The legendary St. Lucian cricketer – Francis “Mindoo” Phillip – has died. The iconic local sports figure passed away at the Victoria Hospital early this afternoon after a long bout with stomach cancer. Phillip’s close friend, former cricketer and outstanding former all-round athlete – Rupert Branford says Phillip left an indelible mark on both local and regional cricket.

The former Victoria Park at Marchand at which the Jazz festival formally opens tonight was named after the great cricketer. Way before Daren Sammy became the first St. Lucian male, picked for the senior West Indies team, Francis Mindoo Phillip was racking double and triple digit scores with the bat. However, despite his exploits as a batsman he was never chosen to represent the Caribbean on the regional side. He played in a golden era in West Indies cricket where there was an abundance of talent and small island players were not favored for selection.

In an interview a few years ago with Virnet St.omer Fontinelle, Phillip said his passion for the game was rooted deeply in his love of country.

Trinidad Cement Ltd, the regional company based in Barbados that accounts for 60% of cement imported into the island held a press briefing this morning to inform members of the public that effective Monday May 1st the price of cement would increase to $18 per each 42 kg bag. The TCL group attributes this increase to increased production costs at their three production plants in Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados.

Satnarine Bachew is the General Manager of Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL). He says this latest increase in the price of cement will see the commodity now go for $18 per every 42 kg bag. The increase will take effect on the next shipment of TCL cement expected here next week. Bachew says the increase is linked to increasing costs in the production of cement.

TCL accounts for 60% of all cement imported into Saint Lucia. The remaining 40% is imported from Columbia. The national retailer of cement on island is Renwick & Co Ltd. Chris Renwick is the Managing Director of Renwick & Co. He says the increase will also apply to cement coming from Columbia.

The TCL Group says they have been absorbing the ever increasing costs of producing cement for the past two years. It is a policy the company says they are no longer able to sustain.

The St Lucia Postal Service has issued a warning to the general public, especially small business owners, cautioning them about the circulation of counterfeit United States postal orders on the island.

The warning comes a few days after the issuance of some of these orders to business places. The problem began in October of last year when some of the notes were discovered in the southern office. Postmaster General Philomene St Clair says persons should exercise extreme caution when dealing with these money orders as they are hard to distinguish from the authentic ones.

St Clair explained other security features that may help to distinguish the authentic notes from the counterfeit ones.

The governments of the United Kingdom and Saint Lucia signed a prisoner transfer agreement on April 27th.  The agreement allows nationals of both countries who are serving prison terms to request that their terms be served in their country. The agreement does not apply to Saint Lucian citizens who have British residency.

The prisoner transfer agreement signed last week between the governments of Saint Lucia and the United Kingdom allows incarcerated nationals of both countries to request that they serve their time in their respective countries. Kelvin Green is the Resident British Commissioner.

There are currently 20 Saint Lucian and 6 British nationals serving time in either country. The new agreement signed by Foreign Minister Senator Petrus Compton and UK Foreign Office Minister Lord Triesman allows the Saint Lucian government final say in which nationals get sent back home to Bordelaise.

This agreement differs from the repatriating of Saint Lucian citizens following their stint in UK prisons.

The Resident British Commissioner says the UK residents currently serving time at the Bordelaise Correctional Facility have already expressed interest in requesting a transfer back to a prison in the UK.

An official release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office has indicated that Wilfred Pierre has been relieved as EU National Authorizing Officer and reinstated in his former post of Director of Special Projects Initiatives. However the move which Cabinet Secretary Jimmy Fletcher has described as “not unusual” is being regarded as Pierre’s dismissal from the post as a result of poor performance. Dr Fletcher is attempting to dispel what he refers to as a misconception saying that Pierre’s performance has been exemplary.

The post which is being filled by Donavan Williams has now been placed under the purview of the director of budget in the Ministry of Finance. It was previously under the purview of the office of the Prime Minister however in the interest of creating greater congruency has been moved to the ministry of finance.

Dr Fletcher reiterated that claims of ineptitude on Pierre’s part are unfounded. He says the European Union has been notified of the change and has welcomed the placement of the NAO’s office under the ministry of Finance.

New NAO Donavan Williams is a trained sociologist, an experienced public administrator and has served as Deputy Permanent Secretary in the ministry of social transformation. Past NAO’s include Dwight Vener, Ausbert D’Auvergne, Cletus Springer, Bernard La Corbiniere and Alison King Joseph.

The Dominican group – Grammacks New Generation, will be in the William Peter Boulevard Saturday May 06th, to promote its performances during St. Lucia Jazz. Grammacks will be joined by a multi-themed Brazilian Dance Troop that will perform at various hotel venues during the festival. The highlight of the groups’ performances will be a show at the Gaiety at Rodney Bay on Saturday, May 13. Grammacks says that joint performance will be the party after the big Jazz party at Pigeon Island National Park.