Bousquet Addresses UN General Assembly

Those of us who had the expertise could have watched live our District Rep. in his capacity as St. Lucia's Minister of External Affairs, International Trade and Investments deliver a superb speech to the United Nations General Assembly. It all took place at exactly 5:25pm Tuesday September 28, 2009 and lasted twenty minutes.

This was the 64th sitting of the General Assembly. The Guinea Foreign Minister had just finished his presentation and the voice of the newly appointed President echoed through the assembly, calling on the St.Lucia's External Affairs Minister to make his presentation. What a moment!

Bousquet arose and strolled down the isle in his porshe greyish tuxedo well matched with a blue tie. The graceful walk towards the podium alone, told you this was a no nonsense Minister.

Bousquet started by acknowledging the appointment of the President of this 64th Assembly.

This was his opening statment:

"Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary‐General
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mr. President, let me extend the warm congratulations of the delegation of Saint Lucia on your
election to serve as the President of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly. With your
vast diplomatic experience we are most confident that this session will yield significant results
in advancing the agenda of the international community through this most universal of
institutions – the General Assembly – which has been rightly coined by your predecessor,
Miguel D’Escoto Brockman, as the “G‐192.” We express our appreciation for the work of
President D’Escoto Brockmann who succeeded in further elevating the General Assembly to
regain its rightful place as the parliament of the world. We pledge to work with you, Mr.
President, in furtherance of this approach.

We thank also Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, for his tireless efforts on behalf of us all."

Excerpts of the full speech will be posted at a later date.

BRAVO!!!!

Metric Conversions

As I promised I would give you a few formulas to help you convert English measure to Metric measure. This will be important to you, as Metric will soon be part of your daily life.These will be most valuable for your children/students.

Have you ever noticed the "454 Grams" on a pound packet of Peak lentils? Check this and other consumer products and you may be amazed at how much the Metric System is a part of our lives.

If you don't know the simple formulas for converting English measurements to Metric, or vice-versa, you will certainly run into problems in your business dealings as well as in your personal life. But, you can avoid these problems by using the following information in order to easily make the necessary conversions.
Conversion Formulas :
To change English measure to Metric measure:
Inches into Millimeters-multiply the number of inches by 25.4
Inches into Centimeters-multiply the number of inches by 2.54
Feet into Meters-multiply the number of feet by 0.305
Yards into Meters-multiply the number of yards by 0.914
Miles into Kilometers-multiply the number of miles by 1.609
Square Inches into Square Centimeters-multiply the number of square inches by 6.45
Square Feet into Square Meters-multiply the number of square feet by 0.093
Square Yards into Sqaure Meters-multiply the number of square yards by 0.836
Cubic Inches into Cubic Centimeters-multiply the number of cubic inches by 16.4
Cubic Feet into Cubic Meters-multiply the number of cubic feet by 0.0283
Cubic Yards into Cubic Meters-multiply the number of cubic yards by 0.765
Pints into Liters-multiply the number of pints by 0.473
Quarts into Liters-multiply the number of quarts by 0.946
Gallons into Liters-multiply the number of gallons by 3.78
Ounces into Grams-multiply the number of ounces by 28.4
Pounds into Kilograms-multiply the number of pounds by 0.454
Tons into Metric Tons-multiply the number of tons by 0.907
I have added another link in the right window which you will find amazing and easy to manipulate. Try it.
Coming soon an article on VAT.

The metric System is at our door steps

Hello! Are you ready for the change? Did I hear you say what Change? Well my dear reader it is the change fron the Imperial measure to Metric

St. Lucia is preparing its citizens for the change which is due to take effect come January 1, 2010.

I thought it prudent of me to give my readers a little insight into the metric system which I am sure will be helpful to them as well as their kids. Make no bones about it, metric is easier to work with, once you grasp the concept,

In the window on the right of this blog you will see a site " Metric Conversions." Use this to do your conversions.Just click on the link.

Have you ever examined the labels of a Baron bottle of ketchup (medium) net contents 28 oz/754g, bottle of Sunrise oil 1 litre, bottle of Baron gravy browning (small) 14oz/397g, a packet Maggi chicken noodle soup 60g, anAvon Cool Confidence roll on 9small) 50ml/1.70z, a Heineken beer 250ml/8 3/4fl oz,a small Nido powdered milk 900g, a packet pink beans 1lb/454g and one roll Snuggle toilet paper 4"x 4" (10.2cm x 10.2cm). You relised that on some labels there were two sets of measurements imperial - "lb" for pound, "oz" for ounces and " for inches. This is the measurements that were most used in our everyday lives, but soon the mesurements "g "for gram, "kg" for kilogram, "ml" for millilitres and "cm" for centimetresas well as "m" for metre will become part of our everyday vocabulary. So get used to it. In tomorrow's post I will let you have a simple conversion table which will make life easier for you.

My dear reader make yourself knowledgeable on the topic as you can never tell: there may be scammers on the loose hoping to capitalise on your ignorane of the metric system.

Don't forget to check the link. Finally,the metric systm was developed in late 18th century France by the chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier. Picture seen above.

Drainage works full speed ahead.

