Band Launch: Blyss Launches For Choiseul Carnival 2018

Choiseul carnival revelers had almost given up hope on the ideal band to play mas in this year. However, Choiseul Carnival 2018 will see a new band on the streets of Choiseul Village.

The band, BLYSS which is an amalgamation of Bliss and Passion will be launched at a grand festival at the Galvaro Bar, next to the Nicholas Gas Station on Friday August 24, 2018, from 4:00 pm .

You will no doubt recall the spirit in the revelry, organisation, road music and  band sections that the organizers of a previous band had years ago. Well, this spirit has manifested itself into a new and vibrant group of young men and women who intend to make Choiseul Carnival look like what CARNIVAL in Choiseul is supposed to be.

So head down to La Fargue tomorrow to join BLYSS CARNIVAL BAND. Registration forms will be available and you will get a peek view into what the band is all about.

The hottest sounds around ...BLAIZING SOUNDS WILL PROVIDE THE ENTERTAINMENT.

BLYSS CARNIVAL BAND - MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN CHOISEUL CARNIVAL 2018. 

There is already talk of this band providing the #BestCarnivalExperience for 2018.

Making Roblot Look Nice Again?

The Roblot Community which is part of “The Forgotten Communities” has had its fair share of being forgotten time and time again regardless on the political party in power.

Sometimes I feel pity for the residents – myself included, who put all our energies into voting for a candidate (SLP or UWP) only to be shafted after elections. This must stop!

One can very well make the case that there is nothing sustainable in the community and as a result there is nothing much that can be done. Point taken! The residents of this community in which I have lived for the past 33 years don’t appear to need handouts from any politician - they rarely go to the Rep’s office. All they ask is to keep their community roads, drains and roadside up to date and of course a personal visit by the Rep to the community off and on. Is that too much to ask?

Well, the feelings of the residents must have reached the present Rep’s office because from Monday this week two or three supervisors were selected with a crew to tidy up the Forgotten Communities. A stimulus program it is being called, to “block a hole” for the most needy parents who have children attending school.

Dedanier Jn Baptiste

This blog is personally impressed with the work done by the crew headed by Dedanier Jn Baptiste. Not only was their work of a high level but it is the passion with which they tackled the work. Their aim was to uplift the appearance of the community to make it look attractive again.

In spite of all this effort, what remains of the community centre is a real eye sore in the community. At the last budget debate the Rep, Bradley Felix, mentioned that works are in the pipeline for a new centre for the residents.

"Choiseul on the Move" followed with him recently asking him where are we at now in relation to the centre? He replied, “The sketches have been presented. The challenge with Roblot is based on the funding agency condition that all these centres must have access for the physically challenged. Based on the size nof the property available it would be a challenge to construct a ramp for the top floor."

He continued, "We are looking whether we can aquire additional lands or change the orientation of the structure. The matter is being discussed and when they get back to me I will call the community meeting.”

So while we wait crews are helping uplift the appearance of the community in spite of our poor road conditions.

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Passing Stranger Saves Roblot's Small Karbarway From a Fire!

Many visitors to the quiet and peaceful community of Roblot have often labeled its residents as “fowls” for the mere fact that once it is between 7:00pm -8:00pm, you may not see a soul on the street. Hmmm, don’t fool yourself though, because there are eyes everywhere! Many are peeking behind their window blinds ever checking out what is going on outside throughout the night.

This must have been the case with Eutellie, a middle-aged lady, who at about 2:00am this morning came out  in the street, with her head tied  and shouting “Difey, difey mamai la!” repeatedly to alert residents of a fire after she was informed  of a fire at a nearby refreshment house (Karbarway).

This shop’s owner who  lives in Sauzay, about 2km away, was immediately alerted while the Fire Service Station in Vieux Fort was being informed of the fire.

Speaking to Eutellie she informed me that she saw the brightness and thought of a fire but dismissed the idea. It was almost momentarily she heard banging at the shop and then a stranger, came knocking at her door and informed her that he was driving passed and saw the shop on fire that her suspicion came to fruition.

Luckily that stranger called Dunstan is an electrician. Eutellie said that the building was already smoking heavily when Dunstan suspecting it is an electrical fire, ripped off the electrical cord connecting the shop to the LUCELEC’s mains from the building.

Thank God! Thanks to Dunstan’s expertise which saved the day. He surely deserves a reward.

The Fire Service truck arrived about 45 minutes later when all was already taken care of. Upon inspection it is alleged that among other items the shop’s refrigerators were damaged, the counter, shelves and roof charred.

