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New Monarch Lady Spice makes calypso history
Mary-G was right. But she was also wrong. She was right in predicting that in the year 2000, a woman would finally make calypso history and capture the title of 'Calypso Monarch'. Yet she was wrong in that it wasn't Mary-G herself who was crowned Calypso Queen during the early hours of Sunday morning. Instead it was Lady Spice who sent shockwaves through the nation with her performance of 'Lady Spice Looking for a Good Man (dot com)' at the packed Marchand Grounds. The Calypso Monarch finals show was also broadcast live, keeping thousands of St. Lucians glued to their television screens until the wee hours of the morning.
First runner-up was Walliegh, already known as 'Mr. Big Hair', who sang 'What They Singing' and 'Lock up me Up'. Second runner-up, just as in 1997 and 1998, was Mary-G who gave an excellent account of herself last night with the sweet-sounding 'Calypso History'.
Last year's monarch Bachelor, who unluckily drew first position in order of performance on Saturday night, was not well received by the audience and judges - although especially his second song, 'Story Telling', was a lyrically and musically clever composition. Too clever, perhaps. Bachelor was the only calypsonian in the finals who had done his own writing and arranging. But the judges were merciless and ranked him tenth out of a field ten.
Over the past days, St. Lucia has been slowly but decidely grinding to a halt as the Calypso Monarch finals, the King and Queen of the Bands, Socafest, battle of the bands, Jour Ouvert and the Parade of the Bands spiral Carnival 2000 towards what is expected to become the 'hottest and bestest' carnival ever to have been celebrated on the island. All of last week, 'Mas on the Square' raised the temperature of businesspeople, workers and schoolchildren for five consecutive lunchtime periods. It followed a similarly successful session of Junior Carnival 2000 at the Marchand Grounds last Sunday and preceded what must be ranked as the biggest bang so far: Saturday's Calypso Monarch Crown contest. Last year's monarch Bachelor faced The Invader, Lady Spice, Bingo, Cheryl, TC Brown, Mary G, Lady Leen, Morgee and Walleigh. Although the Invader and Lady Spice were tipped as the hottest acts for the year, competition was stiff and speculation rife. Overall, it is generally agreed that the level of calypso this year is higher than last year. Now that Lady Spice has been crowned Calypso Monarch for the year 2000, there is nothing to stop the feteing, wining and grinding that has started with Jour Ouverts around the island in the early hours of Sunday, and will continue for much of this week.
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Remand prisoners cause series of disturbances
Several days of disturbances at the island's only male prison culminated in three prison officers being taken hostage by prisoners, last Monday. The Special Services Unit (SSU) was called in but before the situation became even more dramatic, the three officers managed to dash to safety during a momentary lapse within the ranks of the prisoners. Both the Thursday Voice and Star report this. Reports are scanty and slightly divergent but it would appear that remand prisoners (that is, prisoners who are still awaiting sentencing) are at the heart of the overall unrest. They are reportedly angered over the time it takes for their cases to be heard, due to the chronic shortage of magistrates on the island. The situation is further aggravated by the conditions of overcrowding which prevail at Her Majesty's Prison. The facility was built to hold 60 people but currently houses 330 inmates. Additional complaints condemn conditions, food and health.
Minister of Legal Affairs Velon John, who met with 16 of the prisoners last Wednesday, told The Star that the meeting went "very well". He reportedly went on to say that: "Most of the complaints are not warranted. Not really", but he admitted that the problem of congestion is a real one (although, says John, "this was not brought up" in his discussions with the prisoners). "There is not much that can be done", says John in The Star. "I have always said it is an intolerable situation. What passes for a prison here, is really not a prison. Bordelais will be a prison. What we have now is a holding institution. The facilities are just not there". The construction of the new prison at Bordelais, which was supposed to have been finished by now, has been severely delayed. To date, only the preparatory groundwork has been finished and actual construction is expected to get underway soon. The decision to build a new prison followed the prison riots of 1997, during which the Castries prison was burned down.
