Feeding the Flock By: Jeff Fedee

Jeff Fedee

In the world of literature, English playwright William Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest playwright who ever lived. He was the master of the English language as he captured the complexities of the human condition by his exploration of human character and nature and the nobility of some human beings by their capacity to rise above ordinary behaviour by their generosity and compassion towards fellow human beings. On the other side of the spectrum there are those who are depraved, and display sociopathic tendencies, with no conscience or compassion for other human beings. Such characters betray friends with impunity and would stab another in the back for personal gain with no feelings of remors

I saw these characteristics on display at the launch of the Gros Islet constituency conference recently held at the Corinth Secondary School. Instead of elevating the political debate, the leader of the St. Lucia
Labour Party descended to the level of a rabble rouser and a man devoid of noble thinking, when he pointed accusatory fingers, not even in general terms, but warning and identifying members of the former U.W.P. administration that he would soon be seeking access to their bank accounts insinuating that they had fraudulently deposited funds into their private accounts while in government. When I saw Kenny Anthony on television in this accusatory mode issuing such threats, I was reminded of the biblical admonition by Jesus Christ, in his rescue of a woman about to be stoned to death by bloodthirsty accusers, when he challenged them by stating ‘Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’
I never tire of reminding St. Lucians that we live in a provincial society, where everybody knows everybody’s business, including their most private affairs. Therefore on that basis one should not be pointing fingers, when in the shadows of one’s past there are improprieties and indiscretions that have been ventilated in the public domain.
The characters who now occupy the elevated positions in government are not concerned about the economic and social advancement of St. Lucia, but their own personal agendas and self-aggrandizement.
It seems that Kenny does not understand what the ‘governance’ of a country means when a party gets elected to office. What the citizens of this country have observed and is clearly demonstrated, is that this regime has determined that only its supporters should be able to provide their families and themselves with breakfast, lunch and dinner.
When a political party wins an election the elected members become transformed into a ‘government’ which represents the interests of all the citizens of that country. It is a universal principle of politics that the party which is elected becomes the government and is responsible for all the citizens of that country. As an illustration, Barack Obama of the USA, or David Cameron of the United Kingdom, are not put there to look purely after the interests of Democrats in the U.S.A. or Conservatives in the UK respectively, but the general welfare of all the citizens of those countries.
The right to work and earn a living to take care of one’s family, is a condition that must be provided by the government.  Any government which seeks to exclude and discriminate against persons who are the best qualified and capable of performing certain tasks, and are denied the opportunity for gainful employment, sets the stage for legitimate social upheaval.
In contrast, the reason why St. Lucia was able to eclipse all the other territories of the O.E.C.S. is that Sir John Compton appointed the best qualified, the most able and proficient persons in the land to run the affairs and the important institutions in this country regardless of their perceived political persuasions.  Ask any man who was prominent in the days of the struggles and battles with Sir John, that he still appointed those persons to important positions when he could have done otherwise.  To name a few he kept Victor Girard (now retired) throughout his years in office as his Cabinet Sectary. As a young adherent of the Odlum and Josie Forum days, I would hear those in the know whisper that this man is a Labour Man.  Today, that position of CabSec is like a revolving door for Kenny Anthony’s acolytes, whose loyalty is to him first and foremost, and not the interest of the country. Yet Compton named George Odlum, Ambassador to the U.N. and Peter Josie to a prominent position in Wibdeco, when he could have allowed these men to languish in their latter days.  Kenny Anthony himself was contracted by Sir John to do a review of the Civil Service to strengthen its efficiency and its legal framework.
So why doesn’t Kenny take a page from Sir John’s book, and hire competent people with a record of achievement, instead of the maggots he surrounds himself with nothing to show in terms of any successful endeavour in their lives.  It is not those who crawl,  grovel and ingratiate themselves with the P.M. who can produce the results that are important to the development of St. Lucia.
Instead St. Lucia is caught in an economic quagmire, while Kenny and his sycophants continue blithely to behave as if they are drunken sailors on shore leave.  It is evident that Kenny has no plan or clear vision of a systematically developed programme for St. Lucia’s economic development.  Since we have short memories, I wish to remind St. Lucians that if they recall, that as an admission that Kenny had no plan for St. Lucia’s economic development, he promised to establish a “National Vision Commission,” with the support and involvement of all State actors, including Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, charged with leading the dialogue for crafting a National Vision and Strategy, during the 2012-13 Budget Presentation .
Based on Kenny modus operandi in which he insults the opposition members and its leader and is crippling the business sector with his ruinous policies, then his rational judgment must be questioned. Instead of nurturing a harmonious environment, he instigates confrontation and discord in this country.
In recent weeks panic and fear must consume the Labour Party regime and its apparatchiks, for hundreds of families have been laid off and put on the breadline by companies that have been operating successfully St. Lucia for decades. It is common knowledge that our flagship national bank, Bank of St. Lucia is now in financial straits, laying off many career professionals, and the latest is that whilst under the U.W.P. administration St. Lucia enjoyed a positive economic rating of B+, St. Lucia’s credit rating has been downgraded to B, which has serious implications for the government’s development programme.
And if the news could not be more depressing, a country with which St. Lucia has enjoyed long decades of fraternal relations and generous aid, Cuba, has suddenly decided to suspend all its former aid to St. Lucia.  From the training of doctors, nurses, agriculturists and journalists and personnel to aid in the health sector such as diabetes and even rodent control.  Is there any rational person who believes that this action and decision by the Cuban authorities was based on the global economic crisis.  A true friend, which Cuba has been to St. Lucia, does not abandon you in a crisis.
It is my considered interpretation of the Cuban decision, that the Cubans recognize that Kenny Anthony does not personify to the Cubans the spirit of humane socialism by his extravagance in office which is at odds with socialist philosophy. It is the sacrifices of its people which provides St. Lucia with vital aid.  They must ask themselves where are our trusted friends in St. Lucia, in the persons of George and John Odlum, who by their humility, genuine generosity and love of the common people, initiated fraternal relations with Cuba and provided scholarships to the children of poor St. Lucian parents, who have become professionals in major fields such as prominent medical doctors and dentists, agriculturists, etc.
Citizens of this country must know that all foreign embassies operating in our country have their analysts who assess their relations with a country and issue reports that observe the character and behaviour of a regime and its operatives to determine whether it has corrupted a relationship which no longer represents the moral and philosophical outlook of the donor country.  Yet Kenny and his large entourage which visited Cuba two weeks ago, continue its mindless propaganda about a successful trip, in the face of the suspension of all free aid to St. Lucia.
Some sensible person should present Kenny a copy of Sir John’s Quadrant Development Plan, since Kenny and his cronies have no original ideas of their own, and are just jumping on the bandwagon of U.W.P. projects such as the Hewanorra Airport and Castries Harbour development projects.  The latest poll by the L.P.M clearly indicates that the people are just waiting to consign Kenny Anthony and his gang to the opposition benches.  Can the people of St. Lucia survive another three years of our country sinks deeper into an economic abyss?