Opposition Party Sabotages St. Lucia's Citizenship by Investment Programme

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The Star (St.Lucia)

SATURDAY, september 01, 2018

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First it was the Chamber that claimed leaks were affecting local and foreign business. Now the UK’s Financial Times says SLP pledge “to review all successful applications for Citizenship and potentially ask for larger contributions upon return to office” is hurting Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Programme!

HERE WE GO AGAIN! See Page 4

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A-M u s i n g s Musings are thoughts, the thoughtful kind. For the purpose of these articles, a-musings are thoughts that might amuse, entertain and even enlighten.

Election Time

By Michael Walker

I

am busy reading a book entitled The Shortest History of Germany. It won’t take long because it is really short, but fascinating, and suddenly I am struck by a thought: it is impossible to really understand the dire dilemma the world finds itself in today without fully appreciating the similarities between 2018 and 1932. But first a little background briefing:

Under the electoral law of Germany in those days, a candidate who received an absolute majority of votes (i.e. more than half) in the first round was elected.

If no candidate received a majority, then a second round would be held. In the second round, the candidate receiving a plurality of votes (i.e. most) would be elected. A party was permitted to nominate an alternative candidate in the second round but in 1932 this did not happen. In the first round on March 13, 1932, no candidate obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast though Hindenburg, with 49.6%, failed only by a narrow margin. Hindenburg, Hitler and a third candidate competed in the second round.

Hindenburg was elected president by an outcome of 53% while Hitler significantly increased his result by more than two million votes compared to the first round, largely benefitting from the third candidate's withdrawal.

Hindenburg deeply distrusted and personally detested Hitler. Nevertheless, following his re-election, Hindenburg failed to prevent the Nazis from assuming power. In fact, two successive federal elections left the Nazis as the largest party in the Parliament (Reichstag). Hindenburg reluctantly appointed Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, the most powerful post in government, in January 1933. Despite being born in Austria, Hitler became a German citizen, and thus eligible for public office, as late as February 25, 1932, and hoped to use the presidency to overturn the Constitution and establish a dictatorship. Hitler’s ideas included inequality among races. nations and individuals as part of an unchangeable natural order. He argued that the unity of the People (Volk) would find its incarnation in him, the Führer (Leader), endowed with perfect authority.

And now to Donald Trump . . . Donald Trump loves dictatorial strong men such as Putin of Russia, Erdogan of Turkey, Assad of Syria,

Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, and so on. He would have loved Hilter’s approach to governing. But first, some more background briefing:

Frederick Trump was a German who emigrated from Germany to the United States at the age of 16 and started working as a barber. He made his fortune by operating restaurants and boarding houses in Seattle and brothels in the Klondike Gold Rush. He later returned to Kallstadt in Bavaria, Germany and married. When authorities found that he had emigrated when young to avoid fulfilling his military service, he lost his Bavarian citizenship so he and his family returned to the United States where he worked as a barber and hotel manager, and began to acquire real estate in Queens, New York. He was, besides being the grandfather of Donald Trump—the 45th President of the United States—quite a ruthless, unprincipled character as well as being a draft dodger.

Weird, isn’t it? Frederick dabbled in brothels and prostitutes while his grandson pays for porn stars. They both avoided military service. I will refrain from pointing out the obvious similarities in the political policies and careers of The Donald and Adolph H. Suffice to say they were both xenophobic and hated people who were different from them. Both rose to power under dubious circumstances and with the assistance of impotent politicians and, unbelievably enough, certain religious groups. All else aside, I shudder when I hear so-called evangelical Christians explain their support for the fornicating, prevaricating, miserable wreck of a man who occupies the Oval Office by saying that “God Forgives” and in so doing elevate themselves to the status of forgiving gods. Accepting forgiveness and redemption must surely contain some element of reformation, contrition and a desire to do better. But for Trump the way out of any situation is the alternate reality, or the truth that is not the truth, or put simply—lying. If ever there were a song meant for Trump, it would be Shaggy’s ‘It wasn’t me!’

But she caught me on the counter (wasn't me) Saw me bangin' on the sofa (wasn't me) I even had her in the shower (wasn't me) She even caught me on camera (wasn't me) She saw the marks on my shoulder (wasn't me) Heard the words that I told her (wasn’t me) Heard the scream getting louder (wasn’t me)

Donald Trump has set the whole world screaming.

september 01, 2018 THE STAR

Police say Sexual Assault of Minor Under Investigation

T

he details surrounding the alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old Saint Lucian girl by her stepfather appeared in last weekend’s STAR. Also highlighted in last weekend’s report were the accounts by the girl and her family, replete with horrific details. As if to add insult to injury, when the police had a suspect they permitted him to run off. To date he has not been apprehended. The latest word—from the victim’s relatives—is that he has “left the country”.

As for the police, this is how they explained their apparent lack of interest in the matter: “We cannot speak to the matter because it is of a sexual nature and there's an on-going investigation.” Ms Claudia Mon Louis of the Ministry of Home Affairs assured that Mr. Hermangild Francis, Minister of National Security, was aware of the case and had “discussed it with the police commissioner"; additionally, that Mr. Francis had advised that the matter be dealt with expeditiously.

Meanwhile the most urgent problem facing the pregnant 13-year-old centres on where she will go when her father returns in a few weeks to the United States where he is employed by a cruise-line company.

SALCC Interim Board Appointed T

he Ministry for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development has appointed an Interim Board of Governors to the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC).

The Board is constituted for a period of six months and includes: Dr. Jocelyn Fletcher (Chairperson), Dr. Rufina Frederick, Dr. Vernesta Nervais, Mr. Barrie Corcoran, Dr. Claudia Louis and Ms. Beverly Josie.

Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development Honourable Dr. Gale T. C. Rigobert explained that the board was carefully selected on the basis of expertise and skill.

She said, “As we forge ahead into another academic year I believe that this Board has the required assets to see the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College through the issues that require immediate attention. I anticipate the Board will also work closely with the Department of Education and the government in charting a way forward for the institution as we seek to provide affordable exceptional higher education and services for the citizens of Saint Lucia.”

Soufriere Top Achievers Awarded with Scholarships/Bursaries

T

he Soufriere Regional Development Foundation (SRDF) has yet again extended its humanitarianism to the town of Soufriere through the issuance of bursaries and scholarships.

This programme, which has existed successfully for twelve years, is intended to facilitate the educational process for top achievers and underprivileged students who would have otherwise been unable to satisfy the cost of attaining a decent education.

Programme Co-ordinator Mr. Shem Jean is thrilled with the implementation: “I am very proud of what we have achieved. I have felt privileged in serving the inhabitants of this remarkable town and its environs. To the students I say, 'Take this gift that we have wholeheartedly given to you and produce fruit.'"

This year, some 300 students were beneficiaries for the upcoming academic year; 267 were book bursary recipients and 33 were scholarship recipients.

The curtains came down on the programme with a closing ceremony on August 29, 2018 when the top achievers were recognized for their noteworthy performance throughout the years.

Operations Manager Mr. Franklin Solomon urged the students to embrace education and its power, and show their parents that they ought to invest in them. “My parents did not have the ability to do for me, but when they saw the extent to which I tried, they felt obligated to find it.”

The 2018 top common entrance performer of Soufriere is Ms. Cyan Alfred while the top CXC performer is Ms. Velindel Esnard who obtained 11 ones and 2 twos.

THE STAR

september 01, 2018

LOCAL

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CARICOM Tasks the Media to Focus on Results where the bottlenecks are; who is falling short and what interventions we need to take to improve those bottlenecks.”

But if national projects become jammed by “bottlenecks” and budgets, and deadlines are not being kept for implementation, then even with the advent of results-based management, Soeknandon says the the media and

the public should be closely monitoring progress. According to her, in the past, member states have not communicated national agendas clearly and this has to change as part of results-based management.

With this, the media

and the public must be able to identify steps clearly.

Soeknandon said, “If you see that it is going slow or stakeholders are not meeting deadlines or you see that the targets are not being reached on time, you then can hold the respective

stakeholders—be it the parliamentarians who have to pass laws or ratify, be it the ministries who are not doing the consultations, be it the CARICOM secretariat—you can hold them responsible, accountable for not doing what they are supposed to do.”

win a laptop Manorma Soeknandon told the public to hold Caribbean policy makers accountable.

for back to school Buy a MiFi data bundle to qualify.

Claudia Eleibox

L

ed by CARICOM deputy secretary-general Manorma Soeknandon, a delegation has taken on the job of encouraging member states to adopt a results-based management approach in national affairs. On Thursday Soeknandon said that presently Caribbean countries execute national projects by stakeholders taking several separate actions and “in the end everyone is going everywhere but we don’t know where we’re heading”. This has resulted in sundry activities with no specific goals, duplication of projects in the same region, and saturation of funds with excess that cannot be used, or the defunding of projects.

Soeknandon described results-based management as “a tool to work with when you want to measure, track down, monitor, evaluate results.

What we are saying is this is the result we want to achieve, and this is what needs to be done in this timeline.”

However, in the Caribbean, a damper on strategy, policies and fabrication of numerous important national facilities, services or equipment has always been implementation deficit—the inability for professionals in the country to do their part for the projects to happen.

Philip Dalsou, permanent secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, is presently CARICOM’s point of contact in Saint Lucia for the country’s transition to results-based management.

At Thursday’s press conference, concerning implementation deficit in the Caribbean, he said: “I read a study from the CDB. It [implementation deficit] varied from about 40% to maybe just over 70% in some countries, but OECS was in the bottom rank in the range of those numbers. There’s no doubt that we need to utilize an RBM framework to allow us to do so.”

The first results-based management report from the CARICOM Secretariat is expected in the first quarter of 2019. Again, relating to implementation deficit Dalsou said, “As part of the results we can see

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04 LOCAL

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september 01, 2018 THE STAR

Report Says SLP Promise To Review Applications Hurting St. Lucia’s CBI Efforts! for assessing citizenship programmes, to facilitate the decision-making process for individuals considering them, ollowing the establishment and to bring value to the citizenship industry.” on August 4, 2015 of

The index utilizes seven Saint Lucia’s Citizenship pillars, or categories, in the

by Investment Programme, rankings. Each pillar is worth a the island became the latest maximum of ten points: freedom Caribbean nation to offer of movement, standard of living, passports for sale, joining minimum investment outlay, St Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Grenada and Antigua & Barbuda. mandatory travel or residence, citizenship timeline, ease of The Citizenship by processing and due diligence.

Investment (CBI) index is a

The report breaks ranking of the various CBI down each pillar. Freedom programmes across the world, of movement deals with the published by the Financial number of destinations to which Times’ Professional Wealth the passport allows travel Management (PWM). The without restriction. Standard second edition of the ranking of living is a measure of the was released on August 22 of this year, with thirteen countries quality of life offered. The PWM indicates: “Reliance was placed being ranked. The purpose of on the United Nations’ Human the index, as outlined by the Development Index (HDI) for PWM, is to: “Provide a rigorous factors such as life expectancy, and systematic mechanism Joshua St. Aimee

F

education, security, and income.” Minimum investment outlay rewards the highest number of points to the country requiring the lowest minimum investment. Mandatory travel or residence examines the “travel or residence conditions imposed on applicants.”

Citizenship timeline analyses “the average time taken from when an application is submitted to when the applicant is granted citizenship and receives his or her passport.” Ease of processing measures the “complexity of the citizenship by investment application process.” The last pillar focuses on “each nation’s commitment to ensuring that their programme remains transparent and effective at evaluating potential candidates.”

Neighbouring Dominica tallied 63 points and retained

Advertisement of Application for Grant Rule 15 THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE SAINT LUCIA Claim No. SLUHCV2018/ IN THE MATTER of a Grant of Letters of Administration in the Succession of PETER FRANCIS aka PETER FRANCOIS late of Micoud in the Island of Saint Lucia and BEFORE

:

APPLICANT :

THE REGISTRAR OF THE SUPREME COURT (1) JOHN FRANCIS (2) PHILOMENE FRANCIS acting herein and represented by their duly appointed Attorney CUTHBERT HENRY

TAKE NOTICE that an application for a Grant of Letters of Administration has been filed by (1) JOHN FRANCIS and PHILOMENE FRANCIS acting herein and represented by their duly appointed Attorney Cuthbert Henry as appears by Power of Attorney dated 9th January 2018 and registered on 31st January 2018 in the Land Registry as Instrument No. PA 81/2018, the applicants who are the lawful children of PETER FRANCIS aka PETER FRANCOIS, Deceased, late of Desruisseaux, Micoud, Saint Lucia, the Deceased having died intestate on the 12th day of May 1959.

Any person having an objection to the grant of Letters of Administration to the Applicants shall file an objection within 14 days of the publication of this Notice.

Dated this 24th day of August, 2018.

This Notice is filed by the Law Offices of Oswald Wilkinson Larcher & Associate Legal Practitioner for the Petitioner whose address for service is Maison DuBonaire, John Compton Highway, Castries, Telephone Number 452-4555.

The Court office is at La Place Carenage, Jeremie Street, Castries, St. Lucia, Telephone Number 468-7500 Fax. Number 468-7543. The office is open between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays and between 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Fridays except public holidays. The Office can also be contacted via Email at stluhco@eccourts.org.

While beautiful Saint Lucia’s CIP is one of the cheapest to acquire, it is described in an FT publication as the region’s most politically divisive.

its number one position in the rankings. It was followed by St. Kitts & Nevis, Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda, with 60, 57 and 56 respectively. Saint Lucia scored 7, 6, 10, 10, 8, 9, and 5 in the pillars for a total score of 55, good enough for 5th place (same position as last year’s index). With this ranking, Saint Lucia sits last in the Caribbean but ahead of Vanuatu, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, Turkey, Austria, Jordan and Cambodia.

