Saturday, May 25, 2013

COST OF OUR FESTIVAL?

69 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nasty and malicious man, that Louis Lewis.

How dare him treating one of our own, Vincent McDoom as a second class citizen.

How dare you!

Anonymous said...

Finally, this probably should've been your original report. Their refusal to answer crucial questions related to costs speaks volumes. Too often we accept public declarations of "successful events" with no regard for profitability.

Large crowds don't automatically translate into success. If expenses exceed ticket sales for the event then you've recorded a loss. For years, the SLTB has been able to mask this shortfall simply by quoting increased tourist arrivals. We need actual dollar amounts!

The salary of civil servants, consultants, the PM and his cabinet is public knowledge. We know the amounts paid to contractors for road construction. So why the secrecy in this instance? Also, since his trial, R. Kelly has been relegated to releasing YouTube-type shorts--a running gag in US entertainment circles. He no longer commands top-dollar contracts.

Anonymous said...



Said Warner-Arnold of McDoom’s claim: “We cannot give the (value) of the individual prices but the information that was presented was dead wrong!”

=====
Damn it! Since in the final analysis of expenses, it is the TAXPAYERS that are footing the god damn bill, WHY THE HELL WE ARE NOT BEING TOLD WHAT THE GOD DAMN FIGURES ARE?

Why the hell are those figures still not being disclosed? Who is working for whom? Who are the god damn main stakeholders here?

Anonymous said...

Hi guy @ 1:10PM: Calm down.You are going to get a heart attack!.. and with all those "HELL" in your comment, it doesn't look good for you!

Anonymous said...

Normally I would expect 'THE STAR' to bring the truth to light on the money issue for the jazz payouts,however since Mae was involved with the "HOT Couture" show
I will have to look elsewhere for that Information.

Anonymous said...

Eh! Eh! Hell looks better on them, Papa?

Man! You're joking. Did you hear what Odlum said about that kind of thing many moons ago? Things like Flower Shows and Fashion Shows or 'Haut Couture' represent 'HAUGHTY Culture'.

Perhaps, that is one of the main reasons why so many Saint Lucians are so unsophisticated and why so many people have no stars. It seems as though that if we did not have 'low class' some of us would have no kind o' class at all!

Now! Now! Now! Taking into consideration the 'law of averages', don't you expect some people like Weak Rain to take a lil break sometimes from defending the indefensible?

Anonymous said...

The thought just occurred to me: it would be embarrassing for the SLTB if it paid a price over what other companies/individuals quoted or bid. Hence, no figures will be forthcoming. Cheers.

Anonymous said...

Go read the hack job of an article written by a "guest writer" in the Star, shamelessly attempting to sideline Mc Doom (@ 3:57PM). A lesson in petty, unprofessional public relations--sinking to new lows to prove a nonexistent point. Read it, have a laugh.

Ironically, they dismiss him as an attention-seeker who only made it to the fashion show with an hour to spare. Really, were there no other flaws to highlight? LMAO.

Anonymous said...

Since when a producer or director of a show like this vanishes into the background like ether?

Anonymous said...

Government in Saint Lucia is anti-people.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Hi guy @ 1:10PM: Calm down.You are going to get a heart attack!.. and with all those "HELL" in your comment, it doesn't look good for you!

May 25, 2013 at 3:29 PM

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Yes SLP yardfowl and what else?

Anonymous said...

Well,if that show is financed with private funds the figures can kept private.
But,since the show is financed with taxpayers money the puplic have a right to know how the money was spend.
SLP what is cooking here???

Anonymous said...

This is the comment.

Anonymous said...

Why ask THEM the cost of OUR festival? They won't tell you because it's their business. They are there to serve ONLY their masters! Life in Saint Lucia.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many Business, Finance or Economics majors at the Advanced level have commented here. One person indicated that the Tourism Director was nasty and malicious, on what grounds? McDoom telling Saint Lucians what the cost of an event should be, would be the equivalent of the head chef telling the Hotel manager what the cost of running the hotel should be. This is NOT his field, he is good at what he does, but has no Finance background, so how now is he telling people what things should cost? I'm very disappointed to know how willingly my fellow citizens buy into hearsay.

