NO MORE CANINE BEHAVIOUR IN THE HOUSE?

Kenny challenges the results of Central & South East Castries! Will the margin now 14-3, exactly as the polls had predicted?

Dr Kenny Anthony has announced that he will challenge the poll results of the Castries Central and South East Castries. He said his lawyers will be arriving on the island this week to begin the legal proceedings.

Dr Anthony is well-known for his sound and impeccable legal judgment and prowess; and when he says he will engage an opponent in legal battle, you can sure bet it is because he is confident that he will draw blood.

There is no doubt that the SLP was the better prepared and organized party in this elections with a "second-to-none" framework for monitoring and feedback on the polling process. There is no doubt that Dr Anthony and the SLP A-Team have conducted the requisite internal reviews and now it’s up to the lawyers to deliver in a court of Law!

The hypothetical recount suggests that both Richard Frederick and Guy Joseph are on their way out! It’s a matter of time!

Sources close to the SLP reveal that the legal counsels who supervised the final count on behalf Emma and Alvina have expressed extreme optimism that the margins for both candidates will increase should there be a judicial recount.

The pursuance of a judicial review on behalf of Freggis is still under consideration.

Assuming that the judicial reviews for those three constituencies favour the SLP, the margin of victory would turn out to be exactly what the polls had predicted, 14-3.

LORNE IS ST. LUCIA MINISTER FOR TOURISM!

Choiseul/Saltibus MP, Hon Lorne Theophilus is St. Lucia’s Minister for Tourism and the emerging heritage and creative industries. This puts him in charge of St. Lucia’s highest income earner while also having responsibility two new emerging industries.

The appointment does not come as a total surprise because Lorne's articulated vision in his "mini manifesto" and  his platform during the campaign spoke very eloquently on those three portfolios.

Although a barrister by profession, Minister Lorne Theophilus is also thoroughly versed in the heritage and creative disciplines and we expect him to do an excellent job.

Dr Anthony must be commended for the innovative reconfiguration of the Ministries. I am particularly happy about the inclusion of Science and Technology and Rural Development portfolios. I will dwell on those portfolios at a later date.

Here is the full list of Dr Anthony’s Cabinet:

MINISTERS	PORTFOLIOS
KENNY D. ANTHONY	Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs, national Security
PHILLIP J. PIERRE	Infrastructure, Port Services & Transport
ALVA BAPTISTE	External Affairs, Civil Aviation & International Trade
ROBERT LEWIS	Education, Human Resource Development & Labour
EMMA HIPPOLYTE	Commerce, Business Development,  Investment & Consumer Affairs
MOSES JN BAPTISTE	Agriculture, Food Production & Rural Development
ALVINA REYNOLDS	Health, Wellness & Gender
HAROLD DALSON	Social Transformation, Local Government & Community Empowerment.
LORNE THEOPHILUS	Tourism, Heritage & Creative Industries
SHAWN EDWARDS	Youth Development & Sports
PHILLIP LA CARBINIERE	Home Affairs, Legal affairs
JIMMY FLETCHER	Public service, Sustainable Development,  Science & Technology
STANLEY FELIX	Physical Planning,  Urban Renewal
UBALDUS RAYMOND	Parliamentary Secretary

THE NEW CABINET: CRUDE CONJECTURES & CONSIDERATIONS

Dr Anthony will announce his Cabinet later today. He has 11 talented MPs to work with him, each being blessed with specialized expertise.

Emma and Phillip are veritable powerhouses with proven track records; but are Infrastructure, Port Services and Transport the ideal portfolios for Phillip? Is it a temporary assignment?

Verified competencies

Every SLP MP is blessed with verified competencies, ranging from bachelor's to doctoral degrees. In fact, most MPs have had exposure at the graduate or post graduate level; hence, they are equipped with the academic/intellectual tools to provide effective policy leadership at the agency and cabinet levels.