Roblot Combined School to Stage "Stop The Violence Against Children" Pageant Show.

https://www.facebook.com/roblot.combined?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser 

the Roblot Combined School FaceBook page has recently been showing lots of activity and I would presume the same when school reopens next week,when the staff  will be putting the final touches to their big upcoming event - Miss Roblot Combined 2018.

Its a new concept which the new principal Vern Charles has introduced as she strives to uplift the school. The school in the past was noted for its calypso shows which attracted hundreds of patrons throughout the district. This endeavour I am positive will be well attended.

Before I delve into the upcoming pageant I must add here, that the school under its new boss has been doing exceptionally well academically:-

• Won District 7 Science Quiz
• Won the  National Science Quiz in District 7
• Performed at the National School's Music Competition, but this is for another show.
• Great improvement in Common Entrance results

According to their facebook page, "The Roblot Combined School presents 9 Beautiful and Talented young ladies who are eager to show you what they're made of as they vie for the title of Miss Roblot Combined 2018. Lets turn out in our numbers to support the girls as they advocate on behalf of all children saying STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN!!!"

Meet the contestants:

- NERDELSHA JOSEPH is from the community of La Maze. She says. " Let's all be an advocate, Let's stop violence against Children."

 - Presenting RICKELLA XAVIER from the community of Roblot.
Rickella says," We are like precious jewels. Help us shine by protecting us against all types of violence.

- MARIAH MARSHALL hails from the community of Debrieul, Choiseul. She says that children are not too young to serve as ambassadors for their community to stop child abuse.

- KAYAN FRANCIS is from the community of La Maze, Choiseul.
Kayan wants you to know that we should come together and break the silence on child abuse.

- Here is SHANIA DESCARTES from the scenic community of MonTet, Choiseul.
Her message to you is " I believe we are the future so stop all violence against children. Don't harm our future. "

- Presenting DANIELLA DANIEL from Debrieul , Choiseul.
She thinks that we should all be aware of the dangers of child abuse. " It's my business, its your business, its our business. "

- MAKELA JOSEPH is from the Community of Roblot, Choiseul.
She believes that "everyone of us must come together in the community to fight against child abuse."

- ASA CHARLES stems from the community of Debrieul, Choiseul. 

Her message to you is " We should be taught the correct way to do things and not be negative."

- Meet NAZIA BLANCHARD from the community of Debrieul, Choiseul.
Nazia says, "Violence against children takes away from our voice and our future. Let's stop it NOW!!!

Followers of the school's facebook page, parents and supporters are already making plans to be at this show to witness the contestants put on their talents.

FB comments:-

Lyndell Tobierre I'm very proud of all the young ladies.

Loucilla Anatlole Congratulations to all these lovely looking and talented young ladies.

Jenna Joseph Wow.u ladies look beautiful. Congrats! I eh missing it.lol

Lucella King OK nice nice.

Chrisse Wilson Congratulations to all the beautiful young ladies. Everyone of you is a winner. It takes courage to be a contestant. Therefore just being there says you all are winners. Keep up the good work Roblot Combined.

The show is slated for May 6, 2018 at the school's auditorium.

Choiseul Co-Operative Silent on Delcer Lands?

As at December 31^st 2017 the financial statements  presented by The Tri-Trinity Associates,(Certified General Accountants and Management Consultants of Rodney Bay, Gros Islet ) to the Board of Directors of The Choiseul Co-operative Credit Union  Limited revealed:

Total Assets:               $90,734,346.00

Total Liabilities:          $76,020,136.00

Net Assets (deficiency)/Members’ equity:          $14,714,210.00.

It is worth mentioning here that this members’ equity comprises:

Share capital of $4,692,795.00'
Reserves funds of $6,783,721 and Retained earnings  of 3,237,694.00.

The statement shows an increase The Board of Directors approved this statement on Thursday March 1, 2018.

Total Assets and total liabilities increased by $11,093,172 or 12.2% and $6,851,327 or 9.9% respectively from the previous year’s audit report. Hmmm! Going places it appears?

After that infamous decision at the last meeting to seize 75% of interests on quarterly dividends the institution seems to be finding its feet. Bravo!

However members should be aware that on August 1, 2017 the credit union leased an office space in Choiseul at a monthly payment of $2,200.00 per month for a  2-year duration.  Plus the Soufriere problem remains a burden on the back of the membership.

We are all aware of the fiasco regarding the purchase of land and a dilapidated building in Soufriere. In spite of this purchase which was ill advised the Union continues on its leasing spree.

After five years since the purchase of a dilapidated building in Soufriere the Choiseul Co-operative Credit Union  have started renting a new building at a cost of $3000.00 monthly - so one wonders why the building was purchased.

