Articles - News

   Independence means the freedom to separate ourselves from personal ideologies and intellectually challenge ourselves to see the full scope of an issue in order to find real solutions for the good of the whole. Independence means we must not depend on the opinions nor assistance of others, but on the factual issues and actions of individuals and our democratically-elected governments. Independence means choosing to empower ourselves with the available information to independently make up our own minds. Independence means creating a world society in which we can perceive nations through a satellite view, rather than a microscopic view, and make value judgments based on what’s good for the future, rather than the present. Independence means we have the freedom to pursue personal needs while choosing global motivations, and face the consequences of those actions and inactions, both wonderful and tragic, with the intent to learn, grow, and gain wisdom.
True independence means recognizing that every type of thought and belief system has something to teach, to offer, and that if we learn from those in our world, our chances of creating real change for the betterment of all increases exponentially. Wisdom demands we further our own independence by freeing ourselves from the prison of personal experience by embracing realities other than our own and thereby freeing ourselves from the shackles of ignorance.



But according to America’s Declaration of Independence dated back to July 4th, 1776: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
In these 57 words, the American Founders established that:
* Our rights — better understood as “freedoms” — are given to us by a power higher than government. No matter what you believe about creation or evolution, you must acknowledge that government did not give us life.
* Government’s legitimate purpose is to protect the rights of the people. Just as government did not give us life, it did not give us our rights, either.
* Government’s powers are limited to only those given to it by the people.
Therefore, we should not only celebrate our 32nd Anniversary of Political Independence in Saint Lucia. But as Saint Lucians we should seek to be both politically and economically independent. After all, at 32 we are mature adults.
(The above is adapted from an article submitted by Frank Girard).

   St Lucia's prime minister, Stephenson King, says while he supports the march towards democracy in Libya, his government is not considering severing diplomatic relations with that country.

Pressure has been mounting on Libyan leader, Muammar G...adaffi to step down, as a popular uprising against his over 40-year rule continues abated.The BBC Caribbean reported that the St Lucian leader said his government is continuing to monitor developments but was not in favour of breaking ties with Tripoli at this time.

The United States on Friday announced that it has suspended embassy operations in Libya and was moving forward with unilateral sanctions against the government of Colonel Gadaffi.

Britain and France had planned to present a draft proposal for sanctions against Libyan leaders at the UN Security Council on Friday. A vote is expected early next week.

   St. Lucia is an independent member state of the British Commonwealth with a Westminster style parliamentary democracy. This status was achieved on February 22, 1979 under the provisions of the St. Lucia Constitution Order 1978. The British monarchy, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of State (since Feb. 6, 1952) and is being represented by an appointed Governor General based in St. Lucia, Her Excellency Dr. Calliopa Pearlette Louisy (Sept. 18, 1997).

The House of Assembly consist of 17 elected members (elected every five years) which represents a similar number of single-member constituencies, and the Senate comprises 11 Senators who are appointed by the Governor General. The Cabinet is led by the Prime Minister the Honourable Stephenson King and his other selected Ministers of the United Workers Party (UWP) who are also the majority party of the House of Assembly.

The leader of the opposition is Honourable Dr. Kenny D. Anthony who leads the St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP - founded in 1946).

The legal system is based on English common law and "Code Napoleon", and the highest judicial body is the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. The administration of the law is under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court which is led by His Lordship the Honourable Chief Justice [Ag.] Adrian Saunders.

