INSTEAD of sending an erudite writer to criticize my article of February 3 in The Voice of St. Lucia Newspaper, about the course our country is being taken under the leadership of Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, a person with no resume in the field of writing was sent to criticize my assertions. The writer’s weak and puerile criticisms demonstrated that his background in the field of writing is very thin.
The immature scribblings of this charlatan exposed his limitations and will only impress people with limited perspectives. This amateur attempted to criticize my assertions in which I stated, quote: “It was Sir John who developed St. Lucia way ahead of all the other O.E.C.S. territories. It was widely anticipated that Allen Chastanet would have followed in the footsteps of Sir John.”
The statement was a perfectly rational and sensible suggestion, but my critic came up with a strange response. According to my critic, quote: “While I agree with the legacy attributed to Sir John, we cannot expect our leaders to follow anyone’s footsteps. Our leaders must come into office with their own qualities, their own style, and their own agenda. If there are reasons to continue what a predecessor did was of value, by all means do it but you cannot expect people to copy others wholesale.”
This suggests that St. Lucia’s most iconic leader, Sir John, is an anyone, and that there are no good reasons for Allen to follow in Sir John’s footsteps.
Sir John was an extraordinary visionary who was the leader and founder of our nation, which I had established in my article, and that Sir John had developed and positioned St. Lucia way ahead of all the other O.E.C.S territories. It is Sir John who has been given a permanent place of honour in the centre of our capital city in the grounds of St. Lucia’s House of Assembly. Ironically, the statue was erected in honour of Sir John by the Labour Party government at the time.
Sir John fought for the sugar workers, established the N.I.S. (later transformed to N.I.C.), in addition to the other inexhaustible achievements.
What is fairly certain is that this charlatan is unaware of our country’s history, to make those puerile arguments.
My critic would state that: “I see a clear path to the development of St. Lucia of the South where I live, and I am looking forward to the fruits of that agenda with great expectations”. All I can say to my critic is “dream on in your delusions.” For the record, I want to state categorically that what Teo Ah Khing presented to our gullible Prime Minister is a figment of the imagination that will never become a reality.
I was even more convinced when I listened to a discussion on C.N.N. which debated the issues surrounding the plan of U.S. President, Donald Trump, to build a wall along the southern border of the United States to stem the tide of illegal immigrants coming from Mexico. There is an ongoing battle between the Republicans and the Democrats in which the Democrats argue that they will not deliver the votes in the U.S. Legislature to allow Trump to build this wall. The wall is estimated to cost US$25 billion.
The Democrats argue that this is too expensive for even the richest country in the world. Where does an investor get this insane idea and the US$2.6 billion to create a Miami-styled skyline in the rural town of Vieux Fort, which, by local standards, is not a bustling town.
This is a pipe dream, which belongs in the realms of fantasy. This idea will remain a figment of the imagination, which will never become a reality. Several generations of St. Lucians will be born and go to the blue yonder for such a transformation to ever become a reality in St. Lucia.
Our Prime Minister must instead look for economic initiatives that will create jobs for St. Lucians in the not too distant future, not something that will not materialize until the next century.
It would be interesting if a poll was conducted to determine the views of the population on the conduct and performance of this administration under Allen Chastanet.
Fedee’s latest comments only further reinforce him to be someone with a seemingly boundless amount of bitterness and corrosive vitriole that might belie an underlying pathetic, hopeless desperation in the tone of his writing.
At a time when constructive dialogue should be encouraged, the letter is sad. Very sad.
The last time we checked, the necessity to, in Fedee’s words, to have a “resume in writing” was (sorry, Jeff) NOT a pre-requisite for being able to express an opinion on his writings. Not needing to having “a resume in writing” in this case is also good, because based on his writings, Fedee’s resume is seemingly lacking. The term “wanna-be elitist” comes to mind, for whatever reason.
Fedee might also want to fact-check these arguably ignorant writings. Specifically, his referral to the U.S. being “the richest country in the world”. It is not. Not by a long-shot.
http://fortune.com/2017/11/17/richest-country-in-the-world/
Though, that fact does not suit Fedee in his questionable logic and his blatantly frail link made between the partisan rhetoric in the United States to development in St. Lucia.
One can only be thankful that Fedee’s rants are a passing annoyance of a non-constructive blip in the on-going public discourse/dialogue on the future of our nation.
With respect to his vapid musings on the development of Vieux Fort, one is reminded of Rodney Bay 40 or so years ago. Perhaps Jeff would have been front-of-line decrying the vision of developing what was, at the time, nothing more than a mosquito-infested swamp with a semi-passable road to Gros Islet. He probably would also have been the head cheerleader, pom-poms in hand, that would have protested about the redevelopment of what used to be Conway.
And his comparison of development in Vieux Fort to a Miami type skyline shows a laughable small-mindedness in understanding and general global awareness.
That all said, free speech is one of the foundational tenements that we treasure as a highly functional democracy. First, though, let’s just all follow Fedee’s guidance, each and everyone of us, and make sure that we have a “resume in writing” first.
God Bless.