The Union was warned against the purchase for two reasons. One is that the Soufriere operation was being subsidized until 2019 and we did not need to increase our expenses in this branch and secondly the building could not be repaired without major expenditure since it was 60 years old.

 At that time it would have to practically be rebuilt at a cost of more than 1.5 million. Now it is alleged that it will cost over $2M. I also noticed a building fund which from 2016 has stuck at $135,484.00.

It also apparently clear that the “Delcer Lands” issue which has plagued this administration and those previously was not mentioned in the Board of Directors’ Report.

In the case of Delcer - a bad decision was made by two individuals and the then board to buy land which has no road access electricity or water - As such all these have to be done to subdivide the property.

Government had contributed the funds to help so the actual cost to the CU was not much,  but subdivision would be costly going forward because the amenities would have to be put in.

The worst problem though is that the property was bought with a number of tenants who could not even pay rent to Cecil Frank and are in no position to purchase but their houses are erected on the property all of which are in concrete and as a result they cannot be evicted. This is the CU's dilemma which I see no way of getting out of. Fix it!!!!!!

The financial statement is comprehensively detailed and would take some time on my part to really delve into it. However one statement by the auditors that stands out in my mind is, “The Co-operative is exposed to daily calls on its available cash resources from maturing members’ deposits and loan draw downs. The Credit Union does not maintain cash resources to meet all of those needs as experience shows that a minimum level of investment of funds can be predicted with a high level of certainty….”

Therefore it would be wise for the Board of Directors to adhere to this year's  theme by Malcolm X which they portrayed in their report - "THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO PREPARE TODAY."

Support Zoe For Miss Volunteer South Pageant 2018!!!

The Choiseul Chapter of the Volunteer St Lucia Program is alive and well and is destined to go places. So says Mrs Actille, a senior member in the group.

According to Mrs Actille, the group was formed way back in 2007 during the time of the Cricket World Cup when volunteers were being sought to be trained to help out in that event.  After the event Mrs Actille reiterates that the trained members were being called quite regularly to perform National duties.

“We had our first executive in 2013,” she recalls. “Persons like Feria Theophilus, Eve Aimable, I, and others were very influential in keeping the group together,” she continued.

The Choiseul Chapter of the National Volunteer program operates under  the Motto “We embody civic responsibility and patriotism through voluntary service, with beautiful smiles”.

You can get more info on the Choiseul Chapter on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Volunteer-Saint-Lucia-Choiseul-Chapter-1604975273091246/

Though the membership has been very active over the years,  it was only last year, June to be exact that the National Volunteer Program, Volunteer Saint Lucia, launched the Choiseul Chapter of the program. Hmmm!

The group has been involved in numerous projects throughout the length and breadth of the district, namely, refurbishing the Choiseul Village library - kids corner, painting homes etc. (Lost contact with Mrs Actille or she refused to answer her phone.)

However, come February 24, this coming weekend, Britani “Zoe” Nicholas, one of the members will be representing the Choiseul Chapter in a pageant dubbed Miss Volunteer South Pageant 2018, which is being organized by the Vieux Fort Chapter.The event will take place at the Vieux Fort Primary School from 7:30 pm.

Britani Nicholas, affectionately called Zoe is an 18 year old past student of the St Joseph’s Convent and the A-FRAME level program at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College. This amazing talented young lady was raised in the heart of the fishing and craft village of Choiseul, where she developed her interest and passion  for volunteerism by observing how the people took care of one another.

 Her long term plan in life is to become a successful accountant, however she has diverse interests.During her spare time Zoey loves looking after kids and helping others.

Britani is being sponsored by:-

• Choiseul Credit Union
• Bradley Felix
• Travel & Leisure Agency
• Trevor Phillip Agencies
• Fontes Supermarket
• Savemart Supermarket

Her Chaperone is Shannel Butcher.

The full list of contestants are:-  Our very own Britani Nicholas – Miss Choiseul Chapter and the other contestants who all hail from Vieux Fort include Gabrian Popo -  Miss Vieux Fort Chapter, Kertrine Dornelly - Miss Vieux Fort Secondary School, Kianna Nicholas - Miss Youth and Sports Council and  Kaysia Verneuil - Miss Rotaract.

Choiseulians are urged to support Britani "Zoe" Nicholas by visiting the event page at https://www.facebook.com/volunteer.vieuxfort/  and like her photo in the People's Choice Album  OR you can like her on your Instagram page.

The contestant with the Combined MOST number of likes on both social media p-latforms will be the People's Choice for Miss Volunteer South 2018.

Let's do it for Choiseul!!!!! Good luck Zoe!