Although the CBI programmes of Saint Lucia and Dominica are on opposite sides of the ranking, they share many similarities. There are no requirements to travel to or reside in the countries, dual-citizenship is allowed and they each offer visa-free access to over one hundred countries. Both countries offer passports for the lowest fee on the market, a one-time investment of US $100,000.

Where the programmes differ

is the processing time for applications and due diligence practices, which favour Dominica. The reputations of the two programmes are also vastly different. Dominica’s CBI programme is known for “being one of the world’s most efficient and transparent options for economic citizenship.”

The report describes Saint Lucia’s programme as the Caribbean’s most politically divisive. It states: “The removal of unique features such as the $3m net worth requirement and the 500-applicant annual cap, opened the programme to criticism within St Lucia’s political establishment. It also generated uncertainty, as the opposition pledged to review all successful applications for Citizenship—and potentially ask for larger contributions— upon returning to power.”

These statements were made via a St. Lucia Labour Party press release on January

12, 2017. The release said: “The Labour Party believes that the removal of the US$3 million net worth, the cheapening of the level of donation as a qualifying investment and the removal of the annual limit of 500 applications and the guarantee of processing all Desert Star Holdings (DSH) applicants in 35 days should all be reconsidered for the sake of the reputation of Saint Lucia.”

It went on: “The SLP wishes to inform that a Labour Party Government will review every citizenship granted by the UWP under these new requirements. The Labour Party believes that the CIP should be presented as a premium, selective and highly valued option and not sold as the cheapest option available to any and everybody!”

Nestor Alfred, the Chief Executive Officer of the Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment Unit was at press time unavailable for comment.

School Transportation Subsidy Programme Recommences

T

he Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations wishes to advise the general public of the following, regarding the School Transportation Subsidy Programme for 2018/2019 academic year:

The school transportation subsidy programme will officially resume on Tuesday 04 September, 2018. The Ministry

therefore wishes to inform parents and guardians whose children are beneficiaries of the programme that students will be notified of their assigned buses on Monday 03 September, 2018, and that buses will begin to service their assigned routes on Tuesday 04 September, 2018. The programme for the Vieux Fort and Soufriere Special Education

Centres will commence on Monday 03 September, 2018, using the same buses as in the last school year.

All drivers contracted for the new school year need to report to their assigned schools on Monday 03 September, 2018 in order to collect their list of assigned students.

The Ministry looks forward to the cooperation of all parties.

THE STAR

LOCAL

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september 01, 2018

05

Thoughts that run through my mind while I hold the (phone) line

I

t’s always a pleasant surprise when I call my mechanic’s office to have the receptionist pick up on the second ring. It’s like icing on the cake when she asks, in a voice most pleasant, how she can help me. Best of all, she actually goes out of her way to get me the answers I need, or she never fails to keep her word when she promises to call me back on something not immediately fixable. Her professionalism nearly always catches me off guard, so used have I become to sloppy and uninterested personnel whose job it is to keep their firm’s patrons happy.

Even in the chilled confines of an air-conditioned office we appear to be dragging our feet as if tired from trudging around in the sun all day. So much so that getting to the phone seems damn near impossible for staff at most local establishments.

Think about it. How many phone calls have you made in the hope of clearing up a simple problem, only to be told, after holding on

for what seems an eternity, that the person you wish to talk to “just stepped out”? Stepped out where? The voice at the other end casually lets you know she doesn’t know. The same answer will be offered should you ask when the absent individual will likely return to work.

Banks, government ministries, privately operated businesses, public sector agencies, you name it, most of them demonstrate the same lack of respect for consumers. I remember calling a local hospital and asking the receptionist to transfer me to the public relations department. In a most disinterested tone she said: “Hold on.” I was then stuck in transfer purgatory until finally I hung up. I called the following day, only to receive the same treatment. I tried again the day after fully expecting to be left holding on. But this time a female voice actually answered after a minute or so.

But only to let me know I had

The phone is the umbilical cord between customers and customer service.

But obviously too many business employees are blissfully unaware of that!

been transferred to the wrong department; that I had been connected to Human Resource not the hospital’s public relations office.

A simple thing like renewing a driver’s license

Advertisement of Application for Grant Rule 15 THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT

can take up to a month in ‘easy to do business with’ Saint Lucia. We’re also not very well adapted to technological advancement and so the switch to more efficient processes has not quite happened here.

THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE SAINT LUCIA

Claim No. SLUHBP2018/ IN THE MATTER of a Grant of Letters of Administration in the Succession of RITA CHARLES aka MARIE ANGELIQUE FRANCOIS aka RITA FRANCIS aka RITTA late of Desruisseaux, Micoud BEFORE

wherever I encounter it. My hope is that others within earshot might hear and appreciate how important it is to keep customers happy. I can dream, can’t I? --- Keryn Nelson

Form P7: Advertisement of Application for Grant Rule 15

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE SAINT LUCIA

This explains why searching for presumed recorded data can take forever, only to learn at the end that “I can’t find it.

You’ll have to come back again.”

I have made a point always to praise professionalism

:

APPLICANT :

Claim No. SLUHPB2018/ IN THE MATTER of a Grant of Letters of Administration in the Succession of EDMUND FRANCIS aka EDMUND FRANOIS aka EDMUND FRANCOIS aka late of Manhatten, New York, USA

THE REGISTRAR OF THE SUPREME COURT (1) ANDREA IRIS BAPTISTE nee Charles (2) RACHEL CHARLES aka RACHEL GRIFFITH acting herein and represented by their duly appointed Attorney Joseph Francis

TAKE NOTICE that an application for a Grant of Letters of Administration has been filed by (1) ANDREA IRIS BAPTISTE and (2) RACHEL CHARLES aka RACHEL GRIFFITH acting herein and represented by their duly appointed Attorney Joseph Francis as appears by Power of Attorney dated 18th June 2018 and registered on 2nd July 2018 in the Land Registry as Instrument No. PA 478/2018, the applicants who are the lawful children of RITA CHARLES aka MARIE ANGELIQUE FRANCOIS aka RITA FRANCIS aka RITTA Deceased, late of Desruisseaux, Micoud, Saint Lucia, the Deceased having died intestate on the 30th day of August, 1987.

Any person having an objection to the grant of Letters of Administration to the Applicants shall file an objection within 14 days of the publication of this Notice.

Dated this 24th day of August, 2018.

This Notice is filed by the Law Offices of Oswald Wilkinson Larcher & Associate Legal Practitioner for the Petitioner whose address for service is Maison DuBonaire, John Compton Highway, Castries, Telephone Number 452-4555.

The Court office is at La Place Carenage, Jeremie Street, Castries, St. Lucia, Telephone Number 468-7500 Fax. Number 468-7543. The office is open between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays and between 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Fridays except public holidays. The Office can also be contacted via Email at stluhco@eccourts.org.

BEFORE

: THE REGISTRAR OF THE SUPREME COURT

APPLICANT : DIANE MARIA FRANCIS

TAKE NOTICE that an application for a Grant of Letters of Administration has been filed

by DIANE MARIA FRANCIS, the applicant who is the lawful grandchild of EDMUND FRANCIS aka EDMUND FRANOIS aka EDMUND FRANCOIS, Deceased, late of 2406 - Eighth Avenue, Manhattan, New York, USA, the Deceased having died intestate on the 31st day of January 1971.

Any person having an objection to the grant of Letters of Administration to the Applicant shall file an objection within 14 days of the publication of this Notice.

Dated this 24th day of August, 2018.

This Notice is filed by the Law Offices of Oswald Wilkinson Larcher & Associate whose address for service is Maison DuBonaire, John Compton Highway, Castries, Telephone Number 452-4555.

The Court office is at La Place Carenage, Jeremie Street, Castries, St. Lucia, Telephone Number 468-7500 Fax. Number 468-7543. The office is open between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays and between 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Fridays except public holidays. The Office can also be contacted via Email at stluhco@eccourts.org.

06 comment

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september 01, 2018 THE STAR

Sometimes the law is an ass because the law makers were asses!

By David R. Francis

O

n February 9, 2012 officers from the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force went to the home of Babonneau resident Cecil Toussaint armed with a warrant to search for controlled drugs at the premises of “one Ras”. The search of Mr. Toussaint’s home uncovered no controlled drugs. However, the police found and seized a quantity of cash: EC$71,920.00; EUR 1,460.00; US$4,249.00 and CAD$20.00. In an attempt to have the money forfeited, pursuant to sections 49A, 49B and 49C of the Proceeds of Crime Act Chapter 3.04, the officers transported Mr. Toussaint to a police station where the money was counted in his presence. He was released the following day.

Officers returned to Mr. Toussaint’s residence on a subsequent occasion with a warrant, this time in the name of Cecil Toussaint, to search for evidence of money laundering. Again their search was fruitless. Mr. Toussaint, through his attorney, filed a constitutional motion against the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Police and the investigating police officer, a detective sergeant, challenging among other things: the constitutionality of the search of his residence; his arrest and detention; the seizure of the cash and the commencement of forfeiture proceedings pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act.

This summer, in determining the constitutionality of the search of Mr. Toussaint’s home, the court looked to Section 7 of the Constitution, entitled Protection from Arbitrary Search or Seizure.

The law protects persons from the arbitrary entry and search, save in certain limited circumstances. These circumstances include where the search and seizure are in the interests of defence, public safety and public order, or are reasonably required for the protection of the rights of others.

The court went on to say that the requirement that a police officer obtain a warrant prior to searching a person’s home is a means by which the law protects the citizenry from

A high court decision regarding a 2010 amendment to the Proceeds of Crime Act may be good news for individuals whose property was confiscated by its authority!

arbitrary searches. The officer must give a statement on oath to a magistrate who issues the warrant authorizing the search. The court found that there was no evidence before it to suggest Mr. Toussaint was ever known as “One Ras”; that in Saint Lucia people who have dreadlocks are commonly referred to as “Ras” and that the warrant could have been directed to any number of individuals in the Babonneau community. The court concluded the search of the Mr. Toussaint’s property was unlawful.

This begs the question: What was the evidence given under oath which convinced the magistrate that there was sufficient cause to issue the warrant in the first place, and

why was it not presented before the High Court? Though there is no requirement that officers seeking to obtain a warrant must put their statement under oath in writing, the implementation of such a requirement would perhaps encourage a greater level of accountability both on the part of the police officers and magistrates. The police would take greater care in conducting their investigations prior to giving information on oath to obtain a warrant and the magistrates would take greater care when considering the information provided to them by officers. The alternative is that a magistrate, in issuing a warrant, may be reduced to no more than a rubber stamp

sanctioning the otherwise arbitrary and unconstitutional actions of the police.

Was Mr. Toussaint’s arrest lawful? The court found there was reasonable cause for the officers to arrest Mr. Toussaint in circumstances where such a large sum of money was recovered and Mr. Toussaint’s sole explanation was that he owned a bus. In the circumstances the police officer formed a reasonable suspicion that the quantity of cash represented the proceeds of crime.

The final challenge

by Mr. Toussaint was to the constitutionality of the Proceeds of Crime Act itself.

Mr. Toussaint’s attorney argued that the jurisdiction vested in

the magistracy under sections 29A, 49A, 49B and 49C of the Proceeds of Crime Act constituted an impermissible amendment of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, effected in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of Section 41 of the Constitution and therefore void, the Act having been passed by simple majority.

Reducing the argument to its most basic it was argued that at the time the amendment to the Proceeds of Crime Act was passed in 2010 parliament failed to follow the requirement of Section 41 of the Constitution which stipulates that no bill which affects the individual’s fundamental rights may be passed by parliament unless on its final reading it is supported

by not less than three-quarter of all of the members of the House.

The effect of the 2010 amendment to the Proceeds of Crime Act was that the magistracy was given powers previously reserved for the High Court and those powers exceeded the jurisdiction allowed by the Code of Civil Procedure, which at the time was $5000.00.

The court agreed with Mr. Toussaint’s attorney and declared that the Proceeds of Crime Act was unconstitutional: that it gave the magistracy an unlimited jurisdiction to seize and detain proceeds of crime and amended the legislation in a manner which limits the jurisdiction of the magistracy to that which is provided for by the Code of Civil Procedure ($25,000.00).

This critical error by parliament, coupled with the recent decision of the High Court, will have the effect of making it possible for every citizen who has had money seized by the state pursuant to the 2010 amendment to the Proceeds of Crime Act to make an application for its restitution.

Those persons may also be entitled to interest on their money at the statutory rate and legal costs.

A copy of the court’s ruling in the matter of Cecil Toussaint can be found on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Website: https://www.eccourts. org/cecil-toussaint-v-attorneygeneral-of-saint-lucia-et-al/

FRC Membership Chooses Interim Board

T

he Msgr. Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre (FRC) held a membership meeting on Saturday August 25, 2018 at the Cultural Development Foundation (CDF) conference room. The meeting was convened to review FRC’s Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association. The meeting also visited the draft Parastatal Act which is in the process of being enacted by government.

At the meeting members were brought up to date with FRC’s challenges and plans post the fire of March 25 as well as plans for Creole Heritage Month and Jounen Kwéyòl. FRC is in

the process of drawing up a strategic plan which will guide the organisation during the next five years. The strategic planning process will be facilitated by FRC member and Consultant Victor Poyotte.

The tenure of the Board of FRC expired this year and members selected an interim Board to look after the affairs of the organisation until the next Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The composition of the interim Board is as follows: Floreta Nicholas, Suzette MerilleAlexander, Sylvester Dickson, Embert Charles, Victor Poyotte, Mc. Donald Dixon and Msgr.

Patrick Anthony.

The FRC puts it house in order so that it can continue to promote Saint Lucia’s cultural preservation.

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Credit Unions:

Something to Celebrate (Part Two) Peter Josie

L

ast week I proffered the idea that credit unions are an essential instrument of savings. Credit unions’ savings can be mobilized to help develop a country socially and economically, and yes, politically. I also suggested there should be a resurgence of persons seeking membership in credit unions, encouraged by politicians and persons in leadership positions. This week I am pleased to observe that the 1st National Bank has taken the bold step of offering 80 customers 100% financing on home mortgages. That is to say, for eighty lucky customers, no deposits required on loans for home construction. The offer comes after some banks had earlier offered easy loans for

the purchase of motor vehicles.

