Earl Huntley Sets New Record!

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The Star (St.Lucia)

SATURDAY, february 09, 2019

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Earl Huntley Sets New World Record!

(In red shirt): Former UN Ambassador, Grynberg associate, wannabe Gros Islet MP and Kenny Anthony close confidant Mr Earl Huntley.

Former UN Ambassador, Grynberg associate, wannabe Gros Islet MP and Kenny Anthony close confidant Mr Earl Huntley.

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REFLECTIONS

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(An over-my-shoulder look at life)

february 09, 2019 THE STAR

THE POWER OF CARING DELIVERS FOR DUGARD COMBINED

Handbag Woes

By Michael Walker

T

he whole thing was rather unlikely and in many ways ironic. After my initial studies in England I had gone to Germany on a teaching contract, where I thoroughly enjoyed myself in more ways than one; one of my teaching posts was at an adult education college, many of whose students were either refugees or escapees from the other side of the wall that divided Germany, as well as the former capital Berlin, into East and West. My other post was at a Girls’ High School where I, despite my abundance of hormones, was given charge of a class of nubile 18-year-olds to whom I was to explain the intricacies of English Grammar and the joys of German Literature; intricate joys indeed!

After my sojourn in Germany I travelled north to Stockholm, the Swedish capital, where I had obtained a post as Lektor at the Folk University. I was still very young, having been one of those ‘bright’ kids who managed to sail through a first degree and descend on the job market by the age of 21. Life was very rosy. For reasons I shall postpone sharing with you until another day, I later opted for a different teaching post in a very small community on the other side of Sweden. I never intended staying for more than a short while but, as is so often the case, Fate intervened and I remained in Sweden for almost thirty years before we came and settled down in Saint Lucia.

I was resident in Sweden but I travelled the world on a monthly basis for most of those years. In 1966, a tiny Swedish publisher that specialized in Mathematics accepted a manuscript I had shared with my partner-to-be Lars and the rest, as they say, is history. Within three years we had almost completely taken over the teaching of English in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Holland.

By 1971, the Americans arrived on the scene and bought the world rights to our books.

For the next thirty years we produced many series of English textbooks for them ranging from kindergarten to university level. Sadly, cancer claimed Lars after only 14 years of collaboration. I had stopped smoking in 1969 but was never able to persuade him to do the same. “I’ll quit when it becomes a problem” was his mantra. In a sense, he was right; he quit on the day he was told he had cancer.

During my travelling years I met countless memorable characters; Gloria, our local rep, was one. Her husband was

a military man and someone high up in government. She shot him. Her story was that she had woken in the night to find a prowler trying to get in through the window of their summer residence in Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast. I stayed there a few times—long after that incident, of course. The husband survived, which Gloria found a little surprising. “I thought I was a better shot,” she explained. “The son-of-a-bitch deserved it. He was screwing around.” The husband subsequently left. I think he got posted to Panama.

Each year, I spent many a week travelling in Colombia from Barranquilla in the north, to Bogota in the centre of the country and to Cali, the drug capital, in the west. As was customary, the book importer organised bodyguards for me wherever I went. There was evidently the ever-present problem of being kidnapped and held for ransom, or so they said.

I don’t condone crime but in those days, and I suspect even now, robbery was to some extent understandable given the vast gap between rich and poor. Crime was rampant, but not necessarily wanton. People stole because they saw no other way to survive.

Yes, people might get killed in the process, but they were not beaten up and mugged indiscriminately just for the sake of it. Of course, the drug cartels were always present, even then, so they guaranteed a level of internecine violence.

Gloria was tough and street smart; she always carried an umbrella, come rain or shine. I recall one afternoon when she had given our guards the time off—we were on our way to the Gold Museum when she suddenly lashed out at a passing cyclist and almost knocked him off his bike before he fled the scene. “He was going to rob us,” she explained.

But she was not always so prescient. On another occasion, we were crossing a busy thoroughfare in the capital, flanked by our guards, and had to stop, along with a crowd of people, on the central refuge due to heavy traffic. When we moved on, Gloria remained standing stock-still. I did not know what was wrong. I looked at her enquiringly. She raised her arm, the straps of her handbag in her fingers. Someone had held a knife to her back and sliced off her bag while we were waiting to cross the road, despite our bodyguards.

Gloria knew better than to resist. In much of the world life hangs by a very thin thread.

Death is ever present. Why risk a life for the sake of a handbag?

Students and teachers of the Dugard Combined School now enjoy a brand new library and dining area.

T

he Dugard Combined School in Choiseul has a student population of two hundred and forty. Ahead of the start of the new academic year in September, school officials had one wish: a new library and dining area. It was a project the St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) agreed to fund. Initially estimated at just over $20,000, work began in August 2018.

Fast forward to six weeks after the start of work and an additional $40,000 investment.

What began as refurbishing a room and adding a partition to establish a library and dining

area for students, morphed into additional work on a roof and ceiling which needed to be replaced.

The final result was a substantially upgraded part of the school. LUCELEC Corporate Communications Manager Roger Joseph says that although the final investment was three times what was originally planned, the work on the new library and dining area would have been rendered useless had the roof and ceiling problems not been addressed.

LUCELEC is a longstanding partner in education.

The Dugard Combined

School is the latest in a series of investments in the education sector that has included the establishment of libraries at several primary schools, a brand new greenhouse and kitchen to facilitate a School Feeding Programme at the Vieux Fort Primary School, the establishment of a fully equipped electronics lab at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, and annual sponsorship of the National School Science and Technology Fair.

The newest addition to the west coast school will be officially opened on Tuesday, February 12.

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO POLICE INDEPENDENCE EVENTS

2019 InterHouse Track and Field and Cheerleading Championships

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T

n observance of Saint Lucia’s 40th anniversary of Independence, the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force is organising community events featuring the Special Drill Team and the Royal Saint Lucia Police Band.

There will be fancy drills, precision drills and baton swinging in the dark. The activity commences at 5:30 p.m. at the following locations: 1. Sunday February 10 – Phillip Marcellin Grounds in Vieux Fort

2. Wednesday February 13 – La Ressource Playing Field in Dennery 3. Friday February 15 – Gros Islet Playing Field

The event will culminate with a march through the community. Community members are invited to join in and, after the march, they will have the opportunity to interact with members of the Drill Team and other officers of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force.

The general public is invited to participate.

he Sir Arthur Lewis Community College will hold its 2019 InterHouse Track and Field and Cheerleading Championships on Monday, February 11, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. at the Mindoo Phillip Park.

In an effort to facilitate the participation of all staff and students, the College will be closed to the general public on that day. The College will be reopened for regular business on Tuesday, February 12, 2019.

The general public is invited to join in what promises to be a fun-filled day.

THE STAR

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february 09, 2019

CIP Applications:

What’s the real story?

03

Grow Well’s Grand Book Sale Returns for all Book Lovers!

Grow Well volunteers are excited for next Saturday's fundraising book sale.

G Nearly two hundred applications were approved under Saint Lucia's CIP during the financial year 2017-2018.

from Iraq; 13 from Lebanon; 12 from Pakistan; and 11 each from Saudi Arabia and Russia.

There were also applications from Palestine, Jordan, USA, UK, and Yemen and other countries. ontrary to initial

In contrast, there were information provided by 36 applications during the the Parliament Office financial year 2016-2017 and published in the STAR resulting in 61 persons last week, the Citizenship by Investment Programme’s annual being granted citizenship.

Devaux credits the significant report for the financial year increase to the programme 2017-2018 was indeed tabled having been made more open in parliament in December and attractive to potential last year. Nestor Alfred, CEO of applicants, and by the lowering the Saint Lucia Citizenship by of the required donation to the Investment Unit, announced last October that the report was National Economic Fund (from US$200,000 to US$100,000). submitted, as required by law, He said that an upsurge to the prime minister.

Ryan Devaux, Chairman of in marketing thrust, and streamlining of their processes, the Citizenship by Investment also contributed to the increase.

Board, noted that during

Of the 345 applications, the period under review the programme “grew substantially 188 were approved, 27 denied.

The fate of the remaining as a valuable and reputable applications will be made addition to Brand Saint known in the next annual report, Lucia.” The chairman reported which should be released “financial contributions paid to later this year. The approved the government of Saint Lucia applications resulted in the during the period 2017-18 granting of 282 Saint Lucian totaled $27,828,246.00.” citizenships. 108 of the granted

A total of 345 applications applications came from the for Saint Lucian citizenship, MENA region, 55 from Asia, 22 from 50 countries, was processed in 2017-18: 205 from from the rest of the world, and the Middle East and North Africa three from Russia.

China sits first on the region (MENA); 90 from Asia; 14 list with 46 Chinese gaining from Russia and 36 “from the Saint Lucian citizenship. rest of the world”. Applications There were 26 Iranians, 23 received by country of birth were as follows: 66 from China; Lebanese, 20 Syrians, 19 Iraqis, 17 Americans, 14 Egyptians, 38 from Syria; 33 from Iran; 22 Joshua St. Aimee

C

and 11 each from United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Jordan.

Seven each from Libya, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, six each from Indonesia and Bangladesh, and five from Yemen followed them.

There were four each from the UK, India, Russia, Turkey and South Korea, and three from Thailand. Sri Lanka, South Africa, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Canada and Kuwait each had two. Lastly, there was one each from Qatar, Mauritius, Brazil, Italy, Morocco, Kenya, Ukraine, Bahrain, Spain, British [sic], Denmark, Finland, Australia, Cambodia, Israel, Venezuela, Malaysia, Philippines, Serbia, Palestine, Singapore and Myanmar.

Three approved applications (relating to six persons) were later revoked.

The Citizenship by Investment (Revocation) Order dated March 26 states the action was taken because, "in the opinion of the minister, these persons have committed acts capable of bringing Saint Lucia into disrepute". Two of the individuals were from the UAE, and one each from Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Taking into consideration the revocations, and figures from the 16-17, and 17-18 reports, 337 persons have been granted citizenship through the CIP.

The annual report is available to the public at the Parliament Library in Castries.

row Well volunteers are preparing for next weekend’s Grand Book Sale to be held at JQ Mall, near the parking lot on Saturday February 16, 2019 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Book lovers can choose from hundreds of titles including best sellers by alltime favourite authors. There

will be books from the genres of thriller, romance, fantasy, nonfiction, reference, cookbooks, medical, nature, sports, business, nursing, inspirational and self-help.

The books are in great condition and were all donated

by Grow Well friends and benefactors from here and abroad.

The Events Company of St. Lucia is seeking to fill the role of

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER to continue delivering on its current mandate.

Job Summary: Responsible for the implementation of the organization’s strategic plan. Work closely with the CEO to provide dayto-day management of the organization.

Duties & Responsibilities: o Leads the team in the implementation of the

strategic and corporate plans. o Establishes, in consultation with the team, standards and targets for performance in each area. o Ensures that performance in meeting standards

and targets is monitored and evaluated. o Oversees preparation and execution of work programmes, including the setting, monitoring and

evaluation of annual and quarterly targets. o Ensures that systems for proper human resource

management are in place. o Ensures that the support services (Information Management & Administrative Services) are in

place and are effective. o Maintains custody and control of the corporate seal

and relevant documents, including leases, contracts

and insurance policies. o Prepares and maintains custody of minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors and its sub committees. o Assist with recruitment and selection of staff in accordance with established policies and procedures. o Supports the conduct and annual appraisal of staff performance. o Provides ongoing support to staff by communicating the ECSL’s policies, procedures and key decisions and ensuring that the resources are available to

execute assigned responsibilities.

o

o

o

Come to grab some unbelievable finds at great prices! Most books will be sold at $5 or less. The sale benefits Grow Well's youth programmes in Gros Islet.

If you love to hold a book or share a book, you’ve got to be there! Grow Well’s Grand Book Sale has always been the book sale of the year.

