THE VINCENTIAN PDF - 28-03-24

Justice served Page 4

Garifuna spirit survives Page 11

Awareness needed Page 16

Man steals piglets

Page 20

SHOPKEEPER’S MURDER CASE COLLAPSES

by HAYDN HUGGINS

A

AIA facing strike Page 28

Jahbery Jackson’s (centre) trial was never heard by a jury. He was found not guilty upon the evidence heard during a voir dire (trial within a trial).

at High Court 1 agreed with defense lawyer Kay Bacchus-Baptiste that all three statements the accused, Jahbery Jackson, gave to the police were inadmissible based on the way they were taken.

Jackson, also known as Michael Richards, was charged with the November 14, 2018 murder of 56-year-old shopkeeper Sabitree Lyttle, also known as ‘Ileen’, who was shot and killed while she was in the shop that she and her husband operated in Hollywood, Redemption Sharpes, East Kingstown.

Upon conclusion of a voir dire (trial within a trial), held in the absence of the jury, Justice Floyd ruled that the three statements, one in relation to the notes the police took when Jackson was arrested; another in relation to the electronic interview and a third (one) which was taken at the scene of the crime, should all be withdrawn from the jury.

Justice Richard Floyd had no other choice, given the preponderance of evidence during the voir dire, other than to direct that a not guilty verdict be brought in favour of the accused. Sabitree Lyttle – for whose murder Jahbery Jackson was charged.

which deals with the interviewing of suspects for serious crimes.

charge on Monday before the substantive trial could get underway.

The case collapsed after Justice Richard Floyd sitting

His ruling in this regard was founded primarily on the basis of the frame of mind of the accused at the time the statements were taken, and therefore to include them would be unfair and unreliable.

The Judge also ruled that the interviews the police conducted with Jackson were done in breach of the Act

Following Justice Floyd’s ruling, Prosecutor Richie Maitland, indicated that the Crown was withdrawing the charge against Jackson. As a result, Justice Floyd recalled the 12-member Jury and directed them to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

The defence arguments

During the voir dire Bacchus-Baptiste argued that the entire way the police dealt

with her client was unfair and all three statements should be excluded in the interest of justice. She pointed out that the Act in relation to the interviewing of suspects for serious crimes states that when interviewing vulnerable persons, it must be done in the presence of an appropriate adult such as a relative, lawyer, or religious minister. But the Crown admitted that this was not done.

The lawyer said that Jackson should have been regarded as a mentally

River cleanup unearths issues

MARCH 14 MARKED A DUAL CELEBRATIONfor the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with the day being National Heroes Day as well as International Day of Action for Rivers.

As for the latter, this year’s theme, “Water for All,” underscored the vital role rivers play in supplying fresh water and supporting cultural activities, and sustaining life from ridge to reef, highlighting how human activities in our watersheds impact coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves.

The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), a regional technical non-profit institute which has been working across the Caribbean islands for more than 30 years, and project partners collaborated with the National Environmental Days Committee in celebration of International Day of Action for Rivers, with a cleanup activity along the Warrawarrow River near the

Massy bus stop in Arnos Vale, on Saturday, March 16th.

This river was chosen because it flows into Great Head Bay and affects the environmental quality within the South Coast Marine Conservation Area (SCMCA), mainland St. Vincent’s only marine protected area. Rich in biodiversity, the SCMCA hosts nearshore habitats, corals, seagrass beds, and mangroves, and serves as nesting sites for sea turtles and seabirds/shorebirds.

The cleanup involved 23 participants from seven organizations, collected 27 bags of garbage, weighing 394 pounds. The waste consisted predominantly of branded fastfood containers, snack wrappers, plastic bags, and bottles, likely sourced from nearby popular establishments.

Improper disposal of solid and liquid waste in waterways and along riverbanks is a major contributor to flood

Participants from: CANARI, National Parks Rivers and Beaches Authority, SVG Scouts, SVG Cubs, Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) SVG Chapter, SVGCC Environment Club and Energize Earth. (Credit: National Parks Rivers and Beaches Authority, SVG)

Sustainable environmental management is everyone’s responsibility, requiring a corresponding need for heightened corporate-social responsibility and public-private partnerships.

approach to addressing the key risks from climate change and land-based pollution within the SCMCA, surrounding watersheds and communities.

vulnerability and ecological degradation in the South Coast. This affects all forms of life of the area, including its flora and fauna.

Beach clean-up activities by civil society alone cannot adequately solve this problem. What is necessary is a coordinated public and private response.

The “Pioneering a blue-green economic development model for coastal adaptation, livelihoods and sustainability in South Coast St. Vincent” project led by CANARI in partnership with the National Parks, Rivers and Beaches Authority (NPRBA), Forestry Services, Fisheries Division, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Hotel and Tourism Association, and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Fisherfolk Cooperative, adopts a landscape

Pioneering a blue-green economic development model for coastal adaptation, livelihoods and sustainability in South Coast St. Vincent is a project of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, co-financed by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection through KfW.

For more information on this project, see: https://canari.org/ cbf-eba-facility-svg/ (Source: CANARI)

Waste removal services provided by CWSA. (Credit: National Parks Rivers and Beaches Authority, SVG)

SVG AMP AGM set for this weekend

THE SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES Association of Music Professionals (SVG AMP) will hold its Annual General Meeting beginning at 4:00pm on Saturday 30th March 2024, at Victoria Park Media Room, during which members will elect a new executive to run the affairs of the organization for the next two years.

About SVG AMP

SVG AMP was founded in 2010 with the aim of championing the cause of the music practitioners in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

With that in mind, SVG AMP, in service to its members, is committed to:

* identifying and accessing opportunities for training in various fields of the Creative and Cultural industries;

* networking with other musicians for purposes of mentorship and collaborations;

* identifying and organizing events that provide performance opportunities;

* accessing important developmental information through association with local, regional and international agencies;

* providing education in areas such as music production, split sheets, contracts, marketing, artiste development and copyright and intellectual property issues;

* identifying and providing training in all aspects of music performance and production, including music theory and

practical.

Activities produced by SVG AMP

As a cornerstone of its service to its members and to music practitioners in general, SVG AMP conceptualized and produced an event it dubbed “SVG AMP Indefest”.

“Indefest” featured artistes performing a wide range of genres on the same stage, for the first time in Saint Vincent and the Grenadine, and paved the way for the annual SVG AMP Awards, a red-carpet affair. These efforts solidified SAV AMP, the “go to” defender of the interests of music creators, performers, etc. in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Collaboration

SVG AMP recognizes that if it

is to fulfil its commitment to and maximize benefits for its membership, it cannot operate in a vacuum. It, therefore, endevours to network with organizations of similar vein, government ministries, departments and agencies, and the private sector.

SVG AMP enjoys what it describes as a “symbiotic relationship” with the Eastern Caribbean Collective for Music Rights (ECCO Inc.), and encourages its members to become registered with Collective Management Organization which collects royalties from all over the world, on behalf of music practitioners, creators, performers, etc.

An appeal goes out to all members of SVG AMP to attend Saturday’s AGM. (Source: SVG AMP)

TACKLING CRIME:

Gov’t has no sense of purpose

THE LATEST BUT STILL UNCONFIRMED HOMICIDEin the country has not gone unnoticed by the Opposition New Democratic Party (NDP).

Commenting in the aftermath of the discovery in Belmont of the body of a seventeenyear-old female Kemeisha Haynes of Murray Village, Vice President of the NDP and shadow Minister of National Security, Major St. Clair Leacock said, not for the first time, “The government does not have any sense of urgency or purpose when it comes to tackling crime.”

Once again, Major St. Clair Leacock, NDP Shadow Minister of National Security, has chided the government for its lack of urgency in addressing the crime situation in SVG.

Leacock, Parliamentary Representative for the Central Kingstown Constituency went to add, “This should be a wakeup moment for the government and the country. We need to stem the tide of violent crime. We need a plan to stamp out crime. That means more police in targeted areas, more advanced crime fighting techniques and more international cooperation to stop the flow of guns into the country.”

In a release that shared Leacock’s comment, the NDP cited that in 2023, SVG recorded 55 homicides, the worst on record, and that between 2012 and 2023, police reported that there were 408 murders in the country during that period, 147 (36.03%) of which were solved.

This is simply not good enough and undermines public confidence in law enforcement in SVG, the NDP said.

To date this county has recorded nine homicides. Of these, five were shooting deaths, two stabbings, one slashed throat and one yet to be described. Of those killed, six were males and three were females including a one-year-old.

Shopkeeper’s murder case collapses

Continueed from Frontpage.

vulnerable person because the records show that he was suffering from psychosis, and when he was discharged from the hospital, the authorities there recommended that he get follow-up treatment, but their recommendation was not followed. She noted that his discharge letter which would have the evidence of his psychosis, was placed on his case file to

go to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), but according to investigator Sergeant Casanki Quow, it was not disclosed, and when Maitland was questioned he said he never saw it.

Bacchus-Baptiste said that when she asked for the station diary she discovered that Jackson was acting unusually, in such a way that should have alerted the police that all was not well with his mind. She noted that Dr. Karen

Providence, who was called as a witness for the state at the voir dire, seemed biased in favour of the state, and attempted to ‘walk back’, (abandon) her own medical report.

Bacchus-Baptiste said that it was only at the last minute while speaking to Jackson, she discovered that he was hospitalized while in police custody because the records from the hospital showed that he injected poison.

The lawyer said that

Jackson, in his statement to the police, said that he did not commit the murder and he pointed to two other men as having done so.

She added that on the day of the crime, Jackson related that the men told him to look out for them which he ignored, and he had no knowledge of what they were going to do.

He described those men to the police who indicated that they

were known to them, but the men were never arrested far less charged.

SVG Association of Music professionals Inc., working in harmony for a vibrant music industry.

Below: The shop in Hollywood, Redemption Sharpes, in which Lyttle was killed.

Significant decision for justice

Stories: HAYDN HUGGINS

DEFENSE lawyer Kay Bacchus-Baptiste has described the decision Justice Richard Floyd handed down in a murder case on Monday as a ‘very significant decision for the administration of Justice in the Criminal Division’.

The case involved 26-year-old Jahbery Jackson of Campden Park/Redemption Sharpes who was freed of the November 14, 2018 murder of shopkeeper Sabitree Lyttle of Redemption Sharpes.

The case collapsed after Justice Floyd, following the conclusion of a voir dire (trial within a trial), ruled that the three statements the police took from the accused be excluded because it would be unfair and unreliable to include

them based on Jackson’s frame of mind at the time, and that the police was in breach of the Act which deals with the interviewing of suspects for serious crime.

Bacchus-Baptiste, who was assigned by the state to represent Jackson, told THE VINCENTIAN that Justice Floyd’s decision addresses several issues which all persons involved in the Criminal Justice System ought to take note of, among them being disclosure, the rights of vulnerable persons, and the constitutional right to silence. She described Justice Floyd’s decision as ‘just, fair, and thorough’.

Bacchus-Baptiste also lauded Prosecutor Richie Maitland and the DPP’s Office for withdrawing the charge, after the Judge gave his ruling.

The lawyer referenced two previous cases to THE VINCENTIAN, in which she represented a Sandy Bay resident, Imroy McCoy, who was freed of robberies, and causing grievous bodily harm on November 13, 2023, and a Campden Park resident Jason Isaacs who was freed of murder on October 18, 2023.

The lawyer said that in both matters she had to challenge the Crown to provide complete disclosure of all the relevant material, and when she

eventually got complete disclosure, it exposed the weakness of the Crown’s case.

In both cases which were presided over by Justice Brian Cottle, the Jury found the accused men not guilty.

Bacchus-Baptiste said that in the Jahbery Jackson case, it was only at the last minute while speaking to Jackson that she discovered that he was hospitalized while in police custody, and the records from the hospital showed that he had injected poison, and that he was also suffering from psychosis.

