Two Dozen Fires, Two New Leaders... And All That Jazz! - May8, 2001

By Earl Bousquet

It’s been a week during which the tenth annual St. Lucia Jazz Festival was launched, Windward Islands Prime Ministers and European Union (EU) officials discussed the need to speed-up disbursement of aid to the islands’ banana sector, the Finance Minister announced the first disbursement from a further $3.5 million in support for the local banana industry, the Treasury paid-out $15 million in debts to the private sector, the Government re-launched its internet website and Prime Minister Dr Kenny D. Anthony led a local delegation  on an official visit to Malaysia.

                The Prime Minister left the island over the weekend with a delegation headed for London, on their way to an official visit to Malaysia at the invitation of that country’s Prime Minister, Mahatir Mohamed. During the three-day visit, the Prime Minister is expected to visit several institutions and projects of interest to St. Lucia and the two countries are expected to sign several bilateral agreements.

The visit to Malaysia follows one a fortnight ago to Argentina and precedes another to West palm Beach, Florida, later this month, where Prime Minister Anthony will address a gala US$1,000-per-plate dinner and awards ceremony of the National Convention of the Florida Federation of Young Republicans

During his three-day stay in Florida, Prime Minister Anthony will also hold meetings with US President George W. Bush, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, former US Secretary of State General Alexander Haig and other top Republican Party and Congressional Leaders.

Jazz 2001 took off with a bang at Marchand last Friday evening, followed by record-breaking and memorable performances at Balenbouche and Fond D’Or, on the Square and at La Place Carenage. Tourism Director Hilary Modeste praised the support of the press in keeping the festival alive over the past decade.

Official estimates are that more than 12,000 visitors will hit our shores by the time this week is over, with thousands expected to throng the Pigeon Island National Park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the closing acts.

While the tourism and jazz officials were putting their final touches in order last week, Windward Islands Prime Ministers met with top European Union officials to review procedures for disbursement of aid to the islands’ vital banana sector.

The islands argued that while there may be an abundance of aid available, its disbursement – which sometimes takes years – was much too slow. They noted that aid flows would have to be speeded-up considerably if the islands’ banana sector is to recover in the period allowed by the recent agreement between the United States and the EU at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on bananas.

                At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister Anthony said he and his counterparts felt they had sufficiently convinced the EU officials and looked forward to a positive response. In the meantime, the meeting appointed a technical committee to review the situation in Grenada on June 1.

                But while the islands were making a case for increased and quicker aid flows, St. Lucia this week announced another $3.5 million assistance package for the local banana industry.

The Prime Minister, who is also Finance Minister, announced that a first disbursement of $2.5 million would be made to the Banana Industry Trust (BIT) for on-lending to banana farmers for replanting. He said it was in keeping with a promise contained in his recent Budget Address, in which he had also enumerated government’s financial assistance to the industry, which stood in excess of $100 million, since it was returned to democratic, farmers’ control.

                Another budget promise was also fulfilled last week, when the Prime Minister announced the Treasury had disbursed some $15 million towards payables owed to private sector agencies and companies. In his budget address, Dr. Anthony promised government would give the economy a shot in the arm by easing liquidity with payment of $20 million of the $33 million owed to the private sector in this financial year. He said $15 million would be paid by the end of April, with the rest before the end of the financial year.

                There was news about all of the above on the government’s re-launched website, which was officially activated by the Prime Minister at the touch of a computer key. The reconfigured and upgraded website, which is run by the Government Information Service (GIS), boasts several new features and contains information on virtually anything one wants to know about St. Lucia and the Government of St. Lucia.

                New Director of Information, Embert Charles, who made his first public appearance at the re-launch last week at the NIS Conference Centre, and Principal information Officer, Roger Joseph, revealed the website attracted over 1000 hits within hours of presentation of the national budget, which was posted immediately after delivery, near midnight. They also promised that the new website would soon surpass existing local websites because of the wealth of information it will contain and offer.

