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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 5/13/2018

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Sunday, 13th May 2018. Remember that you can read full articles via subscribing to Nation News Online, purchasing a Sunday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS), via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS).

ELECTIONS: SPECIAL POLLING ON MAY 17 –Election day workers, including police, are to cast their ballots a week ahead of the May 24 general election. The announcement came in a public notice released at the weekend by Chief Electoral Officer Angela Taylor in which she said special polling will take place on May 17, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Following is the full notice released by the Electoral and Boundaries Commission. “THE GOVERNOR GENERAL, by Order, appointed the 17th day of May, 2018 as the date of the poll for election officers voting at the election to be held on the 24th day of May, 2018. The Supervisor of Elections, in accordance with rule 30(3) of the Rules for Conduct of the House of Assembly Elections set out in the Second Schedule to the Representation of the People Act, Cap.12, hereby gives notice that the poll of election officers including members of the Royal Barbados Police Force will be taken on THURSDAY THE 17TH DAY OF MAY, 2018, during the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at the following polling stations:-

Constituency Centre

City of Bridgetown Donald Henry Auditorium, Bethel, Bay Street

St. Michael South Dalkeith Old School

St. Michael East Barbados Community College (Auditorium)

St. Michael South Central Pax Hill Girl Guides Head Quarters, Belmont Road

St. Michael Central The Library, Combermere School

St. Michael South East Church of the Nazarene, Collymore Rock

St. Michael North East Grace, Grace Hill, Moravian Church, Spooners Hill St. Michael North C.E.F Miracle Centre, Lodge Hill

St. Michael North West Carlton Club House, Carlton, Black Rock

St. Michael West Bethany Evangelical Church, Eagle Hall

St. Michael West Central Skills Training Centre, Belfield Pavilion, Black Rock

Christ Church West Bonnets Resource Centre, Bonnets, Brittons Hill

Christ Church West Central Christ Church Parish Church Hall

Christ Church South Cuthbert Pilgrim Memorial Hall, Maxwell Road

Christ Church East Central Garfield Sobers Gymnasium

Christ Church East Waithe Memorial Auditorium, Providence,

St. Philip North Shrewsbury Methodist Church

St. Philip South Methodist Church, Rices

St. Philip West Wayne Daniel Pavilion, Brereton

St. George North Valley Resource Centre

St. George South Ellerton Community Centre

St. John BRC Building, St. John’s Parish Church

St. Joseph Clifton Hill Moravian Church

St. Thomas Vestry, Sharon Moravian Church

St. James North Sion Hill Community Centre

St. James South Caribbean Meteorological Institute, Husbands, St. James

St. James Central Trents Community Centre

St. Peter Alma Parris Memorial School

St. Andrew St. Saviour’s Church Annex

St. Lucy The William Donald George Parish Centre (Old St. Lucy’s Rectory)

(BT)

GRANT CRITICIZES BLP MANIFESTO – The worst manifesto ever! That was how first-time candidate for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), Rodney Grant described the recently publicised manifesto of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). The St Michael South East hopeful, who has contributed to several manifestos in the past, made the declaration when he addressed party faithful at a spot meeting in Tweedside Road tonight. He charged that not only were many of the proposals nonsensical but they were potentially detrimental to all Barbadians. Meanwhile, St Michael North East candidate Patrick Todd described St Michael South Central candidate Richard Sealy as one of Barbados' best tourism ministers. And according to Todd, anyone who disagrees is "just jealous". (SS)