Last week's unrest appears to have started on Thursday (8th July) when, according to The Thursday Voice, a prisoner "went berserk after he was refused extra rations for the day. He broke the cupboards in the kitchen which contained the extra ration, damaging all the other kitchen cupboards in the process. Not satisfied with the damage inflicted on the cupboards he attacked the kitchen windows, damaging all. He was assisted in rampage by some remand prisoners who went on to damage the door leading to the main yard and the remand centre. Four cell doors within the remand centre were damaged. Holes were made in the door frames in the remand centre, as a result cell doors within the remand centre could not be locked thereby giving remand prisoners access to roam the entire remand centre". The Thursday Voice continues: "The disturbance continued the following day, Friday at about 6:10 pm. Using boulders remand prisoners punched large holes in the walls which separate cell from cell ... allowing them to move freely from one cell to the next".
Following intervention by police commissioner Nelson, who promised the prisoners that a magistrate would hear their grievances on Monday (10th July), the situation temporarily calmed down. On Monday, reports The Star, magistrate Floretta Nicholas met with some of the remand prisoners to discuss the problem of court closures due to the unavailability of magistrates. According to minister John, "She has dealt with those remand concerns". John further said: "I don't know when they will start but we have three more magistrates coming on board". This would bring the total number of magistrates on the island up to six.
Following John's meeting with 16 prisoners on Wednesday, another serious disturbance broke out, just as the minister was leaving. According to The Star, a prisoner threatened one of the prison officers with large knife. This time, the SSU did move in with guns and teargas masks, in an attempt to remove the prisoner in question. During the scuffle, a prison officer fired a warning shot into the air. Despite John's assertion that Wednesday's meeting went very well, The Star quotes a prisoner as saying: "Yes, the minister has heard what's happening in there. I don't know if it will do any good. I doubt it".
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Medicine lady 'Ma Alfred' turns 104
One hundred and four years old is Rufina 'Ma Alfred' Thomas of Gros Islet who, for many years of her working life, sold herbal teas and medicines at the Castries market. According to The Mirror, "there, she won the attention of many curious observers, among them several doctors, eager to learn about her recipes and healing powers that many attested to".
Born in 1896 as the daughter of Isidae Louison Avil and Elisa Pierre in Piat (Gros Islet), 'Ma Alfred' together with her husband Crophan Thomas, raised ten children. Mr. Thomas passed away in 1989. Ma Alfred moved in with a daughter in Castries when she was 90. In 1998, her younger brother died at the age of 98. Last Monday Ma Alfred celebrated her 104th anniversary, sharing a birthday cake with family, friends and well-wishers including parliamentary secretary in the ministry of Health, Michael Gaspard. Ma Alfred has six children alive today, 28 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren. She is described in The Mirror as "a caring individual who tried her best to tend to the sick in her neighbourhood".
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Prisoner Harding wins first round in court
Alfred Harding, the Barbadian prisoner who is suing the Attorney-General and Superintendent of Prisons for having kept him shackled and in solitary confinement for over ten months, has won the first round in court. On Thursday, judge Hariprashad-Charles ruled that Harding's constitutional motion stands despite the fact that prosecuting attorney Cheryl Mathurin submitted the opinion that Harding's grievances could have been brought to the attention of the Visiting Justices or the Mercy Committee. Judge Hariprashad-Charles overruled the motion, stating that "the mere fact that there are Visiting Justices does not mean that a person cannot approach the court in seeking redress". The Crusader writes this.
Harding maintains that the authorities have violated sections 5 and 13 of the Constitution of St. Lucia [see last week's news]. He also demands monetary redress amounting to EC$500,000. Harding (47) was sentenced in August 1999 for illegal possession of a firearm and resisting arrest. Prison authorities and the minister of Legal Affairs Velon John have defended the stringent measures applied to Harding by claiming that he is 'an escape artist' and a risk to the security of prison officers. However, following Thursday's court case, Harding spoke to members of the press and denied ever having shot at St. Lucian police officers.
"According to Harding, he escaped from Barbados prisons in 1983 and subsequently won his case. As for the matter of being wanted for questioning by the Barbadian police in connection with the shooting of a man, Harding stated that the man in connection with whom the police in Barbados wants to question him and who he is alleged to have shot, is currently serving a twelve-year term in Barbados. Harding also told journalists ... that he never violated any of the prison regulations upon entering Her Majesty's Prisons. This is supported by the absence of any evidence that Harding has committed any infraction of the prison regulations in the affidavits of the Superintendent of Prisons, Victor Pierre and Attorney-General Senator Petrus Compton, who are named as co-defendants in the constitutional motion filed".
