TUCKER'S POLITICS OF DESPAIR

REUNION, Choiseul, PH - Residents of Reunion geared up for a big occasion when they witnessed the District Rep, Rufus Bousquet (aka Bruce Tucker) leading an impressive entourage into the Choiseul Primary School on Wednesday Jan 12. The entourage comprised a Press Crew, a couple of UWP dignitaries and a campaign crew including his “Choiseul on the Move” blog master.

But the entourage had hardly arrived when the expectations of the curious onlookers sank into a sulky disappointment because the size of the entourage had nothing to do with the value of the New Year presentation that Tucker made to the school. The occasion was to present just one (1)! ONE SINGLE LAPTOP to the school.

One of the onlookers told the Powerhouse reporter,“c’est Lorne nous vlay”. Even a couple of the kids after the ceremony were reported to be blissfully humming Lorne’s campaign anthem “Rufus sortee la”. It is now beginning to look that Tucker is Lorne’s biggest campaign asset whipping automatic support for Lorne wherever he goes.

Of course, the parents and kids have good reason for their anti-Tucker sentiments. Now that the constituents know it, they are openly asking: What are we doing with a criminal with multiple convictions as our parliamentary representative? Moreover, there are reports of some dangerous signs associated with the “Tivoli Gardens (Jamaica) type politics” rearing their ugly heads among the youth in Piaye and the Gulf (Mongouge) for the sake of winning votes. More on that trend in a subsequent article.

It is evident that the district rep – since after the political earthquake by Lorne - continues to lose his bearings and sinks deeper and deeper into the politics of despair. In spite of his excessive waxing designed to camouflage his true persona, the axis on which he rotates is irretrievably skewed. He reminds me of the Greek “Tantalus” lost in the political quicksand of Choiseul/Saltibus desperately grabbing for support that is non-existent.

Has Lorne sounded his “death knell” in Choiseul politics? And is that the reason for the desperation politics?

Goldings says time to review dual citizenship issue

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Friday January 14, 2011 – Prime Minister Bruce Golding, has reiterated calls for serious debate and possible amendment to Section 39 of the Constitution, which bars Jamaicans who are citizens of countries outside the Commonwealth to sit in Parliament.

Labeling the practice as an "absurdity", Golding said it was high time that the matter be brought up for discussion, as there was a level of irrationality in the current law.

He was speaking at the swearing in of the Shahine Robinson, who was reinstated as a Member of Parliament and Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister this week. She recently won a by-election in the North East St. Ann constituency that was ordered by the court because she had dual citizenship at the time she ran for the seat in general elections.

"There is an absurdity that has to be corrected,” Golding said. “That someone who is Jamaican, born and bred, who has lived virtually all his life or her life in Jamaica, but who becomes a citizen of the United States, is not eligible to serve. But, someone who was not born in Jamaica, has resided in Jamaica for only 12 months, is a citizen of any Commonwealth country is not only eligible to be elected a Member of Parliament, but can become the Prime Minister of Jamaica.”

"It’s an issue that we need to place on the table for debate, because with all of the debate that has surrounded this issue of the eligibility of persons with dual citizenship to sit in Parliament, that discussion has been so adversarial, so polarised, that we have not really focused on the issue as to whether or not what Jamaica wants going into the future is a situation where, for you to be a Member of Parliament, you must be a citizen of Jamaica and a citizen of Jamaica only.”

"Or whether we want to recognise what is now a reality, that there are citizens of Jamaica who are citizens of other countries who manage their loyalties between the two and who consider themselves not to be 50 per cent Jamaican and 50 per cent American, but certainly 100 per cent Jamaican," the Prime Minister added.
He said while the courts have an obligation to interpret the law, Parliamentarians and, ultimately, the electors, have a duty to address the absurdity.

Golding pointed out that Jamaica has shared a particular relationship with countries like the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and there has been strong migration to these countries and many Jamaicans have dual citizenship through birth or through the process of naturalisation.