SANDIFORD GARNER SAYS MP GAVE ST ANDREW 27 YEARS OF 'NOTHING' – What has he done for you lately? That was the question repeatedly asked by candidate for St Andrew Irene Sandiford Garner to residents of Orange Hill, St James. She was speaking at a Democratic Labour Party meeting Friday night where accused MP George Payne of doing nothing for the past 27 years. “When you want to represent people you have to ensure that their lives are better than you found them. If an individual did not work for you at 60, they can’t work for you at 70. You need energy, you need vision, you need intelligence. What has he done for you lately? What has he done?” She pointed out that when she first contested the seat in 2008 her slogan was “ready to serve”. However, she accused Payne of using the same slogan which made no sense because he should have been serving all along. “How can you sit in a seat for 27 years and wake up in 2018 telling the good people who repose their confidence in you that you are now ready to serve? What do they do to serve you? What do they do to earn the money that the State pays them? How does your representative pass that hardcourt that is not utilised and ask you for a vote? I am not your MP but I made sure that the Buccaneer works. Why, because I see the value of having those facilities for the youth. It is now refurbished. It now has air-conditioning. It now has 17 computers. I didn’t need to be a MP to do it. I just needed the will to ensure the minister responsible did it.” The DLP candidate said it wasn’t only Orange Hill that was neglected. “It burns my heart to know that I grew up in St Andrew and witness the MP allow the centre down there to run to ruins to the point where men were playing dominoes under a light of a lamp with no water borne facilities. It was not a problem for him to see the degradation of Belleplaine and come back to those people every five years asking for support. What type of conscience does that?” Sandiford Garner also said there was something very telling about the fact that five people are vying to represent St Andrew. “This constituency has about five people looking to unseat the incumbent, it tells you something is very wrong with that individual. One of them is from right here in Orange Hill. You have a very important decision to make for your future and for your children’s future,” she said. (BT)

LASHLEY STANDS BY DLP POLICIES – Minister of Transport Michael Lashley has appealed to the people in the St Michael East constituency to give Democratic Labour Party candidate Nicholas Alleyne “a chance” to represent them. Saying there was “no comparison” between Alleyne and Prescod, Lashley described Alleyne as “a Cadillac” and Prescod as “a donkey cart”. “I want you to give this young man a chance. He is a man for the future,” Lashley said in support of the DLP first-timer during a DLP spot meeting at Licorish Village Thursday night. A former Minister of Housing, Lashley was critical of the Barbados Labour Party’s record on housing and reminded his audience of a DLP policy of transferring National Housing Corporation Units free of cost, once the tenant had occupied the unit for 20 years and paid the rent during that period. Lashley warned the St Michael East constituents to beware of what he described as “fake promises” from the Opposition Leader Mia Mottley, advising his audience to “analyse” those promises against the policies of the Democratic Labour Party He referred to observations made by former Prime Minister Owen Arthur on BLP proposals to fix the economy and urged the Licorish Village audience to “take heed” of Arthur’s warnings that the economic policies proposed by Opposition leader Mottley were “unrealistic.” “It took Owen Arthur to come out in the Press to say that the policies they bringing to you would mash up the treasury, burn up this country.” Lashley pointed out that Prime Minister Freundel Stuart was also constantly reminding people that his government was stabilising the economy, protecting jobs and making sure that social programmes and access to social programmes continued for the vulnerable and the poor. (SS)

BYER SUCKOO: DEMS PROTECT WOMEN – Don’t tell Esther Byer Suckoo and the women of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) they don’t protect women because they laugh at a joke about Mia Mottley. Byer Suckoo said she, Irene Sandiford-Garner, Kim Tudor and Verla Depeiza had been the targets of members of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and at no time did party leader Mottley stand in their defence. The candidate for St George South said she belonged to a party which had been protecting women all along and she had been doing the same for the past ten years. As the Minister of Labour, Byer Suckoo said, legislation on domestic violence, sexual harassment and child maintenance were all done under her tenure. In fact, she stated, Mottley was not in parliament when debate was held on the Domestic Violence Act. She said it was the norm to attack opponents in politics, but suddenly, that seemed to be changing. In endorsing St John candidate George Pilgrim, their general secretary, Byer Suckoo told the residents if he worked as hard for the party as he did for them, they would have a great representative. Earlier, Christ Church West Central candidate Stephen Lashley, who was born in St John, told the residents to reject the narrative that the BLP would win the constituency and send a strong message during the May 24 General Election. (SS)

