Dec. 6, 2001 – Montserratians "can coexist with the volcano," the island's acting governor, Sir Howard Fergus, told former residents and friends during a visit to St. Thomas over the weekend.
Speaking at a meeting of the Montserrat Association of St. Thomas-St. John at Victor's New Hideout on Sunday, Fergus described life on his island since the volcano began acting up, forcing many Montserratians to relocate. Nowadays, he said, there is both reconstruction and new building, and the nearly 5,000 people still living and working on Montserrat are looking to revive their island economically.
He said his "gut feeling" is that the spared areas will continue to be spared and will suffer only ashfall. The hard-hit Richmond Hill and Cork Hill areas will be inhabited again one day, he predicted, but "not in our lifetime."
Although scientists expect several more years of intermittent activity from the Soufriere Hills volcano, Britain is phasing out grants-in-aid beginning in 2002. This, Fergus said, will result in hardship to the homeless, the elderly and children. Montserratians are "not parasites," he said, for they came out of grant-in-aid in the 1980s. But he feels Britain must be held to its obligation.
Construction, important to the economy, is reviving, he said, and the Building Society is "coming back and paying off earlier members." Building lots have been made available at Lookout. Places are being found for the elderly and the mentally challenged. Housing loans are being made, with priority given to current residents.
Fergus, who served for 26 years as speaker of the Montserrat Legislative Council, presiding over his last session on Sept. 20, said Montserratians living abroad should try to acquire land on the island now. Many own property in what is now the forbidden zone, he noted, and the problem of compensation needs study and resolution.
The volcano eventually buried Plymouth, Montserrat's capital. The mid-island town of Salem became the social center of the island. Government services became scattered all over in available buildings but many offices eventually consolidated in the safe northern area.
There is an ambitious project to build a town –– a "new capital" – at Little Bay, Fergus said. Infrastructure including a fishing dock and a public market is planned. But while a design concept is in place, the actual work will be a while coming, he said. Ground breaking is set for a theater/cultural center, with funds raised toward that project by Sir George Martin, formerly an associate in the major recording studio that once lured many stars to the island.
Having frequently served as acting governor during his years as council speaker, Fergus has continued to do so since stepping down. He acknowledged that the list of problems Montserrat faces is long — transportation, education, health care, jobs, a lack of flat land for an airport, the need for a community college; and Montserrat is not part of the Caribbean Community's plan for free movement of workers between countries. But he said that, one by one, the hurdles can be overcome.
Fergus comes from Long Ground, the first village to be evacuated when the volcano became active in 1995-96. A resident tutor at the University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies, he has written and edited more than 30 books, among them a number of poetry books including several about the volcano. He wrote a poem about Melville Cuffy, who died as a result of volcanic activity; it was published in "Volcano Song," a book sold to raise money for Montserrat relief. He also has written several West Indian historical works, including "Montserrat in the Twentieth Century: Tribulations and Triumphs," published this year.
Long a poet and historian, long a government official and legislator, he says emphatically that "I'm not a politician." Also active as a Christian, he preached at a Sunday morning service on St. Thomas.
He also was one of four special guests at an Inner Life Christian Ministries Church Women Ministry recognition service and dinner on Saturday night. The event honored four St. Thomas residents: Pastors Agnola Martin, Edwin R. White and Franklin Connor; and Maloria Hodge, president of Deeper Life Women Ministry.
Each honoree was surprised with the arrival of an off-island close friend or childhood pal. Fergus and White were boyhood chums in Montserrat and continued their friendship into their adult years. White is one of many Montserratians profiled in Fergus's collection of biographies, "Gallery Montserrat."

Dec. 6, 2001 – The parents and guardians of students attending the Claude O. Markoe Elementary School's PTA at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 19, will be entertained by the school's choir. It will be held in the school's cafetorium. There will be refreshments.

Parents and guardians of students attending the next Claude O. Markoe Elementary PTA will be entertained by the school's chior.
It will be held in the cafetorium from 6 to 7 p.m.

The Housing Authority advises residents and the general public that the central and community offices on St. Croix will be closed on Friday to enable employees to attend workshops and the annual employee recognition awards ceremony.
In case of an emergency contact Gertrudes Restaurant at 778-8362.

Dec. 6, 2001 – The Housing Authority advises residents and the general public that the central and community offices on St. Croix will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, to enable employees to attend workshops and the annual employee recognition and awards ceremony.
In case of an emergency contact Gertrudes Restaurant, 778-8362.

