FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Grynberg vs Commissioner Regis

"Why is Richard making a big fuss about the violation of the Minerals Act and he is “dumb” on the removal of Commissioner Regis from his post?"

Richard’s interpretation, application and pronouncements of/on matters of law can be as confusing as they are illogical.

Recently, he dubbed the Grynberg agreement with the Government of St. Lucia as a violation of the Minerals Vesting Act.

Section 4(1) of the said act reads as follows:

4.    Prohibition of prospecting and mining except by licence

(1)  A person shall not prospect for or mine any minerals except by authority of a licence granted by the Governor General and in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the licence.

Compare section 4(1) of the Minerals (Vesting) Act with Section 87(1&2) and Section 94 (1) of the St. Lucia Constitution. These are the laws that guide the appointment and/or removal of Heads of Departments within the Public Service.

They read as follows:

87.  Appointment, etc., of Permanent Secretaries and certain other officers:

(1)  This section applies to the offices of Secretary to the Cabinet, permanent secretary, head of a department of government, deputy head of a department of government, any office designated by the Public Service Commission as an office of a chief professional adviser to a department of government and any office designated by the Commission, after consultation with the Prime Minister, as an office the holders of which are required to reside outside Saint Lucia for the proper discharge of their functions or as an office in Saint Lucia whose functions relate to external affairs.

(2)  The power to appoint persons to hold or to act in offices to which this section applies (including the power to confirm appointments) and, subject to the provisions of section 96, the power to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices and the power to remove such persons from office shall vest in the Governor General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission.

94.  Police Force

(1)  The power to appoint a person to hold or act in the office of Commissioner of Police and, subject to the provisions of section 96, the power to remove the Commissioner from office shall vest in the Governor General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission.

If Kenny is guilty of a violation of the Minerals Act, then King is also and equally guilty of the violation of the constitution because the law says both scenarios require the approval of the GG.

Hence, why is Richard making that big fuss about the violation of the Minerals Act and he is “dumb” on the removal of Commissioner Regis from his post?

Whatever the outcome for those scenarios are, it is reasonable to assume that “Kenny’s errors” are apparently the standards of King and his government.

Meanwhile, look out for our next big feature titled “The Folly of Richard’s Royalty’s story”

MASSIVE LOOT IN CHOISEUL . . .

. . . leaves three Choiseul Fishermen in misery

The last time that Choiseul/Saltibus was hit by a crime wave was in the late 80s to the early 90s when an organized gang of “Ali Baba” criminals terrorized the constituency on an almost “house-to-house”, “night by night” basis.

In a normally peaceful, peace-loving and proud village, it was an invasion of nightly terrorism.

The criminals used a technique where they skillfully used a screw driver to dismantle a couple of louvre blades. They would then either open a door from the inside by pushing their hand or simply remove enough louvre blades to gain entry in the building.

Several homes and business places were robbed in that manner in the dead of the night.

Thank God for the young Sergeant Desir who was sent on a special assignment to help solve the problem; and indeed in less than two a weeks he did.

At a debriefing, we were told that the criminals disposed of their loot which comprised mostly of electronic items in St. Vincent,  exchanging it for drugs which were brought into St. Lucia.

Even our beaches were no longer safe for recreational fishers who carried out nightly coastline fishing there.

The closest we have come to this “magnitude” of crime and “village terrorism” was about 8 months ago when the criminals, being driven out of the city, started exploring unsuspecting communities in the south. But thanks to Sergeant Charlery, their attempts were nipped from the bud.

That atmosphere of terror and fear was revisited on Thursday morning (July 21) when three of our fishermen were terror-struck with open jaws when their outboard motors went missing.

The three victims are alleged to be “Hotter”, Darius and “Blanc”. The value of the loot is estimated to be over $40,000.

It represents a tremendous blow to the fishermen; and we have to link the loot to the negligence of the authorities in de-silting the pond and thereby denying access to the fishermen.

The pond provides safety and security not only from marine and weather threats but equally from predatory terrorists and criminals.

Not too long ago, the Japanese donated funds for the purchase of an excavator and dump truck to help in the periodic de-silting of the pond. The donation was made to the district rep who said that he deposited those funds with the Village Council.

