Articles - News

   Parliament was officially closed last Thursday on proclamation from the Governor General and will re-open on Thursday April 14 with the usual Parade of the Guards and the Governor General’s Throne Speech.

There will be a joint session of both Houses of Parliament, the Upper and Lower House. It is at the session the Throne Speech will be delivered. The Sitting is expected to commence at 10am.

Following the Throne Speech, a Formal House of Assembly Meeting is scheduled for 4:30pm on that same day, with Papers to be laid and Bills to be presented by the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, International Financial Services, Economic Affairs, Economic Planning and National Development as well as the Honourable Minister for Physical Planning, Housing, Urban Renewal, Local Government and the Environment. Likewise the Honourable Minister for Communications, Works, Transport and Public Utilities has papers to be laid. Also laying papers is the Honourable Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Investment. A report of the Meeting of the Standing Finance Committee will also be presented.

The Bills down for consideration includes: Appropriation 2010/2011, Civil Code (Amendment), Crown Proceedings (Amendment), Insurance, Architect (Registration) (Amendment) and Apostille (Hague Convention) (Amendment).

The Budget Debate will take place on Monday, April 18, Tuesday, April 19, and Wednesday, April 20, 2011. The debate is expected to commence at 10:00 am on each day.

Statement from Government Press Secretary:

“The Government is pleased to announce that the 2011/2012 Budget Address will be
delivered by the Honourable Stephenson King Prime Minister and Minister for Finance,
Economic Affairs and National Development, on Thursday April 14th 2011.

“This Address will be presented against a backdrop of a very challenging fiscal year
2010/2011. While the global economy is recovering from the worst financial and
economic crisis, many countries are struggling to deal with increases in debt and
financial instability.

“Here in Saint Lucia, the global realities were further compounded by a drought in the
first quarter of 2010, followed by a devastating hurricane causing damage and losses
amounting to 34% of the country’s GDP. Notwithstanding these difficulties, sound
economic management, timely and targeted interventions and prudent fiscal measures
by the Government have bolstered our economy leading to positive growth.

“The Government has had to exert tremendous effort and resources to respond to the
rising scourge of crime. Government is cognizant of the impact of crime on society and
has accorded combating crime the highest priority. This year’s budget, therefore,
reflects the commitment of Government to implementing a comprehensive
multipronged programme of crime prevention.

“A country’s quest for sustainable economic growth must be viewed within a context of
environmental, social, human and resource considerations. As such the budget, will be
a reflection of Government’s understanding and commitment to the holistic
development of its people.

“The 2011/2012 Budget represents an increase on last year’s budget given the
imperative of ensuring a secure and safe society and the post Hurricane Tomas
recovery and reconstruction commitments.”

   The current Prime Minister has been accused of being spineless and of being unable to exercise any leadership over members of his Cabinet; some in the current administration have been accused of traffic violations while others are suspected of trafficking in drugs—though not by the police. Presumed financially healthy members of the current Cabinet had to be taken before a judge to pay import taxes he tried to avoid. Yet there is talk that the electorate will not vote for the Labour Party because it is perceived that the party has a leader who is arrogant. In this article, I will discuss the peculiarities of the political situation in Saint Lucia in light of Mark Twain’s powerfully persuasive statement, “Laws are sand, customs are rock. Laws can be evaded and punishment escaped but an openly transgressed custom brings sure punishment.”
There are some who are extremely concerned that the electorate will not scrutinize the conduct and character of our current crop of government ministers before deciding how to vote. In a recent article, Rick Wayne made the point that the electorate should be extremely wary and should be informed of the characters of those who seek our vote. Rick’s concern is not misplaced. A judge clearly indicated the current Cabinet had permitted a member to take advantage of concessions for which he did not qualify. Yet the UWP administration has not established a Commission to consider measures that should be put in place in order to decrease the likelihood that the entire Cabinet will endorse illegal acts in the future.