However, unlike the two previous

Prosecutor Richie Maitland wasted no time in withdrawing the case against Jackson, given the evidence in his favour.

cases, the Jahbery Jackson case collapsed before the substantive trial could get underway.

(See Front Page story.)

Child abuser gets suspended sentence

A 26-YEAR-OLD

Vermont woman who physically abused her 2year-old daughter was handed a suspended sentence at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Candace John was sentenced to one month in prison, but that sentence was suspended for one year.

Senior Magistrate Colin John also ordered psychiatric counselling for the woman, and she is to report to the court every three months to determine how she is progressing. Her next Court date in this regard is on June 25.

THE VINCENTIAN is unable to give the details of the sentencing as it was done in camera (in the absence of the public and media), but the publication understands that the Magistrate gave his decision after hearing the facts, as well as considering a Social Inquiry Report on the woman, and a mitigation

plea from her lawyer Grant Connell.

On January 27, John pleaded guilty to, that on January 20, 2024, at Vermont, having the charge or care of a juvenile, willfully illtreated that juvenile in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering, contrary to Section 8(1)(b) of the Juvenile Act, Chapter 231 of the Laws of St. Vincent and the Grenadines 2009.

The charge was brought following police investigations into the circulation of a video on social media showing a child being physically abused, including attempts to suffocate the infant by someone who sounded like an adult female.

John’s sentencing was initially scheduled for March 4, pending a Social Inquiry Report, but when the matter was called on that date her lawyer, Grant Connell told the Court that based

on the nature of the case and possible ramifications, he was making an application for the sentencing to be done in camera.

Prosecutor Corlene Samuel agreed, and the Senior Magistrate granted Connell’s application.

When contacted, following the sentencing on Monday, Connell said, “I can’t comment. It was an in camera hearing”.

ÂWeed hustlerÊ fined for trafficking

A MAN WHO told the police when they apprehended him recently with a quantity of marijuana in his possession that he was going to make a ‘hustle’, was fined $800 on Monday for drug trafficking.

The defendant, Shelton Hooper, a 34-year-old of Petit Bordel, pleaded guilty to possession of 763 grams of marijuana for the purpose of drug trafficking and was ordered to pay the fine in one months or go to prison in three months.

Hooper also pleaded guilty to possession of the drug with intent to

supply but he was reprimanded and discharged on that.

Senior Magistrate Colin John handed down the penalties at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court.

Police intercepted Hooper at the Grenadines wharf around 12:45 p.m. on March 22 where he was bound for Union Island. The marijuana was found concealed in packages in a backpack he was carrying.

When cautioned, he told the police, “Officer ah going Union foh mek ah hustler.”

Defence Attorney Kay BacchusBaptiste lauded both Justice Richard Floyd and Prosecutor Richie Maitland for their actions in the murder case against Jahbery Jackson.

Candace John escaped real jail time.

Top Vincy executive honored

by NELSON A. KING US CORRESPONDENT naking@verizon.net

CARIBBEAN LIFE, the largest Caribbeanthemed newspaper in the United States, last Wednesday honoured Vincentian executive Atiba T. Edwards with its Impact Award during a gala ceremony at Terrace on the Park in Corana, Queens, New York.

Edwards, who was born in Kingstown and grew up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, was recently appointed president and chief executive officer of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.

“Receiving this award is a great moment in time,” Edwards told THE VINCENTIAN afterwards. “It captures the impact I’ve been able to have and, more importantly, it helps to create a network as I learn of other people of the Caribbean Diaspora who are impacting communities.

“This award also helps to amplify that which I’ve been able to do with great teams and support, so that many others can see possibilities and representation,” he added.

Edwards was among 41 honorees feted during the paper’s annual Caribbean Impact Awards.

Caribbean Life said the Awards “recognize the achievements and contributions of outstanding individuals born in the Caribbean or of Caribbean background who have made the most impact in their respective career fields, ranging from healthcare to the arts to advocacy to entrepreneurship.

“The celebrated honorees are committed to creating and framing the path for incoming immigrants and inspiring generations to come,” it said.

Victoria Schneps-Yunis, chief executive officer and publisher of Schneps Media, Caribbean Life’s parent company, said: “We are pleased to acknowledge the many extraordinary achievements of the Caribbean-Americans we are honoring tonight, who continue to significantly impact life in the United States, particularly New York. “

Amanda Tarley — director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Events and Programs at Schneps Media, who coordinated the event — said, “Every year, we look forward to bringing this event to you,” she said, thanking the honorees for their “endless efforts”.

Dr. Nelson A. King — The VINCENTIAN’s US Correspondent and senior writer for Caribbean Life, who has been writing for the Brooklyn-based paper since its inception in 1990, when he was a senior, with dual majors in Political Science and Journalism, at Brooklyn College, City University of New York — served as Master of Ceremonies during the near four-hour-long event.

Last December, Edwards, along with fellow Vincentians Soca Monarch and Cultural Ambassador Delroy “Fireman” Hooper and Claudette Thomas-Butler, a philanthropist, were honored during the 40th anniversary gala celebration of the Brooklyn-based

Vincentian group VincentianAmerican National Charities, Inc. (VINCI).

When he was confirmed in November last year as president and chief executive officer of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Edwards became the first Black to head the museum since it was founded in 1899.

“We can do what we want to,” Edwards told patrons in his acceptance speech, at the VINCI gala, to loud applause and a standing ovation. “Mom, dad, I made it; I reach.”

Afterwards, he told THE VINCENTIAN that he felt “a tremendous amount of generational pride in that both my family and extended family have come out to roaring applause, but also a community that knows the hard work ahead, and showing up and offering support in whatever way needed.

“As I move into this next chapter, I know that I have an amazing team, community and country that are rooting for me,” said Edwards, who acted as president and chief executive officer of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, since mid-August, following the departure of Stephanie Hill Wilchfort.

Even though she was physically present at the event, Edwards’ mother, Cornelia Edwards, said, inter alia, in a pre-recorded video message that her son attended the Bronx High School of Science and the University of Michigan, where he graduated with a

degree in industrial engineering and another in liberal arts.

On returning to Brooklyn, she said Atiba worked at JP Morgan Chase as

the first Rastafarian analyst, then at the Bank of Nomura, followed by six years as the co-lead of the Brooklyn Collegiate School.

Atiba Edwards dances on the red carpet at the Award Ceremony. Left: Atiba Edwards giving an acceptance speech at the Impact Award Ceremony.

The

Managing Director: Desiree Richards

Editor: Cyprian Neehall

Telephone: 784-456-1123 Fax: 784-451-2129

Website: www.thevincentian.com

Email: thevincentianpublishing@gmail.com

Mailing Address: The Vincentian Publishing Co. Ltd., P.O. Box 592, Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Editorial

Love those whom society disdains:

An Easter Message

A FRIEND POSED A QUESTION(more like a reminder of sorts) to the Editor last December. He asked, “Hey Man, weren’t you considering a vocation (priesthood) with the RC Church?”

The Editor’s reply, “Yeh Man, but I’d never committed to it.”

Nonetheless, he insisted that the Editor should put on the priestly cap which he never accepted and give the readers a Christmas Message as one of the editorials.

It came to pass that there was no Christmas Message but on reflection three months later, there was a feeling of disappointment and what followed was a decision to offer instead an Easter Message. Here goes.

On Easter Sunday morning every person who calls himself/herself Christian should ask, “What does it mean to believe in the Resurrection?”

After all, as much as Easter is preceded by Good Friday which speaks to the death of the Christ, Easter is far more meaningful, for the acceptance of the resurrected Christ is the sum total of the Christian faith.

And understanding the significance of the resurrection of Christ is to accept that it has meaning today, in 2024. That it is an expression of the Christian faith which says the Christ died and was buried but He has not gone away. His presence remains in the world through our lives… how we live our lives.

If we are honest, we will accept that according to John’s Gospel the disciples did not understand the significance of that first Easter morning. They failed to accept initially that the first step in the journey of comprehending the resurrection starts in the emptiness of the tomb.

There were John and Peter, in the dark, afraid and uncertain of what had happened. They were probably ashamed that they had not even gone to bury their friend and teacher, leaving that task to Joseph of Arimathea. All the hopes they harboured of their friend Jesus being the true Messiah seemed to have been dashed – dead and buried with his own corpse.

In like fashion, our own lives, our spiritual journeys and career paths

Private schools are still a thing

have also undergone similar stages of doubt and question.

Many can admit to having lived some aspect of emptiness in our own lives, e.g. the ending of a marriage or special relationship, a failure in a career advancement or business venture.

Worse, this emptiness can hit home harder (some are wont to say hardest) in moments of finality: when we have to live through the loss of a loved one.

In such times of suffering and loss, we long for resurrection, for a return to life, for release from the hollowness of defeat and darkness that keep us wallowing in a state of self-pity.

Yes, we are sinners! Yes, there are times when we have not lived up to all we can be. Even this Lent, there must have been moments when we did not keep our promise to reform our usual practices – but that can’t be the end of the story.

The Christ’s torture, public humiliation and execution did not end the Good News.

If we have faith in Easter, if we have faith in the One we refer to as the God of Life, we should be searching (today) for this God in places that offer transformational life and new energy to the world. We must become agents for meaningful and wholesome change.

There was a time in our society when women had low status and could not serve as legal witnesses – yet a woman — Mary - was first to have come to the tomb, and in Mark’s account, the first to have seen the risen Christ (Mark 16.11).

Preferential love for those whom society disdains remains a crowning expression of our resurrected Lord.

Offering life to those who need our merciful presence, speaking on their behalf and denouncing those who would belittle them and want to use them as pawns in their haste to achieve ‘success’, become signs of our belief in the teacher who rose from the dead — signs of our belief in the Easter Message of resurrection.

It took time for the disciples to understand the resurrection, to have their eyes opened to what had happened. Let’s pray that our own eyes may be opened to this miracle’s life-giving this Easter.

AS A PRODUCTof the local private school system in SVG, I must say I am disappointed with the lack of participation by all of us in our “past student associations”. Some of these schools do not make getting involved easy, but this should not stop us from trying.

The education I received at Mrs. Ford Primary School and St. Martin’s Secondary School could best be encapsulated in this quote by William Butler Yeats: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” I developed a passion for learning that kept me growing despite the many challenges I faced in life. The life skills gathered from attending these two schools made me who I am today.

Before going any further, let me stop and say, “Thank you”. Thanks to the many teachers, some just a few years older than me then, who made a difference in my life.

So, you can understand how the news that some teachers are frustrated for not being paid after working for many months at one of our more prestigious private schools is both disappointing and disheartening. Quite frankly, now that I understand a little more about business, I cannot tell you that I know how they made it work all these years without a wealthy benefactor or a highly functioning past student association. After asking around a bit, I was told that the government has a programme to help these schools. Apparently, this help is insufficient to keep some of these schools from financial ruin. Having visited some of the public schools in the last two years, I will not comment on the conditions of the schools’ furnishings and buildings.

So, the news that this school is experiencing some difficulties means that it is time for the government to review this arrangement, to ensure it still works in the best interest of the students, teachers, and owners/operators. The value added to our education system by institutions like these may have diminished over the years, as the government-led “education revolution” took hold of our nation. However, I continue to believe these schools still play an essential role in our society.

It is also time for those of us who

attended one of these private schools to organize or participate in our past student association events to support the schools.

I find it both interesting and frustrating to listen to the many radio stations in SVG as the various hosts lament on the state of affairs in our nation. The young hosts seem to all be in a state of shock and disbelief as to the failure of the government to provide for its people; and the fact that the few benefits available are going to political party loyalists. Those from my generation and older, all lament the loss/ destruction of community organizations. They speak of the general breakdown of the institutions in our society and the social structures that bind us together. They warn that our inability or unwillingness to connect with our past will continue to haunt us well into the future. To these groups, I am reminded of an old saying, “God helps those who help themselves.”