Unlike the previous administration, I do not expect Ministers to micromanage ministerial or constituency projects; but rather to implement “best practices” in governance within the framework of the principles of devolution and delegation.  It was atrocious to see the previous Minister for the Public Service on a rampage in the public service, either saturating his ministerial portfolios with political appointees or scrutinizing every public service appointment for “political correctness”. His tenure as the Minister can be equated to “the dark days” in the Public Service and St. Lucia can't bear another stint of that type of naked malfeasance.

Demonstrated competencies

All government MPs also have demonstrated competencies, having performed with a measure of distinction in their field of expertise.

Dalson was an excellent business educator, school principal and community worker/organizer with admirable management experience. Through his involvement in the Soufriere Foundation, STC, St. Lucia Tourist Board, he helped to reshape a new direction for Soufriere. 

Having worked with on a few academic assignments at the graduate/masters level, I can certify Mr Dalson's academic achievement, which was so obvious in his contributions in the House of Assembly debates where he generally overwhelmed his opponents with clinical and well-organised discourse mixed with wit but also maintaining a logical core. He is a good candidate for the Minister of Social Transformation and Local Government.

Although Lorne is a lawyer by profession, he also has a propensity for the Arts. He is a former sports administrator who is very versed in several sporting discipline. He served as the Chairman of Sports St. Lucia Inc.

Lorne is a multi-talented and has excellent oratorical and analytical skills and he is a good nominee for Minister for Justice, Minister for Education or Tourism; but to me, he is an ideal candidate for the Ministry of Youth, Sports and the Creative Arts.

Robert should be either Minister for National Security or Education; my preference would be the latter.

Moses "Musa" Jn Baptiste is my obvious choice for Minister for Agriculture and I expect Alva to hold the Civil Aviation portfolio.

Emma will be a true asset to this government; she has admirable expertise in management and finance and in that context may be an excellent choice for minister for Finance; she could also be a candidate for Economic planning, National Development; or would Kenny reach out to d’Auvergne, make him a senator and assign those portfolios to him?

Alvina is also a good choice for Social Transformation and Gender.

Unfortunately, one has to fill the deputy Speaker position and I recommend young Shawn Edwards.

SUFFERING SOUFRIERE PUTS A DAMPER ON VICTORY CELEBRATIONS

It never occurred to me that Soufriere on Tuesday and Wednesday received another serious bashing from mother nature on the scale of a “mini-Tomas”, further exacerbating the sores, scars and fractures inflicted by “Mother Tomas” in October last year.

THE PM WAS THERE LATE INTO THE NIGHT ASSESSING THE DAMAGE

There were no giant landslides in Minnie, Fond St. Jacques or Columbette, no 90-miles-per-hour winds, no lives were lost; but the torrential rains, raging Soufriere River, the floods and silt galore from Wingsville to the Soufriere Hospital and environs certainly brought memories of Hurricane Tomas.

SILT AT GUSTAVE'S SERVICE STATION

A major diversion and expansion of the Soufriere River in Fond Cacoa resulted in significant damage to adjoining properties. The river course did not only change but also widened by an estimated 50 yards. The “new” river bed - littered with boulders, fallen trees and debris - looked a battlefield where Mother Nature lived behind a trail of untold devastation and unprecedented havoc.

Like a monument signifying the destruction by Tomas, remnants of a collapsed building stood at a tottering angle on the bank of the river. About three hundred feet further up, a lone septic tank stood on the bank of the river as if begging for mercy from the elements; apparently, the water level came perilously close to the house that it served. The occupants were very worried about their fate.

THE DEMOLISHED BRIDGE: SHOULD IT BE A PRIORITY?

In Wingsville (opposite what is notoriously referred to as the “Chastenet Bridge”) the images were equally gruesome. A section of that community had not slept for two straight days. Serious flood damage had been inflicted on the sorry victims with water, silt and debris invading the privacy of their homes up to knee level. Siltation was heavy and ubiquitous from Wingsville, past the Soufriere Hospital and down to the Gustave’s Shell Service station. Apparently, the stockpiles of sand deposited on the Old Trafford playing field were constraining the easy egress of water and silt from the Soufriere River, its “tributaries” and the drains to the sea, resulting in the heavy “backing up” of the water along the lower end of Bridge Street. The silt accumulation at Gustave gas Station was simply overwhelming.

