Who owns the IADC and the airport at Argyle?

When Dr. Friday, the elected leader of the St Vincent and the Grenadines opposition informally asked Prime Minister Ralph E. Gonsalves to give account to the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines of the accounts of the International Airport Development Company (IADC) spending of the more than $1.3 billion spent on the airport at Argyle, by presenting the records to the St Vincent and the Grenadines House of Parliament, Gonsalves came up with one of his idiotic strokes that he brand with the title master stroke. But I am confident that Dr. Friday will be on Gonsalves’ back like a tack-tack ant and very soon he (Dr. Friday) will pin him (Ralph) to the notice board of accountability, like a thumbtack holding a post it in place. Because in the battle of the PhDs, I am confident that Dr. Friday is the brighter, more intelligent of the two. Gonsalves in his capacity of prime minister said in answer to Dr. Friday’s question, in a radio interview, that the IADC is a company and not a statutory body and therefore has no obligation to present any such report to the House of Parliament, the nation’s official forum that handles state business. This lame answer shows to the world one of two things or two things; it shows the world: 1. How stupid a prime minister Ralph E. Gonsalves, the PM of St Vincent and the Grenadines, is; 2. Or how dishonest Prime Minister Gonsalves is or both. Gonsalves’ public behavior gives the impression that the IADC belongs to him personally, and we cannot rule out that fact, because IADC on paper may very well be owned by Ralph E. Gonsalves because he is dishonest and greedy enough to swindle his constituents. He is a failure at everything else and even most of his ventures have failed. So the first thing the NDP ought to do is to have members of its research team go to the registrar of companies office and do a search of the International Airport Development Company and dig up everything they can about the company including the following: i. Who is the registered owner of the IADC? ii. What type of company the IADC is (corporation, limited liability company, etc.) iii. Who registered the IADC? iv. Who are the registered shareholders of the IADC? v. Who are the registered directors of the IADC? vi. What type of instrument was used to pay for the registration of the IADC? This information will put the St Vincent and the Grenadines parliamentary opposition on a good foot to launch an all-out attack on Gonsalves and his government. Not a mamby pamby attack, of talk and useless weak protest, but a real all-out attack. What Ralph E. Gonsalve must come to understand is any company formed using government funds and resources to cover the registrations, the operations and its investment, contrary to who may be the owner on paper, the company is a government owned company and any other owner will be charged and tried for embezzlement. And anyone who knowingly facilitates such an illegal act will be charged as an accomplice or to have aided and abetted the commission of the crimes; it is important for those people to note, to aid and abet or to be an accomplice carries the same penalty as the actual crimes. It is important to note that every company set up by the government to undertake any government program is accountable to the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines via the House of Parliament. Even an idiot knows that much, so it baffles me that Ralph E. Gonsalves could be worse than an idiot on the scale that classifies mental retardation or intellectual disability. But before we get to the accounts we must first ascertain without a doubt the owners of the IADC and the Airport at Argyle. I have a sneaking suspicion that some people are going to spend their last days behind bars doing hard labor because they misappropriated state funds. Allan H. F. Palmer The self-appointed and the people’s leader of the St Vincent and the Grenadines opposition

Who did it! - The sudden murders of St Vincent bad men

In 2015, an ex-police colleague that I worked with in the intelligence division at the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force brought something to my attention. He said: “it seems like someone have been killing the perceived bad men in St Vincent and the Grenadines.” At that time there were a
series of murders of those who are involved in the drug business and, like the average citizen, I ruled the murders as guys fighting over drugs.

After this was brought to my attention, I got word that a shipment of drugs came to St Vincent and the Grenadines on a boat that was registered in Venezuela, owned by Venezuelan and had Venezuelan crew. “School children said” (rumours) or it is alleged that the drugs were imported and owned by key members of the Unity Labour Party and the proceeds of the funds were to run the ULP election campaign.

Unfortunately for the importers of the drugs, local bandits stole the shipment. As a result; a bounty was placed on the heads of the men who stole the drugs. The local drug thief/the bandits were wanted dead. This was to be an example for anyone who in the future ever thinks of stealing any such shipment from those who were involved in this shipment. 

It is for the below reasons why I believed the allegations that the drugs belonged to key members of the ULP. For at least two months, there were Venezuelan hit men driving around in a known vehicle, with guns, looking for the men with the bounty on their heads. 

There was a case where the then leader of the opposition, the Hon Arnhim Eustace, received information that a member of his constituency was about to be killed, by the hit men, like so many others were. Mr Eustace, who would have been hearing all the allegations, knew there was nothing he could have done, because it was alleged the police had been instructed to look the other way with the killing. 

The young man whose deadly plight was brought to Mr Eustace’s attention was killed some time after the information was brought to his attention. Mr Eustace raised this issue of the planned murders that were occurring to the nation’s attention by raising it in the House of Parliament. 

Another important issue in this matter is the fact that these events unfolded in the public eye and knowledge in that: 

1. The general public knew who allegedly stole the drugs

2. The general public knew who allegedly owned the drugs

3. The general public knew the alleged vehicle the hit men were using

4. And the general public knew the nationality of the alleged hit men

The only people who appeared not to know anything about these killings were the police. Between six and eight men were gunned down in cold blood, with a few innocent casualties being taken out, because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. All the men who were a party to the theft of the drugs were brutally murdered, there were allegations of a mock investigation and St Vincent and the Grenadines went back to life as usual. 

But before all this drama of the “Spanish-Speaking Killers” there were a series of murders that saw the so-called bad men being murdered, there were no suspects and these cases are still open with no suspects. After the drama of the Spanish Speaking Killers, the murders of the so-called bad men continued with the same trend with no suspects. I have been looking at this for some time and I would hear the names of those so-called bad men who were killed; most of whom I knew from my past life by virtue of the fact that I was from Rose Place/Bottom Town also known as “The Ghetto” and from my past career as a police officer. 