Oversees the work of staff to ensure that it meets ECSL’s standards.

Makes recommendations to CEO regarding salary levels, promotions, disciplinary action and renewal of contracts.

Carries out such other duties as may be assigned, from time to time, by the CEO.

Job Requirements Bachelor’s Degree in Management Studies or related field. Training in the area of Human Resource Management would be an asset.

Minimum of 8 years work experience, with at least five years at management level. Experience in supporting the work of the Board of Directors would be an asset.

Desired Skills: Demonstrated leadership skills with a proven track record of effective team management; excellent communication, report writing and analytical skills.

Attributes: Mature and responsible individual; highly organised; demonstrated ability to work effectively with people The successful candidate will report to the Chief Executive Officer. Interested applicants should address and email their applications to: The Administrative Manager Events Company of St. Lucia Inc. 1st Floor, Sureline Building Vide Bouteille, Castries Saint Lucia Email: admin@eventssaintlucia.com Deadline for receipt of applications is 4pm, local time, February 28, 2019.

Only suitable applications will be acknowledged.

04 LOCAL

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february 09, 2019 THE STAR

www.stluciastar.com

Firemen encounter hell as they tackle blazing Sunbilt home!

avid Antoine, Assistant Divisional Officer at the Saint Lucia Fire Service (SLFS), has highlighted two major challenges firefighters faced when responding to Wednesday’s house fire in Sunbilt, Castries. In an interview with the STAR, Antoine explained: “On Wednesday February 6, 2019 at approximately 5:50pm, fire officers from the Castries fire station responded to a house fire at Sunbilt Castries.

On arrival at the scene, fire officers encountered a structure that was fully engulfed.”

Antoine continued: “Fire officers encountered numerous problems in battling the fire.

The access route to the fire was in a deplorable condition so that firefighting equipment could not be stationed sufficiently close to the scene.

Also, fire officers had to work with a limited water supply because there was no hydrant close to the fire.”

By Antoine’s telling, his

team was forced to fight the fire from an estimated 20-metre distance, for lack of road access. “What we encountered were more like tracks— footpaths that in no way could accommodate heavy fire trucks.

There wasn’t even room to park close to put up an effective fight.”

Then there was the absence of fire hydrants anywhere near the scene.

Firemen had no choice but to

make trips to replenish their own water supply. Antoine urged project developers to install fire hydrants and other such water infrastructure before selling land for housing developments.

“It is up to the developers to see that those items are in place if the intention is to develop a plot of land for sale.

This is something that should engage the urgent attention of governments.”

Referencing the Sunbilt fire Antoine added: “There was very little we could have done. With the added challenge of having to park so far from the scene and having to use many lengths of hose, we faced a mission impossible.”

He went on: “The upstairs area of the 2-storey building was made of wood, the lower part, concrete. The top part was completely destroyed. The bottom part still stands but only because it was all concrete.

Of course, the actual contents were completely lost to the fire.” The building housed eight individuals.

As for the cause of the fire, as with most other fires here, it remains a mystery: “That is an incident that is still being investigated. As to how soon we could get a report on that, I do not know but we’re following all leads to see if we could actually determine the cause of the fire.”

Firefighters faced major problems as they tried to deal with Wednesday’s fire at Sunbilt.

---Dean Nestor

Kimberly’s Mom says Police giving her the Runaround!

H

ow time flies. Three months have passed since Kimberly De Leon was discovered dead in her Morne home. She had been shot in the head. By all the signs, the case may well end up on the police list of cold cases, last reported to be over 500.

At a December 10, 2018 press briefing, Police Commissioner Severin Monchery informed reporters that samples related to the De Leon incident had been sent to neighbouring St. Kitts for analysis, Saint Lucia’s own forensic laboratory being dysfunctional.

“Just this morning I got a call that the analysis has been completed,” Monchery told reporters. “We will send an officer to Saint Kitts to collect the results.”

At another press conference on January 8, Monchery acknowledged the samples and analysis results still had not been picked up. He said: “We are supposed to be collecting those results on Thursday. An officer is supposed to be going up there to return by the weekend.”

Several days later ACP Wayne Charlery, told the STAR: “The forensic responses are being assessed for their evidentiary value.”

Since then, not word on the case of Kimberly De Leon, whose husband is a police officer with a controversial history connected with IMPACS. He is presently on leave with pay.

This week Kimberly’s mother, Mary William, told HTS a completely different story. Referencing the samples, she said they had been “posted” from St. Kitts. “What if they get lost?” she asked. “What if they get tampered with? What’s going to happen then? I’m very concerned.”

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FUEL SURCHARGE COST ADJUSTMENT Applied to Bills for February 2019

The fuel surcharge cost adjustment is the cost of fuel at the current price less the average cost of fuel in the twelve months preceeding 1st January, 2018 (the base price) divided by the total number of kwhs sold.

Current price of fuel EC$ 7.6003 / gallon

Average price for 2018 EC$ 7.7338 / gallon

Amount of fuel used (January 2019) 1,624,817 gallons

Cost of 1,624,817 gallons at EC$ 7.6003 per gallon EC$ 12,349,097

Cost of 1,624,817 gallons at EC$7.7338 per gallon EC$ 12,566,010

Current cost of fuel less cost at base price EC$ (216,913)

Electricity Sales (January 2019) 28,776,120 units (216,913) Fuel Surcharge Cost Adjustment: ----------------- x 100 (0.8) cents / unit 28,776,120 2019 Tariff FSCA Cost Rates per Electrical Unit EC$ EC$ EC$ Domestic 1-180 0.764 (0.008) 0.756 >180 0.814 (0.008) 0.806

Commercial/Hotel/Industrial Low Tension all units 0.914 (0.008) 0.906

High Tension all units 0.874 (0.008) 0.866

Streetlighting all units 0.909 (0.008) 0.901

The Tariff Rate and the FSCA are computed in accordance with the Electricity Supply Act No. 10 of 1994, as amended

by Act Nos. 12 and 13 of 2006. Note that since the average fuel price in January 2019 is less than the average fuel price for 2018, this has resulted in a reduction of the tariff.

Approved By Ian Peter Chief Financial Officer

Mother of two Kimberly De Leon was found shot to death at her home on Chef Harry Drive last year November.

Ms. William also alleged that the investigative officer handling the murder case has been avoiding her. She claimed that after a meeting with Police Commissioner Moncherry, he advised her to speak to the officer. “I’m not afraid to say it but he is avoiding me. Ever since December, and we are now in February.” She said that every time she called the officer to set up a meeting to discuss the issue, all she ever received was excuses for his unavailability.

Three months since the murder, no arrests have been made. Police representatives at press time were unavailable for comment.

Ms. William’s complaints echo those of Englishman Roger Pratt’s widow, not to mention several other local people whose relatives were shot or stabbed to death years ago without resolution!

---JSA

THE STAR

february 09, 2019

www.stluciastar.com

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february 09, 2019 THE STAR

CRICKET LOVELY CRICKET

Memories of the glory days of West Indies cricket: (left to right) Frank Worrell, Everton Weeks, Clyde Walcott.

Indian cricket to the disrespect displayed in preparation for the Peter Josie first post-Apartheid test series in South Africa, after Nelson Mandela had emerged President of the Republic. Why and when t may be too early for cricket the quarrel arose among the aficionados to suggest that West Indies cricket has finally young gladiators and West Indies cricket administrators is turned the long difficult corner it’s been manoeuvering over the difficult to tell. This episode in our cricket history has never past fifteen years or so. Some had earlier incorrectly predicted been fully explained. It could not a return to the glory days under have happened under Worrell, Sobers, Lloyd or Richards.

Lara. Those who remember West Indies cricketers did not when West Indies ruled the appreciate the historic tour on roost have long hoped for the emergence of young sustainable which they had embarked. To explain their behaviour we had talent to fill the large boots of to return to C. L. R. James in such greats as the so-called Beyond A Boundary: “What do three Ws (Walcott, Weekes, they know of cricket, who only Worrell), Sobers, Hall, Griffith, cricket know?” Those words Kanhai, Gibbs, Lloyd, Richards, reminded us of the many life Holden, Roberts, Marshall, Walsh, Croft, Haynes, Greenidge, lessons to be learned from cricket. For example, to play Lara, Richardson. I count it a privilege to have witnessed the by the rules, to play as a team, to be on time for practice and above (except Everton Weekes matches, to be patient at bat and Clyde Walcott) at the peak on a difficult wicket, to attend of their game at Queens Park regular practice and coaching and Kensington Oval, Portsessions, to obey the umpires’ of-Spain and Bridgetown, respectively. The lows that West decision, above all to play hard and learn to concede defeat Indies cricket has experienced and congratulate the winning since the late 90s and early captain and his team. Yes, the 2000s have been hard to bear. game of cricket teaches all

I mark the fall of West

I

that and more as it prepares its exponents to face life as a batsman facing the horror of the ball alone.

Such a cricketing mindset blossomed during the British colonial era and helped West Indies cricketers perform superbly against their arch nemesis and show that they were more than mere colonials; that they were equal to the task!

After political independence, there seemed little left to prove in cricket or elsewhere. There was, therefore, no need to teach the former racist South African regime any new lesson by a solid whipping on the cricket pitch. Notwithstanding such a wrong-header approach and the licking received on that first tour to South Africa, West Indies cricket had carved a place in the history of the game which is recognized worldwide. It was instructive to hear some commentators refer to their recent test series victory over England as a victory for cricket.

Those who pay attention to social developments in Saint Lucia would have noticed the increase in cricket games all over the island, after Daren Sammy had taken the captaincy

of the West Indies test team plus the T20 and One-Day games. It was comforting to see on the island a return to the spirit of the game. The above lessons can only help improve the lives of young cricketers, male and female.

There are more successful cricket teams in all age groups representing the island in overseas competition than at any time previously. That is a good for the game and for the country, and we must thank persons like Charles and Calixte for their dedication to administering the game, and the reporters who bring prospective young cricketers to the nation’s attention. It’s time that Saint Lucia produced some world class greats in test match cricket.

Some critics opine that the top brass of Cricket West Indies can claim no credit for the success of the present team. These critics point out that the maturing Jason Holder and other players are a phenomenon whose time has finally come. These young men seem ready to put West Indies cricket on a new path to a better execution of the beautiful

game of glorious uncertainties.

In the same vein, some have taken issue with Daren Sammy for criticizing the employment of a foreign coach in preference to the indomitable Desmond Haynes, a competent Caribbean professional. My response to Daren’s critics is that Desmond Haynes would also have inspired the team to victory, because the end of the long period of “turning-the-corner” was finally here. I once watched the young Desmond Haynes at Victoria Park in Castries, in a match between Barbados and the Combined Islands, get out at 98; he cried like a baby. It would have been his first first-class hundred in regional cricket. By the way, dear reader, did you know that Victoria Park was renamed Mindoo Phillip Park, in 1980 after I had tabled a motion in the Allan Louisy Cabinet to that purpose? I was then the MP for East Castries. As for those who may know nothing of Mindoo, please educate yourself . . . now!

The news of Jason Holder’s suspension for slow over rate in the second test match in Antigua goes against everything the game teaches. That is not

cricket, old chap! The game of glorious uncertainties is being brought into certain disrepute by its administrators and adjudicators alike. Imagine batsmen are not punished for occupying the crease for hours upon hours regardless of the over rate, and are not punished for draining the energy and excitement out of the game by their low-scoring rate. That may be the reason test cricket has lost so many followers to the shorter versions of the game.

It’s incomprehensible that a bowler who won a five-day test in three days is punished with suspension for a slow over rate.

This absurdity does cricket no good. Notwithstanding, the West Indies must play harder during the next test match in Saint Lucia and ensure a three-nil series win over England. On the other hand, cricket fans will hope that England performs much better so they can fully enjoy the game we all love. We hope to see the Daren Sammy stadium filled to capacity February 9-13 and also on March 2 and 5. It’s time again to sing Cricket Lovely Cricket as we once did—with feeling!

