Alliance "Explosion" A Damp Squib

by Earl Bousquet

In the past week, President George Bush told Americans things are bad for the economy of the world’s richest nation, the US Department of Commerce threatened to take St. Lucia before the WTO over chicken, America boycotted the UN Conference on Racism, the Sea Shepherd Society said it filed a complaint with the FBI about Claudius Francis, a Japanese official came to teach St. Lucians how to make paper from banana leaves, a Cuban company came to talk about buying bananas, the Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister warned about possible repercussions from this week’s visit to Libya by three OECS leaders, St. Lucia registered the highest score in cruise ship arrivals in the Caribbean, the St. Lucia Offshore Institute was launched, minibus drivers accused the Petroleum Dealers Association of using them as scapegoats, C.O. Williams announced its share of lay-offs, out-of-work B&D workers accused their former employers of not paying them outstanding wages, the Prime Minister returned from vacation, De Invader joined the million-strong Notting Hill Carnival and The National Alliance made its first appearance in the city.

The revelation on Constitution Park last week by Commerce Minister Philip J. Pierre about the US’ threat to file a complaint to the WTO against this country’s reservation of a share of the local chicken market for local broiler producers was a serious talking point. Most St. Lucians took umbrage at what they saw as an effort by certain local frozen foods importers to use WTO rules to deny and deprive local broiler producers from a fair share of the chicken market. Many felt the market was large enough to share and it was selfish of the accused local companies to seek to force local producers into unfair competition against American exporters of cheaper and sometimes substandard chicken.

Efforts to encourage agricultural diversification also got a shot in the arm this past week, when a Japanese official arrived here, courtesy of the Ministry of Agriculture, to teach and encourage the industrial production of paper from dried banana leaves. A similar mission was also mounted by a Cuban company, which sent a delegation here last week to discuss purchase of excess bananas and production of food supplements and other by-products from bananas.

General Manager of C.O. Williams Construction John Peters announced his company was following the path of B&D Construction in laying-off employees. Like B&D, the C.O. Williams official claimed his company was sending workers home because it was not getting government contracts. However, he did not say how many workers had been laid off, or when.

At the same time, workers sent home by B&D Construction mounted a major protest outside the company’s premises Monday, claiming their cheques were not being honored by the banks. The workers claimed the dates on the cheques were changed to one week later than originally written for, but they were still not paid when they returned to the banks. The Company claims the workers have been paid, but some said they felt cheated.

One of the protesting workers said on TV that he felt the company was using its fallout with the government as an excuse not to pay them. Others said the company could not be so broke, that it would close down simply because it did not get one particular government-funded road project.

Another major talking point this past week was the decision by petroleum dealers to close their pumps on Sundays and from 6pm on weekdays. The dealers claimed they were forced to take that course of action as a result of the government not having responded to certain unspecified requests for a mark-up on their commissions. However, not all gas stations have agreed to shut down, with those operated by taxi and minibus associations and cooperatives insisting on remaining open until 11pm daily to serve their members – and anyone else wishing to purchase fuel.

Meanwhile, minibus drivers have responded to claims that they are getting preferential treatment from government vis-à-vis the petroleum dealers. President of the National Council on Public Transport, Guy Joseph, said the dealers were using the minibus drivers as scapegoats. But the gas dealers also got full support from radio Kweyol talk show host Sam Flood, who called on the government to revoke the 75 cents rebate and the duty free incentives offered to the minibus drivers, which he said was unfair to the gas dealers.

Prime Minister Dr Kenny D. Anthony returned home over the weekend at the end of a 15-day overseas vacation that was often interrupted by state duties and resumed official duties on Monday. The Prime Minister indicated he was preparing a major statement on the economy to be presented at the next sitting of parliament that would constitute the government of St. Lucia’s response to the global recession currently hitting Caribbean economies. The Prime Minister also indicated he will be meeting soon with the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce for bilateral talks of interest to the government and the local private sector. Dr Anthony also indicated he will this week begin a series of visits to several government projects around the country. The first was to Agard Lands on Tuesday afternoon and the second will be to Carellie Gardens on Friday. Other sites to be visited include the Bordelais Correctional Facility and the National Stadium.

The political highlights of the past week included the threat of possible legal action against the UWP leadership over the party’s symbol, the threat by UWP Leader Dr Morella Joseph to flush out those responsible for threatening the legal action and the Alliance’s appearance on the Boulevard on Monday evening.

The law firm of Rambally and Francois, in a letter to Dr Joseph, said it had been retained by some individual supporters of the major opposition party from three constituencies to warn her and the party’s leadership about the illegality and the unconstitutionality of the handing over of the party’s symbol to the Alliance for the next general elections. The UWP’s leadership was jolted by the disclosure of the threatened legal action and the officers of the three constituency groups in the areas mentioned issued public statements denying they were involved in or supportive of the threatened action. Dr. Joseph threatened to flush out those responsible for the threatened legal action, even as she insisted the decision had the full support of the party’s leadership.

Finally, the Alliance made a much-anticipated appearance on the William Peter Boulevard on Monday evening. But it turned out to be a quite disappointing affair for most, as the promise to show new faces apart from known UWP functionaries did not materialize. All the platform speakers Monday night were associated with the UWP. Particularly disappointing for many was the failure of Alliance Leader George Odlum to deliver his promised address on what the Alliance plans to do and how it will be different from the current government. Instead, Mr. Odlum opted to “donate” his time to former Prime Ministers Sir John Compton and Dr Vaughan Lewis. Mr. Odlum told those assembled: “I owe you all a speech” and promised to deliver it “next time.” The failure to present new faces on the Alliance’s platform was explained by various speakers as being because “there’s wasn’t enough time…” Alas, what Mr. Odlum last weekend promised would have been “an Alliance explosion” featuring much political fireworks, in fact turned out to be nothing but a damp squib.

August 28, 2001

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Search Prime Minister Press Secretary ] [Site Help]

© 2001 Government Information Service. All rights reserved.

Read our privacy guidelines.