I knew that these men had one thing in common and that was they all had a criminal history. I knew there was something else that they all had in common but I just could not put my finger on that one common denominator that would make the faction complete. And then Andrew Bowens, aka the Judge, was killed; I knew there was something strangely weird with his death. Immediately after Andrew Bowens was killed, I got word that he had just been killed. There was something wrong with the timeframe with the time I was informed and the time the Judge was shot. 

And then a week or so ago, a notorious criminal, Malcolm ‘Markie’ Pollin, was gunned down. Pollin has been a suspect in several murders and is also believed to have killed many people, who he had disposed of by burying in the Vermont Mountain or by burning their remains in coal pits in the Vermont Mountain. 

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks that 90% of those criminals who had become a victim of the unknown death squad had one defining denominator in common: at one time of their criminal life, they all had Ralph E. Gonsalves as their lawyer. Knowing the type of person Ralph E. Gonsalves is, this raises a few question. 

a) Did these guys do any favours in lieu of fees for Ralph E. Gonsalves? I ask this because I can remember hearing Gonsalves speaking of his clients always promising to pay but never paying.

b) Were these killings sanctioned by Gonsalves and his ULP government as a cover up?

c) Is this the reason why the police are not too concerned about apprehending the criminals who are still on the street? 

I am not saying that Ralph E. Gonsalves was responsible in any way for the death of these men with criminal backgrounds and I am not ruling it out either. All I am doing is to lay my findings in the public domain. I will not be surprised if the police suddenly come up with a suspect in Malcolm ‘Markie’ Pollin’s murder after this article is published.

I am the self-appointed opposition leader of SVG

The hooray went up, the Canouan investors, after they were granted and have been granted government permission, which went over the head of the planning department. And without consultation with the residents of Canouan; the Canouan investors have completed and had a grand opening of the Canouan Marina, another investment of the Canouan investors.

A part of the illegal prime minister Ralph E. Gonsalves’ plans to push the people of Canouan off of that island; a problem which will be and is easy to reverse and a situation which I will reverse when the time is right. For there is nothing that Ralph E. Gonsalves can do that I have not or already come up with a plan to undo and it matters not how much the investors in Canouan have invested. The remedy is and will be easy.

Now, the St Vincent and the Grenadines opposition sat still, while the government sold more land to the investors to develop the marina on the island of Canouan. There were too many issues that the opposition could have raised in opposition and take the actions to ensure that the following things happen. 

• That the developers present all of the relevant supporting documentation and studies that will ensure this project was a good one for the island of Canouan and the people of SVG.

• That a proper environmental impact study is completed to assess the effects this project will have on the natural environment. The neighbouring beaches as well as the neighbouring island.

• Ensure that the community voice is heard before this project was approved and or begins.

• Ensure that the residents of Canouan and other Vincentians gain employment of this project, if it was proven to be a feasible one.

• And ensure that there is a resolution to the conflict between the residence of Canouan and the investors before any new development is approved. 

But ever since the resignation of the Honorable Mr Arnhim Eustace was forwarded relinquishing his post of leader of the NDP and the political leader of the opposition the resistance of the opposition has slid down to the zero on the scale. Now the St Vincent and the Grenadines opposition no longer opposes. It makes one miss even cooperative opposition style Mr Arnhim Eustace, who tried to find common grounds with the government and support those projects that could be of benefit to the country. 

While St Clair Leacock is still crying over the fact that he was not elected opposition leader and Dr. Godwin Friday is twiddling his thumbs, St Vincent and the Grenadines is being sold off square foot by square foot by Ralph E. Gonsalves. All of this is taking place in the absence of a functioning opposition in St Vincent and the Grenadines. As a result, I am now declaring myself opposition leader of St Vincent and the Grenadines. 

My main concerns with the Canouan marina are as follows:

1. How is the interruption of the natural course of the sea as was done to build the marina going to affect the surrounding beaches?

2. How is this project going to affect the replenishment of sand to the nearby beaches?

3. How this project is going to affect the marine wildlife in that part of the country?

4. How the project is going to affect the land wildlife?

5. How this project is going to affect the beaches of the surrounding islands?

6. What facilities have been put into place to deal with the proper disposal of the waste that this project is going to generate?

7. What facilities were put in place to deal with the disposal of human waste? 

8. How this project is going to affect the people of Canouan? 

9. Why is the government approving a new project presented by the Canouan investors when there is a volatile situation between the investors and the residents of that small island? 

There are more question that I have to ask, but until then.

Self-appointed opposition leader of 
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Allan H. F. Palmer

Calvin Glasgow: An exceptional Vincentian police officer

Please allow me to offer a tribute to one who is deserving of such: St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Officer Calvin Glasgow, also known as ‘Gold Teeth’, for his contribution. Officer Glasgow was a well-presented police officer who took pride in his personal appearance. 

Many police officers did not agree with Gold Teeth’s style of policing, and a larger cross-section of the community dreaded an encounter with Gold Teeth, because such may result in a notice of intended prosecution and later an appointment with the court as a defendant in a case. Calvin ‘Gold Teeth’ Glasgow was known as the police officer who didn’t give breaks. As a result, Officer Calvin ‘Gold Teeth’ Glasgow had many confrontations with elected officials. There were occasions, when Gold Teeth had to report to the commissioner of police, to address reports made against him by some of these simpleton politicians. 

Another thing that is admirable about Gold Teeth is, of all the complaints and confrontations he had during his career, there was never an allegation of dishonesty or corruption levied against him. As a matter of fact, when the Ralph Gonsalves administration tried to punish Gold Teeth for doing his job, by transferring him to the Licensing Department -- trying to create a white elephant in a pink room syndrome -- Gold Teeth became busy and useful at the licensing department, which resulted in Gold Teeth uncovering a corruption ring. This led to his retransfer to the streets. The Gonsalves administration became afraid that Gold Teeth’s probing would expose their dirty dealings. 

