SHOULD KENNY "DROP A BOMB" TONIGHT?

As Kenny prepares to address the nation tonight, let's try and second-guess what he is likely to say without necessarily stealing his thunder.

Will it be a "State of the Nation" address? Or will it be a general update/review of the post-trough recovery efforts and the challenges we face in that regard going forward, especially in the context of the severe economic constraints?

Because the “post-trough” recovery has serious “economic” implications and the two are so intricately intertwined, we would generally expect the PM to speak of “one” in terms of “the other”.

Hence, we look forward to a definitive policy statement and specific measures on the "post-trough" way forward. Who knows . . . perhaps, despite serious fiscal constraints, the PM may even announce his intention to extend the construction stimulus package, among other things, to allow St. Lucians to a further opportunity to retrofit their homes to make them more disaster-resistant. That may well be an excellent strategy for employment-generation as well as economic growth.

We look forward to the PM to give us a sneak preview of the current social and economic indicators that are likely to continue to inform his post-trough decisions. In that regard, we expect at least a broad-policy statement on crime and its impact on not just our economy but also our image as a proud country.

Patriotic St. Lucians (at home and in the diaspora) are very concerned about the increasingly inexplicable and senseless criminal behavior patterns which are apparently taking a heavy toll on our image as a peace-loving nation with a world record for the ratio of Nobel laureate per square metre.

I expect our PM to make a definitive statement designed to allay our fears by indicating proactive policy measures to specifically address the spiraling criminal activity. I also expect him to allude to the Pratt homicide and the potentially disastrous ramifications to our tourist industry.

If the PM’s speech is a “State-of-the Nation” address, I expect him to give us a snapshot - if not a mirror - of the fiscal, economic and social policies that are likely to underpin his 2014/15 budget.

Despite the obvious national sympathies for the erstwhile Leader of the Opposition, I don't expect the PM to “drop a bomb” on the badly wounded UWP. He won’t get marks for that.  I'm sure he would want to reserve any pronouncements in that regard for another forum.

If anything tonight, his focus should be on his desire to invent a "bomb" to drop on crime and other social economic problems facing St. Lucia. Now that he has had a good look at the demonstrated competencies of his cabinet, it is perhaps a good time to design that bomb around a major "Cabinet Reshuffle"!

AN "UNCONSTITUTIONAL CONSTITUTION" VS AN "UNCONSTITUTIONAL LEADER": THE ROYAL SKIRMISH BETWEEN THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE UWP

A TENSE RELATIONSHIP?

In a street discussion on the debacle facing the UWP, it was remarked that Chastanet may not only be politically juvenile, he may equally be politically “androgynous”! Is it his desperation in the pursuit of prime ministership that brings out those seeming idiosyncrasies in him? Someone should advise him that in politics, ego integrity is a far greater asset than desperation, for the latter generate perceptions that can easily relegate a politician to the dustbins of failure.

THE BETTER DAYS

If I heard it right from Mr Chastanet, then the constitution of the UWP is not in sync with the constitution of St. Lucia. I have not read the UWP constitution, but I hoping if this is the case, then this anomaly is resolved (or at least rationalised) by the Emergency National Council meeting scheduled for on Sunday (January 19). To me, the resolution is quite simple: make the UWP constitution conform to the constitution of the land it seeks to govern. If this (or its equivalent) happens at Sunday’s Coco Resort meeting in Vieux Fort, then the UWP can give itself a pat on the back for laying a platform for unity. Irrespective of how tottering a temporary "truce" may appear to be, it may buy time for the UWP and temporarily stop the current public hemorrhaging. If the emergency National Council Meeting fails to achieve that result, then the dichotomy may well deepen and generate potentially more fatal ripple effects, bitterness and disorder within the party.

It goes without saying that the constitution is the supreme law of the land and everything must either fall in line or is secondary to it. In situations where there is a conflict between it and secondary constitutions, then it is logical that the former should take precedence over the latter.