   Dr Stephen King has been a registered medical practitioner and pathologist in St Lucia for decades. Many will recognize him as one of the advocates for the Stop the Violence campaign and in more recent times the RISE youth movement. The STAR had a one-on-one with Dr King at our headquarters to get his take on the rapidly rising homicide toll on the island.
Dr King began doing post mortems in 1985 and has done close to or more than six thousand autopsies to date.
“I’ve began to appreciate that death and how people die is really very much a reflection on how the society is, how developed we are in the real sense of development, not just our economic development but our social development and our spiritual development,” King said.
King explained his drive to reach out to the youth comes from the inherent barriers society has created to keep them disenfranchised.
Said King: “What has motivated me to be in some of the youth movements and the whole advocacy for stopping the violence and promoting healthy youth development is that it is clear to me, and I may be wrong, that because we don’t have the right environment in our country for the healthy development of our youth and the opportunities for our youth to really actualize and be successful, we are creating this dilemma that we’re in which is an increased tempo of murders.
“To me that’s tragic because a human being is a great creation. A human being has great potential. Losing a person, especially a young person, it’s a major loss to society. I cannot quantify it in terms of dollars and sense but I do know that many of our youth are being wasted by the way in which the society is facilitating their growth. I don’t blame the youth dilemma that they’re in.”
King revealed he empathizes and sympathizes with the current situation facing the youth. He holds the powers that be culpable for creating a situation they refuse to address. “I do blame all of us who are in positions of authority that we don’t yet understand what we really need to do to change. If you’re going to have 44 percent youth unemployment, if you’re going to have youth being more and more disenchanted with the education system, if you have youth feeling more marginalized in terms of their ability to legally earn a living decently without having to demean themselves, that is the kind of environment we have created so what do we expect? We have created a hostile and violent environment for our youth and they have responded to that environment in anti-social ways. The environment is more subtle and sophisticated than the reaction so public sentiments are always against the youth.”
It is hard for King to see a young life taken. He led the STAR through some of the machinations of his mind. “When I see a young person having been killed, I am saddened by it. Every young person who dies, there are family and friends who are in serious pain. When I look at the country and I look at the volume of pain around each death, it’s phenomenal. We are a country that’s living in a lot of pain. We need to start finding these solutions. These solutions cannot be quick fix solution. There is no quick fix. “
He continued speaking, telling the STAR about his quintessential position on alleviating the proverbial societal gutter we are all living in.
“I’m waiting to hear a government articulate a very clear, comprehensive and holistic plan that deals with our youth from the time prior to conception so that our women know when they are going to get pregnant and the babies are wanted babies. I’m looking forward to a government and a people who are going to say this is the kind of environment we are going to create and our little ones are going to be brought up in an environment that is going to encourage them to flourish. When I see that, I will be a much happier St Lucian. Up to now, in successive governments, I am yet to see that being articulated clearly. I don’t have the answers to our ill. But I do believe, if we as a society come together without the egos, without the politics, without the party foolishness, without the society foolishness, we could do something. This dilemma bites all of us.”
King has observed the level of violence of killings since the 1980s have increased significantly. There are more gun related killings now.
“What’s happening is the streets getting hot and the youths getting cold. What you’re seeing is a lot of desensitization to violence and an escalation in the amount of force being used individually and collectively-in other words, the volume of force and the type of force used,” he asserted.
He continued, “What I think is happening is that you have a youth that is frustrated and wants respect, is trying to get respect from a system and they are finding anti-social ways of getting that respect and the more we frustrate them, the more we marginalize them, the more we violate the population by the system we have in place, the more violent the reaction is going to be.”