Anonymous said...

Just so?

Anonymous said...

Secondly,to disclose how much persons were paid,is a Business Ethics NO-NO. One person cited the pay of government workers, which was a poor example, as a public worker gives a way the freedom of privacy of pay. In no international market are the pay for private services publicly disclosed- it is UNETHICAL, and makes the party disclosing such information known as one to not engage in future bsuiness with. So yes you may know, but dont be surprised in the coming years when we have to haggle to get persons for services at other Jazz Festivals

Anonymous said...

Secondly, to disclose how much persons were paid, is a Business Ethics NO-NO.
.......................

Oh yeah! Which business school taught you that? Is it Saint Lucia's School for Borbolists?

This is government. Taxpayers are final arbiters of what's reasonable pay and what's not. Just give them the facts.

Like the CYA VAT, the people are the ones that the government gleefully burdens with taxes to pay for the government's own mistakes, like ROCHAMEL, BLACK BAY, AND GRYNBERG!

Each of these made the VAT unavoidable by a clueless government.

Damn it! The flipping minister is not the repository of all god damn wisdom.

Mc Doom, given his YEARS OF EXPERIENCE ABROAD, where such shows are routinely held, is in a far better position to be a reasonable judge of what are the RANGES OF PAY for various jobs, and tasks in HIS FIELD OF WORK.

Yep! It is his field of work. Damn it!

Stop kowtowing to authority, just because the god damn person has a title.

Did the minister ever did study tourism or EVENT MANAGEMENT?

Does he even have PRIVATE SECTOR EXPERIENCE?

How many god damn Fashion Shows has he ever managed? Does he have a cost accounting background?

Don't confuse the god damn issues with your crap.

Anonymous said...

Please do not rant if you intend to be taken seriously. And you do not have to listen to me, research any Business Ethics curriculum. Money simply isn't just handed over, people enter into contracts, and in those contracts there are disclosure limitations, which means in the SLTB goes back on their initial agreement, they will be subject to legal action-after all that is the intent of a contract.

Secondly, you claim that McDoom has years of experiencing, but years of experiencing doing what. I know for a fact that high-end fashion producers, do not hold the fiscal responsibility of their shows- Creative Director is just that.

Not to mention, the lens he is looking at it from, is not from a Caribbean perspective, it is from a European one, so the comparison is not linear. Again, it is an ETHICAL no no. Or do Ethics not matter?

Anonymous said...

*Excuse the typos

Anonymous said...

I suppose this person can't help being selectively pedantic. Oh, ethics do matter--a ton. Who knew there existed a Tenders Board within government to deal with such matters?

Above, you chose to focus solely on the example of public workers but completely neglected the fact that the amounts paid to private contractors in the employ of the SLTB have already been made public. Does the name Hepple ring a bell? I'm sure it does, as the situation proved to be a hobbyhorse during platform rants and parliamentary debates. Was that disclosure unethical then?

If you're going to defend a move, please ensure that all your bases are covered. Some of us have the ability to see through glass houses.

Anonymous said...

"Oh yes, Mr Speaker, $900,000 of the people's money!" *cue Pavlovian salivation*

Anonymous said...

Ofcourse it was unethical, do you not understand the concept of ethics. What you have just said to me is: Since other people have shoplifted, there should be no problem with me shoplifting in the future?

By this logic, you have exposed your own standards.

Anonymous said...

"McDoom telling Saint Lucians what the cost of an event should be, would be the equivalent of the head chef telling the Hotel manager what the cost of running the hotel should be."
_________________________

What ever gave you that impression? No one even remotely suggested Mc Doom knew the cost of the entire festival. Don't get confused in your haste to defend. I'm sure a head chef would be able to advise the hotel manager what it costs to run his department though. The fashion show was merely a subset of the festival.