Dec. 6, 2001 – If you thought you saw a sleek cruise ship tied up on the St. Thomas waterfront across from the Green House restaurant on Thursday morning, you were right.
With a simple glance, you saw "the fine lines of Le Levant's silhouette striking you with their distinct elegance," according to a description of the mini-cruise ship on its web site.
. Le Levant, which flies under the French flag, is paying its first visit to St. Thomas. Although the little luxury ship has visited St. John before, Ken Husky, local ship's agent, says he had been trying for two years to "get her to St. Thomas."
The ship tied up before 7 a.m. Wednesday, with Husky handling the lines himself. It spent the morning on the waterfront before heading in the afternoon to Magens Bay, where it will spend the night. On Friday, it will call at St. John before setting out for St. Barths.
Le Levant hostess Elodie Pechard, grinning widely, cast a long look Thursday at the quiet early morning waterfront and proclaimed herself "so happy to be here."
Pechard said the three-year-old vessel can accommodate 98 passengers but has about 35 aboard right now — along with a crew of about 50. Although it's only 330 feet long, the ship boasts two bars, two restaurants, a swimming pool, a library and a Turkish bath.
Promising ecology-oriented travel with access to "waterways that are wonderfully off the beaten path," Le Levant is scheduled to depart from St. Thomas for one-week cruises again on Dec. 22, Jan. 5, Jan. 19 and Feb. 23. Its other itineraries in the region include the Grenadines and Venezuelan Islands, and Venezuela's Orinoco River. In the summer season, it makes Canadian cruises on the St. Lawrence River and to Labrador/Hudson Bay.

Dec. 6, 2001 – If you thought you saw a sleek cruise ship tied up on the St. Thomas waterfront across from the Green House restaurant on Thursday morning, you were right.
With a simple glance, you saw "the fine lines of Le Levant's silhouette striking you with their distinct elegance," according to a description of the mini-cruise ship on its web site.
. Le Levant, which flies under the French flag, is paying its first visit to St. Thomas. Although the little luxury ship has visited St. John before, Ken Husky, local ship's agent, says he had been trying for two years to "get her to St. Thomas."
The ship tied up before 7 a.m. Wednesday, with Husky handling the lines himself. It spent the morning on the waterfront before heading in the afternoon to Magens Bay, where it will spend the night. On Friday, it will call at St. John before setting out for St. Barths.
Le Levant hostess Elodie Pechard, grinning widely, cast a long look Thursday at the quiet early morning waterfront and proclaimed herself "so happy to be here."
Pechard said the three-year-old vessel can accommodate 98 passengers but has about 35 aboard right now — along with a crew of about 50. Although it's only 330 feet long, the ship boasts two bars, two restaurants, a swimming pool, a library and a Turkish bath.
Promising ecology-oriented travel with access to "waterways that are wonderfully off the beaten path," Le Levant is scheduled to depart from St. Thomas for one-week cruises again on Dec. 22, Jan. 5, Jan. 19 and Feb. 23. Its other itineraries in the region include the Grenadines and Venezuelan Islands, and Venezuela's Orinoco River. In the summer season, it makes Canadian cruises on the St. Lawrence River and to Labrador/Hudson Bay.

Dec. 6, 2001 – Two controversial bills that have been on the Senate circuit for months were approved by the Rules Committee Wednesday night and are expected to go before the full Senate next week: Sen. Lorraine Berry's Child Protection Act of 2001 and Sen. Emmett Hansen II's Gun Control Act of 2001.
Berry's bill would increase penalties for rape and abolish the three-year statute of limitation for filing rape charges. It expands the definition of statutory rape to include sex between a person 16 or 17 years old and someone at least five years older than the teen-ager if the two are not husband and wife.
In February, when the bill was first introduced, Attorney General Iver Stridiron objected to the provision then in the bill raising the age of consent to 18 from the current 16. He said that could send a teen-ager to jail for having sex with his girlfriend and could create unnecessary legal problems.
The bill is especially important, its supporters have said, in light of the increasing number of rapes of minors in the territory. It is a joint effort of several victim advocate groups, the Police and Justice Departments and the Human Services Department. With the new language, the bill was approved unanimously and will now go to the Rules Committee.
Voting were Sens. Donald "Ducks" Cole, Carlton Dowe, Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, Almando "Rocky" Liburd and Celestino A. White Sr. Sens. Adelbert Bryan and Norma Pickard-Samuel were absent.
Hansen's gun control bill in an earlier form was passed by the Senate but then vetoed by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, who called one of its forfeiture provisions "draconian." The bill would have allowed government seizure of a home in cases where the owner was aware, or should have been aware, of illegal weapons being kept there. The governor said homeowners who were unaware of an illegal weapon on their property could stand to lose their home. He said once the forfeiture language was changed, as has now been done, he would approve the measure.
The bill dramatically increases the fines for bringing unlicensed firearms into the territory and for failing to report such actions to the Police commissioner as required by law. It mandates a fine of at least $50,000 or a minimum of 25 years in prison.
It also creates a Police Crime Fighting and Equipment Fund for the deposit of fines collected for firearms violations. Money deposited into the fund would go for purchasing equipment for crime fighting, maintaining Police Department equipment, and training.
The bill passed on a 4-1 vote. Sens. Cole, Dowe, Liburd and White voted for the measure. Alicia Hansen voted no. Sens. Bryan and Pickard-Samuel were absent.
A bill to establish the University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park was removed from the agenda. Dowe, the Rules chair, said the bill had been forwarded improperly and should have remained in the Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Committee.
The Rules Committee also passed legislation on Wednesday to:
– Provide for the electronic registration for Selective Service of males 18 through 25 years old when they apply for a driver's license.
– Prevent an individual or business formerly affiliated with a dissolved business entity from establishing a new entity without providing proof that all outstanding tax obligations have been satisfied.
– Appropriate $ 3.7 million for the repair of sewage lines on St. Croix, $5 million for the operation and staffing of Juan F. Luis Hospital, and $3 million for repair of the Cyril E. King Airport lagoon water-treatment plant.
– Honor godparents and establish the first Friday in August as Godparents Day.
– Create a Virgin Islands Foreign Sales Corp., a notion not endorsed by members of the business community who say it would be too small to keep businesses in the territory. One FSC provider, speaking under the condition of anonymity, commented, "They should have done that years ago, and the FSC's wouldn't have all moved to Barbados."
– Name the garden in front of Government House on St. Thomas for Agnes Schuster-King, the widow of the late governor Cyril E. King.
– Establish penalties for making bomb threats or placing objects resembling bombs on school grounds and set a $50,000 fine and imprisonment for 20 years for detonating a bomb that causes fire damage to property.
– Provide for licensure of naturopathic physicians.
– Amend the Uniform Commercial Code to bring it into conformity with what is in effect in most states and territories.
The bills are expected to be on the Senate agenda when it meets in full session Tuesday Wednesday.

