Under the Constitution the Governor is Her Majesty's Representative. Except where otherwise provided the Governor is required to act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the Legislature for the government of the State. The Cabinet consists of the Premier, the other Ministers and at any time when his office is a public office, the Attorney-General ex officio. The Governor appoints as Premier a member of the House of Assembly who appears to him likely to command a majority in that House. The other Ministers are appointed from among the members of the House on the advice of the Premier. There is provision for the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries. The Legislature consists of Her Majesty and a House of Assembly. The House of Assembly consists of a Speaker; members (for the present, ten) elected in single member constituencies under universal adult suffrage, one of whom may be the Speaker; and three nominated members or, if a nominated member is Attorney-General, four. Transitionally the first House of Assembly includes the Speaker and elected members of the former Legislative Council. The Legislature may make laws for the peace, order and good government of the State. The Constitution contains safeguards for fundamental rights and freedoms. Special provisions relate to a Bill to alter the Constitution or the law establishing the West Indies Associated States Supreme Court or the law relating to appeals to the Privy Council. A Puisne Judge of the West Indies Associated States Supreme Court (q.v.) is resident in St Kitts. The appointment, dismissal and disciplinary control of public officers is, with certain exceptions, vested in the Public Service and Police Service Commissions. There is provision for appeals to the Public Service Board of Appeal. LAND POLICY Aliens cannot own land except under licence from the Government. GOVERNOR His Excellency: Mr Probyn Ellsworth Inniss, MBE MINISTRY Premier: The Hon. Robert L. Bradshaw, JP Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Trade, Development and Tourism: Minister of Education, Health and Welfare: The Hon. F. C. Bryant, JP Permanent Secretary, Cabinet and External Affairs: Ira Walwyn, OBE BRITISH GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE E. O. Laird, CMG, MBE Deputy British Government Representative: R. F. Gillett, OBE H.M. COMMISSIONER, ANGUILLA D. F. P. Le Breton ST LUCIA T LUCIA, in the Windward Island group, lies 24 miles to the south of Martinique and 21 miles north-east of St Vincent, latitude 13° 54' N., longitude 60° 59′ W. The island is pear-shaped and measures 27 miles by 4 miles. Its circumference is 150 miles and its area about 238 square miles. The island is mountainous, with magnificent scenery. The highest peak is At Gimie (3,145 feet); the most spectacular are the Gros Piton (2,619 feet) and the Petit Piton (2,461 feet) which are old volcanic forest-clad cones rising heer out of the sea near the town of Soufrière on the leeward coast. A few niles away in an ancient crater are hot, sulphurous springs, the potential of which as a source of cheap energy for generating electricity is now under nvestigation. The mountains are intersected by numerous short rivers. In places, these rivers debouch into broad, fertile and well cultivated valleys. The scenery is of outstanding beauty, even when compared with other Caribbean islands, and in the neighbourhood of the Pitons it has the less common element of grandeur. There is a dry season roughly from January to April, and a rainy season from May to August, with an Indian summer in September-October. Towards the end of the year it is usually wet. The island lies in latitudes where the northeast trade winds are an almost constant influence. The mean annual temperature is about 80°F. Rainfall varies (according to altitude) in different parts of the island from 60 inches to 138 inches. The population of St Lucia, according to the 1970 census, was 101,000. The population of the capital, Castries, is about 45,000. There are twelve secondary schools with about 4,600 students, one Technical College with 250 students and some 74 primary and infant schools. The number of children in these schools is about 30,000. Adult education is provided by the Extra Mural Department of the University of the West Indies and by organised voluntary groups. Community education centres provide facilities whereby the people of the area can meet to discuss matters of common interest and to take part in recreational activities. Medical services are provided by eight district medical officers and three specialists based at Victoria Hospital, Castries, where there are also two resident medical officers. Available beds are 233 general (including obstetrics). There is a separate wing for tuberculosis