"I make bold to say that the vast majority of Jamaicans who obtain citizenship of these countries, consider themselves no less Jamaican than when they left home. They take an abiding interest in their country; many of them invest significantly in their country. When we triumph, they share our joy; when we feel pain, they share that pain with us," the Jamaican leader said.

"We have to make a determination as to whether we are saying to those Jamaicans who live in New York, those Jamaicans who come home every year; you cannot be elected to Parliament unless you renounce your citizenship," he said.

Prime Minister Golding said these issues must be looked at as the nation has grown and has taken dual citizenship for granted.

Funds approved for St Vincent hurricane recovery

WASHINGTON, United States, Friday January 13, 2011 – The World Bank has approved a US$5 million zero-interest credit to help St Vincent and the Grenadines rehabilitate key infrastructure damaged by the passage of Hurricane Tomas last year.

World Bank Director for the Caribbean, Françoise Clottes, said a critical component of this project is its focus on improving the government’s capacity to analyze risk to enable better integration of measures to reduce hazard risk in national and sectoral development plans.

Hurricane Tomas swept over the Eastern Caribbean region on October 30, 2010, causing extensive damage in St Vincent and the Grenadines estimated at between five and 10 percent of the country’s GDP.

The hurricane damaged over 1,200 private homes, as well as public buildings and infrastructure, roads and power systems. Three public schools and five community centers were badly damaged.

The Hurricane Tomas Emergency Recovery Project will finance the costs associated with restoring infrastructure in the transportation, education, and public sectors, and strengthen the country’s capacity to manage disaster risk.

Specifically, the project will finance:
* Rehabilitation of vulnerable and damaged infrastructure, including damaged schools, community centres and transportation infrastructure.

* Institutional strengthening and hazard and risk analysis. This component will improve the capacity within the Ministry of Housing, Informal Human Settlements, Lands and Surveys and Physical Planning and the National Emergency Management Organization to work with geo-referenced information in order to evaluate natural hazard and climate change risks.

The US$5 million zero-interest credit from the Bank’s International Development Association is repayable in 35 years, including a 10-year grace period.

Barack Obama eases rules on US travel to Cuba

US President Barack Obama has said he will ease restrictions on US citizens travelling to Cuba. 

The president said he had instructed the relevant government departments to allow religious groups and students to travel to the communist-run island.

President Obama said he believed the new, more relaxed, rules which also make it easier to send remittances to Cuba will support civil society there.

The changes will not end the decades-old US trade embargo.

The rules will be modified to, among other things:

• Allow religious organisation to sponsor religious travel to Cuba under a general licence
• Allow accredited institutions of higher education to sponsor travel to Cuba
• Allow any US person to send remittances (up to $500 per quarter) to non-family members in Cuba to support private economic activity
• Allow remittances to be sent to religious institutions in Cuba in support of religious activities
• Allow US airports to apply to provide services to licensed charters

'Improved contact'
In a statement, President Obama said the changes were aimed at developing "people-to-people" contacts through more academic, cultural and religious exchanges.

The moves follows an easing of the trade embargo in April 2009, when the president ordered curbs on remittances and travel by Cuban-Americans visiting family members on the island to be relaxed.

But Florida Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said the changes would not help improve the situation in Cuba.
"They will not make the Castro regime show respect for human rights, and they certainly won't help the Cuban people free themselves from the despotic tyranny which oppresses them," she said.

The changes are expected to come into force in approximately three weeks.

SOURCE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12197939

BBC CARIBBEAN NEWS IN BRIEF:

Garvin French must complete 300 hours of community service

"A property tycoon who claimed his father was driving when the car was caught on camera speeding, has been ordered to return to Britain from his home in St Lucia to do community service.

Checks later showed Gavin French's father was severely ill in hospital at the time of the offence in 2008.

Mr French, who divides his time between his homes in England and St Lucia, denied perverting the course of justice but was found guilty by a British Crown Court jury. 

The judge ordered that Mr French must complete 300 hours of community service.