But the fishermen have legitimately asked “why should it be the Village Council and not the management of Fisheries Co-op?” They believe that the Co-op has enough capacity and resources to undertake the de-silting of pond on their own.

Whatever it is, three fishermen have been left in misery. And who knows? It might well be the beginning of the unfolding of the drama.

Did the PM “wee-wee” in the nation’s eyes?

If anyone had any doubts about the stupidity of King and his government, then last night’s "Address to the Nation" brought the “chickens” home to roost. And more and more Bingo’s calypso about King “protecting his job” is hitting home harder and harder.

Who would have thought that a country’s PM would have stooped so low in the delivery of an address to the nation?

The theory is – and indeed it is plausible - Richard has now compelled the Prime Minister to convert and upgrade Richard’s nefarious, blood-thirsty vendetta against Kenny into a major address to the nation. But is this what the country needs at this time?

At a time that our country is bleeding economically and otherwise, this government is over-confused and is being ill-advised by its “bad boy” Attorney General to pursue a political agenda - ahead of an agenda for economic recovery and crime reduction for St. Lucia.

People are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Tomas. Fond St. Jacques is on its deathbed and little attention is being paid to it despite all the supplications from Mr Harold Dalson. The Columbette and Bar-de-L’isle roadways are “geo-technically challenged” and still highly unstable. Bexon is another major disaster waiting to happen. Venus and Tete Chemin (in Anse La Raye) are sources of great worry.  Saltibus, Daban and Gertrine need serious attention now! But there wasn’t a single word about the plans to rehabilitate those areas.

What is even more worrying is the fact that the government continues to be the chief law-breaker in the land by invariably disrespecting the very finance laws it is expected to uphold. Moreover, it also continues to harbour deep within its cabinet “world-class” convicted criminals, fraudsters and marauders (some of whom are notorious for depriving the state of perhaps millions of dollars in customs revenue). Notwithstanding, our honorable PM had the audacity to throw so much crass stupidity in the name of an address to the nation.

Earlier on RCI “NewsSpin”, the press secretary had alerted us that the PM would address us on crime and the economy; and I listened in vain to plans to “bang start” the economy, to deal with crime etc; but alas, nothing was heard. There was absolutely nothing worthwhile in King’s address to the nation; and I have to rate it as the worst ever by any prime minister in the history of our country.

Tonight is the night that our own PM – in his attempt to denigrate former PM - threw much stale “piss” into our eyes. “At all cost, Kenny must never return to power” is their mission; and they know why! They are dealing with a man who knows the law!

My own interpretation is King’s address was a conspiracy most likely co-authored by Tucker, RF, Mr “Gay-for Pay” designed to demonise Kenny.  I can easily visualize Tucker & Richard “holding a gun” to King’s head commanding him to rehash all the false claims that they previously leveled against Kenny in the House and to present them under the cloak of an address to the nation. I can see the gay-for-pay Rick Wayne – being who he is – using King’s Speech as fodder to go after Kenny. But the bottom-line is that speech by King was definitely not fitting for an address to the nation; it was more appropriate as a political address for the William Peter Boulevard.

But have no fear! Kenny will deal with them. “Sa yo par vley wer en la port nassal yo, yo kai ni poo wer en fond chamb yo!”

Sticks insects survive one million years without sex

Next time you see a "stick insect", take a good look at it! It's a special living thing. Why? Read the story  BBC below by reporter, Ella Davies

Stick insects have lived for one million years without sex, genetic research has revealed.

Scientists in Canada investigated the DNA of Timema stick insects, which live in shrubland around the west coast of the US.

They traced the ancient lineages of two species to reveal the insects' lengthy history of asexual reproduction.

The discovery could help researchers understand how life without sex is possible.

Asexuality does not always result in the rapid extinction of a lineage”

Dr Tanja Schwander Simon Fraser University, Canada

Scientists from Simon Fraser University, Canada, published their results in the journal Current Biology.

Certain species of Timema stick insects were known to reproduce asexually, with females producing young in "virgin births" without the need for egg fertilisation by males.

TDr Tanja Schwander and her team set out to test how old these species were, and therefore to find out how long they had reproduced in this way.

By analysing the DNA of the insects, scientists were able to trace back their lineages to identify when they became a distinct species.