As for me, I am not sure what the root causes of our current distress are. However, I am a firm believer in the theory that in order to chart a new course, we must understand our history. Our history tells us that over the last fifty years, we went through a phase where community-based organizations, churches, and schools played an integral part in our lives. Some will say they still do; things are just different.

So, let’s talk a little about how things are different. Forty years ago, we had a clear focus on who was the enemy of our progress and development. We had a colonial government and a few (large) landowners making decisions on our behalf. Some will say that this made organizing and mobilizing the people easy. Not really, just different.

Our private schools and churches were vital in molding us into independent thinkers. This education was done away from the limelight. No one was looking for glory or accolades, and this education was given and received without fanfare. For example, this is why Dr. J.P. Eustace, another private school provider, is among those talked about today for National Hero recognition.

Horatio.

Top of Form Bottom of Form Those LED headlights

ANYONE who drives at night would have noticed the fashion of many vehicle owners here, including mini bus owners, to upgrade their headlights to LED lights. Those who follow this trend say that it helps with improving visibility on the road.

That may be so, but there are dangers in using these LED lights, not lest that they produce lots of glare which can cause blindness (temporary) to oncoming drivers and this can result in accidents.

Another thing is that if the persons doing the change from halogen lights to LED lights doesn’t know for certain what he is doing, the LED lights improperly installed can cause the light beam to become scattered instead of focused (which is bad already) and can cause even more dangerous glare for oncoming road users.

I don’t know how the Traffic Laws address this issue but if they do not, then I suggest that the Laws be amended and enforced. Then again, may be the LED lights should be banned altogether.

Too many people here are now avoiding driving at nights because of the LED lights. Let’s take action to make our roads safer and safe for all users. Let us not allow this danger to prevail like the tinted window did. We have got to nip it in the bud. Let common sense prevail.

Thomas.

Balliceaux

BALLICEAUX PRESENTSus with a golden opportunity for reparation and restitution. We need to transform this apparent barren land to which our ancestors were banished, punished and exiled, into a modern-day Garden of Eden.

We can envision it as a place of abundance and life rather than of death.

The agriculturalist would work on land conservation, local water supply,

Making criminals out of our boys

IN ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES, whenever you think of someone committing a crime, nine out of ten times you think it is a male doing the crime. And while that might be so, recent coverage in our news tells us that females are now getting into the act.

But back to the males. Many of us believe that parents are responsible for the criminal actions of their children, especially boys, and we blame them (parents) for the mess in our society. That might be so, but it is not an honest story.

My experience tells me that a lot of the violent crimes are committed by males from single-parent homes

where that parent is the mother.

A lot of people think that it is because the mothers would cuddle their sons and “pick up for them” rather than correct them, why they (males) will turn to crime. But that is not the real picture.

Again, my experience tells me that single parents (mothers) who are young, and there are many of them, are more likely to use harsh treatment in rearing their children, because they know nothing else. This is a good ingredient for making a criminal.

Then, there is the absence of a good father or father figure in the home. There are no male role models for the

boys growing up.

So, when the boy looks around the home for someone to show him what it is to be a man, there is no one, no male there to show them the way. So, they turn to people outside the home and more often than not they turn to the drug pushers, men with fancy cars in the community for companionship. That is the beginning of a criminal life.

Before too long, the young man is supporting the home and because the mother can’t do any better, she accepts what he contributes and keeps quiet about what he does for a living.

vegetation of fruit trees and flowers. The fisheries folks can organize sports fishing, snorkeling and whale watching. Historians can organize a museum and documentation center and library. The tourism authority can organize accommodation for guests and focus on Ecotourism. The business people can set up a company and make shares available to Vincentians at home and abroad and to our Garifuna brothers and sisters, so that we all can own the business.

Balliceaux is also an opportunity for the British to reconcile with the Garifuna in this reparation project. Rather than being a blight, Balliceaux can be a bright spot in our country’s tourism product and a place where all our peoples exiled abroad can come not only to pay homage, but also to relax, recuperate and be rejuvenated.

Anthony G. Stewart, PhD.

What you have eventually is a set of young boys who feel they are men and must prove they are men by being tough, rough and aggressive, making themselves easy prey for more hardened criminals.

So you see, we must be careful when we want to level blame on the parents for the behavior of their children.

Charles, Edinboro

For the youth: Memory and the future

The issue

IN MARCH 2001 when the ULP was first elected to government, a first-time 18year-old voter then is now 41 years old. He or she would have known how things were bad in 2001 for young people, the poor, the working folks, and the disadvantaged. He or she now knows the immense progress our country has made under the ULP government.

The first-time, 18-year-old voter in the next elections due in December 2025 would have been born in 2007; it is unlikely that he or she paid any serious attention to politics or government before he or she was 10 years old in 2017. Thus, he or she is unlikely to know anything about the NDP’s poor governance between 1984 and 2001 or the excellent years of ULP governance from 2001 to 2017; thereafter, this young voter knows from personal knowledge the tremendous advancement for SVG shaped or caused by the policies of the ULP government.

Cleaning up NDP mess

The ULP’s twin-task on attaining office was to clean-up the mess left by the NDP government and to implement appropriate policies to develop SVG in every material particular. Indeed, some of the NDP mess is still being cleaned up; the mess was piled high and was deeply rooted in many respects.

The mess left by the NDP government included:

(i) General poverty of 37 percent of the population; indigence/ “dirt poor” poverty of 26 percent of population; undernourishment at 22 percent of the population.

(ii) Mass unemployment: Only 30,000 active registrants at NIS out of a labour force of 55,000.

(iii) Annual per capita income (Gross Domestic Product) at under EC $8,000 per year.

(iv) Only 4 of every 10 persons who were 12 years of age were in secondary schools; only 4 primary school teachers in the entire educational system had university degrees; only a handful of students were at university; only 500 students or so, in total, were in the four divisions of the SVG Community College; the Public Library was placed in a small cubby hole in Middle Street consequent upon the disrepair of the Carnegie Building. Education was going nowhere.

(v) Terrible health system: Only 70 percent of households had pipe-borne in their homes; garbage collection and disposal were limited only to Kingstown and its immediate environs; there were unhealthy garbage dumps in full view and foul smell at Arnos Vale, Bequia, and Union Island; there were no polyclinics and no Modern Medical Diagnostic Centre; hospital services were run-down; there were no MRI or CT-Scan facilities; there was an antiquated x-ray facility at Kingstown only.

(vi) Poor housing. NDP government did not build one housing unit for the poor or marginalised in nearly 17 years in office; the Housing and Development Corporation was a mere

collector of old debts.

(vii) Disaster preparedness was basically non-existent. There was no NEMO.

(viii) Sporting and cultural facilities were run-down or non-existent. Victoria Park was a dilapidated dump; Peace Mo was ramshackle and unusable; no developed facility at Arnos Vale; limited sporting facilities and playing fields nationwide.

(ix) Parliament met with infrequency; the Office of the Director of Audit was a veritable dump; only a few construction firms won public works’ contracts; the laws on the Director of Audit, Financial Administration, and Public Procurement were underdeveloped and anachronistic; public accountability through the relevant institutions was sadly lacking; the Office of the DPP was inadequately housed and poorly staffed; the Attorney General or Solicitor General acted as DPP for inordinate lengths of time.

(x) The entire Windward Highway, the entire Vigie Highway, and the Leeward Highway from Hospital Road to Layou were in near-total disrepair; so, too, were most of the secondary roads and feeder roads; bridges all over SVG were falling apart.

(xi) Official corruption, moneylaundering and drug trafficking were widespread; so much so that the British government refused the NDP government debt relief under the Commonwealth Debt Initiative because of the extent of drug trafficking, official corruption, poverty, and uncontrollable money-laundering.

(xii) The National Commercial Bank (fore-runner to BOSVG) was in disastrous straits: The Bank was severely under-capitalised; its bad loans were over 20 percent of its total loan portfolio; it received a bad “qualified report” from the independent auditors for the years 1998, 1999, 2000; its asset base was small and heavily compromised; it was used as a veritable piggy bank by “NDP high-ups”; and the Ottley Hall Marina -Union Island Projects’ loans and security offended every basic banking precept and put the Bank in jeopardy of collapse; and workers at the Bank had no pension plan, as existed in all other commercial banks in SVG.

(xiii) The Ottley Hall project was a disaster and indebted the country in the sum of over EC $180 million for an asset – at arm’s length transaction –was valued at EC $13.5 million.

(xiv) State-owned entities such as the National Lottery, VINLEC, the Marketing Board Supermarket, Input Warehouse, Public Works, Public Health, Botanic Gardens were all performing badly.

(xv) Public buildings (schools, police stations, clinics, etc.) were in a condition of deplorable disrepair.

(xvi) Workers were disadvantaged in every material particular – wages, severance payments, etc.

(xvii) No international airport, no Rabacca Bridge.

(xviii) Selling of passports and citizenship.

To be continued.

We need local businesses to grow and thrive

THE PRIVATEsector is key to the economic development and economic growth in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In that light, the New Democratic Party (NDP) considers that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are critical to economic growth, and we will create the conditions that will enable SMEs to play a major role in entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation.

The NDP envisages a vibrant private sector centered around the four pillars of the economy: agriculture, tourism, the blue economy and the new economy. It is through the development of a vibrant and healthy private sector that we will be able to reduce the high unemployment rate, decrease poverty, and improve the standard of living for all Vincentians.

The Unity Labour Party (ULP) government has allowed our domestic business sector to decline. They have not given the support needed for local businesses to expand. As a matter of fact, things are going backwards. For instance, the government: has increased licenses on vehicles used by small and medium size businesses; failed to secure business opportunities for locals to supply Sandals with fish and agricultural produce.

Moreover, businesses are suffering because the government is not paying its debts, making it difficult for many local businesses to effectively manage their cash flow.

And according to the World Bank, it has become harder to do business in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This country is now ranked 130th in the world to do business.

We are cognizant of the tremendous benefits that can be derived from private sector development. These include: increased national income, sustainable jobs, stable economic growth, competitive markets, higher standard of living, infrastructural development, consumer cost savings and wealth creation and distribution.

The NDP recognizes that improving government policies and behaviour will not only shape the investment climate and drive private sector development, it will also drive overall economic growth and improve opportunities for everyone. Buoyed by this recognition, we will provide a range of incentives to encourage private sector development, and above all, create the stable and predictable macro-economic and social environment that will encourage investment.

In order to foster private sector development, the NDP seeks to focus on creating an attractive investment climate. Therefore, the NDP will establish a Ministry of the Private Sector to facilitate the development and expansion of private industry in general.

The role of the Ministry of the Private Sector will include identifying and seeking to develop or expand a range of direct and indirect support services for SMEs, including: business pre-start, start-up and development assistance; business plan development and follow-up; business incubators; legal, accounting and financial services; information services including advice on government policies; advice on the effective application of information, provide communication and business technologies to the business process; offer consultancy and research services; managerial and vocational

skills enhancement; promotion and development of enterprise based training.

The Ministry will also work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our overseas Missions, Caricom and the Vincentian Diaspora to identify trade and export opportunities for SMEs. In order to create the environment in which SMEs will thrive, the NDP will end the competition between government enterprises and SMEs, adopt and pursue appropriate fiscal and employment policies to promote an optimal economic environment, improve the attractiveness of entrepreneurship and remove the constraints to the development and growth of SMEs.

We also want to increase new business in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. We want to see businesses expand and create sustainable jobs, and to create a climate where young people can use their skills and ability to create the jobs for the future.

Our priority is to develop the four pillars of the economy to support and foster a sense of entrepreneurship, innovation and growth that will result in the creation of thousands of new jobs, increased wages and a foundation for the future. To achieve this, we will introduce a national quick pay policywhere the government pays its bills on time to small business owners; create a national innovation hub to support new business owners; implement our Youth Guarantee Pledge to help young people into the workforce; establish a National Skills Agency to ensure that we have the right kind of skills and review the business laws to make it simpler and easier to set up a new business in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

We will create a Development Bank to drive growth and jobs in the country. The Development Bank will be a true partner in local ventures. It will provide mentorship and technical support to help businesses succeed. This will put tens of millions of dollars into local businesses each year- not just a few million dollars in grants. We will ensure that this finance is available at the lowest possible interest rate, as the goal of the bank will be to help develop our country.

