‘There Will Be A Holiday!’

Make sure the holiday includes us being closed 🫠🫠🥹

Lol Massy, I support this notion!

people broke in st lucia we need less holidays , don t let excitment get youall stupid name a street or something after her instead

Pierre, let this momentuous occasion be a turning point in Saint Lucia’s sporting culture. Invest in the youth by elevating the calibre of sport on the island. We need more athletes representing Saint Lucia in more sporting disciplines at the Olympics. Scouting should start at primary school level and a robust program of sporting development should be initiated so that every athlete has the best chance of making it to the top. You often talk about solutions to the crime problem, well here is your opportunity to put this life changing initiative in place and see how society will change for the better. And don’t stop there, make education a priority where every Saint Lucians should atleast have a college level education. I think by now, Saint Lucia should have had a University. These things go a long way in shaping a better society.

Pip is a sucker. Pay for a house at new choc development for her. If millions could be spent on carnival and jazz, the government could afford it…….who else agree?

Mate do not care a hell about private sector workers so Massy you stick in that you all need to get organized and create a new workers union who got pension increase government workers …

@C-wiz

I was gonna comment but you already said everything would have said. Let me just add I think we have enough holidays.

I do hope this holiday is given on the day JUJU returns home. Our entire island both private and public sector should be closed. so individuals can turn out in large numbers to give our sports hero the welcome she deserves. What a day of celebration this would be!🙏🏾🙏🏾🇱🇨🇱🇨❤️❤️❤️💐💐💕💕😭😭🫂🫂🫂

@stinger remember Laverne Spencer got land and money, so I hope Juju will get something too.

Juju has put us on the map. But the PM really needs to put a plan to deal with the crime. That can tarnish our reputation we are trying to build

@C-Wiz with all due respect we are on the same page as I was thinking of posting along these lines.

Regarding education – there are some families with a legacy of illiteracy and this ought not to be. Every generation should excel and advance much more than their elders. St. Lucia is a tiny island which birthed two noble prize winners – come on people you all can do so much better.

for me a holiday is not needed….is that all people go and vote for?? holidays??? why cant the pm at least look into naming the stadium in vfort after her and get it fixed….i believe that this stadium can work wonders for us…..pm look into working on our sporting facilities here…we can get many more and invest in sports tourism because of the first class achievement that julien alfred has made….you may have tried before i am not saying particular circumstances were not an issue but please look into working on the vfort stadium with a much competent team..

@Nikki
Are you going to pay the wages of wage workers who have bills to pay? You do know that not everyone is interested in the same things? Why force what you want to celebrate on other people? Not everyone wants to celebrate the same things. Try to understand that for a bit.

Kudos to this young lady. What a spectacular achievement. You, your hard work and dedication are such an inspirations.

Now that we set the bar on naming sporting facilities, how then can this achievement be recognised? Naming a stadium after someone usually indicates the pinnacle of achievement. Arthur Ashe Stadium. Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Sir Garfield Sobers Cricket Stadium. Brian Lara Stadium. Estadio Diego Armando Maradona. Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. St. Lucia has Darren Sammy Stadium??? One of these certainly don’t belong in that elite list. What now that St. Lucia has an elite athlete who actually made it to the top?

The clowns in this country put the cart before the horse. Captaining a winning team to world cup, with minimal contribution to the actual winning of the tournament is not in the same bracket as an individual gold medal in the Olympics. Are they going to name the Olympic stadium after her (which is worthy recognition)? Wouldn’t that equate and degrade an Olympic gold to captaining a team? Not hating on Sammy. Respect the guy’s heart, dedication and achievement but his name won’t be mentioned in any sporting circles like Alfred’s will be. Once again, the ineptitude of those in charge here laid bare for all to see.

I was waiting for that from them. Their highest level of response is to announce a holiday. Why not announce some serious investments in sports in schools across the island so that those with the talent can be pushed on the international stage? Smh! As studies have concluded; talent is vast, opportunity is not. Congrats to this young woman who not only had the talent but was supported and nurtured to develop it. May other talented Lucians, be given similar opportunities to prove their worth. Congrats again girl, you have entered into the annals of history. your papa must be so proud looking down at his little Olympian! All the very best !