THE STAR

february 09, 2019

www.stluciastar.com

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february 09, 2019 THE STAR

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Earl Huntley Sets World Record

By Rick Wayne

E

ven its brightest stars will tell you there’s no business like show business, that it would be sheer folly to imagine your future on terra firma just because you finally landed a movie role as an extra, or somehow managed to worm your way into a position on a hit TV or radio show. The advice is spot on, whether applied to American showbiz or its distant Looshan cousin.

Ask my friend Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose credentials include every bodybuilding award extant, several blockbuster movies and Governor of California, America’s third largest state.

Almost everyone, save Donald Trump, was convinced Arnold was the perfect replacement for the Donald after he danced his way from the highly rated The Apprentice to the White House. Not for the first time, Mr. President proved on the button.

For a full season NBC’s suits hung in there with their new

find—until audience figures forced them to acknowledge Mr. Olympia was no Donald Trump.

Then there’s the singular Earl Huntley, whose special credentials include his unforgettable stint as Saint Lucia’s ambassador to the U.N.—and one of the two local repositories of the secrets of the toxic bog known as Grynberg. Still he somehow managed to convince RCI no one else in all of Saint Lucia was better equipped to take over Newsspin when differences between its regular host and management proved “irreconcilable.”

Then again, who better than Earl Huntley when it comes to selling snake oil?

Some might say no public relations outfit would attempt to promote the soi-disant “statesman,” not when there is so much on record concerning his career as a public servant and politician manque. As I’ve said elsewhere, Huntley addressing such subjects as diplomacy, corruption in

high places, abuse of office, fraud, election results, badly behaved government officials, subjects that on Timothy Poleon’s Newsspin were regular fare, would be like having O.J. Simpson as the host of a churchsponsored show about marriage counseling. Vice paying homage to virtue!

Newsspin’s fans are a faithful lot. That is, faithful to the creator of the show that from its inception 20 years ago was irresistible. It was sometimes serious, sometimes sad, even ridiculous—but always worth a listen. I have no problem admitting my addiction to Tim’s, er, idiosyncrasies. So would his regular listeners here and abroad, I suspect.

And so it is good to know that RCI, too, saw Earl for what he is (a statesman he is not!). And it didn’t take them all that long to discover he could never in a million years pick up the highly successful show where Timothy Poleon left off and move on as if Poleon had never existed.

It remains to give Jack his jacket and say Earl Huntley can now boast a world record: three days after he attempted to take control of a highly successful show it’s been canceled!

(See page 16. )

Timothy Poleon (left) receiving an award for his work on radio and television from Saint Lucia’s governor general, Sir Neville Cenac.

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february 09, 2019

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Would Tim Perform Schoolbag Searches?

Claudia Eleibox

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ven before I knew last Friday’s Newsspin would be his last, I had decided to offer my two cents to Timothy Poleon’s “Hot Button” question: “Why do you think there is a need for a superintendent minister of the Methodist church in Saint Lucia to reinforce the point that teachers should periodically search the bags of students?”

Quickly answering his own question, he said: “It’s primarily because in our Saint Lucian society, no matter how grave a problem, somehow we find it necessary to put impediments in the way of people who would want to find a resolution. We come up with prescriptions, no matter how unrealistic.” Poleon was referring to the objections of parents and lawyers to schoolbag searches. I now wish to add my own objections to the proposed idea.

A quick browse of the 1999 Education Act would reveal Section 139 outlines twenty-five requirements to be fulfilled by teachers including to “report promptly to the principal . . . any other conditions or circumstances that may reasonably threaten the health or safety of students or other employees of the school” and “perform assigned duties as outlined in the school emergency plan developed by the school administration and the teachers

School bags hold anything from erasers to machetes to Glocks.

Teachers should not be further burdened with the job of security guards. to protect the health and safety of students”.

The first mentioned directive would have been what the Corinth Secondary School teacher likely followed a few weeks ago when she realized she had confiscated a firearm taken to school by a student. The second is what Poleon and the Methodist superintendent minister were suggesting: an “emergency plan developed” to protect the health and safety of students, in the form of weapon searches. However, it’s hard to decipher from the Education Act—which mentions the word “safety” only five times and “protection” four in a 97-page document—whether teachers are primarily responsible for the

protection of their students, and whether teachers are themselves entitled to protection, whether from invaders or their own students.

Just imagine a bag search by a teacher that uncovers dangerous weapons. Immediately the teacher’s life is on the line. The owner of the weapon might retaliate violently. Or his friends and parents may decide to take matters into their own hands, dependent on whether they are law-abiding citizens or gang-associated. Sounds familiar? Suddenly the teacher is a possible target, as in the case of that Corinth schoolteacher that reportedly was told to hand over the gun or face dire

consequences.

All I’m saying is that it should not be the teacher’s responsibility to protect students.

As a journalist at the STAR I am not expected to be responsible for the protection of the premises and those employed there.

Why then should teachers be expected to double up as security personnel at their schools?

Teachers, as part of their training, undergo a brief course at Teachers’ College in how to act in emergencies. But do such emergencies include taking on gang members armed with Glocks and cutlasses? I somehow doubt that. That’s why we have a police force, armed guards and security devices at schools in more

developed regions. And even then that has proved not enough to keep students safe. Teachers are as vulnerable to criminal attacks as are students, whether or not by other students.

As Poleon observed: “You hardly hear people wanting to be teachers and police officers anymore.” And not without cause.

Of course the authorities, who can somehow find the money for vote-catching but relatively useless projects, always cite lack of funds when it come to protecting especially vulnerable citizens, such as teachers and their students.

Not too long ago I was a student at a school where it was like the Hunger Games to

get functional desks and chairs for each class. But there were weapons about. Metal detectors in schools are a fantasy even in our dystopian future. But even if there were metal detectors, they would serve little purpose without security personnel. CCTV cameras are fine, but only if supported by human monitors 24-7.

So, to answer Poleon’s final Hot Button Issue: the Methodist church’s superintendent minister should not be expected to conduct bag searches in schools; neither should Timothy Poleon with regard to his guests; neither should teachers at work. To contemplate otherwise is to be part of the problem; a buck passer!

Vieux Fort MP Sponsors School Poetry Contest T he Vieux Fort North Parliamentary Office held another successful Nobel Laureate Week activity on Saturday 26 January.

Students of all four primary schools in the constituency participated in the first ever Schools’ Poetry Contest.

Students were challenged to write poems about their communities in Vieux Fort North and were awarded monetary prizes along with novels and history books.

Dr. Anderson Reynolds, award-winning author and publisher, delivered a lecture on the publishing process to encourage local writers to make their creative work public. Additionally, Mr. Peter “Pel” Lansiquot delivered an interesting perspective on the relevance of Sir Arthur’s work

to communities like Vieux Fort North. Book prizes were donated by authors Dr. Jolien Harmsen, Mr. Modeste Downes and Dr. Anderson Reynolds.

The overall winner of the competition was Makayle Joseph of the Belle Vue Combined School, followed by Jardin Ismeal of the Vigee Primary School and Tammie Richard of the Belle Vue Combined School. The best poets from the Grace and Pierrot Combined Schools were Karson Isidore and Rohan Charles.

A compilation of poems will be published with poems of all the students who participated in the poetry contest.

Moses Jn. Baptiste, parliamentary representative of Vieux Fort North indicates that the poetry competition is one of several activities which form part of the Vieux Fort

The successful poetry competition. Moses Jn. Baptiste looks forward to building the art resource in his constituency in the coming months.

North Parliamentary Office Arts programme. It started in 2008 along with the Excellence Awards programme and its aim is to initiate and support

programmes in the arts for the creative people of Vieux Fort North. Some of the successful activities of this programme include the Vieux Fort North

Drumming Festival which was held at Belle Vue, Night of Traditional Games at Pierrot and Grace, Traditional Storytelling Night at Pierrot, support to the

Belle Vue La Rose Group, Youth Talent Expose at Belle Vue and discussions by Mr. Edward Bellas on the family linkages within our communities and Saint Lucia.

Moses Jn. Baptiste promises to continue the activities with more slated for 2019. The Vieux Fort North Drumming Festival, a publication—Konte’ and Traditional Storytelling, school tours, an art and craft exhibition and the Youth Exposé are all part of the plans for 2019.

The MP for Vieux Fort North indicates that the arts must be an integral part of the development planning in all communities as the arts help to provide the cohesion necessary for stability and cooperation within communities.

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Something to ponder between gulps of Independence booze!

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spent most of Super Bowl weekend mentally revisiting the highly publicized 14-hour debacle that recently had passed for a House debate centered on the Leader of the Opposition’s motion of no confidence in this country’s prime minister. On November 20, last year, the motion’s presenter Mr. Philip J. Pierre had read out to the self-named “local media practitioners” the motion’s purpose.

Perchance there were among them some who, cognizant of the current composition of the House, saw only madness in his latest initiative, a bridge to nowhere, so to speak, Pierre hinted at a hiding in plain sight plan behind his perceived insanity: “The motion and the anticipated debate will articulate the deep concerns, anxieties and the feelings of hopelessness among large sections of the Saint Lucian society about the uncaring and irresponsible manner that the business of this country is currently managed.”

Last Tuesday, Pierre and his colleagues in the opposition seats sought to elaborate on the above-quoted press statement. Member after opposition member alleged the prime minister had conducted public affairs in a manner that has “undermined our Constitution, its conventions

and practices, led to abuse of public office, unreasonable and irrational decision making, unsustainable fiscal deficits, squandering of the financial resources of the state, and which have resulted in a lack of public trust and confidence in his leadership of the government of Saint Lucia.”

It has occurred to me that if indeed the prime minister and his Cabinet truly had demonstrably “undermined our Constitution” that would of itself be enough reason to remove from office not only Allen M. Chastanet but also complicit members of his Cabinet and public servants. I couldn’t help wondering when it was that Pierre and his associates discovered an appreciation for the Saint Lucia Constitution.

Considering their record in government, it had to be after 6 June 2016!

We need not go into the twenty-something other allegations in Pierre’s motion of no confidence. All had earlier been officially debated in the usual fashion; most of them tossed around from electiontime platforms that knew not the difference between fact and outrageous hyperbole.

Small wonder a member on the government side had dismissed the motion as “full of value judgments, uninformed opinions and wishful thinking,” consequently unworthy of

parliament’s time.

As already we know, the Speaker stubbornly disagreed, on the discombobulating basis that Section 53 of the Constitution, bolstered

by Section 21 of the House Standing Orders, authorized him and the Senate president “to make rules on any matter that we may so deem.”

In all events this is what Section 53 says: “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Senate and the House may each regulate its own procedure and in particular make rules for the orderly conduct of its own proceedings.” Which is like having a law that restricts motorists to driving only on the left side of the road but leaves them free to wear whatever they wish behind the wheel.

To cite the general authority of the Speaker, at sections 88 (1-2): “The Speaker shall have power to regulate the conduct of business in all matters not provided for in these Standing Orders. The decision in all cases for which these Standing Orders do not provide, shall lie within the discretion of the Speaker and shall not be open to challenge.”

As I understand it, there is nothing in the immediately above that leaves the Speaker free “to make our rules on any matter that we so deem.” (Emphasis mine.) As for Section 21 of the House

Standing Orders, what it says is: “Subject to section 48 of the Saint Lucia Constitution [which deals with restrictions with regard to certain financial measures] and to these Standing Orders, any member may propose by way of motion any matter for debate in the House.” Which to my mind leaves much unsaid, such as whether a motion will be entertained that questions the Speaker’s haircut.