But again, Chastanet was not sufficiently proactive. When he went up for the leadership of the party, he should have understand that the dichotomy between the two constitutions was a source of potential conflict; and when the conflict became manifest he naively invoked a controversial clause in the UWP constitution to hang King. He could have been far more magnanimous and diplomatic.

It’s simply a case of country vs party. The opposition leader went to represent his country at a national emergency disaster meeting after the passage of the Christmas Eve trough and for that he is being flayed by his party because he did so without approval from his party leader. King was fulfilling a constitutional obligation as the leader of the opposition. More so, Kenny did not invite the UWP party; he invited the leader of her Majesty’s opposition

Let’s look a hypothetical scenario. Suppose Kenny had given up the political leadership of the SLP; and let’s assume Claudius Francis was the one who held that position, then should Kenny succumbed to the dictates of Claudius?  That in my opinion would constitute an affront to our parliamentary democracy and governance.

Yes, governments are formed by political parties; but their roles and orientation are distinct! Political parties are interest groups with armies of supporters; but this “philosophy” stops when they form government. They govern the country by national policies for all the people not by the partisanship, sectionalism and tribalism of the political party.           .

Perhaps, we have to blame our respective speakers of parliament for allowing the negative tribalism to saturate the proceedings of the House of Parliament. Tribalism and sectionalism should be left at the doorstep of the House of Parliament.

I can only hope that constitutional reform has addressed or will address anomalies of that nature in a very profound way.

GOLIATH VS THE COLOSSUS: "FORTUNE-TELLING" THE FUTURE OF THE LEADERSHIP OF UWP

"Kenny is King; Chastanet wants to be King; but King would have none of it!"

 This is an "imperfect article" comprising my raw and perhaps illogical thoughts (perhaps, in raw language) about the "leadership imperfections" plaguing the UWP. Some take joy from it; some are embarrassed by it; some are stunned by it! Some even claimed that they had predicted it! How anyone looks at it is perhaps dependent on his/her "political frame of reference". The POWERHOUSE opinion is simple: it is good for democracy! If the raison d'etre of political parties is to seek to govern a country, then they cannot behave like underground, "freemason societies". In that sense, the playing of what's happening to the UWP (at least, some of it) in the public domain should not necessarily be seen  in a purely "negative term of reference". It's our right to know and to have a voice on what is inside a party, especially which has been in government for a number of years and may well be the next potential government of St. Lucia again. It is against this background that I have constructed my thoughts and have choosen to share them with you.

Soldiers vs hacks

Geographically, St. Vincent is St. Lucia’s closest OECS neighbour; but, politically, they maybe the furthest apart. While in St. Vincent, the Opposition Leader claims it was “unacceptable” that his party were excluded from an emergency disaster response (EDR) meeting, in St. Lucia, the opposition is “hard heels of an apparent meltdown” over the attendance of our opposition leader at such a meeting.

No matter how facetious it may sound, St. Vincent’s Prime Minister’s response to the opposition is not only a “master shot” but it is instructive: the country was in a war with nature and “soldiers don’t wait for an invitation to join the war; soldiers report for duty.”

In St. Lucia, UWP soldiers instead of reporting for duty were fighting among themselves over the attendance of the Leader of the Opposition to a meeting with the PM to discuss EDR.

The UWP literally flayed King for “reporting for duty”; but King may be a smart kid with the wisdom of his own precedent when he invited Kenny to report to duty during Tomas.  Perhaps, Kenny might have been guided by that precedent.

Is it a Tantalus story?

Perhaps Chastanet’s “reflect action” response to King’s “autonomous” participation in an EDR meeting may be a broader issue than we may have ever contemplated.

There is a school of thought that the sale of the Chastanet’s economic dynasty to Neal and Massy is linked to the preparation of Allen for the prime ministership of St. Lucia which (based on the economic tatters we are now in) seemed imminently possible; but King’s increased “affirmative action” is seen as a major stumbling block and it is beginning to look like Allen’s fortunes in that regard may have hit an unlikely speed bump and hence his pursuit of that “fruit” may have been sincerely intercepted, if not stalled.

