An estimated 1.3 million EC dollars in building materials is said to have been destroyed in the fire that gutted a building and its contents on the compound of the state-owned Public Works facility in Arnos Vale, on Thursday January 7th.

Speaking on a Radio program, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said he was given that estimated value by Minister of Housing, Montgomery Daniel.

The Prime Minister told reporters at a Media Conference at Cabinet Room on the same Thursday, that the police have suspected arson in relation to the fire that broke out after 2:00am.

The Building serves as a storage facility for building material and hardware supplies for the Government.

Gonsalves along with that,there is the cost for the building,and the lost to the poor and indigent who needed the help.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has issued a warning to Vincentian at home and in the Diaspora, who may be encouraging the use of illegal tactics, in the ongoing protest action, in relation to the December 9th , 2015 General Elections.
The word of warning came during a News Conference hosted by the Prime Minster on Thursday January 7th.
Dr. Gonsalves said some persons have been using social media to disseminate inflammatory information, and encouraging protestors to engage in illegal acts.
The Prime Minister said the relevant authorities in the United States have been made aware of the actions of those who are encouraging illegal activity.
 

Hans king Press Secretary to Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said that he thinks the time has come for morning shows to have producers.

King speaking on the Shakeup program on WEFM Monday morning, said that his concern came about after hearing individuals castigating Judge Cottle for refusing an application by the New Democratic Party to access certain electoral documents in relation to the December 9th general elections.

He said that what you have is a lot of ignorant people informing ignorant people, King on many occasion used his time on the radio program to call on the many radio announcers and the Opposition Party to educate listeners to their programs.

King also stated that the Leader of the Opposition is what he would call “2 kool No 2”, referring to the popular DJ ON HOT 97.1. He said that Eustace is always hearing something and running with it. King said last week the Leader of the Opposition propagated on what he calls comess that VAT would increase to 18 percent.

It was made know by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves that VAT would not be increased by his Government.

Barbados and Jamaica among others have producers for radio programs, St Vincent does not, these countries also have broadcasting commissions.

What is the Commission? The electronic media, broadcast radio and television, as well as subscriber television, have profound and wide-reaching effects on many aspects of the daily lives of citizens.

The Broadcasting Commission’s role is to monitor and regulate these industries, balancing the interests of consumers, the industries and the creative community in implementing public policy and law.

A number of events are to be held this week, to honour the memory of the students who died in the tragic accident which occurred at Rock Gutter on January 12th 2015.

Seven students died in the accident, after the passenger van in which they were travelling went over an embankment and into the sea in the Rock Gutter area.

The bodies of five of the students were recovered and buried: Anique Alexander; Racquel Ashton; Jamal and Jamalie Edwards; and Glenroy Michael. The bodies of Simonique Ballantyne and Chanstacia Stay were not recovered.

One of the main events being planned in memory of the students is a Candlelight Vigil being organized by their Parents. The event is set to take place on Monday January 11th and will take the form of a candlelight march from Fancy to Rock Gutter starting at nine in the night.

This will be followed by a candlelight ceremony, during which those in attendance will reflect on the lives of the students who died. The ceremony will end at midnight.

Then on Tuesday January 12th, a wreath-laying ceremony will be held at Rock Gutter from eleven-thirty in the morning, for the two students whose bodies were not recovered from the sea.

This will be followed by a motorcade from three in the afternoon, ending at the Fancy Cemetery, where wreaths will be laid for the five students buried there.

For many foreign students, getting a college degree is often a monumental financial struggle.And, for Sheldeen Joseph, 23, a Vincentian-born athletic student at Bowie State University in Maryland, the task is even more arduous.

But, despite great adversity, Joseph, a basketball student, is determined to succeed.

One diligent and benevolent national, James Cordice — the architect of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ participation in the illustrious Penn Relays in Philadelphia and former president of the Philadelphia-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines Organization of Pennsylvania (SVGOP) – has even offered to serve as a guarantee of a loan to the tune of US$9,000.00 so that Joseph “can finish what she started.”

With Cordice’s aid and intervention, Joseph stands to graduate in June with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Bowie State University.