   has been the hot topic when it comes to crime in the city. Hardly can you hear of an incident without some reference being drawn to the community. Wednesday’s impromptu raid on the area has left a bitter taste in the mouths of residents. Frustration, disbelief, anger and hostility by residents who were unceremoniously locked out of their community permeated the air during the hours the police conducted their search.
On Wednesday evening’s Newsmaker Live, Timothy Poleon’s guest was the President of the Wilton’s Yard Association Peter Reynolds. He began by explaining to the host how the organization came to be.
“The organization was formed out of the need to curtail the gang rivalry at the time. That was during Carnival 2007. We were successful. There was some semblance of peace for a while,” said Reynolds.
Responding to Poleon’s suggestion gang rivalry still exists between Wilton’s Yard and other communities Reynolds said, “The gang rivalry I must say, it’s still there. We have gangs everywhere, from Gros Islet to Vieux Fort. I don’t think that in itself can be helped. We have tried our very best to reach out to various communities. Some have taken it in good stride and have come on board with us. Others have haven’t.”
Reynolds believes the public should focus on the fact that Wilton’s Yard has a functioning association and is trying to make a change instead of always harping on the negative.
Reynolds told Poleon: “I can tell you, over the last four years, myself and other members of the association, we went all out. Sometimes the police will come with someone in the vehicle whose chain had just been snatched, whose phone had just been snatched and we would inquire. If the perpetrator was found, we would recover whatever items and return it to the police.”
According to Reynolds, the late Arthur Clarke was one of the major mentors in the community, encouraging the young ones to stay on the right path.
Speaking of the most recent raid, “I am sure the presence of the police at Wilton’s Yard today [Wednesday] and the searches that they made, they have to be cognizant that some of the houses they went into, there are law abiding citizens there who go to work every day. It’s not much when the police act. It is how they act because I can tell you, over the last couple of years when the police come into Wilton’s Yard, no one troubles them.”
Reynolds lamented, “The manner in which things are done and the public relations between the police and the public is very poor. Over the years Wilton’s Yard has been stigmatized and it’s like people have just given up on it. It’s almost like the people who live there are not human beings.”
In his opinion, the stigmatization comes from the reputation of the “yard.” Reynolds mused, “Every young person out there who dies touches me. I know the police are frustrated but part of the blamed also lies with the police as well. The police need to shoulder some of the blame. The majority of the blame lies on the parents. You arrest a guy today. You make a case. You take him to court and he’s out tomorrow laughing at you or he’s out two days later regardless of what offense. As long as you have the money, a good lawyer, it has to be frustrating. On the other hand you have police officers who don’t pursue their cases.”
One of the major areas Reynolds feels needs to be addressed is the corruption in the police force. He affirmed most of the time the police go on raids, the community is well informed beforehand by cops.
Reynolds and Poleon delved into the issue of Ashley Bernard’s killing. Reynolds stated his point of view of the incident based on what was said to him by persons in the community. Poleon pointed out the Wilton’s Yard story differs significantly from that of the police. Reynolds answered: “What makes what the police say not be hearsay? Is it because they are police officers? Most people tend to believe what they see on the television. It sways public opinion. It is one of the most damning things to the people of Wilton’s Yard over the years. The media, what they say and what they hear. And not actually the media but the reports they have to balance it. Yes, the police come and give a report but who is to say what the police are saying is true?”
Warned Reynolds, “The police should really look at their action because sooner or later somebody or some people will become embolden enough to say yeah, let’s go after the police.”
The Wilton’s Yard president took issue with the weapons the police brandished on Wednesday because he believes it’s unnecessary. Poleon asked Reynolds to send a message to the criminal elements in the Wilton’s Yard.
Said Reynolds, “The message I’m going to send is not for the criminal elements in my community. It’s for the criminal elements who come into my community to hang out because as far as I am concerned, in my community itself, there are no criminal elements who live in my community. My message to them is give us a chance. Leave us alone. We have an after school program. We have a homework program. You don’t want to listen to what we have to say. You are already above the age of eighteen. You don’t want to hear. Let us work with the younger ones. Give the younger ones a chance.”
According to Reynolds, criminal elements from as far as Vieux Fort to Gros Islet come to hang out in Wilton’s Yard. He further believes the networking of paths leading through the community makes it all the more attractive for illicit activities.
Asked Poleon: “Why would they set up camp there?”
Answered Reynolds, “It’s right in the middle of town. There’s a street running through it. You can get something to eat there. We have our own version of a supermarket. We have a little sound on a Friday night. It’s a place where you’re in town, it’s the closest place you can just walk in, have a seat, have a cold drink, have a little conversation and that’s it.”