He is a partner in a business which develops hotels and apartments in Rodney Bay, St Lucia."

Travel tax debate

The impact of increases in a British travel tax on the Caribbean will be raised in the British parliament next week.

Opposition Labour MP Diane Abbott who is of Jamaican parentage, will lead off what has been termed a short debate on air passenger duty changes and their effect on the Caribbean.

The UK flight tax went up by up to 55% from last November, in the latest rise with long-haul destinations like the Caribbean, the worst hit.

The debate is due to take place in the House of Commons on 20 January.

Sale Of Queens Chain Unacceptable

"In recent times, the Attorney General of Saint Lucia, Senator Rudolph Francis, has made some strange statements, most of which the Saint Lucia Labour Party have ignored. However, one such statement which the Saint Lucia Labour Party cannot ignore concerns the Queen’s Chain which comprises our beaches and lands near the sea.

In response to criticisms over the UWP Government’s plans to sell some of Saint Lucia’s beaches, the Attorney General said on television that the Queen’s Chain is no longer relevant to the development needs of Saint Lucia. From time immemorial, the Queen’s Chain has been owned by the Government and people of Saint Lucia. It is the right of ownership in the Government that has guaranteed the people of Saint Lucia access to their beaches and indeed, to the sea.

The Saint Lucia Labour Party makes it absolutely clear that we do not support the sale of the Queen’s Chain to any developer or individual. The SLP only supports the lease of the Queen’s Chain and will not accept any divestment of the ownership of the Queen’s Chain from the people of Saint Lucia.

Further, the Saint Lucia Labour Party promises that within its first one hundred (100) days in office, we will revoke all the sales of the Queen’s Chain by the Stephenson King regime and restore those lands to the people of Saint Lucia.

This commitment will be clearly expressed in our Manifesto and is in keeping with our previous record of returning Pigeon Island to the people of Saint Lucia after it was sold by a former UWP regime."

Caribbean T20 Cricket LIVE on LIME TV

"The West Indies Cricket Board today announced an historic three year agreement with broadcast partner ESPN. Under the new deal, ESPN Caribbean and ESPN2, channels 82 and 83 on the LIME Digital TV service, will broadcast Caribbean T20 and other WICB regional tournaments live to audiences across the region. Highlights packages of West Indies international home series will also air on ESPN in the Caribbean.

ESPN was host broadcaster for the inaugural Caribbean T20 in July 2010 and also will be host broadcaster for the second edition to be played from Monday, January 10 to Sunday, January 23 in Antigua and Barbados. Under the new deal ESPN will broadcast the tournament in 2012 and 2013 as well.

”The WICB is pleased to be working with ESPN once more. We see this as a mutual investment in the sport, in our players and the people across the Caribbean. The new three-year deal will further help to showcase the players in the West Indies and give them unparalleled global exposure. It will also give viewers around the world the opportunity to get a taste and feel of the unique flavour, style and vibe of cricket in the Caribbean,” said Dr Ernest Hilaire, Chief Executive of the WICB.

”The WICB and ESPN have formed a very close relationship and we are both working well together as we seek to create a framework for cricket in the West Indies,” Hilaire continued. ”ESPN has demonstrated a passion for West Indies cricket and we are pleased to have them on board with us,” Dr. Hilaire said.

”ESPN’s mission is to deliver the highest quality sports events to our viewers, and this agreement strengthens this commitment,” said Bernard Stewart, Vice President, ESPN Caribbean and Maritime Media. ”With the WICB matches, we will be providing West Indies cricket fans the opportunity to watch their local heroes on live television, as well as expand the appreciation of West Indies cricket by presenting these matches to our international viewership.”

Under the new agreement and in addition to the CT20, ESPN will broadcast other WICB regional cricket events, including the semi final and final of the WICB Regional 50 Over Tournament, to their global audiences in the Caribbean, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, Africa and the Middle East."