GIS’ Webmaster, Richmond Felix, offered a guide through the site (which can be located at stlucia.gov.lc) and the Prime Minister, in his capacity as Information Minister, indicated the GIS’s next venture will be the launching of regularly scheduled  television programming on Cablevision Channel 2.

As the government’s information thrust steps up, increasing numbers of overseas investors are showing interest in St. Lucia as the island leads the way in the telecommunications deregulation process in the OECS.

General Manager of the National Development Corporation (NDC), Mrs Elizabeth Charles-Soomer, told a function launching new opportunities for training in information technology offered by the National Commercial Bank (NCB), that up to 60% of applications of indications of interest on the part of overseas investors were related to the IT sector, including proposals for establishment of call centres and other such offshore services.

At the same time, the NCB and the St. Lucia Development Bank (SLDB) last week also announced plans for establishment of a regional banking conglomerate that will be a holding company for several subsidiaries. The two local banks, which were established by the Labour Administration of 1980, say that by pooling their resources, they will offer better share  value to shareholders and exercise significantly more influence in the local banking sector.

The new company, to be known as the East Caribbean Financial Holding Company Limited (ECFHCL), will be involved in the areas of banking, mortgage and offshore financing,  insurance and property holdings, legal and financial services.

But not all the news this past week was about Castries. In Vieux Fort, US troops and their St. Lucian police counterparts participated in an anti-marijuana drive as part of a continuing regional anti-drug cooperation exercise. However, media reports indicated that not all went well, with at least two local policemen getting hurt during the launching of the exercise in the southern town.

Vieux Fort also last week attracted the attention of two important government departments. Ombudsman Mr Selwyn Vincent visited the town to attend to two matters drawn to the attention of the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner, while the electoral department visited the town to attend to and explain matters pertaining to the ongoing registration and enumeration of voters.

The media also reported this past week that Electoral Department officials say their improved machinery is such that they would now only need six weeks to put the machinery in place for a general election.

Meanwhile, the National Alliance, with its eyes on what it suspects might be a snap election, has been attempting to show it has resolved the leadership issue.

With public rejection of the co-leadership arrangement, the Alliance’s still-secret membership decided on Monday last to come up with a new arrangement, featuring Sir John Compton as President and former Foreign Affairs Minister George Odlum as Political Leader.

There has been mixed response to the announcement of the new leadership structure, with media commentators saying public opinion was still divided as to the delineation of functions and who’s actually in charge.

Radio 100’s Sam “Juke Bois” Flood yesterday morning waxed skeptical as he called on the closeted members of the alliance to begin to show their faces.

According to Juke Bois: “The public has heard enough about the Alliance, it’s about tme we started to see some faces. I have heard that Michael Gordon is among the leaders, but I only know three – Sir John, Odlum and Dr Morella Joseph.

“I want those Alliance members hiding in the safety of their air conditioned offices, sitting in their swinging chairs and pressing buttons to come out of the closet and show their faces.”

According to Flood: “I do not like the idea of such people pressing buttons and deciding my political future for me. Not-a-pecko!”

Similar pessimism about the alliance’s structure and membership was also expressed last week by the new Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

A historical friend and traditional political ally of the former local firebrand, Odlum, Dr Gonsalves said he “has problems with the all-ah-we-are-one philosophy” on which the St. Lucia Alliance is based. He said that “historically, the haves break away’ in such alliances, leaving the poor to stand alone.

In what was interpreted by reporters to be a message to Mr Odlum and his fellow Alliance leaders, the St. Vincent Prime Minister said: “We need to separate the individual ambition from the issues.”

In the meantime, there was sad news this past week, the saddest being that the Fire Department was kept extremely busy over the weekend, having had to attend to some two dozen fires around the island, some including homes burned accidentally or through negligence, while in some cases arson was not ruled out.

The fire officials said their efforts were hampered by the fact that this dry season features the hottest period in St. Lucia since 1973 and in the case of at least one fire in the Marchand area, bad parking on tiny roads by owners of private or business vehicles.

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