You don't need any degree in economics (or international relations for that matter) to determine costs. Being cost-efficient, however, is a different story--as successive governments have shown, ethics ought to supersede perceived education.

Anonymous said...

Wow! You're calling what our precedent-setting lawmakers did unethical? Man, let me let this sink in. How could I be so naïve? I had so much faith in our system and the legal know-how of our leaders.

Anonymous said...

The SLTB should have never gotten itself mixup with this McDoom character. Oh! What a mistake.

And all these clowns asking for the cost of the festival have no good intentions. They'll criticize it regardless of the cost.

Anonymous said...

What "McDoom character", are you talking about, what about him that made him a "character'?

McDoom is doing very well in Europe, particularly in Paris, France. He is an icon there. Just google it up and therein lies your answer.

St Lucia needs McDoom more than he need St Lucia. McDoom could eat a bread with both "tor-torts" and could pay his bills, in full - not in part payment!

Above, can you do that - pay your bills ON TIME, take expensive vacation, wear expensive clothing and is a fixture on French Television and live a comfortable life.

You are a very jealous person, you above.

Anonymous said...

What right has government to sign contracts where there is a gag order not to disclose the costs?

Do you see any KOKO MAKAQ in that?

Isn't it similar to the same old shate that went on with Grynberg? Now there may be some $500 million plus in legal fees and claims.

The darn thing may now be possibly being litigated under 'The Chapter 12 Clause' of the WTO.

Now tell us this. Who the ass is going to pay for this huge asinine GRYNBERG mistake? Is it the person or persons who signed the agreement?

The frigging precedent has already been set. Who de ass is now paying for the ROCHAMEL, and BLACK BAY mistakes? Are they the people who signed the god damn agreements?

And if government is not going cap in hand begging for services to be performed, does it not have god damn choice in deciding between those who respond to its tendering RFPs?

You must have learned your god damn management from UWI's Trinidad Campus.

WHERE THE HELL IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY, IF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS OF SUCH A low-level THING LIKE A FASHION SHOW BECOMES A MATTER OF SUCH GREAT SECRECY THAT HAS TO BE KEPT FROM GOD DAMN PUBLIC SCRUTINY!

The god damn public is getting sick and tired of getting routinely shafted.

The public is losing faith in the shysters and their spin doctors who promise better days, but are too god damn unsophisticated to know the god damn difference between the arrogance of unfettered power and good governance!

And, who de ass is trying to kid whom here?

Anonymous said...

And all these clowns asking for the cost of the festival have no good intentions. They'll criticize it regardless of the cost.

May 27, 2013 at 3:09 AM
__________________________

I'm not one for name-calling so I'll ignore the crass idiocy on display here. If you were genuinely interested in my intentions, you simply had to ask. There's nothing sinister about wanting to nudge SLU towards a course of sustained prosperity. Didn't the Throne Speech call for national inclusion--regardless of distance, color, class or creed?

If we continue with the status quo of secrecy, arrogance and being stupidly defensive when we don't know better, nothing changes. We must examine the profitability of these events and expand the knowledge base so that they thrive. Stop considering the Jazz Festival an amalgamation of sunk costs.

We need not sacrifice event profitability for an increase in tourist arrivals. We can have both if we keep our expenses in check, consider additional on-site revenue streams, and keep the tendering process fair and open.

*P.S. Just add "Bozo!" at the end of my statement if you still don't understand ... since Insult is the language you speak.

Anonymous said...

History will show that the Directorate of the SLTB did not handle this properly. Slagging Mc.Doom by the director was not the best idea he has had. By the way can some one tell me when Lewis has had an original idea in regards to Tourism or any thing for that matter.? It is the duty of a public body to reply fully when accusations are directed at it......what does Lewis do....thank Mae Wayne and Adrian Augier for not replying to Mc. Doom. Who advises this guy. Please please let the conceited Tourist Board Director think he got away with it. His days are numbered.