After Joseph’s fervent appeal for tuition assistance for the Fall 2015 semester, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Nationals Association of Washington, D.C. (SVGNA) and SVGOP contributed US$2,000.00 each towards her tuition. Arlette Dopwell-James, the former SVGOP president, at Cordice’s urging, was also instrumental in helping to raise another US$1,000.00 among nationals in the Pennsylvania area and from among SVGOP members.

In her appeal for urgent financial aid, at the end of July last year, Joseph, a former student at St. Joseph Convent Marriaqua and Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, wrote to SVGOP.

The letter was forwarded to SVGOP and the Brooklyn-based umbrella Vincentian group, Council of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Organizations, U.S.A., Inc. (COSAGO), for assistance. SVGNA and SVGOP responded affirmatively to the appeal.

Joseph said she made appointments to see the minister of sports, “tried for the prime minister,” visited the manager of the National Lottery, “and I wasn’t able to see the ministers, nor was I able to get anything from lottery.”

But she said, while all her visits were “discouragi­ng,” she still didn’t allow them to “distract me from where I was trying to head.”

After SVGOP, SVGNA, James-Dopwell, Cordice, Kenley “Shortmus” John, the former president of the humanitarian Vincentian group VincyCares, and others intervened, Joseph was able to complete the Fall 2015 semester.

And, with the Cordice’s financial backing for her last semester, Joseph is now more confident than ever of finally achieving her goal.

Republished from CLNP

A pregnant woman’s last desperate minutes were spent fighting for breath as her dad tightened a rope around her throat, officials said.

New details emerged Thursday in the horrific slaying of mom-to-be Anndrea Caruth as her father stared blankly in a Bronx courtroom. He was ordered held without bail on murder and manslaughter charges.

Accused killer William Caruth, 61, had bite marks over both hands and a cut on the bridge of his nose when taken into custody, according to cops and neighbors.

Anndrea had a rope wrapped around her throat and torso when she was found early Wednesday stuffed inside a crawlspace beneath a closet in the Bronx home she shared with her dad.

William apparently lived in his basement apartment for two full days near the hidden corpse until his arrest. Neighbors described the murder suspect as a strange, unpleasant presence in the neighborhood.

It was unclear if William joined in the search for his daughter after Anndrea’s boyfriend called police Monday to report her missing.

But he remained inside his soundproofed basement apartment in his daughter’s home after her disappearance. Authorities said Anndrea was strangled, bashed in the skull and stuffed inside the cramped hiding spot beneath a closet.

The soundproofing, installed to block the noise from Anndrea’s upstairs day care center, could have stopped neighbors from hearing her screams.Her battered body was not discovered until cops, with a warrant and two cadaver dogs, found the dead woman’s remains partially buried in gravel beneath the house, officials said.

Sources say that a family feud over money drove the enraged father to homicide.Anndrea, 39, a favorite of her Bronx neighbors, was due to find out the gender of her unborn child Thursday.

Vincentians have been debating whether or not an increase in VAT was in the works,with a number of persons speculating it would be announced in the budget of 2016.

However Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has categorically denied claims that he is planning to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT), here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Speaking at a press conference earlier today, Dr. Gonsalves said it is alleged that he plans to increase VAT by 3%, from 15% to 18 %, but he said he never contemplated increasing the VAT.

Value Added Tax (VAT) was implemented in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2007.Value-Added Tax (VAT) is a tax on consumer spending. It is collected by VAT-registered traders on their supplies of goods and services effected within the country.

Eighteen male and female inmates of Her Majesty’s Prison, here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines were trained in Vetiver Mat and Basketry Construction Training between August-October 2015 as part of the Forest Livelihood Training Initiative, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The training aimed to offer inmates the opportunity for social and economic re-integration, whilst addressing the wider issue of forest livelihood creation to strengthen the forest rehabilitation drive currently being undertaken by the Forestry Division in the Ministry of Agriculture.

The majority of participants were under 30 years old, with half of the participants aged 16-25 years.