What type of skewed policy would allow banks to offer vehicle purchase more easily than that of land and house to deserving customers? The example of 1st National Bank ought to be copied by other banks.

It bears repeating that in its short time the Saint Lucia Forum promoted ideas for the social and economic development of the island.

Although some people may have imagined the contrary, the group was no ordinary black power advocate. Neither was it a group of angry young men seeking attention.

Its membership included economists, agriculturists, lawyers, tax experts, teachers, historians and technicians.

They were mature people, not hot heads advocating the abandonment of everything foreign or of European input.

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That may explain why some conveniently l it a third political party. Its platform rhetoric and public image were unlike anything the island had previously encountered. This is why, as a surviving member of the group, I feel duty-bound to repeat its strongly held view that the political parties at the time did not embrace the Forum. I might go so far as to say they considered the group something of “the enemy within”. Consequently its ideas were never effectively communicated to those who stood to benefit most from them. But times have changed.

It warms my heart to observe that the island’s 1st National Bank is breaking new ground to mark its 80th year. In the process, the bank has gone where some politicians feared to go. One can only pray that the Bank of Saint Lucia—the other local bank—will use this occasion to review the reason for its own formation, and set a new path to profitability and the payment of dividends to its many loyal shareholders.

Building confidence, through sound management is the responsibility of every

institution in which citizens repose their trust and lodge their scarce resources.

Keeping one’s eyes on the ball in politics means keeping at the forefront of one’s mind that food, clothing and shelter remain man’s most pressing needs. To this we may now add education. I am happy to observe that an increasing number of Saint Lucians are finally recognizing how valuable education is and why we continue to regard Cuba as such a dear friend. The acquisition of important information (education) versus its neglect, is no longer a matter for debate.

A little education in this context was never “a dangerous thing”.

It has always been preferable to no education at all!

The burden of any serious political message must include ways and means to help and support entrepreneurs and legitimate small businesses. It matters little what the political persuasion of the entrepreneur or business person might be.

The reason they must each be equally assisted to prosper is quite simple: success breeds confidence, and encourages more first-time entrepreneurs

and start-up small businesses.

There are people who remember when a local Joe Blow was greeted with the kweyol phrase pas-nee-loan!

(No loans!). This was at the fledgling St. Lucia Co-Operative Bank—the beloved “penny bank”. Its earliest managers and directors were committed to the bank’s survival. Can we say the same today of the other local bank? No sooner had certain politicians laid their hands on the BOSL than serious challenges popped up. How did that sacred bank at one point fall so low? Who was engineering the bank’s decisions? The answer, my friends, may not be blowing in the wind but it is no secret that politics was at the root of the decisions that eroded the peoples’ trust and the bank’s ability to pay dividends.

That’s the difference between the old, faithful 1st National and the other. Are the shareholders and customers of 1st National Bank smiling?

Those who, like me, built their homes with loans from the St. Lucia Co-Operative Bank many years ago are grateful for the support this monument

to local banking afforded us.

We pray it continues to employ and promote local managers and a local board of directors, and fearlessly break new ground in support of its many customers.

It is no cheap patriotism that one speaks of when one intones the Forum’s determination that “the commanding heights of the economy” ought always to be in local hands. And it does not matter how many branches locally and internationally 1st National Bank may establish in the future; the philosophy of using the people’s savings for their own development should remain central to its purpose.

There is every reason for local commercial banks and the credit unions to complement each other if they aim to provide funds for the development of their members and customers.

Saint Lucians’ savings (in Saint Lucia) must be used to promote local industry and citizens, and not fly-by-night, fast-talking foreign crooks. I say unequivocally that local banks and credit unions must give the people of Saint Lucia more reasons to celebrate.

Prime Minister Meets the Workers of WASCO

E

mployees of the Water and Sewerage Company Inc (WASCO) met and shared their work experiences with Prime Minister Honourable Allen Chastanet as he continued his Meet the Workers Tour which has seen the prime minister visit with the staff of various institutions in their own work environments.

On Tuesday August 21, 2018, the prime minister visited the offices of WASCO at L’Anse Road, Castries and held a brief meeting with the management of WASCO before he toured the facility and talked to workers at all levels, one on one. Accompanying the prime minister was Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives, Honourable Ezechiel Joseph.

Chairman of WASCO, Mr. Francis Denbow, explained that the WASCO team was honoured

that the prime minister had taken time to visit the staff and the facility. The Chairman reported that it had been a very active past two years for WASCO and several projects have begun or been completed, including the commencement of the John Compton Dam Rehabilitation Project, the Babonneau pipe layout, Water Supply Improvement and Upgrade of the Hill20 treatment plant, the Dennery North Water Supply Improvement Project, the Canaries Water Treatment Upgrades and Site Protection, the laying of the foundation for the Belvedere to Bouton Water Extension project and the Ti-Rocher/Micoud Water Supply Project. WASCO has also received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) towards the cost of the Vieux Fort Water Supply Redevelopment Project. The

The prime minister was happy to hear what WASCO workers had to say.

prime minister and Minister Joseph discussed ways of improving the water supply and service delivery to the population and pledged the government’s support to the efforts of the WASCO team.

“We have some very excited workers who are looking forward to speaking with you,” said General Manager Edmund Regis as the prime minister set out to speak directly with workers in the

different departments, asking questions and giving them a listening ear. The following day the prime minister also visited with workers at the WASCO office in Vieux Fort.

The prime minister’s Meet the Workers Tour has already seen him visit the Victoria Hospital, St. Jude Hospital, the National Printing Corporation, the Saint Lucia Air and Seaports Authority and several other government offices.

THE STAR

september 01, 2018

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HIV Is there a ‘right place’ left in Saint Lucia? Contraction Keryn Nelson

W

e tend to describe genuine accidents, random killings and all varieties of collateral damage in the same fashion. We say victims just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time—as if indeed there were areas left in Saint Lucia still considered safe. Between this and last week the island recorded four homicides. They were hot topics for a day but we have since simply moved on, completely desensitized to loss of life and fully accustomed to the neutering statement “under police investigation” and its habit of placing a full stop where a question mark would be more fitting.

Barry Leonce was one of two slain last week Monday, August 20. The police reported that the 31-year-old was shot in Agard Lands, Morne Du Don, Castries and later died at Victoria Hospital. Cause of death was “hemoperitoneum secondary to gunshot to the right pelvis with injury to the right iliac crest, femoral vein and rectum”. As usual, the police reaction was predictable: “We are investigating.”

Meanwhile, there have been no related arrests.

Members of the dead man’s family, obviously still in shock

and angry, told the STAR that on the day Leonce was fatally shot he had taken a relative’s vehicle to a neighbouring mechanic in Morne Du Don, who was also a relative. He was still at the mechanic’s when masked men showed up and opened fire all over the shop. Leonce’s family says they believe the men were after someone else who escaped unhurt. A cousin of Leonce said: “He has been staying out of trouble, not liming on blocks. He has just been very calm and quiet, just staying to himself.” Then he added, “Barry was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

As for the Morne Du Don shootout, 24-year-old Miguel Charlery of Balata, Castries was also killed. He left behind a one-year-old son. A related post-mortem revealed Charlery’s death was the result of “hemothoraces secondary to gunshot wound to the right chest, with injury to the right auricle and lung”. Obviously he, too, was not in the right place during the shootout that took his life. An online sympathizer wrote “RIP Migz. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time ain't easy at all. Your death has touched many. You were a very kind-hearted individual.

It's painful to see you disappear . . .”

Other homicides within the past two weeks: on August 19, 47-year-old Stephen Francis was fatally shot in Wilton's

T Barry Leonce is one of Saint Lucia's most recent homicide victims. He was said to have been in “the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Yard, Castries. The only other information provided was that “hemoperitoneum secondary to gunshot wound to right pelvis with lacerations to the right iliac artery” was responsible for Francis’ sudden demise.

On Tuesday, August 28, 18-year-old Glendon Barthelmey was fatally stabbed near his home in Bagatelle, Castries. Reportedly, his killer travelled from his residence in Soufriere to Bagatelle. Evidently

not even Barthelmy’s home was the right place to be that day.

His mother told a news reporter her son’s killer had offered a tearful apology that she found hard to accept since it would not give her back her son.

According to the police, the culprit was immediately taken into custody. He was later taken to court where he was charged with murder. He has been remanded in custody until Monday September 3.

Work steadily progressing on Kempinski resort in Dominica

L

ocal investment and hospitality company Range Developments has reaffirmed its commitment to Dominica and to complete the Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski on schedule.

The team on site has been working steadily and frequently late into the night to ensure what will be undoubtedly one of the finest hotels in the Eastern Caribbean that opens in the second half of 2019. The resort’s general manager has already been appointed and brings a wealth of operational experience with him.

There has been

significant site progress over the last few months: hardwood roofs have been installed to most of the public buildings and external finishing work is nearing completion. Interior finishing work is underway.

There is significant momentum on site and the resort is rapidly taking shape. There are over 450 people on site daily and this will rise upwards of 700 in the coming months.

In addition, in the coming months the details of Range’s Dominica hospitality training programme will be announced, as well as a series of job fairs.

The Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski is the first approved Citizenship by Investment project in Dominica. Its success

will ensure Dominica is firmly cemented on the luxury tourism map and the economic impact of the resort is already being felt island-wide.

Range has a structured corporate responsibility programme that has seen Range’s acceptance into the local communities in which it operates. Recently, Range has supported the reconstruction of the Dominica Women’s Centre, CALLs and the Cabrits Pier, as well as awarding a number of education scholarships.

Range Developments is an international property developer focusing on high-end hotel resorts in the Caribbean that are well-designed, sustainable and desirable.

Its flagship project, Park Hyatt St Kitts, opened to guests on November 1, 2017. This luxury resort has received multiple awards and has been widely recognized in the international media. CNN has singled it out as “the Best Hotel in the Caribbean”, with Forbes naming it “a grand Caribbean debut that was well worth the wait”. It has been included in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2018 hot list “Best New Hotels in the world”.

Range Developments will also start construction of a Six Senses resort in St Kitts later this year.

----Caribbean News Now

is Not the End of the World

he Minister for Health and Wellness has called on Saint Lucians to be more optimistic about their outlook on HIV Epidemic.

The fear surrounding the emerging HIV epidemic in the 1980s largely persists today. Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, said, “We must not be scared of the future. If we quicken the pace, we can reach 30 million with HIV treatment by 2020.”

“HIV is not a death sentence,” were the spoken words of Health Minister, Sen. the Hon. Mary Isaac, whilst addressing media personnel at the Caribbean Cytometry and Analytical Society (CCAS) 15th summit opening cocktail reception in Saint Lucia. The summit was from August 26 to 30, 2018 under the theme, “From Care to Cure: Towards the Elimination of HIV”.

Minister Isaac continued, “We still have so much stigma attached to persons living with HIV to the point where a lot of people don’t even want to come out to be treated. Tonight we have heard about getting tested and treated and that is so very important and vital for that segment of society.

“Many Saint Lucians still believe that being infected with HIV is a death sentence and it is good that CCAS is here to educate at least the people who will be participating, to educate them that it is not a death sentence, there is help, there is hope and you can continue to live a very healthy and long life even if you are infected with HIV. So, for Saint Lucia, this is a very important event that is taking place right here and hope that it’s out to the public.”

Meanwhile, Chairman of the CCAS, Professor Clive Landis, assures Saint Lucians,

and by extension Caribbean people, the HIV treatment works: “Currently we treat HIV patients and we can save their lives and I want to just repeat that because it is very important. HIV has long ceased to be a death sentence; you can live very well with HIV. But the key point is that when someone is on treatment with HIV then they also become non-infectious because the HIV is suppressed in their body and cannot be transmitted, and we know that because in parts of the Caribbean we’ve been very successful at suppressing HIV in women’s bodies who are pregnant and they cannot transmit the virus to their own child.

“So there are now seven countries in the Caribbean which have been certified by the WHO as having eliminated HIV transmission from pregnant mothers to their children and the basis of that is very simple.

The treatment of HIV in the moms' bodies suppresses the virus to the point where it cannot be transmitted to the baby and the baby is free from HIV.

“The same thing happens with sexual transmission of HIV. If the person who has HIV is on treatment then that person, he or she, cannot pass the virus on to their sexual partner.

"And so the minister has reminded us to be a bit more positive about where we are right now in the HIV epidemic; we can save lives and when we place people on treatment, we can inhibit the spread of the disease.”

Health officials are stressing the fact that the elimination of HIV is a community effort and are calling for the elimination of societal barriers as they deter people from coming forward for treatment.

THE STAR

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Recollections Of A Retire

A chapter from Restored Con

M

y first posting on duty as a member of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force was at Port Police Station which later metamorphosed into Central Police Station located on Bridge Street, Castries. I spent about one week performing beat duties at Central. Beat duties generally entailed patrolling the streets of Castries and other related security functions as well as guarding the mortuary at Victoria Hospital in the event of unnatural death cases. Yes, I had to stand guard to ensure no one steals the dead from the hospital.

My transfer to the Special Services Unit coincided with a period of heightened political activity in the region. Saint Lucia had just had its general elections the year before, after a most tumultuous campaign.

The Progressive Labour Party, led by the late firebrand George Odlum, was allegedly involved in recruiting Saint Lucians for special training in Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya.

The day’s United Workers Party government worried that Saint Lucians were being recruited for purposes inimical to Saint Lucia’s security. I recall a tense stand-off between the police and those involved in the suspect activity. The SSU was placed on full alert and the passports of the Libya-bound “students” confiscated at the airport in Vigie.

The genesis of the incident appeared to be eighteen Saint Lucians who were issued with travel tickets which would enable them to travel to Libya via Martinique and France.