In that sense, Allen may now be compared to Tantalus who sees the prime ministerial fruit hanging mere millimeters away from his power-hungry grasp but despite his overwhelming hunger, that fruit continues to tantalize and elude him.

Apparently, Chastanet's overwhelming hunger for the prime-ministership is balanced by an equal and opposite overwhelming disenchantment among a vociferous UWP crew in the diaspora.

In short, Chastanet may have won the battle for delegates; but now he has to win the internecine war within the party and ultimately electoral victory. The orchestrated euphoria at the convention has apparently been melted away by the heat of the war and washed out by a huge tide of disenchantment.

Goliath meets the Colossus

There’s a view that the ongoing battle between the two “Titanic” UWP leaders blatantly exposes the reliability of the convention results; the view goes further with the assumption while support within the “UWP community” for Chastanet is vociferous, it is far more numerous for King. The general result is an increasingly growing confidence of the latter - and more and more the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition (LOO) is beginning to look like the de facto and natural UWP leader. A further view is: although the King is longer prime minister, he, in the prevailing circumstances, looks far more prime ministerial (in word, deed or thought) than Chastanet who seeking to “displace” him.

But the complexity of the internecine war happening within the Flambeau party goes far beyond the battle between King and Chastanet and the pontifications of the vociferous pro-Chastanet faction and their bland “Jook Bois” PR which are only increasing the magnitude of the collateral damage.

As was the case during reign of the Vaughan Lewis, the UWP again has two leaders. After Vaughn lost the 1997 elections, Sir John came out of retirement and “retook the leadership” and (as he had done in 1982), he returned the UWP to power in 2006. This time around the configuration is different but the storyline is the same: two leaders (namely “LOO” and a Party leader (PL) with their respective camps) juggling for power.

Let’s briefly turn our attention to the rationalization of the tension between the camps.

The pro-Chastanet rationalization of the tension between the two camps emanate from the LOO’s failure to succumb to the PL. That rationalization may well be a battle-weary indication, if not an open admission, of the extent of Chastanet's impotence as PL or equally of the extent of the “omnipotence” of the LOO within the UWP Empire.

The omnipotence of the LOO with the UWP Empire is a compelling argument in favour King. As LOO, does he really have to succumb to the PL, especially in the context of the St. Lucia constitution which is officially silent on recognition of the latter? Further, why did that dichotomy apparently worked so well for the SLP (during Kenny and Louisy) and why isn’t it working for the UWP under the leadership of Chastanet? Did the SLP have a policy of “separation of powers” which allowed the LOO to fulfill his constitutional function with autonomy, independence and integrity? Before the Chastanet faction went to work on King, it should have done its necessary research on the antecedents and weigh the "pros and cons" consequent.

Goliath vs the Colossus

If the electoral contest between Dalson and Chastanet was seen as a battle between David and Goliath, then the leadership struggle between King and Chastanet must be seen as a battle between Goliath and the Colossus with each is wearing his own crown; but despite losing the “political leader” crown, it looks like the Colossus (perhaps having taken a page from David's Book on how to slaughter Goliaths) is rapidly closing in on an unlikely victory; but despite the imminent possibility of Chastanet’s doom, the little victims like Arsene laugh at their fate.

Does Goliath lie so low?

The ongoing battle between Goliath and the Colossus has left many of us dumbfounded! After such an impressive first knockout round, how could Goliath who is endowed with all his faculties of brilliance allow the Colossus with a corresponding deficiency of those faculties make him “lie so low”?

Paradoxically, it must have been that impressive first knockout punch that paved the way for his downfall. As the UWP “FACTORS” suggested in their missive to the PL, the answer must have been in the PL’s convention game plan which must have been based on a case of mistaken identity. Because “Kenny is King”, the radioactive knock-out punch was probably designed for Kenny but thrown at King by mistake, resulting in irreversible internal division and bitterness within the UWP empire.