There were only a few people, who understood why Gold Teeth was so strict and why he was so thorough and diligent in the execution of his duties. Many people, including some police officers, thought that Gold Teeth was just being spiteful and malicious. I will share with you something most people, do not know about Gold Teeth that may put into perspective why he took his duties so seriously. 

I cannot remember the exact date, but it was more than 20-plus years ago, it was a Saturday afternoon about 1:30 pm I was walking home from church. On reaching the vicinity of the Coreas Trading Ltd on Back Street, I saw a crowd of people gathered on the sidewalk, and they (the crowd) were shouting at Gold Teeth, words such as “leave the man alone, let him enjoy himself”, while referring to the officer as “power hungry” and “show off”. This was before Calvin ‘Gold Teeth’ Glasgow had earned his reputation that immortalized him in at least three calypsos and he became the nightmare that he was to traffic violators, especially minibus operators. 

The person the onlookers wanted Officer Glasgow to leave alone was Michael “Scooper” Revierre of Old Montrose. It was understandable why the public came out in support of Scooper against the police. Scooper was one of the friendliest, down to earth people I have ever met. In my opinion, Scooper was the male version of the delightful, beloved local and regional beauty queen: Donna Young. His beloved personality was magnified because he was also a local daredevil who was fearless on the motorcycle. He was willing to try anything that came to his mind and anything that was suggested on his motorcycle. This earned his a folk hero status especially within the biking community, reaching heights like people like OB and Dennis Murray – who as children, me and my friends at school and in the neighborhood would argue for the rights to be called Dennis Murray while we played. The people loved Scooper and like the Fonzie in happy days, he had no hang up, just a cool fellow, from a good family.

I can remember after school spending time with my then best friend the now deceased Winston Franklyn aka “Number 10” repairing tyres at the St Vincent Automotive Corporation gas station, which was located on Bentic Square. Scooper would come to the gas station to refill his tank. Although he was just a bit older than us, he would take the time to answer any question we had about his 1,000 cc Kawasaki Ninja motor bike. He will even perform tricks for us on request, because that was the kind of guy he was; a people person. We were not friends, but from his willingness and friendly interactions with us, we sure felt like we were Scooper’s friend. 

I am sure Gold Teeth was also an admirer of Scooper, but he was doing his sworn duty to protect and to serve. So Officer Glasgow warned Scooper and he went on his way, tearing up the street, in his usual style, with no disrespect to Officer Glasgow. It is important to say that, although Scooper was a daredevil, he was new to this bike and its speed capacity; in hindsight, we can all agree that the road of Kingstown was not the safest road to open up the full speed of such a bike on. But Michael “Scooper” Revierre had done this safely hundreds of times.

I had just arrived at home, when I heard the powerful bark of the Ninja Kawasaki 1000 motor bike in motion. The sound came from the Bentic Square, where Scooper normally opened up on his motorcycle. The sound of the motorcycle was very distinct because this was the only Ninja and the most powerful motorcycle on the island. I could remember smiling and saying to myself: Scooper is tearing it up again. Then suddenly, I heard an impact. I did not worry because it was Scooper riding the motorcycle. In seconds the news reached that Scooper had crashed into a car and his was badly hurt. Like many Vincentians who were in the vicinity, I ran from home to the scene of the accident, hoping only for the best outcome; however, later I learned that Michael ‘Scooper’ Revierre died from the injuries he sustained from the accident. 

Unfortunately, Gold Teeth had to attend the scene on duty. I saw Officer Glasgow at the scene, trying his best to hide his emotions. I am sure that he wished he had done something that could have saved this great young man’s life. Later Scooper’s mother, being the graceful woman she was, tried to put Gold Teeth at ease by making him promise he would never let what had happened to her son happen again. In my opinion, this was what triggered Glasgow into becoming the kind of stern, no nonsense police officer he became. Striving for excellence in policing. 

So when members of the public, especially Andrew Bardu, were fighting Gold Teeth while he executed his duty, Gold Teeth was literally fighting with him to save his life and the life of his passengers, when the passengers in the minibus cursed-out Glasgow for interrupting their journey to their homes, Officer Gold Teeth was taking abuse from his abusers in order to ensure they arrived home safely. 

This was one of the reasons, whether I was on duty driving the police vehicle or on the street instructing a student driver trying to earn an extra dollar, and Glasgow stopped a minibus, I would pull over or request the student driver to pull aside just in case he needed my help.

So now Gold Teeth has come to the end of his police career. I say congratulations to Calvin Glasgow for a job well done.

Arnos Vale - The new city - Part 2

After proper planning, we must put in place proper and basic developmental infrastructure that will facilitate ready habitation. Infrastructure such as: roads, electricity, water, human waste disposal system and cater for the nearby solid waste disposal site to be upgraded to handle the expected added volume of waste that a development of this magnitude the new city will create. Or if there is an appropriate parcel of land to make a new waste disposal site, the parcel of land of the current solid waste disposal can be included into the new city.


Land zoning and use:

 It is important for a new city to incorporate proper land zoning of the lands to be developed and a separate building code should be developed to accommodate this venture. There must be specific areas that are designated living or domestic, commercial, recreational use, etc., as well as if there is going to be a multipurpose area and the location of such area.

i. The building types: residential, commercial, recreation,
ii. Type of business to have there and type of buildings and a strict adherence to the building code should also be developed for the buildings that will be a part of this new city. In other words, uniformity.
iii. Type of government service available: post office, police station, hospital or clinic, etc.

It is important to note that the first part of any city is the designation and the making available of land for housing. As long as there are residents, the business community will then began to invest to satisfy the needs of the community.

