Articles - News

   The St Lucia National Trust can’t take it anymore. The usually mild mannered organization is asking St Lucians and other supporters to sign on to a petition that is demanding that government should stop all development in the Pitons Management Area, which was designated a World Heritage Site.

Earlier this year, the St Lucia government was warned that if it did not place a moratorium on all development within the World Heritage Site, St Lucia was in danger of becoming only the second site in the world to suffer the disgrace of losing World Heritage status.

“We are deeply concerned and ashamed about the possibility that the Pitons Management Area may lose World Heritage Site status through the failure of the government of St Lucia to comply with its part of the the agreement with UNESCO,” the petition to the prime minister reads.

“We call on the government of St Lucia, acting on our behalf to comply with the requests of the World Heritage Committee . . . with the greatest possible urgency and certainly before 1st February 2010.”

St Lucia’s agreement with the WHC requires that St Lucia “urgently re-establish and maintain a moratorium on development decisions within or affecting the property.”
St Lucia is required to submit a report on the state of conservation of the PMA to the WHC by the beginning of February this year. After that the WHC will examine St Lucia as a World Heritage Site at its 34th session later that year.

At press time more than 300 signatures have been gathered urging the prime minister to stop the indiscriminate and often illegal real estate development taking place in the PMA. As an online petition begins to circulate, the Trust expects that hundreds more signatures will be gathered.

   St Lucia Yacht Club hosted the third St Lucia BMW J 24 Invitational Championship over the weekend in Rodney Bay. With teams from Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and St Lucia, six teams sailed eighteen races over the weekend to decide the winner.

Hosted in the “The Landings” private Marina with teams staying in five star luxury apartments and two beautiful BMW’s on show, this regatta was very much a five star event. Friday nights briefing and cocktail party was held on “The Landings” marina with the six J’s tied alongside made for a wonderful sight.

Racing started Saturday morning right outside the marina just off the beach with great viewing for those lazing on the beach or aboard the Endless Summers large cat. Courses were short Windward Leeward’s, with 20 minute races giving close exciting racing.

After the morning’s six races it was very tight at the top with the two St Lucian teams Trinidad and Grenada split by just a few points. Short lunch break and off again for a final six afternoon races with clear blue skies ten knots of breeze; you could not ask for better racing conditions. Again the sailing was extremely tight with many different teams up the front and positions changing minute to minute.

Participants in the Third St Lucia BMW J24 Invitational Championship pose alongside the sponsorship vehicles.

Participants in the Third St Lucia BMW J24 Invitational Championship pose alongside the sponsorship vehicles.

After a long day of racing, the six teams headed back to the Marina for a few well earned beers and to check how they ended up for the day. Again it was extremely close amongst the top five, with only three points separating Trinidad, Barbados, the two St Lucian teams and Grenada.

Sunday dawned with more blue skies and perfect sailing breeze and a few headaches after a night in Rodney Bay! The Trinidad team came out fast with four bullets to basically seal the regatta, while some of the other crews suffering from the night before took a little time to wake up and made some bad errors with over the line problems for Edgar in St Lucia One, plus a mixture of penalties for other teams. As a result, the Trini’s slipped away to an unassailable lead.

Second and fourth was a close fought battle right to the last race with again just a few points separating them all. The top three were Edgar Roe of St Lucia One in third; Robbie Yearwood (Grenada) in second; and Stephen Bushe with Andrew, Wesley and John (Trinidad) taking the trophy.

Again many thanks go to BMW “Prestige Motors” as the main sponsor along with the “Landings”, “St Lucia Distillers” and “Peter and Company” for prizes and the committee boat II Restless. All monies raised holding this event goes towards the youth sailing program held by the Yacht Club. www.stluciayachtclub.com