The Crusader - the only paper to report on the outcome of Thursday's first round in court - also asserts that: "Legal sources are following this matter with great interest for according to many, a precendent has been set whereby prisoners may seek redress through the courts for any violations of their rights".
Harding's case was taken up some weeks ago by the international human rights organisations Caribbean Justice and Amnesty International, and several letters were sent by people abroad to the local authorities and media houses, expressing concern about the conditions of Harding imprisonment.
In response to this, David Vitalis in this week's Mirror calls minister Velon John's defence of the shackling of Alfred Harding "a courageous one in the face of pressure from people and groups who have no genuine interest in the peace and security of law-abiding citizens and visitors in St. Lucia. ... Now [that] he is in custody, the authorities must use whatever means necessary to keep Mr Harding, or any other prisoner, from posing a threat to the community".
Vitalis also wonders why the advocates of prisoners' rights are so much more visible than volunteer groups monitoring the welfare of the victims of criminals - if those exist at all. "The human rights and prisoners' rights activists can sit in Germany, Spain, and Stockholm and condemn as loud as they want. It is the security of St. Lucians and visitors to St. Lucia that is at stake. St. Lucians must deal with it".
The Wednesday Star quotes from the Ordinances and Statutory Rules and Orders of Prison Rules, 1964 where it is stated: "Restraints shall not be used as a punishment or for the purpose other than safe custody during removal, except on medical grounds. No prisoner shall be kept under mechanical restraints longer than is necessary or for a longer period than 24 hours unless an order in writing from a Justice of the Peace who is a member of the Board of Visiting Justices is given, specifying the cause".
Harding was shackled continuously from the 31st of August 1999 until the 15th of June 2000: a period of ten months and fifteen days.
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Young burglars receive severe cutlass injuries
Two secondary school students (aged 15 and 14) are in Victoria Hospital after a shop owner in Bois d'Orange allegedly caught them breaking into his supermarket. According to eyewitnesses quoted in The Crusader, "one of the youths had both of his hands chopped, one of them being virtually severed at the wrist. The other youth was reportedly struck on both knees and on his legs. One of the legs was reportedly almost cut off".
The shop had reportedly been broken into on two consecutive occasions preceding last Tuesday night's tragic incident and the owner of the shop was hence on the look-out when the two boys decided to break in. A cutlass was used in the attack. According to The Crusader, the shop owner "is assisting police with investigations".
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Book brings together sports heroes of yesteryear
Recounting the stirring deeds of notable sportsmen like the legendary Francis 'Mindoo' Phillip, Reggie Clarke, Desmond Vidal, Rick Wayne and Joyce Auguste, Rupert Brandford's book on 'Outstanding Sports Personalities of St. Lucia' finally went on sale this week. The book forms a a compilation of articles on the history of leading St. Lucian athletes over the past seventy years - sportsmen and women who have attained regional or international acclaim for their achievements. Also chronicled in the book are St. Lucia's outstanding sporting families and some of the administrators who worked against the odds to bring sports to a high level. Brandford's book is expected to become part of the curriculum for secondary schools on the island. The foreword was written by Sir Vincent Floissac, and the introduction by Cletus Springer. Rupert Brandford is himself one of St. Lucia's outstanding sportsmen of the 1960s, having represented the island in cricket, football and athletics. He spent three years doing the research for this book. Brandford was inducted into the New York-based Iyonola Marathoners Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. The Voice, Star and Mirror all report on this latest publication.
