[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a recent address to the Chamber of Commerce, the prime minister was careful not to go beyond a minimum explanation of the reasons the Planning Department had given The Landings Resort permission to disturb the smooth curve of the beach from Gros Islet to Pigeon Point, in order to create a private yacht marina. The private yacht haven meant the public would no longer be able to walk from Gros Islet to Pigeon Point along that stretch of reclaimed beach front. The UWP, which was then in opposition, said nothing. The Labour party hacks, who masquerade as journalists, went speechless. I was distraught over that bit of bastardization of the beach, but I decided to keep my peace; if those who are paid to stop the abuse and collusion were part of the plot to destroy Pigeon Point, Praslin Beach and elsewhere, I reasoned, my protest would be lost.
Fast forward to the now! Does Planning or any other government entity owe private homeowners or hotels any particular view? I ask this question because a person who was building a home was told by the neighbour that her roof would block their view. The new owner reported the matter to her builder, an engineer. The engineer advised his client to inform her neighbours that Planning did not take ‘the view’ into account when deciding on the suitability and worthiness of an application for home construction. Does that rule apply to hotel construction or had that rule changed and is there a different rule for hotels?
It would be interesting to discover the answer to that question. Indeed, such information should be shared by the relevant government department with the public that would then be guided accordingly. Another matter that I wish to bring to the attention of the STAR is the cop-out of the opposition in the House on a motion for government to employ foreign experts to execute a project from the CDB. The SLP are past masters at squandering monies on the employment of foreign experts when they are in government: the large concrete cemetery (basin?),for water-driven garbage in the gardens, the cost overruns on the Soufriere to Laborie main road, the squandering of taxpayer dollars on Rochamel-Frenwell, water access and distribution which is yet to bear fruit, and you, dear reader, can add others.
What I found most infuriating, however, was the opposition’s shameful hypocrisy and weak argument. The Labour Party of the 1970s would have reminded the government that even institutions such as the World Bank lend money to poor countries with the right hand, and take it back with the left hand through foreign experts and the purchase of equipment and personnel from specified countries.
The CDB is the region’s World Bank. Its work is clearly a continuation of colonial manipulation of poor and vulnerable states like Saint Lucia. That approach to lending is bound to perpetuate backwardness and third-worldism (my word). That should have been the opposition’s main argument. But alas! This ‘new’ Labour has lost the legitimacy to criticize the government because their minds are still stuck in the past colonial era, and the white Massa still rules their thinking.
