The ghost of IMPACS hunts St Lucia

• The IMPACS report comes and goes with the territory – that is expected as part of the position or situation
• IMPACS is the Ghost that makes citations to “Kill it” and “That’s not your business” – injuries to territory
• IMPACS Investigation – “The crime problem in Saint Lucia is facilitated by corrupt politicians/government officials, business persons and police officers.

By Caribbean News Global

TORONTO, Canada – The IMPACS report continues to convey incredulity through the many utterances of the political brass of Saint Lucia. The latest implausibility was captured in the utterances of prime minister and minister for national security, Philip J. Pierre, at the sod turning for the northern divisional police headquarters project, on October 23, 2023.

It is all well and good to take action to get shovels in the ground to build critical infrastructure, but the lack of policy, governance and leadership is striking.

The Royal St Lucia Police Force [RSLPF] is a systemic problem that requires dismantling vs rebranding, policies and new standards to begin the change. Moreover, the expectations of the politics and politicians also require transformation for the security, social and economic development of Saint Lucia to advance.

It is well known that the United States suspended assistance to the Saint Lucia security forces in 2013, pursuant to the provisions of the so-called Leahy Law, as a result of credible evidence of gross human rights violations in relation to a number of alleged extra-judicial killings by the police between 2010 and 2011 during an anti-crime initiative known as Operation Restore Confidence (ORC).

It is also apparent that, even after engaging the CARICOM Implementing Agency for Crime and Security to produce a comprehensive report on the matter (the IMPACS Report), successive governments in Saint Lucia have been unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the US State Department that credible steps have been or are being taken to bring those responsible to justice.

Interestingly enough, and to the apprehension of many, the time and place of prime minister Pierre’s liberty to express his many thwarting [at the sod turning for the northern divisional police headquarters project] attest to the precincts that confront national security and the responsibility of leadership consequential to present-day reality in Saint Lucia.

Dr Kenny Anthony, [then] prime minister of Saint Lucia, on Sunday, March 8, 2015, delivered a televised address entitled: “A Distressing Issue To Confront”, his deputy was current prime minister and minister for national security, Philip J. Pierre. 

It is, however, difficult to understand how Prime Minister Pierre can plausibly distance himself from the reality that he is prime minister and minister for national security. And that the realm of IMPACS is his duty to the country.

The advice of a political consultant summarised: “ He [Pierre] needs to perform, do his job and carry out his duties and responsibility that comes with his titles and place of work.” The consultant, continued: “Whose responsibility it is to have the conceivable participants of ORC in his cabinet”? Adding, would it not be politically expedient to solve IMPACS if the said participants were in opposition?

October 23, 2023, prime minister Pierre, expressed:

• The IMPACS report is not my doing:
• I didn’t create the IMPACS report:
• I am not the only one with a copy of the IMPACS report:
• Why has the IMPACS report suddenly become my cross?

From end to end, the pursuit of these juxtapositions and adaptation are diametrically opposite.

In the realm of spirituality and psychology – often as a tool to enhance resilience in the face of adversity, there are scarcely imaginable expressions that confront plausible deniability.  

In a press statement on May 10, 2021, the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) ”called on the United Workers Party (UWP) government to clarify the situation regarding the status of the IMPACS report,” stating that ”the labour party government had submitted the report to the then Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in 2015.”

Recently, prime minister Pierre indecorously declared, “I don’t know” – “That’s not your business” relative to IMPACS. And on Monday, reportedly emphasised the need for more collective responsibility regarding IMPACS.

The “collective responsibility” of whom was not communicated. However, knowledge narrates that it is the responsibility of the cabinet and parliament of Saint Lucia to set the wheel in motion to attain the designated results. However, for political expedience, the foreseen is not practical to better explain the nuance to the unsuspecting public.

So what’s the fear over IMPACS investigation and the recommendations, when the damage has already been done?

“Perhaps the biggest reason you’ve heard is that the report suggests that “the crime problem in Saint Lucia is facilitated by corrupt politicians/government officials, business persons and police officers.”

Truth be told: Whereas the previous government could not make IMPACS “disappear in six months” and for the duration of their administration prime minister and minister for national security Pierre cannot escape that IMPACS has become his “cross”.

IMPACS is the “cross” of any prime minister and minister for national security in Saint Lucia. It comes and goes with the territory, position or situation.

“Saint Lucia is at the junction of lawlessness and the ungovernable. No government can advance the security of Saint Lucia without facing up to IMPACS.” ~ CNG Insights.

It is instructive that IMPACS/ORC/Leahy Law has returned a trojan horse to the political and security administration of Saint Lucia.

Is it a coincidence that the government of Saint Lucia exposed the overtone of an ad hoc security apparatus and its leadership to “rebrand” the police force, yet unable to solve IMPACS?

Re-published articles by Caribbean News Global (CNG) – St Lucia’s ‘Old World flycatcher’: Part 1 and 2 provides longstanding IMPACS recommendations that were overlooked.

How does the Saint Lucia government solve this apparently intractable predicament of significance? 

IMPACS is subject to genuine national cooperation separated from political agendas and party or personal self-interest – not –  “facilitated by corrupt politicians/government officials, business persons and police officers.”

History and current events can no longer be denied, re-emerging with worse consequences, personnel that are incompetent and immersed in petulance.

To solve IMPACS will take a Bona fide administration in Saint Lucia –  the absence of fraud or deception – engaging constructively with alternative thinkers.