We will ensure that doing business in St. Vincent and the Grenadines becomes easier. We will have a business facilitation officer in every relevant government department. This will allow investors to deal with a civil servant who is business-minded, and has expertise in their department and direct access to the granting of permits and licences.

After twenty-three (23) years in government the ULP has become complacent. Government ministers have lost touch with Vincentians. They do not know the needs of the common man more so the business community. Many businesses have been constrained by political patronage, and the government has failed to create the right climate for businesses to thrive. Scores of businesses have closed their doors under this administration, while those that have survived are struggling. The NDP is committed to create the environment for businesses to succeed.

Views V

What Easter means to me

“The great Easter truth is not that we are to live newly after death — that is not the great thing — but that we are to be new here and now by the power of the resurrection; not so much that we are to live forever as that we are to, and may, live nobly now because we are to live forever.” - Phillips Brooks (1835–1893) US Episcopal minister, sermon at Lincoln’s funeral, wrote the Christmas carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem”.

ONE OF THE DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONAL issues in early 2012 featured a most interesting story that was written by David C. McCasland. He described two brothers who, in the 1980s, were experimenting with a computer programme and discovered some unique ways in manipulating images. Many computer software companies thought that these youngsters, John and Thomas Knoll, were crazy since, until this time, photographers were unaware of the possibility of using computers to edit photographic images; John and Thomas were “pioneering beyond the known photography world”. The brothers initially called their programme “Display”. Over time, the name evolved to “Imaginator”. They eventually settled for the name that we now know as “Photoshop®”. This software is presently used around the world as amateurs at home and professionals in business seek to enhance the outcome of their “photographic expeditions”. Through this technology it is possible to correct almost every imaginable flaw that is made by “photo-takers”. However, it should be noted that many of the early users of the software considered the invention “too good to be true” when they heard that the software had the capability of correcting the multitude of photographic errors.

The New Testament describes the scene on that first Easter morning as the women who carried spices to anoint Jesus’ body found the tomb empty (see Matthew 28). The angels who met them there stated, “He is not here: for he is risen as he said.” (Matthew 28:6). This historic moment is also captured in the New Testament book of Luke 24. And in Luke 24:11 we read that when the women told this to the disciples, “Their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them”. Although our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had foretold His faithful followers that He will rise on the third day (see Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:17-19), when it actually happened their initial response appeared to be saying “too good to be true”.

Today, two thousand years later, there are still some who question whether the evidence could have been manipulated. Is it possible that His followers could have rolled away the stone while the soldiers who were guarding the tomb were asleep? Could

they have paid the soldiers to lie? What do you truly believe? No, this is not the time to put this question on a back burner “for a more convenient season”. This Easter Season is as good a time as any to examine what you truly believe about this all-important aspect of history. This is truly a question to answer. As you ponder, let me share a story about an eleven-year-old boy named Philip, a Down’s syndrome child who was in a Sunday School class with eight other children:

Easter Sunday the teacher brought an empty plastic egg for each child. They were instructed to go out of the church building onto the grounds and put into the egg something that would remind them of the meaning of Easter. All returned joyfully. As each egg was opened there were exclamations of delight at a butterfly, a piece of stick, a flower, a blade of grass. Then the last egg was opened. It was Philip’s, and it was empty! Some of the children made fun of Philip. “But, teacher,” he said, “teacher, the tomb was empty.” A newspaper article announcing Philip’s death a few months later noted that at the conclusion of the funeral eight children marched forward and put a large empty egg on the small casket. On it was a banner that said, “The tomb was empty.”

We may not subscribe to Easter eggs, Easter bunnies, and the like, but the preceding story is shared to introduce my belief in that first Easter. Like Philip in the story, I am convinced that Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, died for my sins (and the rest of the world) and that He arose “with a mighty victory over His foes”. I believe that His resurrection is a fact of history; not a myth. I am convinced that Jesus conquered death and that, because I believe that He lives, and that He has gone to prepare a place for those who accept Him as Lord and Saviour, as He promised. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, the great Easter truth, enables sinful beings like me to have a lifechanging experience that allows for a “newness of life” on this side of the grave and the privilege of spending eternity with Him; His resurrection enables us to live nobly now (even though we will slip up from time to time) and to live forever in His presence; through faith in Jesus Christ and His resurrection we can have this hope in the now and the here-after. What do you believe? What does Easter mean to you?

Send comments, criticisms & suggestions to julesferdinand@gmail.com

NDP’s Candidates problem

‘IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID’is a phrase coined by James Carville in 1992. Carville was a strategist in Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 US presidential campaign. His phrase was directed at the campaign’s workers and intended as one of three messages for them to focus on. The others were ‘Change vs. more of the same’ and ‘Don’t forget health care.’ Note that this laser focus took Clinton from the governor of the sleepy southern state of Arkansas to the presidential white house in Washington, DC.

The opposition New Democratic Party may benefit from my free advice and adopt a modified version of James Carville’s call for focus. The party’s failure to recognise that it has a candidates’ problem has prevented it from entering the corridors of power. To paraphrase Carville, It’s the Candidates’ stupid ought to become the party’s watchwords.

The ULP has gifted the opposition an entree of political goodies to feast on as the elections draw near. Among the issues are high unemployment and underemployment, depressingly low salaries, high cost of living, a vicious tax regime with 16 percent VAT, a ramshackle civil service and police force, an unprecedented 40 percent poverty rate, a dilapidated road network and an explosive and frightful crime situation with burglaries, violence and murder destroying the social fabric that knits the society together. Hopelessness and helplessness abound while fear and alarm stalks the land.

Even the blind can feel, if not see, that labour, as in the ULP, is not working for the people of SVG. Many persons formerly allied to the governing party increasingly express buyer remorse. As a former ULP supporter recently asked me, ‘ How did we allow the vainglorious, pompous and reckless Ralph Gonsalves to fool us for so long? ‘

The national mood is set for change. The big question is whether the Dr. Friday-led opposition can develop and articulate a developmental narrative that will convince people nationwide that the party is ready to lead and move the country forward after a quarter century in opposition.

The opposition is solid in the six constituencies it holds. It must ask whether it should return to the polls with those six. Underestimating the extent of the devastation, dislocation, disorganisation, disarray, and havoc Gonsalves and his clansmen have caused, it is tempting to think that all that’s needed is for the elections to be called. Wrong! By bitter experience, Vincentians are familiar with the NDP’s bad habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Clearly, then, the issue is more than messaging. A far more critical weakness is the candidates it offers to the electorate. The top three leaders, Dr. Friday, Cummings, and Leacock, are in their twilight political careers and range from 66 to 72 years old. Any serious strategist would offer a younger, educated, and articulate cadre of candidates to fill the vacancies that political common sense or biology are bound to create.

Therefore, no one should be guaranteed the opportunity to run in

the upcoming elections except Dr. Friday, Leacock, Cummings, Fitz Bramble, Israel Bruce, and Shevern John. However, the opposition suffers from an outdated political disease that says no winning candidate should be replaced. Patel Mathews, who won by 12 votes in 2015 and lost by one vote in 2020, is a symptom of this illness, which is grounded in the mistaken belief that the candidate is more important than the party machine.

Terrance Ollivierre has plateaued, and Nature Stephenson wins because of the constituency’s demographics and the strength of the party structure in South Leeward. Both politicians would make less-thanstellar contributions in government, as they do in parliament. That Lavern King remains in electoral exile defies logic.

Three years after the last election, there is no way Kay Bacchus Baptiste and Bernard Wyllie should be caretakers, much more serious contenders as candidates. In a war of attrition, a time in the distant future may come when both might win. Baptiste and Wyllie present a strong head win to the party’s election fortunes. Importantly, SVG is confronted with the fierce urgency of now.

The same argument holds for Lavern Gibson-Velox in East St George. Some argue that she did well in 2020, so give her another chance. Wrong for the following reasons. Ben Exeter did surprisingly well against Louis Straker in 2015. NDPites fancied his chances in 2020, but he lost by an even wider margin. The same thing will happen if Ms. Gibson Velox runs against Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves again. During the last budget, Camillo said the 2024 budget is an East St George budget. The ULP will do everything to ensure that Camilo retains the seat.

Therefore, the NDP’s strategy must be to decapitate the ULP projected leaders, Camillo Gonsalves and Sobato Caesar. Gibson-Velox’s vote count was a mere 11 votes more than the party’s in 2015. It was Camillo’s votes that fell. Whereas he won by 613 in 2015, he scraped through by 192 in 2020. The ULP is going for a sixth term with the political win against them. All efforts should be made to recruit Akin John, a formidable candidate who is wellliked and has great odds of success. Similarly, young, articulate, forwardlooking candidates should be found for the leeward seats.

The NDP leadership needs to take a chapter from Gonsalves’ playbook: No one will be put out to pasture. There is an entire state machinery to staff and run. Under its big tent, there must be a place to care for those who gave way in the interest of the party and the nation.

Once the NDP gets the candidates right, the country’s sad state of affairs presents a political canvas on which the opposition can paint a future of hope, transparency, accountability, and democracy. An overwhelming electoral victory will follow.

Send comments, criticisms & suggestions to jomosanga@gmail.com

The Garifuna spirit survives in Hairoun

WE VINCENTIANSseem to have hit a groove where we consider ourselves the champions in the struggle for justice and fair play worldwide and on that mission, our Prime Minister of the last twentythree years is the sole author of the model we are using to effect that purpose.

In the ambitious programme, we have worked our way into the Security Council of the United Nations for a period of two years and became the smallest nation ever to have achieved that distinction. Dr. Friday the Leader of the Opposition here, had apparently given support to the effort. But in view of the fact that the success of the effort necessitated the outlay of substantial sums of taxpayers’ money, at the very time when our citizens were starved for elemental services in education, agriculture and health, a proper report should be made to the people showing all the related factors of expenditure and distinguishable achievements documented.

If such a report is not forthcoming soon, then what had been hailed as a noble endeavour embodying our national distinction, will have turned out to be a reckless wastage of resources to promote Dr. Gonsalves’ ego as the ‘World Boss’, with St. Vincent and the Grenadines merely serving as the flagpole on which his narcissistic pennant is held aloft.

To the uninformed observer, viewing the recent display at the Joseph Chatoyer obelisk at Dorsetshire Hill, the conclusion might be drawn, that the welfare of the Garifuna people, the progeny of whom held a conference here recently, is a matter on which Dr. Gonsalves has concentrated his sincere focus for some time.

At Dorsetshire Hill, he gave listeners a lot of

very interesting historical data, as background to what he presented as the very impressive record of his contribution to the welfare, development and improved condition of the citizens of this country.

But during his presentation I could not help but remember, that several years ago Mr. Eustace had proposed, that we could show the progeny of the Garifuna, some favourable consideration, to allow them to maintain contact with St. Vincent their sacred homeland. And what was Dr. Gonsalves vehement response in which he rubbished the idea? Not one member of his party expressed disagreement with him, not even Mr. Montgomery Daniel who had been regarded as a strong dependable member of the Garifuna community which had been electing him to represent them in Parliament over the years. He, as Deputy Prime Minister, was well positioned to make that intervention to defend the honour of his people.

Had Mr. Eustace’s recommendations been accepted and acted upon, we could have very likely been seeing by now, the evolution of business endeavours, some of which might have been enterprises of joint venture between ordinary residents and our Garifuna diaspora. These enterprises could have been bringing in another hundred million dollars to our economy annually.

Against the history of our Prime Minister’s very unfortunate and welldocumented very acidic reaction to Mr. Eustace’s noble proposition, I hardly expect that patriotic Vincentians will be impressed, that the acquisition of Balliceaux will represent the passing away of that cloud of untrustworthiness which has been hovering over the last several decades.