According to government officials, those young Saint Lucians were part of a group of people from the Eastern Caribbean who were to travel to Libya for military and terrorismrelated training. Their travels, according to media reports at the time, were ostensibly to take part in “cultural activities in France”. On the day of their intended departure, a total of fourteen of them showed up at the Vigie Airport in Castries

where their passports were promptly confiscated by the local immigration authorities.

The group was also denied exit certificates by the Inland Revenue Department in Saint Lucia.

This stand-off represented my first foray into operational policing. To be fair, I played no particular role apart from being present and observing how my more senior colleagues handled the situation. It all ended well but one obvious lesson was the threat of terrorism: it was not on the radar of law enforcement but has since become a significant global concern. It was also apparent that there was political agitation from radical and progressive leaders across the sub-region.

Political figures such as George Odlum from Saint Lucia, Ralph Gonsalves from St. Vincent, Tim Hector from Antigua and Walter Rodney from Guyana come readily to mind as being very active during that period.

It was also around that time that the United States of America, backed by some Caribbean governments, invaded Grenada. The invasion, under the code name “Operation Urgent Fury”, was intended to restore democratic governance to the independent Caribbean island of Grenada. That nation's prime minister, Maurice Bishop, who led a revolutionary government, and some members of his administration were held under house arrest by a group of dissidents headed by his deputy, Bernard Coard, and his chief lieutenant, Hudson Austin. Things came to a head on October 19, 1983 when Prime Minister Bishop and a number of officials were released from house arrest by a large crowd sympathetic to Bishop. The exuberant crowd then marched on to Fort Rupert, the then seat of the Grenada government, in an effort to regain power. In response, the dissidents lined up Bishop and his senior officials against a wall at Fort Rupert and shot them execution-style. Despite

many efforts, the bodies of Prime Minister Bishop and others executed with the prime minister have never been recovered.

Reacting to the turmoil, a request was made of the United States government by some Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders for the restoration of constitutional government in Grenada. On October 25, 1983, an invasion force comprising military troops from the United States, Jamaica and the Regional Security System descended on Grenada.

Regional police officers, including from Saint Lucia, were quickly mobilized to be part of the initial invasion force. I was part of the second wave of Saint Lucian police officers that travelled to Grenada in January 1984. The war with the then People’s Revolutionary Army of Grenada had already ended and our role was essentially to keep order.

As a young police officer, peace-keeping duties in Grenada was for me quite an experience. We travelled to Grenada aboard a United States military aircraft. The war was over but the country was still very raw, with firearms and ammunition all over the place.

My tour of duty, which lasted about six weeks, was spent at Fort Rupert overlooking the capital city, St. George's. This was the compound where former Prime Minister Bishop and some of his colleagues had been set up against a wall and shot to death. Numerous stories were told of people who died during the massacre as they attempted to escape by jumping the high walls surrounding the fort.

Our duties were not very challenging as there were not many situations of confrontation relating to our functions. What we encountered were a few not out of the ordinary personality clashes and in some cases outright negative behaviour among our contingent. With everyone carrying a highcalibre rifle at all times, there

were some tense moments with the possibility of disaster breaking out at any time. I recall one incident towards the end of our stay when some us decided to “steal” a military jeep driven by one of our colleagues so that we could go to the north coast of Grenada.

I emphasize the word steal since the vehicle was US Army property that been assigned to the driver strictly for purposes of work. Additionally, it was an easy matter matter to start these vehicles without ignition keys. On the night before our escapade, we removed the vehicle from its usual parking spot to an area a little further down the hill. The plan was to sneak out in the early morning hours and set off on our joyride. Everything went according to plan until we boarded the vehicle. Suddenly we heard gunshots coming from the top of the hill. I assumed they were fired by the officer who had custody of the vehicle. Thankfully, we were not impacted; we drove off. But I couldn’t help thinking how differently things might have ended had the American soldiers, who were camped not far away, themselves opened fire in retaliation.

The Grenadian people made the peacekeepers feel particularly welcome. They went out of their way to treat us well and were thankful for our efforts at keeping their country safe. I cannot recall a single incident of public protest or negative comments about our presence among them. New friendships were made involving the visiting police officers; loved bloomed. Marriages resulted, as did children. It really was something to see, that despite what they were going through, they remained as hospitable as are Caribbean people generally.

The invasion of Grenada

by Reagan’s US Marines and regional peacekeepers was a blessing in disguise in terms of the military and financial

Former Police Commissioner Vernon Francois, twice declared STAR Person of the Year, has written a riveting account of his life as a policeman—including his perspective on the genesis of Operation Restore Confidence and its aftermath!

THE STAR

september 01, 2018

COMMENT

www.stluciastar.com

13

red Police Commissioner

onfidence by Vernon Francois

clared of his esis of

support we received from the United States. The so-called Cold War between the United States and Russia was still raging and there was a real concern about the influence of Cuba-inspired communism in the region. At the time there were prominent and influential politician in Caribbean countries such as Guyana, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, determined to make the shift from capitalism to socialism. The United States government was committed to doing whatever it considered necessary to ensure what had occurred in Grenada would not be repeated anywhere else in the region.

Another obvious concern for the United States government at the time had to do with the proximity of the Caribbean region to Nothr America. This was particularly relevant as relates to the trafficking in illegal drugs, principally cocaine. The region has long been considered a transshipment point for drugs emanating from South and Central America, destined for North America. It was in the American interest to ensure police forces throughout the Caribbean were prepared to deal with all threats, real or imagined.

As a response to the threat of Cuban influence and the transshipment of drugs in the region, the United States moved towards providing funding and overall strengthening of the Regional Security System. This reflected itself in terms of joint training opportunities such as Trade Winds exercises. On the national level, the Americans contributed to the strengthening of Special Services Units and Drugs Units in the various islands.

More sophisticated weapons were provided to these Units and there was a shift through training to change the focus from aimless destruction of local marijuana to a more intelligence-driven policing effort. There were many extended meetings with the Americans in consideration of many areas of training and equipment for police forces in the Regional Security System area. The Special Services Unit was transformed to a

department staffed and trained to tackle the modern demands of policing. This assumed immense significance due to the fact that there was no stand-alone defence force in Saint Lucia. The SSU’s role became paramount as the military arm of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force. The Special Services Unit would have been transformed to a greater emphasis on brains than brawn—even though there will always be in policing a place for brawn.

The Marine Units in the region also benefitted tremendously in the postGrenada invasion period.

Their role as protectors of our porous marine borders was accentuated and they received tremendous American assistance, both in the area of training and equipment.

There was no doubt the bulk of the drug trans-shipment was conducted via our marine routes. Boats for both transportation and for pursuing drugs offenders at sea were provided on concessionary terms by the United States. In addition to technical training for use and maintenance of these vessels, training was also made available at the management level of the police forces.

A few months after my return from Grenada, I was transferred to the local Control Room at Police Headquarters, Castries. It was interesting work as this was, and still is, the communication hub of the force. Notwithstanding, I cannot help but think my career in policing actually started when I was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Department, then located at Port Police Station on Jeremie Street, Castries.

Until my assignment to the Criminal Investigations Department, which was about seven years into my career as a police officer, I had never been involved in investigative policing. I had little or no opportunity to attend court. In

consequence, Superintendent Kenwin Collins, who was at the time Officer in Charge, assigned me to understudy retired Superintendent Gregory Montoute, a senior constable.

I profited greatly from the experience of Mr. Montoute and the other senior officers of the Criminal Investigations Unit. I subsequently had the privilege to lead some of those officers in various capacities including as Commissioner of Police.

In consideration of my deficiency in the area of investigative experience, I made a specific effort to be the best investigator I could be. I initiated the process by identifying the better investigators around at the time and utilized their experience.

I recorded statements and drafted charges to be reviewed by more senior officers. I recall taking a search warrant I had prepared for perusal by retired Superintendent Headen Lionel, who was at the time a Corporal in the department. The drafting of the warrant was a product of copy work as it was customary to prepare such documents from existing copies. Having enquired about the origin of the document I had presented him, Mr. Lionel redirected me to the Criminal Code of Saint Lucia.

Suffice it to say, I discovered the format I had inherited and used as my model for a number of documents including search warrants did not coincide with the law. Lesson learned,

I acquired my own copy of the Criminal Code and other relevant legislation. It turned out copies of the Criminal Code were in short supply. I received mine from my brother Martinus who was then pursuing legal studies in England. Times have changed; today the Criminal Code of Saint Lucia is readily available online—as are local newspapers that back in the day I mailed to Martinus religiously every week.

Acquiring my own workrelated literature contributed considerably to the criminal investigator I became. My

progress as an investigator was also influenced by the dedication to duty on the part of some of the supervisors I encountered there. I recall before the commencement of the day's shift, particularly on mornings, discussion ensued on the status of cases under investigation and we devised ways of tackling various investigations. That sense of commitment extended to the follow-up investigations and the submission of case and investigation files. As detectives, when we were off duty (if there was ever such a thing) we avoided the area on Jeremie Street where our office was located. Otherwise we were likely to be hailed by an eagle-eyed supervisor who would then insist on our completing a file or updating him on an investigation. Tough, yes, but from all of that I learned many lessons that served me well as I advanced my policing career.

I recall an incident during my early days as a detective: I was on duty about 1.00 a.m. when a homicide report was made to the department. The incident allegedly had taken place at a dance at Boguis, a community situated a fair distance from the city of Castries. About four of us left for the scene aboard a Suzuki jeep that passed for a police vehicle. Upon arrival, the scene was processed and the body loaded aboard the open-backed vehicle. On our way back we received information concerning the suspect's residence. The other more senior police officers quickly disembarked at the indicated address, leaving me behind in the dark with the corpse, at 2.00 a.m. in a near uninhabited area. Even though I knew there was nothing to fear from a lifeless body, still I was ready to leap out of that Suzuki had that corpse, for whatever scientific reason, as much as moved a toe. In time I would become quite accustomed to being alone in the dark with the departed!

The popular word is that Restored Confidence, even before its actual publication last week, had attracted buyers throughout the Caribbean and the diasporas. Is anyone surprised?

I learned from my earliest days in criminal investigations the value of human life. I learned never to think of myself as being more important than another person. I have encountered people who in life were considered a cut or two above the rest. Then that person dies in circumstances that demand a post-mortem.

Suddenly the status that individual had enjoyed for a lifetime suddenly evaporates.

He’s just another slab of meat on some mortuary furniture. His body is cut and cracked open by the pathologist in the same way a he would a vagrant’s corpse.

This is something I always keep in mind.

I was also taught during these formative years to have an overall respect for all human beings. I aggressively and relentlessly pursued criminals

during the course of my work.

I never actually despised them. I fought their deviant and abhorrent behaviour.

Notwithstanding, I treated them with dignity when they were in my custody. I never violated the rights of criminals. I dealt with them professionally while pursuing justice.

I have always believed the role of the police in the criminal justice system is to investigate cases and submit their findings to either the Director of Public Prosecutions or directly for judicial review. I have never accepted the violation of the rights of criminal suspects as a tool to solve or reduce crime. In fact, a number of the criminals whom I arrested in my time retain a high level of respect for me. Some I have been given reason to count among my friends.

14 comment

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september 01, 2018 THE STAR

UN Global Goals—Taiwan can help

By Jaushieh Joseph Wu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan)

T

he 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted at the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, set bold goals to shift the world onto a sustainable, resilient path. The UN also pledged the formation of a revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development including all countries, all stakeholders and all people, so that no one would be left behind.

Despite such a pledge, Taiwan’s 23 million people have been left out of this global effort. This violates the principle of universality upon which the UN was founded and deprives Taiwan as well as the international community of opportunities to work together for the common good.

Taiwan, though not being allowed to participate in the UN’s meetings, activities and

mechanisms, has never shirked its duties as a responsible stakeholder. In line with the Agenda’s recommendation, Taiwan has released its first Voluntary National Review last year, detailing our wholeof-government approach to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The concrete results we have achieved include alleviating poverty, zero hunger, reducing the percentage of low-income households to under 2 percent, cutting the maternal mortality rate to just 11.6 per 100,000 people and under-five child mortality rate to just 2.4 per 1,000, and improving our literacy rate to 98.7 percent. All of these are well above UN SDG standards.

Taiwan also provides development assistance to other countries. Through the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF), Taiwan’s official development assistance organization, we have launched various programs in the Pacific, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and

the Caribbean. These programs aim to help countries in these regions to achieve clean energy, food security, food safety, sustainable agriculture, better education, health and well being for all age groups, and disaster reduction and adaptation. TaiwanICDF also works with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to assist countries in Central Asia and Central and Eastern Europe to develop market economies and a green economy.

While Taiwan’s valuable contributions have been widely acclaimed around the globe, the UN continues to ignore what Taiwan can offer.

Taiwan’s tourists, experts and professionals are denied entry into UN premises simply because the UN does not accept the Republic of China (Taiwan)’s passport, which is recognized by almost every country in the world. The UN has refused to accredit Taiwan’s journalists covering its meetings and activities, yet the work of such people is in the

interests of the people of Taiwan and the world.

We are extremely disappointed that the UN continues to misuse 1971’s General Assembly Resolution 2758 (XXVI) to justify Taiwan’s exclusion and isolation. As we have pointed out before, this resolution neither addresses the issue of representation of Taiwan and its people in the UN system, nor defines the relationship between Taiwan and China. The so-called one-China principle has been

challenged by many UN Member States. It is wrong for the UN, an organization created to serve all of humankind, to unilaterally define Taiwan’s status.

Article 1 of the UN Charter proclaims that the purposes of the organization are to “achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights."

At this critical juncture when humankind is facing multiple

challenges, global cooperation that includes all countries, all stakeholders, and all people is ever more important. By excluding a willing and able partner like Taiwan, the UN not only violates the fundamental human rights of Taiwan’s 23 million people but also greatly harms human welfare. To ensure the UN remains relevant to all people, the organization should stand up to external pressures and open its doors to Taiwan.