But like the Phoenix from the Ashes, the Colossus and his protective belt of underground soldiers miraculously rose again; no doubt, Tucker and the Lion Heart were/are the field marshals; and with them around, it won’t be a walkover the Colossus.

What is currently happening to the UWP is not without precedent in St. Lucia! During Compton’s reign, the SLP crumbled under its own anomalies until Kenny ushered in an era of rock-solid stability. Which new Flambeau leader will emerge to remove Flambeau from the doldrums? Chastanet has yet to demonstrate that he is that leader. If anything, he seems to have captained the UWP Titanic closer to the iceberg of political destruction than King ever did.

It is evident the Flambeau fracas has an irreversible fatal tone. The normally minor post-convention political cracks seemed to have become a major geological “strike-slip fault” and it does seem to represent a precursor to an imminent major 10.1 political earthquake coming UWP way.

If this were to happen, then does the party hierarchy have the requisite tension and compression to withstand the earthquake? If it does, then it surely would have passed a major structural litmus test. The question is: what would be equivalent to a “pass”? Would it be the removal of King as LOO?

Another question is: Suppose King is removed, then who and what? The tenacious Richard is definitely out! The popular assumption is: if you remove King, then you also remove Richard! Dr Gale Rigobert has said she's not interested. Mr Arsene James (a former Opposition Leader) said he is not ready yet. That leaves Guy and Estaphan for the job.

On the surface, Guy is playing an ambivalent game; but I believe his ambivalent posturing is just a smokescreen. I am sure that I’m not the only one who is of the view that Guy will do anything to please his master. Hence, I wouldn’t be surprised that he would allow himself to be railroaded into the position by default!

A downgrade from a King to a Guy may have catastrophic consequences for the UWP and I suspect the displacement of the King as LOO may well be a fatal faux pas that may well represent major moral victory for the Colossus over Goliath.

But whatever happens in the end will be good for democracy in the sense that it will give the spectator “voters” a sneak preview of a political party’s internal stability and readiness to assume the reigns of power.

Meanwhile and on top of all that is happening, Kenny remains King; Chastanet desperately wants to be King; but King would have none of it!”

Over the Calypsonians!

FLAMBEAU ACTIVISTS WRITE TO ALLEN CHASTANET!

Flambeau Activists Called To Service (FACTS)

Castries

St. Lucia

January 5th, 2014 

Mr. Allen Chastanet 

Party Leader 

United Workers Party 

Party Headquarters 

Rodney Bay 

Castries 

Dear Mr. Chastanet. 

Members of recent vintage have introduced to, and subsequently infused our organization with a new and different ethos that has compromised our bedrock principles of Unity, Loyalty and Cooperation. It can be said without fear of contradiction that the United Workers Party has morphed into an organization without direction, embroiled as it is in division, materialism, internal wrangling, hierarchical disharmony and a preoccupation by a new cadre of members with position and entitlement. A laundry list of classless public confrontations and internal bullying has essentially stripped the organization of its remaining vestiges of widespread public adoration and support. 

The New leadership has seemingly mistaken a sense of frustration with the existing administration, as a surefire ticket to electoral victory, while simultaneously remaining oblivious to our obvious shortcomings. 

Activities leading up to the Party Annual Convention of 2013 and the management of the Party’s business in its aftermath have left an untold number of Party supporters appalled and disheartened. In many cases, we can describe the prevailing sentiment as one of outrage - without transgressing into exaggeration. A smug and overconfident leadership remains oblivious to the strong undercurrents of disaffection which currently render our Party unfocussed and ineffective. 

The following list is by no means exhaustive, but serves to highlight some of the major infractions without going into detail:- 

1. The newly introduced American format of island wide campaigning and the disparaging of members by members. 

2. The marginalization of long serving, long suffering and loyal delegates of the Party in a campaign intended to ensure that the outcome at the convention was favorable to a particular candidate and his team. 