And for those of u asking to name street after her, I hope she resist this at any cost. Naming things after people when they still have so much to do is an interference and never a good idea. Let the her talent shine without this baggage.

While St Lucians 🇱🇨 living in Cayenne are celebrating the victory of miss Alfred,is it late information,as I heard on R F O Guyane journal télévision that Julien is qualified for final after placing fourth in the 4 hundred mètres which is today at 3..45pm shedduled time ?

Respect the King’s opinion, his word is suppreme..A holiday to remember and should be benificals for all employees financally..
I respect your comments,particulally @Anonymous

PM Pierre, you cannot please everyone, some asking for a holiday others are against it. what to do. Stinger and Cwiz have never mentioned who was the minister of sports in the last government and what he did. Some are talking as if nothing is done for the youth, the last government gave 7 million for no vaccine, 24 million to a hotelier for free meals for him and his cabinet. 1000 acres of land for a dollar per acre. but everyone wants to blame Pierre. I know News online will not print this article.

Respect ❗

While this young lady’s individual achievement should be applauded and celebrated I see no reason why it should be afforded a day of festivity or recreation where no work is done. That is simply not the way forward St Lucia. There are far too many holidays already in this country and we simply cannot afford anymore. We need to carry on with our production, distribution and trade, as well as the consumption of goods and services and having a holiday will not achieve this. St Lucia has an economy to run and we cannot afford to be idle and less productive in this day and age when the Western world is collapsing around us with riots, violence, strikes and the turmoil in the Middle East which may spark a third World war anytime from now.

Julien run the one hundred meters and won and she must be applauded for that. She said that she left St Lucia in her teens to attend school in Jamaica. She then trained in the Northern Caribbean island before going to the States to train harder so she could compete in the Olympics. This could not have been easy for her. She needed funds to do so and from what I heard the governments of St Lucia was only able to assist her partially. That does not surprise me one bit as administration after administration keep failing the country’s youths where sports is concerned.

The dozy and inept politicians we have in the country are not interested in youth development and sporting activities. They are only interested in themselves. When was the last time the ministry of sports did anything meaningful for the island? St Lucia is brimming with untapped talent and potential and the department is not putting anything in place to help nurture that talent. There are many other young aspirants out there wanting to represent but they are not being afforded the opportunity to do so due to a lack of good sporting facilities. The stadiums and playing fields are not up to standard and no one cares to fix it.

The national football team had to abandon World Cup qualifiers a few months ago due to sub-standard playing fields and stadiums. They had to play the qualifiers in neighbouring Barbados. How humiliating is that? A country like St Lucia which is booming had to play their games away in another country. The department of sport and the St Lucia FA knew about the games but did nothing to try and get a stadium so that the games can be played at home. Prior to that the same inept and incompetent FA abandoned all the remaining qualifiers before the 2022 World Cup. How can this country move forward when you have such clumsy and awkward people in charge of the island’s beautiful game? They are doing this on purpose. To say that I am unhappy about the maladroit way they have handled this matter would be putting it mildly. A lot of people in the country are appalled and rightly so.

And so when I saw these useless, unproductive, imprudent, tactless and worthless politicians jumping and serenading like Romeo serenading Juliet in the moonlight I was really taken aback. What have they done to help sports in the country? They are not in any position to be taking credit for this young lady’s sporting achievement. None Whatsoever! It is no wonder Julien had to partially offer credit to Jamaica. The politicians who run St Lucia care about one thing only and that is themselves and their cohorts. They don’t care about the masses. A lot of the athletes who have achieved anything have had to leave the country to do so. Social media has been inundated with content about the actual event but very few of these commentaries have been able to address the subject of the government and other sporting bodies’ unwillingness to manage sports properly in the country.

There are endless sporting venues in the country already. The last time I visited St Lucia I saw the Olympic emblem in full view outside the stadium. I was impressed to say the least. Why not have this stadium fixed to accommodate sporting activities like football and occasionally athletics. The stadium is being underutilized. I was told that it was being used as a makeshift hospital. This has been going on for a very long time now. It is about time they rebuild the St Jude’s hospital so that the patients can be moved back there. Nothing irks me more than to see politicians taking credit for things that they should not be taking credit for. This national stadium in the South could be fixed in time for the World Cup qualifiers.

