THE EDITOR:
I read Andrew Antoine’s so called attempt at recording the history of the St Lucia Labour Party with much disappointment.
One would have thought that if Mr. Antoine was serious about recording history, he would at least make the effort to be fair and balanced and accurate in what he had to tell us but like most hacks of the ruling party he chose to record only what was convenient and even did a poor job in doing so.
Mr. Antoine continues to misquote the late Sir John as saying in 1979 to public servants that they could put a gun to his head he would not pay them higher salaries that they were demanding. Does Mr. Antoine not know that he was being dishonest? Why did he not give the entire context in which Sir John, who is now dead and cannot defend himself, actually spoke. There was a very good reason why Sir John was not in favour of these increases and it is the same reason why Dr. Kenny Anthony has now imposed a three year wage freeze on public servants salaries. But that was not the sum total of what Sir John said then and Mr. Antoine should know it.
Then, Mr. Antoine referred to “corruption”’ in the United Workers Party government. I could not for the life of me understand what an allegation of corruption in the UWP had to do with the Labour Party’s 65th. anniversary, but it suited Mr. Antoine’s fancy.
The fact of the matter is that to the best of my knowledge, no one in the UWP has ever been found guilty of corruption. At least under the SLP we had an investigation into the National Conservation Authority (NCA) undertaken by a known supporter of the party, where corruption was discovered and no one was ever prosecuted.
At least under the SLP there was an instance when the former representative for Soufriere Baden Allain wrote to Prime Minister Anthony drawing his attention to and giving evidence of corruption perpetrated by one party member at the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation. Again nothing was ever done about it.
Mr. Antoine should have used the opportunity, since he was recording history, to tell us about the extent to which corruption has become an institutionalized policy of his party to the point where it is mainly SLP supporters themselves who have been fingering those who benefit from it. Does Mr. Antoine not remember who it was that first raised the concerns at the NCA?
Mr. Antoine should have used the opportunity to tell his readers about the “cartel” that once operated within the bowels of Labour and the millions that they accumulated in all kinds of deals in St Lucia, especially during Labour’s first term. He should tell us about the conditions under which the ruling party was giving out contracts and why it was that those who benefitted had to give something back to the party. He should tell us whether in his opinion this was a brand of corruption.
There is more but I will leave it at that for now, because I am sure Mr. Antoine would now want to respond to my claims. In fact I challenge him to come forward.
— Corruption Watchman
boringggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg!@#$%
I too, waiting for the response, come on.
“No one in the UWP has ever been found guilty of corruption”. Corruption Watchman you are so shameless it hurts. I will give you only two of hundreds of acts of corruption, whether the buggers were “found guilty” or not. There are many murderers and thieves who have never been found guilty, so put a STOP to your shameless game. NUMBER 1: Do you believe that Sir John Compton demanded Desmond Fostin’s resignation some decades ago because Compton just woke up one morning from a dream where Fostin’s thieving was revealed? Since you are a better historian than Antoine, you surely know the details, so let’s get to NUMBER TWO: I suppose you also found no corruption and blatant illegality in the direct handing over of Taiwanese official development assistance cash in the tens of millions of US Dollars to the Stephenson King government MPs and other UWP cronies, for 5 years (2006-2011), instead of the lawful channeling of those monies through the Consolidated Fund as required by the Finance Act of St. Lucia? They are yet to be “found guilty”, so in your jaundiced eyes and mind there was no corruption! You are so shameless Watchman!