Dear Editor,
Through your newspaper allow me to offer my personal congratulations to our new Prime Minister, The Honourable Philip J Pierre.
Mr. Prime Minister I wish to make two points.
The first is to congratulate you wholeheartedly on your achievement. It has been a very long, uphill battle but with your God given virtues of courage , tenacity, hard work and honesty you have succeeded.
You are a large part of the democratizing process that is becoming part of our St. Lucian culture. Something “generations yet unborn” will thank you for. You do not have ALL the attributes of a great leader. NO ONE does. But your humility, integrity and closeness to “roots”, should allow you to tap into the tapestry of all that is necessary. Again well done.
My second point relates to the tradition of Statutory Boards being asked to resign immediately upon a regime change. As I write this I am not sure if this request has gone out. Suffice it to say that as Chairperson of the (old) Board of Visiting Justices I would be happy to resign tomorrow, providing that a new Board had been appointed, so that the work in progress could at least be considered and if thought worthy then carried out in whole or in part.
In our particular case we deal with several incarcerated individuals who through no fault of their own have found themselves in situations that are less than just. These are individuals whose situations are being looked into, with a view to improving their station in life. To have this “old” board demit office with no proper handing over would be to further demoralize the individuals in question and add more injustices to a system that is already replete with them.
To conclude we suggest that serious consideration be given to having Statutory Boards resign immediately upon the appointment of a replacement board.
I speak now for the Board of Visiting Justices but I am sure the same principle can be applied to several other Statutory Boards.
Yes I know what the tradition has been but like I said you are a beacon in a maturing Democracy and with maturing, changes will always be necessary.
Again congratulations Sir. We are proud of you.
Sincerely and God bless
Geoffrey Devaux