Julien Alfred’s sporting prowess is outstanding and we must celebrate it by all means but it does not warrant a public holiday where people eat, drink be merry and forget about her achievement the very next day after flirting with alcohol and becoming inebriated and gunning for fights. The country should not go Doolally over one sporting achievement. It reeks of desperation and despair – We can do better than that. After all St Lucia is a nation of two Nobel laureates and countless other luminaries and writers. Why go down that route like we are a nation which has nothing to offer anyone? Why do we have to wait for people to achieve to celebrate? We should be creating our own moments so we can all celebrate together.

Darren Sammy who won two World Cups in 2012 and 2016 respectively if anything should have had a public holiday in his honour after achieving such wondrous moments for our splendid archipelago, but no one saw fit to accord him one. Cricket is the glue that is bringing our Caribbean people together and winning the prestigious world title twice should have been celebrated with a public holiday. I like Darren Sammy. He is charismatic, affable, amiable, refined and have acted with the utmost decorum when out in public. His smiles are always inviting and encouraging. Why didn’t the people who are calling for Julien to have a public holiday called for Sammy to be given one when West Indies won the World Cups under his captaincy?

Cricket is a not an individual sport like Athletics and tennis. These individual sports are egocentric self seeking and full of self-importance. I like team sports like Football, cricket and basketball where players play and come together. Team sports is the way forward and it binds people together. It opens up a close and harmonious relationship in which the teams and players concerned understand each other’s feelings and ideas and communicate well. It helps build community cohesion and unity unlike individual sports which does not necessarily do so.

I travelled across the border into Paris to watch the games and was hoping to catch a glimpse of Julien on the boat that was showcasing the athletes but it was not to be as she was nowhere to be seen. Most of the countries exhibiting at the Olympics ensured that their star athletes was onboard that boat to show them to the world but Julien was nowhere to be seen. That speaks volumes. I watched with my cousins in the French capital and was sadly disappointed. Why didn’t the powers that be put things in place to ensure that this did not happen… She is the star athlete. And they want a public holiday after such a fiasco. Winning comes with everything and starts with the little things first. Like the Chinese would say ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step. Yes one step at a time folks.

The idea of a public holiday isn’t such a good one. Please allow the young athlete to develop herself and not become too cocky and insolent. She has a bright future ahead of her. Let her nurture and develop her talent without political interference especially from the useless and impotent politicos out there. I wish her every success in her future sporting endeavours.

Viva St Lucia the land of my beautiful mother!

Malcolm L’Overture
Haitian Lucian
Paris France

If I am not mistaken, these holidays refer to something punctual, not a calendar holiday.

Oh yes, another holiday. Good God just how many public holidays does this island need? No wonder you are still third world, everyone just wants to sit around on the end of a spliff or have a twerk fest. As for Massy staff saying make sure you are closed, how will we tell? Most of the time the shelves are empty and ‘cashier closed’ signs are a prominent feature, the answer to a simple, polite enquiry is a straight NO, Or is there another reason for that?

Malcolm, I agree with you about Darren Sammy and the public holiday. I do think that the state should have accorded the country a holiday to honour Sammy when he won the World Cups. Darren is a genuine son of the soil who speaks the Kweyol language and one who blends in well with the people. He won the most prestigious prize in sports, Yes two World Cups and was not offered a holiday. Julien Alfred on the other hand who won the 100 meters in a one time wonder is about to be given such an honour. What is wrong with the government and people of this country?

Julien left St Lucia to attend school in Jamaica and didn’t look back. She paid homage to Jamaica recently without saying much about St Lucia where she comes from. Like you said she was not on the showboat in Paris to show herself and country to the world – now all of a sudden she wins the gold she’s Lucian. The idea of a public holiday does not appeal to me and many of my fellow Lucians. We have enough holidays already to contend with. We just celebrated one a few days ago. We have Christmas and boxing day, independence day, May day and the carnival, what more do we need? Lucians love too much fetes and parties. We need to stop this and to help make our small island productive.

