Outgoing director says work of Trust not based on commercial considerations

Should Pigeon Island be transformed into a version of Cuba’s Tropicana? Prime Minister Allen Chastanet believes so, stating that the venue could host evening shows and benefit greatly from tourism. Addressing his disapproval of Jeannine Compton-Antoine as Trust director last month, the prime minister said he felt a new director should be commercially minded, enough to recognize the need to marry conservation and development.  

He lamented that over the past 25 years, the Tourist Board had spent in excess of $20 million assembling and breaking down stages at Pigeon Island and questioned whether or not the money wouldn’t have been better spent on the construction of a theatre that would allow the Trust to host shows and raise revenue. The prime minister insists that the Trust has sufficient assets to render it at least close to self-sustaining. 

At a January 9 press conference, retiring Trust director Bishnu Tulsie revisited the 1972 creation of the causeway.  At that time, Tulsie said, there was a lot of pressure to develop Pigeon Island and construct buildings on the site. Then premier Sir John Compton realized that unless something was done Pigeon Island would be lost. “So it goes way back that Pigeon Island was viewed as, and is still viewed as, a place of history and memory, and one that should be preserved for that purpose,” Tulsie said. The setting up of condominiums —adding to the wall and gate—is not the right move, he opined.

“We understand the prime minister’s point about raising revenue but we must balance that with impact,” said the director. “We had 38 events at Pigeon Island last year. On occasion we had to cordon off a certain part of the lawn because of the extent of the impact. So we’ve got to approach this in a way that is sensible. We should never lose sight of the fact that Pigeon Island is part of our history and should be accessible to everyone. We will have to continue to disagree with the prime minister on that one because, at the end of the day, we were created to conserve and preserve.”

Council Chair Allison King announced that the Trust has conceptualized a number of ideas that could potentially generate revenue.  They were submitted before the last budget, King said, but there was no response. They have therefore been re-submitted for the upcoming financial year. King said that the Trust agrees with the prime minister’s suggestion of a permanent stage, but would want it to be sympathetic to the environment and not be intrusive. A design proposal has also been submitted. 

As to whether the Trust should be dependent on state funding, Tulsie said that, based on research, the SLNT is the only Trust in the world that does not receive support from the government where it is located. Said Tulsie: “Saint Lucia is first in many things; this is another one we’re first in. Our work is not based on commercial considerations; it’s based on conservation considerations but we understand the need to generate revenue based on what we do.”