Where is President Sharon Cummings?

by Theodore Browne

Mrs. Sharon Cummings came to this beloved country with excellent academic credentials and a wealth of experience as an outstanding legal practitioner from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. She is a Vincentian by marriage consequent upon her marriage to the Honourable Senator Daniel Cummings of the New Democratic Party and of CWSA fame. What a blessing it was for this State to benefit from her erudition, independence, wisdom and exemplary administration of justice in her capacity as a Magistrate and later as President of the Family Court. {{more}}

At one time when there was no Magistrate for District III comprising Calliaqua, Layou, Barrouallie, Chateaubelair, Bequia and Union Island she served excellently both as Magistrate and as President of the Family Court- an impossible task for lesser mortals.

Her judgements were Solomonic and swift. Her communication skills, mellifluous voice, dignified and graceful bearing commanded respect and imbued litigants with confidence in our court system. In this respect she was peerless. Without saying more, thank God she was here as judicial salt- a fitting preservative in an apparent decaying society.

Magistrate Cummings was like a refreshing and invigorating breeze in the stuffy and suffocating corridors of Justice in this State. She was too aloof to be enmeshed in the mire and grime of partisan politics. She was the consummate Magistrate and President.

The devastating news in legal circles is that her contract of service has not been renewed. Young lawyers who found her to be courteous, inspiring and always willing to help, guide and teach them how to avoid legal pitfalls were disappointed. I cry for my country if our leaders have become so perverted that they can no longer make a distinction between right and wrong.

I cry and agonize for St. Vincent and the Grenadines if its current financial strains put it on the brink of insanity and caused its leaders to panic and display behaviour which is callous, unreasonable, unjustifiable and arbitrary.

A desperate effort must be made now by all patriots to arrest further deterioration of our civilization and all forms of debilitating senseless discrimination relating thereto. Action of the kind meted out to Mrs. Cummings is tantamount to a diminution of our independence and constitutes an assault on justice, decency, competence and impartiality. It is difficult to conceive of our learned Prime Minister and trail blazer in the crusade for justice allowing minions and me devoid of moral integrity, to persuade him to do what does not ennoble our Caribbean civilization. Has the government peaked and is now experiencing diminishing returns at a rapid rate?

Why should Magistrate/President Cummings go and not the men, who are like “deadwood” in the corridors of power – men who desecrate their offices and the nearby public car park in broad day light? Is it not on camera? What about those agents of Government, who, driven by greed, trespass on private lands at Brighton Bay and destroy the dunes and sea defenses thereon in total disregard of the proprietary rights of the owners. As a consequence at high tide several acres of fertile, private lands became inundated by seawater and are no longer cultivable. Is there no cure for Public Works, Mr. Burgin?

This massive destruction and merciless assault on the environment are taking place under the watch of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has visited many far and remote areas of the world but not Brighton Bay – the scene of an environmental massacre – not far from his home. The whole village has risen up in protest. Why not visit the area, Mr. Prime Minister, and see for yourself. Those who report to you cannot be trusted with the truth, government officials who are embarrassing the Prime Minister and the people of this State. At Brighton Bay under the guise of cleaning up an already immaculately clean beach are the ones who should go – and not Magistrate Cummings – a woman of transparent integrity and whose patriotic instincts will not allow an erosion of justice in this land.

After three decades at the Bar, I urge the maximum leader not to genuflect to the calls of the intellectually bankrupt, the avaricious, the morally leprous and the spiritually destitute whose minds are store houses of evil and political bias. LET RIGHT BE DONE! Mrs. Cummings is an eminent citizen of this State and a highly respected professional of our Caribbean Community. She is a great national virtue to be treasured as a judicial expert.

Will the Prime Minister do what is reasonable and right to persuade her with the help of her passionate husband to accept a renewed contract of service? St. Vincent is in dire need of her unmatched service of quality and the populace will rejoice if she accepts – and I wish she would – for our national welfare will be promoted. Those who concoct stories to the contrary in the dark where cockroaches thrive should be exposed to the glare of public scrutiny. “Righteousness exalleth a nation but sin is a reproach to any people” Proverbs 14:34. I would not be a true supporter of the ULP if I sit in silence and sanction the perpetuation of evil which can catapult my party into oblivion. Again I say: Let Right Be Done!

On the other hand if Mrs. Cummings, in her own deliberate judgement refused an option to have her contract of service renewed, then other considerations would arise. But based on

my personal research she was not given that opportunity. (• Space paid for by writer)