‘Pirates’ plunder Vincy booty

The pirates have returned to St Vincent. Actor Johnny Depp, who starred in the first movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, is now on location with other cast members at Barroulie, filming  the sequel to the box office blockbuster. The rustic Wallilabou Anchorage site with its carat roofs, old-time structures and lush vegetation, makes it a natural setting for the Disney movie. Rene Baptiste, St Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Minister sees the return of the movie crews as a vote of confidence for the island’s booming tourism sector.

“We have the logistics in place. We understand movie making and therefore it wasn’t that difficult for them (Walt Disney Pictures) to select being here again,” she said. “We have not built on our marine environment. We have not built towards the coastline, so we have retained the Caribbean charm. The pirates are here and pirates only follow treasure, this is strictly the secret treasure of the Caribbean,” Baptiste declared. The movie brings in a significant bounty to the island, coming at the end of the tourist season. The majority of hotel rooms are booked until the end of April. While the first shooting brought in US$10 million to the island, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves revealed that the take would be less this time as the cameras would be rolling for a shorter period. He added that he was grateful that taxi drivers, boatmen and farmers will benefit from the activity.

Owner of the movie site Stephen Russell was grateful that jobs were being generated through the movie. “We are all for employment, that is how you will sustain democracy and keep us in peace, because when people don’t have jobs they will come and thief and kill you,” he said during a stop off at the movie location. Lower down the road from Russell’s place, Vincentians gathered around to sign up for work, in the steaming midday sun. They too will earn less as the pay has been cut from EC $250 to $150 a day this time around. Russell, whose father Randolph was a minister of health, in a former government, bought the property in the 1980s and invested a lot in improvement work on the site.

He intends to continue to maintain the property after the movie is over. His efforts to promote the location, long before the first movie, has attracted some yatchies. The site hosts a 12-room hotel , restaurant and museum. The site has a rich history and Russell said he took over the property from two Scottish brothers, whom he described as “Robinson Crusoe types.” He has moved his museum and Carib artifacts to make way for the movie set. “We have more Carib artifacts here than anywhere else. It must have been a big Carib village as there is a lot of pottery. I go digging and find them,” he said, showing a big display of heads formed from pottery and still intact. Russell suffered some property damage from the first movie but he plans to maintain the natural beauty long after the “pirates” have had their last battle.