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Posted on December 9, 2005

Union remembers
December 7 uprising
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EDITOR: The date for this year’s general elections was

accorded greater historical signi!cance for Vincentians
since it was shared with at least two other very important
events which occurred on that date: the Union Island
Uprising and the birth of the New Democratic Party.

On December 7, 1979, Union Island, which lies some 47

miles south of St.Vincent entered into the annals of history
with its failed Uprising. Twenty-six years ago the Island,
like the rest of the Grenadines, was practically forgotten by
the Milton Cato Labour Party Administration. {{more}}The
deplorable social and economic conditions were simply
unbearable for the island’s 2000 inhabitants. And so, with
the political crisis and economic instability sweeping
through the Caribbean, Union Island renowned for its
strong cultural heritage became known to the rest of the
world.

The progress that was made in the few months across the
tri-island state of Grenada, Cariacou and Petit Martinique
following that country’s revolution, seemed to have had
tremendous in"uence on the Union Island coup leaders as
they attempted to remove control of Union Island from
mainland St.Vincent.

On December 7, while the Caribbean leaders were still

grappling with issues linked to the Grenada Revolution, a
not-so-organised group of people led by Lennox “Bumba”
Charles took control of the all-important government
buildings and essential facilities which included the Police
station, the Revenue/Post O#ce building, the Airport, the
District O#cer’s residence and the Cable & Wireless
facility.

LENNOX ‘BUMBA’ CHARLES

Charles’ extreme disposition could in part be rationalized

by that sense of hopelessness and neglect which he, like
all the other Unionites, experienced then. He was deeply
concerned about the lack of basic social amenities,
economic hardships and the apparent isolation by the
Cato Government. In September 1978, Bumba
represented Union Island at the Introductory Consultation
Meeting on the Social Problems a$ecting the Grenadines
held in Bequia.

More than one year later nothing was done by the

government to bring about any social transformation and
so the social and economic fabric weakened further. The
take-over came very early in the morning with absolutely
no resistance by the four policemen housed at the Ashton
Police Station. The Station was bombed and the lawmen
"ed.

MILTON CATO’S RESPONSE

The Union Island uprising had become the !rst real

political headache for the Milton Cato Government. Two
days prior to the uprising (December 5), SVG held its !rst
general elections after gaining independence on October
27, 1979. Labour Party’s landslide victory which was
punctuated by a bitter and violent elections campaign,
quickly twisted into a farce by its response to the situation.
Still in constitutional “diapers”, the Labour Government
found its new sovereignty threatened and with the
Grenada Revolution still fresh, Milton Cato took no
chances. Cato’s immediate response was to declare a state
of emergency and impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew
throughout SVG. Barbados responded to St. Vincent’s
request for help and sent a detachment of Barbadian
soldiers.

THE AFTERMATH

A group of 40 policemen under the command of Inspector

Ruthford Cox, a Unionite, was sent to regain control of the
island. They spent most of the day on nearby Palm Island
since they were uncertain as to the exact situation and
strength of the ‘rebels’. Control of the island was left in the
hands of six or so young men guarding the airport,
waterfront, Hospital Lookout and Police Station. Bumba
apparently did not remain for too long on the Island
following the overthrow. He "ed to Carriacou and as word
of his departure spread later that day, the other guards
abandoned their posts and went into hiding.

One man was killed on Palm Island and another

disappeared at sea under mysterious circumstances.
Inspector Cox came ashore and quickly restored law and
order. More than 40 innocent persons â​​ including
prominent senior citizens were arrested and imprisoned at
Fort Charlotte. Among the prisoners were Wytcli$e and
Van Hutchinson, the husband and son of the !rst
parliamentary representative of the Southern Grenadines
Constituency â​​ Mary Hutchinson; Conrad and Amuthel
Adams, the parents of the second parliamentary
representative, Stephanie Browne; Anthony Stewart, the
brother of the third MP for the same constituency; and
Yvette Bentick, a former MNU candidate for the Southern
Grenadines.

The police were making indiscriminate arrests on evidence

of someone wearing ‘dreadlocks’ and on allegations of
some informers. Most of them were released the following
year having spent Christmas in the dungeon at Fort
Charlotte. For all of them it was three torturous weeks of
being beaten, drenched regularly with cold water, and
made to lie on the cold "oor with little sleeping materials
and little to eat. Bumba was arrested by the Grenadian
authorities and handed over in late 1980. He was then
tried and imprisoned.

UNION ISLAND TODAY

Much of the island’s physical and social infrastructure has

changed since 1979. On a very sad note though, the
historical Revenue and Post O#ce Building which stood
intact for 212 years against all the forces of nature, was
burnt down on December 13, 1995, almost ten years ago.

Some of the persons who were arrested have passed on;

others have migrated; and some are still around. Retired
Unionites who were living abroad are now returning home
to spend their last days. While life is generally much better
for the people of Union Island, economic hardship is
slowly returning to the island and the youth do not have
much to look forward to.

The person elected on December 7 will have a tremendous

challenge in engaging the youth in a meaningful way.
Many of them simply have nothing to do and the trend
seems to be heading towards the illegal drug trade. There
are quite a few lessons to be learnt from the December 7,
1979 event the new MP would be well-advised to consider.

Steve Stewart

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