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Movement of persons and money set to ease up in region
The establishment of a single market and economy within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has come one step nearer with the signing by the council of ministers of CARICOM - including St. Lucia - of nine protocols which amend the Treaty of Chaguaramas and further ease up regulations on the right of establishment, the provision of services, free movement of persons and the movement of capital within the fifteen memberstates of CARICOM. All major newspapers carry this news, as well as a three-page paid advertisement detailing the full text of Protocol II. This text can also be downloaded from www.caricom.org. The CARICOM secretariat is currently conducting research in St. Lucia to see which restrictions exist that would be inconsistent with the provisions of Protocol II. To this end, three days of meetings are scheduled for this week with representatives of the private and public sectors. For more information, contact the ministry of Commerce, International Financial Services and Consumer Affairs at email: mitandt@candw.lc or call 452-1590, 452-1706 or 453-2383. Protocol II should make it much easier for people who are nationals of one of the CARICOM nations, to set up businesses in one of the other member states, find employment, and source and transfer funds.
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Last victims of hurricane Lenny leave shelter
With the new hurricane season already underway, the remaining victims of last year's freak hurricane Lenny were last Monday finally able to leave the shelter of the Soufriere Primary School to move into new homes. Nine families who lost their homes and belongings after Lenny pounded and destroyed their homes along Coin de Lance and Baron's Drive areas in November of last year, are now occupying new buildings on two acres of land in Calvary. The homes all have two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, living room and a small veranda and a new road was put in to accommodate the hurricane victims. Local businesses donated beds, tables and chairs, stoves and pots and pans. Six more houses are to be constructed in the Calvary area, and another forty in Crestlands, also in the Soufriere area. The Thursday Voice reports this. After Lenny virtually destroyed the Soufriere waterfront, reconstruction has been delayed by the fact that attempts are being made to comprehensively reconstruct the area to maximise the waterfront for tourism purposes. The Mirror this week reports that work on the Sourfriere jetty, which also was destroyed, will finally commence next week and should be ready by the end of August. The delay in rebuilding the jetty - and the nearby gardens - is apparently due to mounting problems between the Soufriere Foundation and the insurance company that supposedly insured the jetty. According to The Mirror, the Soufriere Foundation is considering taking the underwriters to court. Repair work on the jetty will now go ahead regardless of the outcome of this dispute. The Foundation has secured a government-guaranteed loan for about half a million dollars to repair the jetty and waterfront gardens. [also see photo album: 'The Wrath of Lenny'].
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Madam Justice Hariprashad-Charles confirmed
Justice Indra Hariprashad-Charles was confirmed last Friday as a justice in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court - making her the youngest judiciary member to have been promoted to the regional Supreme Court. The other woman on the Supreme Court is Madame Justice Suzy D'Auvergne who, like Hariprashad-Charles, also acts as a magistrate in the St. Lucian court system. Several high-ranking officials attended last Friday's special sitting of the Supreme Court. Madam Justice Hariprashad-Charles was described by her colleague D'Auvergne as a diligent and hard worker. In an interview with The Crusader, Hariprashad-Charles, asked about some of the problems she faces in her work, is quoted as having replied: "I hate to see the backlog of work. St. Lucia has a number of cases that have been outstanding for ten, twelve years. I hate that the people here come all the way from Soufriere or Choiseul, the rural areas and when their matter is being adjourned it really breaks my heart because I'm very people-oriented. I don't think so much of the lawyers and their appearance before me. To me the people are of first importance".
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Graduation cancelled after 'despicable behaviour'
The Entrepot Secondary School has cancelled its graduation ceremony due to what is described as the "despicable behaviour" of the majority of its form five students, who are being accused of exploding two home-made bombs on the school's premises, using obscene language, begging outside Barclay's Bank, and generally making a nuisance of themselves in public. The graduation ceremony was to have taken place at the National Cultural Centre on the 5th of July but principal Agusta Ifill, with support from teachers and the ministry of Education, decided to cancel the event. By doing so, says Ifill, the school, hopes to send "a strong message to the rest of the school that this was unacceptable. Besides, these students would prove to be an embarrassment, even during a graduation exercise". The Tuesday Voice reports this. The school has explained its decision in a letter to the parents and guardians of the 125 form five students. "There were too few students not involved to warrant us continuing with the graduation plans", writes Ifill in this letter.
The Voice, in its Thursday issue, expresses support for the principal's decision and promotes 'zero tolerance' for "disrespect, bad manners, [and] sloppy behaviour" in school.