A number of sub-contractors are presently constructing drains at various locations throughout the constituency. As we near the peak of the hurricane season the Rep. takes the initiative to have these drains built to channel the water properly. Victoria, La Fargue, Rivere Doree, and Delcer are where these block drains are being constructed. At least fifty person gained employment in this project.

Also works are ongoing at Boisden where the road is being upgraded. This community have longe ask for some work to be done on this road which goes from Raveneau to Delcer. What a relief! Pics of this project will be posted at a later date.

Recovery efforts taking shape for St. Judes

Condolences and financial commitments are continuing to pour in for the government and people of Saint Lucia in the wake of the devastating fire which paralysed the operations of the St. Jude Hospital in Vieux Fort Wednesday morning.

First Caribbean International Bank has pledged two hundred thousand dollars to the recovery effort. Since then First National Bank has contributed One Hundred Thousand Dollars and one local business man Michael Chastanet donated Thirty-Five Thousand Dollars on behalf of his group of companies.

Prime Minister Honourable Stephenson King said theses noble gestures along with commitments from regional ad international friends like the government of Taiwan will ensure that the St. Jude hospital will soon be up and running.

“This tragedy has presented us with an opportunity to mobilise the country behind a national institution which has of great repute which has contributed so much to our society. We believe that in the coming weeks we will be in a position to critically analyse the situation and put in place a technical team to conduct the necessary feasibility studies immediately to facilitate the redevelopment of the St. Jude Hospital, even greater and more modern and up to date medical services in the south,” said the Saint Lucian leader at a handover ceremony Thursday.

Three people lost their lives in the fire that consumed the surgical, recovery and laboratory wing of the St. Jude Hospital early Wednesday morning.

Prime Minister King again saluted the many doctors and nurses, volunteers, emergency personnel and ordinary Saint Lucians who assisted with rescuing patients and containing the fire. He said those individuals rose to the occasion like real patriots in a time of distress.

“From all indications the responses we have received particularly from the people in Vieux Fort and surrounding communities, doctors, nurses, volunteers and emergency personnel who came out early in the morning to support and assist in the rescue mission we must appreciate their efforts ad so we express our gratitude to those people,” the prime minister said.

In addition to the financial assistance businessman Michael Chastanet says he will be teaming up with some of his counterparts in the US to donate some portable and makeshift hospitals which he expects to arrive on island in the coming weeks.

A delegation from the Pan American Health Organisation headed by the Director Gena Watson are schedule to arrive in Saint Lucia next week Wednesday to assist government with the restoration

Several Embassies on Saint Lucia along with the governments of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have all called to express condolences and to pledge their countries support to the government and people of Saint Lucia

Reproduced from the Government's Website.

The Sportsman,Fireman and Enterpreneur

It was only yesterday September 13, 2009, when I happen to bump into Faustinus "Guillet" Duval, his wife, Raymona Duval and brother Tracy Duval. What a click! It is no coincidence that both Faustinus and Tracy used to be top sportsmen in the Choiseul possee.
Faustinus used to be the quickest bowler in Choiseul in the 80's, while a decade later Tracy, was the top footballer.. Boy oh boy there were no helmets you know and that boy was quick. Standing at first slip I used to admire that boy's run-up and delivery. Talking about Holding, "awah", that boy was smoother. Guillett flourished in his time but was plagued with ankle injuries.
During the same period he took up goalkeeping. It seems that whatever this guy took up he was destined to do great. A bird I tell you. Many great forwards tested his metal. Huggins "Neil" Nicholas was his nightmare. Many at times it was him ad a forward alone, and you wouldn't believe that the forward woulg not score. Class? More than that. Agility.
Duval is now a retired fireman and prosperous enterprenuer operating in Vieux Fort.
True greatness. Is he willing to pass this skills on to the present generation? Ask him.

St.Judes' Surgical Wing Destroyed

Reports reaching this blog informed us that at about 1:30 am Wednesday morning a fire which started in the recovery room at the hospital completely destroyed the upper section of the surgcal wing, and the operating theater. It was also reported that three patients lost their lives in the fire.
Government officials and management are holding a meeting today to discuss the way forward. In the meantime the Vieux-Fort Comprehensive Secondary School,Campus B, is being used to house the patients from the surgical ward. The George Odlum Stadium will be used as an Emergency Centre.

St. Jude Hospital, managed by Mercy Hospital Medical Centre, Des Moines, Iowa is in the town of Vieux Fort, in southern St. Lucia. It is owned by the St. Lucian Government and until 1992 was managed by the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother.
The 110-bed hospital has medical, surgical, maternity and pediatric wards, two operating rooms, recovery room, intensive care, emergency room, pharmacy, laboratory, x-ray, ultrasound and physical therapy.
In 1998, the hospital admitted 4,851 patients, recorded 932 live births and conducted 1,025 operative procedures. There was a total of 31,452 outpatient visits.
Outpatient clinics include general medical and maxillo facial. Specialty clinics for general surgery, orthopedics, ENT, OB-GYN, dermatology, cardiology, rheumatology, internal medicine, pediatrics, diabetic and psychiatric care are also held regularly.
St. Judes provides high-quality primary care for the largely rural southern half of the island but its specialty care services the entire island. The hospital employs about 200 local staff, including 14 full-time physicians.
Volunteers play an important role in augmenting the permanent staff.