Section 88 of the Standing Orders (and notwithstanding the Interpretation Act), the Labour Party opposition had for several years argued its peculiar interpretation—not the Speaker’s—is the right one when it comes to what the Constitution says must take place should a vacancy arise in the office of deputy Speaker: Parliament shall elect a replacement as soon as convenient. Four simple words—“as soon as convenient”—the intended interpretation of which, hopefully, will some time this month be determined by a court of law, all thanks to the ever adventurous Martinus Francois!

Mention of which reminds me of the Speaker’s decision last Tuesday to cite court precedents in support of his ruling. I’ve been wondering what might’ve happened had a member on the government side, say the MP for Castries Central, Mrs Sarah FloodBeaubrun, stood on a point of order and proceeded to say: “Mr. Speaker, like you, I am in another life a lawyer. As such, I wish to point out the cases you’ve just cited have not been fully tested. Who’s to say what may have happened had they come before the CCJ or the Privy Council?”

An argument involving two lawyers would likely have ensued, with the Speaker as judge, jury and executioner, effectively turning the House chamber into a courtroom. To my mind, the Speaker who, let’s not forget, has the final word in all House disputes, could more properly have cited the authority (whether or not misinterpreted) afforded him by the Standing Orders of the House and without further ado moved on. After all, a dissatisfied MP has the option either to accept the Speaker’s ruling or to resort to the courts, the appropriate place for citing legal precedents established by judges—not by former magistrates in House Speaker robes.

To elaborate: the House and the law courts operate by respective procedures laid down since colonial times.

Which brings to mind V.S. Naipaul’s line from The Middle Passage that “nothing was created in the British West Indies. No civilization as in Spanish America, no great revolution as in Haiti or the American colonies. There were only plantations, prosperity, decline, neglect: the size of the islands called for nothing else.”

As for our own Derek Walcott, without fear of contradiction he writes in What the Twilight Says: “The pride of the colonial [that’s you and me, dear reader] in the culture of his mother country was fiercer than her true children’s, because the colonial feared to lose her. The most conservative and prejudiced redoubts of imperialism are in those who have acquired that patina through strenuous reverence: her judges and, ironically enough, her artists.”

We fight one another over the meaning of “convenient” and lines from documents never written with slaves in mind. Deny it if you wish, sling every kweyol pejorative at the tombstones of the immortal Walcott and Naipaul—even as we persist in living by rules and conventions handed down from on high, rules that have little in common with our natural existence. How many more times will we talk about constitutional reform and then carry on conducting our most important affairs as if indeed Saint Lucia was still a British colony? A plantation?

Naipaul again: “History is built around achievement and creation; and nothing was created in the West Indies.” Of his time in Trinidad, (we know it’s equally true of this Rock of Sages!), Naipaul writes: “Every person of eminence was held to be crooked and contemptible.

We lived in a society which denied itself heroes . . . It was a place where a recurring word of abuse was ‘conceited,’ an expression of the resentment felt of anyone who possessed unusual skills. Such skills were not required by a society which produced nothing, never had to prove its worth, and was never called upon to be efficient . . .

Generosity, the admiration of equal for equal, was therefore unknown; it was a quality I knew only from books found only in England.”

And finally there’s the esteemed English novelist and historian James Anthony Froude—often cited both by Walcott and Naipaul—whose recollections in The English in the West Indies suggest why we are the way we are; why we cannot free our minds of notions altogether alien to our aspirations; why we dress up

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The writings of (left to right) Derek Walcott, V.S. Naipaul and James Anthony Froude shine much light on the reasons we are what we are, why we continue to cherish our chains, why we “like it so,” regardless of how self-destructive.

for “official” and other events as if in anticipation of heavy snow; why we carry umbrellas around rain or sun.

Why we like it so!

Writes Froude: “What did America offer to those who joined her which we refused to give, or neglected to give? Was it that Great Britain did not take her colonies into partnership at all? Was it that while in the United States the blood circulated freely from the heart to the extremities, so that if one member suffered all the body

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suffered with it, our colonies were simply (as they used to be called) ‘plantations,’ offshoots from the old stock, set down as circumstances had dictated in various parts of the globe— vitally detached and left to grow or to wither according to their own inherent strength?”

Froude also speaks of pirates, adventurers, buccaneers, corsairs, privateers sent by the mother country at various times to govern its plantations.

“Looking to the West Indies

only,” Froude recalls, “we took possession of those islands when they were of supreme importance in our great wrestle with Spain and France. We were fighting then for the liberties of the human race. The Spaniards had destroyed the original Carib and Indian inhabitants.

We induced thousands of our own fellow-countrymen to venture life and fortune in the occupation of our then vital conquests. For two centuries we furnished them with black servants whom we purchased

on the African coast, and carried over and sold there, making our own profits out of the trade, and the colonists prospered themselves and poured wealth and strength into the empire of which they were an integral part. A change passed over the spirit of the age. Liberty assumed a new dress. We found slavery to be a crime; we released our bondmen; we broke their chains as we proudly described it to ourselves; we compensated the owners, so far as money

could compensate, for the entire dislocation of a state of society which we had ourselves created . . . The West Indies ceased to be of commercial, they ceased to be of political, moment to us, and we left them to their own resources. The modern English idea is that everyone must take care of himself. The State is not to help them; the State is not to interfere with them unless for political or party reasons it happens to be convenient. As we treat ourselves, we treat our colonies . . .”

Oh what a way we’ve traveled; from Saint Lucia’s House of Assembly to a time in the 1800s, soon after the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean. Still we cling to the remnants of the chains that once bound us—almost as if hell-bent on ensuring “nothing was created in the West Indies,” and nothing ever will be. Not now, not ever.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention: Froude’s The English in the West Indies was published in 1888!

CARICOM Secretariat Statement on Mechanism of Montevideo

he governments of Mexico, Uruguay and CARICOM, in response to the call of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, agree that the most appropriate way to address the complex situation that prevails in Venezuela is through dialogue for a negotiation, from a position of respect for International Law and Human Rights.

The historical stance of our countries is and will always be to privilege diplomacy over other alternatives, as it is the only way to achieve sustainable, legitimate and effective peace and stability.

Therefore, we propose the Montevideo Mechanism, based on our legitimate interest and willingness to assist the Venezuelan people and the actors involved find a solution to their differences.

This initiative is offered to the Venezuelan actors as a peaceful and democratic alternative that privileges dialogue and peace, with the aim to create all necessary conditions for an inclusive, comprehensive and lasting solution.

This Mechanism— evidence of an active, proactive and conciliatory diplomacy to bring the disputing parties closer together, avoid conflict

and violence—is guided by the principles of nonintervention, legal equality of the States, peaceful solution of the controversies, respect for human rights and selfdetermination.

Based on the experience of the signatory countries in processes of mediation and peaceful conflict resolution, we propose to establish a four-phased process, which will develop during a reasonable period of time, previously agreed by the parties: 1. Dialogue Phase: Creating conditions for direct contacts among the actors involved, in an environment of security.

2. Negotiation Phase: Strategic presentation of the results of the previous phase to the counterparts, seeking to find common ground and areas of opportunity to allow the relaxation of positions and identify potential agreements.

3. Commitments Phase: Construction and subscription of agreements based on the results of the negotiation phase, with the characteristics and timeframe, previously agreed upon.

4. Implementation Phase: Materialization of the commitments assumed in the previous phase with the international accompaniment.

The subscribers of this statement agree that the complexity of the circumstances should not be a reason to dismiss the diplomatic channels for dispute settlement, and reiterate our decision to help restore the tranquility of the Venezuelan people, through dialogue and peace, reducing tensions between political forces and avoid the threat or use of force.

Likewise, our governments reiterate their concern about the serious humanitarian situation and respectfully exhort all parties to guarantee the validity of the Human Rights and the freedoms established in the UN

Charter, subscribed by Venezuela.

This Mechanism is our proposal to guarantee a peaceful and democratic solution that prevents an escalation of violence.

In the event that the parties decide to communicate, we would invite Mrs. Rebeca Grynspan, former Vice-President of Costa Rica and current Ibero-American Secretary General; Mr. Enrique Iglesias and Mr. Bernardo Sepúlveda, ex Foreign Ministers of Uruguay and Mexico; and Sir David Simmons, former Chief Justice of Barbados, as a high representative of CARICOM, personalities of recognized international experience and moral quality, to accompany this Mechanism.

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The Rural Unknown

Curbing the Use of Global Consultancy Firms

By Keithlin Caroo

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he World Economic Forum held its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland from

22-25 January under the theme “Globalization 4.0: shaping a global architecture in the age of the fourth industrial revolution.”

While the conference had many highlights, one of the most talked about revolved around

the comments by IMF’s Ladyin-Chief, Christine Lagarde, who ultimately remarked that “poor countries should stop using global consultancy firms to write development strategies”. To take it a step

further, Ms. Lagarde even singled out global consultancy firms such as McKinsey and Boston Consultancy Groups, asking them to heed her advice. She remarked that “low-income and emerging-market economies had to raise more revenue themselves domestically and cut white

GOVERNMENT OF SAINT LUCIA/ EDUCATION QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (EQuIP) CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR CURRICULUM REVIEW AND REVISION TO INCORPORATE A FOCUS ON SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST The Government of Saint Lucia (GOSL) has received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) towards the cost of the Education Quality Improvement Project (EQuIP) and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this financing to eligible payments under a contract for which this invitation is issued. Payments by CDB will be made only at the request of GOSL and upon approval by CDB, and will be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement. The Financing Agreement prohibits withdrawal from the financing account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of CDB, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. No party other than GOSL shall derive any rights from the Financing Agreement or have any claim to the proceeds of the Financing.

The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations, the Executing Agency, now wishes to procure consultancy services to review and revise the National Curriculum, to make it appropriate for helping learners with Special Education Needs (SEN) to achieve to their fullest.

The objective of this consultancy service is to assist the Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations with the review and revision of the National Curriculum and the development of programmes of study and curriculum guides to assist learners with SEN to achieve to their fullest potential.

The duration of the assignment is expected to be for a period of a maximum of 120 person-days over a 12-month period.

The Consultancy team shall possess expertise and academic qualifications in Special Needs Education, Educational Psychology or Clinical Psychology and Curriculum Development at the postgraduate level. Work experience in Special Needs Education is required and knowledge of the Region will be an asset.

The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations now invites interested eligible consulting firms to submit Expressions of Interest for the provision of these consultancy services.

Consultants shall be eligible to participate if: (a) in the case of a body corporate, it is legally incorporated or otherwise organised in an eligible country, has its principal place of business in an eligible country and is more than 50 per cent beneficially owned by citizen(s) and/or bona fide resident(s) of eligible country(ies) or by a body(ies) corporate meeting these requirements; (b) in the case of unincorporated firms, the persons are citizens or bona fide residents of an eligible country; and

(c) in all cases, the consultant has no arrangement and undertakes not to make any arrangements, whereby any substantial part of the net profits or other tangible benefits of the contract will accrue or be paid to a person not a citizen or bona fide resident of an eligible country.

Eligible countries are member countries of CDB. The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of CDB’s Guidelines for the Selection and Engagement of Consultants (2011), setting forth CDB’s policy on conflict of interest.

In the assessment of submissions, consideration will be given to technical competence, qualifications and experience, local and regional experience on similar assignments, financial capability and existing commitments. All information must be submitted in English. Further information may be obtained from the Address 1 below between 09:00 and 16:00 hours Monday to Friday.

THREE hard copies of the Expressions of Interest must be received at the first address below no later than 16:00 hours on February 21, 2019 and one hard copy must be sent simultaneously to CDB at the second address below. The sealed envelope containing each submission should include the name and address of the applicant and shall be clearly marked “Expression of Interest – Consultancy Services for Curriculum Review and Revision to Incorporate a Focus on Special Needs Education”.