The team discovered that five of the asexual stick insects were "ancient", dating back more than 500,000 years. Two of them were even older.

Timema genevievae (c) Bart Zijlstra Timema genevievae is a female-only species of stick insect

"All the evidence points to Timema tahoe and Timema genevievae having persisted for over one million years without sex," Dr Schwander told BBC Nature.

"Our research adds to the growing amount of evidence that asexuality does not always result in the rapid extinction of a lineage," she said. he insects instead produce genetic clones of themselves.

Read the rest of the article by clicking on the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14122050

ANTIGUA SHOWS ST. LUCIA HOW TO DO IT

France commits to support for Antigua

BASSE-TERRE, Guadeloupe, Wednesday July 13, 2011 – France stands ready to support concrete strategic and focused development initiatives between Guadeloupe and Antigua and Barbuda.

That assurance was made to Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer during a courtesy call on Prefect of Guadeloupe, Jean Fabre, on Monday when representatives from both countries signed a cooperation agreement to share expertise and make joint approaches to secure development assistance.
Fabre said cooperation between Guadeloupe and Antigua and Barbuda could begin with healthcare, tourism and the agricultural sectors.

In expressing appreciation for the “warm welcome and the fact that Antigua and Barbuda has finally decided to embark upon this historic journey”, Prime Minister Spencer stressed the significance of the agreement and expressed his country’s desire to quickly operationalize the contents of the accord.

Ambassador Dr. Clarence Henry and Jean Tibilan have been designated to follow up on their discussions.

POWERHOUSE COMMENTARY: 

ANTIGUA SHOWS ST. LUCIA HOW TO DO IT

Since the takeover by the Super 8, St. Lucia has become a den of corruption, with our foreign Minister flouting our Finance Act and other laws with impunity. Classic examples include the so-called dubious donations clearly diverted to campaign projects. One of those is the “stadium” bluff.

On the November 14^th, 2010 on the La Fargue playing field, the foreign minister declared that he had almost 1 million dollars ($850,000) from Morocco into Choiseul Credit Union for the construction of stadium in Choiseul. Subsequently, he announced that he received more monies from Portugal, Canada and India for that purpose.

None of those monies passed through the Gov’t financial system and hence, there are no mechanisms for accountability. The Minister does as he pleases. In fact, the latest news is those monies have been removed from the credit union and nobody knows where they have been lodged and to date there are no signs of project implementation. In the absence of proper accountability, what do you expect?

Information reaching the PowerHouse suggests that those monies might have been placed in the hands of a mysterious Mr Smith and some of it may well have been channeled (by way of a loan) into the purchase of a $2 million dollar condo at the Landings, allegedly belonging to Mr Smith himself. Although the suggestion is plausible, we have not been able to verify that fact beyond reasonable doubt. Suffice it to say, it would be interesting to know about the whereabouts of those monies.

The world is a global village and potential donor countries and agencies have ample diplomatic intelligence at their disposal. They are in a position to know a lot more (than me or you) about those type of “Gaddafi-type” financial atrocities; and they simply won’t give development assistance to us if they know that we corrupt.

To add insult to injury, they would not give a black cent to St. Lucia as long as we have a US convicted criminal parading the world stage as our foreign minister.

Meanwhile, the Government of Antigua has come a long way from their “checkered past” to BEING a "relative model" of Caribbean democracy. Today, they are teaching the Government of St. Lucia how to do “foreign affairs” business. Their approach is progressive, transparent, accountable and leaves little or no room for corruption. That’s a model that the St. Lucia Government should emulate.

A question worth asking is: “Have the governments of Morocco and Portugal violated diplomatic protocol by making monies payable to a Minister instead of the treasury?” It is a matter that the appropriate authorities should investigate and let the axe fall where it should.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW COMMISSION

The preliminary report of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) headed by Justice Suzie d’Auvergne has been leaked to the public.

The recommendations seemed useful but, by and large, they appear to be "nominal" and do not seem to reflect the fundamental constitutional changes that would uniquely define us and our aspirations. Some of the pro-Westminster ideals (like first past the post) remain deeply entrenched. I thought we would take a page from America and use the opportunity to make a paradigm change from "colonialism" or "neo-colonialism" to a new "constitutional framework" that genuinely defined us, our history and aspirations. But was that expected and why was it not delivered? Were the commissioners intellectually tired? Or is it that we as a people are generally conservative? Were the consultative models used appropriate? Were the commissioners able to "motivate" participation?