Greg Norman pleased with work at Sandals Golf Course, Cap Estate

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Greg Norman (front left) touring Sandals Golf Course to review the progress of enhancement work.

L

egendary Golfer Greg Norman, whose company is overseeing the upgrade of the Sandals Golf and Country Club course at Cap Estate, says he is pleased with the progress being made so far.

Norman and a team of officials visited Saint Lucia recently to have a look at how enhancement work has been progressing on the 18-hole Championship course, in keeping with a promise made

by Sandals Chairman Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart to create a world class golfing facility for Saint Lucia. Norman has worked with Sandals in the past to develop the highly acclaimed championship course for the resort company at its Exuma,

Bahamas hotel.

When Sandals formally announced it was going to upgrade the Saint Lucia facility earlier this year, Norman gave it his full blessing and boasted of the potential he saw. “What I’m especially proud of is the diamond in the rough that we have out there,” he said, “and I mean that in all sincerity. For us to be able to pull this diamond out of the rough is very special to us.”

Work to pull the diamond out started a few weeks ago, and has been progressing steadily since.

When complete, the course is expected to enhance Saint Lucia’s tourism offerings, with hope that the country may

even be able to host several PGA tournaments in the near future.

The upgrade of the Sandals Cap Estate Golf and Country Club will be executed in two phases covering nine holes in each. This means the golf club will not be closed to Sandals guests, club members and other golfing enthusiasts. Sandals Golf and Country Club Manager Simone Skinner explained that both phases will be further dissected with works taking place incrementally on three holes and three tee boxes and associated irrigation in each. Roads, bridges and golf paths are also being redeveloped.

THE STAR

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september 01, 2018

Saint Lucian Students Begin Tourism Course

T

he Omegos International Educational Institute (OIE) is a Saint Lucian tertiary education institution founded in 2017.

Headquartered at Barnard's Hill, Castries, the school offers various Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) programmes including Biology, Communication Studies and Business Management, which include mandatory courses in soft skills and public speaking.

In collaboration with US-based Black Hills State University (BHSU), the institution began offering the Tourism and Hospitality Management programme.

Executive director of OIE, Mr. Rhikkie Alexander, elaborates: "We recognize that throughout the tourism industry there's a gap in management training. OIE has partnered with BHSU to offer a highly globally accredited programme in Tourism and Hospitality Management. Although people are excellent at housekeeping, bartending and so on, the management aspect is what we realized was lacking. We collaborated so that our people can get an opportunity to rise to the management level. The fact is that tourism is the mainstay of the economy; we must ensure that we put our people in a position where they can

T

Farming: A Noble Occupation

Programme Co-ordinator Dr. Hyunsuk Choi (left) and Mr. Rhikkie Alexander, Executive Director OIE.

access management jobs and opportunities, not just entrylevel."

By Alexander’s telling, the one-year programme will be based online to be undertaken by a maximum of thirty students. "It's not one of those programmes where you have hundreds of students; this will ensure that each student is given individual attention. Also, those who have access to their own computers will do the course at home but we are also providing a space at the Omegos School at Barnard Hill,

where students who don't have access will be able to get their work done."

On August 27, students were offered the opportunity to meet the programme coordinator, Dr. Hyunsuk Choi, an experience which Mr. Alexander described as “unprecedented for an online programme".

"The first day was so impressive,” said Dr. Choi. “I could see their passion and their eagerness to learn about tourism. Some of them have worked in the industry but they

have never had the knowledge for managerial positions."

R'Montay Regis is one of the thirty students enrolled in the programme. "I love getting to meet new people and interacting with them as well,” he said. “In hospitality I will get that opportunity and I'm ready for the challenge. I really enjoyed the class. The professor is very interactive, he knows what he's about and the classroom setting was perfect."

--JSA

CHTA Engages on Recovery Plans at Clinton Global Initiative he Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) was out in full force recently for the second formal meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Action Network on Post-Disaster Recovery.

As this year's hurricane season approached its peak months, a number of the Association's senior officials were among more than 350 leaders from government, business and civil society who participated in the important discussions convened by President Bill Clinton on August 7 amid various Caribbean nations' continued revival from hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

CHTA President Patricia Affonso-Dass led a delegation that included CHTA Immediate Past President Karolin Troubetzkoy; Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Ledesma; Chief Marketing Officer Matt Cooper; Director of Membership Development, Martha Valdivia; and Director

15

of Communications, Adriana Serna to the CGI forum at the University of Miami.

As part of CHTA's multi-pronged and ongoing efforts to help islands recover from last year's devastating hurricane season, the Association's representatives contributed to many executive sessions which focused on continuing preparations for this year's storm activity and on addressing long-term recovery needs. Various sessions aligned with CHTA's strategic vision, including Being Prepared for Quicker Assistance, Building Long-Term Resilient Energy Systems and Investing in Workforce Development.

CHTA's involvement in CGI's deliberations followed closely on the heels of its announcement with non-profit organisation, Tourism Cares, that their joint initiative—the Caribbean Tourism Recovery Fund—has raised more than US$275,000 in charitable donations to build long-term recovery and enhance the ability of hurricane-impacted destinations to rebound as quickly as possible. Donors' generosity has facilitated assistance to Caribbean nationals for training and education, restoring destination capacity, the physical restoration of tourism-related infrastructure, social enterprise development, job creation, hotel training, voluntourism, marketing and public relations support, and the environment.

Meanwhile, CHTA has produced a Disaster

The CHTA team attends the Clinton Global Initiative Action Network on Post-Disaster Recovery.

Preparedness Manual, which is in the process of being released to industry stakeholders.

The purpose of the guide, financed by both the Caribbean Tourism Recovery Fund and Expedia, is to supplement local efforts to develop communications preparedness and the response and recovery process for CHTA members, national tourism organisations, and public and private sector industry stakeholders before, during and after a potential disaster.

If you ate today then thank a farmer.

O

ne of the greatest hurdles of agricultural advocacy is convincing people to see the importance of farmers.

It’s not as thrilling as the stories of helping refugees crossing the Mediterranean for a better life, or stopping female genital mutilation in sub-Saharan Africa but, in many ways, it is just as important because it impacts our daily lives. To some, farming may not even be considered a profession, and to many it may just be a trade passed down from generation to generation for survival. Today, most farmers discourage their own children from following suit because it has become less and less economically rewarding.

While this is not only a problem in Saint Lucia, what worries me is that with fewer and fewer people involved in agricultural production, the less control we have in the foods that we consume on a daily basis.

Think of the number of diseases transmitted through food or the number of times that GMO foods have been linked to cancer or terminal illnesses. Food is one of the main preventive treatments in healthcare and yet we rely increasingly on exported foods (whose production modes are questionable) and less and less on local producers.

More so, when one-fifth of the population feel that their profession is undermined and their place in society is in the outliers, it would be logical to see why most are straying away from farming. But with a foodimport bill that we genuinely cannot afford, continuing down

this path can only lead to higher food prices and a larger number of Saint Lucians going hungry every day.

So, what can truly change the perception of what a farmer represents? Foreign partners like Taiwan are the blueprint; with 24% of Taiwan’s land used for farming, and agriculture as one of its main industries, Taiwan’s agricultural sector contributes significantly to its economy and it has even been referred to as the Silicon Valley of Agriculture, in reference to the increasing use of technology in farming. But it all starts with perception; if our farmers are respected for their value— which is ensuring food security, improving food costs and guaranteeing healthy outputs— while being assured a stable income, only then can we see an increase in persons entering the agricultural sector. Think of it this way: “If you ate today, thank a farmer.”

Keithlin Caroo— Helen’s Daughters Helen's Daughters is a Saint Lucian non-profit with a special focus on rural women’s economic development through improved market access, adaptive agricultural techniques, and capacitybuilding. 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 page: helensdaughters.slu Instagram page: helensdaughters.slu Website: helensdaughters.org

16 ENTERTAINMENT

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september 01, 2018 THE STAR

Dennery Segment On The Move, Courtesy Taxpayers

T

he imagined image of a member of the much discussed Dennery Segment is a young man in tight jeans and a graphic T-shirt cavorting suggestively up and across a stage, spewing double entendre but catchy lyrics.

Whatever else may be said about the group’s membership, they are undeniably popular, their performances are fun and their sometimes five-worded choruses always infectious.

Especially at carnival time, Dennery Segment songs stir male and female hearts and other body parts to go where they’ve never been before— including splits that only the fittest of gymnasts would dare attempt. So, to hear them opening in prayer on Monday, at the opening of a two-day workshop, instead of their usual “bend dong for the hmm” was something a shock for those

in attendance, your reporters included.

Sixteen members of the Dennery Segment, also referred to by the organisers as “The Boys,” were on hand to receive tips from seasoned campaigner Ronald ‘Boo’ Hinkson and the Tourism Authority’s Clinton Reynolds, among others, on a range of subjects: stage presentation to public speaking, teamwork and marketing.

Doubtless what they heard will serve the Dennery Segment well during their US summer promotional tour.

Shannon Lebourne of Empire Media is the project co-ordinator of the US tour. He said, “Our guys see now it’s not just another gig they’re about to undertake. They know now they have an opportunity to be career musicians, career artists with a sustainable future for themselves and their families.”

Boo Hinkson offered the artists valuable advice on how to register their music, keeping in mind that the industry was one without pensions. Good management, therefore, is essential.

Shannon Lebourne: “The demand for these artists is tremendous. People across America want to see our Dennery Segment artists, to put faces to the sound that has captured so many hearts at home and abroad. People want to get to know who these boys are.”

Despite that some Saint Lucians would have the music of the Dennery Segment X-rated, others see “The Boys” as effective promoters of Saint Lucia as a tourist destination.

“What stands out is the originality of their music,” said Lebourne. “Their lyrics, their rhythms, speak of Saint Lucia

Dolphin Dilemma: The Antigua and Barbuda Story Premieres in Saint Lucia

A

s part of the Saint Lucia National Trust’s (SLNT) efforts to advocate against the establishment of the proposed Dolphinarium in Saint Lucia, the Trust will stage a viewing of the film ‘Dolphin Dilemma: The Antigua and Barbuda Story’. This free event is slated for Wednesday, September 5, 2018 from 6:30 p.m.– 8:30 p.m. at the Finance Administrative Centre, Pointe Seraphine, Castries.

Following the viewing there will be a panel discussion and a question and answer session with Martha Watkins-Gilkes who is Executive producer of 'Dolphin Dilemma', one of the founders of the Antigua and Barbuda Independent Tourism Promotion Corporation (ABITPC) and renowned diver and marine activist; Howard Allen, Director, and Mitzi Allen, Producer of the award-winning Hamafilms Antigua; SLNT’s Director, Bishnu Tulsie, and Ian Joseph, President

of the Gros Islet Fisheries.

Whilst the Trust's attempts to ascertain the exact proposed location of the Dolphinarium, and other pertinent information, have been futile, it was informed earlier this year that the project is likely to go ahead.

Considering that the initial plan shared by the developers was for the waters off Pigeon Island, the Trust firmly believes that to proceed would be regressive and do more harm than good for our tourism industry. It would also affect our marine ecosystem, the livelihoods of close to one hundred fisher folks and their families, beach goers in the north—as the water quality would be compromised due to the dolphins' excretion—operators of whale and dolphin watch excursions and snuba diving operations.

According to Martha Watkins-Gilkes, “We are about to expand the film to tell the

Caribbean story in the hope of stopping Dolphin Discovery and other companies like it, from opening dolphinariums as tourism attractions."

Furthermore, she said, Saint Lucia is the latest island to consider adding a dolphinarium and activists want to put a stop to this. “Dolphin prostitution” as Watkins-Gilkes dubbed it, continues to be a lucrative business model but the damage to the water mammals, the environment and communities outweighs the profits to a few.

Whilst the event is free, the SLNT encourages interested persons to confirm their attendance at membership@slunatrust.org or doccentre@slunatrust.org or call 452-5005. There will be snacks and drinks on sale.

Meanwhile. view ‘Dolphin Dilemma: The Antigua and Barbuda Story’ trailer on YouTube.

After an educational workshop, Dennery Segment artists are now set to perform for their fans in the United States for the next six weeks.

and our history.” In short, let their critics cry in their bouillon; the Dennery Segment is what it is and obviously their countless fans love what they offer.

Lebourne’s sentiments bring to mind the careers of Elvis Presley, Little Richard, The Beatles . . . whose output was once considered drug-related, devil’s music. John Lennon was considered bad for American youth by Richard Nixon, and denied a green card, at least for a time.

The Dennery Segment artists are scheduled to do twenty shows in New York, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami and Texas.

But the group’s management expects the number will rise, judging by mounting interest by other US promoters. Audiences will range from 1,500 to 5,000 people, mostly from the Caribbean diaspora.

Of course, few Saint Lucian undertakings get off the ground without some taxpayer assistance—whether carnival or Mercury Fest. According to Lebourne, the group’s proposal to the government included several elements including visas, airfare, ground transportation and subsistence allowance. “There’s not a final figure on it. Initially the prime minister said he would fund

from his desk one element of the proposal. From the top of my head that’s about EC$40,000.

Other government support from the Ministry of Culture is in the tune of subsistence allowances.”

The overall cost for the trip is just over EC$100,000 after taking “creative measures” such as renting one house for accommodation instead of a 4-star hotel.

There is also private sponsorship from Digicel in the form of free phones to the entire delegation, waived roaming fees for the tour, branded T-shirts and US$2,000!

---Claudia Eleibox

St. Lucian Dancers Excel in Examinations

T

he International Dance and Drama Institute of St. Lucia (formerly known as the St. Lucia School of Ballet & Modern Dance) recognises and honours the achievements of students who, for the academic year September 2017 to July 2018, dedicated themselves to the discipline and study of the international dance syllabi of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD UK) in Classical Ballet and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD UK) in Modern Theatre Dance.