Should we assume that the Prime Minister’s failure to institute mechanisms that will prevent such wanton illegality in Cabinet is evidence that the Prime Minister does not understand or perhaps does not care about the integrity of Cabinet? Incidentally, the government promised that it would inform the citizens regarding its intention to appeal the matter to the Privy Council—to date no such intention has been released. Is this yet another case where the government believes that the electorate should remain uninformed? Yes, Rick is correct; the citizenry should be kept informed on such matters.
Unfortunately, we have not cultivated a custom of becoming informed citizens. In fact, while I can think of a variety of laws that are meant to withhold information (example those related to Cabinet decisions) I can think of no law which mandates that specific information be disseminated. In addition, our society seemed to be based on keeping public data and information confidential and on a “need to know” basis.

For example, it is not uncommon for a person who requests additional information to be cruelly chastised: “That is not your business! What you want to know for?” It is, therefore, not likely that citizens will understand the need to have relevant information as part of the decision making process.
There is merit in the suggestion that decisions related to the upcoming general elections should be based on the importance we place on the candidates’ character. Our history, however, suggests that when we make these decisions we are likely to ignore those who break the laws and instead support those who follow well-known customs. For example, with respect to the Tuxedo affair, it is clear that Mondesir initially avoided payment of relevant duties.

The electorate is aware of this. Further, the electorate is well aware that it is illegal to evade paying custom duties. Do you think this illegality will significantly tarnish Mondesir’s chances at the upcoming election? Truth of the matter is that many citizens routinely and without any regrets attempt to evade customs duty. This invariably means that these citizens are also less likely to see any need to punish Mondesir for attempting to defraud customs. Mondesir’s situation is entirely consistent with the sentiments expressed by Mark Twain in the offered quotation—breaking the law is less
likely to have negative repercussion than not adhering to customs. Yet we claim to live in a country where the rule of law is sacrosanct. How ironic.
Without an established context it is difficult to know what characteristics identify a person as being arrogant. The typical dictionary defines such a person as having an unwarranted sense of his importance or abilities. On the basis of that definition, I will assume that persons who think that a person is arrogant also perceives that the individual is overbearing, presumptuous and prone to appropriating undue authority to himself.
A long established and well-accepted principle is that perceptions depend on the benchmarks that are established. A simple illustration will be useful here. A person who is expected to produce 100 items is considered to have overachieved if he produces 200 such items. Yet a person who has produced that same quantity would have underachieved if he were expected to produce 300 items. Yes, producing 200 items may be considered to be overachieving or underachieving depending on the perspective of the one who is doing the evaluation. How then do we determine that a person’s perception of his ability is consistent with being confident or reflects arrogance?
There is evidence that the prevailing practices in Saint Lucia are geared towards creating a people who readily accept the substandard. For instance, we are reminded that the meek will inherit the earth —does this justify believing that who dare to be assertive are arrogant? We are advised to be humble—can we be surprised that we are labeled arrogant if we dare to be proud? We are consistently advised that half a loaf is better than no bread—should we be surprised that those who strive for the whole bread are considered arrogant?
A fundamental characteristic of our society is that at every turn we find evidence that ours is a custom of accepting mediocrity and producing wimps. It can therefore come as no surprise that we easily categorize achievers as arrogant. Let us look at examples of some of the persons we consider to be arrogant: John Compton, Rick Wayne, Kenny Anthony each one is an achiever of merit. Although it is not obvious why these persons were labeled arrogant, relevant research is likely to reveal that they were (are) not willing to march to the beat of inferior drummers or to subserviently accept proffered advice.
People who know better should not be prepared to accept foolishness espoused by the uninitiated.
Surely, Monsignor Patrick Anthony should not be deemed arrogant for ignoring my advice on matters of Catholicism. The reality is that by ignoring my advice the goodly priest does not claim unwarranted superiority as it would be easily agreed that he has superior understanding of the issues! In fact, Monsignor Anthony must be sufficiently confident in the superiority of his knowledge to virtually shoo any garbage that I offer with respect to Catholicism. To do otherwise would be to “suffer a fool gladly”.
Unfortunately, Saint Lucian custom is that persons who are sufficiently assertive to openly and quickly identify and disregard hogwash are usually described as arrogant. I can hear some milksop arguing, “The problem is not saying that the advice is hogwash it is the way it is said.” There is a shred of merit in that position. After all, after a person has spent hours contriving a solution he would want to know the deficiencies of that solution. The fundamental matter at issue here is that a person should not be identified as arrogant for merely rejecting offered advice. In fact because we accept that arrogance is related to having unwarranted sense of ability we can conclude that achievers are less likely to be arrogant. The irony, however, is that as a result of our customs it is generally the achievers in our society that we tend to view as arrogant.
We have consistently expressed a desire to elect a Parliament that is capable of aspiring us to greater achievement. Therefore, we should carefully consider whether it is prudent to continue the custom of glibly labeling our achievers as arrogant.