STOCKPILE AT OLD TRAFFORD: IS IT A PROBLEM?

Access into Fond St. Jacques and Zeno via Cressland was cut out.

Why did the UWP government turn a blind eye to the Tomas problems? Why would Chastenet spend so much money on a Stage-show when those problems were strangling Soufriere? Why would the lighting of the stadium in a disaster area and the reconstruction of the Soufriere Bridge with no apparent structural issues gain absolute priority over the sufferings of the Soufriere people?

THE PARLIAMENTARIANS GATHERED AROUND THE PM

The dire situation in Soufriere bears a striking parallelism to Katrina in USA during the Bush presidency. 

I hope the new government answers to the problems of the people of Soufriere with a sense of humanity and urgency.

THE RECURRING DECIMALS: WHY THEY FAILED

Kenny is under the public microscope and the whole country is watching him with a critical eye. While most may be doing so in a positive light, I’m sure there are also many detractors who are looking for a blemish to take him down!

In the 2006 campaign, those detractors thought they had battered him irretrievably with the fabrications about Rochamel and cost-overruns. The reality is Kenny “showed slate” for both of those “contrived” controversial projects. Rochamel is today one of the most successful tourism projects in the history of St. Lucia, employing over 600 hundred persons.

 An economic analysis of the West Coast Road by the Caribbean Development Bank revealed that the cost-overruns on that road projects were very small when compared with the benefits and impact of that project on the lives of the people of St. Lucia and specifically the people on the West Coast.Why?

Firstly, it opened up a "gateway" between the airport and Soufriere, the Tourist capital of St. Lucia. Secondly, it significantly reduced vehicle operating costs – no more broken springs and shocks etc – much to the pleasure of motor vehicle operators. Thirdly, the West Coast Road project can be construed as a model road project for St. Lucia; indeed, it’s the first of its kind, sporting world-class road surface and state-of-the-art, modern road furniture.

During the campaign, the Rochamel “recurring decimal” strategy came to the fore again and again. Kenny’s detractors tried re-runs of the prevarications about Rochamel, “cost-overruns” and even added Grynberg to the menu; but this time around the people of St. Lucia easily unmasked the wolves in sheep clothing and delivered a fatal blow to the “recurring decimals” of untruths and half-truths peddled by media ventriloquists masquerading as moguls.

St. Lucians learned some hard lessons in the last five years and it is evident that we preferred a government of “cost overruns” and “Rochamel” hotels a million times more than a government with “nothing-ah-run” until elections! What was most horrendous was the audacity of these under-performing ministers to vaingloriously beat the chest, touting that they had achieved! Those bluff and the fabrications were roundly rejected.

Kenny – like Sir John - began his new term in Government in a stately, prime ministerial and honorable fashion. His generosity of spirit and statesmanship reminded me of Nelson Mandela and even Barack Obama. Like them, he is out to re-unite the country. SAINT LUCIA! LET US UNITE AND PUSH OUR COUNTRY FORWARD!

CONGRATULATIONS! HON LORNE THEOPHILUS

Preliminary results indicate that Lorne Theophilus has won the Choiseul/Saltibus seat and that the SLP will form the next government with a margin of 10-7.

The winners on the SLP side are (1) Dr Kenny D. Anthony, (2) Phillip J. Pierre, (3) Alva Baptiste, (4) Moses Jn Baptiste, (4) Harold Dalson, (6) Dr Desmond Long, (7) Lorne Theophilus, (8) Emma Hippolyte, (9) Shawn Edwards, and (10) Dr Robert Lewis

The winners on the UWP side are: (1) Stephenson King, (2) Richard Frederick, (3) Dr Gale Rigobert, (4) Arsene James, (5) Ezekiel Joseph, (6) Guy Joseph, (7) Edmund Estaphan.

The UWP has maintained its record of no other UWP Leader except Sir John Compton winning an election for the UWP.

Congratulations to Team Labour!