LeRoy Providence

SVG records 2nd road fatality

KELLON STAPLETONbecame

this country’s second road fatality for the year, when the vehicle he was driving overturned in Rose Hall in the early morning hours of Wednesday.

According to information reaching THE VINCNTIAN, Stapleton, a well-known 38-year-old auto-mechanic from Rose Hall, was on his way home when the accident occurred.

received injuries that necessitated hospitalisation.

The only other person in the vehicle was said to have

South Rivers man shot dead

CLINTON HACKSHAW

of South Rivers has been identified as the man found dead on Tuesday night, March 26, on the road leading to Byrea.

The police confirmed that when they responded to a report, they found Hackshaw lying in the road. He appeared to have received multiple gunshots to his back.

Hackshaw’s death follows closely on the heels of that of 17-year-old Kemeshia Haynes, whose lifeless body was found over an embankment along the Whim Road, Belmont, on Sunday 24th March. Haynes was said to have been strangled.

Hackshaw’s death counts the 10th homicide for the year to date and the third so far for March, Comron Miller being the first for the month when he was shot dead on March 19, in Ottley Hall.

Body found in New Grounds

POLICE HEREhave mounted an investigation after a discovery was made of a man in a decomposed condition in a house in New Grounds.

While there have been no details from the police, THE VINCENTIAN understands that the discovery was made last Tuesday, March 26, by a person who is known to be an acquaintance of the deceased, and who had gone in search of his friend after not seeing him for a day or two.

The deceased, THE VINCENTIAN has been able to discern, is one Adrian Neverson, a teacher who upon retirement, returned to New Grounds to occupy his father’s house.

It was in that house that his body was discovered.

Stapleton’s death follows that of Maurice Murphy who died on the spot when he lost control of the vehicle he was driving along the main road through Troumaca, and it ran into a retaining wall on January 28.

Kellon Stapleton died on the spot when the vehicle he was driving overturned.

Stephanie Browne regains IPSAC title

THE STEPHANIE BROWNE

PRIMARY won the 2024 National Lotteries Authority Inter Primary Schools Athletics Championships (IPSAC), held Wednesday, March 20, at the Diamond Track Facility, doing so by the slimmest of margins, a solitary point. The Southern Grenadines athletes, who gathered 181 points in the 2024 championship, also won titles in 2019 and 2022. There were no championships in 2020 and 2021, but they lost

in 2023 to the Kingstown Preparatory School, This year, they dethroned Kingstown Preparatory who tallied 180 points, and another Southern Grenadines representative, the Canouan Government in third on 158 points.

Paget Farm Government — 148 points and Lauders Government - 127 points, completed the top five placings.

There was a joint Victrix Ludorum - Skye Cockburn of the Lauders

Government and Sophia Compton of the Paget Farm Government who tallied 30 points each.

Cockburn was the Female Under-7 champion while Clouden took the Female 11 to 15 category.

The CW Prescod Primary’s Aaron Baisden took the Male 11-15 title and was the Victor Ludorum, with 30 points.

The other individual champions were Justin Patterson of Layou Government, who took the Male Under-7 with

20 points; Onelly Ottley of the Richland Park Government who secured the Female Under-9 with her 23 points; and Neymar Maloney of the Lauders Primary on 24 points won the Male Under-9 title.

Meanwhile, Sky Cain of the Georgetown Government gathered 20 points to be crowned the Female Under-11 champion and the Male Under-11 title went to Kamar Allen of Canouan

Government, also with 20 points.

During the championships, seven individual records were broken and seven relay records, also went into non-existence.

New Records

Sophia Compton is now the holder of the Female Open 600m as well as the 11-15 Females 150m.

Emroll Snagg of Canouan Government is the new record holder of

Central Leeward, Grammar School: Champs of Inter-Secondary athletics

CENTRAL LEEWARD SECONDARYand the St. Vincent Grammar School shared top honors in this year’s National Lottery Authority Inter Secondary Athletics Championships, held at the Diamond Track and Field Facility, Thursday 21st March.

the 11-15 Male 800m; Tre’on Cato of the Canouan Government, the Under-9 Male 50m, and Kamar Allen, the Under-11 Male 300m.

Completing the individual records, were Sky Cain in the Under—11 Female 150m and Zhandell Ballantyne, the Under-9 Male 150m.

Among the relays, the Kingstown Preparatory grasped the Under-11 Female 4x 80m and the 4 x 150m, and the 11-15 Male 4 x 80m.

Other relay winners: the Lauders Primary Under-7 Male 4 x 50m; the Langley Park Government, the Under9 Female 4 x 80m; Stephanie Browne, the 11-15 Male 4 x 80m, and the Chateaubelair Methodist, the 11-15 Female 4 x 200m.

Central Leeward completed their 7th consecutive female championships when they took that title with a total of 422 points. They raced ahead of Girls’ High School, their closest rivals on 282 points; followed by Georgetown Secondary, third on 144 points.

The St. Vincent Grammar School, meanwhile, maintained their dominance from the

start and took the male title on 335 points, ahead of the Central Leeward second on 287, Troumaca Ontario in third on 222 and St. Martin’s Secondary fourth on 180.

The Championship’s

Victrix Ludorum was Kessian John of the Central Leeward Secondary, with Kingroy Hepburn also of Central Leeward, the Victor Ludorum.

The Junior category champions were: Ariel

Stephens from the Central Leeward Secondary with 33 points - the top junior female; Kingroy Hephurn the top junior male athlete with 37 points.

Kessian John, 42 points, topped the Intermediate female category. Leemore Ollivierre of the St. Vincent Grammar School was the top intermediate male on 33 points.

In the senior category, Alia McDowall Central Leeward Secondary dominated the female category with 31 points while Teron Muckette of the Bethel High School took the male category on 28 points.

Champions: The Stephanie Browne Primary School team, including officals.

Aaron Baisden – Victor Ludorum

Skye Cockburn – joint Victrix Ludorum

Sophie Compton – joint Victrix Ludorum

Central Leeward Secondary School (CLSS): Female Champions of the 2024 Inter Secondary Athletics Championships.

Below: The St. Vincent Grammar School: Male Champions of the 2024 Inter Secondary Athletics Championships.

Kingroy Hepburn, CLSS, Victor Ludorum 2024.

Kessian John, CLSS, Victrix Ludorum 2024.

Women breaking barriers

Left: H.E. Ambassador Fiona Huei-Chun Fan is pleased that her country can contribute to a Project that is a catalyst for development.

Right: Education Minister Curtis King said the exhibition indicated that women are sowing the seeds of economic independence.

by WILLIAM ‘KOJAH’ ANTHONY

WOMEN IN ST.

VINCENT

AND THE GRENADINES are helping to ensure a better organized Vincentian society. This was pointed out by Education Minister Curtis King in his address at a ‘Project Showcase’ at the High Court yard last Tuesday.

Some fifty booths were on display, highlighting women engaged in a variety of sectors/endeavours.

King expressed pleasure with the involvement of the Republic of China (Taiwan)who financed the Women’s Empowerment Project out of which came last

Vincent and the Grenadines, identified the project as a “catalyst for development of the society.”

She described it as opening closed doors for the 306 persons who benefitted from training in the Women’s Empowerment Project since its inception in 2020, as a response to the inertia of the Covid19 pandemic and the displacement caused by the eruption of La Soufrière.

enterprises.

Marvo Morgan spearheads the ‘Thriller Sound System’ which was on display at the Court Yard venture.

Morgan sees herself as part of a “one stop” department when it comes to staging any event.

Diamond Dazzle Event caters for any occasion. They turn your dreams into reality whether it be planning a wedding or arranging rentals, among other things.

Tuesday’s Showcase.

He recognized that the attention given to women has enabled them to “break barriers, challenge norms, and pave the way for progress,” to the extent that ” “they have sown seeds of economic independence that will yield abundant fruits.”

Economic power, King declared, is a liberation tool that encourages people to work together to build a stronger society.

H.E. Fiona Huei-Chun Fan, Ambassador of the Republic of China to St.

The Ambassador was pleased that in addition to the number of women who received the training, 209 other persons have benefited from the venture and she disclosed that $1.3 M has been generated as a consequence of the project.

A taste of progress

If there is an example of the impact of the Women Empowerment Project, the Vincy Klus Inc. is an example.

That entity acts as a coordinating agent for a number of ventures. It works on behalf of a number of outlets involved in a range of agriculture (including hydriophonics), manufacturing and service oriented

Business woman

Zanelle Wilson vouched for the value of the Offering National Support Internship Training and Employment (ON-SITE), launched March last year. Wilson pointed out that with the ON-SITE venture, it is no longer “business as usual” and cited it as “the stuff success is made of.”

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves thanked the Republic of China for their support and assessed their injection as being in sync with the policies and objectives of the government.

As far as Dr. Gonsalves was concerned, women’s empowerment is a “centre piece of the government.”

Omega Garden offers a healthy way to eat and drink and to prepare what you eat.

Miss Cassandra’s wines – good for every occasion and great before and after dinner.

Vincentian women have never been afraid to show their art and craft skill, now they are taking their work to another level.

Down syndrome: Awareness still needed

PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES(NSPD)-

Andrea Ashers, feels that despite the persistent dialogue, public outreaches and the abundance of literature, individuals with Down syndrome are still being stigmatized.

Speaking on Thursday, March 21, 2024, ‘World Down Syndrome Awareness Day’, Ashers called the situation, heartbreaking.

“It is heartbreaking to hear about the challenges faced by individuals with Down syndrome, including the stigma and mistreatment they endure…They are still undervalued, whilst there’s a belief that they are incapable of relationships, parenthood, independent living and work… Each person is distinct and

has the potential to make meaningful contributions, deserving of equal treatment and acceptance,” Ashers commented.

She noted that in addition, the system does not cater for these persons.

“Our country currently offers limited opportunities for individuals with Down syndrome, such as access to frequent and affordable occupational therapy, and physical therapy, and psychology support… Meeting these needs will enable individuals with Down syndrome, along with others with disAbilities, to flourish and be embraced for their unique contributions to society,” the NSPD President advocated.

Towards helping to make the turnaround,

Ashers is calling specifically on parents and caregivers to play their part.

“Parents and caregivers play a pivotal role in nurturing independence and inclusion during their formative years…

Teaching life skills such as household chores, tying shoelaces and navigating transportation not only foster independence but enhances self-esteem and

confidence, crucial for their integration into a wider society and eventual employment or independent living,” Ashers proffered.

She called on parents to come forward as help is available to care for persons with Down syndrome, who are living here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

As part of the day’s celebration, the NSPD hosted three individuals who are living with

Down syndrome at the organisation’s headquarters located on Higginson Street in Kingstown.

Apart from wearing mismatched socks, those in attendance were feted, provided with lunch and Tee-Shirts, compliments Garnet Jeffers.

They were joined by Minister of National Mobilisation, Housing and Informal Human Settlement - Hon. Orando Brewster - and members of his staff, in commemorating the day.

Down syndrome is

a genetic condition that causes mild to significant physical and developmental problems.

Although there is no cure for Down syndrome, what is known today about the condition is much more than ever. If a child has it, getting the right care early on can contribute significantly towards helping them live full and meaningful lives.

Those with Down syndrome in St. Vincent and the Grenadines should enjoy nothing less.

Minister Orando Brewster (standing) in conversation with Andrea Ashers and Terrence David of the NSPD.

‘Rocking Your Socks’ on ‘World Down Syndrome Awareness Day’.

Haitian gang leader shot dead

Ernst

Haitian gang leader who escaped prison earlier this month has been shot dead by police - as political groups appear to be getting closer to finalising a transition council in Haiti.

Ernst Julme, known as Ti Greg, was the head of Delmas 95 which is part of Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier’s alliance of gangs.

Julme was shot by police a day after Makandal, another gang leader, was killed in a suspected resurgence by a vigilante group called Bwa Kale, police and sources have told Reuters.