Anonymous said...

Three recent PMs have been pointing the way.

Strike up the band!!!

Three blind mice. Three blind mice. See how they run.

They all have been driving the country in reverse. Their understudies en know any better.

Three blind mice.

Saint Lucia they say is idiot country.

Anonymous said...

Tell the minister that he is being more than handsomely paid to do the job. Therefore, the people are waiting to get value for money for a change! Damn it! Cut the crap. What is the cost?

Anonymous said...

By treating Mc Doom as a joker in the pack, the SLTB missed an opportunity to capitalize on this ace. Mc Doom attracts attention anywhere he goes - without much effort. His opinion on fashion is respected internationally. Given sufficient promotional time, Mc Doom could've been a perfect satellite or vehicle to generate further foreign media interest in the show. Maybe even convince a few of his celebrity friends to take the trip. Imagine the spectacle.

Anonymous said...

Although he has put on a great show, people will now be extremely hesitant to do business with McDoom, what he has done is the equivalent of that one peer who told everyone in the class the details of a personal conversation. To expose a personal email was low-classed and the same effect could have been achieved in a more professional manner. Now one can only question his emotional restraint.

Anonymous said...

There is a poster above that sounds like he has a personal bone to pick with the Director and it is quite amusing. This poster is so good that he knows for a FACT that not one original idea has come from the Lewis over his tenure there. Who needs cable TV when you have people like this?

Anonymous said...

I would never do business with the Saint Lucian government again EVER, once I discover that my payment for services is being spread all over the media.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
I would never do business with the Saint Lucian government again EVER, once I discover that my payment for services is being spread all over the media.

May 27, 2013 at 2:11 PM

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Are you the only one who can provide that service? Do you have a 50-year patent or legal monopoly on that service? Joker.

Anonymous said...

No, I would not be, but others who can ALSO provide that service would be hesitant to engage in business as well- public disclosure of the prices I have provided my services for is a long term blow to my marketability.

A simple example would be if you were able to haggle with a craft vendor in the Castries Market to get a price down to $5 EC, and after the transaction you went an told a group of tourists, or even locals that they could get the craft for that price, and not the $10 US that they are being told. Good luck trying to haggle with any of the other vendors in the future!
And this happens everyday.

Thanks for the name-calling by the way-very classy.

Anonymous said...

The time has come to stop repeating the mistakes of the past. It is time to knock off the bullshit! That is what is meant by being transparent.

Talk the talk, and walk the talk.

Where is the frigging difference?

Don't just say you are better than UWP. Start proving it!

Anonymous said...

SLP CUT THE CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

SLP vs UWP, is this the talk? This lack of diclosure has been going on ACROSS party lines.

Anonymous said...

It is indeed regrettable that persons who take the time to write in national newspapers do not take an equal measure of care in checking out what they put on paper or in print. To label the Jazz Fashion show Haute Couture is a misnomer, to a certain extent. It barely measures up to what Haute or Couture means. But, to translate Haute from what it originally meant to meaning ‘hot’ at the Jazz Festival is totally inaccurate and to some extent quite silly.

Haute couture means "high fashion" and refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques.

"Couture" means dressmaking, sewing, or needlework[1] and is also used as a common abbreviation of haute couture and refers to the same thing in spirit.[2] "Haute" means elegant or high. An haute couture garment is made specifically for the wearer’s measurements and body stance. So although some of the outfits may be made from high quality expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention by experienced and capable seamstresses, haute in no way means hot.

Anonymous said...

What does this have to do with the article? And FYI it was a play on words, you know- Caribbean= hot

Anonymous said...

Saint Lucians let's get the SLP to really understand that it is past the time to cut all the political crap for good!

workinprogress said...