patients. Mental cases are accommodated at a mental hospital providing 126 beds. This institution also caters for a limited number of geriatric cases. A private hospital operated by a religious order of Sisters at Vieux-Fort in the south of the island carries 100 beds and also provides specialist treatment. There are 24 health centres. There are two airfields-Vigie Airport and Hewanorra International Airport (formerly Beane Field)-owned and operated by the Government of St Lucia for scheduled and charter service. The runway at Hewanorra, which is located in the Vieux-Fort District, was recently lengthened from 5,000 feet to 9,000 feet. Air services with other territories are maintained by British West Indian Airways (BWIA), Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) and Eastern Airlines. There are about 500 miles of roads. The island is served by the following shipping lines: Harrison lines, Booker lines-cargo vessels; Geest Industries-cargo and passenger vessels; French Lines-passenger vessels. During 1971, 1,885 vessels called at St Lucia. Net tonnage handled was 1,486,000. Radio Caribbean International St Lucia, a commercial radio station with a power output of 10,000 watts, broadcasts daily in French and English. There is also a Government-owned station. Radio St. Lucia, which was formerly a substation of the Windward Islands Broadcasting Service. A commercial television service is also in operation. The main crops are bananas, coconuts, cocoa, fruit, spices, root crops, such as cassava and yams, and citrus fruits. There is a fair amount of fishing, but the supply of fish does not meet the demand. The principal manufactures are rum, citrus products, coconut products (copra and edible oils, soap), cigarettes and mineral waters. Principal Exports by Value 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1,194 1,146 469 270 Copra $000 1,061 1,327 Coconut Meal $000 18 6 Coconut oil (refined) $000 662 Cocoa Bananas 27 48 75 150 212 572 701 1,218 1,287 $000 90 127 162 154 $000 9,002 9,764 13,866 5,424 6,947 1,833 1,961 188 176 162 8,313 10,150 In 1973, 30 per cent of total imports came from the United Kingdom, 30 per cent from other Commonwealth countries and 40 per cent from foreign countries. In 1973, 60 per cent of the island's exports were to Great Britain. The main form of direct taxation is income tax, the rates of which vary from 12c. in every $4.80 of the first $480.00 to $3.12 in every $4.80 above $24,000. Companies pay $1.92 in every $4.80 on their chargeable income. Revenue for 1972 was $20.9 million, mainly derived from customs and excise duties. The economy is now being diversified and tourism developed. HISTORY Neither the date of discovery nor the discoverer of St Lucia is known, for according to the evidence of Columbus's voyage, he appears to have missed the island. As early as 1605, 67 Englishmen en route to Guiana, touched at St Lucia and made an unsuccessful effort to settle. The island at the time was peopled by Caribs and continued in their possession till 1635, when it was granted by the King of France to MM. de L'Olive and Duplessis. In 1638 the first recorded settlement was made by English colonists from Bermuda and St Kitts but they were murdered by the Caribs about three years later. In 1642 the King of France, still claiming a right of sovereignty over the island, ceded it to the French West India Company, who in 1650 sold it to MM. Honel and Du Parquet. After repeated attempts by the Caribs to expel the French, the latter concluded a treaty of peace with them in 1660. In 1664 Thomas Warner, son of the Governor of St Kitts, made a descent on St Lucia. The English continued in possession till the Peace of Breda in 1667, when the island was restored to the French. In 1674 it was re-annexed to the Crown of France, and made a dependency of Martinique. After the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713, the rival pretensions of England and France to the possession of St Lucia resulted in open hostility. In 1718 the Regent, d'Orleans, made a grant of the island to Marshal d'Estrées, and in 1722, the King of England made a grant of it to the Duke of Montague. In the following year, however, a body of troops, despatched to St Lucia by the Governor of Martinique, compelled the English settlers to evacuate the island and it was declared neutral. In 1743 the French took advantage of the declaration of war to resume possession of St Lucia, which they retained till the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, when it was again declared neutral. In 1756, on the renewal of hostilities, the French put the island in a state of defence; but in 1762 it surrendered to the joint operations of Admiral Rodney and General Monckton. In the following year, by the Treaty of Paris, it