead. According to The Star, an attempt is being made to make the Standard 5 certificate a form of qualification in itself. "However", writes Eliza Francis in The Star, "many of the students who leave at that level hardly have even a grasp of basic academic concepts and have virtually no employable skills".
Meanwhile, the ministry of Education has expressed its satisfaction with this year's results, making much of the fact that six of the ten highest scorers are boys, and four of the five top scorers. "However", reports The Mirror, "the girls outstripped the boys in not only the three subject areas, but in all but one of the topics in the exam".
The best overall results were obtained by the Bonne Terre Private School. Some 67 percent of the school's thirteen candidates obtained the national average or higher. At Tapion Private School, 61 percent managed this, followed by Carmen Rene Memorial (56%), Ave Maria Girls Primary (52%), Pierrot Combined (52%), Camille Henry Memorial (51%), Choiseul Primary (51%), Mongouge Combined (51%), Anglican Primary (50%) and Balata Combined (50%). Rossini Martyr's top individual score is followed by Krystal Charles of Carmen Renee, Frederick Sweeney of Camille Henry, Marvin Satenay of St Aloysius RC, Felix Meixner of Bonne Terre Private, Alger Remy of Ave Maria Girls, Lisha Roserie of Augier Combined, Kevin Regis of St Aloysius RC and Courtney Regis of Dennery Primary. Both The Star and Mirror report on the exam results.

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Lucelec abandons monthly meter estimates

After prolonged complaints from consumers about the accurancy of the company's estimates, St Lucia Electricity Services Ltd (Lucelec) announced this week that it is re-introducing monthly meter readings, thus bringing an end to the current situation where meters are alternately read and estimated. The re-introduction begins this week and is expected to be island-wide by December of this year. Lucelec has always maintained that one of its problems is a shortage of staff to read every meter, every month. To remedy this, Lucelec will be bringing in outside contractors, as well as a technological innovation known as the hand-held reading device. This gadgets allows the meter reader to capture the information and feed this into the main Lucelec computer at the end of the day. In a press release printed in the Thursday Voice and Mirror, Lucelec warns the public that one of its problems with actual meter reading is the inaccessibility of some meters. To solve this, writes Lucelec in its statement, certain meters may have to be relocated. "While Lucelec will assist in relocating meters, the onus is on the household to ensure unrestricted access to meters, and if attempts by Lucelec fail, this will cause difficulty and may ultimately lead to disconnnection of service". Another method under consideration to alleviate the company's problems is to allow consumers themselves to telephone Lucelec and provide the meter reading. In January of this year, the Lucelec Review Commission presented the results of an in-depth analysis of the company's modus operandi. The main conclusion of the report appeared to be that over the years, Lucelec has been "very successful" - but that benefits of this success "have flowed principally to the shareholders and the Government", as the Mirror put it, while consumers are left to hold the rough end of the stick. High prices, uncertain billing, unreliable service, insufficient information and an arrogant response to complaints were among the public's chief concerns. The report made several recommendations to improve Lucelec, one of which - abolishment of metering estimates - is now being effected.

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Poet Gerald Morris puts out 'Witness'

A new poet has appeared on the horizon in St Lucia, in the form of Gerald Morris. The accountant who hails from Bexon published his first book of verse under the title 'Witness'. The poetry is described in The Mirror as "capturing his perspectives on social and emotional circumstances of life", particularly his younger years in the Bexon/Roseau area growing up in the 1970s. The newspaper describes the poem 'Witness' "a sombre testimony of the Roseau River - the contradiction between its natural beauty and its contribution to the uneven distribution of wealth that has left the Roseau comunity destitute, while enriching colonialists".
A formal book launch and signing session is planned to take place next month but the book of poetry is already available at Sunshine Bookstore and Book Salon. It is published by Mayers Printing Company. The Mirror reports this.

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Bar Association pushing for Legal Aid Services

The St Lucia Bar Association, under the direction of recently elected president Lorraine Williams, is reportedly "vigorously continuing its efforts at establishing Legal Aid Services" on the island. Taking its cues from Jamaican expert Nancy Anderson, the executive director of the Legal Aid Clinic in Jamaica who is currently in St Lucia to advise and inform local officials, the St Lucia Bar Association is working to formulate a plan of action for implementing and sustaining a Legal Aid Service in St Lucia.
The Tuesday Voice, Star and Voice all report this. Under the current practice, only persons accused of murder are assigned a lawyer by the state if they cannot afford one themselves. In all other cases, accused persons who cannot pay for legal representation, are tried without the services of a defense lawyer at their disposal.

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Management changes due at St. Jude

In an ambiguously worded article, The Voice announces that St Jude Hospital in Vieux Fort will indeed cease to be run by the American Mercy Hospital as of December 31st 2001 at the latest and will, instead, be turned into a government-run institution, managed by a Statutory Board with representatives from government, the community, employees "and other competent persons". In what is - presumably - a government press release, it is revealed that minister of Health Sarah Flood-Beaubrun recently met in Des Moines, Iowa with the president and vice president of Mercy Hospital - a charitable Catholic organisation which has managed the island's second hospital for several decades. At this meeting, according to the press release, "It was agreed that Mercy Hospital due to resource contraints, distance from St Lucia and other changes taking place within Mercy Hospital would be unable to continue their present relationship with St Jude Hospital". Subsequently, the release announces that Mercy Hospital's role will be taken over by its sister organisation, Mercy International Health Services (MIHS). This transition, states the press release, is expected to take place before December 31st of this year. What remains unclear, however, is how long MIHS will remain involved in playing the role currently performed by Mercy Hospital, that is, in managing the St. Jude Hospital. That MIHS' involvement may only be for a limited period, or involve tasks far more limited than Mercy Hospital has undertaken, is indicated by the announcement that government "will enact legislation to establish St Jude Hospital as a Statutory Body" - along the lines of Victoria Hospital in Castries. "The legislation will make provision for a Management Authority of the Hospital which will comprise representatives of Government, the community and employees and other competent persons". Even if MIHS managers are included in this list under the heading of 'other persons', this still means that a distinct deviation from the existing management structure at St Jude's is pending. Furthermore, the press release adds that: " The legislation will facilitate the internal management of the hospital by Mercy Hospital or MIHS until such time as it is agreed that these organizations will no longer be involved". There is no further indication as to which circumstances or what time frame will lead to Mercy Hospital or MIHS no longer being involved in the management of St Jude Hospital.
Finally, the press release presents the pending changes as being part of a deliberate government policy "at ensuring that [St Jude's] will continue on a more solid footing", and to ensure that employees at St Jude's "will no longer be disadvantaged due to the status of St Jude within the public health system".

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