The damage this has done in fermenting division and loathing amongst our supporters will be difficult to reverse. 

3. The non-existence of any hierarchical order within the organization which would allow for a structured ascension to positions of authority and decision making based on service, established loyalty, long term commitment and a proven track record of political and national service. 

4. A national convention at which outright hatred accompanied by the most disparaging of comments being leveled at Party members to the obvious delight of persons who hold positions of authority within the Party. 

5. The deepening of divisions within the organization following the Convention and the failure of the current leadership to correct this destructive development. 

6. There appears to be no clear strategy for governance. The focus remains one of consistent low value attacks on the Government accompanied by a slew of often ill-informed references to Sir John by the Party leader. 

7. No clear strategy for Opposition but rather a mish mash of irrelevant and poorly timed political comments which have exposed the soft underbelly of the Leadership. 

8. Finally, and yet again, an ongoing priority at reorganizing the Party with the objective of dismantling established and successful procedures and institutions. As experienced Party loyalist, this for us is a poorly disguised effort to cement the current leadership in its current position and establish a stranglehold on the Organization. This self-serving process has undermined our values and left many supporters disheartened and confused. 

No true UWP supporter should tolerate this situation; neither can it be allowed to fester for much longer. The Party does not control the timing of elections; and events following the Convention have left the Labour Party far more confident in their ability to salvage what was until then an unprecedented disaster in Office. The shine is now off the ball and only ability and experience will win the day. 

Noting the urgent need for reconciliation and sensible reform, a number of persons from various walks of life with a lifelong commitment to the success of our Party have formed ourselves into an organization under the rubric of FACTS- Flambeau Activists Called to Service. 

We uncompromisingly see this, not only as a call to serve our Party, but also to SAVE our Party from remaining indefinitely in the hands of anyone who neither knows, understands or is leading this Party in a sustainable way. We accept that there is need for reorganization; but not reorganization that is designed to strip the members of their democratic rights - including the right of constituency groups to choose their candidates. Not reorganization that allows a few recently minted “UWPS” with questionable motives and manufactured loyalty to obtain and retain a stranglehold on the operations of our dear Party. Not reorganization that seeks to erase the contribution of long serving members of this Party who are viewed as a threat to the narrow and soon to be exposed real objectives of a few well-disguised operatives within and without. Certainly the fifth columnists in all this will soon be brought under the spotlight of internal and public scrutiny in order to ensure political success and the long term survival of our organization. 

We believe the entire process leading up to the convention was dangerously flawed and the current situation clearly shows that we are correct. The most urgent priority of the current leadership was and remains the mending of fences and rebuilding of trust and cooperation. This has not been done and the obvious question is WHY. Why is it more important to reorganize? Moreover how can it be reasonable to reorganize without the benefit of the experience and attendant input of senior members of the organization? 

Might there be a desire to mold the organization in a particular way prior to inviting the participation of certain persons? What happens if the reorganization absents the input of persons who in subsequent conventions assume leadership positions? Do they then reorganize the reorganization? Obviously there are huge gaps in the planning process here and this is primarily due to the ongoing attempt at marginalization and the consolidation of power. It is not only short sighted; it is immature, neurotic and narcissistic! 

Clearly the repeated gaffes and apparent constitutional ignorance of persons involved in the ongoing attempts to compromise the stature and marginalize the authority of the former Prime Minister and current Leader of the Opposition are unwarranted, ill-advised and unacceptable. It is not difficult to understand the insecurities of the Political Leader given his inexperience and his obvious anxieties about finding a seat that he can win. Again, that’s comprehensible in a narrow self-serving context!  

We the FACTORS intend to assist in remedying these obvious defects that are compromising our ability at winning what should be a landslide victory in the next general election. The Leader needs a makeover - call it rebranding - and the Party desperately needs help and direction. We are here to assist through strict adherence to what has made this organization successful in the past. Our recent electoral failures were not caused by the self-serving finger pointing that has been the hallmark of those who sought to influence the thinking of Party members, but by far deeper and carefully orchestrated plans of action designed to take over our Party. 

