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WASCO – ADHOCISM OR TRUISM – PART 2

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At the conclusion of Part 1, the proposal outlined in the Budget Address 205-2006 were presented. The Minister of Finance went on further to expand on how this new strategy can be implemented and the following statement was made: ‘’Honourable Members will recall the debate and passage of the new Water & Sewerage Act, which will provide the platform for the quality of service and the protection and management of the resource base to attract private sector investment. In pursuit of this latter objective, the Government has decided to pursue a public-private sector partnership for WASCO that will permit the Government to remain on the Board of Directors as the protector of the public interest, but will also allow for the divestment of the majority shares of WASCO. We have chosen this option for the following three main reasons: Our experience with the privatization of LUCELEC; Current...

HARD HEARTS

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There was a time when Jesus asked his disciples – Is your heart still hardened? I have read this so many times and have asked myself whether I have a hard heart also. So I began to search the meaning of this phrase – hard heart. The Greek word used here is from the root word ‘poros’ from which we get the English word ‘porous’. The Greek word was used to describe a type of porous rock. A porous rock holds nothing, everything goes through it. Jesus was thus saying to his disciples – Is your heart still porous? Eyes and cannot see?, Ears and you cannot hear? It was never about a heart of stone or a heart of flesh, because the word translated as flesh has the root word ‘ basar’ meaning fresh, rosy, full of joy, cheerful. Jesus was saying that we cannot continue to have porous hearts that allow the showers of heaven to leak out, but...

WASCO – ADHOCISM OR TRUISM – PART 1

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With WASCO’s announcement of the closure of the John Compton Dam and the resultant water shortage on Wednesday and Thursday, I pondered as to how we have reached this stage. Since 1994 after the passage of Tropical Storm Debbie, there were concerns on the siltation of the dam, some 20 years later we are still speaking about desilting. In my search to find this elusive truth, I decided to research the last nineteen budget speeches from 1997 to 2015, an onerous task indeed, but the thirst for the truth kept me going. Part 1 looks at the first nine years. The journey started in November 4th 1997 in the Supplementary Budget Address where the following was stated by the Minister of Finance: ‘’Having reviewed the situation, Government has decided to transform WASA into a corporate entity to enable it to become an effective self-financing business.. A new company will be registered under the...

MALCOLM LITTLE – MALCOLM X

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When Louise Norton left Grenada as a young girl, she would have never thought that one day a son of hers will be so well known, 50 yrs after his death. The Caribbean has given many great leaders to the USA from Alexander Hamilton from Nevis to Malcolm X of Grenadian parentage. Both shaped the birth and rebirth of that great nation.

THE COLLAPSE OF CARICOM

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It is said that history provides a window of insight to the present. Our experiment at regional integration through the organization named CARICOM, has in the minds of most citizens of the Caribbean been a failure. Heads of Government meet yearly, decisions are taken, commitments are given, and promises are broken. CARICOM is broken, and the earlier we accept that fact and begin a process of renewal, the better it will be for the Caribbean. I began to look at our first experiment called the West Indies Federation, to observe the historical issues related to its collapse. This creation of the Federation was driven more by the UK Government as against a rising of regional integration fervor among the West Indian populace. As it was for emancipation, it was a money matter. Coming out of World War 2, the British colonies of the Caribbean were now being seen as a financial burden, and thus...

By in Quotes

Due to the uncertainties in the properties of materials, there is a factor of safety that is attached in the design process, similarly when you are not sure of the material composition of an individual, you must also apply that factor of safety in the design of the relationship.

John Peters

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May the chords of purpose holding the future of Saint Lucia never go slack but forever be held taut by our hope in God.

John Peters

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There will always be giants that want to occupy the best places that God has for you. These giants use their size to intimidate you, to bring fear and cause you to see yourself as a grasshopper. Look behind you and you will see a Giant God before a small ant.

John Peters

DUE DILIGENCE

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The term Due Diligence has become a buzz word over the last few weeks as various government agencies have captured the words within their press releases dealing with the Lambirds Academy matter. However there is a legal definition which is as follows: “Due diligence is a measure of prudence, activity, or assiduity, as is properly to be expected from, and ordinarily exercised by, a reasonable and prudent person under the particular circumstances; not measured by any absolute standard but depends on the relative facts of the special case.” The operative words are prudence, a level of activity and assiduity or close attention to details. There is also no absolute standard as the particular circumstances will demand different strategies by the reasonable and prudent individual or entity engaged in the due diligence. I will invite anyone to go on the Lambirds website and see how...

BEAM OF REASON

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Within any society there will always be a recalcitrant minority whose sole intent and purpose is to thwart the development of a nation, these are those who believe that the weight of their loudness can cause maximum deflection to the beam of reason.

John Peters