Julien will soon forget about her lovely island of St Lucia and return to Texas like most of our celebrities do when they achieve something. Darren Sammy who have won two World Cups is one of us and is always present here in St Lucia. He is a patriotic Lucian who has served his nation well and should be given credit for the great work he has done in helping to bring a entire archipelago together thru his beloved sport. I say if any holiday should have been given it should have been given to Sammy’s World Cup wins. Sammy is far more deserving cause it’s World Cup.
The ministry of sports is useless. They have done very little to improve sports on the island. They should not be taking any credit for this. None whatsoever, not even the MP responsible. All the credit should go to Julien Alfred from Ciceron Castries. Yes I said it.

A holiday for what exactly! Please tell me. All this girl did was to win a hundred meters on the day. She was lucky after the Jamaican was not allowed to compete. Had Fraser been allowed to compete the results would have been different. You lot are behaving like she is a doctor who have found a cure for diabetes or some other deadly disease. Common now people let us get serious about this.

This young woman was just entertaining us with her frolics on the track. Stop taking things seriously. She did not even show herself on the river boat in France. That says a lot about her. Why wasn’t she on the boat to show the world who she is and what her island is all about? She then goes on to credit Jamaica more than she credits her country of birth and upbringing. Who does that? Do you think a Jamaican would ever do that had it been the other way round? The answer is NO.
These good for nothing politicians who have nothing to offer the people will do anything for publicity. What have they done for the country. They have done nothing yet they want to offer holiday without merit to the people. Where is natty when we need him? She has done more for St Lucia in a few seconds that the two regimes put together have done… Let the woman get on with it and to live her life without all this interference from the public and these useless politicians. She needs to live her life without the glare of the media and all the trimmings that comes with it.

Some of you Lucians are serious haters – leave Julien Alfred alone. She did mention St. Lucia her tiny island where she was born and her father died when she was thirteen. She also mentioned Jamaica where she stated she spent three years and she said thanked them for being part of the process – she was discovered in Jamaica —- what more do you all want from her and what more do you want her to say – LET HER BE.

Stop hating jealous haters and leave her alone – when and where she decides to live is her business. With some of you haters doing the most – if it were me I would certainly live ???????

Malcolm pay chu….. you actually write all that just take up how much data in Lapo St Lucia Star. Ms. Alfred just ignore these opinionated haters come home you will be greeted with open arms by local folks if you wish pass by Cedar Heights and ask for Highgrade I will personally buy out he bar for you we going have a parade it will start in VF at the airport a caravan from there thru town up to the Heights I will personally go on the land and pick the freshest jelly for you my dear it’s the least I could as a proud St Lucian

Julien Alfred has made sure St Lucia is a Global name and everyone who sees her will know that she is ST LUCIAN. She has represented US with excellence!! A holiday for her homecoming ? Why not!! Never will we have this “First” happening again..As our St Lucia flag went up and our anthem played , you could see the emotion and the pride on her face. WE SALUTE you Julien Alfred!! Let us give her the appreciation that she deserves..

And then let’s pave the way forward for future athletes so that they do not have leave St Lucia at such a young age to maximize their potential. Let us celebrate , let us learn, let us change our mind sets and our game plan to ensure that our future sportsmen and women get the support, training, facilities , coaches, etc. that they deserve.

The Most Honourable Lucian Highgrade or rather Lowgrade. I find your vulgar parlance to be utterly disgraceful. How dare you use such profanity when addressing someone who made a contribution to this debate? People like you have nothing to offer and so you would rather utter spit out vulgarity. The man wrote his essay, why don’t you respect what he wrote. I may not agree with some of what he wrote but I will defend his right to write it.
Do you think that Julien Alfred in her right mind would take you up on your offer writing such grossness? I don’t think so. She has a brand to protect and would not want to associate with anyone who remotely tarnishes her brand with the type of language that you used in your introduction. It’s pillocks like you who are tarnishing this country’s reputation with your crassness and gaudiness.

Instead of buying out the bar why don’t you use your money which I am assuming is “all legit” to feed the hungry in your home town? The people over there could do with some good grub. Why do you have to descend into the depths of inebriation and depravity to please such an important person? You are so unrefined, unpolished and uncultured and you have the effrontery and temerity to refer to yourself as Lucian…You are the very worst of Lucian trying to pass off as Mr. Goody Two Shoes… Go away!