To save you the time and the headache; I have took the time to do the needed research and I have prepared a drawing (drawing is not to scale) to simplify the information and the critical things that one should consider when planning a new city.

Because we are working with about 281 acres of land and the topography of the land is relatively flat and somewhat rectangular, it makes planning this city a fairly simple one. There are things we must consider when we are laying out the city blocks. We must take into account block size; a pedestrian friendly block is about 260 feet to 480 feet long. Anything over 480 feet is considered unfriendly to pedestrians. The smaller the blocks, the more roads that must be put in, the higher the infrastructural cost, and the less land will be made available for sale and development.

 Roads

Given the topography of the area it is estimated that there will be approximately 45.3 miles of road to be constructed. These road should be constructed prior sale of the land begin. It is important that these roads be constructed at a gradient that will facilitate consistent water runoff; thus eliminating the flood problem. These roads will be two lanes, ten feet wide per lane, curbside parking space of seven feet wide on each side of the road, with a six-foot sidewalk with a one-foot surface gutter on each side to aid the easy run off of surface water.

On the issue of road construction please consult the article: Are SVG government ministers becoming rich from road construction and repairs? It is important that these roads meet proper road construction stipulation, because they will be left for a long while unutilized. I say again, it is also important that the road contractors build such road with a gradient that will facilitate proper water runoff that will alleviate the possibilities of flooding and regular damage to property during the rainy season. The sidewalk lay should be followed by new city code that will not allow developers to construct any permanent structure within six feet of the preexisting side walk. This is to facilitate future and new development.

City blocks, volume of land and land dimension:

This city will consist of approximately 37 blocks with an average of 4.32 acres of land per block to be developed. There will be five roads stretching north to south and eleven roads stretching from east to west. This layout will see the best utilization of the land space while producing pedestrian friendly block size of approximately 444 feet by 423 feet diameter, fairly large but pedestrian friendly block size. This size block will reduce the amount of roads to be constructed and greatly reduce the infrastructural cost of the developers.

The width of the passage way (road, sidewalk, and curb side parking) is to facilitate future development of this city; to cater for the development of this area with 30, 40 or 50 floor building and more without creating an alley effects. It also provides the opportunity to widen the road to accommodate an increase in vehicle traffic, without interfering with the permanent structures.

Connecting old village and existing road:

 Another thing we must also consider is the opportunity to properly connect the new city with the existing neighbourhood in and around the new city. This can be done by connecting the new city by Cassan Hill extensions as well as by connecting the new city with Vigi Highway South. In the case of connecting the new city with Vigi Highway will see relocations of some residents in order to construct roads and bridges. There should be at least two new bridges; as it is clearly shown in the plan.

In service to my county (St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Arnos Vale - The new city - Part 1

PM Gonsalves, I know you have already brought investors into St Vincent and the Grenadines to look at the site of the now decommissioned ET Joshua Airport because you have publicly expressed your desire to put a new city on the land. It is my opinion that you are not a bright man, and the people around you refuse to use their heads to think. I am also of the opinion that it will not be fair to me and the future of St Vincent and the Grenadines if I sit back and allow you and Julian Francis to sort this issue of the new city out on your own. This issue of utilizing the land on which the ET Joshua Airport sat gives me the opportunity to put on display my high level of intelligence; as well as my analytical and other skill.

I will not sit idly by and allow you to make the same mistakes you made with the airport at Argyle. Your poor management, inadequate planning, the blatant misappropriation of state funds and inappropriate financing mechanism of that project resulted in an over escalation of the cost of the airport and it will not be certified within the next four or so years. This means that the project will not began to achieve its potential before that time and, as a result, the country will have to carry that burden of its daily operational cost as well as its maintenance and repair cost of this facility.

I am also aware that you are trying to salvage whatever remains of your legacy. I will let you know you will be remembered for all of the sexual scandals, sexual accusations and for wrecking the nation’s economy, rather than anything you ever do. In other words don’t rush to salvage your legacy, a hasty man makes to many foolish mistakes. 

Let me take the time to highlight how incompetent you are; I do this as an aid, to get you to proceed with caution in tackling this project. The development of St Vincent and the Grenadines is not about you or the restoration of your legacy but it is about creating a better place for the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines today and positioning SVG for a better future. 

Now a private jet arrived at the airport at Argyle in St Vincent and the Grenadines, with potential investors in the new city. Among the investors that you met at the airport at Argyle was the reputed and convicted criminal, Dr Conrad Maury, the man who was convicted for the homicide of Michael Jackson. You denied in a press conference that you knew Maury was a part of the potential investors until someone pointed it out to you. 

How idiotic of you, being a head of government of a sovereign nation, meeting with investors and you did not have a file on each person that outlines who they are (their identity), their criminal history if they have one, their assets, the type of and investment history, as well as their interest in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Such a background check is so easy to do that there is no excuse; you can make to justify your ignorance of the people you met with. In the future, before you meet with any investors, you must have background checks that give you the knowledge of the persons:

1. Identity
2. Criminal history if they have one
3. Their assets 
4. Their business interest
5. Business history.

It is foolish to try and negotiate from a place of desperation. When we do such we end up with investors like David Ames, the Canoun investors, people like Dr Roller, etc. – people who steal from our country and take advantage of our citizenry. Please be mindful that you are not running that failed law practice that you had and are so afraid to return to; however, you are running a country. 

The Issue of the City

On the issue of the proposed city on the site of the decommissioned ET Joshua airport, there are some very important things you must take into consideration, and primary of those are: we must build a city for near future use. As a result, we must also consider near future us as well as distant future use of that city. Each city has a useful life span, after which the tearing down and rebuilding period starts, where we see new and modern building designs produced and utilizing new building technological advancement. In most case taller buildings are designed and constructed to accommodate rapid population growth, etc. 