The students achieved a 100% pass in both genres, gaining distinctions and merits from the primary level up to advanced two— professional dance company

standard.

Examiners flew in from Canada and the UK on April 16 and May 31, 2018 and conducted the examination at the Cultural Development Foundation—the authorised examination centre for both international examining boards.

Students who were trained in the school’s Vieux Fort leg were also among the successful.

The International Dance and Drama Institute of St. Lucia is the oldest and most reputable dance school in Saint Lucia and within the nine member states constituting of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

The school is fast approaching its 40th year of operation in Saint Lucia in 2019.

Mrs. Theresa LowrieCollymore continues to direct and expand the dance school to the areas of Reunion and Mongouge, Choiseul. The goal is to bring dance education to all communities in Saint Lucia and still offer classes at the Cultural Development Foundation, Balata, Rodney Bay and Vieux Fort.

The Institute will be hosting its Christmas Concert at the end of November this year entitled "The Greatest Story Ever Told". Students both past and current, local artists and the Saint Lucia School of Music will be participating in the production. For we dance to enhance our island with the spirit of excellence!

THE STAR

www.stluciastar.com

september 01, 2018

entertainment 17

Aretha Franklin funeral: Stars and fans gather to say goodbye M

usicians, politicians, friends and fans have said goodbye to Aretha Franklin at her funeral in Detroit.

The gospel-infused service featured performances from Ariana Grande. Faith Hill, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan and others.

The atmosphere was both mournful and celebratory, with the crowd breaking into a spontaneous dance of praise at one point.

Franklin, known as the Queen of Soul, died on August 16. She was 76.

Tributes were paid by the likes of President Bill Clinton and Rev. Jesse Jackson, as well as fellow musicians and family members.

“One of my longest friends has gone home,” said fellow soul legend Smokey Robinson.

“You’re going to be one of the future voices in the choir of angels,” he told the singer, before breaking into an a capella rendition of his song Really Gonna Miss You.

Franklin’s son Edward sang Marvin Gaye’s Mercy, Mercy Me; while her niece Cristal remembered the aunt who “taught me bad shopping habits” and “chartered a bus so our family could go to President Obama’s inauguration”.

Ariana Grande sang one of Franklin’s signature songs (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman but elsewhere, the service was like a Who’s Who of gospel with powerful and uplifting performances from The Williams Brothers, Vanessa Bell Armstrong and The Clark Sisters.

President Clinton remarked on Franklin’s work ethic, saying: “Yeah, she had the voice of a generation, maybe the voice of the century . . . but she also worked for years when nobody was paying particular attention.

“She lived with courage not without fear but overcoming her fears.

“She lived with faith - not without failure but overcoming her failures.

“She lived with power - not without weakness, but overcoming her weaknesses.

“I just loved her.”

The five-hour service was due to begin at 14:30 BST but began almost an hour late, as the mourners took their time to filter into the Greater Grace Temple.

Aretha Franklin. Her casket arrived in a vintage white Cadillac ahead of her funeral on Friday.

(Getty Images)

Franklin’s family closed the lid on her coffin for the final time shortly before 16:30 BST, signifying the start of the ceremony.

“It took a little bit of time to get in here, but I believe the queen wouldn’t have had it any other way,” said Bishop Charles H Ellis, a family friend and pastor, who hosted the service.

Franklin’s contribution to the civil rights movement was honoured by Rev. Al Sharpton, who said: “She represented the best in our community and she fought for our community until the end.

“She gave us pride and she gave us a regal bar to reach.

And that’s why we’re all here.

We don’t all agree on everything but we agree on Aretha.”

He went on to rebuke President Trump, whose initial tribute to Franklin said, “she worked for me on numerous occasions”.

“No, she used to perform for you,” said the pastor. “Aretha never took orders from nobody but God.”

Outside of the Greater Grace Temple, there was an outpouring of love for the Queen of Soul.

Aretha Franklin fans lined up hours before sunrise to get one of the 1,000 seats open to the public for her star-studded funeral.

Many said that they never met her, but knew her intimately through her songs.

Her music continues to move Detroit; people on the street, in their cars and in their homes have been playing and singing her songs loudly.

In her 1985 hit single,

Freeway of Love, Aretha Franklin sang about cruising around in a pink Cadillac.

In her honour, the streets of Detroit were filled with more than 140 pink Cadillacs that were part of the funeral procession.

Dignitaries and legends may have attended her funeral, but it was the overwhelming admiration and gratitude of the public that underlined her impact on America.

Rev. Sharpton also read a tribute from President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, who were unable to attend the service.

“Through her voice, her

Smokey Robinson addressed his comments directly to Aretha.

own voice, Aretha lifted those of millions, empowering and inspiring the vulnerable, the downtrodden, and everyone who may have just needed a little love,” read his message.

Franklin’s body lay in state at the Charles H Wright Museum of African American History as thousands of fans gathered to pay their respects to the singer.

The star was dressed in a new outfit every day during the public viewing. For her funeral, she was in a sparkling fulllength gold dress with sequined heels.

Her body arrived at the Greater Grace Temple on Friday

morning, in a white 1940 Cadillac LaSalle hearse. It was the same vehicle that was used to carry Franklin’s father, Rev. CL Franklin in 1984; as well as civil rights activist Rosa Parks in 2005.

The singer was buried in a 24-carat, gold-plated casket made of solid bronze.

The interior is finished with champagne velvet, and stitched with her name and her title, “Queen of Soul”, in gold metallic thread.

A tribute concert, starring The Four Tops, Angie Stone and Regina Belle was also hosted at Detroit’s Chene Park on Thursday evening in her honour.

Speaking during the memorial service, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced the riverside venue would be renamed Aretha Franklin Park, so that “performers from generations to come” would be “reminded they are performing at the home of the Queen of Soul”. In a musical career spanning seven decades, Franklin won 18 Grammys, and had 17 Top Ten US chart hits.

She gave her final performance last November at a gala in New York held in aid of the Elton John Aids Foundation.

--BBC

Chester Dupre – Sandals Team Member and Community Ambassador

C

hester Dupre, Tennis Coach and Sandals Halcyon Team Member for over a decade, remains fully integrated in the delivery of first class service to his guests. Chester is the embodiment of what the hospitality sector should be, having some three decades of experience under his belt.

His defining feature has been his involvement in sports and community work. He has given many years of service to the Cricket Association; to football through the Black Hearts and Veterans Football Associations; the Athletics Association; Special Olympics; the Desruisseaux Youth & Sports Council; Tennis Association and the Southern Amateur Athletics Association.

Heavily involved in his Church through community services, he has been ministering to inmates at the prisons and feeding the elderly in the community.

Chester is the winner of many accolades including the Managers Award. He is a five-time winner of the Sandals Foundation Award and, importantly, Winner of the Most Nominated Trip Advisor Award. His most meaningful award is the recent Team Member project award, which gives him the right to execute a project in the community where he lives, in Babonneau.

“This is very important to me” he says, “because it allows me to do what I love,

for the company that I love. I submitted this project idea to the Sandals Foundation, and I won for my resort. This means that I have EC$5,000 to spend in my community, on a project that I think is worthwhile.

We are working with two contractors, one of whom has a daughter who attends the Babonneau Primary School, and the other contractor lives in the community.”

Chester’s project at the Babonneau Primary School will be conducted in two phases. “The first part is the construction of the railing for the steps leading to the top floor of the school. Then on the grounds, right across the entrance, is an open drain.

Many accidents have occurred

there as children fall into this constantly. We are now putting a concrete slab over this drain to protect the children.

“The second phase of the project we will do at the back of the school building where there is a severe drainage problem. Stagnant water remains on the grounds and is a breeding ground for mosquitos. This has been eradicated by placing a major drain to pick up the running water, and has fixed the issue of the standing water.”

Chester has derived immense pleasure from this team member project.

“Sandals has given me a wonderful opportunity to do something meaningful in my community and I am grateful.”

18 international

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september 01, 2018 THE STAR

Trump threatens to pull US out of World Trade Organization

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resident Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw the US from the World Trade Organization (WTO), claiming it treats his country unfairly.

"If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO," Mr Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

The WTO was established to provide rules for global trade and resolve disputes between countries.

Mr Trump says the body too often rules against the US, although he concedes it has won some recent judgments.

He claimed on Fox News earlier this year that the WTO was set up "to benefit everybody but us", adding: "We lose the lawsuits, almost all of the lawsuits in the WTO."

However, some analysis shows the US wins about 90% when it is the complainant and loses about the same percentage when it is complained against.

Mr Trump's warning about a possible US pull-out from the WTO highlights the conflict between his protectionist trade policies and the open trade system that the WTO oversees.

Washington has recently blocked the appointment of new judges to the WTO’s Genevabased dispute settlement body, which could potentially paralyse its ability to issue judgments.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has also accused the WTO of interfering with US sovereignty. It comes as President Trump set a deadline for Canada to sign a new agreement with the US and Mexico. He has threatened to tax the country's automotive sector or cut it out entirely.

The US president has been sounding off about unfair trade since even before he became president. Mr Trump said on Thursday that the 1994 agreement to establish the WTO "was the single worst trade deal ever made".

The US has been embroiled in a tit-for-tat trade battle on several fronts in recent months.

The one creating the most interest is with China, as the world's two largest economies wrangle for global influence.

Mr Trump has introduced tariffs on a number of goods imported into the US. A third round of tariffs on $200bn

(£154bn) of Chinese goods could come as soon as a publiccomment period concludes next week, according to a Bloomberg report citing various sources.

Asked to confirm this during the Bloomberg interview, President Trump said that it was "not totally wrong".

China has responded to US tariffs by imposing retaliatory taxes on the same value of US products and has filed complaints against the tariffs at the WTO. China's commerce ministry has said it "clearly suspects" the US of violating WTO rules. An initial complaint at the WTO was filed by China in July after Mr Trump imposed his first round of tariffs.

The WTO is at the heart of the system of rules for international trade. It is the forum for sorting disputes between countries about breaches of global trade rules and for negotiating new trade liberalisation.

The EU, meanwhile, is trying to steer the US towards reforming the WTO rather than abandoning it. Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's trade committee,

President Trump may have two caps in hand but he likes to boast that he is not one for begging.

told Politico magazine that it would submit plans to overhaul the organisation in September.

He said it would test whether the US was really interested in reform. "This is certainly about calling [America's] bluff," he said.

Mr Trump has not been a fan of multilateral trade agreements. In a 2016 presidential debate with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump described the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with Mexico and Canada as "the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere" and a "killer" of US jobs.

Once in office he said he wanted to renegotiate - not

scrap - the accord, triggering a year of talks.

On Monday, Mr Trump announced that the US and Mexico had agreed to revamp Nafta, calling it a "really good deal" that was "much more fair" for both countries.

Canada is yet to agree to the new terms.

On Thursday, Mr Lighthizer held talks in Washington with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland aimed at reaching a new deal.

Following four separate meetings, which continued late into the night, Ms Freeland told reporters that a deal could not be reached, adding that talks would resume on

Friday.

Also during his election campaign Mr Trump railed against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade deal that was a linchpin of former President Barack Obama's Asia policy.

Mr Trump said the deal was a "potential disaster for our country".

One of his first acts as president was to withdraw the US from the TTP, although he has since said he might consider rejoining if the terms were "substantially better".

---BBC News

COCONUT BAY STAFF MEMBER SELECTED TO NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM

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oconut Bay Beach Resort & Spa is elated and proud that a member of staff and Ace Striker on its Hard Nuts Football Team, Delon “Fiya” Neptune, has been successful in gaining selection to Saint Lucia’s National Football Team.

Delon has functioned as a key forward player with the Coconut Bay Hard Nuts Team over the past two years.

During this time he has played a key role in contributing to the team’s dominance of the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association’s (SLHTA)

Championship Cup.

Coconut Bay Hard Nuts is poised for a three-peat having won the championship over the past two years. The team is making a robust defence of its championship title in the competition which is currently underway as they continue to maintain their unbeaten record and dominance in the competition

Coconut Bay is pleased to loan Delon to the national squad as they prepare to participate in the 2018 CONCACAF (The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean

Association Football) Champions League qualifiers in the coming weeks. The resort looks forward to Delon registering his name on the match score cards in the upcoming CONCACAF competition.

All teams in the current SLHTA Championship Cup are placed on notice that Delon’s absence will in no way diminish the Hard Nuts’ fervour to achieve a threepeat in this year’s competition and in so doing place a permanent hold on the championship trophy.

THE STAR

september 01, 2018

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Exxon Mobil, Windrush Citizens Die before being returned Hess make to UK, says Jamaica another Foreign Minister discovery J

by Guyana amaica’s Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson-Smith says at least three people from the Windrush generation who were wrongfully deported from the United Kingdom have died before getting the chance to return to Britain, according to The Guardian newspaper.

The Windrush generation refers to Caribbean migrants who arrived in the United Kingdom between 1948 and 1971. The UK Home Office believes at least 164 Windrush citizens caught up in the scandal have either been incorrectly deported or detained by British authorities despite having the right to live in the UK.

And the Guardian reported that in the past week, the Home Office has presented Jamaica’s foreign ministry with a list of 13 people detained and removed

Exxon Mobil and Hess Corp.’s finding represents the ongoing expansion of the emerging oil development off the coast of Latin America.

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xxon Mobil and Hess Corp. said Thursday they’ve made their ninth oil discovery in the developing offshore fields of Guyana as Exxon continues to bank a chunk of its future in northeastern South America.

The find at the new Hammerhead-1 well represents the ongoing expansion of the emerging oil development off the coast of the Latin American country, which is immediately east of Venezuela, where political and economic instability have led to declining crude production there.

“The Hammerhead-1 discovery reinforces the potential of the Guyana basin, where Exxon Mobil is already maximizing value for all

stakeholders through rapid phased developments and accelerated exploration plans,” said Steve Greenlee, Exxon Mobil’s exploration president.