   The Hunter Francois Library at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College has been closed since school opened this year and some students say they can’t take it anymore.
SALCC students are not known for their activism. Where university students all over the world are known for pestering, antagonizing and provoking governments and institutions into action, the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College has a paragon of docility even through the worst of political, economic and social crises in this island.
But frustration with the closure of the Hunter Francois Library is driving students and their council representatives to take action as they have never taken action before.
“When we came to school this year and we found the library closed, we spoke to administration and based on what they told us, we decided to wait to see things get better,” said Nyus Alfred, president of the ‘A Level’ department. “But it has been two months and things are not getting better. Nothing has changed.”
The closure of the Hunter Francois Library is the result of a longstanding problem. Air conditioners at the library have been failing for months. Worse yet, the ceiling has been collecting moisture, rotting and growing mildew.
Administration has designated the periodicals room as a temporary study area but that room is less than one-fifth the size of the library floor and the research materials cannot possibly fit into it. In addition, there are only two computer stations in the periodicals room and only one of them has Internet.
Two staff members have reportedly been hospitalized due to respiratory illnesses which may be due to unhealthy exposure to mildew and other contaminants in the library. The potential health risk forced the college administration to shut the library down just a few days after school opened this year.
Students are commandeering gazebos, empty rooms and other under-utilized areas of the college as study areas, but they complain that the lack of research materials is impeding their study schedules.
“Some people have laptops,” said one student at the Teachers College. “Some people are using the Internet a lot. But what we find is that the Internet is slower that finding the book you want and reading it. You have to go through so many search results to find what you want, but in the library, what you need is already there.”
Student council presidents from the various divisions of the college are now contemplating what they can do to speed up the opening of the library.
“Why didn’t they do this during the summer?” said Alfred. These problems have been there for years. They should have fixed this during the summer vacation.”
“Why are we paying fees?” asked Keisha-Ann St Clair, student president for the division popularly known as ‘Morne Tech’. “This is why we pay fees and the college needs to keep its part of the deal.”
As end of year examinations draw near, the patience of students is wearing thin and some are talking about taking the kind of action that draws attention to their plight and increases the urgency with which administration will respond.
Administration officials could not be reached for comment at the time of writing, but the STAR will make every effort to get their side of the story by Thursday’s issue.

   Thirteen -year-old Verlinda Joseph left her Saltibus home on December 2, 2002 around 7:20am to have her uniform adjusted at a nearby seamstress but never returned. Her half-naked, brutalized body was found less than a quarter of a mile from her home by her stepfather, Eugene St Romain. According to pathologist Dr Stephen King, Verlinda was a strong child. Her neck was broken and the assailant had poured a chemical down her throat after she died. Dr King confirmed Verlinda had been sexually assaulted and a bite mark was identified on her body. St Romain then became the prime suspect.

This was not the first time the child had been sexually abused. A then 34-year-old man, a former school caretaker and farmer, had been arrested and charged for having carnal knowledge with Verlinda. The case was filed on July 2, 2001 at the Vieux Fort Magistrate’s Court. Verlinda had given evidence on November 1, 2002. Verlinda testified the man asked her to run an errand. He asked her to go to his house to get some money. When she got there, the man removed her clothes, and although she was screaming and fighting, it was not enough to stop the man from violating her. When he was done, he gave her EC$20 and an earring and threatened to kill her if she told anyone of the incident.

Speaking to the STAR, St Romain, in an interview in 2003, told of a then 17-year-old boy who had dragged Verlinda from the road and raped her behind a church in the community. The Saltibus boy was arrested and charged with indecently assaulting Verlinda. The case came up on November 22, 2002 in Vieux Fort but was adjourned to January 2003.

In that same interview, St Romain showed the STAR official documents for another case. This incident occurred on Sunday February 3, 2002 about 5:30pm. The man was charged with the unlawful assault of Verlinda. The document was signed and dated March 28, 2002. The case was to be heard on Friday April 5, 2002. St Romain said the case never came up for hearing and the accused was released.

Days after the gruesome murder of Verlinda, toxicology and DNA tests were ordered. Thirteen police officers were assigned to the case. STAR investigations revealed that samples of pubic hair and blood given to the authorities for DNA testing by one of the two suspects in the case, matches evidence taken from Verlinda. Upon further investigations, a source revealed the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was not satisfied that the evidence was enough to make an arrest. Although a substantial amount of forensic evidence was taken, according to the January 29, 2003 STAR, testing could not be done because funds were not available. Even up to 2007, authorities boasted of the massive nature of the case, estimating it would take three weeks to complete. Sources told of experts coming from overseas to give evidence but lamented that the government would have to cough up money for airfare and accommodation and that certainly was not in the budget.