There are other things that come with increased population, such as larger vehicle traffic, larger volume of pedestrians, an increased volume of waste, etc., therefore the layout of the city must have some elements of distant future development associated with it. Knowing how anxious you are to see a city built; I will tell you this simple fact, the development of a new city, even a small city, is a 30- to 40-year project. Therefore, it was not a smart move to bring investors to see the proposed area for development at this stage, unless you are planning to sell the lands to them wholesale to fatten your own pocket. 

When we talk of a new city, there are some things we must take into account before potential investors are invited to look at the area. This will prevent the same types of bumble that occurred with the airport at Argyle. It is called basic planning. To save St Vincent and the Grenadines the type of problem you are known to create, I have taken the time and I did all of the research and, after looking at a photograph of the site to be developed on the internet, along with the little knowledge of the land that encompasses the site on which the ET Joshua airport lay, from my measurement, I estimate that there are about 281 acres of land that make up that site, give or take 100 feet. 

We cannot have a squat like venture going on at this site, because this is an opportunity for a well-planned venture; we must pay attention to the following things: 

a) Proper survey of the area
b) Standard dimensional blocks, 
c) Well laid out streets, 
d) Well laid out curbside parking
e) Well laid out sidewalk, 
f) Well laid out gutters 
g) Road gradient that will facilitate adequate and consistent water runoff. 

To be continued…

Ralph Gonsalves does not think, thoughts pop into his head and that's it!

The airport at Argyle was opened and the government spent over half a million dollars to charter a plane in an effort to deceive the citizen of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and they did it with what was too be a big hullabaloo, which had a humongous anti-climax.



But while the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines are wallowing in poverty, experiencing high unemployment, because of a lack of creativity and depleted industrial sector, while the health sector has seen a depletion in every facet and has experienced a rise in illness and types of illnesses, poor infrastructural development and maintenance and the general condition of the economy has been kept alive by a very thin thread that may break at any time, the incompetent prime minister saw fit to use scarce resources, in excess of half a million dollars, to prove a point to himself, by landing a passenger aircraft at the airport at Argyle.

Even an idiot knows such an aircraft could land at Argyle even before the excavation began. Because all that was needed is adequate wing clearance, and because the stretch of road at Argyle was not lighted, there were very few obstructions in the form of lamp, telephone and other poles to impede the wing space of a landing and taking off aircraft. You may argue that the width of the road was insufficient, but it was not. It will also be important to note that such aircraft do not need a concrete or asphalt surface to safely land on and, although such surface creates an optimum condition to accommodate such landing, however, a paved surface is not necessary. 

It is important to note that the USA has some over 19,000 aircraft landing facilities, 3,030 of those are general purpose aviation facility, and 378 are commercial facilities. It will also be important to know, of all of the aviation facilities in the USA, only one-third of such have a paved concrete and/or asphalt surface.

So it was more than obvious, a large passenger aircraft is capable of safely landing at the airport at Argyle and at the ET Joshua airport at Arnos Vale. Have you ever wondered why the highways in the USA are so scarcely lighted? That is because each highway is considered an emergency landing facility for a major aircraft in distress. As a result, such roads are left void of any obstruction, lamp poles, etc. that will or may impede the wingspan of a major passenger aircraft if they were to land on any such highway. 

On the issue of ICAO certification of the airport at Argyle, there are larger airports with separate landing and takeoff strips that are better equipped, with a larger volume and better trained emergency response facilities, with better trained staff than that which exists at the airport at Argyle, and those airports have been waiting for international certification for quite a while now. They have failed to meet the minimum standard that is required for such certification and need to invest more monies to ensure their facility meets the minimum standards that are required for certification. 

Too often, I am forced to ask myself the question: what is Ralph E. Gonsalves and his people are thinking or are they thinking at all. For too often, judging by the things that they choose to do, I often wonder if it is a case where a thought pops into their head and without any critical or rational thinking and everyone in robotic fashion just agrees with whatever is said. 

You would have thought that the brilliant Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines would have conserved the state monies to facilitate the upgrades that will be needed to expedite the costly certification process that must be tackled in order for the facility at Argyle to be used for the purpose for which it was built. 

It has taken the Ralph E. Gonsalves government over ten years to try to get accreditation for some of the courses at the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, and to date the school is not accredited by a recognized accreditation institution and none of the courses the school offers is accredited, not even by an regional facility/institution like the UWI or similar.

If it is so difficult to get an institution such as the Community Collage up to accreditations standards, how much more difficult and costly it will be to get the airport up to such a standard for international accreditation, where we can enjoy the privilege of our other Caribbean neighbours such as Barbados, St Lucia Grenada, etc.

It means since our Windward Islands sisters can do it, St Vincent and the Grenadines can do it also. So the question is: did the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines consult its Caribbean technocratic counterparts to ascertain what will be required to achieve and maintain international airport certification. I hope that they have come to terms with the fact that attaining an accreditation for the school or the airport is just the first stage, but it is almost as much work to keep such accreditation. 

Another point, I would like to raise here is the fact that, on completion of the airport at Argyle, the government is going to make a new city in that space. Does that mean that Ralph Gonsalves is planning to put Mustique Airways out of business, or has he already envisioned that the airport may not see operations to the scale of Grantly Adams International or the Piarco International in Trinidad and Tobago? 

I conclude this for the main fact that there is no special facility to accommodate the small size and the lightweight aircraft that are operated by Mustique Airways. It is totally impossible for an aircraft with the small size and light weight of aircraft used by Mustique Airways to coexist on the same facility as the large mass passenger aircraft, without special accommodations. 

When you consider the magnitude of force that is expelled from such an aircraft in its takeoff; the air velocity of a 747’s exhaust and other aircraft with such power will blow the small, light aircraft used by Mustique Airways away like paper in the breeze. 