Following the assessment of submissions, a short-list of not less than three and not more than six applicants will be provided with full terms of reference and invited to submit technical and financial proposals to undertake the assignment. GOSL reserves the right to accept or reject late applications or to cancel the present invitation partially or in its entirety. It will not be bound to assign any reason for not short-listing any applicant and will not defray any costs incurred by any applicant in the preparation and submission of Expressions of Interest.

Address 1 Project Coordinator (EQuIP) EQuIP Project Coordinating Unit Department of Education, Innovation & Gender Relations 3rd Floor, Francis Compton Building Waterfront, Castries, SAINT LUCIA Telephone: (+1 758) 468 5251/5257 Email: equip@education.gov.lc Address 2 Procurement Officer Caribbean Development Bank P.O. Box 408 Wildey, St. Michael, Barbados, W.I. Email: procurement@caribank.org

IMF Chief, Christine Lagarde, urges developing countries to cut spending on global consultancy firms.

elephant projects and corruption.” She encouraged poorer countries to build their strategy plans before hiring global consultancy firms to then put these plans into action, highlighting the fact that poorer countries spend millions on development strategies that ultimately never bear fruition. Ms Lagarde brings up an important point, why hire global companies to come up with strategies that require local knowledge and context?

The Caribbean is one of the regions that falls into the loop of looking for external solutions, while civil servants and local development experts are overlooked, particularly in the climate change agenda. While our countries demand more money for aid in climate resilience, this money goes back to wealthier countries in the form of consultancy fees.

As the former chair of the African climate negotiation group Emmanuel Dlamini put it, “Developing countries hire consultants from developed countries, who often don’t even understand the context to write proposals and implement adaptation projects.” Dlamini also blamed the overuse of global consultancies by developing countries on their “limited ability to prepare applications and carry out the work once they have received the funding.”

It seems to me that in order to reverse this cycle, we should look into building capacity of civil servants and local development partners, to write proposals and implement projects. This is essentially development management reform and would cost relatively little in comparison to the consultancy fees paid per project. The question is, would we rather build the capacity of our own or fund foreign experts to build it for us?

Keithlin Caroo is the founder of Helen’s Daughters a Saint Lucian non-profit with a special focus on rural women’s economic development through improved market access, adaptive agricultural techniques, and capacity-building. It was formed in 2016 in a winning proposal for UN Women’s Empower Women Champions for Change Program.

To learn more about the initiative, visit: Facebook: Helen’s Daughters Instagram: helensdaughters.slu Website: helensdaughters.org

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Calvary Baptist Church Celebrates 50 Years in Massade

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in 1955, the small church was established as Calvary Baptist Church, with six charter members.

In 1969 a parcel of land at Massade was purchased and a church was built to accommodate some sixty persons. The church building was dedicated in 1970 with approximately twenty members.

A transportation ministry serving the nearby communities helped the church to grow and believers took encouragement as the prospects got brighter.

Five years later the church called Pastor Hilcious Hippolyte Calvary Baptist Church’s ministry started in 1955 but this February marks its as its first pastor. From 1997, half-century existence in Massade. a group of elders, who pastor the church together, has Church was started in 1955, grown up in the church and administered the Calvary Baptist John Robert Lee and Lincoln Auguste. the church uses 1969—when many who have joined as young Church. The present elders are Although Calvary Baptist it moved to its present site adults. Most of these youths Kenty Pamphile, Joseph Charles, have adopted leading roles in at Massade—as its official the work and services of the anniversary date.

The church was destroyed church.

by Hurricane Allen in 1980 but

The 50th anniversary was rebuilt with the help of a celebrations began with a youth rally on Friday February 8. The Canadian church. main services start on Sunday

Currently many of its members come from 10 at 10 a.m. with an afternoon beyond Gros Islet town. The service at 3 p.m. At 7 p.m. from congregation includes plenty Monday 11 to Wednesday13, of young people who have preaching services will be held. ardly had the sun risen on the first day of February when rivulets of red began flowing through the streets of Castries.

And while some may have attributed this to the farce in parliament a few days prior, one passing glance at any of the city’s clothing stores would’ve proven there was nothing political about the demonstrated colour preference.

Instead of a piece about the feast of St. Valentine (or “Valentimes,” as it is so frequently referred to here), it may be more useful to shed some light on the man responsible for it, and how it went from being a solemn celebration of the life of a martyr to the pagan worship of “romantic love”. Also intriguing, is just how widely celebrated is Valentine’s Day in Saint Lucia, a “Christian” country that allegedly places its African aspect above all other considerations.

According to the Roman Martyrology, Valentine was a Catholic priest who lived and was martyred in the 3rd century AD. He was known as a healer, and miracles have even been ascribed to his holy relics after his death.

“At Rome, on the Flaminian road, in the time of the Emperor Claudius, the birthday of blessed Valentine, priest and martyr, who after having cured and instructed many persons, was beaten with clubs and beheaded.”

Saint Valentine, in whose name

The Martyrology of St. Valentine continues: the feast on February 14 was first celebrated, before he became an “At Teramo, St. Valentine, bishop and martyr, who afterthought. was scourged, committed to prison, and as he remained unshaken in his faith, was taken out of miracles, and particularly by the deliverance of his dungeon in the dead of night and beheaded possessed persons.” by order of Placidus, prefect of the city.” St.

Even though not much detail is given Valentine was so beloved that those devoted about his life, it is clear he died for the Roman to him also suffered martyrdom because they Catholic faith. Which raises the question: Why chose to watch over his body after he was killed. is the name of Valentine now so synonymous “In the same place, the holy martyrs Proculus, with a feast of romantic love and why is a selfEphebus and Apollonius, who, whilst watching by proclaimed Christian society like Saint Lucia the body of St. Valentine, were arrested and put such a willing participant? to the sword by the command of the ex-consul Leontius.” St. Valentine’s Martyrology concludes ---Dean Nestor thus: “His body is daily glorified by many

he Calvary Baptist Church at Massade, Gros Islet celebrates its 50th anniversary with a series of events spanning February 8-15, 2019. The theme chosen for this milestone is “Keeping the faith”.

The church was established at Massade in 1969 though the work of church-planting had begun some years earlier. It was first situated on Notre Dame Street. As the work progressed, a group of three women missionaries, Marjorie Mitchell, Audrey Finkbeiner, and Iris Castle, came to the island in 1953. They laboured faithfully to keep the work going by conducting Vacation Bible School, Bible Club and other activities. Eventually,

Saint Valentine.

Who was he?

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On Friday 15 a special awards service and dinner will take place at the Bay Gardens hotel where pioneer founders of the church will be recognized and honoured.

The guest speaker for the anniversary services is Dr. Glendon Thompson.

Dr. Thompson serves as senior pastor of Jarvis Street Baptist Church, Toronto, Canada, president of Toronto Baptist Seminary, professor of Biblical Studies, and editor of the Gospel Witness. He was born in Jamaica and studied education at Church Teachers’ College, Mandeville.

He completed a Ph.D. in theology and postmodern philosophy at the University of Potchefstroom. He has also pursued post-doctoral studies at the University of Oxford, England. Dr. Thompson has authored numerous theological articles and spoken at conferences in Canada, Africa, India, the USA, and the Caribbean.

The public is invited to join the church for its celebratory services Massade from Friday 8th to Wednesday 13th.

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Local Children benefit from the Amy Winehouse Legacy A

my’s Gift to St. Lucia, a charity founded in honour of the singer, celebrated its fifth year with a concert on Friday February 1 at Sandals Golf and Country Club. The annual music event attracted over 150 people. The bands of Dunnottar School and the Boys' Training Centre—which Amy’s Gift to St. Lucia supports—showed what they had achieved since the last concert. Other performers were Gary Stoner singing country, Gene Lawrence playing the cuatro and Danielle "Lulu" Bergasse on guitar.

Dunnottar School is attended by children with developmental disabilities while the Boys' Training Centre caters for boys who are wards of court. The mission of Amy’s Gift to St. Lucia’s is to improve the health and happiness of the children and young people through music and to provide a Drug Awareness Programme. It began in 2014 when a bid for funding was made to the Amy Winehouse Foundation in the UK. The Foundation provided a grant to cover the purchase of musical instruments and to pay for the music teaching at both establishments for one year. During that year there were concerts, yoga groups and donations to raise funds for the next year. Since 2014, the bands of Dunnottar School and the Boys' Training Centre have performed at hotels, schools, on cruise ships and at events. Both bands were invited to play when Prince Harry visited the island in November 2016. In 2015, the Foundation became a platinum sponsor, covering about a quarter of the money needed.

The music therapy at Dunnottar School for over 100 children and the

music instruction and a Drug Awareness Programme at the Boys' Training Centre are continuing success stories. It is amazing what can be achieved through music!

Singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse left her mark on Saint Lucia.

She talked about the island as her second home. Staying mostly in a villa at Cotton Bay, she was free to ride horses along the beach and play with local children.

She befriended Marjorie, the owner of the beach bar who became “Mumma” to Amy.

Janis Winehouse-Collins, in her book Loving Amy, describes Saint Lucia as the Island in the sun. Although her daughter Amy had some relapses with her drug taking, she was turning a corner.

It was a happy time for her in Saint Lucia, particularly when her family came to visit.

Returning to the UK, Amy turned to alcohol in place of drugs. Until her death in 2011 it was a rollercoaster between being drunk or sober. The explanation for her death is that she suffered an alcohol-induced seizure. Her family was devastated. They decided to set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation which was announced on UK television. The focus of the Foundation is: -To inspire and support the personal development of disadvantaged young people through music - To inform and educate young people about the effects of drug and alcohol abuse - To support those seeking help for their problems and those needing on-going support.

No More Newsspin, No More Huntley!

Dean Nestor

R

Gene Lawrence, one of the artists who gave their time and skill to help raise funds for disadvantaged children.

adio Caribbean International (RCI) sounded ready to go full steam ahead on Thursday evening, with the launch of its Rebranding Event at the 5th Floor Compass Meeting Room at Harbor Club. But question marks loomed over the unexplained absence of its biggest personality and the helming of his highly popular show Newsspin by Earl Huntley.

The rebrand came ahead of the station’s 58th anniversary on February 21, replete with a new logo, website and on-air content.

But just one day later the station confirmed its hottest show would be no more. Just like that, after some 20 successful years, there

would be no more Newsspin.

Managing director Tamara Gibson yesterday told the STAR that Poleon’s programme was “one of those we are rebranding to suit the personalities of new hosts. We’re actually working on it at the moment.” She added that yesterday’s Newsspin, which concentrated on cricket, will be the last aired over RCI.

As for the host who would be Timothy Poleon—Earl Huntley—Gibson said he would not be brought back to host Newsspin’s replacement. “That is not the intention,” Gibson told this reporter. “We haven’t settled on an actual host but it’s not going to be Earl Huntley.”

But he would be “assisting during the transition”.

(See page 8.)

Zoo's Valentine Cockroach Revenge for Ex-lovers A zoo in the US state of Texas is celebrating Valentine's Day by inviting visitors to name cockroaches after their expartners. In an event called Quit Bugging Me!!!, keepers at El Paso Zoo will feed the insects to hungry meerkats.

They will also display ex-partners' names around the meerkat enclosure and on social media. Sarah Borrego, the event organiser, said it was a "fun and different" way to celebrate Valentine's Day.

"All of us have exes and we are still not over it and it's a great way to get the community in and also get out a little bit of the frustration," she said. The event will be streamed lived on Facebook and on the zoo's "meerkat webcam".

Since the event was posted on Facebook on

Monday, the names of 1,500 ex-partners have been sent to the zoo, with entries coming from as far afield as Germany and Australia. The event has also sparked excitement on Twitter.

Only the first names or initials of ex-lovers are to be on display in the zoo and on social media. Ms Borrego thinks that the overwhelming response may be an indication "that people are sick of Valentine's" because it is so commercial.

