By Rick Wayne

In truth there really was never a case to answer. But then politicians have never been famous for basing their actions on anything that made sense to the ordinary mind. Take the matter of James Hepple’s three-year appointment as tourism consultant. First it was his salary that threatened to kick up a storm in the opposition party’s teacup.

At US$150,000 a year, some said, it amounted to five times what was paid tourism director Maria Fowell. All of that, as if Hepple was to be blamed for the contractual arrangements negotiated by Fowell, a long-time public servant who had served as Philip J Pierre’s permanent secretary when he was tourism minister in the Kenny Anthony administration.

For several days last year Timothy Poleon’s Newsspin broke audience records, thanks to the generated debate over what critics described as the maltreatment of Mrs Fowell by the new administration, by tourism minister Allen Chastanet in particular—a relative of Fowell.

Meanwhile the lady had nothing to say on the controversy. At any rate, not publicly. When finally she decided to break her silence it was via a letter to the chairman of the St Lucia Tourist Board, wherein she said she was moving on to greener pastures and requested that her resignation not be over-publicized. Nothing in Fowell’s letter suggested she had in any way been offended by James Hepple’s appointment.

Indeed, she was later photographed with both Hepple and the tourism minister evidently having a jolly good time. This week Hepple was again making headlines, all because of the following that appeared in the first Gazette of 2008:"In exercise of power conferred under Section 8 of the Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens Act, Cap. 16.13, the Minister responsible for Labour makes this Order: This order may be cited as the Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens (Dr James Hepple) (Waiver) Order 2007.

Dr James Hepple is hereby exempted from the payment of work permit fees for a three-year period commencing the 1st day of November, 2007." The order, which was made on the 17th of December 2007, featured the signature of the minister responsible for labour, Edmund Estaphane. By his own admission Andre Paul, the host of What Makes Me Mad, was "very angry after I read that thing in the Gazette." And he promised to devote today’s show to this maddening matter.

Of course, those who are not yet so insane as to publicly admit it to Andre on-air will doubtless realize there is nothing about the waiver cited above over which to lose one’s sanity. After all, the government is Hepple’s employer. What would be the point in the government applying to the government for a work permit on behalf of James Hepple? After all, this is not Alice in Wonderland.

Governments have the authority to exempt certain individuals, whether citizens or non-nationals, from paying taxes and from paying for work permits. No big deal. As for the question about Hepple’s salary famously put to the tourism consultant by DBS’ Lisa Joseph shortly before Christmas, he might easily have answered: "I am paid US$150,000 a year because Allen Chastanet and your government think I’m worth it." If he sounded like a Revlon commercial in the process, still he would’ve said nothing but the truth. Lord alone knows why he chose instead to make a fool of himself on TV!

Finally, it should be noted that there’s nothing new or unusual about the treatment of James Hepple by the King administration. In the time of the Kenny Anthony, Didacus Jules, Jimmy Fletcher, Earl Bousquet and others had negotiated salaries and gratuities way above that paid regular civil servants. Ah, but they were all St Lucians, you say. True. But then there was also the highly controversial Stewart Smith, a Trinidadian. By popular account the Kenny Anthony administration paid him a king’s ransom for his services as hospital administrator––certainly more than had been paid native counterparts!

Were Jules, Fletcher and company all worth the money paid them by the St Lucian taxpayer? Was Earl Bousquet worth $78,000 a year, plus an extra $1500 a month as entertainment, travel and telephone allowances? Evidently Kenny Anthony thought so. At any rate, until December 11, 2006.