This is a sign that Ralph E. Gonsalves and his “bush” engineers did not take a lot of obvious things into consideration. Now there is the fact of the existence of small single and twin engines aircraft at the airport at Argyle without any special accommodations and the question of how long it is going to take to have that airport at Argyle, how much more money they will have to spend to accommodate the certification process.

The flight at the airport at Argyle - an international flight or deception?

When I wrote the article titled: After the hullabaloo at the Argyle International Airport – then what? I said: “Unfortunately for the wolf-criers, no reputable airline will ever land an aircraft owned by them that

bears their company’s name and that is being operated by a crew that is within their employ on the AIA unless that airport has been so certified and given the green light as a safe airport that has met the minimum requirements for such registered airline to do so”. It may seems to the wolf-criers that I was wrong, But was I? 

Some may ask why are you pursuing this issue, and to that question I say, I do not trust anything Ralph Gonsalves does or says and everything he does is tainted with the shadows of dishonesty, and such dishonesty is designed to deceive the naive people of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Therefore I have taken it upon myself to employ my intelligence, knowledge, strength and wisdom to uncover the lies and deceptions of Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labour Party.

So the question: The flight at the airport at Argyle – an international flight or deception?

It will take a little common sense and a whole lot of digging to figure this whole thing out. So follow me closely as I examine some very important facts and look for answers to some very important questions. Now do we remember, sometime ago, American Eagle, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was operating out of St Vincent and the Grenadines; connecting passengers to Puerto Rico. It was not that the American Eagle was not capable of carrying passengers from St Vincent and the Grenadines to JFK airport in New York City, but because of the licensing barrier that prevented American Eagle operating commercial connecting flights between ET Joshua airport and JFK. 

It similar fashion LIAT had/has landing rights at Puerto Rico’s Louis Munoz Martin International Airport. However, LIAT does not have the required licensing that will or would have allowed LIAT to land in the US mainland or Hawaii. What we must understand is the fact that the International Civil Aviation Organization has a web of complicated rules and laws that governs the use of airports, the certifications of airports, aircraft and airlines certification that have to be complied with. 

We must also remember that American Eagle did not stop operating the SVG route because it was not profitable, but because the US authority, upon re-inspection, had obtained evidence to prove that unspecified deficiencies made it an unsafe venture to have an American registered airline with the magnitude of American Eagle landing at the ET Joshua airport. American Airlines had to forget the investment it made in developing the route, forgo the profit and comply with the instructions. 

And the Caribbean aviation authority must adhere to such laws also, or else Ralph E. Gonsalves would have gone all out to make good on his threats many months ago to land a LIAT aircraft on the airport at Argyle just to prove a point. However, a LIAT aircraft could have only landed at the airport at Argyle after the Caribbean aviation authority granted certification to that facility. 

So we see the airline industry is highly regulated and the fines are often very high and can affect the profitability of a company, so compliance is paramount. Repeated offences can cause an airline to have certain sanctions enforced against it, which may lead the licensing review board to review the continued operations of such airline. 

So the question is the flights that landed at the airport at Argyle were any of them an international flight as we understand it? I say NO! The flights that landed at the airport at Argyle from outside the region were not international flights to St Vincent and the Grenadines, but they were regional flights. In the log of aviation history, those flights went down in the history as international flight from NYC-USA to Caracas, Venezuela. All of the flights to the airport at Argyle will go down as regional flight from Caracas. This is so for the simple fact that Dynamic Airways does not have the operational licence to fly directly to airport at Argyle from JFK and they will not risk getting operational sanction or paying hefty fines to participate in a charade of Ralph Gonsalves. 

Another big question is: was the aircraft that landed at the airport at Argyle a Dynamic aircraft? It may not be. There is something we should know about the codes that govern aircraft that is used by airlines for commercial international flights; and that is: such aircraft for international use of any airline must have the company’s insignia or the company’s name visibly and conspicuously inscribed on the aircraft. However, in the USA, aircraft for domestic purposes do not have to follow such code, although most do. 

We must also remember a flight is not categorized as international based on the size of the aircraft and according to the ICAO an international airport is one that offers immigration and custom services upon entrance and departure. There have been international flights in and out of the ET Joshua airport on a regular basis for many years. Most of the patrons of Mustique Island will make direct flight to St Vincent and the Grenadines from the US. Mick Jagger was one of those who will use his private jet to do such, as well as other patrons who often flew in on direct flight from the UK and France. 

So the fact that the aircraft that landed at the airport at Argyle met the specification of the aircraft that large airlines use for taking large amounts of people long distances does not mean the flight was international. And the fact that the aircraft did not follow the international code and have the Dynamic Airways insignia or the company name inscribed upon the aircraft, as all international carriers have, leaves many questions to be answered. 

So did Dynamic airways send one of its unmarked domestic aircraft to Caracas ahead of the flight to facilitate the last leg of the flight to St Vincent and the Grenadines, or did Ralph Gonsalves further used the St Vincent and the Grenadines treasury monies to pay for the conversion and of a commercially retired privately owned aircraft. 

Don’t forget there is still the issue of the HSBC Swiss bank account as of 2015 containing US$18 million in it. To date the prime minister has never denied owning that account, but diverted our attention from the issue. 

Repainting the tail of a retired Boeing 767 aircraft to look like one that is used by Dynamic Airways domestic fleet is a cheap investment to aid in the continued deception of Vincentians and for once make Ralph Gonsalves look good.

So was the flight that landed at the airport at Argyle an international flight as we all consider it to be. No, but just another regional flight from Caracas to St Vincent and the Grenadines. Always remember, everything is not always as it seems.

The USA: A legacy saved; an office tarnished - Part 2

Black comedian and social activist D.L Hugely said it best, when he questioned Donald Trump’s

intentions when he took the liberty to invite black actors, comics and athletes on Martin Luther King’s Day to meet with him. Let me paraphrase the basis of his sentiments. I am not questioning the motive of the black athletes, and performers who met with President Trump. I am questioning President Trump’s motive. 

