The English government has adopted new plans based on five pillars in preparation for an intensified battle with the coronavirus, in the upcoming winter months. With about 81% of the UK population vaccinated, the English government still needs to update measures to avoid its health system from being overwhelmed by increased cases of infections among the 6 million adults who are still unvaccinated. The five pillars consist of plans to enhance the vaccination programme, with...
Tomorrow, September 14th, the House of Assembly will be meeting to take the Drugs (Prevention of the Misuse) Amendment Bill through its final stages. The anticipated change in the legislation will allow for the private use of marijuana for recreational purposes. The use of the drug in public places will remain an offence and subject to a summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $1000. Such a penalty will no longer form part of a...
The debate about compulsory vaccination rages on with Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda making it mandatory that all public servants be vaccinated or that they be subject to testing twice a month. The prime minister’s recent declaration in the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda has met with mixed responses: decisive, strong, dictatorial, insensitive, and crazy. In announcing his government’s mandatory vaccination policy for public servants, he demonstrated a level of frustration and...
Yesterday, September 10th, Saint Lucia experienced an island-wide power outage. Lucelec said that the outage was caused by a protection fault at the generating plant at Cal De Sac. This fault tripped all of the generators which resulted in a complete shutdown of the electricity system. After troubleshooting this grave situation, power was restored by 8:02 pm. Lucelec continued to investigate the cause of the problem but unfortunately the island experienced a second island-wide power...
Saint Lucia News Online (SLNO) is not the property of the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP), nor is it an arm of its operations. We understand, however, why some readers may think we are a communication tool of the SLP because of the strident tone we have taken criticizing policies of the last administration. We are committed to supporting what we believe to be in the best interest of Saint Lucia and make no apologies...
The developed world has created a climate change problem it alone can solve. However, the problem of climate change affects small island states like Saint Lucia disproportionately. The extreme weather conditions of rising sea levels, extreme hurricanes and rising temperatures continue to disrupt livelihoods, with little resources available to build resilience, making small island states ever more dependent on a beneficent world. Saint Lucia’s contribution to the world’s carbon emissions does not register any presence,...
The former Prime Minister, Allen Chastanet, on his Facebook page yesterday called on the new Labour government to “act now to address Covid-19 crisis and preserve Saint Lucian lives.” In making that call on the new government he, unwittingly, acknowledged responsibility for the surge in Covid cases, and made untrue statements. According to the former prime minister on his Facebook page, we should have anticipated an upturn in cases due to the increased activities during...
The recent conversion from the Scotiabank banking platform to the new Republic Bank banking system resulted in some hiccups, which left some customers frustrated. The management and staff of Republic Bank apologizes for the inconvenience caused to its customers, and thanks them for their patience and understanding while they go through this process. The Country Manager issued the following press release:
Timothy Poleon was livid; he discovered the government was sponsoring a radio talk-show, hosted by a popular TV and Radio personality. Surely, this cannot be right for public funds to be used in that way, according to Timothy Poleon. And he was right! The government sponsored radio talk-show had nothing to do with the work of government. In his defense, the talk-show host argued that he was encouraging week-day public debate about the effectiveness of...
No jab no job can become a condition of employment in certain sectors, where persons are vulnerable because of their age or health condition. In the UK, the government has decreed that staff working in care homes should be vaccinated by 11th November this year. This policy has not been without controversy, with some health care workers preferring to leave the job rather than be vaccinated, causing a serious staffing shortage in the sector. So,...