The death of Julme marks a setback for Cherizier’s “Viv Ansanm” alliance of gangs that hopes to take over more parts of Port-au-Prince.

Haiti entered a state of emergency on 3 March after Cherizier called for criminal groups to unite and overthrow the country’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Attacks by powerful gangs on key government targets had begun on 29 February across Port-au-Prince, with gunmen having burned police stations, closed the main international airports and raided the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing 4,000 inmates.

Last week Thursday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

welcomed reports that political groups in Haiti had selected all members of a transitional council set to assume presidential powers ahead of future elections in the country.

The council, intended to bring together Haiti’s fractured political class, is mandated with appointing a replacement for Henry, who announced his resignation on 11 March as gang violence prevented his return into the country.

The council will also wield certain presidential powers until the transition plan was brokered in Jamaica by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), alongside representatives of Haiti’s government and opposition.

The nine-member council was initially expected to be finalised within a couple of days of Henry’s resignation, but some Haitian political factions were unable to unite behind one representative.

One party rejected the plan altogether then backtracked, while groups left out of the plan criticised the return of politicians from previous administrations seen as corrupt.

Cherizier has threatened reprisals against politicians and their families if they take part in the proposed council.

Meanwhile, heavy gunfire continued to be heard throughout Port-au-Prince and people could be seen fleeing to where many of them do not know.

Amidst it all, the UN, other international bodies and embassies (including the USA) have been evacuating staff and other foreigners by helicopter because Haiti’s main

airport is not secure.

People run through the streets of Port-au-Prince as bullets fly. (Photo: Reuters)

Gang members of “G9 and Family” appear to be in charge of the streets of Port-au-Prince (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Julme, known as Ti Greg, was an associate of powerful Haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Minibus strike action again

MINIBUSoperators serving the Gomea, Collins, Evesham and Carriere communities withdrew their services on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

This recent strike added to a number of similar actions taken dating back as far as 2015.

Nine buses involved in strike action

Privately owned/operated minibuses provide the only public transport service in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Their strike action can cause major disruptions to daily life and commerce in the country.

Reports say that up to nine buses were involved in this week’s action in what their operators referred to as strike action over the two days, with only one operator from the area choosing to ignore the call to ‘stay off the road’.

According to reports in other media outlets and in keeping with what THE VINCENTIAN discerned, the operators’ decision to withdraw their service was a mark of protest and one taken to highlight the deplorable conditions of the roads throughout the communities.

Bus operators aired their complaints

The operators complained that nothing has been done to improve the conditions of the roads for what one resident of Gomea said was “a very, very long time. Like they have forgotten us. They forget we have to vote.”

On that score, one operator made it clear that their action had nothing to do with politics. It was focused on highlighting the state of the roads.

The protest attracted confirmation that the roads in the communities affected were supposed to have been attended to some three years ago.

Nothing, it seemed, was done and the roads were allowed to deteriorate to the point where some areas are becoming impassable.

There was no logical explanation for the failure to fulfil what may have been budgeted for already.

Not only have the owners/operators of the buses had to expend excessive amounts of hard-earned money on repairs and parts necessitated by the wear and tear on the vehicles hastened by the road conditions, but commuters have been complaining about the discomfort they have had to endure as the drivers do their best to negotiate a patchwork of pot holes and more.

There was some indication by Wednesday that the roads in focus could be in for some attention soon.

POLICE ROUND-UP

THEFT OF PIGLETS

LYRON PRINCE, 37 years, a Labourer of Mesopotamia was arrested and charged with the offence of Theft. Prince is accused of allegedly stealing seven (7) piglets valued at $700.00ECC, the property of a 43-year-old

resident of Richland Park. The offence was committed at Richland Park between 6:15 p.m. on February 22, 2024 and 5:30 a.m. on February 23, 2024.

Prince appeared at the Kingstown Magistrate Court on Thursday 21st March 2024 and pleaded not guilty. He was granted bail in the sum of $1000.00 with one surety and warned not to have any contact with the virtual complainant.

The matter was adjourned and transferred to the Mesopotamia Magistrate Court for trial on April 5, 2024.

appeared at the Kingstown Magistrate Court on Thursday 21st March 2024 and pleaded not guilty to the charge. He was granted bail in the sum of $5000.00ECC, with one surety and was placed on a curfew from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. at his home of residency. He was further ordered to report at the Central Police Station every Monday between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

The matter was adjourned and transferred to the Serious Offences Court for trial on August 12th, 2024.

WOUNDING

POSSESSION OF SHOTGUN CARTRIDGES

On 20.03.24 Police arrested and charged Courtney Phillips, a 25year old Labourer of Edinboro with Unlawful Possession of two (2) 12gauge shotgun cartridges without a licence issued under the Firearms Act.

Phillips was arrested about 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday 20 March 2024 during an operation conducted by the police in Edinboro.

The defendant

On Wednesday 20th March 2024, police arrested and charged Eldon Browne, a 58-yearold Labourer of Rillan Hill with the offence of Wounding.

According to the investigations, the accused allegedly unlawfully and maliciously wounded a 25-year-old resident of Rillan Hill by chopping him on the left side of his face with a cutlass. The offence was committed at Rillan Hill on August 14, 2021, between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

Browne appeared at the Kingstown Magistrate Court on Thursday 21st March and pleaded not guilty to the charge. He was ordered not to have any contact with the complainant. The defendant station bail continued and the matter was adjourned to June 17, 2024, for trial.

(Source: RSVGPF)

EASTER MESSAGE „Alleluia He is risen‰

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Christian Council

THE BOOK OF Ecclesiasticus (cf. 2:1) invites us to focus on the season of Lent which we have concluded and the season of Easter which we are commencing. As Christians, during the period of Lent, we prepare for Easter through a regimen of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We focus intently on Jesus who came through his ordeal of temptations by Satan in the wilderness. Scripture says that after Jesus was baptized by John the Spirit led Him ‘into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, and then the devil came to Him’, (cf. Matthew 4: 1 – 3).

As we look back on ourselves during the period of Lent, could we say that we were tried and tested? Were we introduced to places and conditions we would rather have avoided? Or was the temptation a reintroduction to circumstances from which we would rather have refrained? Did it seem as if the more we tried to focus on Jesus, the more we appeared to be weakened by the snares of the Tempter?

It is in these moments, as in the case of Jesus, we are to recall his words to the Tempter, “Away with you Satan!”

For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve’ (cf. Matthew 4:10).

During our walk with God, we will constantly face ordeals in our lives, but as Christians we believe in a resurrected Christ, who knows all the emotions of man: our fears, our failings, our constant stumbling.

Jesus fell three times under the weight of the cross (our sins). We need to constantly call on Jesus for assistance so that when the tempter comes, we will have the words Jesus used to the tempter on our lips. We do not want to be in a tomb, locked away, succumbing to our ordeal. We want to have the faith to say, ‘Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will’ (cf. Matthew 26:39).

This Easter, let us remember that we serve a risen Christ. Jesus had passed through different temptations, but, during his 40 days in the wilderness, he acknowledged that he constantly needed God’s assistance and he asked for it. As we rise with Jesus during this Easter Season, let us remember to consistently ask for God’s intervention in everything we do. For, it is only in seeking God’s direction can we face our ordeals with the faith that Christ is truly risen from the dead and thus, we have the faith to continue to move forward. In constantly acknowledging Jesus, we will be able to experience the peace he promised to his disciples, PEACE BE WITH YOU! (cf. Jn 19:21).

May the risen Christ be your constant companion during this Easter time and may you continue to keep him close throughout your life.

A Blessed and Happy Easter everyone!

Advice

Dear George,

I DID NOT exactly break up with my girlfriend but I have distanced myself from her. When I began showing an interest in her I thought she was equally interested in me.

We started dating just after Christmas and she was bold enough to demand I get her a Christmas gift although we had nothing between us at Christmas. She then asked me what I getting was her for New Year’. She also told me what she wanted for her birthday in February.

Not once did she think of getting me something for my birthday (March 10), not even a card or text to say ‘Happy birthday’. When I asked her about it, she said, “OMG, I completely forgot.”

Her next set of demands was paying for her toes and nails to be done and getting her new hair pieces and eye lashes.

Since I met this girl, all she has been doing is taking, taking. And she

Dear George,

I WONDERif there is any sense in going to work every day and still cannot make ends meet.

I am married with four children. My wife is a stay-at-home mother.

My salary is $1,800.00/month, rent is $950.00 monthly, electricity bill on average $450.00 and to send the children to school, including paying for their transportation.

George, we are sinking in poverty.

My boss is constantly threatening to cut my time which would mean less pay because I turned down her request to sleep with her. She told me once I’m working for her, she has to have her way with me and gave me two weeks to make my mind up.

I know once I touch her, she would not leave me alone. I need this job but I am not ready to be a filling station for her empty tank. Please help me figure this one out.

Hard Ask.

Dear Hard Ask,

Giving in to your boss’ demands will cripple your ability in the future to make independent choices as it relates to standing your ground.

Any sexual relationship with her will most likely affect your present relationship with your wife and cause you insurmountable grief and a loss of respect from your family.

has even accused me of being cheap because I dared to question her ways.

Not Comfortable at

All.

Dear Not Comfortable at All,

It boils down to what you want. When you are clear on what you want in a partner, then it’s your duty to articulate that to her.

Let her know there is no meeting of the minds between you two, and your ideals and interest are very different.

Before more time elapses, let her know you and she are not on the same wave length but can remain friends.

The right thing must always be done when it’s the right time to do it. George.

Different wave lengths Stand your ground

Stand with your morals and values and continue to resist the advances made by your boss. She may very well respect you more in the end for standing for something.

Maybe you can brainstorm with your

wife to see what kind of home business she can get into in order to help make ends meet. Whatever happens, you do not want to add other worries to your already existing financial ones.

George.

Living a lie

Dear George,

MY WIFE convinced me to go hang out with ”the boys” on a the Saturday night since that night was her “girls’ night”.

She said that I could stay out until 1:00am and I should call before I was ready to return home. I agreed.

The truth is, I had a little too much to drink and decided to go home midnight. I did not call.

Lo and behold, I was completely blown away to find, on entering the house, my wife and all her friends sprawled off in the living room, making out with each other. George, I was so stunned I was speechless. I’m talking about women who are married, at least most of them. My thoughts went back to all those times my wife had her “girls’ nights” and even suggested we can have a threesome. I had bluntly refused.

I am just sorry for the other husbands who are yet to find out their wives are cutting on both sides. What a country we have here!

Shocked to the Core.

Dear Shocked to the Core,

It is indeed a sad time for you especially when you must have had expectations for your marriage.

Your wife has pretty much made her decision. And even though she might have said otherwise, there is no telling that she will forsake all the others.

I suggest you get legal counseling so you can become knowledgeable about the legal implications of you bowing out of the marriage. What is factual here is, you cannot save this marriage once your wife has made her mind up to dibble and dabble.

George.

ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20)

Secret affairs will eventually backfire on you. You will meet new romantic partners through the company you keep. Selfimprovement projects will payoff in more ways than one. Don’t count on getting any help from those you live with.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- May 21)

Sudden changes regarding your domestic scene are probable. Insincere gestures of friendliness are likely to occur. Only bite off what you can chew. A need to express yourself may come out in creative ways.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21)

Your intellectual charm will win hearts and bring opportunities that you least expect. Catch up on your reading and correspondence. Trips should be your choice. Make plans to meet again in the near future.