The workshop coordinator and trainer Ms. Vonnie Roudette, was impressed with the inmates’ enthusiasm and rapid pace of learning, which in her experience, exceeded that of tertiary level college students.

Additional trainers, Leon Alexander and Lucita McCoy, reiterated that the response to training was positive and expressed their hope that the handicraft project continues.

The team of trainers aims to establish an ongoing inmate-driven production unit within the prison, with linkages to small business operations in the private sector.

The NDP’s recent  candidate in Central Leeward, Ben Exeter, could be slapped with an additional charge after charges of resisting arrest were laid against him.
At a news conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves read out the law as it relates to persons carrying a licensed firearm, without naming Exeter, while being part of a demonstration.

Exeter was part of the NDP’s demonstration outside of parliament when he was arrested and had his licensed firearm on his person.
Dr Gonsalves said that the law is specific, that ordinary civilians are not allowed to carry licensed firearms when they are part of protests.
He said that if one is charged and convicted, that person can be fined up to $2000 or confined to prison for three months.

US law enforcement authorities are said to be showing interest in a number of Vincentians living in North America after local police and the ministry of Foreign Affairs brought to the US attention their Facebook comments.
A number of NDP activist on  Facebook have been making comments the Prime Minister said that falls within the line of Inciting violent activity within the the state.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves informed the nation on Thursday that some Vincentians living in the USA have been making calls for his assassination.
He went further to state, that they have also called for the burning of his private home and the burning of Kingstown.
He said some of these persons, who were directing terrorist activities on US soil, were recently here and took part in the NDP’s elections campaign.

Young Unemployed Vincentian University Graduates are being encouraged to register for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme.

The programme offers Nationals the opportunity to work in Japan for a one-year period as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs).

The JET Programme is a collaborative effort organized by a number of local Ministries along with the Government of Japan.

The Ministry adds that the JET program forms part of the Government’s program to seek opportunities for Vincentians abroad.

February 12th, 2016 has been set as the deadline for the submission of applications to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

We have noted the widespread reports about the fire at the Public Works building at Arnos Vale, and the lame attempt by this illegal Prime Minister to ascribe political motives. But importantly, he himself announced that police investigations are on-going.
Therefore, any responsible leader will allow for the police to complete their investigations before making any assertions, in an attempt to fan partisan political flames. We are getting increasingly wary that the comments of the Prime Minister on this matter, as well as his high-handed approach to peaceful demonstrators could be a deliberate ploy to increase tensions in the country and orchestrate the deterioration of the security situation so that he can call a state of emergency to extend his illegal rule.
If it turns out that the fire was deliberately set, we will condemn it, as we now condemn this illegal Prime Minister’s irresponsibility in this matter. But it must be noted that this fire is the latest of a series of unexplained fires at government buildings. We recall in recent times there was the suspicious burning of census documents at the Financial Complex. There was a fire at the old electoral offices and then another at the old treasury office.
Then there was the suspicious government-approved burning of 1,300 passports. Up to this day we have not heard anything from the government about the cause of these fires. The question must be asked – who benefits from a fire at the Public Works building? Who will want to destroy any documentary evidence of bribery as related to the last general election?
Therefore, we do not think Gonsalves’ views on this latest fire have any weight in this matter because he has lost legitimacy at home, and has reduced St Vincent and the Grenadines to being a laughing stock abroad. We noted that at his press conference today he also claimed opposition sympathizers spray painted the office of the electoral office two nights ago, But he failed to explain how that was possible, since he has installed armed guards there on a 24 hour vigil.
Is this, another attempt at a government set-up? Without providing any single evidence Ralph Gonsalves also accused Vincentians living in the United States of terrorism, and is seeking to put American authorities on his own people. What all of this highlights, is what we have always known – that this man will do and say anything to remain in power.
But we want to use this opportunity put Gonsalves on notice that we will stand resolutely against any attempts to seek to use any developments to harass and intimidate any of our people under the guise of law and order. Our party is the one with the history of upholding law and order in this country, Our party is the one with the history of allowing the will of the people to be reflected.
And we are confident that our party will be the one that will ultimately restore the good name of St Vincent and the Grenadines.