IMF approves US$8.2 million in emergency aid for St. Lucia

WASHINGTON, CMC – The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved US$8.19 million in emergency assistance for St. Lucia to cope with the economic consequences of Hurricane Tomas.

The Washington-based financial institution said the financial assistance consists of a US$5.85 million disbursement under the IMF’s Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), and about US$2.34 million under the Fund’s Emergency Natural Disaster Assistance (ENDA).

Hurricane Tomas struck St. Lucia on October 30, 2010 causing loss of life and significant damage to the nation’s road network, water supply, and agriculture sector.

The latest but still preliminary estimates suggest that total damages amount to US$336 million, or about 34 per cent of GDP.

“St. Lucia has been severely affected by Hurricane Tomas, which caused loss of life and significant damages to infrastructure and agriculture,” said Murilo Portugal, IMF’s deputy managing director and acting chair.

“The reconstruction efforts are expected to have a significant fiscal and balance of payment impact, mainly in 2011, posing difficult policy challenges. It will be important to maintain macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability during the rehabilitation,” he added.

Portugal said despite a temporary deterioration in the fiscal position, the Stephenson King administration remains committed to the medium-term debt target, stating that it intends to keep commercial borrowing to a minimum by limiting the financing of the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts to available grants and external concessional financing.

Key consolidation measures include introducing a market valuation-based property tax in early 2011 and a value-added tax by April 2012, and controlling the civil service wage bill over the medium term.

A formal public sector investment programme will also be initiated, to increase the efficiency of spending and underpinned by a medium-term expenditure framework, Portugal said.

He said the authorities continue to make progress on other structural reforms, noting that efforts are ongoing to enhance the investment climate conducive to private sector growth, and to strengthen the oversight and resilience of the financial sector, including through the establishment of the Single Regulatory Unit.

“The authorities’ prudent management of the reconstruction efforts, together with the continued sound policies to enhance the fiscal position and address structural issues, will help St. Lucia maintain fiscal sustainability and achieve the medium-term debt target,” Portugal said.

King says Hurricane Tomas has affected his electoral agenda

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC - Prime Minister Stephenson King has said that the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Tomas last October has significantly affected his electoral agenda as preparations continue for general elections here.

Constitutionally, elections must be held no later than March 2012 but it is widely expected that St. Lucians will go to the polls before year end.

Prime Minister King had up to last year cautioned the opposition to get battle ready as “every year could be an election year”.

However, the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Tomas appears to have slowed down the commencement of a number of projects including the redevelopment of the Hewanorra International Airport which was targeted for January this year.

“One of the many effects of the passage of and destruction caused by Tomas, it has now extended the agenda of government that will give us the latitude to programme ourselves to be able to achieve a number of plans that we have put in place in the context of reconstruction and development,” King said.

“So now what we see ahead of us is an opportunity to determine the readiness of the country to move into elections and the government to determine the actual date for that call.”

Prime Minister King has said in the presentation of his April 2010 budget that a number of projects were expected to be launched towards year end and into the New Year so as to generate additional employment, as the term of the government comes to an end.

The ruling United Workers Party holds an 11-6 majority in the House of Assembly after winning the general elections of 2006.

LIES ABOUT THE MONGOUGE MULTI-PURPOSE CENTRE EXPOSED!

A few weeks ago, the POWERHOUSE corrected a big BLUFF which was being spread on Rufus Bousquet's (aka Bruce Tucker) blog. The bluff was the construction of a mini-stadium on the La Fargue Playing Field – one of the largest playing grounds in St. Lucia. Upon a site visit and subsequent analysis by our consulting engineers, they informed us that the proposed mini-stadium was actually a STAND; and that because of the large size of the field, the smallest mini-stadium – in the true sense of the word – would theoretically cost well in excess of EC$10 million. However, in their assessment, they were cautious to advise that even the figure of EC$10 million was hypothetical because the actual  project cost would depend on a number of factors; and no sane engineer or authority would propose the construction of any infrastructure (sporting or otherwise) using current MP's model; and because the design, costing and construction of a stadium is a strict engineering exercise, it has to follow an engineering model which we explained in an earlier article.