From a philosophical standpoint, we can define the recommendations as "accretionary"  and not "revolutionary" in the sense that they represent "little accretions" and "window-dressing"; and not the fundamental changes that would grow and strengthen our democracy.

Now that the phenomenon of "parliamentary criminality" has hit home, I was expecting to see a "revolutionary" provision(s) relating to parliamentarians with criminal backgrounds/records or who are convicts sitting in the House of Assembly or who desire to sit therein. Also, I didn't see a provision for the right of recall and the circumstances that would inform that decision. Even more critical, some recommendation for a "state standard" test (to assess verified academic competencies and emotional maturity) for aspiring parliamentarians should have been included.

I would also have liked to see that notorious "immunity" provision for parliamentarians who willfully defame fellow parliamentarians or citizens in the House be reviewed.

A lot of the "WTO thinking" that informed the "Movement of Factors" Act might also have had some relevance.

The Powerhouse is nonetheless happy to share some of recommendations of the CRC with you. The headings/subheadings were inserted by ourselves. Here we go:

A.  LANGUAGE OF THE CONSTITUTION:

1.   The language of the Constitution should be simplified.

2. The creation of a printed Kwéyòl version of the Constitution is not recommended to be part of the current exercise, but a future project should be the creation of an audio version in Kwéyòl.

3.     The language of the Constitution should be gender neutral.

B.   CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
1.     Capital punishment should be retained.

C.   SOCIAL ISSUES
1.     Children born out of wedlock should receive the same treatment under the Constitution as those born in wedlock.

        2.     Sexual intimacy in public should continue to be a criminal offence.

       3.     Marriage should continue to be between a man and a woman.

D.  GOVERNMENT & GOVERNANCE
1.     The constitutional monarchical system should be abolished and replaced with a republican constitutional system.

   2.   The Head of State should be a ceremonial President.

  3.   The Head of State should be indirectly elected based on a limited selectorate.

4.   The President should be a Saint Lucian by birth who has been resident in Saint Lucia for a minimum of ten years immediately prior to being nominated and must be between the ages of thirty-five (35) and seventy-five (75) years and should not have held office in a political party or stood for election as a candidate for elective office within ten (10) years of his/her nomination for President.

5.   With the exception of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, Members of the House of Assembly and the Senate will no longer be members of the Cabinet.

   6. The First-Past-the-Post plurality system of elections should be retained.

E. ELECTIONS AND CAMPAIGNING
1. There should be fixed dates for Parliamentary Elections so that these elections are held every five (5) years on the 5th anniversary of the previous elections.

   2. The existing Electoral Commission and Constituency Boundaries Commission should be merged and call the Electoral and Constituency Boundaries Commission.

3. No person should be appointed to the office of Prime Minister for more than three (3) consecutive five (5) year terms. Where a Prime Minister has served for three (3) consecutive terms, he/she may return after a hiatus of five years.

4.   A Political Party and Elections Campaign Finance Act should be enacted which would among other things provide for a system of both private and public funding.

5.   Political parties should declare their assets and liabilities.

6.   All foreign government contributions for election purposes should be banned.

7.   A limit should be placed on contributions to political parties by companies and individuals.

8.   All sources of anonymous contributions should be prohibited.

F.   APPOINTMENT OF PRIME MINISTER

1.   The status quo in relation to the appointment of the Prime Minister be maintained. There should not be direct election of the Prime Minister.

G.  QUALIFICATIONS FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

1.   The Commission recommends that the requisite qualification for the Attorney General should be equivalent to that of a High Court judge.

H.  TITLE FOR LEADER OF OPPOSITION
1.     The title for the office of Leader of the Opposition should be changed to “Minority Leader”.

I.   MERGER OF SERVICE COMMISSIONS

2.   The Teaching Service Commission should be merged with the Public Service Commission.

G. INDEPEPENDENT POLICE SERVICE COMMISSION
1.     There should be an independent Police Complaints Commission.