   After a successful 2010 Launch in NYC,The St. Lucia International Carnival Committee in NYC is ready for yet another official launch of St. Lucia

Carnival 2011 in New York City. It will take place on May 22nd at Nazareth Hall - 475 E58th Street, bet Clarendon Rd Ave D.

Carnival is one of two major festivals in St. Lucia – the other is Saint Lucia Jazz with a series of headliners including John legend and Trey Songz. A highly traditional event, Carnival festivities usually includes competitions and performances by masquerade bands, calypso, soca singers and steel bands.

The highlight of the celebration takes place, usually during the third week in July when Pan-yards are full of practicing steel-band performers, mas

camps are teeming with costumes and late night workers and Calypsonians and Soca artistes are putting the finishing touches on their original

masterpieces.

During the height of the Carnival fever, competitions for soca and calypso monarch gets under way and masquerade bands competing for king and queen

of the bands are just about ready to unveil their big costumes. From Saturday evening to Tuesday night in the final week leading into Carnival - the

city of Castries transforms into a large street party scene.

From Mass on the Square during the final week – a free event that takes place in the heart of Castries with food, drink, music and costumes we head

into Colour Me Red on Wednesday. Panorama – the steel bands competition and Outrageous Sexy in Black on Friday.

Saturday night is usually the finals of the Calypso Monarch competition. This event is followed by the King and Queen of the masquerade bands

competition and, the Caribbean Soca Monarch on Sunday where other islands do battle with Saint Lucia’s top soca guns - represented here are usually

islands like Trinidad, Grenada and Saint Vincent.

Right after the competition comes band fetes and J’ouvert where revelers take to the streets from 4 until 9AM behind steel pan and music trucks. The

J’ouvert street jump up is an affair of loud pulsating soca and calypso music and dancing in the streets of Castries. Revellers are free to wear

whatever they wish while others join J’Ouvert bands that compete for top prize.

After resting for a few hours – Monday afternoon from around 12:30 – the Parade of the Bands begins. Masquerade bands head through the streets of

Castries to be judged for the most colorful and artistic portrayals. The Monday night jump up continues into Tuesday where bands are judged the final

time for numerous prizes including the coveted Band of the Year title. It is the also the final time for the Ole Mas revelers – people dressed in

original costumes that depict a theme usually in something that was big in the news for the past year.

Soca and calypso music is unique to Caribbean culture and history. The lyrics and musical rhythms illustrate the history and culture of a people.

Saint Lucian soca artists use their cultural heritage in their musical compilations regularly. The St. Lucia International Carnival Committee is

thrilled and honored to bring the excitement not only to St Lucians living in New York but to all New Yorkers. St. Lucia Carnival is said to be one

of the best in the Caribbean and we want to give you a taste of what that means.

The launch of Saint Lucia Carnival in New York will feature 2011 portrayals from several Saint Lucian Carnival Bands including Mas Action, XS Energy,

Rituals, Red Unlimited and Just 4 fun. Also down to perform Cherry L,Teddy-son John and others.
The future of St. Lucia Carnival is important to us and as members of the St. Lucia Carnival Committee – we intend to introduce St. Lucia Carnival to

all Carnival Cities in the United States.