In February 2003, a massive demonstration was held in Saltibus. Almost 1000 people came out to agitate for justice for Verlinda. Among the people present was then Foreign Affairs Minister, George Odlum, who commented on Verlinda’s case. He said: “There is some evidence that the government hasn’t given this the level of importance it deserves. For example, the tardiness in getting the exhibits out and tested. Given the highly charged nature of this particular rape, I feel the government should have a greater sense of responsibility.”

Under mounting pressure from the public, it took the police sixteen months to make an arrest. The suspect, Eugene St Romain, Verlinda’s stepfather, was charged on Wednesday April 7, 2004 with murder. As reported in the STAR, an “ineffectual preliminary inquiry followed. It was predictably slow ending in, as is customary, a magistrate sending the matter to the High Court for trial.”

Five years on, the case is yet to be tried. St Romain has been at the Bordelais Correctional Facility since his arrest; an innocent man until proven guilty. Human rights lawyer, Martinus Francois, has been contacted by St Romain’s mother, pleading for justice for her son.

Speaking to this reporter, Francois said a gross injustice has been done to the accused; he has not been bailed or put on trial and that is a flagrant violation of his rights under the St Lucia Constitution. As Francois spoke, he was impassioned and convinced that he has to expose the injustice of a flawed system that used an innocent man as a scapegoat. “It is an abuse of process and I am determined to make things right,” Francois said firmly.

When asked how he was pulled in at this juncture, Francois said there was a previous lawyer who went through the motions but the system would not give way. Francois chuckled when he repeated St Romain’s mother’s words, he was a man to “take the bull by the horns and get things done.”

“I understand that investigations needed to be carried out. I even understand the system and if my client was remanded for a reasonable period then it would not be an issue. Two to three years is a reasonable amount of time but in a few months it will be six years since my client has been imprisoned.”

In Francois’ words, the case is “overripe” for trial and it is for this reason today, November 17, Francois intends to ask the judge to issue an order to either put St Romain on trial for the next sitting of the Assizes in February 2010 or release him.

Francois stated: “Not enough emphasis has been put on this case and justice for the complainant and the defendant has not been served because the government has got the wrong man. The government knows they have the wrong man and they have just swept the case under the carpet. Now they are behaving like ostriches; sticking their heads in the sand.”

STAR readers will recall that when asked about the Verlinda case then attorney general Petrus Compton had said the system failed the 13-year-old. It seems the cycle continues!

   The oil rich nation of Trinidad & Tobago is the lone Caribbean country to make the 2009 Corruption report.

The Global Corruption Report 2009: Corruption and the Private Sector, released Tuesday, November 17, 2009 ranked T&T 72nd out of 180 on the most corrupt scale for the past year.

The analysis by the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute stated there is `growing concern that … overlapping directorships leave state resources and private shareholder equity vulnerable to allegations of manipulation and insider dealings.`

The report points to the March 2007 case of the Stone Street Capital company, which paid TT$110 million (US$17.8 million) for over 40 per cent of the shares of Home Mortgage Bank (HMB), which is partly owned by the state. At the time of the purchase, Stone Street Capital co-owner André Monteil was chairman of both HMB and the privately owned Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) Investment Bank, which sold the HMB shares to Stone Street Capital.

`Whereas even a few years earlier the purchase might not have been legal, legislative changes in 2005 and 2007 paved the way for the sales,` said the report.

The TTTI insists that if overlapping directorships continue to be a facet of Trinidad and Tobago`s public and private enterprises, the door remains open for conflicts of interest to tempt those in positions of power to abuse their status for personal gain.

And it recommended that the current regulatory framework be reformed to require enterprises with overlapping directorships to exercise much higher standards of transparency and accountability.
Overall, the latest report documents many cases of managers, majority shareholders and other actors inside corporations who abuse their entrusted power for personal gain, to the detriment of owners, investors, employees and society at large in around 180 countries globally. In developing and transition countries alone, the report`s authors said companies collude with corrupt politicians and government officials, and have supplied bribes estimated at up to US$40 billion annually.

Transparency International`s Global Corruption Report 2009: Corruption and the Private Sector features more than 75 experts examining the scale, scope and devastating consequences of corporate corruption. The GCR is a flagship yearly publication from TI that compiles expert research and analysis from around the world with a thematic focus related to corruption.