BLP TO TACKLE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is promising a multi-tiered approach to dealing with domestic violence. The vow was made by former Minister of Energy Liz Thompson at a spot meeting at Savannah Road, Bush Hall, St Michael Friday night. "Domestic violence has reached epidemic proportions in this country, and the BLP is taking a zero-tolerance approach for domestic abuse tow ard women, children and men," she said.She added that the party intended to hold abusersaccountable, and intended to put a number of actions in place to help combat these issues.Some of the proposed solutions include anger management and conflict resolution classes, community-based counselling, safe houses for those abused with an equal space for men and restitution and compensation for abuse victims. "We are prepared to give men counselling and put them in programmes to make them feel better about themselves," she said. Meanwhile, Barbados Labour Party leader Mia Mottley said change was going to come. "To borrow the words of Errol Barrow 'half a loaf is better than no loaf at all' . . . . Give us a chance to show you what we can do for Barbados, because in doing so change will come," she said. Additionally, she said the BLP would run a clean campaign. "We will keep things clean and focused on you. Come out on May 24 and vote. Change has come and we want back our Barbados," she said. (SS)

AIRPORT PRAYER ROOM PROMISE – The Barbados Labour Party is going to add a holy touch to the Grantley Adams International Airport if elected to office. Party leader Mia Mottley, along with candidate for St Michael West Joseph Atherley and City candidate Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, met yesterday with several worshippers at the Jumma Masjid in Kensington New Road, St Michael, following a worship service. And in responding to their concerns, Mottley confirmed that a BLP Government would be constructing a prayer room at the airport. “We cannot have an international airport without an area that accommodates meditation for prayer for all religions . . . . To that extent, therefore, if we want to ensure we walk the walk and not just talk the talk, we must be prepared to make those adjustments as a country which people come to from all over the world,” she added. Mottley said this was a “reasonable” request and one that was “too simple to be denied”. Additionally, the St Michael North East candidate noted that one of their first orders of business if successful in the General Election would be to address problems with Muslim women and photo ID. “With respect to the issue of photographs of the female members of the community, we recognise that we have to ensure that we meet the concerns of both the international security, but equally the concerns of your community and religion,” Mottley said. “To that extent, I give the commitment myself that within the first month in office, we will meet with members of the community and Immigration Department to ensure there is an acceptable protocol,” she added. (SS)

ST. JOHN MEMBER 'DISGRACEFUL' SAYS CLARKE – Mara Thompson will go down in the parliamentary history of Barbados as the five-minute woman, according to long-serving Barbados Labour Party (BLP) St George South representative, Gline Clarke. Speaking at BLP meeting in Massiah Street Tuesday night, Clarke said Thompson, who succeeded her late husband and former Prime Minister, David Thompson as the Member of Parliament for St John, was known for short speeches. “The last representative in Parliament in Mara Thompson never lasted more than five minutes any time on the floor of Parliament. It is disgraceful,” Clarke said. He further noted Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s “bloodline” attack on Opposition Leader, Mia Mottley at the DLP's meeting outside the Netball Stadium in Waterford on Sunday night is contradictory. “If you want to hear about bloodline, Thompson and his wife is bloodline and the Democratic Labour Party cannot come to you and tell you about bloodline because that is bloodline,” Clarke stressed. (SS)

HIGH PRAISE FOR PILGRIM – Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St John, George Pilgrim, has received a ringing endorsement from Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite. During tonight’s national meeting at Gall Hill, St John, Brathwaite, the candidate for St Philip South, likened Pilgrim to two former prime ministers who represented the constituency. Brathwaite said the party’s general secretary should not be seen in any lesser light than the late Errol Barrow, the founding father, and David Thompson. He said Pilgrim was more qualified than most, earning his degrees and opening a business when others were still looking for a job or were working on qualifications. Brathwaite said the “bright, articulate young man” not only had a vision for the people, he had a vision for St John and urged the constituency, which has been very loyal to the DLP, to give him a chance. Pilgrim also should not be counted out because he was not born there like the candidate from the Barbados Labour Party. (SS)