She added that the zoo has not received any complaints about the event but that "there might be some backlash". Ms Borrego said the cockroaches will be fed to monkeys as well as meerkats.

"Cockroaches are considered a treat for meerkats," she said. The animals will only receive one cockroach each as the insects are "the equivalent of cookies" for humans. Bronx Zoo

Cockroaches are a "rich" snack for meerkats.

in New York and The Hemsley Conservation Centre in Kent, UK, are inviting visitors to take part in similar exercises.

Last year, Hemsley Conservation Centre had a twofor-one offer for couples to visit the zoo but this Valentine's Day

they decided to do something different. Henry Weedon, the operations manager, said Valentine's Day was a good

opportunity for visitors to learn about the insects.

Visitors pay £1.50 (US$2) to receive a certificate as a "keepsake" of the cockroach named after their ex-lover.

"We have had people say we'll give you a £500 donation if you film someone stamping on the cockroach," he said, but the zoo has refused, deciding to keep the cockroaches alive.

Like El Paso Zoo, they will also be displaying the names of the spurned lovers on Valentine's Day. Sydney Zoo in Australia has gone one step further—visitors have been asked to enter a competition to name a highly venomous brown snake after an ex-lover.

Entrants have to explain to the zoo what their ex did to earn a snake being named after them.

---BBC

THE STAR

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february 09, 2019

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Calypso Legacy Rocks NCC

t was a night of pure nostalgia and Calypso music at its finest at the National Cultural Centre on Saturday February 2, 2019. The venue exploded with rapturous vintage Calypso music, featuring some of the best Saint Lucian Calypsonians to have graced the stage over the past four decades. “Legacy - Independence Edition” as it was called, had a line-up of past Calypso Monarchs, including Invader, Ashanti, Robbie, Pep and Walleigh as well as the reigning Calypso King, Mr. Brown.

The packed NCC, as well as the crowd in the beautifully bedecked yard (complete with a big screen), were greeted by the first performer, Invader, who started off with Just as I am. He was followed by Herb Black with another engaging performance. Crowd favourites Calypso Jail as well as All in Me had the audience singing every word. Dressed in a black suit, Herb Black was joined by the

very animated Nintus for All in Me, adding a fresh feel to the classic.

The “people’s king”, Ashanti, did not disappoint, giving his best to the standingroom-only crowd, as he sang Lucian population. A more timid Black I (alongside Yatty) then performed what is considered by many to be one of the best produced and written songs in Saint Lucia: Rambo Diplomacy.

By this time the crowd had very little downtime, as MC Ezi Hall kept things running smoothly.

Robbie brought back memories with his song Castles in the Sky, lamenting governments’ priorities over the years which seemed to omit consideration for a proper venue for the hosting of events.

Can’t Stop, his second song, was just as delightful.

Pep’s Bab Kamawad ran deep with the audience while Simplicity, who has long retired from the stage, returned to do

Pan Passion, one of the best pan tunes to have appeared on the local scene.

And then there was Lady Leen. What a classic performance and undoubtedly one of the best on the night!

Doing her all-time favourite Woman in a March, dressed in military fatigue with Osun and Menel in tow, the performance was simply awesome. Leen completed her time on stage with My Day, with the glorious voices of her audience as her choir.

The road-march song Guy Love Dance by Jackson had the audience prancing away into the intermission. To kick off round two, former Calypso Monarch Walleigh took the audience to the moon and back with Destination Lunar while Mr. Brown teased with Rasta in Kaiso before delivering his first winning song, I Like.

Invader returned for a second time with Largent and Carnal Knowledge sounding as

sweet as ever. Jaunty, who flew in from Texas, performed Ou La Lay, Bobolist and We shall Hop, maybe getting a little too carried away when he allowed the audience so much time with his microphone. The hilarious Twop Chans gave Hospital Burning while Magila returned in fine form with Rum.

Scoring big in the second half was Exterminator who also flew in from Texas for the occasion. Entertain, a song he first presented more than twenty-six years

ago, was delivered with true showmanship, and a great voice to match. He returned for an encore and closed with a tribute to Saint Lucia, performing Arthur’s I am Saint Lucian, to much appreciation from the crowd.

Before the night was over, Legacy – Independence Edition was blessed with a performance by Baron from Trinidad and Tobago doing some of his hits like Say, Say and Sweet Soca Man. By that time the entire NCC was already in

party mode and all Ashanti had to do was bring the curtains down with Empty Promises and Malaway.

Legacy – Independence Edition was predicted by organisers to be the ignition to swing into Independence Day celebrations, and it was all that and more! A great night of Calypso music, with some truly memorable performances.

The event was endorsed by the Government of Saint Lucia and the Independence40 committee.

Papa Invader (pictured) and other iconic Saint Lucian Calypsonians played thier part in Independence celebrations at last weekend’s Legacy concert.

INVITATION TO TENDER ATTENTION ELKS CITY OF CASTRIES COOPERATIVE CREDIT UNION MEMBERS

Government representatives relaxed from their usual official duties in order to participate in the fun.

The Board of Directors of the Elks City of Castries Cooperative Credit Union is calling on contractors from among its membership for the retrofitting and electrical installation at its new location on Chisel Street, Castries Members are asked to visit the General Manager for details of the floor plan and design All tenders should be placed in a sealed envelope addressed to: The Secretary Board of Directors Elks City of Castries Cooperative Credit Union Limited Cnr. Brazil & Coral Street Castries Tenders should reach the Secretary of the Board of Directors no later than February 15, 2019

For many, last Saturday’s event was a sing-along affair with old-time tunes.

By order- Board of Directors Elks City of Castries Cooperative Credit Union Limited

18

S

LOCAL

andals Resorts International has established itself as a major contributor to the Caribbean economy by maintaining resorts throughout the region. Its most recent investment would have been in the Tobago project that last month was declared a no-go. In the announcement from SRI CEO, Gebhard Rainer, featured in the Trinidad media, it was emphasized that the government had nothing to do with the decision.

Rainer actually commended the country’s prime minister for his “unwavering support, the consistent transparency and frankness.” However, not enough, it would seem, to carry on with Trinidad and Tobago’s first ever SRI resort. Rainer was quoted saying: “The reason for the withdrawal is the constant and ongoing negative publicity and media coverage we have received over the last two and a half years, since the inception of the project . . .”

february 09, 2019 THE STAR

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How will Sandals React to negative publicity here?

There were recently major renovations at Sandals Halcyon, but with Tobago and Turks and Caicos on the back burner for Sandals over taxes and bad publicity, what are the prospects for its fourth project in Saint Lucia?

The cited negative publicity included allegations that Sandals breached environmental laws and practices, signed unpublicized agreements with government,

and secret negotiations.

Earlier this month, SRI also announced its periodical closures in September to October 2019 and 2020, and its indefinite closure from January

2021 of its Beaches resort in Turks and Caicos. The company blamed the closure on “several critical and long-standing issues which have impacted our operations over the past several

years.”

The statement came after months of wrestling with the TCI government about taxes.

Sandals explained: “In 2017, the Tax Department, in disregard of the prevailing legally binding agreements in writing, unilaterally and unlawfully imposed additional taxes and penalties at a preposterously crippling rate of 10 percent per month, compounded, which translates to more than 213 percent per annum.”

The recent withholding tax exemptions granted SRI by the Saint Lucian government are referenced by the opposition at every opportunity. Additionally, after SRI boasted yet another major investment in Saint Lucia with a ground-breaking ceremony next to Sandals Grande, The Landings took related legal action against the Development Control Authority.

The potential fourth Sandals resort has been on hold since November 2018.

The last court proceeding was on December 7, 2018 and is

expected to continue later this month. The question now is: What will be Sandals’ reaction, considering the negative publicity in Saint Lucia, much of it from the company’s arch enemy since their battle over the Labour Party’s Labour Code?

Might Sandals repeat in Saint Lucia what the company has done in Tobago?

Last year Sandals promised that resort number four in Saint Lucia remained “a very important project”. This week an official from Sandals claimed the only setback was the on-going legal matter with The Landings. He said, “Beyond that, the project remains on hold; no matter what happens, it will take some time before we can have it up and running again.”

Sandals has recently confirmed that its Saint Lucian project will not suffer the fates of Tobago or Turks and Caicos.

At any rate, it’s still a go, if only for now!

---CE

RETAIL EXECUTIVE- responsible for developing and leading a professional retail sales team to ensure achievement of revenue targets, operational goals and 100% customer satisfaction. We need an individual who can own the customer service experience!

RETAIL MANAGER- responsible for developing and leading a professional retail sales team to ensure achievement of revenue targets, operational goals and 100% customer satisfaction. We need an individual who can own the customer service experience!

This individual will be required to perform the following duties: • Ensure a high standard of pre and post sales customer service at retail outlets.

• Perform and initiate continuous team member training.

• Perform operational tasks to maintain audit-ready status in store at all times.

• Schedule and assign employees & following up on work results.

• Performance Management of Retail Channel.

• Ensure optimal inventory levels are maintained at retail outlets.

• Ensure effective display of inventory at retail outlets.

• Preparation of periodic performance reports.

• Assist in the development of specific promotional activities aimed at driving sales.

• Maximize sales and profitability of retail outlets.

• Maintain operations by initiating, coordinating and enforcing program, operational, and personnel

policies and procedures.

• Resolve escalated customer complaints with optimal solutions.

• Maintain successful relations with key partners.

This individual will be required to perform the following duties: • Ensure a high standard of pre and post sales customer service at retail outlets.

• Perform and initiate continuous team member training.

• Perform operational tasks to maintain audit-ready status in store at all times.

• Schedule and assign employees & following up on work results.

• Performance Management of Retail Channel.

• Ensure optimal inventory levels are maintained at retail outlets.

• Ensure effective display of inventory at retail outlets.

• Preparation of periodic performance reports.

• Assist in the development of specific promotional activities aimed at driving sales.

• Maximize sales and profitability of retail outlets.

• Maintain operations by initiating, coordinating and enforcing program, operational, and personnel

policies and procedures.

• Resolve escalated customer complaints with optimal solutions.

• Maintain successful relations with key partners.

Requirements: • Professional qualification – Degree in Business, Management or a related field • Minimum 2 years’ experience in a related field • Strong motivational, influencing and organizational skills • Strong interpersonal, leadership and communication skills • Proven ability to work effectively in a team and under pressure • Computer literacy and experience in the use of Microsoft Office applications Compensation & Benefits: We offer a competitive remuneration and benefit package which will be influenced by the successful candidate’s qualifications and experience.

All interested person are required to submit their CVs to HR@the-cell.com on or before Sunday 10th February 2019.

Applications with resumes must be submitted to: The Managing Director The Cell (St. Lucia) Ltd. 82 Desir Drive Sans Souci, Castries

Requirements: • Professional qualification – Degree in Business, Management or a related field • Minimum 2 years’ experience in a related field • Strong motivational, influencing and organizational skills • Strong interpersonal, leadership and communication skills • Proven ability to work effectively in a team and under pressure • Computer literacy and experience in the use of Microsoft Office applications Compensation & Benefits: We offer a competitive remuneration and benefit package which will be influenced by the successful candidate’s qualifications and experience.

All interested person are required to submit their CVs to HR@the-cell.com on or before Sunday 10th February 2019.

Applications with resumes must be submitted to: The Managing Director The Cell (St. Lucia) Ltd. 82 Desir Drive Sans Souci, Castries

THE STAR

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february 09, 2019

19

Understanding Dementia

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

By Regina Posvar

M

ild Cognitive impairment (MCI) is not a normal occurrence in aging, neither is it dementia. There is a lot of controversy around MCI but 10-15% of people over the age of 65 experience MCI brain changes and, of that percentage, about 10-15% will develop full blown Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia within a year. Over a lifetime the risk of someone with MCI developing dementia is over 50%. MCI is commonly known for significant memory loss but without other thinking challenges.