was assigned to the French, who continued in peaceable possession till 1778, when effective measures were taken by the British for its conquest, but by the Peace of Versailles, St Lucia was once more restored to France. In 1793, on the declaration of war against revolutionary France, the Wes Indies became the scene of a series of naval and military operations which resulted in the surrender of St Lucia to the British on 4th April 1794. In 1796 the British Government despatched to the relief of their West Indian possessions a body of troops, 12,000 strong, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby, supported by a squadron under Admiral Sir Hugh Christian. On 26th April these forces appeared off St Lucia, and after an obstinate and sanguinary contest, which lasted till 26th May, the Republican party, which had been aided by Victor Hugues and his guerilla band, laid down their arms and surrendered as prisoners of war. The British retained possession of St Lucia till 1802, when it was restored to France by the Treaty of Amiens; but on the renewal of hostilities it surrendered by capitulation to General Grinfield on 22nd June 1803, and was finally ceded to Britain in 1814 by the Treaty of Paris. CONSTITUTION Following decisions taken at a Conference in London in April and May 1966, subsequently endorsed by a resolution of the Legislative Council, provision was made in the West Indies Act, 1967, under which St Lucia assumed a status of association with the United Kingdom on 1st March 1967. The association is a free and voluntary one, terminable by either country at any time. St Lucia is fully self-governing in all its internal affairs. The United Kingdom is responsible for defence and external affairs. Agreement has been reached on close consultation over the discharge of these responsibilities and on the delegation of executive authority in a wide field of external relations. The British Government conduct their affairs with St Lucia and the rest of the West Indies Associated States through the British Government Representative, whose headquarters are at Castries. Under the Constitution the Governor is Her Majesty's Representative. Except where otherwise provided the Governor is required to act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the Legislature for the government of St Lucia. The Cabinet consists of the Premier and other Ministers and, so long as his office is a public office, the Attorney-General ex officio. The Governor appoints as Premier a member of the House of Assembly who appears to him likely to command a majority in that House. Other Ministers are appointed on the advice of the Premier. There is provision for the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries. The Legislature consists of Her Majesty and a House of Assembly. (There is provision for a Senate if the House of Assembly should resolve in favour of establishing it.) The House of Assembly consists of a Speaker; seventeen menbers elected in single member constituencies under universal adult suffrage (one of whom may be the Speaker); three nominated members appointed by the Governor, two on the advice of the Premier and one in his own deliberate judgment; and, so long as his office is a public office, the Attorney-General ex officio. The Constitution contains safeguards for fundamental rights and freedoms. Special provisions relate to a Bill to alter the Constitution or the law establishing the West Indies Associated States Supreme Court or the law relating to appeals to the Privy Council. A Puisne Judge of the West Indies Associated States Supreme Court (q.v.) established by Order in Council, is resident in St Lucia. The appointment, dismissal and disciplinary control of public officers is, with certain exceptions, vested in the Public Service Commission, appointed by the Governor in accordance with the advice of the Premier. There is provision for appeals to the Public Service Board of Appeal. GOVERNOR His Excellency Sir Allen Montgomery Lewis, QC MINISTRIES Premier and Minister of Finance, Planning and Development: Minister of Education and Health: The Hon. J. R. A. Bousquet Minister of Communications, Works and Labour: The Hon. Clendon H. Mason Cabinet Secretary: Dr Graham Louisy, MBE Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Health: Fitz-Gerald Louisy, MBE Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism: Martin Elwin Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Community Development and Social Affairs: Permanent Secretary, Establishment; Francis Ferdinand Permanent Secretary, Development Planning and Statistics: Charles Cadet, MBE Financial Secretary: George Girard Director of Audit: McClair Daniel (Acting) BRITISH GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE E. O. Laird, CMG, MBE |