If he was so concerned about the black community, why did he denigrate President Barack Obama, a man of high integrity, of vision, etc. but chose to turn to and elevate athletes, actors, and comedians? It is for the simple fact that Donald Trump and those around him only want to see black people playing the role of coons, entertaining and making white people laugh. 

White America did not really understand a simple but well established fact, which was, although Barack Obama was a black man, he was actually a white president. He followed in the footsteps and the playbook of all of the presidents before him. He looked out for the interest of white America and all of its sub groups. While black people were satisfied with just having a black man in charge, even if they were not benefiting directly or indirectly, have not benefited and will never actually benefit from his being in charge of all of the resources of the free world. 

The black community is still wallowing in poverty, violence and drugs are still destroying the black lives within their neighborhoods, blue lynching (murder of blacks by the police) have been the worst since the end of the Jim Crow era, and the planned genocide of blacks, that sees millions legally slaughtered each year is still untracked, and is ignored - abortion. In New York City in the year 2015 there were 24,758 black women giving birth and 31,328 black women had abortions. 

On Friday, January 20, 2017, something miraculous happened, while Barack Obama was secretly wining (worried) about his legacy, while in the process of participating in the expected smooth transfer of power, there was a rude awakening, all across America. Even white America was shaken to its core, when the reality of their choice received the reins of political power over the fiercest military and weaponry in the world and the resources of this great and blessed land: The United States of America.

What is normally an annual march and rally to bring attention to the rights of women was turned into an anti-Donald Trump rally. I have seen thousands and thousands of people: more white people and a small cross-section of Mexicans, and an extremely small sprinkling of black people, hit the streets of downtown Los Angeles in a women’s rights rally that turned into an anti-Donald Trump rally. The density of the crowd of people made it almost impossible to get from block to block. 

Of the thousands of signs I saw and read, I did not see a sign that addressed any of the traditional issues that women have a history of concern for; not one sign denoting the call for equal pay for equal work. However, every sign was an anti-Donald Trump or to give an anti-pussy grabber connotation. 

Unfortunately for President Trump, there was not one person, with a pro-Donald Trump sign or a word uttered in Donald Trump’s defence. It seems like Donald Trump bought into and actually believed his own gimmick – “People love me, everywhere I go the people love me” Check the polls. Well the pre-elections poll and the post elections polls are an indicator that President Donald Trump's pre-election supporters are convinced that they have made a mistake in electing Donald Trump as president. But it is a little too late. 

So Barack Obama’s legacy is safe for the time being, because it seems that Donald Trump will have to turn water into wine, just after parting the Red Sea, for him to be accepted and or given the time of day. The Republican politicians stuck it to Barack Obama, now the masses are sticking in to President Donald Trump. Karma is a biting she dog that attacks the ass. 

Before I go, I will end by saying this -- that this current first lady, the wife of president Trump, has been making grown decent men blushed, and perverts happy. To me it is the most embarrassing thing to have others looking at my wife’s naked pictures. It is even more shameful to have the naked pictures of the first lady of any country circulating on the internet. 

I was embarrassed for the president when I Googled his wife’s name, but more importantly I was disgusted by what I saw. Every person in the world including world leaders can describe to President Trump, with great detail, the parts of his wife's body that was reserved only for the knowledge of her parents and her husband. This is not only sad it is embarrassing. God bless America.

The USA: A legacy saved; an office tarnished - Part 1

Ex-president Barack Obama, being the first black president of the great United States of America, found

himself in a serious predicament from the first day as president, and for the duration of his two terms as president; he was concerned and focused on his legacy as president. As a result his presidency was designed to and actually catered to the fancies of the white populace of that republic, to the extent that his presidency did not touch or meaningfully impact the life of black people, especially black Americans.

Big corporations were given billions in bailout monies to save those businesses from going under, while their owners sat on billions of dollars they received from those businesses as dividends when those businesses were profitable. Billions were also given to white owned, managed and operated not for profit corporations to combat poverty, women’s health, and a slate of other social issues. Tons of non-black illegal immigrants got a free pass and an opportunity to further force my black American brothers and sisters out of the job market, compounding the unemployment problem within the black community. 

I will conclude on this point by saying that America has made progress under Barack Obama but the progress was anti-black progress. Every other race and ethnic group in America was made better off, except for black Americans. Although the employment figures grew nationwide, unemployment, homelessness, black on black killings, gang activities, and blue lynching all increased among black communities during Obama’s presidency.

Barack Obama’s awareness that his legacy was in trouble became even more heightened when the Republican slate of candidates, especially then presidential candidates, now president Donald Trump, publicly threatened to undo the things that in his and president Obama’s opinion are the block on which his good legacy resides. 

Obama had a right to be concerned about his legacy as president, for the simple fact, at the beginning of his presidency, the Republicans artfully declared they were going to make him a sitting lame duck president and they did everything in their power to put stumbling blocks in his way. Every accomplishment he achieved was done with more work than any other president because he was of pigmented skin. They (the Republicans) even took the Affordable Care Act to the Supreme Court to have that act overturned. 

While Donald Trump put forward his bid to be president, he declared Barack Obama the worst thing to happen to the United States presidency. He declared that he is going to overturn everything Barack has ever done. Starting with the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, which was disparagingly named Obamacare. 

For a minute, white America harboured a secret hate for the fact that a black man, his black wife and his black kids made up the leader of the free world, the first lady and the first family of this great United States of America. So when Trump said he will make America Great again that had significant racist connotations that the average black person did not understand; but to white America, President Donald Trump was speaking in coded language that was the first tongue of white America, the language that they all understood. What he was actually saying was he will make the leadership of America white again. 