We remain in very close communication as a group and our growing membership includes a wide array of supporters from diverse disciplines and geographic locations - most notably the established Diaspora that the Leader has so desperately sought to engage. 

Neither our values - which emanate from the traditional values of the UNITED WORKERS PARTY - or our resolve to do what is in the best interest of our Party will be diluted or in any way compromised by anyone. 

Our commitment is steadfast and the task at hand shall be completed!! 

We are watching! 

Your watchmen on the wall. 

Cc: Mr. Lenard Montoute, Deputy Leader 

 Dr. Gale Rigobert, Deputy Leader 

 Mr. Ezekiel Joseph, Chairman 

 Ms. Mary Polius, 1st

 Deputy Chairperson 

 Mr. Andy Daniel, 2nd Deputy Chairperson 

 Mr. Oswald Augustin, General Secretary 

 Branch Chairpersons 

MAN VS NATURE: THE BATTLE FOR CHRISTMAS (IN PHOTOS)

Despite the proliferation of barrels on the wharf, there wasn't any sign that we would celebrate Christmas this year. Somehow, the "Christmas feeling" wasn't there. Up to two shopping days before, Super J was practically empty of shoppers. 

Then Christmas Eve arrived and perhaps the most epic battle in recent memory happened. It was a battle between Man and Nature! And nature won hands down!

Here are some photos of the collateral damage that Choiseul suffered:

ENTERING CHOISEUL VILLAGE FROM CONSTITUTION PARK

A MASS OF SILT JUST BEFORE THE ENTRANCE TO THE FISHERIES

MAYEE'S POPULAR FOOD AND FISH STALL GOT A HIT, TOO

FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE "MOCOGHEE" DRAIN WAS OVERWHELMED WITH SILT

NO THRU ROAD ON THE MAIN CHOISEUL BRIDGE

LUCELEC WORKING LATE CHRISTMAS NIGHT TO RESTORE POWER IN CHOISEUL AND SOUFRIERE

THIS MANGO TREE SLIPPED UNTO THE SOUFRIERE-CHOISEUL ROAD AND IT STAYED THERE!

BARBADOS PRIME MINISTER CHALLENGES UWI TO PRODUCE 'INTELLECTUALS WITH GOOD IDEAS'

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Friday December 20, 2013, CMC – Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, who four months ago ended a five-decade-old policy of funding tuition for Barbadians at the University of the West Indies (UWI), on Wednesday called on the UWI to graduate intellectuals with good ideas to ensure the Caribbean's future development.

“The possession of a university degree should begin to mean that its holder is equipped to meet a wide range of intellectual challenges because his mind has been developed to a level that admits of a certain flexibility based on a firm grasp of logic, of sequence and of a basic ethics,” Stuart said at a ceremony marking the end of the UWI Cave Hill Campus’ 50th anniversary celebrations on Wednesday night.

“Yes, the university will produce professionals and academics. But it must also concentrate on producing intellectuals. As I see it, the true intellectual is a man or woman who believes in the generation and elucidation of ideas. He or she has to earn a living and must, of necessity, live off of what he or she knows. But he or she must live also for what he or she knows.”

Stuart said that developing countries, like those in the Caribbean, could not afford to lose the battle in the area of ideas.

“We may not win in areas like oil, commodities and military hardware.   But we can be equals or, better still, superiors, in the realm of ideas,” he said, adding there was much ado nowadays about the need to produce graduates who could satisfy the demands of employers in the public and private sectors.

“What I find troubling from time to time, though, is when the end result is a graduate so narrow in focus, that he or she gets lost in his or her ‘professionalism’ and, taken beyond the immediate perimeters of the specific area of study, that graduate can reflect too little of the roundedness that graduate status should imply,” he said.

Mr. Stuart told the ceremony that there was a perception within the society that the university was no longer commenting on issues critical to the development of the region.