CANCER (June 22-July 22)

You will have to control the way you feel. Don’t be angry, but be on your guard. Try to do things with children that will enable you to bond closer to them. Spend some quality time with your lover.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22)

It might be best not to spend your money on luxuries this week. Set the ball in motion and be relentless until you complete the project. You will find that money could slip through your fingers. Do not let them blow situations out of proportion.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23)

Some situations may be blown out of proportion. Calm down and take a step back. Keep your feet on the ground, if you can. Don’t overlook that fact that someone you care about may be hiding something.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23)

Plan a nice evening for two. This may not

be the day to get involved in risky joint financial ventures. Be careful when dealing with female members of your family. Opportunities for romance will develop through activities with large groups.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)

Travel should be on your mind. Problems with in-laws may cause friction in your personal relationship. You can take advantage of opportunities if you are quick to make a move. Moneymaking opportunities will surface.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21)

Family members may feel anxious if you make promises you don’t deliver. You will make new friends through physical activities. You can expect changes at your work place. Someone you live with may feel totally neglected.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20)

You will be confused about the intentions of someone you work with. Be diplomatic and honest, and that person will only be made to look bad. Don’t bother trying to make someone you live with see your point of view. Don’t depend on coworkers to help; they may only hold you back.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21.- Feb. 19)

You can enjoy entertainment if you join in and follow the crowd for a change. Enlist coworkers in order to get the job done on time. You can make changes to your living quarters, but not everyone will be pleased with your efforts. Focus your efforts on your work.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20)

Don’t let someone try to bully you into doing things their way. Property purchases should be on your mind. You could come into extra cash. Help if you can, but more than likely it will be sufficient just to listen.

ACROSS

1. Calendar row

5. Ursa Minor star

12. Amien’s river

13. Nicotine or caffeine, e.g.

15. Off one’s trolley

16. Regretfulness

17. Wine capital

18. Like the Paris Opera

19. Cavaliers, on scoreboards

20. Sports-team personnel

22. Trendsetting

23. Picnic pitcher filler

24. Episode

26. Teahouse munchies

27. Dangerous

28. Frivolous lovers

29. Mets slugger Delgado

30. California raisin center

31. Bar supplies

32. Whomps

33. Made noise while sleeping

34. Suffix with “differ” or “insist”

35. Potluck staples

39. Ordinal ending

40. “The Prince and the ___”

41. Place for baby Moses

42. Old way to buy

44. Challenger’s quest

45. They just don’t know

46. Lethal compound

47. Disestablishes

48. Patella’s site

DOWN

1. Rushing sounds, var.

2. Play to the balcony

3. One who believes in observation, philosophically

4. Clue

5. Something beaten up while hanging around

6. Leaves out

7. Julian Bream’s instrument

8. Londoner’s pintful

9. Last word in a Mexican breakfast

10. They get things rolling

11. Got into hot water?

12. Part of a picket fence

13. 7UP alternatives

14. Present and future, e.g.

18. Willing to try

21. Burrow stash

24. Sommelier, e.g.

25. Scottish

26. Spade work

27. Less overcast

28. Face of a building

29. They seal the deal

30. “Million Dollar Baby” Oscar winner

31.Uncommissioned

33. Gulf war allies

LAST WEEK’s SOLUTION

35. French menu

36. Brit’s booze quantity

37. “Dallas” matriarch

38. “As ___ on TV!”

40. Fence vertical

43. Long, in Hawaiian

44. “Naughty boy!”

Otashie Spring heads SVGFFÊs Executive

OTASHIE SPRING is the new President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF).

Spring tallied 19 votes at last Thursday night’s, March 21.2024, Elective Congress of the SVGFF, held at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown. He beat four others:

Wayne Grant who garnered 15 votes, Marvin Fraser -12 votes, Immediate Past President Carl Dickson — 4 votes and Renson Haynes -2.

Dominic Stowe now occupies the First Vice-President position, his 20 votes displacing Rohan Thomas Jr., who collected 18 votes, Elroy Boucher10 and Leslie Millington- 3.

Yosiah Dascent gained the Second Vice President position, after Roxell

John withdrew from a run off, necessitated when the two tied on 18 votes each.

Others in that race were Debson Cruickshank who received 3 votes and Trevor Huggins who did not disturb the ballot box.

Meanwhile, Dwight Roberts retained his Third Vice President post, in a close 26-25 win over Elron Lewis.

The Five Committee Members are Dwight Baptiste- 24 votes, Yoland London- 18 votes, and Deptor Culzac, Ayakie Daniel and Koyanna Horne, with 17 votes each.

The heavily populated segment also saw Tamiesha Johnson and Arrington Burgin, each obtaining 16 votes: Germarno Douglas, Otnell Douglas

and Timora Peters- 15; with Keith Duncan, Gregory Matthias and Warren Ollivierre, getting, 14, 13 and 12, respectively.

Set aside your bitterness

The elections were due last November, however the sport’s worldgoverning body- FIFA, mandated that the process must be done under new statutes.

A January 27, 2024 date was then proposed, but that too was confronted with unattended to constitutional prerequisites, hence, a deferral to the March 21, 2024 date.

Acknowledging that some fallout

Eighteen selected for Carifta 2024

TEAM ATHLETICS SVG (TASVG)has released the names of the 18 athletes who will make up the St. Vincent and the Grenadines team to the 2024 Carifta Games, set for the Kirani James Athletic Stadium in St. George’s Grenada, March 30 to April 1.

The team comprises six in the Under-17 and twelve in the Under-20 age group.

In the Under-17 age category, there are for males and two females.

The male selectees are Jeremy Martin, Damari Roberts, Christian Joseph and Jahda

Greaves. The females are Kesian John and Shykeima Francis.

Martin and Roberts are listed for the Triple Jump, Joseph and Greaves - the Shot Putt, while John and Francis are down for the 1500m and 400m, respectively.

The Male Under-20 selectees are Keo Davis, Matthew Robinson, Jahieme Williams, Zichri Hepburn, Henree K Francois, J’mar Saunders, Timothy Williams, A J Delpesche, Devonric Mack and Tedre O’ Neil. The Under-20 females are Thyra Charles and

Toccara Barbour.

Davis, a 2022 double medallist, is slated for the 200m as well as the sprint relays, with Jahieme Williams and Robinson registered in the Decathlon, with Hepburn and Francois in the 5000m; Delpesche, the 400m and sprint relays; Mack- the 400m and 4 x 400m, with O’ Neil in the Pole Vault.

Charles, in the meantime, is listed in the 200 and 400m and Barbour- the Discus.

Martin, Roberts, Joseph, Greaves and Barbour, did not make the standards in their respective events,

however, they are making the trip based on potential.

They, along with John, Francis, Robinson, Saunders and Timothy Williams are making their debut at the regional showpiece for regional Track and Field athletes.

would have taken place during the six months of campaigning, some of which degenerated into personal attacks, Spring called on affiliates to set aside their bitterness, and work towards the betterment of Football.

“The time for bitterness, anger, hatred and so forth, should be done… We should be now at a coming together, because the development requires every single one of us …The beauty about it, is that whether as a club or as a league or an association, we have our own unique part to play in all of this development,” Spring pleaded.

The Spring-led Executive will serve until 2028.

The team will be led by Jacintha Ballantyne as Chief-Of-Mission, and the Coaches are Michael Ollivierre and

Wildanrick Samuel.

When St. Vincent and the Grenadines competed at the 50th edition of the Carifta Games, held in the Bahamas in 2023,

Amal Glasgow was the lone Vincentian to medal. He took bronze in the 400m for Under-20, in his final year at Junior Carifta.

Otashie Spring (right) in conversation with Carl Dickson, minutes prior to the voting process last Thursday night.

SDVGFF’s Executive- From left seated: Yosiah Dascent, Otashie Spring, Dominique Stowe, Dwight Roberts. Standing from left- Dwight Baptise, Iyakie Daniel, Koyanna Horne, Yoland London, Deptor Culzac.

Some of the debutants- (clockwise from top left) Shykeima Francis, Christian Joseph, Kesiann John, Jahda Greaves, Timothy Williams, J’Mar Saunders.

Netball sees increased participation

THIRTY TEAMS, five more than 2023, are pursuing honours in the 2024 Bank of SVG National Netball Tournament, that opened last Saturday, March 23, at the Kingstown Netball Centre.

The teams are stashed in five Divisions.

Notably, five teams are in Division One, with

the return of Maple Netball Club after last year’s sabbatical, while Coreas & Hazells Inc. Dutch Lady Clinchers, after winning Division Two last year, has gained promotion. They will be endeavouring to dethrone the championsOn Track X- Ceed Sports Club One.

SVG pilots new Regional Archery League

APROPOSALpiloted

by President of the Archery Association of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sanjay Jiandani, has led to World Archery’s approval of a Remote Caribbean Development Archery League (CDAL).

Seven teams will make up Division Two. They are Cashwiz Green Hill, SVG General Services Maple, On Trac X- Ceed Sports Club Two, Bagga United, Total Ten Technologies Netters, Carlos James Wafulasuns Northern Girls and Sion Hill Sports Club Netters One.

In Division Three are Sion Hill Sports Club Netters Two, Success Netters, Hinds & Wilson Irie Travel Vets, All Stars Netball Team, and Coreas & Hazells Dutch Lady Clinchers Two.

Maca Crushers and X-Ceed Knights - are listed in the Male Division.

In welcoming the 2024 edition, President of the SVG Netball AssociationNatasha Baptiste said that she is looking forward to an exciting tournament.

implored.

Accordingly, the CDAL will afford novice archers from the Caribbean region the opportunity to compete with each other from their respective countries, without the need for costly travel.

Sanjay Jiandani, President of the Archery Association of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Giving the genesis of the CDAL, Jiandani disclosed, “The idea to run an event of this nature came to me after our national team participated at the 2023 Caribbean Development Championships in Tobago. I decided to write a proposal that would give new, beginner archers the chance to compete with other archers in the region, so they can prepare themselves for their first competition outside their respective countries.”

Jiandani is obviously happy that the initiative came from one of the youngest Archery Association’s in the region and was ready to give details of the CDAL.

“The League will feature competitions in various disciplines and categories, including Recurve, Compound and Barebow disciplines in two gender and distance categories, and will be opened to all archers from throughout the Caribbean, in all age groups, with less than twelve months of experience,” Jiandani expounded.

And on the benefits of the CDAL, Jiandani proffered, “Hosting this new league will not only help grow the sport in the region but also provide a platform for novice archers to participate in a regional or international event.”

Jiandani revealed that already in place is a planning committee to administer the CDAL.

League play of the CDAL is set for April 1, and concludes June 24, 2024. The finals take place June 29, 2024.

Thirteen archers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines have registered for the inaugural CDAL event.

But, it is Division Four which is primarily Youth Development, that features the most teams, nine.

Comprising that division are Chachraras Stars, Police Youth Club Ball Blazers , Police Youth Club Hoopers, XCeed Sports Club Three, Success Netters, Total Ten Technology Netters, AM Shottas Stubbs

Police Youth Club, Blaze Strikers and Country Meet Town Maple Netball Club.

And, five teams - AM Shotters, Advent Ballers,

A section of the large turn out of teams at last Saturday’s opening.

Baptiste noted that the tournament’s organizing committee is exploring the opportunities to decentralize the matches.

“We are also exploring taking games to the various communities… So, let’s make Netball a family affair,” Baptiste

Apart from the battles on the courts, young netballers especially have another reason to show their worth, as title sponsor BOSVG will once again award an EC$4,000.00 scholarship to a netballer to attend the SVG Community College.

The first recipients in 2023 were Phiunza La Borde of Netters Netball Club and Angelle Jackson of Blaze Strikers.

At Saturday’s Opening, a Bank of SVG representative handed over the symbolic sponsorship cheque of $30,000.00.

Table Tennis needs lots of work

“I DON’T EXPECT everyone to agree 100 percent with me - some have been extremely hostile and abusive - but my expectation for the future of table tennis in SVG hinges on the need for lots of work.”

This comment came from Orville Haslam OD, President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Table Tennis Association (SVGTTA), after a national representative team’s performance in a Grenada Championship earlier this month.

“First and foremost, grassroots development is extremely important in developing good players. It is my opinion that the clubs ought to offer a more detailed and comprehensive range of

services to players who are not ready for joining SVGTTA national assessment competitions.”

He added, “Players that are expected to not only to improve their standard internationally but also to try and dominate the region.