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Road repairs in Choiseul after busdrivers strike
Repair work on the roads in Choiseul started last Wednesday, just one day after members of the Choiseul Mini-Bus Association went on strike to protest about the bad condition of roads between Vieux Fort and Soufriere. Parts of the road are currently being paved and the potholes filled in. The bus drivers are content with the prompt response from the government, and one is quoted as saying: "If we did not take action, nothing would have happened. Action speaks louder than words". Choiseul's parliamentary representative, Ferguson John, supported the busdrivers' action last week. Meanwhile, banana farmers in Micoud who last week also threatened 'dramatic action' if the roads in their area are not immediately repaired, still await action. The Mirror reports this.
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Four years prison for gas station robber
Four and a half years in prison and a total fine of fifteen thousand dollars: that is the first sentence given to one of the four gunmen who robbed Marius' Gas Station in Laborie on the 27th of June. The robbery took place just one day after the Petroleum Dealers Association had decided to close gas stations island-wide at 6:00 pm, following a series of blatant and violent attacks [search news archives] in which several people were injured and one was killed. The 21-year old robber from Bexon received his punishment for possession of an illegal firearm and four rounds of ammunition. His three co-robbers pleaded not guilty to this charge. All four still have to face the high court on the charge of robbery. The Mirror reports this.
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Arrests in counterfeit money case
Two men from Dugard (Micoud) have been arrested by police for possession of several counterfeit one hundred dollar notes. Since the Dugard Day celebrations one month ago, several businesspeople in the area have received counterfeit money. The police are still looking for other suspects in the case. The Mirror reports this.
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Water taxi pirating comes to an end in Soufriere
By bringing the non-authorized watertaxi operators together in a proper association, it is expected that the harrassment of tourists in Soufriere will end. The Fisheries Department, Soufriere Foundation and ministry of Tourism had long been concerned by reports about pirate boat operators. The establishment of the Soufriere Water Taxi Association (SWTA) now makes it clear who is authorized to transport passengers, and who ought to restrict their activities to so-called yacht guiding ('boat boys'). According to the president of the SWTA, Charles Richard, there is currently enough business for watertaxi operators in Soufriere, although he expresses concern about "the number of foreign investors who have invested large sums of money in the business to the disadvantage of locals". Richard is quoted in The Mirror as saying: "You can't have a level playing field when big foreign investors invest in the business".
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Dame Pearlette meets St. Lucian kids in Canada
St. Lucian children in Canada met with governor-general Dame Pearlette Louisy recently, in celebration of International Kids Day. The meeting was an initiative of Christine Joshua, wife of St. Lucia's consul general in Canada, and took place at the consul's residence in Toronto. Minister of Foreign Affairs George Odlum, who happened to be in Canada at the time, was also present. There was an exhibition of utensils, tools and other items used in St. Lucia in the early days, resulting in a lively exchange between the governor-general and the children about life in St. Lucia. The activity is likely to be repeated because of its success. Both The Star and The Voice report on this.
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Emma Hippolyte elected auditor for OAS
Emma Hippolyte, director of the National Insurance Scheme, has been elected to the Board of External Auditors of the Organization of American States (OAS). This board audits the accounts of the general secretariat of the OAS. The board consists of three members. Currently, these are the USA, Peru and St. Lucia. The board meets once a year for one week, in Washington. St. Lucia's ambassador to Washington, Sonia Johnny, congratulates Hippolyte in this week's Voice and the same newspaper quotes Hippolyte as saying: "It's an honour and I will do my best to serve my country well".
Hippolyte made headlines last week following the remarkable improvements which she has brought about in the efficiency of St. Lucia's National Insurance Scheme since she took over the helm of that organisation eighteen months ago [see last week's news]. The Wednesday Star also reports on Hippolyte's OAS appointment.
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St. Lucians from around the world meet here
St. Lucians overseas and "foreigners of St. Lucian parentage" (as The Voice describes them) are congregating in St. Lucia this week for the 9th Biennial Convention of the Union of Overseas Associations. It is the first time that the convention of St. Lucian associations overseas is actually being held in St. Lucia. Representatives of St. Lucian organizations from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, St. Croix and Canada will gather under the theme 'A nation moving forward with love, friendship and togetherness', to discuss issues of concern to St. Lucians living overseas. The convention is being organized by the local chapter of the St. Lucian United Association of New York. Some of the topics that will be discussed with local top officials from various sectors are: customs procedures, tourism, purchasing property, construction, politics, law and finance in St. Lucia.