The entire POWERHOUSE diaspora was enlightened about the proposed political bluff of the mini-stadium. In fact one blogger humorously wrote: “let Tucker build the stand with his EC$1.5 million and name it the Tucker stadium.”

Once again, the Powerhouse has to correct another bluff. We have a moral responsibility to our readers at home and in the diaspora to not only to provide correct information but also to correct false information being disseminated about our dear and beloved community. We love Choiseul/Saltibus and we do not feel good when persons with selfish political agendas spread false news or information about us.

Mongouge Multi-purpose Centre Bluff

The Mongouge multipurpose Centre which was conceptualised  a few years ago, soon after it was ravaged by a freak storm is another bluff/lie propagated on Bruce Tucker Blog:

“Mongouge Multi-purpose Centre - a masterpiece: Bousquet has once more kept his word. Sometime last year during a tour of the delapidated community centre at Mongouge, he promised the residents that he is going to build a muti-purpose centre for them. The critics did not take him serious. For the past few months work has been onging at a rapid pace to see the completion of this state of the art centre in this picturesque community. According to the contractor this facility will house a library,an auditorium ,an IT section, a kitchenette and a conference room. Magnificent! Mongouge will rise again.”

Correction: BOUSQUET (TUCKER) NEVER BUILT THE MONGOUGE CENTRE. Widely known as St. Lucia’s “Minister for Ti Canal”, instead of building proper roads, Tucker continues to deface our beautiful landscape with ubiquitous footpaths built with illegal Taiwanese Funds. We have said over and over that – even if we are rural, country people and that we are poor - we are not second class citizens in our country; and that this “Ti Canal” model of development is not appropriate  for our needs and it is a gross insult to our intelligence and integrity We need the same quality of road infrastructure that the people of Cap Estate and Castries enjoy. 

In addition, we will not allow these projects of bluff to brainwash us. In fact we believe, given a chance, Tucker and Choo would perhaps break all of our roads and convert them into “Chemin Ti canal” for fattening the pockets of a few functionaries while the masses languish in poverty and despair; but we will not allow that to happen.

The Mongouge Multipurpose Centre is being built by the Saint Lucia Social Development Fund (SSDF) with standard community facilities. In fact, it is a near duplicate of what was there before. 

The Mongouge Multipurpose Centre was part of a New Initiative called the “Mongouge Renewal Programme” designed by the Ministry of Social Transformation. It comprised three (3) separate but related projects: the other two were (a) “Water Upgrade for Mongouge” to resolve the perennial water crisis the "Mongouge region" (namely Victoria, Ravineau, Franciou and Esperance) and environs continue to face. This sub-project was earmarked be funded by the Caribbean Development Bank; (b) a series of “social interventions and experiments” that targeted the rehabilitation and empowerment of youth plagued with drug, psychosocial and/or unemployment problems. 

The modality for the construction of the centre was "community contracting"; but Tucker aborted the process that was designed to employ, train and rehabilitate the youth by forcing the hands of the Director to give a direct contract to his Campaign Manager. Hence, what was designed to bring about massive employment relief to Mongouge (and the surrounding areas of Ravineau, Ponyon, Morne Sion and Fiette) through community contracting was reversed and destroyed by the hands of Bruce Tucker. 

But does Tucker want to bring social order, peace  and economic prosperity to Mongouge? Does he want to solve the many social and economic problems in Mongouge? The answer is categorically NO! Yet, his henchmen constantly try to pull wool over our eyes; but we will never allow that to happen.

We are making attempts to develop  an awareness of the problems facing the youth in Choiseul/Saltibus. We truly want to empower our youth and help them become more socially competent and socially responsible. It is against this background that we hope to show footage on this website of some of the atrocious practices that Tucker is propagating among the youth in Mongouge and Piaye. 

Stay tuned!