And because it was an abomination for the black man to have occupied the White House for eight years, white America could not wait to see the back of Barack Obama who had allegedly “ghettoized” the prestigious throne of the almighty USA “White” House. Lest some little black boy or girl see this man and start getting ideas. 

That is why it was so easy for Donald Trump and his bold “take no prisoners” rhetoric to catch on with white America and catch on it did. White America ignored all of the ills that disqualified Donald Trump from holding the presidency: speculation that fanged from allegations of rape, sexual assault and those of his personal association with Russian leader Putin, etc. 

Other more qualified candidates were punished by the American community for far less than what President Donald Trump became mixed up in. Do you remember Howard Dean, who shouted the names of the states he expected to win and was forced to relinquish his bid for the presidency? 

Because white America wanted a leader, a man, a president who is going to nullify the presidency of the black man and correct all of the damage that was created by him being in the public eye for eight long years. Precious artifacts that white America created during slavery and the Jim Crow era, which have led to the degradation of black people. 

So President Donald Trump was given the mandate to ensure that the confidence of black children that was built by the visual of them seeing themselves in President Barack Obama holding the top job in the world is to be broken down, and the flames of high ambitions that were ignited have to be put out, the pride that comes with a healthy self-esteem has to be lynched and hung on the poplar tree for all to see. A sign, there will never be another Black Ball Street ever again. 

After all the work that was put into breaking the will, the spirit, and the dreams of better that slavery and Jim Crow have crushed in the black community. We surely cannot have an undoing of such investment of time, resources and planning go down the drain.

After the hullabaloo at the AIA opening - then what?

The big news in St Vincent and the Grenadines is the wolf-criers have announced a new date for the opening of the Argyle International Airport. This official announcement has made it approximately ten or more times the wolf-criers have official announcements and dates for the “official” opening of the Argyle International Airport (AIA). The new date that was announced by the wolf-criers is set as February 14, 2017. The wolf-criers have also planned the landing of an international flight on that day. 

It is interesting that, with all the hullabaloo and the monies that were put into this project, the wolf-criers have not yet had the airport certified, and secured a deal with a reputable airline to service the St Vincent route. However, they are willing to spend approximately US$500.000.00) to entice a legitimate airline to break the aviation authorities laws that govern their lawful operation to further the Unity Labour Party’s agenda of lies and deception that have been propagated by this bunch of ingrates that make up the ULP. 

The Unity Labour Party will be taught a vital lesson, and that lesson is they cannot bribe a lawful institution or business entity and entice them to break the law, as they have done with the bunch of sheeple that flock behind them in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Sheeple that are not wise enough to know that they are entitles to get what they are compromising their standards for, or those are so covetous that they want that which they are not entitled to. 

Unfortunately for the wolf-criers, no reputable airline will ever land an aircraft owned by them that bears their company’s name and that is being operated by a crew that is within their employ on the AIA unless that airport has been so certified and given the green light as a safe airport that has met the minimum requirements for such registered airline to do so. 

The airline’s chief operational officer (COO) who does so, will cause his airline be heavily penalized by their respective international aviation authorities. They also open up themselves to lawsuit from the crew for such an irresponsible act. The COO of such airline will lose their jobs, and open up him or herself to legal actions for his irresponsible and unprofessional actions. 

I must also let it be known here that, if there is the slightest mishap on that flight, then the passengers could sue the airline and glean millions of dollars in damages for the airline’s irresponsibility. I will also say here, even if Ralph Gonsalves is the chairman of LIAT in his capacity of prime minister, and even though he owns an aircraft that is leased to LIAT (which he does), he does not have the authority to instruct LIAT’s COO to order a LIAT owned and operated aircraft to land at the Argyle International Airport. 

And if that COO is foolish enough to so do, the repercussions that LIAT will face will be so steep that the cash strapped airline will be permanently bankrupt; which will be nothing new for Ralph E. Gonsalves, when we consider he bankrupted the state-owned National Commercial Bank, the marketing corporation, he has emptied the consolidated fund and the national treasury and dried up all of the funds from the National Insurance Scheme and the National Lottery. I am predicting here that St Vincent and the Grenadines lottery may be the first institution of its kind, which has a monopoly, to become bankrupt or, in local terms, go broke.

So what are we to expect on February14, 2017? Well, we all could expect a rogue plane, from a rogue company, with a few ULP supporters, ministers, and other ULP officials, most of which will be oversea based officials and a few party hacks to land at the international airport. Because the average Vincentian who resides outside St Vincent and the Grenadines are slaving in low paying jobs and cannot afford to pick up and leave their jobs and go on a vacation without prior planning. 

After February 14, 2017, what next?

The international airport has been dubbed as a saviour of St Vincent and the Grenadines tourism; however, there was no tourism promotion plan and implementation of a plan to generate an interest in St Vincent and the Grenadines as a go to tourist destination, there was no cultural interest generated, no sports interest and no scenic interest. Therefore, after the landing of the rogue airline at the AIA, there will be nothing new; the airport will be as inactive as it is right now, save for the exception of more people on site, with nothing to do but to fall asleep at their posts because of inactivity and boredom. 

I will advise anyone (young person) who has ambition to pursue higher education, especially long distance studies, to seek employment at the New AIA. They will have enough time to study, complete assignments, and do research while receiving a full salary. If you do, you will not regret it. 

Don’t expect the AIA to be of any help in developing the economy of SVG but, rather, expect it to be a liability on the economy, putting more strain on the country’s resources. As a matter of fact, this airport is expected to operate at a loss for many years to come.

The Issue of a reputable carrier to operate at this location has been an issue and will remain an issue for years to come. For one thing, citizens of St Vincent and the Grenadines are not big travelers, and our population, including the international Garifuna community, is still small to sustain the operation of an international carrier. That coupled with the low tourist interest in St Vincent and the Grenadines. 

So after the hullabaloo, expect nothing.