he was admitted. He was pronounced dead the following day, Saturday October 31st.  A post mortem has been scheduled for Friday November 6th. The deceased was a teacher at the Vieux-Fort comprehensive school, campus b. He lived with his mother and other relatives.

This was made particularly clear in the road projects where the Commission recommended Project Manager – in this case DIWI – should be made to pay monies lost on the project. But if a civil case is to be pursued – will be against the former Prime Minister and his then government Ministers especially former Transport Minister Felix Finisterre? The Prime Minister is not clear who might be sued to recoup the lost millions. What he did was justify – just before the House voted unanimously to approve the motion condemning the maladministration of the former SLP administration – the action he says must be taken.

The SLP MP’s were not in the House when the motion was approved. They had previously walked out of Parliament after the House voted against giving the Leader of the Opposition more time to speak to the motion.
But speaking at a political meeting later that evening – Dr Kenny Anthony made no secret of how he felt about the authority of the government to pass judgment on him.

The Commission made 19 recommendations stemming from its investigations. They include more government oversight over projects and the provision of guarantees on projects only as approved by the House. It also asked for a complete overhaul of the NCA and a removal of time limit to recoup government funds.

government department on the matter. The Minister denies that he is being an unreasonable taskmaster. He explains there must be oversight to safeguard the tax-payers investment in major projects like the East Coast Road. Joseph says he is only interested in cost effective, timely and satisfactory results. He claims the era of a lack of accountability and transparencies are over.

The Ministry of Communications and Works last week announced that progress was being made on a number of major road projects around the island. The Chief Engineer gave the assurance the East Coast road was on track despite concerns from the Minister who had expressed a willingness to replace the present contractors if necessary.  

The Minister of Communications and Works says he will continue to keep a watchful eye on all the road rehabilitations works presently underway on the island. He says his main concern remains the vested interest of the Saint Lucian tax-payer.

involved in the advertising the island.  The Team spent 15 hour days moving from hotel to hotel. Wilson says the market research revealed there are quite a few high quality small hotel properties on island. Now that the evaluation process is over, the investors will seek to define a marketing plan tailor made to the wide range of services offered at these hotels and the island’s unique tourism products.

The Saint Lucian investors say the fact finding trip was a success and are eager to spread their new found knowledge with other potential business interests. “Gems of St. Lucia” is already aligned with well known boutique properties like Village Inn and Spa. The marketing company affords Saint Lucians based in New York the opportunity to invest in the local tourism market.

ECCO is hosting a three day licensing training program for members of the newly formed organization. The topics to be covered include negotiation techniques and the art of closing the deal. ECCO is an Eastern Caribbean Copyright Organization that represents artists from the OECS including Saint Lucia and Grenada. The Chair of the ECCO Board – Gene Lawrence –says the session is aimed at addressing the

teething problems any new organization will naturally experience. The World Intellectual Property Organization is represented at the workshop by Patrick Masouye. He was last in Saint Lucia a decade ago to establish HMS – the copyright organization that now forms part of ECCO. Masouye says although a lot has changed since then – the organization’s commitment to the Eastern copyright movement remains the same.

Members have major plans for the Eastern Caribbean Collective for Music Rights. Lawrence says that includes growing the organization so that it represents artists from both the northern and southern tip of the region. Additionally WIPO has appointed a new Director-General for Copyright and Related Rights in the person of Barbadian Trevor Clark.

Organizers say the business awards will focus more on the promotion of ideas, innovation and invention. Louisy explains there will be less emphasis on the traditional business sectors and additional attention will be paid to ingenuity and entrepreneurship.

The Saint Lucia Chamber of Commerce says painstaking effort went into the development of the selection and judging criteria in a bid to raise the profile and prestige of the event. Chairperson of the Organizing Committee, Dr. Charmaine Gardner says planners have taken cognizance of emerging global business trends that are more idea driven and knowledge based. She says this was incorporated in the formulation of a stringent adjudication and qualification process for nominations to be reviewed by independent panel.

The Saint Lucia Business Awards is scheduled for January 23rd 2010 at the Sandals Grande. The deadline for submissions to the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce is noon December 11th 2009. Applications are available at the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce website www.stluciachamber.org.