However, other research and studies have found cognitive changes under the MCI type and have defined two types of MCI based on symptoms. The first is Amnestic MCI which primarily affects memory. People experiencing these symptoms will begin to forget things they normally can remember, like important events, appointments and recent conversations.

The second, Nonamnestic MCI, is when the person has trouble with their thinking skills such as judging the time, sequences of steps needed to complete a complex task

and being unable to make sound decisions or even visual perception.

These symptoms are the same as early Alzheimer’s or dementia and, if misdiagnosed, a person can be treated for a condition they do not have.

Studies have shown that giving MCI patients dementia drugs or even depression drugs has made no significant difference with their condition. Most people do better with memory help aids like notebooks, calendars and smart phones to help them keep track of daily tasks and important information.

Receiving a diagnosis is challenging but it can be done.

According to information from alz.org the list below is helpful with diagnoses: • Thorough medical history, where the physician documents current symptoms, previous illnesses and medical conditions, and any family history of significant memory problems or dementia.

• Assessment of independent function and daily activities, which focuses on any changes from a person’s usual level of function.

• Input from a family member or trusted friend to provide additional perspective on how function may have

If your diagnosis is not dementia, the use of notebooks, calendars and other tracking devices can be useful in improving your memory (and not forgetting that this Thursday is Valentine’s Day).

changed.

• Assessment of mental status using brief tests designed to evaluate memory, planning, judgment, ability to understand visual information and other key thinking skills.

• In-office neurological examination to assess the function of nerves and reflexes, movement, co-ordination, balance and senses.

• Evaluation of mood to detect depression; symptoms may include problems with

memory or feeling “foggy”.

Depression is widespread and may be especially common in older adults.

• Laboratory tests including blood tests and imaging of the brain’s structure.

It is highly recommended that a person with MCI be evaluated every six months.

It is not clear why people develop MCI or why some people with MCI do or do not develop Alzheimer’s or related dementia. More research is

needed. The St Lucia Alzheimer & Dementia Association (SLADA) recommends utilizing brain training tools for increasing the health of your brain and to improve your memory.

Questions about dementia Q: I have been dealing with this memory thing for over a year. I am forgetting everything. I have to keep notes everywhere or it will not get done. It is getting worse

because now I am forgetting where I put my notes. I am afraid to see the doctor and learning I have Alzheimer’s.

What can I do to help my memory?

A: I do recommend you see a doctor. Letting it go on so long is dangerous and puts you more at risk of developing Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia. Even if you have dementia, you are still able to think and choose what you want to do. People with early symptoms could really benefit from brain exercises that can enhance your memory and thinking skills. If it is not dementia, chances are you can reverse the symptoms.

Regina Posvar is the current president of the Saint Lucia Alzheimer’s and Dementia Association and has been a licensed nurse for 25 years. SLADA is supported by volunteers and donations and aims to bring awareness and support by providing awareness public workshops, family support, memory screenings, the Memory Café, counselling and family training for coping skills and communication with persons living with dementia.

How to Tackle Workplace Stress and Anxiety G rowing anxiety in the workplace is the reality of modern-day jobs which, despite being armed with technology and enhanced with luxuries, often have no recognition of mental health.

The lack of an encouraging environment is taking a toll on the mental well-being of employees which is also manifesting in physical illhealth.

As captured appropriately by the World Health Organization, workplace stress is “the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope.”

Around 300 million people

globally suffer from workplacerelated depression and 260 million suffer from anxiety disorders. Some live with both conditions. Another report suggest around 50 per cent of employees with depression are untreated.

The demanding pace of work, fewer resources, costcutting, and constant pressures of increasing productivity are some of the factors that become the root cause of workplace stress or anxiety. These, along with behavioural challenges of peers and seniors, growing competitiveness, long and odd working hours, as well as fear of embarrassment, humiliation, rebuke, and failure, are some of the other major factors that affect mental health.

Our sedentary work-life

means we sacrifice exercise and physical activity. Many studies have shown that exercise and engaging in a physical activity like a sport increases “happy” hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins, while decreasing the stress hormone cortical. It also helps push more oxygen in the circulation system.

It is estimated that 60-80 per cent of accidents on the job occur due to stress-related distraction and sleepiness.

Despite our hectic lifestyle, it is essential to give the body and mind some rest, which helps one rejuvenate back into action.

Six-eight hours of sleep is advised, and maintaining sleep hygiene is important.

Meditation helps in easing

the mind and is another resting tool. Factoring in time for meditation is beneficial in the long run.

Although modern-day work-life mandates engaging with technology, one should try to reduce engaging with tech post-work. Finding avenues of entertainment by listening to music, playing a game, pursuing a hobby etc, are better ways to unwind.

It is important to have a positive and fostering behaviour with peers and seniors in the workplace, just as it is important to listen. Avoid giving unsolicited advice. Sharing your frustration and challenges with a trusted colleague helps in easing out. Also, speak-up for better workplace practices and suggest to your employer

solutions for managing work.

Spread awareness about rights and negotiate workspace which ensures these rights are respected.

Professional counselling via an organisational and occupational psychiatrist can play a big role in reducing workplace stress and anxiety and fostering a healthy workplace environment. The discussions can help find solutions to work management challenges as well as help one counter individual problems which affect productivity or efficiency of employees.

Counselling helps in reducing short-term absence, improves workplace morale, helps the organisation by aiding employee retention, and helps understand and address the pain areas of

employees.

Having a strong Human Resource (HR) policy that fosters a healthy workplace environment and ensures zero tolerance towards gender, class, religion or caste discrimination is important. Training the HR resources to manage such issues with due sensitivity and appropriate measured action is also essential. HR can also be instrumental in ensuring implementation of policies that promote flexibility and work-life balance.

Taking care of workplace anxiety is not one person’s job.

Some effort has to be made at all levels and by everyone concerned.

---Entrepreneur Asia Pacific

20 HEALTH

february 09, 2019 THE STAR

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KIM’S KORNER

Keep that body moving!

L

ast week we discussed the benefits of physical activity, a subject not easily avoided these days, with people at every turn being encouraged to get up and move for their physical and mental health. But is it as easy as lacing up your training shoes and pounding the pavements or heading to the gym? In most cases the answer is no! That may be because you don’t know where to start, or you feel physically unable to indulge because of pain or a present condition that is holding you back. So what then? Is all hope lost? Not at all; you can seek the advice of a physiotherapist.

Physiotherapist? Aren’t they just for helping you deal with pain? Well, the answer again is no. Physiotherapists, also known as physical therapists, are professionals that focus on movement and function. Physiotherapy is defined as “therapy for the preservation, enhancement, or restoration of movement and physical function impaired or threatened by disease, injury, or disability that utilizes therapeutic exercise, physical modalities (such as massage and electrotherapy), assistive devices, and patient education and training.”

Physiotherapists are the third biggest health profession after doctors and nurses.

Physiotherapy dates back to 400BC when physicians Hippocrates and Galen prescribed physical activity to improve health. But it has not always been known as physiotherapy; through its evolution it has had many names but the underlying ethos has always been the same: movement and physical activity helps improve health and fitness.

In 1813 Per Henrik Ling,

Treatment for pain always includes rest but some conditions require movement for healing.

from Sweden, developed a special branch of medicine that involved movement and gymnastics to improve health and fitness. In fact the Swedish word for physiotherapy is sjukgynmnast, which translates to somebody involved in gymnastics for those that are ill. It became popular in American and UK hospitals around 1916, with the spread of polio disabling many adults and children. During the First World War women were employed to provide exercise for injured soldiers and help restore physical function. From then the profession has grown and it is now an established discipline within hospitals and health care clinics. Through a degree programme, physiotherapists are guided to help individuals who find themselves unable to function or move because of pain or debilitating conditions and diseases.

Physiotherapists have a great deal of knowledge about anatomy, physiology, the mechanics of movement and the science of pain. They use a range of modalities to relieve pain such as electrotherapy, mobilisations, massage and

acupuncture but their biggest secret weapon is physical activity and movement. Through assessment they are able to analyse weakness, altered movement patterns and postural dysfunctions. After a detailed assessment they will guide and educate you on how to become more active and independent through movement and exercise.

If pain is a barrier to you starting physical activity, a physiotherapist will work with you to relieve your symptoms, and the treatment prescribed will depend on the cause of your pain. They may use electrotherapy, massage or mobilisations alongside a graded exercise pattern

to strengthen and stabilise your muscles and joints.

Physiotherapists can also help people who have any of the following conditions: • Neurological (stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s) • Neuromusculoskeletal (back pain, whiplash associated disorder, sports injuries, arthritis) • Cardiovascular (chronic heart disease, rehabilitation after heart attack) • Respiratory (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis)

To ensure that you work to your optimum potential they will identify your problems and also analyse your posture to identify muscle imbalances and bad habits. By correcting defects, you will get more from your fitness programme and minimise the risk of injury.

Posture correction focuses on education, stretching, strengthening, core stability and balance.

Remember: anyone can benefit from physiotherapy; you don’t need to be suffering from back pain or managing a long-term medical condition such as asthma, or an athlete recovering from an injury, or in need of improving your performance. Physiotherapy is there to help you to get active and reach your maximum potential!

Kim Jackson is a UK-trained physiotherapist with over 20 years’ experience. She specialises in musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction including back pain and sciatica, stroke and other neuro conditions plus sports physiotherapy, having worked with local, regional and international athletes and teams treating injuries and analysing biomechanics to improve function and performance. She is registered with the Allied Health Council and is a member of PASL. She currently works at Bayside Therapy Services in Rodney Bay, tel. 458 4409 or 284 5443; www.baysidetherapyservices.com

T

Department of Finance to implement its three-year strategic plan

he Department of Finance has partnered with the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD) in the development of a strategic plan aimed at positioning the department as a leader in public financial management with excellence in service delivery and fiscal stability whilst enabling the sustained socio-economic wellbeing of all Saint Lucians.

The Department of Finance has developed a three-year strategic plan based on the core values of accountability, transparency, professionalism, teamwork and integrity. Some of the Key Result Areas (KRAs) of the plan include improvement in revenue collection, oversight, monitoring and evaluation, research, policy planning and implementation, debt management, customer service, organisational development and promoting economic growth.

Deputy Director of Finance for Administration, Philomene St. Clair, said the planning process began in May of 2018.

CARICAD was instrumental in the formulation of the draft strategic plan including the mission, vision, core values and mandate for the Department of Finance.

St. Clair said, “So today we were able to develop our strategic goals, objectives and initiatives. And, of course, the strategic goals, objectives and initiatives are really the core of the strategic plan because from that we will be able to develop our annual work plans.”

St. Clair added that the plan would foster greater cohesion and co-ordination among the various units in

Valentine’s Day 5 course dinner

the Department of Finance.

St. Clair continued, “The major departments—Inland Revenue, Customs and so on—operate with a high level of independence so it is our hope that, having developed that strategic plan together, we will be able to present our achievements, report in a more co-ordinated way, and that it would allow us to work more as a team.”

CARICAD, an organisation of CARICOM, has been in existence since 1980 and is the region’s focal point for public sector transformation. Devon Rowe, CARICAD’s Executive Director, stated that CARICAD is focused on improving the administrative capabilities of the seventeen Caribbean territories it serves, with strategic planning one of the areas to be addressed.

“Our role here was to help the officers of the Department of Finance to be able to better sequence their activities to ensure that the activities that have been identified are associated with appropriate strategies, and that those strategies are costed and they can fit within a budget envelop that the Department of Finance may have. In addition, the reform process is going to require significant thought, action and, even more so, implementation.

The P.S. is focused on achieving results and we are here to help,” Rowe said.

He added that strategic thinking will allow the Department of Finance to adapt to varying problematic situations to become more solution oriented. The strategic plan is expected to be fully implemented from April 2019.

