Editorial

13.MAR.08 Another National Heroes Day/ Heritage Month is with us. Tomorrow, March 14th, having been officially designated National Heroes Day, is quit...

07.MAR.08 March 8 is recognized globally as International Women’s Day (IWD) - a day when women of ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and politic...

29.FEB.08 No matter how we squirm to face unpleasant truths, the Caribbean today faces a major socio-economic problem in relation to crime. Crime in i...

22.FEB.08 This week’s announcement by Cuban President Fidel Castro Ruz that he is finally stepping down from that post marks the end of an historic ...

15.FEB.08 The year of celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the St. Vincent Grammar School got started rather quietly this week. The school’...

08.FEB.08 The history of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is replete with many fine deeds of our people and glorious moments of their accomplishments. E...

18 JAN.08 Political pundits and Caribbean people throughout the region are still coming to grips with the surprise sweeping of the polls by David Thom...

11.JAN.08 This week’s two-day strike action by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers’ Union (SVGTU) has found the government not only taken ...

04.JAN.08 As we welcome the New Year, many Vincentians, like others around the world, are reflecting and making resolutions, hoping that this time aro...

21.DEC.07 Last year, the staff at Searchlight pledged to reach out each Christmas to a needy person or family in the spirit of love and goodwill that ...

14.DEC.07 Sometime today (Friday) the House of Assembly is expected to conclude the debate on the 2008 Budget and then adjourn for the rest of the yea...

07.DEC.07 The shock waves from last week’s earthquake are still reverberating throughout the Caribbean. Although we all are aware of the region’s ...

30.NOV.07 Many Public Servants are this week beginning to get the feel of an early Christmas as Government makes the first of its payouts promised for...

23.NOV.07 Antigua has become the latest Caribbean country to be caught up in a spate of apparent drug-and-gang-related murders, causing much consterna...

16.NOV.07 This week the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU) once more organized activities to mark Teachers Week. As has happened ev...

09.NOV.07 Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves once again has managed to steal the limelight and score political points on his opponents. He used the oc...

02.NOV.07 Change is tough, and when one has been operating in a particular manner for ages, change can be a person’s worst nightmare. However, chang...

26.OCT.07 Tomorrow, October 27, 2007, the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, at home and in the diaspora, celebrate their 28th anniversary of t...

19.OCT.07 “People with this kind of attitude should not be in the Public Service” - Hon. Selmon Walters, Minister with responsibility for the Publ...

12.OCT.07 Activities to commemorate World Food Day will be held world-wide next week under the ambitious theme “Food as a Right”. As has become cu...

05.OCT.07 When the punishment meted out by our penal system does not serve as a deterrent, and rehabilitation seems not to work, what options do we as...

28.SEP.07 The International Cricket Conference’s (ICC) inaugural 20/20 Tournament concluded in South Africa on Monday of this week, with victory for...

21.SEP.07 SEARCHLIGHT welcomes the initiative of CARICOM governments to place the issue of healthy living of the Caribbean people so high on their age...

14.SEP.07 The Commission of Inquiry set up to enquire into the failed multi-million dollar Ottley Hall Project has once more been temporarily halted p...

10.AUG.07 By the way, a few thousand copies of Searchlight newspaper were printed here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week. For the first time...

03.AUG.07 Just over two weeks ago, the House of Assembly approved, unanimously, the Report of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) and re-commit...

27.JUL.07 Every citizen concerned about life, limb and the pursuit of happiness, not to mention the fundamental rights of women and children, can only...

20.JUL.07 Thousands of our young students and pupils are now savouring their annual long vacation break over the July-August period. For them it is a ...

13.JUL.07 Carnival this year truly lived up to its slogan of “Power of Culture, Spirit of Fun”, as was demonstrated by the superb display of our c...

06.JUL.07 For Vincentians, the annual mid-year Summit of CARICOM Heads of Government often gets subsumed by the Carnival festivities. With both taking...

29.JUN.07 Four to six weeks ago there was an atmosphere of trepidation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines as Carnival approached. The spate of brutal m...

22.JUN.07 Caribbean people, at home and abroad, are following with keen interest events in Washington this week where Caribbean leaders have been enga...

15.JUN.07 The entire nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has every reason to be proud of the results of the 2007 Common Entrance examination. We ...

08.June.07 “Police Week” concludes this weekend bringing an end to the activities organized for this purpose. The week could not have come in more...

01.JUNE.07 It happens almost every week. Our reporters are challenged and even threatened by persons holding official positions. These threats usually...

25.MAY.07 Earlier this week St. Vincent and the Grenadines hosted a meeting of CARICOM Ministers with responsibility for air transportation. The meeti...

18.MAY.07 The latest fatal shooting in the Paul’s Avenue area last Sunday night and continued reports of other acts of gun-related and criminal viol...

11.MAY.07 As is expected, the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) from May 1, 2007 has been the subject of heated discussion. The airwaves are v...

4.MAY.07 THE ONGOING BITTER political rivalry between the nation's two parliamentary forces, the governing Unity Labour Party (ULP) and the opposition...

27.APR.07 There are far too many guns on our streets and we have to take action before it is too late. Earlier this month, Searchlight reported that B...

20.APR.07 Geography can be a powerful factor in the development of a country or region. It can either be an impetus to or facilitate progress or it ca...

13.APR.07 Get your tickets at reasonable prices! Bring your food, your water, your music! Your Conch-Shell, your whistle! It’s cricket Caribbean sty...

