Local political history is replete with bonmots by John Compton. No surprise his political career spanned at least four decades during which time he had led UWP administrations no less than eight times.

The much-anticipated 2007/2008 Budget will be presented today by Prime Minister Sir John Compton. The ears of the nation will no doubt be peeled to hear exactly where the relatively new government of the United Workers Party is going to spend our hard-earned tax dollars.

The nation was horrified to learn on the morning of November 11, 2005 that an 11-year-old boy had been roasted alive in a locked cell at the state-run Massade Boys Training Center. But soon the horror story had taken a new twist: instead of concentrating on the circumstances of Jamal’s death, the nation seemed interested only in the little boy’s history before he was taken away from his mother by a court order and placed in the ostensible protective custody of the Kenny Anthony government.

Between the road works, constant traffic jams and continuous absence of water, it is a surprise that there are not more psychiatrists operating in St Lucia. After all, having dust in your face every time you travel the highway, being stuck in traffic for hours and then coming home from a hard day’s work and not being able to take a nice long shower would push anyone over the edge. But it is a life that St Lucians have become accustomed to.

There was a time not so long ago when a certain category of citizen seemed to operate beyond the reaches of the law. No more, judging by what happened to a government minister who was recently arrested near the waterfront buildings and taken to Central Police Station.