That is why I am asking the clubs, coaches, Vincy Foundation, even the players to contribute ideas that can and will enhance the development of table tennis in SVG. By working we will see progress in the long run.”

Haslam suggested that clubs should have competitions on a regular basis, recognising this as contributing to making the game more competitive and popular among the general

public. “We have to still sell the game, not to be abusive to each other,” he cautioned.

The President, himself a world ranked table tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s, appealed to the players to stop complaining and reminded them that they are there to play table tennis to the best of the ability.

“It is extremely sad for me personally to see the negative approach not only in the administration but also some older players who are reluctant to step aside from time to time. We must work towards enhancing the talent among our young players and make them realise that hard work is necessary to achieve, Haslam proffered. I.B.A. ALLEN

Orville Haslam OD, President of the SVGTTA, admits that there is much work to be done if the sport is to be put on a clear path towards development.

Representatives of the BOSVG (left) presents symbolic cheque to President of the SVGNA - Ms. Natasha Baptiste.

North Leeward and Radcliffe for Neil Williams finals

THE FINALISTS for the Neil Williams Academy T/20 finals have been decided. They are Carlos James Northern Stars and Flow Radcliffe. They earned their spots in last weekend’s semifinal encounters.

Flow Radcliffe disposed of the same sponsored Rivals by 94 runs. Romano Pierre 37, and Deron Greaves 28 helped by 25 extras enabled Radcliffe to 150 off 19.3 overs.

Davian Barnum 3 for 32 was the pick of the bowlers for Rivals. They crashed for 56 in 14 overs, undermined by Richie Richards 2 for 3, Rasheed Fredericks 3 for 13, Othneil Lewis 3 for 21 and Asif Hooper 2 for 14.

Northern Stars beat the daylights out of a Police Two squad who squandered an opportunity playing with ten men.

Northern Stars reached 194 for 5 off 20 overs, powered by Tilron Harry 45, and Michael Joseph 37. Desron Maloney 2 for 23 and Nicklaus Redhead 2 for 51 were the wickets takers for Police Two.

Kinson Dalzell 3 for 23, supported by Watson Seaton 2 for 11, Christopher Howe 2 for 16, and Shadrack Descarte 2 for 19 combined to slow down the law men and put Northern Stars in the finals.

Those North ern Stars must have been buoyed by a quarterfinal win over Keagan’s Bequia the previous day. Northern Stars scored 179 for 6 from their 20 overs. Michael Joseph 51 Elron Lewis 45 and Tilron Harry 37 were among the runs for Northern Stars. Orlando Lavia 2 for 30 was the best bowler for Keegan’s Bequia.

Their reply was disappointing, and that loss cost them the semifinal spot. They were dismissed for 89 in 16.2 overs destroyed by Christopher Howe 3 for 14 and Kurtney Franklyn, fresh from his stint with the Under 20 Football squad with figures of 3 for 24.

When the final is played, interest will be on the wicket taking column and the race for the most runs in the tournament. Asif Hooper with 22 wickets looks set to keep that most wickets slot. His nearest rival is Northern Stars’ Christopher, 15 wickets five matches. Othneil Lewis, Hooper’s team mate has 13 wickets from six innings. It will be a battle Howe for the second spot.

Michael Joseph will look to score more runs. That will give his team the platform to take the title and enhance his reputation. He has a tally of 347 with a highest of 77.

Romano Pierre, into the finals is second with 327 runs and a highest of 107. His colleague Deron Greaves will fancy his chance of eclipsing everyone. His best innings is 84. Tilron Harry has shown consistency and is into the seventh position with 258 runs. He will look to improve his standings for his team’s and his personal satisfaction.

Regional Four-Day Round Up:

Three centuries recorded

THE THREEcenturies recorded in round five of the CWI Four-day Championship were all for winning teams.

Tevin Imlach and Tegenarine Chanderapul had centuries for Guyana Harpy Eagles and Teddy Bishop ensured his West Indies Academy was also in winner’s row.

At the Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua, Guyana Harpy Eagles beat Windward Islands Volcanoes by 354 runs. Scores: Guyana 308 - K Sinclair 74, KA Anderson 48, G Motie 46, D. Cyrus 5/67, AND 224 for 2 declared, T Chanderpaul 101 not out, TA Imlach 107; Windwards 113, TT Walcott 41, I Thorne 4/38, RJ Ali Mohammed 3/30, AND 165 - SK Springer 69 not out, RD John 41, N Smith 5/29, V Permaul 5/47.

West Indies Academy (WIA) beat Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) by 61 runs at Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, Trinidad. Scores: WIA 300 - C Bowen-Tuckett 76, J Layne 63, J Blades 3/59, AND 316 for 7 - TJ Bishop 114, JM James 58, R Greaves 3/76; CCC 231 - D Richards 59, ZY Motara 56, AR Nedd 4/51 AND 324- K Pooran 88, SDL Henry 63, JA Bishop 4/93, K Alleyne 3/44.

At Sabina Park,

Jamaica, Leeward Islands

Teddy Bishop crafted 114 for West Indies Academy.

Hurricanes defeated Jamaica

Scorpions by 7 wickets. Scores: Leeward Islands 231 - JP

Greaves 62, KU Carty 53, P

Salmon 5/50, AND 189 for 3 - JP

Greaves 94 not out, M Louis 57: Jamaica 221 C Brown 80, JS

Louis 3/34, RRS Cornwall 3/69, AND 196 - A Mansingh 52, JS

Louis 3/24, RRS Cornwall 3/56.

At Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad, Barbados Pride defeated Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) Red Force by 8 wickets.

Scores: T&T 172 - AA Jangoo 93 not out, JO

Holder 4/47, CAM Holder 3/28 AND 124 - KY Ottley

39, AA Jangoo 35, JO

Holder 4/23, JA Warrican 6/31: Barbados 279 - JA Drakes

72, Z

McCaskie 46, SO Dowrich

40, KA Pierre 3/54, AND 20/2.

Star Girls on winning streak

THE Teachers Cooperative Credit Union Star Girls netball team is on a winning streak.

During the month of March, the Star Girls copped two titles: the inaugural San Souci Netball Tournament and the 2024 Cane End Netball Tournament.

Their Sans Souci title came after the final against Overland Ballers was brought to a premature end because of consistent rain, with the Star Girls leading 25-10.

The Cane End title had no doubts about it with the Star Gils romping home over Vultures 6552, in the final played at the Glenside Recreational Centre, Marriaqua.

JLC Warriors out-played Conquers— 28 to 12, to secure the second division title.

Individual top performers included: Best shooter — MaryAnn Frederick of Star Girls; most promising playerBereciya Quammie of Blaze Strikers; best attacking playerJosian Antoine of Vultures; best midcourt player - Kelly-Ann Stephen of Vultures; best defender - Diane Toney of Sion Hill Netters; and most improved player - Keisha Thomas from Glenside Ball Blazers.

Stories:

Tegenarine Chanderpaul showed a welcomed return to top form.

Tevin Imlach hit a patient 107 for Guyana.

TCCU Star Girls - the new first division champions of Cane End netball.

Mary-Ann Frederick – top shooter.

Classifieds V

AIA threatened with strike action

From Backpage

Voting will take place at the workplace — that is, the various Ministries and Departments and also at statutory bodies where the Union is recognized as the bargaining agent for workers.

This is the third election that will be conducted at the workplace, since a resolution was passed at the 75th AGM of the Union (19th September 2018), replacing the tradition of having election as part of the AGM. (Source: PSU)

Tuesday, 26th March, 2024

Brighton Methodist Church

Viewing: 9:00 a.m.

Service: 10.00 a.m.

Interment: Brighton Cemetery

CLIFFORD EDWARDS

Saturday, 23rd March, 2024

Anglican Church Pembroke Viewing: 11:00 a.m. Service: 12:00 noon Interment:

Anglican Church Yard

Sunday, 24th March, 2024

Layou S.D.A Church

Viewing: 12:00 noon

Service: 1:00 p.m.

Interment: Layou Cemetery

Saturday, 23rd March, 2024

Glen Christian Church Viewing: 11:00 a.m. Service: 12:00 noon

Interment: Golden Vale Cemetery

Saturday, 23rd March, 2024

Gorse Apostolic Faith Mission

Viewing: 1:00 p.m.

Service: 2:00 p.m.

Interment: Byera Cemetery

SIS. YVONNE SAMUEL

Saturday, March 23rd, 2024

Troumaca Methodist Church

Viewing: 12:00 noon

Service: 1:00 p.m.

Interment: Troumaca Cemetery

BABY JOYCINA WILLIAMS

JONATHAN HAMILTON HUGGINS

PATS MERCURY GILLETTE

GRAFTON OLLIVIERRE

(784)- 457-2087/(718)-807-4376 office (784)-493-9431/(784)-533-0431donp@vincysurf.comwhatsappcell

AIA THREATENED WITH STRIKE ACTION

IF AN ISSUEof outstanding payments is not settled by April 12, 2024, the Public Service Union (PSU) “will initiate industrial action against the Argyle International Airport (AIA).”

Notice of this intention has been communicated to the relevant parties at the AIA and follows on a similar ‘threat’ made by the PSU in 2022.

The issue at the centre of this current impasse between the AIA and the PSU, which is the bargaining agent for a sector of workers at the airport, is one of an outstanding retroactive (salary) increment dating back to 2019.

The 1.5% increment was paid January 2023 and, according to the Union, it was expected that the retroactive components for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 would have been paid by now.

However, the retroactive payments remain outstanding which in the judgement of the PSU is a breach of the AIA Employee Policy Manual

Section 6 — Compensation Policies — subsection 6.5- Increments which states: “Wage/Salary Increments will be paid to employees’ subject to satisfactory performance under the AIA’s performance review program.”

On the matter of the increment, the PSU has referenced its numerous letters to and meetings with AIA officials, dating back to an initial letter

of October 29, 2020.

During the period since then, the Union said in a release earlier this week, that it had compromised, its members had been very patient, but it had grown tired of maintaining “a cordial relationship with the organization.”

As such therefore, the Union met with its “aggrieved members at the AIA” on Friday 22nd March 2024, to decide on a course of action.

This resulted in a communication being sent to AIA officials urging them to make outstanding payments to the workers within two weeks beginning March 25th 2024, or face the consequence of strike action by the workers as referenced earlier in this article.

Up to press time on Wednesday, there was no indication of any action on the part of the AIA.

PSU Elections

In related PSU news, members will elect a new executive to run the affairs of the Union for the period 2924 — 2026, when they go to the polls over a two-day period — Tuesday, 23rd and Wednesday, 24th April 2024.

The nomination process closes on Friday, 5th April.

Continued on Page 27.

TEENAGER IS HOMICIDE NO. 9

THE ROYALSVG Police Force is investigating the discovery of the body of a teenage girl, whose death they are treating as a homicide.

As such, therefore, that becomes the 9th homicide for the year so far.

The deceased has been identified as Kemiesha Haynes, 17, of Richmond Hill.

Reports said that a resident of the area found her body over an embankment along what is referred to as Whim Road in Belmont, East St. George.

A view emanating from the community said that had her body gone any further down the embankment, it might not have been discovered as soon

as it was, since that particular area has become a dumping ground for dead animals so a smell of a deposing carcass would not have necessarily attracted any immediate reaction.

A post mortem on Haynes’s body ruled that the teenager was strangled.

Meanwhile, in an interview with SVG TV News, Sharlene Cozier, the mother of Kemeisha Haynes, said she last saw her daughter on

Friday evening, March 22, when she gave her daughter $10.00.

Cozier said her daughter told her she was just going down the road to come back, but she never saw her alive again.

The police have appealed to anyone who might be able to assist with this investigation to contact their nearest police station.

(See more on Page 13.)

Kemiesha Haynes was in the prime of her life when it was plucked from her.

The Argyle International Airport, into its seventh year of operation, has been served with a notice of ‘possible’ strike action by staff represented by the PSU.