05.APR.07 St. Vincent and the Grenadines prides itself on being a “God-fearing society of believers”, even though our actions sometimes contradict...

30.MAR.07 There are rare moments in the history of our country when the national interests take precedent over narrow partisan ones. One such occurren...

23.MAR.07 Two hundred years ago this Sunday, on March 25th, 1807, the British Parliament passed an Act outlawing the grossly inhuman and dehumanising ...

16.MAR.07 In her message to mark Commonwealth Day, Monday 12th March, Her Majesty the Queen stressed the need for mutual respect and understanding in ...

08.MAR.07 Any nation's police forcE is subject to the greatest of scrutiny, and when it is perceived to fall short of expectation - reproach. It is no...

02.MAR.07 The issue of the protection of witnesses scheduled to testify or who have testified in criminal trials is now much more than an abstraction ...

23.FEB.07 The flamboyant Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has made his second visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, leaving heated discussion in hi...

16.FEB.07 Leaders of the nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) would by now have returned to their respective homes and jurisdictions after the...

9.FEB.07 It is with huge sigh of relief that most Vincentians would have welcomed the resumption of the Ottley Hall Inquiry. After all it has dragged ...

2.JFEB.07 Now that Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr Ralph Gonsalves has made a Parliamentary statement on the release of the prison...

26.JAN.07 The announcement last week Wednesday that the Ottley Hall Marina debt had been reduced from EC$167 million to EC$16.2 million was greeted al...

19.JAN.07 There is absolutely no restriction on the taking of photographs in public places unless specifically barred by a court order. Despite this, ...

12.JAN.07 Last week the police force celebrated the 8th anniversary of the establishment of its public relations department. Searchlight congratulates...

05.Jan.07 The two weeks before Christmas saw three proverbial red herrings being drawn across the trail here. The biggest from Howie Prince, Director ...

When Jill Jackson penned the words to the song "Let there be peace on earth" in 1955 she knew exactly what she was talking about but chances are that ...

Dec.15.06 Congratulations to Arnhim Eustace on his re-election to the leadership of the New Democratic Party at its Convention Sunday. The party rank ...

Dec.15.06 In a television appearance on Saturday and in a press release issued this week, the Commissioner of Police refuted claims made in our front ...

Dec.08.06 It’s that time of year when we celebrate the birth of Christ and most of us plunge headlong into the spirit of giving. If money doesn’t ...

Dec.1.06 There are some mandatory qualifications which journalists must have if they want to work in the field. An associate degree, a Bachelors or Ma...

Nov.24.06 While the subscribers and readers of other newspapers have had to wait until today to read the news of the SVG Air disappearance, Searchligh...

Public relations is a very interesting thing. It can be used to deflect attention or guide the gaze and direction in a totally different direction. It...

WITHIN the space of 48 hours Saddam Hussein and his self-appointed arch-enemy George Bush were dealt death sentences of two different kinds - Bush is ...

The Sunset Legislation has been passed despite documented concerns about the working of the mechanics of the legislation. There are local privacy righ...

Another year of nationhood has rolled by and as we reflect on the past 12 months we reflect on our fortunes and misfortunes, our blessings as well as ...

20.OCT.06 For decades editors across the Caribbean have lobbied for true freedom of speech and a freeing up of the defamation laws similar to those in...

One of the words that should be erased from the English language is the word "objective". When you think about it, it is next to impossible to achieve...

The art of public relations is the ability to influence public opinion, through the presentation of a client's image, message, or product. It is also ...

Transportation is an important part of economic development and communications. History has shown that with the advent of mass transit overland system...

The brouhaha over the Produce and Commodity Act appears settled now that the Chamber of Commerce has met with the Prime Minister and accepted the "wha...

15.SEP.06 Last week Wednesday night at Sion Hill, opposition Senator St. Claire Leacock said that he would pay someone to burn down the Unity Labour P...

The news of an 18-year-old taking his own life last week was troubling and raises numerous questions and issues which our society must answer. Pressur...

Once upon a time not so long ago, residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines paid different land line telephone rates depending on what part of the c...

Some problems require prime ministerial intervention, and the calamity in which Vinlec found itself over the last few weeks is one such situation. Des...

18.AUG.06 From time immemorial, West Indian people seem to revel in lateness. No matter what the occasion, our people like to turn up after the appoin...

The careful planning, the frenetic organizing, and the reportedly efficient execution of the carnival celebrations for the year 2006 are now all final...

Sacred Fiscal Integrity, among all pubic officials, in the discharge of their public duties is sacred. Nothing less will do. The public perception, ho...

On Emancipation Day, 2006, the people and the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, find ourselves in a quandary. In relation to government policy...

21.JUL.06 The annual debate which eventually follows our Carnival, is again well and truly on the way. Whether in the media, on the blocks, in bars an...

14.JUL.06 The Good This Carnival, there is much to praise, little to fault. This was by most accounts a good Carnival with our artistes performing at ...

07.JUL.06 The sense of frustration and even anger were all too evident on the face of prosecuting counsel Sandra Robertson when she was forced to aban...

30.JUN.06 It's graduation time again, and congratulations are in order for our graduates at all levels. Graduation time also means job hunting time, a...

We add our voice to that of paediatrician Dr. Bharati Datta in calling for stiffer and more effective laws to be put in place to protect our children....