UPP READY TO BRING RELIEF – The United Progressive Party (UPP) is ready to rescue Barbados from the clutches of the labour parties. In its efforts to do this, its 23 candidates are ready to usher in a new creative industries-based “orange economy” and revitalise the island’s struggling fortunes. UPP leader Lynette Eastmond made this pledge to the public Saturday evening as she spoke at the party’s presentation of candidates in National Heroes Square, The City. “The Progressive Party is here to take Barbados out of labour. The United Progressive Party is here to tell Barbadians that, for the first time, we will be looking to own Barbados,” Eastmond said. “No longer must it be that one per cent of the population are to be owners of wealth in this country while the rest of us hold on, hoping to get a pick from somebody,” she explained. With the economy contracting by 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, Eastmond said the UPP could bring relief to the country’s economic woes by tapping into the creative sector, which she said was valued at $2.3 trillion globally. Instead of solely focusing on tourism, the party leader said, more emphasis would be placed on creatives and other sectors like agriculture, helping to diversify Barbados’ economy for the first time since 1980 and contributing an estimated $3 billion to the economy. While there was not a large audience gathered at National Heroes Square, many passers-by did stop to take note of what the UPP leader was saying. As she grabbed their attention, Eastmond said the new orange economy made plans to provide free tertiary education, cut the food import bill and cut the energy bill, among other plans. Having served as Minister of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Business Development under the Owen Arthur-led Barbados Labour Party Government from 2003 to 2008, Eastmond said she knew the way to make the plans work. “The question is how are you going to earn more money and the United Progressive Party is the only party that has come to you with an answer. “I know how to do it because I was there when it was being done in the international business sector,” she added. (SS)

UPP CONFIDENT OF WINNING ST JOHN – The United Progressive Party (UPP) candidate for St John Hudson Griffith is confident of capturing the majority of the over 5,000 votes in that rural parish in the May 24 general election. St John, which has long been a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) stronghold, is also being contested by the DLP’s George Pilgrim, Charles Griffith of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), Cherone Martindale of Solutions Barbados and independent candidate Leroy McClean, who is also a member of the DLP. In the 2013 election, the UPP’s Griffith, who was then a member of the BLP, had captured 1,091 votes, losing to Mara Thompson, who copped 4,025 votes for the incumbent party. However, addressing his party’s launch in Heroes Square on Saturday night, he said expects to win the seat in the upcoming poll. “We are going to bring home this election from St John,” declared the former BLP representive who previously lost in both a by-election and a general election in St John. However, while boasting that he was the third person for the BLP to capture over 1,000 votes in the DLP stronghold, Griffith said he was pleased to be representing the UPP this time around, adding that the BLP’s candidate Charles Griffith “cannot pull it off”. “I have outlasted Mara Thompson in St John. I am the next rightful person to represent the St John constituency for the United Progressive Party,” Griffith added. (BT)

CCJ ARRANGES UNPRECEDENTED SUNDAY HEARING TO CLARIFY RIGHT TO VOTE IN BARBADOS – The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has responded with haste to an appeal from Barbados where a resident of that nation is fighting for his right to vote. The CCJ has set the hearing for tomorrow, May 13 at 11 a.m. Professor Eddy Ventose, a St Lucian national who has lived in Barbados for several years, is seeking to be included on the Barbados electoral register. He alleges that under the prevailing laws he is qualified and entitled to be registered. The Chief Justice of Barbados, sitting as a trial judge, after hearing arguments on the matter, had issued the order compelling the Chief Electoral Officer to allow Professor Ventose to be registered to vote. The Court of Appeal in Barbados on Monday, May 7 ruled that Professor Ventose was entitled to be registered to vote but stopped short of compelling the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to do so, instead the Court ordered the CEO to determine Professor Ventose's claim within 24 hours. Professor Ventose is asking the CCJ to declare that, as a person who satisfies the necessary requirements, he is entitled to be registered to vote and to order the CEO to enter his name on the final voters' list ahead of its publication this week. The Court’s decision on the matter will also affect other Commonwealth citizens, resident in Barbados for the relevant qualifying period, who are also claiming a right to be registered as voters under the Barbados laws. The application by Professor Ventose for leave to appeal came to the CCJ on Friday afternoon and, in light of the acknowledged urgency of the matter, the Court responded by scheduling the hearing for tomorrow, May 13. The President of the CCJ, the Right Honourable Sir Dennis Byron and the Honourable Messrs Justices Saunders, Hayton, Anderson and Barrow will hear the appeal. It was noted by the CCJ President, Sir Dennis Byron that the Curia court management system played a crucial role in allowing the hearing to heard in such an expeditious manner. The application for the appeal was sent to the CCJ after court hours and the Judges and Registry staff were able to access the documents remotely and quickly put in place the necessary arrangements to hear the appeal. As one of the ways that CCJ aims to be accessible, the Court has embraced the technology which enables the CCJ to have a virtual courtroom. For this matter, the attorneys will have the ability to appear from their Chambers in Barbados while the Judges of the CCJ have chosen to hear the matter in the courtroom. CCJ’s video-conferencing capabilities include a bridging solution where all parties can appear by using internet-connected computers that are equipped with a video camera and a microphone. By using this technology, there is greater flexibility in how matter can be heard, both for the CCJ and for court users. This also has the effect of ensuring that justice moves swiftly. The matter is being live-streamed, as are all the CCJ matters, from Courtroom 1, and the broadcast can be accessed at http://bit.ly/2GaJFlc or from ccj.org. (SS)