“It is the university which should be helping the population to perceive some kind of structure behind the complexity and seeming confusion of life today; some kind of ordered drama behind the daily whirl of events. If the supposedly leading thinkers in our society are not doing this, I ask, who should?

“If Barbados and the Caribbean ever needed clarifying voices it is now.   My sense is that these voices are either in too short supply at the university or are certainly too muted.   We live in a multidimensional world, and we have to manage even the things that we cannot see by effectively managing the things that we can see,” he said.

The prime minister noted that the world had changed drastically from the years when the UWI was established in 1963, noting also that socially, the region was experiencing a situation where an increasing number of people, across classes, face mounting frustration, hopelessness and insecurity as they seem to be losing control over the forces that determine the quality and content of their lives.

Stuart said that education provided the solid foundation for a society to develop its true potential, adding “the public services of this region are now better resourced than at any other time in the region’s history, thanks to the University of the West Indies; and to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, the Cave Hill Campus has contributed immeasurably in that regard.

“Many an individual, old and young, has been able to actualise a God-given potential through access to this campus and has set out on the path to a vertebrate life,” he said, describing the university as one which could stand head and shoulders above many in the world of universities, despite the many challenges.

“Its icons through the years now dot our landscape and have continued to serve the Caribbean and the world with distinction.”

But he acknowledged that a university in the West Indies had to reflect the legitimate aspirations of a post-slavery and post-colonial people, and not mimic the priorities of universities which were responding to a different set of historical and developmental imperatives.

“I concede that the task of the university can be made that much easier if governments are clearer about what kind of societies they want to create.  But the task of crafting a regional vision is not one from which the university can afford to divorce itself.  While not hostaging itself to governments of whatever stripe, the university must see itself as a partner in the process of development of the wider community which it is supposed to serve,” he said.

Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Chris Sinckler in his 2013-14 budget on August 13, said that effective 2014, Barbadian students pursuing studies at the university’s three campuses will be required to pay their own tuition fees, while the government continues to fund economic costs.

The decision effectively ended a policy of free university education for Barbadians dating back to the Cave Hill Campus's opening in 1963, a year after the government introduced full free secondary education to Barbadians.

Sinckler said tuition fees would range from BDS$5,625 to BDS$65,000 (One Barbados dollar=US$0.50 cents) and that the new policy would reduce the transfer to UWI by an estimated BDS$42 million a year.

Source:: http://www.caribbean360.com/

OUR VOICE, THE VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY: A POWERHOUSE GUT REACTION

DR & MRS CHARLES AND GRANDSON

I felt awestruck by the outpouring of empathy demonstrated on Social Media for the cause of Choiseul. To me, that empathy is a reflection of the extent of humanity and care flowing in our blood for our fellowmen; it may also be a suggestion that St. Lucia may still be a country “intact”, with perhaps just a minority of us “dabbling” in counter-instances of humanity.

Perhaps, we can even set those "counter-instances" aside and attribute them in part to normal distribution theory.

The (unfortunately) noteworthy observation is perhaps that those who should demonstrate the greatest degree of sublime humanity are generally those who are trapped to the “left of the humanity curve”. Wouldn't it have been a much better Christmas season (for all of us) if only those who hold the relevant “levers of power” could foster greater optimism, hope, and joy in the hearts of “the deprived ones”? Indeed, Christmas is an ideal platform to make the assault. They did got the opportunity but frittered it away!

JIMMY AND LORNE SHARE A MOMENT

I cannot camouflage my position on the excoriation of Jimmy Haynes by his own parliamentary rep for the former's community activism. I ask: Why can’t we put the "dirty politics" aside for a moment, especially when we were responsible caps like "parliamentary rep"? Why should the SLP (who claim to know better than Jimmy’s Party) do just like Jimmy’s men?