The activities start this Sunday with a church service at Our Lady of Fatima church. Monday and Tuesday will be spent getting involved in carnival, Wednesday features a reception, Thursday and Friday are set aside for guest speakers, association matters and a night of culture. Saturday and Sunday will see a formal dinner and a beach party, and on Monday and Tuesday the association will meet formally with the Governor-General and prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony. Both The Voice and Mirror report this.
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Increased trade with Cuba envisaged
Increased trading activity between Cuba and the fifteen member states of CARICOM is envisaged following the signing of a trade agreement between the two on 5th July. "Details of the agreement have not yet been announced", writes the Tuesday Voice. "But Caribbean Community officials said they would allow Cuba to export cement, other construction materials and medicines to the rest of the Caribbean under preferential terms while buying garments, beverages and furniture from its neighbours under favoured terms".
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AIDS leading cause of death in Caribbean
AIDS has become the leading cause of death in the Caribbean among both men and women in the age group of 25 to 44 years and the CARICOM Heads of Government, at their just-concluded 21st summit, have expressed "deep concern" over this fact. The Tuesday Voice writes this. According to the Barbadian-born director of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), Sir George Alleyne, "Barbados now has the chilling reputation of having the third highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS for adults aged 15-49 globally". Given the "alarming prevalence rate of the disease across the region", Alleyne stresses the importance of finding money to subsidise anti-AIDS medication while simultaneously improving prevention and base care programmes and de-stigmatising the image associated with HIV/AIDS. The Caribbean region was represented at the 13th International AIDS Conference held in South Africa this week. About a quarter of South Africa's 43 million people are infected with the disease. Various local newspapers report on the AIDS Conference, and all carry warnings to St. Lucians to be careful in their sexual behaviour this upcoming carnival week.
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Local banking: France withdraws, Japan steps in
While prime minister Dr. Kenny Anthony is in Paris to try and convince France that if that country withdraws its contributions from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), it "risks damaging its relationship with the Caribbean". The Crusader reports this week that the CDB has managed to secure a $60 million loan on the Japanese capital market. The Japanese money allegedly comes from one single investor and the CDB will use it "in its ordinary operations to finance social and economic development projects and programmes in its 17 borrowing member countries in the Caribbean" - of which St. Lucia is one.
The Star reports on Dr. Anthony's concerns about losing France as a contributor to the CDB. Dr Anthony is quoted as saying that "with France withdrawing we would lose a vital source of capital sustenance". The PM intends to tell the French that "they need to at least reconsider their options and certainly to give the CDB far more time to address concerns raised by them". France has expressed concerns that Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba are not members of the CDB, and that French contractors lack the opportunity to apply for work under CDB projects. Also according to The Star, Dr Anthony has said that France has "to be told that its withdrawal would result in immeasurable political damage not only to its reputation but to its relationship with the Caribbean".
Dr Anthony's concern about France's reputation, combined with the report in The Crusader about the CDB having sourced a $60 million loan from Japan, come in the wake of scathing international criticism only last week, due to the fact that St. Lucia allegedly 'sold out' to Japan. St. Lucia and several other Eastern Caribbean states sided with Japan in opposing the efforts of several small Pacific islands and European nations - including France - to establish a whale sanctuary in the South Pacific [see last week's news].
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Air Jamaica deemed 'one of the finest in the world'
Air Jamaica joins Swissair, Virgin Atlantic and Singapore Airlines as the only airline carriers to have been awarded the prestigious Five Star Diamond Award, given by the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences in recognition of exceptional hospitality and service. Air Jamaica received the Five Star Diamond Award last week during the CARICOM heads of government conference in Canouan. The award designates Air Jamaica as "one of the finest in the world". Vice president of Marketing and Sales, Allen Chastanet, in a response, said he was "exceptionally pleased" with the award. "We strive to provide outstanding Caribbean hospitality and service to all our passengers on every flight", said Chastanet. "This award confirms that commitment and is a tribute to our dedicated staff".
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