Marketing and PR Director, Rohan “Roaks” St. Marthe says he is confident the launch will be another successful one, “there’s no doubt in my mind we

have created a buzz in NYC, worked with some of the best from Caribbean to put this together.”

While hoping for deeper relations with the Trinidadians and the other Caribbean nationals who assisted with the launch – St. Marthe also expressed

dissatisfaction with the St. Lucian government who did not assist this year but is hopeful they will come around to see the importance of such an

event in NYC and around the world.

St. Lucia Carnival will officially start on May 30th and end on July 21st 2011.The St.Lucia International Carnival Committee is pleased to have welcomed over 200 non nationals to Saint Lucia for Carnival 2010, we are hoping that

this time around we can come with 500 strong non nationals says MR. St.Marthe, many persons have been inquiring about the various packages for Saint

Lucia Carnival 2011, so we are confident we will get about 300 - 500 coming to Saint Lucia this year. The official Launch is Sponsored by LIME.

For more information about St. Lucia Carnival Launch NYC or St. Lucia Carnival CALL 8609223640.

   45-year-old Julian Adjodha alias Jag and his wife 41-year-old Moeita have been charged with Possession of Controlled Drugs and Possession with Intent to Supply. Julian Adjodha is also charged separately with Importing Controlled Drugs.

The Adjodha’s were charged on Thursday April 7 in connection with the 93.9lbs of cannabis found on March 17 on the couple’s business compound at Beausejour in Gros Islet. The drugs were found hidden in sealed metal barrels containing dishwashing liquid and are valued at EC$75,200. The couple made their first appearance in court on Friday April 8 before a magistrate.

It has taken three weeks for the police to prefer a charge in this matter. There has been much public debate over why the couple was not charged immediately. Police sources say although the drugs were found on the compound, the manner in which the drugs were discovered, that is in sealed barrels stored in shipping containers received from overseas, the police had to establish the proprietors had knowledge of the contents of the barrels before they could be formally charged.

As we go to press the STAR has learned the Adjodha’s have secured two Jamaican Queen’s Counsel’s to represent them.

   88,000 criminal immigrants have already been deported back to Latin America and the Caribbean in just the past six months, New Americas has learnt.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation data obtained by NAN show that from the beginning of the 2011 fiscal year in October last year to the end of March this year, 88,497 criminal “aliens” or migrants were deported back to their country of birth in the Latin/Caribbean region. A “criminal alien” is defined under U.S. immigration laws as a migrant who is convicted of a crime.

The number sent back to Latin America alone stood at 86,469 while 2,028 were sent back to the Caribbean. For the entire Fiscal Year 2010, from October 2009 to September 30, 2010, some 190,860 criminal migrants were deported.

There was no surprise as the biggest receiver of criminal migrants was Mexico for Latin America, with 70,874 deported as of March 28th. The second largest number was returned to Guatemala; some 5,163, while Honduras followed with 4,682.

El Salvador was fourth with 3,956.Other Latin nations received far less deportees – Colombia, 471; Nicaragua, 365; Ecuador, 337 and Brazil 260.
Sixty criminal deportees have been sent back to Bolivia so far this fiscal year while there were 50 each for Venezuela and Argentina. Chile has received 49; Panama, 47; Uruguay, 27 and Paraguay, 6.

For the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic received the most criminal deportees, some 1,066. They were followed by Jamaica which has received 528 since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2011. Trinidad and Tobago was third with 125 followed by Belize with 74, the Bahamas with 65 and Guyana with 64. So far this fiscal year, 50 migrants have been sent back to Aruba and 31 to the earth-quake ravaged Haiti. Other Caribbean nations received far less criminal deportees.

Cuba received 20 in the past six months; Barbados was sent 11; Dominica 10; St. Lucia seven and Antigua five. Bermuda has received four criminal migrants since last October while St. Kitts received 3; Suriname, the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, 2 each, and Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos, one each