A rear-view mirror glance at a Saint Lucia Past: Will We Ever See The Like of Lansie?

Few who remember the late Romanus Lansiquot, former health and tourism minister and lifetime representative of Castries East, would speak against the nation’s honoring him for services beyond the call of duty.

Especially remarkable was that Romanus (everyone addressed him by his first name or as “Lansie”) was never tongue-tied, whether an argument involved media personnel or his Cabinet colleagues. It was Romanus who took it upon himself in 1988 to do his own Go-Fund to benefit an already decrepit Victoria Hospital. He organized several walks, not all of them well attended, in his special effort.

It was no big secret that the day’s prime minister promised to match whatever amount his health minister collected as a result of his sweat and tears for Victoria. On the other hand, it remains conjectural whether John Compton ever delivered the government’s side of the bargain—one million dollars, the amount Lansiquot finally squeezed out of the business community as well as regular folk, some of whom could offer only a dollar but insisted on it being accepted in the name of the cause. Lansie often clashed with the press but you’d have a difficult time finding a reporter who did not respect, even love the remarkable politician.

Shortly after the STAR’s arrival in 1987, a group of young kids went with their teacher on a day’s outing that ended in disaster when three (five?) of them drowned at Reduit Beach, the consequence of a poorly supervised boat ride. While his government hid behind every possible excuse to avoid responsibility, Lansiquot openly expressed a contrary position. He went so far as to deliver to one of the bereaved mothers, a resident of Gros Islet, a hefty check from his own pocket.

Then there was the time a fellow Cabinet member referred to “menial jobs” in a screed against a certain hotelier. As minister of tourism Lansie would have none of that.

“No legal work should be put down that way,” he fumed to one newsman. Of course, his colleague who was none other than Labour Minister Louis George, himself also a no nonsense politician, refused to back down. At any rate, for several weeks.

Then there was the time when Nobel winner Derek Walcott famously took a stand against proposed projects near the Pitons—in the process infuriating the tourism minister. In a speech that he quite likely did not expect to be covered by the media, Lansie cited a local businessman who had donated paint toward the sprucing up of Mindoo Phillip Park. Said the always garrulous minister: “He should be taking a page from Elrie Didier’s book rather than criticizing our government.” It was hard to tell who was in consequence the more embarrassed, Lansie or Didier. The matter was widely covered and became an issue almost as big as what Walcott described as “the desecration of Helen.”

Years later, before a scheduled House session had actually got underway, Lansie left his seat to talk to Claudius Francis and me in the press box. (Back then the Pope’s nephew was a lead STAR contributor!)

“Fellas,” said Lansie sotto voce, “why don’t you guys clear up this thing about Walcott? Everyone believes it was I who called the man a Johnnie Come Lately.”

Said the Pope’s nephew: “You didn’t?”

And Lansie said: “You both know it was Malt who said that.” Malt was George Mallet’s ti nom.

And I said: “You want to make a statement on the record?”

You’d have sworn someone had kicked the minister in the shin. His eyes opened wide. Then he whispered: “Are you guys mad or what!” So now the record is clear. Doubtless at least one of the deceased MPs, wherever they are, will be pleased.

Many believe Romanus Lansiquot died of broken heart shortly after losing the 1979 elections to Philip J. Pierre (who in many ways reminds of the dearly departed)—never mind that his death certificate blames cancer.

As for this land without heroes, would it be too much to ask the day’s government or the opposition leader to break with tradition and erect in newly refurbished Derek Walcott Square a monument to Romanus Lansiquot? Methinks it’s well merited!

This article first appeared in the December 2020 edition of the STAR Monthly Review, available on newsstands and here: https://issuu.com/starbusinessweek/docs/star_monthly_review_december_2020