The real issue here is that Vincent exposed some shady business by way of the clique that exists in the SLTB. The members of this clique consider themselves to be above other Saint Lucians so I am not surprised about all the stories that have come out of this fashion show.

Anonymous said...

The pages of the SLP's manifesto do not even rise in value and usefulness as cheap sandpaper-grade toilet paper.

But the credibility of the SLP is down in the toilet. This unfortunately goes for both major political parties.

SLP's hollow rhetoric about 'accountability' and 'transparency' is now equivalent in meaning as that of North Korea's Dear Leader's use of the word 'democracy'.

In the meantime, Saint Lucia gives the US a major political snub.

Kenny goes to Cuba for a 'Socialist United' Confab. Saint Lucia has joined ALBA. Pip meets the Vice President of the US.

Let's hope that this ends just there, with no major negative repercussions and ramifications.

Oh by the way, the US controls the world's 'lender of last resort', viz, the IMF.

If it doesn't touch you, other major financial institutions will automatically follow its lead.

Our own Supreme 'Dear Leader' is making all the decisions.

Meanwhile, fasten your seat belts. There is going to be more than just VAT turbulence ahead.

Anonymous said...

Really, a play on words or an exhibitioni of ignorance. Accept it for what it is. No where in the article, does it say Haute Couture means High Fashion. If it really was a play on words, then the author somewhere in the article would have mention High Fashion.

Anonymous said...

Mr.PS Tourism. Why did you have to bring in Adrian Augier's name in this. No where did McDoom mention Augier. He only mention the person with whom he had some disagreement and to whom he wrote a letter. It seems that you are trying to dampen criticism of that person by mentioning Augier's name. You are using taxpayers money to make friends. Don't forget you are only useful when you are put in charge of the finances. The moment you are moved to another ministry, you will be no longer important to them. You
ought not to be kissing up to anyone.

Anonymous said...

Why do people morph into different personalities to belabor a moot point? For the anonymous debating the difference between Haute and Hot, yes, we get it. Now get this: it was a pun; a simple play on words that our climate easily lent itself to. From a branding perspective: sheer genius.

In fact, only this past week or so Givenchy released a perfume called Hot Couture--and that's no misnomer. Do you need any other noteworthy, international branding endorsements? With so much information at our fingertips, it's amazing how cloistered some people remain.

Now I understand why people with any modicum of talent flee this rock in droves. It's way too taxing to be surrounded by this much foolishness, masquerading as education and elitism.

Anonymous said...

SLP HAS LOST ITS WAY!

Here's proof positive that the island is on autopilot.

The PM SNUBS the US.

He is seeing Mr. Castro. His deputy Pip sees the Vice President of the US.

THE COUNTRY IS BEING PREPARED FOR IMF CONDITIONALITIES with the removal of subsidies and the half-cock and hurried implementation of the IMF-recommended VAT.

Can this SLP leadership handle any fallout from this?

Lest we forget, the US CONTROLS the funding allocations of the IMF. Who pays the piper ...?

Now the spending PROFLIGACY of the SLP is nothing short of mind-boggling. We have STEP which employs party supporters for 1.92 percent of the year, each year SLP is office.

Then we have the egregious financial giveaways like Frenwell, the patrimony in idiotic investments with the Black Bay lands, and super-sleuthing handovers of Saint Lucia's seabed.

Now we are generating another crop of arrogant and mendacious ministers to boot.

The ARROGANCE of the SLP is just amazing! Where is the action behind all the talk of transparency and accountability?

Where the hell is the moral authority when your own house is not in order? When you are still piling on the very same things you are taking the other side to task on?

Where is the honesty SLP? What the hell is going on SLP?

Has Saint Lucia only traded one set of lying and cheating politicians for a new crop and an equally clueless new breed?

Anonymous said...