Exxon Mobil, headquartered in Irving, and Hess of New York said they hit oil at a well drilled nearly 14,000 feet at a deepwater depth of almost 3,400 feet. This represents the fifth discovery in the Stabroek Block in the past year.

Exxon Mobil said it estimates that it’s discovered more than 4 billion barrels of recoverable oil equivalent in the region.

Exxon Mobil and Hess, which have partnered in the country, could have up to five floating production, storage and

offloading vessels producing more than 750,000 barrels per day by 2025, the companies said.

A second drillship is due to arrive in Guyana in October to accelerate their exploration efforts.

The first development, called Liza Phase 1, is expected to begin producing oil by early 2020, and should churn out 120,000 barrels of oil a day.

Construction of that first floating production vessel is already underway.

The Hammerhead-1 is the ninth discovery offshore of Guyana made within the last three years.

---Chron

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in error from the UK. British officials have asked for help in contacting the relatives of the three people believed to have died.

Johnson-Smith said authorities were finding it hard to trace relatives, and described the situation as “heartrending”.

“We have just received the information that they are dead.

We have to find the families,” she told The Guardian.

British officials have informed their Jamaican counterparts that they have already made contact with eight of the surviving 10 people, and also asked for assistance in finding two other people who are believed to still be alive and living somewhere in Jamaica.

But the process of tracking people down has not been easy.

Johnson-Smith said it involved members of her staff driving to areas of the island in search of people believed to have been wrongly deported.

“There are no mobile numbers on the national registry. You might end up in a community, asking if people know the people who live beside them. It can be quite painstaking,” she told The Guardian. “Our team is on it every day.”

Home Secretary Sajid Javid last week vowed to issue apologies to the families of 18 people the Home Office deemed “most likely to have suffered detriment” as a result of the scandal.

The Home Office said once identified, the families of the three individuals wrongly deported to Jamaica who had since died would be issued with “personal apologies”.

It added officials were continuing to work with Caribbean governments and high commissioners to track down the 15 people considered to be urgent cases.

Son of St Kitts’ Government Minister Gunned Down

olice are hunting down the men who fatally shot the 32-year-old son of St Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Public Infrastructure, Posts, Urban Development and Transport, Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd on Monday night.

And Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris has called on anyone with information about the murder of Mickail ‘Mitch’ Liburd, the 20th person to be killed in the twin-island federation this year, to assist police in their investigations.

Reports indicate that Liburd was ambushed by masked gunmen who opened fire on him as he got out of his car, around 10:15 p.m. He tried to escape but collapsed in nearby bushes and died on

the scene.

In a statement issued yesterday, Prime Minister Harris, who is also Minister of National Security, encouraged citizens to provide any information they deem relevant to the investigation of the fatal shooting.

He also offered condolences to Minister Liburd, whom he described as his “trusted colleague and confidant”.

“My Team Unity Government and I lift up our beloved colleague and his whole family in prayer and ask God to heal the unimaginable heartbreak of having to bury a child. Minister Liburd can count on us to give him the emotional support needed during this

incredibly painful time,” he said.

“While tragedy knocks us to our knees, it also brings us closer to the people in our lives who will always be around to hold us by the hand and pick us up off the ground after we’ve fallen into despair.

Patches, I am here for you, the country stands with you, and our Cabinet will only grow closer in this ordeal.”

Liburd’s murder came just days after officers of the St Kitts and Nevis Defence Force were given policing powers, in government’s effort to step up its fight against crime.

--Caribbean 360

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september 01, 2018 THE STAR

Pope Francis refuses to answer question on ‘cover-up’ of child abuse allegations

ope Francis has refused to say whether he knew about child sexual abuse claims against the former archbishop of Washington, five years before his resignation last month.

Theodore McCarrick was forced to quit after a US church investigation determined that an accusation he had sexually abused a minor was credible.

He was one of the highestranking church officials accused in a scandal that has rocked the faith’s 1.2 billion adherents since reports of systemic abuse were first published by the Boston Globe in 2002.

Since his resignation, another man has come forward to say McCarrick molested him starting when he was 11, and several former seminarians have said he abused and harassed them when they were in seminary.

An 11-page text subsequently penned by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the Vatican’s retired

ambassador to the US, has subsequently claimed that Pope Francis has known about the allegations since 2013.

He claimed that that the pair had discussed the allegations against McCarrick at the time. McCarrick was already under sanction at the time, but Francis rehabilitated him, he said.

Asked about the document, the pontiff declined to confirm or deny the claims it made.

It “speaks for itself”, he said, adding that he would not comment on it.

He said he had read Archbishop Vigano’s document and trusted journalists to judge for themselves. “It’s an act of trust,” he said. “I won’t say a word about it.”

The National Catholic Register and another conservative site, LifeSiteNews, published Archbishop Vigano’s text over the weekend, as the Pope ended a two-day visit to Ireland dominated by the clerical sex abuse scandal.

There, Francis begged forgiveness for the “open wound” of church abuse in the country during an address to pilgrims at a shrine in Knock, Co Mayo. Later, in Dublin, he admitted the Catholic Church hierarchy had been guilty of cover-ups and failing to show compassion.

In his letter Archbishop Vigano, a conservative with well-known, hardline anti-gay views, urged the reformist Pope to resign over what he called Francis’s own culpability in covering up Mr McCarrick’s alleged crimes.

“Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses, and resign along with all of them,” the 77-year-old wrote.

Coupled with the devastating allegations of sex abuse and cover-up in a recent Pennsylvania grand jury report – which found that 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 children over 70 years in six

Pope Francis celebrates the Holy Mass at Phoenix Park, Dublin.

dioceses – the scandal has led to calls for heads to roll and for a full Vatican investigation into who knew what and when about McCarrick.

Archbishop Vigano apparently sought to answer some of those questions.

His letter identified by name the Vatican cardinals and US archbishops who were informed about the McCarrick affair. He said documents backing up his version of events are in Vatican archives.

The Vatican’s ambassador to the US from 2011 to 2016, Mr Vigano said his two immediate predecessors “did not fail” to inform the Holy See about accusations against Mr McCarrick, starting in 2000.

Archbishop Vigano said he himself sent at least two memos about him.

He said Pope Benedict XVI eventually sanctioned McCarrick in 2009 or 2010 to a

lifetime of penance and prayer, and to no longer celebrate mass in public or travel.

He said Francis asked him about McCarrick when they met on 23 June 2013, three months after he was elected to the papacy

The meeting took place at the Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel where the Pope lives, he added.

There, Archbishop Vigano claimed that he told the new pontiff: “Holy Father, I don’t know if you know Cardinal McCarrick, but if you ask the Congregation of Bishops, there is a dossier this thick about him. He corrupted generations of seminarians and priests, and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance.”

Shortly afterwards Archbishop Vigano wrote that he was surprised to find that McCarrick had started travelling on missions on behalf of the

church, including to China. He was also one of the Vatican’s intermediaries in the US-Cuba talks in 2014.

Archbishop Vigano’s claim that McCarrick had been ordered

by Benedict to stay out of public ministry and retire to a lifetime of prayer is somewhat disputed, given that he enjoyed a fairly public retirement.

But Archbishop Vigano insisted the sanctions had been imposed, and said a former counsellor in the embassy at the time was “prepared to testify” about the “stormy” meeting when Mr McCarrick was informed of them.

Barry Coburn, McCarrick’s civil attorney, said the allegations in the letter were “serious”.

“Archbishop McCarrick, like any other person, has a right to due process. He looks forward to invoking that right at the appropriate time,” he said in a statement.

---The Independent

Social media users are convinced Meghan McCain threw ‘side-eye’ at Pence during memorial

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ocial media was abuzz Friday about the look on on Meghan McCain’s face as Vice President Mike Pence spoke during a memorial service for her father, the late Sen. John McCain, in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda Friday.

It’s no secret that there is little love lost between the McCains and President Donald Trump. Trump was not invited to McCain’s memorial services, making the president’s loyal VP the highest-ranking member of the White House present at the Capitol ceremony.

“The president asked me to be here, on behalf of a

grateful nation, to pay a debt of honor and respect to a man who served his country throughout his life,” Pence said at the memorial.

Later, Pence added, “As President Trump said yesterday, we respect his service to the country.”

At that point during his remarks, Meghan McCain’s eyes appeared to snap on Pence. At almost that same point, people who were watching the service live began commenting on Twitter about her reaction, with some users describing as a “side-eye.”

Merriam-Webster defines

side-eye as, “a sidelong glance or gaze especially when expressing scorn, suspicion, disapproval, or veiled curiosity.”

Over the years, Trump, who did not serve in the military, has demeaned McCain’s status as a former prisoner of war, implied he gave up information to his captors and mocked injuries he sustained as a prisoner.

The president has kept his condolences to a minimum since McCain’s death last weekend.

Observers on Twitter were certain Meghan McCain was channeling some of her anger at Trump in Pence’s direction as he spoke.

---USA Today

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How coconut oil went from health food to “poison”

ver the past 10 years or so, coconut oil has become a mainstay as both a food and a personal care product. Goop mentions it in at least 168 articles, even going so far as to recommend it as a lubricant for sex. It’s also been recommended in the mainstream media for everything from cooking to skin care and even oil pulling, a technique involving swishing the stuff around in your mouth like a mouthwash for cleansing.

It’s become a darling of the socalled clean eating movement.

But a professor just declared that “coconut oil is pure poison” and “one of the worst foods you can eat.” Karin Michels, an adjunct epidemiology professor at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the director of the Institute for Prevention and Tumor Epidemiology at the University of Freiburg in Germany, made this statement during a lecture in German in July.

This isn’t the first time the health benefits of coconut oil have been questioned, but Michels essentially looked at past coco-phobes and said, “Hold my lager,” before dropping her hyperbolic descriptor. Michels’s is the latest shot in a long-running war about the healthiness of coconut oil in particular and saturated fats in general.

It all comes down to the debate about saturated fat.

Coconut oil contains a lot of saturated fat, which is the type that historically has been linked to heart disease. In June 2017, the American Heart Association (AHA) got cocophiles and nutritional scientists alike up in arms when it released an advisory statement warning against saturated fats.

The statement reiterated the association’s decades-long stance that people should cut back on these fats because they contribute to cardiovascular disease.

It specifically called out coconut oil in the report, noting: “Because coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol, a cause of [cardiovascular disease], and has no known offsetting favorable effects, we advise against the use of coconut oil.”

Plenty of experts disagreed with the AHA’s stance. The inherent unhealthiness of

saturated fat is a topic of much debate and fuzzy data in the scientific community. Saturated fat may not be as bad as we have always assumed, though data supports the fact that unsaturated fats, like those found in fish and vegetable oils, are definitely preferable and can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

How coconut oil became popular in the first place

Coconut oil has been used for thousands of years in tropical locales like India and Polynesia. European traders happened upon it in the 19th century and set up plantations in the Caribbean, South Pacific and Southeast Asia. It was widely used in cooking across the Western world until trade was cut off during World War II. By the 1950s, coconut oil had fallen out of favour after the first hypotheses about saturated fat and heart disease were proposed, according to the American Oil Chemists’ Society, an industry trade group.

More recently, in 1994 the Center for Science in the Public Interest published an analysis of movie popcorn. It claimed a large unbuttered popcorn had as much saturated fat as six Big Macs, largely due to the coconut oil it was popped in. Coconut oil remained a pariah until about the mid-2000s, when it started showing up in health food stores.

In 2011, a New York Times food columnist claimed the oil had “charmed” the health food world, attributing its growing popularity to vegans who used it as a butter substitute and scientists who were rethinking the evidence on saturated fat, as noted above. A representative from Whole Foods said in the article that coconut oil sales growth had been in the “high double digits” for the preceding five years.

Proponents really gave coconut oil a lift after data in a 2008 study suggested that subjects who ate an oil containing medium chain triglycerides (MCT) lost more weight than a control group who ate olive oil.

Coconut oil contains MCTs, though not in the amount that was used in the study. But weight loss potential became one of coconut oil’s claims

oil purists recommend using a non-refined version, saying that the refining process strips away potential antioxidant and antiinflammatory benefits.

Amid all this, more people started slathering it all over themselves, using it as a hair mask and moisturizer.

Commercial beauty products claiming to be “natural” incorporated it as an ingredient, and there’s even an upscale line of coconut oil products sold at Sephora called Kopari. Jared Leto and a slew of other celebrities invested in the brand.

A Harvard professor’s assertion that the oil is like “poison” is just one more battle in the coconut oil wars.

to fame. One of the study’s authors told Stat News: “I think the data that we’ve shown with medium chain fatty acids have been extrapolated very liberally.

I’ve never done one study on coconut oil.”

Soon, coconut oil took on the aura of woo-woo common

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in today’s wellness spaces. In addition to being a favourite in Goop articles, Dr. Oz touted its ability to “help our bodies mount resistance to both viruses and bacteria that can cause illness”.

It became popular in questionable diet plans. In his

book The TB12 Method, Tom Brady wrote that it was all he cooked with. It’s a core food in the Bulletproof diet, which proposes you drink coffee with butter and oil swirled into it.

It pops up as a recommended ingredient in the keto, Paleo, and Whole30 diets. Coconut

So will coconut oil kill me?

All the confusion and negative news seems to be taking a toll on the popularity of coconut oil. Sales started waning in 2015, according to the Washington Post.

Like all fats, coconut oil is high in calories. The truism for most things concerning diet holds up here: Saturated fats generally, and coconut oil specifically, are probably fine in moderation.

Calling something a poison is a great way to get YouTube views, but unless you stir-fry the coconut oil with some arsenic, it’s an exaggeration.

---Vox

Saint Lucia Selling Power Increases with SLEx

ince the revamp of the North American Saint Lucia Expert (SLEx) programme in the first quarter of 2018, Saint Lucia has experienced a tremendous growth in its selling power adding over 900 new registrants and 672 new SLEx graduates.