BODY IDENTIFIED AS DAVID DACOSTA KING – Following the unnatural death of Onica King on April 14, David Dacosta King was investigated as a person of interest. On Thursday, April 19, the body of a male was discovered lodged in the rocks along the inner careenage. At the time of discovery, it was in a state of decomposition and further investigations were conducted to determine the identity. This included working closely with the family members of David King. The body was identified by a family member as that of David Dacosta King, the husband of Onica king, and following the positive identification, and the completion of the post-mortem his body was handed over to the family. (SS)

MURDER ACCUSED REMANDED – Murder accused Adijah Jahmani Younge appeared before Magistrate Wayne Clarke at the District ‘A’ Magistrates Court today. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge of murder and was remanded to Her Majesty's Prison at Dodds until May 15, when the matter will be heard at Oistins Magistrates Court. (SS)

BOURNE AND HARPER REMANDED TO PRISON – Following an urgent plea from his mother, 21-year-old Hakeem Bourne will be assisted with the rehabilitation that he needs. Bourne, of 2nd Berly Land, Sayer’s Court, Christ Church, appeared before Magistrate Wayne Clarke in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court today, charged with unlawfully and maliciously wounding 48-year-old Terryl Sayers, of No 5052, Millennia Boulevard, Apartment 207, Orlando, Flordia, USA. Bourne’s mother told the court that the 21-year-old had a drinking problem and this was the second altercation he was involved in while under the influence of alcohol. “I think he needs to grow up . . . . I think he needs an environment of rehabilitation,” she said. On Friday, May 11, while in St Lawrence Gap, Christ Church, Bourne got into a dispute at the entrance of the Old Jamm Inn Night Club over the entrance fee. After being removed from the premises by security, he armed himself with a glass bottle and threw it into the night club, resulting in Sayers receiving a laceration to her throat. Bourne was remanded until June 8, 2018. Meanwhile, Jason Omar Harper, of Rochampton Road, Jackson, St Michael, also appeared before Magistrate Clarke in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court today. He was not required to plea to the indictable charge of possession of a firearm without being the holder of a licence to do so. Harper was remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds until June 8, the date of his next court appearance. (BT)

ON REMAND FOR FIREARM CHARGE – Jason Omar Harper of Rochampton Road, Jackson, St Michael appeared before Magistrate Wayne Clarke at the District ‘A’ Magistrates Court today. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge of possession of a firearm without being the holder of a licence to do so. He was remanded to Her Majesty's Prison at Dodds until June 8 to reappear at the District ‘A’ Magistrates Court. (SS)