You didn't get it Jack. With the beginning of fashion in St. Lucia as part of the Jazz Festival many readers will call the event Hot Couture because that's what they have read in the newspaper or hear in the media. Many St. Lucians hear pronunciations on the media and take it for granted or read it in the newspaper for the first time and think that's what it means. And then they travel and swear they are saying the right thing. Some of them even say, well, this is how we say it in St. Lucia. So if you don't get it, then stay out of the conversation Jack your contribution is without substance or meaning. The branding by Givenchy is a proper noun and not a commom one. International branding is what it is, private international branding, haute couture is a common noun.

Anonymous said...

And if we were not so hell-bent on Anglicizing the patios to make it even indistinguishable from the original French words by our smart asses, we would not have a problem with saying "haut couture". And besides this, we would get the real essence of the words used.

Anonymous said...

McDoom open he mout and story jump out! Deal with it!

Anonymous said...

The PM runs home to Cuba.

Anonymous said...

Castro please keep him foreever. He belongs to the likes of you.

Anonymous said...

Is the name of an event, more specifically Hot Couture, considered a COMMON noun--especially since the writer even bothered to capitalize the words? Pardon my pseudo-intellect, it may be the direct result of my ANGLOCISM of PATOIS.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Why do people morph into different personalities to belabor a moot point? For the anonymous debating the difference between Haute and Hot, yes, we get it. Now get this: it was a pun; a simple play on words that our climate easily lent itself to. From a branding perspective: sheer genius.

In fact, only this past week or so Givenchy released a perfume called Hot Couture--and that's no misnomer. Do you need any other noteworthy, international branding endorsements? With so much information at our fingertips, it's amazing how cloistered some people remain.

Now I understand why people with any modicum of talent flee this rock in droves. It's way too taxing to be surrounded by this much foolishness, masquerading as education and elitism.

May 27, 2013 at 9:51 PM
----------------------------------
Well said, blogger. I sure hope the person who continues to champion the moot point gets it. Intelligence, it seems, is not quite his/her main suit.

Anonymous said...

It was a pun? Really?

Anonymous said...

Louis Lewis is LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH. The Tourist Board is required by Law to present Annual Financial Statements in the Parliament. There all information about the SLTB's payments and finances can be laid bare on our behalf by the members of the Opposition in Parliament.
So they had better do that.

The three musketeers representing the SLTB at that Press Conference represented themselves as three NINCOMPOOPS. What a mess. Neither of these three are worth the monies they are being paid. The sounded like clerks at the A.F. Valmont Shoe Store.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

REEK WANE tired of taking our St. Lucia treasury monies to the cleaners. We gonna stop it now! Voleur.

Anonymous said...

lOUIS lEWIS WAS THE CIVIL SERVANT DOING THE pOLITICIAN'S BIDDING REGARDING THE hepple MAN'S CONTRACT.

NUFF SAID.

Anonymous said...

Why did they put such an ugly picture of Louis Lewis. Whatever happened to his mouth and nose?

Anonymous said...

And that picture of Tracy Warner makes her look like a brown frog.

Anonymous said...

SLP is the party of overtaken by shate shooters. What a dishonest bunch of liars! Nobody knows what the ass they are doing except their boss, the communist. We loathe communists.

Anonymous said...

These folks at the Tourist are really shit-shooters. Shame on them. Shame on the Government.

Anonymous said...

Pass them toilet paper. Help them clean up the corners of their mouths.

Anonymous said...

Just look at these two in the picture - they look quite uncomfortable.

Is it because you two are not speaking the truths and are thinking of lies to justify the hitherto lies?

I have absolutely no confidence in you two, or, for that matter, the honchos of the SLTB.

Anonymous said...

The public should be privy to see the contracts and amounts paid by SLTB to the Hot Couture key players. These are tax payers’ money and they have a right to see how much and who their money is being dispersed to. it the Ministry of Tourism has allocated a certain amount of money for the Jazz festival, then the SLTB should be disclosing to the public where those fund were spent. It seems to be that those 2 are running the SLTB as if this is their money. Louis Lewis and Tracy Warner Arnold sans haute….