From 6 pm Thursday Feb 14 ec199 ++ per person

dressed red carnation Live entertainment with Michael robinson Prosecco on arrival Ferrero rocher chocolates Reservations 485.7189 / 450.0210 / www.tapasonthebay.com

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february 09, 2019

21

Dominica to provide 90% of Population with Geothermal Energy

L

ast December, Dominica’s Energy Minister, Ian Douglas, addressed the government’s plans to build a geothermal plant in the third quarter of 2019.

Construction will be set on the outskirts of the capital city of Roseau. It hopes to power 23,000 homes with clean geothermal energy, which represents approximately 90% of the entire population.

Funding for the geothermal project was partly acquired through Dominica’s Citizenship By Investment (CBI) programme. Additional funds came from the World Bank, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB).

Though small in size, Dominica is considered the best second citizenship to invest in, according to an independent study by the Financial Times’ publication, Public Wealth Management. After they pass the due diligence checks, citizenship hopefuls then choose to either invest

Dominica’s Citizenship by Investment Programme makes promises of geothermal energy and a climate resilient housing revolution.

in real estate or contribute to a government fund. The latter is called the Economic Diversification Fund (EDF)

and it sponsors public and private sector projects in Dominica that need the financial support or have

economic potential.

Each eligible person to become a citizen of Dominica adds at least US$100,000

to the EDF. If they apply jointly as a family, which is possible under Dominica’s CBI programme, these contributions amount to US$175,000 for a couple, US$200,000 for a family of four, and another US$25,000 for any additional dependents.

Eventually, the money goes towards modernising the local infrastructure, schools and hospitals, and even for development of thriving industries like tourism and IT.

The United Nations predicts that Dominica will have the greatest GDP growth in 2019 in the Caribbean region.

Considering the constant flow of foreign investment, Dominica is prepared to set long-term goals that exceed sustainability expectations on a global scale.

After Hurricane Maria in 2017, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt pledged to make Dominica the “world’s first climate-resilient nation”.

He immediately launched the Climate Resilient Execution Agency of Dominica, otherwise known as CREAD. It aims to consolidate sustainability

efforts, raise funds and provide essential services.

The geothermal plant will have a substantially positive impact on the island’s national advancement and the lives of its citizens.

“With the commissioning of this plant, we will be in a position to benefit from clean, reliable, low-cost, renewable, high-quality energy supply in the future, which will benefit all sectors of productive activity in Dominica,” Douglas said.

In addition to exploring the benefits of renewable energy, the island’s plastic ban has been in operation as of January 1. It was described by National Geographic as one the world’s most comprehensive plastic bans.

This follows the island’s “Housing Revolution” initiative, which builds new homes that can withstand most known weather events. Like the geothermal project, the scheme is funded by the CBI programme.

---OECS Business Focus

It’s been 33 Years since Haiti welcomed Democracy. How did it mark the Day? Protests

T

hirty-three years after Haitian President-forLife Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier fled into exile, ending his family’s 28-year dictatorship and ushering in Haiti’s democratic transition, Haitians marked the day on Thursday with widespread protests throughout the country.

Angry over their plummeting currency, frustrated by the rising cost of living and disappointed by decades of failed leadership and rampant corruption, protesters threw rocks, burned tyres, attacked police stations and blocked roads in major cities while calling for the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse, who also marked his second anniversary in office on Thursday.

Haiti National Police deputy spokesman Gary Desrosiers said police registered at least two deaths, 36 arrests and 14 injured cops—mainly from rocks— during the tension-filled day.

It was Haiti’s third major anti-government protest in four months.

Unlike the October 17 and November 18 anti-corruption protests, however, where demonstrators demanded

an accounting of $2 billion in allegedly misused money from Venezuela’s PetroCaribe oil programme, Thursday’s demonstrations mostly centred on the economic malaise that has been gripping the country and led to some bakeries and other stores shuttering their doors earlier in the week in disgust.

“The slogan has changed. It’s not ‘Where is the PetroCaribe money?’ but ‘Give me the PetroCaribe money,’” said Humelaire Julian, 28, a university student who was among the thousands who took to the streets in Port-au-Prince.

“And for some of us youth, there is another slogan still: ‘Nou Bouke,’” meaning ‘We’re fed up’.

Julian, who wasn’t born during the dictatorship, said while democracy has brought freedom of expression and some individual liberties to Haitians, it has also brought misery.

“Those involved didn’t put things in place to have a democratic transition. You need to have a plan, you need to have a project,” he said. “Today, we are in the face of an explosion.

Everyone agrees the country is being badly governed and, at any moment, it can explode.”

A demonstrator draped in the Haitian flag holds up a copy of the Haitian constitution during a protest to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moise in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.

That volatility was apparent in both the central Haitian city of Mirebalais and the northern city of Cap-Haïtien, where one person was killed.

Police stations in both cities came under attack on Thursday as angry protesters threw rocks and took on the police.

In Mirebalais, problems erupted early when a woman was killed by a truck driver.

Blaming the police for the incident, a crowd carried the woman’s corpse to the police station and then tried to force themselves inside. The police,

who by then had run out of tear gas, tried to calm the angry crowd by shooting in the air and even throwing their hands up, a reporter on the scene told Radio Mega listeners.

Specialized police units from Port-au-Prince and the nearby city of Hinche eventually arrived, but not before some protesters had set a parked car in front of the station ablaze and stolen the gun of an injured cop who fell to the ground after being hit in the head with a rock.

Haiti’s economy has

been plummeting for quite sometime, and the country has been in double-digit inflation since 2015. But in December, inflation soared to 15 per cent and the gourde, the domestic currency, lost even more of its value against a strong US dollar.

Meanwhile, the budget deficit has grown to a record $89.6 million since October.

On Tuesday, after declaring a state of economic emergency, the government unveiled 11 cost-cutting measures for ministers to curb government spending. Government spokesman Eddy Jackson Alexis said the measures, which include limiting travel and fuel, would save at least $12.7 million a month—enough to reduce the budget deficit.

Etzer Emile, a Port-auPrince economist, said the fact that Thursday’s demonstrations, called by the opposition, drew so many protesters, who assembled at different points around the capital and weren’t led by any particular opposition leader, shows that the population isn’t convinced by the government’s recent measures. They do not inspire confidence, he said.

“The economic crisis is exacerbated by the dollar’s uncertainty and, with the

rising price of commodities, the authorities risk losing their political authority,” Emile, 33, added. “President Jovenel Moïse and his government, which lacks support, lacks inspiration, lacks financial resources, are facing the worst economic crisis since the global food crisis of 2008.”

Even in a city like Port-dePaix, from where Moïse hails— and from where a boat recently launched before sinking in the waters off the Bahamas, carrying at least 30 Haitian migrants to their deaths— frustrations are high.

“The situation is difficult.

There is an economic malaise all over the country,” said Jean Wisnel Honores, a Port-de-Paix resident, who added that while there were no protests on Thursday it doesn’t mean there won’t be any in coming days. “Today, we can say what has led to this situation is the bad governance of Jovenel, who really didn’t have a plan.

“Today marks his two years in office. But this situation we are living here is the result of a lack of capacity, a lack of political will.”

--Miami Herald

22

international

www.stluciastar.com

february 09, 2019 THE STAR

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivers Devastating Dissection of US Financial System and Political Corruption in Congress Speech a system right now which is fundamentally broken,” she concluded after her question and answer session with a panel of senior figures from campaign finance watchdog groups.

The 29-year-old told the officials she wanted to imagine what she could do within the current rules if she was a “bad guy” who wanted to “enrich myself and advance my interest, even if that means putting that ahead of the American people”.

“Let’s say I have some skeletons in my closet that I need to cover up so I can get elected. If I want to run

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez greets fellow lawmakers ahead of the State of the Union address

A

lexandria Ocasio-Cortez has used a speech before finance watchdogs to expose the vast conflicts of interest which shape American politics.

In just three minutes the Democrat congresswoman laid bare the almost total absence of rules stopping lawmakers from being bought off by wealthy corporations. “We have

EXECUTIVE SEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT The Saint Lucia National Trust was established in 1975 by an Act of Parliament to protect and preserve for the benefit of the State, places of natural beauty and their flora and fauna, and places and objects of cultural significance.

The Trust manages twenty five sites but its work is focused on its mandate at the national level. It is a membership organisation that employs professional and support staff to fulfil its mandate and is governed by a Council.

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P

a campaign that is entirely funded by corporate political action committees, is there anything that legally prevents me from doing that?” she asked.

The panel admitted there were no regulations stopping politicians from pursuing such a course of action. Ms OcasioCortez then went further: “So I use my special interest, dark money-funded campaign to pay off folks that I need to pay off, to get elected.

“Now I’m elected I have the power to draft, lobby and shape the laws that govern the USA. I can be totally funded by oil and gas, by big pharma,

and there’s no limit to that whatsoever.”

The congresswoman, who represents New York’s 14th district, then noted how a corrupt legislator could even buy stocks in a company, then write laws deregulating that industry, causing the share price to soar and pocket a huge profit.

“You could do that,” confirmed one of the officials, adding that even the minor ethics regulations which did apply to members of Congress did not affect the president.

“So I and every member of this body are being held to a higher ethical standard than the

president of the United States,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez concluded.

“It’s already super legal as we have seen for me to be a pretty bad guy. So it’s even easier for the president to be one.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez won her seat in congress by unseating long-time Democrat elder statesmen Joe Crowley, who outspent her in the primary campaign 18 to 1. Almost 75 per cent of her campaign funding came from small individual donations, compared to just 1 per cent for Mr Crowley, who was mostly funded by larger businesses.

---The Independent

Drastic solution to halt climate change could be our last

eeking out from behind the massive cloud of coal smoke that is climate change, the tiniest sliver of a silver lining has emerged. We may still have a chance to keep the worst of global warming at bay.

According to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, Earth has a 64 per cent chance of keeping warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius if all fossil fuel infrastructures immediately begin to transition into zerocarbon alternatives.

This means every power plant, car, plane, ship and factory would be replaced at the end of their life with emission-free fuel or technology. However, the massive global effort has a chance at success if the phase-out starts immediately.

If it were to begin in 2030, the chance of avoiding environmental catastrophe drops to 33 per cent.

“It seemed surprising at first that below 1.5 degrees Celsius could still be achieved with all the current infrastructure that is out there. It goes a little against conventional wisdom,” Chris Smith, a co-author on the study, told CNN.

“But it actually makes sense in context of the remaining ‘carbon budget’— basically how much we can

Coal smoke and steam vapour pour out of the Bruce Mansfield Power Plant in Pennsylvania.

emit and still stay under this limit.”

Using computers models, the study set estimated lifespans for power plants (40 years), planes (26 years) and cars (15 years) to determine global temperature rise if a phase-out began at the end of 2018.

The model also assumed that beef and dairy consumption would experience a significant decline.

But the study didn’t take into account events that could suddenly spark runaway global warming, such as melting permafrost abruptly spewing

huge volumes of methane into the atmosphere—a scenario that NASA notes is often left out of climate change projections.

It also didn’t consider political and economic barriers that would—and already have— made such a transition all the more difficult.

Researchers said they knew an immediate and total phase-out is a long shot, but stressed that it is possible.

“The climate system is not stopping you [hitting the target], global society is stopping you,” Smith told The Guardian.

He added that he personally believes Earth is

headed for warming between 2 and 2.5 degrees Celsius.

Global temperatures have already warmed about 1 degree Celsius. If warming rises about 1.5 degrees Celsius, scientists predict an onslaught of devastating weather events including more extreme droughts and floods which would lead to animal die-offs, global food shortages and mass migrations.

In November, the United Nations issued a dire warning that, if nothing changes, global temperatures are on track to rise between 5.4- and 9.0-degree Fahrenheit this century.

---New York Post

THE STAR

february 09, 2019

classified 23

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