Dec. 5, 2001 – The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands will hold a forum to discuss findings from the U.S. Virgin Islands 2001 KIDS COUNT Data Book, "Our Childen Now! Views from the Community," from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Westin Resort Conference Center.
The book documents recent trends and statisics about Virgin Islands children and their families.
Due to space limitations reservations are required. RSVP to the Community Foundation at 774-6031.

Dec. 6, 2001 – A funny thing happened on the way to a vote Wednesday in the Senate Government Operations Committee.
Sens. Lorraine Berry and Celestino A. White Sr., neither of them a committee member, got together on a bill restricting what White calls the "ever-present circus" that surrounds the polls at election time. White authored the bill and Berry spoke in favor of it.
Berry frequently is fodder for White's orations in Senate proceedings, a situation Berry is known not to ignore. However, on Wednesday they took Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's (or Robert Frost's) "road less traveled," casting aside animosity in the interest of peace and sanity at the polls.
White's bill initially called for keeping election campaigning by candidates' supporters at least 1,000 feet away from the polls on primary or general election days. He amended it to eliminate the reference to geographical distance and mandate that all electioneering anywhere end at 2 a.m. on voting days. Berry told the committee members she supports the proposal.
Frolicking and pestering arriving voters by the entrance to voting places is a Virgin Islands tradition, a "circus" apparently enjoyed by all except some voters trying make their way through the gantlet of campaigners waving fliers and placards, playing music and in general behaving in such a way as to dissuade some would-be voters from supporting their candidates.
White said the purpose of his bill "is to prevent that atmosphere," and his colleagues heartily agreed to it.
So did John Abramson Jr., supervisor of elections, although he said he would recommend that electioneering end 48 to 72 hours before voting day. He also said election reform should not be undertaken piecemeal by the Senate but "should be a wholesome approach and should include all the stakeholders … the voting public, political parties and the Board of Elections." It's an opinion Abramson has offered before in response to proposals to reduce the size of the Senate and reorganize the body.
The committee chair, Sen. Emmett Hansen II, called the proposal "one of the wisest and most mature things we can do for the election process." The measure passed 3-1 with Sens. Roosevelt David, Carlton Dowe and Hansen voting in favor and Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg voting against. Sen. Adelbert Bryan was absent from the committee meeting; Sens. Donald "Ducks" Cole and Norma Pickard-Samuel were absent for the vote. After the bill was approved, the senators voted unanimously to move it straight to the Senate floor, circumventing the Rules Committee. However, it was later stated that this could not be done under the Senate's rules of procedure.
In other business, Berry also introduced an amendment in the nature of a substitute to a bill to amend the V.I. Code by adding a section of safe storage of firearms. Her revised version would hold gun owners responsible for the safe storage of their weapons and would impose criminal penalties for those who improperly and unsafely store weapons which might be taken by someone other than the owner and be used to injure or kill others.
Berry said the amendment will "help eliminate the neglect that leads to children playing with loaded firearms, thus reducing the potential for accidental death and injuries … which are caused by unsafe storage." The measure passed unanimously and will now go to the Rules Committee.