The new programme, with its three-tier system, awards the top producing travel agents and their agencies based on room nights sold with monthly cash prizes for the agent and marketing credit for the agency.

Another development within the new SLEx programme is its official translation into French and Spanish. “Having the SLEx programme translated into French for our Quebec-based agents is huge since there are over 1,500 travel agencies in the province of Quebec,”

said Rod Hanna, SLTA’s Sales Manager – Trade, Canada.

“Many indicate that the only reason they are not SLEx agents is due to the lack of information in their native language,” Hanna added.

The partnership to provide the translated programme also extends to all collateral material, press releases and industry updates marking another key development in the SLTA marketing strategy.

The programme is run through industry leader Recommend.com and features a host of multimedia tools offering an engaging learning experience to travel agents while providing them with exclusive access to key destination information and updates. “We are truly excited about the new format and are

elated with its rate of adoption,” stated Richard Moss, SLTA Sales Manager – Trade USA. “SLEx is building a competent, powerful salesforce which we, at the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, are proud to have to spread the word about the beauty and diversity of our destination.”

The SLEx programme has also become a powerful call to action as the SLTA continues its marketplace advancement strategy throughout North America. With every sales call made by marketing agents and at every trade show attended by the SLTA, travel agents are encouraged to become SLEx-certified. The recruitment push has yielded increasing numbers of agents signing up for the programme followed by an increase in bookings to the destination.

“North America continues to be our largest market and we are seeing the rewards from all our marketing efforts as we continue to experience increased stay-over and cruise arrivals, with strong forward bookings, reported. We believe that well-informed agents are best able to match their client’s needs to the ideal product.

We are pleased to see more travel agents and visitors are selecting Saint Lucia as their destination of choice,” stated Tiffany Howard, Acting CEO of the SLTA.

The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority encourages all travel agents to ‘Gain the Expertise, Earn the Benefits’ with its Saint Lucia Expert programme (SLEx). For more information, visit www.edu.recommend. com/saintlucia.

22 INTERNATIONAL

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september 01, 2018 THE STAR

Journalists debunk rumours on WhatsApp ahead of Brazil vote

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damning image was whipping around WhatsApp in Brazil: A photo of a black luxury jet labeled "the plane of Lula's son" — seeming proof of high living by the family of jailed former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is leading polls ahead of October's presidential elections.

The image was shared so often that a new fact-checking project known as Comprova set out to investigate — and quickly debunked it, tracing the jet's ownership all the way back to its date of manufacture. It was always US-owned and had never belonged to anyone in da Silva's family.

Fact-checking efforts have become increasingly common around the world due to concerns about the power of social media to spread disinformation and influence elections.

What's unusual about the effort by Comprova and other projects ahead of Brazil's October presidential election is the focus on messages spread via WhatsApp. It's

especially difficult to police the messaging app because users exchange information directly in an encrypted format, unlike more public platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, which have struggled with how to balance freedom of speech against preventing abuse.

While Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, sometimes removes accounts on its own platform accused of spreading misinformation, WhatsApp says it has no interest in policing private conversations — and that it can't anyway since they are encrypted.

On WhatsApp, rumours can gain added credibility since they're shared privately by people you know.

The issue is particularly thorny in countries like Brazil, where more than 120 million people use WhatsApp — more or less everyone who has access to the internet — making Latin America's largest country home to nearly one in 10 users worldwide.

Fact-checkers refer to WhatsApp as a "black box," where it's not even possible to know the extent of the problem.

"It's a battle in which we don't

know the size or strength of the enemy or even where he is," said Daniel Bramatti, the president of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism, and Comprova's spokesman.

When Comprova receives questions about a photo, video or piece of text — or it notices on its own that something suspect is receiving a lot of attention on social media — a team of journalists sets about checking it. The results are posted on Comprova's website and published by 24 news media organisations that participate in it it.

Comprova, which means "prove" or "check" in Portuguese, is supported

by First Draft, a project of Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy that has been involved with similar pre-election factchecking in Britain and France.

But this is First Draft's first concerted foray into the closedoff world of WhatsApp.

In separate initiatives, several Brazilian news outlets have also set up WhatsApp numbers where people can send questions or forward

suspect posts.

"If we manage to create a little bit of a culture of caution, of skepticism, of checking before sharing, verifying sources, I think we will already feel some difference," said Bramatti. "But really measuring the impact of this will be very difficult."

It's hard to overstate how important WhatsApp is to Brazilians. It's a place to say your dog ran away or that there's an accident on the main road out of town or that a school play was cancelled.

"WhatsApp is really a source for news coverage," said Yasodara Cordova, a senior researcher at the Digital Harvard Kennedy School. "You have tons of WhatsApp groups: You have the family group, the building group, the neighbourhood group."

The application helped independent truckers organise a nationwide strike earlier this year. But it has also been blamed for contributing to a yellow fever outbreak by amplifying rumours that the vaccine was ineffective or dangerous.

WhatsApp is particularly important for Brazil's poorer classes because it works on simple phones and many mobile

The Bombshell is out

ice, the achievements of Vernon Francois ed in a more peaceful country where gang . No longer was the city unsafe after 6.00 ction in murders from a high of forty-four nt Lucia did not record any murder in the three months on the job. He left his post their chosen profession and a remarkable members of the general public. Public stored.

MY JOURNEY IN THE ROYAL SAINT LUCIA POLICE FORCE

perience as a member of the Royal Saint e he climbed the ranks through hard work e interest in the welfare of his colleagues f all - Francois adopted a community Commissioner of Police. This resulted in nship between the police and the Saint a significant feature of his tenure. There criminal elements; “Boots on the Street” ent the visibly increased presence of the e areas. His untiring efforts at professional ed by his colleague police officers and the

elsewhere, fact-checkers are facing an unusually polarized, distrustful electorate. Many of the comments on Comprova's Facebook page are full of vitriol, accusing the project of one bias or another.

Many of its checks focus on claims about two of the most polarizing figures in Brazilian politics: Da Silva, who is serving a sentence for a corruption and money laundering conviction and is likely to be barred from running, and Jair Bolsonario, a far-right congressman noted for insulting women, gays and blacks. They are running first and second in polls, respectively.

Matheus Salustiano, a university student, said many people are so entrenched in their views that they resent fact-checkers. The 20-year-old has asked Comprova to check some material he received from the WhatsApp groups he belongs to. But he has stopped short of sharing debunked results with these groups.

"Because often you show that something is false, and people think, 'That is a lie,'" he said.

"It could negatively affect my relationship with these people.

It's sad to say this, but it's what happens."

---ABC News

Union seeks to protect jobs in Trinidad

RESTORED CONFIDENCE

leadership rce in May nted crime. ng to bring and gang other and he process. ces to avoid nts were in ntry’s main nder threat oving Saint robberies n the city. ually a war ay to being cian public he police to

phone plans allow people to use it for free, said Maria Martha Bruno of Chicas Poderosas, a group that has launched another fact-checking operation.

She said avoiding WhatsApp in fact-checking "is to speak to few people, and to speak to people who, in general, already have more access to verification tools."

WhatsApp itself has begun to try to slow the spread of false rumours. The company this year introduced a "forwarded" tag to let recipients know when messages don't originate with the sender. It is also testing limiting the number of messages a user can forward at one time — which could help clamp down on purposeful disinformation campaigns.

As it has in India, WhatsApp is planning an ad campaign ahead of the elections in Brazil that urges users to check messages that seem unbelievable and to think twice before sharing them.

"We think that reducing virality of forwarded content can help users by keeping WhatsApp the way it was designed to be, a private messaging app," Carl Woog, a company spokesman, said in an interview.

As in the US and

RESTORED

CONFIDENCE

MY JOURNEY IN THE ROYAL SAINT LUCIA POLICE FORCE

Vernon Francois Former commissioner of Police

Call for your copy today at The Star Tel: 450-7827

Ancel Roget (front, centre), president general of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), and other union members offering prayers before Thursday’s news conference.

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ASTEN your seat belts, the country is in for a rough ride!" And with these words, Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget on Thursday gave the government an ultimatum: reverse its decision to shut

down state-owned Petrotrin or call a general election now.

Roget said the trade union movement was ready to take on the government and Petrotrin’s board of directors to save the jobs of what he said were some 9,000 workers who would

be directly impacted by the shutdown of Petrotrin’s Pointea-Pierre refinery.

On Tuesday, Petrotrin’s board announced its intention to end oil refining at Pointe-aPierre.

---Trinidad Express

THE STAR

THE EASTERN CAIRIBBEAN SUPREME COURT IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE (PROBATE) SAINT LUCIA SLUHPB2013/0215 IN THE ESTATE OF Joel Scholastique Sidney aka Joel Sidney late of Bocage, Castries deceased

TO: Jody Alva Sidney Notice of Intention to make Application for Grant Durante Absentia Notice is given that after the expiration of fourteen (14) days Application will be made by AYSHA RAQUEL TIFFANIE DAVID to the registrar of the Supreme Court for a Grant Durante Absentia.

Dated this 20th day of August 2018 This document is filed by the law office of Veronica Barnard, Attorney at Law on behalf of the Applicant, whose address for service is No.10 Bridge Street, Castries, Saint Lucia, Telephone number 452-1772, Fax number 453-6245.

The court office is at La Place Carenage Jeremie Street, Castries telephone No. 468-7500 Fax. No. 468-7543. The office is open between 9:00 am and 2:00 pm Monday to Thursday and between 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Fridays except public holidays. The office can also be contacted via email sluhco@ eecourts.org

CLASSIFIED 23

www.stluciastar.com

september 01, 2018

Career Opportunity

FOR RENT

Accountant

1 unfurnished one bedroom spacious apartment for rent at Beausejour, Gros Islet

Amalgamated Security Services Limited is one of the leading security service providers in the Caribbean, headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago with subsidiaries in Barbados, Antigua, Grenada, Guyana and St Lucia. The Company provides a diversified range of security services and is looking for a dynamic individual for the position of Accountant in its subsidiary, Alternative Security Services (St Lucia) Limited.

Minimum Requirements: • A minimum of Level 2 ACCA or CGA or an accounting qualification of either an Accounting degree or an AAT or equivalent.

• 3 Years Experience operating at the level of accountant • Strong proficiency in the MS Suite, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Word • Good time management and organizational skills with respect to scope and scheduling of tasks • Experience with Peachtree software is preferred but experience with other accounting software will also be considered.

• Clean Police Record • St Lucia resident or have the legal right to work in St Lucia under the CSME. Job Location: • St Lucia Salary commensurate qualifications

$850.00 monthly.

No utilities included.

Contact:

724 7747 / 722 8563 / 520-1444

FOR SALE 2012 Kia Sorrento CRDI 2.2 Turbo AWD, Leather interior, Automatic/ Sport 6 speed Call: 519-0590

with

experience

and

Closing Date – Applications must be received by 14th September 2018 Applications along with resumes should be sent to hrapplications@assl.com Insert the Job Title in the subject line of your email Unsuitable applications will not be acknowledged

Selling a house? Have an apartment to rent?

Want your car sold?

ADVERTISE IT!!

Get great results with a STAR Classified Ad Call the advertising department

Tel: 450-7827 or Fax at 450-8690

For Sale 2013 Ford Ranger Limited 3.2, Automatic 6 speed Leather interior Call: 519-0590

PROPERTY FOR SALE Property for sale in Soufriere 2600 Sq ft.

4-Bedroom, 1 bath, laundry/ utility extension. Great location close proximity to all available amenities.

Potential for commercial use Serious buyers/ enquirers only Call:

286 6190

VEHICLE FOR SALE Silver Honda CRV, 1996 model good condition.

VACANCY DISTRIBUTION COMPANY INVITES APPLICATION FOR DRIVER. 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN DRIVING, VALID DRIVERS LICENCE, EXPRENCE IN DRIVING COMMERCIAL VEHICLE WILL BE PREFERED. APPLICANTS MUST BE 40 YEARS AND OLDER FROM THE SOUTH PLEASE SEND ALL APPLICATION TO: Warehouse C1F P O Box VF519 Vieux Fort LC12 201 St Lucia Or call Tel: 454-9445 between 9am – 4pm BEFORE AUGUST 31ST 2018

FOR RENT Furnished house for rent at Beausejour Phase 2.

3 bedroom, 2 bath, master bedroom, hot and cold water, cable, internet and parking.

Call:

518-6208

Online Classifieds Get maximum exposure for your dollar.

Place your classified ads in the STAR Newspaper and on our

Best price! Best offer!

website: www.stluciastar.com

Please call Mobile: 730 1844 or 720 5046 For viewing

Call the STAR at 450-7827 and ask for our sales department

SATURDAY, september 01, 2018

www.stluciastar.com

$2.00

Is Mr. Mayor Living Up To His Nickame?

S&S

LAYAWAY NOW AVAILABLE AT S&S THE PRICEBUSTERS

mini glass candles

$3.25

Come and apply for your S & S Loyalty Card

kerosene lamps

for $20.00

Bois D Orange • Castries • Vieux Fort www.facebook.com/the.pricebusters

led torch lights

for $8.00

folding umbrellas

for $11.00

4 panasonic aa batteries

for $4.25

mens rubber boots

$27.00

Also on special : jumbo ketchup dispensers $3.50, serving tongs $5, barbeque grills $105, plastic strainers $3, deep fryer baskets $5.75, wooden spoons $2.25, glass cleaners $4.50, fly trap rolls $2, door stoppers $4.75, folding mosquito nets $5.50, printed bedsheets $38, vegetable peelers from $2.75, airwick air fresheners $5

Printed and published by STAR Publishing Co. (1987) Ltd., Rodney Bay Industrial Estate, Massade, Gros Islet, P.O. Box 1146, Castries, St. Lucia, W.I., Tel: (758) 450-7827 Fax: (758) 450-8690, Email: info@stluciastar.com Website: www.stluciastar.com