CARIBBEAN TODAY


 FE AT U R E ..


La Soufriere eruption: 27 years on


 KENTON CHANCE

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent -
Thursday, April 13, marked 27
years since La Soufribre in St.
Vincent last erupted.
 Vincentians were remind-
ed of the national emergency
plan to be implemented if
the volcano becomes active
again even as residents of
Montserrat were warned last
month of increased dangers as
a result of the "vigorous
resumption of dome growth"
within the Soufriere Hills
volcano there.
 Aisha Samuel, volcanolo-
gist at the Soufribre Monitoring
Unit, said that the 4048-feet
mountain is in a "quiet ,.IIL
and that the alert level is at
"green", "which means that the
volcano is behaving normally."
Samuel said there are tremors
once or twice each month with
gaseous emissions.
 "That's normal behavior,
more or less," she said.

BAD FRIDAY
 It was on a Good Friday
morning 27 years ago that La
Soufribre belched ash and lava
on St. Vincent and neighbor-
ing Barbados. And Martin


Last month Basdeo Panday,
then leader of Trinidad and
Tobago's Opposition United
National Congress (UNC)
and a former prime minister
of the twin-island republic,
was convicted of criminal
charges. His sentencing drew
a range of reactions in the
Caribbean. Below are some
of the responses:


* "It is a devel-
opment that
affects the
image of the
Caribbean
politician -
Barbados
Prime Minister


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7)

the then Prime Minister ANR
Robinson erupted in a divi-
sion within the Cabinet.
 Panday left the govern-
ment, taking along some col-
leagues to form Club 88 that
later became the UNC.
Defeated in the elections of
1991, Panday sat as Opposition
leader in the Parliament until
1995, when he negotiated his
way to the office of prime min-
ister following the historic tie
in the general election.

'SILVER FOX'
 It is perhaps this strength
and belief in self that made
him prime minister in the first


Bernard,
recounting
the 1979
experience,
spoke of the
lack of pre-
paredness
then.
 "Things
were so hec-
tic, people
were really
getting hun-
gry, so we
went back to
our little shop
in Orange
Hill and got
flour and lots
of bananas,"
Barnard, a La Soufriere erupts.
former owner
of the Orange Hill Estate
recounted in a Ministry of
Agriculture publication last
month.
 Barnard's efforts were
"just to keep the wolf from
the door until the government
machinery could have kicked
in with food from other
places."
 And, the National
Emergency Management
Office (NEMO) is using the
anniversary of the eruption to


Owen Arthur reportedly quot-
ed by the Daily Nation news-
paper.

* "I understand
that he should b
treated harshly.
but the idea of
sentencing a 72-
year-old man to
hard labor, I
think it offends a
moral tone in a lot of us and
for that reason it was a bit
shocking" political scientist
Peter Wickham.

* "...By virtue of Section 49
(3) of the Constitution of the
Republic of Trinidad and


instance. Following the incon-
clusive 1995 election when
both the UNC and the PNM
gained 17 seats each, Panday,
nicknamed the 1,1\ r Fox"
for his political acumen, was
able to form a coalition
administration with the NAR,
becoming the first Trinidadian
of Indian descent to have
attained the highest political
office in the land.
 He consolidated his gov-
 rnmim n \ shaky position by
 luring two of the Opposition
 MPs to his side, while his gov-
 ernment nominated Arthur
 NR Robinson, the NAR
 leader and minister of extraor-
 dinaire for the post of presi-
 dent of the oil rich republic.


apprise residents of this multi-
island nation of revisions to
the volcano plan drafted in
1979. Michele Forbes, acting
director of training at NEMO,
says the revised volcano plan
of 2004 focuses on threats to
which residents can be
exposed if the volcano erupts.
 The plan identifies the "red
irLd" 'in which evacuation is
mandatory in a volcanic erup-
tion. These are the communi-
ties on the north east and north
west of mainland St. Vincent.


Tobago, Mr. Basdeo Panday,
representative for the
Constituency of Couva
North, shall forthwith cease
to perform his functions as a
member of the House of
Representatives" T&T
President
Professor Max
Richards declar-
ing the office of ,
the Leader of the
Opposition
vacant following
the guilty verdict.

* Politicians must begin to
understand that to serve in
public service is an honor and
is not a route to quick enrich-


 Panday came into office
promising to unite the various
ethnic groups here under his
"National Unity" banner,
while pursuing macro-eco-
nomic policies that would be
beneficial to the entire nation.
 "My greatest desire is that
as prime minister, I will be
able to use my office and
influence to bring our people
closer together and to unite all
of us, so that together we
might better face the chal-
lenges ahead," he said.
 But his desire to unite the
nation has been dismissed by
his critics who pointed to a
number of factors, including
his government's attack on
almost all institutions in the


 Forbes said because
 of the higher level of
 monitoring since
 1979, NEMO can
 start warning resi-
 dents early of any
 activity at the vol-
 cano.
 At this stage,
 the plan allows for
 families in the "red
i- .rxj to identify the
 shelters to which they
 want to relocate,
 hence minimizing
 separation. The plan
 also identifies the
 evacuation routes
 and rendezvous
 points, both at the
 community and
 national levels.

 CHALLENGE
 Forbes said the major
 challenge to evacuation during
 a volcanic eruption in
 St. Vincent would be pyroclas-
 tic flow. And, although she
 said this did not occur in 1979,
 Forbes said the Rabacca "dry"
 River, in north west St.
 Vincent, is a natural path for
 lava flow. This would cut off
 all the communities north of
 the Rabacca River, which is


ment. One can't use the
opportunities created by the
virtue of holding public office
to corruptly or otherwise
enrich themselves" Chester
Humphrey, who represents the
labor movement in the
Grenada Senate.

* "Nobody is above the law"
- Chairman of St. Lucia's
Integrity Commission
Randolph Evelyn, adding that
Panday's conviction should
serve as a lesson for St. Lucia
and the wider Caribbean.

Compiled from CMC and
other sources.
0


country ranging from the judi-
ciary to the media.
 During his term in office,
Panday made it clear that no
one who attacks his adminis-
tration and ,,. p, unscathed"
while flippantly being dismis-
sive of charges of corruption
and other allegations levied
against his government.
 He was fond of urging
those making such accusations
to "take the evidence to the
police" while insisting that his
administration was the "most
transparent" in the history of
the country.

- CMC
0


essentially a sea of aggregate
and a highly unpredictable
flow of water making sea
evacuation on the rough,
Atlantic side of the island
mandatory.
 Disaster officials also fear
and are preparing for tsunamis
that could be generated if the
flank of the volcano collapses.
NEMO took to communities
across the nation sensitizing
residents about the dangers of
a volcanic eruption and how
they could minimise loss of life
and property.
 Houlda Peters, NEMO's
training officer, said the
response to the itinerant exhi-
bition was "very, very, very,
good."

- CMC






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