Let me inform readers that I have been speaking with Jimmy; and I’m happy to inform you that we have agreed to put away the “political cannibalism” (according to the Minister for Social Transformation) and to come together for the greater good of Choiseul – and it is in this context that I take issue with the cannibalistic pronouncements that were made at the SLP constituency conference last month. Frankly speaking, they were uncalled for and déclassé!

DEDAN HONOURED  BY THE CREDIT UNION

But here’s the reality: Augustin Charles (Bolo), Jimmy Haynes (Jimmy) and Dedan Griffifth Jn Baptiste (Gillo) with all our imperfections have tacitly agreed to bury the political hatchet for the greater good of Choiseul! We have pledged (not only want to make “a good place better” but) to start the process to also make our community a great place! Choiseul has all the elements and ingredients of greatness - all we have to do is to "bang start" the "reconfiguration process".

Regarding the pursuit of that process, the pundits perhaps may have many questions: "Is that 'unity' initiative sustainable?" Isn't that Bolo-Jimmy-Gilo 'triumvirate' a charade? Can these opportunistic guys ever bury their hatchet for the good of Choiseul (or, for that matter, anything good)? Wouldn't that battle among these notorius triumvirate gladiators soon resume and Choiseul not suffering from major collateral damage?

While these questions are legitimate, they also express a deep existential pessimism. To some of us, the success of any initiative involving those three fellahs is simply impossible (even if those guys may be "success stories" in more than one sphere of life)!

But here are some facts you should know. I know Gillo and Jimmy very well; and they know me very well, too . . . and that mutual knowledge should  provide us with a sound platform. We all have done SWOT analyses of each other. I went to school together with Gillo; I also taught with him for a number of years. We played in the same Bands (Black Inspirations and Dread Tones). Gillo also taught me a lot about cricket to the point where I became the captain, opening bat and the frontline leg spinner for my club.  I never dreamed of those achievements and perhaps they would never become reality without Gillo.

I have to admit that I had a totally different relationship configuration with Jimmy which is grounded in familial of filial relationships. My first son is a close relative of Jimmy, who I first met when I visited my son in Delcer and thereafter, for all our lives we have been close, treating each other like relatives, like brothers. Yes! we've had bitter political exchanges but those have never torn asunder our filial connections.  His late Dad and mom are like mother and father to me.

No doubt, Jimmy (like all of us) has his imperfections and idiosyncrasies; he must have made an inordinate number of mistakes but isn't it also fair to say that those may have been far outweighed by his infinitesimal intellectual and organisational talents and commitment to community. It may well be a fact that the former may well approach zero when compared to the latter! 

Forget the politics, Jimmy perhaps may have done more for Choiseul than many of the politicians who have represented us and that gives him an indisputably well-deserved presence among us.

Jimmy like many genuinely patriotic Choiseulian wants to elevate his community above the Carib/Arawak "paradigm" which is perceived to circumscribe our existence and causing those who are in command of the levers of power NOT to treat us with the respect we deserve.  

Be that as it may, we are nonetheless prepared to be the sacrificial lambs on the altar of political cannibalism for the sake of a greater Anse Citron!

The “authorities” have obviously embarked on a campaign of "the excoriation of Jimmy" for his articulation of the problems of the constituency. Perhaps their hidden agenda is the pre-emptive destruction of the ROPE initiative before it gets off the ground; but the fact is Jimmy (like me) does not live on Mars or Jupiter! He lives in the heart of constituency and understands the trajectory of constituency problems because he, too, lives those problems everyday! His 70-plus year old mom lives mere metres away from the Delcer water facility and yet she is deprived of water – as is the entire community of Delcer!

Morne Sion, Lower Mongouge, Upper Reunion, parts of Cafeiere are also critically affected. Hence, when we speak, we lay no claim that our voice  is the "voice of God" but it not the "voice of Lucifer" either; our voice is simply the voice of our community. We hope that "those who ignore it" (and even excoriate us) when they hear it understand the full extent of their actions. 

This article is no tribute to Jimmy; it is no defense of him, either! it's just a gut reaction.