(MENAFN- Caribbean News Now) By Melanius Alphonse
The government of Saint Lucia reported tourism arrivals increased in 2018 with 1.2 million tourists, including 800,000 cruise passengers and growth of 10.2 percent and expected through March 31, the influx of an additional 125,434 travellers.
Minister for tourism, Dominic Fedee said that "everything possible is being done to ensure that Saint Lucians benefit more from these impressive numbers. We are spending about $40 million with the World Bank to make sure that we build the capacity of our private sector so that they can benefit from all of the growth they are seeing."
Peter 'Ras Ipa' Isaac, president of the vendors association, says that "there is need to improve infrastructure locally, ensure the safety of visitors and foster greater levels of cooperation among the various tourism stakeholders in a bid to secure greater benefits from cruise tourism, Saint Lucia is 'far behind' in terms of individual spending by cruise ship visitors."
"To tell you the truth, we do have a situation where the population in terms of persons leaving the ship, it's a high number of pensioners, persons who are retired and older persons and these persons, there's a tendency not to spend much money."
Meantime, Saint Lucia is featured at number 19, on the list of the highest murder rate in the world per 100,000 inhabitants, to which national security minister, Hermangild Francis said: "We need to get off that list completely, and we are working toward that."
However, this is of little comfort to rising crime, robbery, attempted kidnapping, car theft and homicides, the first for 2019, a British citizen, Robert Hathaway, who lived and worked toward the development of the tourism sector in Saint Lucia for many years.
Francis does not seem to expect any "big fallout" from Hathaway's murder and other to date, stating that: "When you look at the circumstances, I think that our tourists are safe – they come to Saint Lucia, and they enjoy themselves."
"It appears that the press is slanting it in such a way – not our local press that we seem to be targeting British people. I don't think that is so. If you look at the incidents that have occurred in Saint Lucia, they all have their peculiar circumstances, and we have to take each as they present themselves."
"I think that is understandable, but we as a local press – we have to look at it in such a way that we send the truth out there and make persons in the wider world know that Saint Lucia is not as dangerous as people are claiming it to be."
In November 2017, Francis, responding to an alleged death threat against him said: "I feel threatened because we are dealing with people who are highly trained and have access to firearms."
Discussing the rivalries at play and what unsolved crime has meant for Saint Lucia, the degradation it has brought to society and evidence of a broken justice system, socio-economic elitism, corruption and sanctions by the so-called Leahy Law, "The Justice for Roger" campaign blog, described the island as a "gangsters' paradise" and asked if tourists should boycott Saint Lucia.
The Telegraph newspaper recently published an article titled 'Murder in Paradise: The Dark Side of Life in Saint Lucia,' which also focused on the murder of Hathaway's friend, Roger Pratt, another UK citizen, who was killed by intruders aboard his yacht in Saint Lucia several years ago.
Like many others, neither of these cases has been solved, placing the island in further jeopardy .
According to the opposition member of parliament for Castries South, Ernest Hilaire, on the tourism data:
"The arrivals data presented for tourism is very revealing and exposes the incompetence of the minister for tourism in ways in which he is not even aware. The number of cruise ships coming to Saint Lucia declining, from 423 to 370 ships, a decline of 53 ships or 12.5 percent. "The fundamental question is, from a policy perspective, can the minister outline any new policy initiatives that have been implemented under his tenure that he can claim will transform tourism in Saint Lucia?"
Hilaire questioned:
'It is time that the prime minister and the tourism minister ask Ras Ipa, president of the vendors association, the vendors association members and the various taxi associations that are struggling to make ends meet while the government boast of tourism numbers. Moreover, why are young people not getting jobs in the tourism industry and why are they being sent on rotation and laid off during the very heart of the tourist season? "While the minister is boasting about lopsided numbers, has he accounted for the closure of the Blu Hotel just before the Christmas and indicate how many rooms and jobs have been lost and whether the workers have received their money?" Hilaire admonished the minister for tourism, stating: "it is not just about numbers it is about the impact of the industry. I look forward to the day soon when we will present a people's vision of the tourism industry."
Hilaire continued:
"The failure of the UWP government to cause IMPACS to disappear as promised during the last election campaign is seriously affecting the morale of members of the police service. The prime minister through his promises to the police and the US and the actions taken have placed Saint Lucia in a very precarious position legally and financially. "It has continued to be a soft spot and yet again with another British national, unfortunately and regrettably, losing his life in Saint Lucia, I am sure it is going to revive the interest of the British government into the criminal justice system in Saint Lucia.
"We heard talks that once there was a new DPP (director of public prosecution), all those matters would have been resolved. We are going on the second year of the DPP, and they still have those outstanding matters."
In response to a local reporter's questions, Francis said that he was "pleased" with his performance as national security minister. As to the performance of police commissioner, Severin Moncherry, Francis said: "If I were not happy, the commissioner would not be the commissioner," oblivious to the statutes and the public service commission.
In a three-part series Saint Lucia needs a Renaissance (August 2017), I made the recommendation that: "…a security forum under the guidance of a national security council is paramount to facilitate viable options and serve as a central construct to resource systems, develop policy and advance strategies to reform law and order.
'Besides unmasking falsehood and bringing truth to light, a full-fledged intelligence agency would presage a well-trained and well-coordinated national security apparatus, capable of protecting the socio-economic interest.'
This was revisited against the background that former prime minister of Jamaica PJ Patterson (1993-2006) addressing members of the Lay Magistrates Association of Jamaica at a banquet in the business district of New Kingston: "has suggested that the current administration establishes a national security commission to fight crime and violence. Moreover, the creation of such a commission would help bridge the partisan divide."
Notwithstanding recommendation that is still relevant in 2019, from the article Chastanet's 'kitchen cabinet' up a creek in 2018.
The question asked by Allen Chastanet in the 2016 general elections, "Has Kenny Anthony made Saint Lucia safer? He didn't, but we will. He didn't, but I will. This is the most important decision to consider in the upcoming campaign," is the same administration with the attitude that:
"We do not have a crime problem; we have a murder problem" and "does not believe that crime is up overall" and "does not see a marked increase in the total crime rate."
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