Marigot:--- The speech delivered by the newly elected President of the Collectivity of St. Martin Alain Richardson on Sunday during his installation ceremony was stolen from the Prime Minister of Berkina Faso, Luc Adolphe Tiao. The speech was supposedly written by the right hand man of the President and the RRR group. When the newly elected President was delivering his speech on Sunday many persons were overheard saying they heard that speech before and many words used by the President are not words that are commonly used on St. Martin.
Approximately 90% of the speech delivered by President Alain Richardson on Sunday was taken from the Prime Minister Tiao's speech which is available online. The Berkina Faso Prime Minister Tiao delivered his speech on October 20, 2011 at the National Assembly.
Certain parts of the President Richardson's speech were adjusted to fit St. Martin. SMN News learnt that the newly elected President Alain Richardson was not aware that the speech he delivered on Sunday was not written by his staff member. The source said President Richardson learnt about the origin of his speech on Tuesday and he is very upset. Efforts made by SMN News on Wednesday to reach President Richardson for a comment proved futile.
It should be noted that one of the persons working for the President was accused some five years ago of stealing the tourism plan of Nievre and presenting it to the former commune as St. Martin's tourism plan. The discovery of the plagiarism created a stir on St. Martin especially in the Tourist Office which landed three well known women before the courts of Basse Terre. All three of those women were convicted, they later appealed and the court found them to be victims and not suspects. An in-debt investigation was conducted by the courts. The outcome of that investigation has landed the former Tourism Office lawyer in front of criminal courts. The case is scheduled to be heard on April 23, 2012.
Click here to view the full text of Minister Tiao's speech.
Click here to view the full text of President Alain Richardson's speech.