TWO HOUSES RAZED IN BLAZE – A substantial community effort in Fairfield, St Michael, could not save two houses from being razed and three more from being damaged. When a NATION team arrived at the scene of the blaze around 1 p.m., firefighters could be seen still battling the fire in an effort to save the nearby houses as the inferno had already claimed two homes, despite starting just 30 minutes earlier. A shaken Sophia Jaimangal, who lived in the larger of the two homes with five family members, said the fire started at her next-door neighbour’s house and quickly spread to hers. What made the ordeal more difficult for the Jaimangal family was the fact that the home was renovated just a few months ago. “I just realised I smelt smoke and when I looked through my bathroom window I realised the house next door was totally engulfed and mine would’ve already caught,” Jaimangal said. “There wasn’t really much we could’ve done and I recently renovated my home, it would’ve recently painted and stuff. The house caught quickly and everything was gone,” she lamented. “When I got out there, the older house was on fire and we couldn’t do anything to save that one. So we were trying to see what we could do to save the blue one,” one man called Spooner said. “I just saw the smoke and I ran up there and the family like they were in shock, so I just went and tried to help them get things out of the house,” another resident who went by the name “Sam” chimed in. Both said they were lending a helping hand but had to retreat when the heat and smoke became too much to handle. Other residents were seen filling up buckets and some helped the fire officers with their hoses. Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St Michael West Central, James Paul, and Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate for the area Ian Gooding-Edgehill, both offered their sympathies to the family and said they would be assisting them in getting back on their feet. The number of people who were displaced was unknown up to Press-time. (SS)

EXPERT READY TO SOLVE SEWAGE PROBLEM – As Minister of Health John Boyce assures the public that the injection wells will be ready by month-end, a sewerage system expert says there is no need for them and he could solve the sewage crisis in a matter of weeks. And, said Murray Chandler, the owner of Polly Septic Services & Equipment Rentals, this would be done without digging up the extremely busy Highway 7 to access the blocked lines. Chandler was one of hundreds of Barbadians who turned up at Accra yesterday morning to take partin the Future Centre Trust’s Walk To Take Back Our Coast. The South Coast sewerage system has been experiencing problems for more than a year caused by blocks and breaches in the network. “We are prepared to go in and clear the line, flush the line, inspect the line and put it back in order within one month. “I will have the lines cleared both here and up by RTs and the line by Bird’s Eye View, by the old Scotiabank right out to Big B Supermarket cleared, flushed and running again and I am going to clear the one by Kentucky within two weeks,” Chandler said. He stressed there need not be any disruption to traffic as his plan did not entail excavating the road to reach the sewer pipes. Chandler went on to dismiss the Barbados Water Authority’s (BWA) much touted 300-foot injection wells which are being readied to take millions of gallons of effluent so BWA officials could get to the blockage in the line. He believes that effluent should be pumped out to sea. “If you have 300 feet of rock, where you will be digging into the aquifer, you do not have any displacement of filtration to take place. “I would say the best way out is out to sea because the sea can handle that pressure. If we contaminate that [ground]water we will have to start drinking bottled water forever because once we make that mistake, we cannot go back and make any changes because it will be underground pollution that we cannot control,” Chandler declared. Meanwhile, Minister Boyce, who is the Democratic Labour Party candidate for the area and who was present at the start, said the injection wells would be ready to take effluent by the end of this month. “Once that is done, the engineering team and the repair team could have access to the pipe which carries the sewage itself,” he said. “The presence of sewage on our roads is something which concerns all Barbadians,” he noted. “We have certainly, at the Water Authority, been putting processes in place to mitigate that and the Ministry of Health continues to monitor the situation to issue the appropriate advisories, to take the appropriate action to make sure that threat to Barbadians’ health and lives is absolutely minimised and that people are aware of what we can do,” he said. (SS)

SEA BREEZE COMPLETES $17M REVAMP –The Barbados’ tourism product has been enhanced with the virtual reconstruction of Sea Breeze Beach House to the tune of almost $17 million. The West Coast property was showcased and officially opened to scores of tourism officials, tour operators and Government officials Thursday, and described as a transformed four-and-a-half star all-inclusive hotel. “We virtually re-built the hotel,” group general manager of Ocean Hotels, Patricia Affonso Dass, said. The investment was welcomed by Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy who stated that close to 7 000 rooms, a record high, would be available in Barbados by the end of 2018. Affonso Dass said the new 44 luxury suites and 78 other rooms reflected a transformation of the property, in terms of its Barbadian and culinary appeal, substantial reclamation of beach areas and enhancement of its wedding and other services. A Bajan Rum Shop has been added, while lighting and Barbadian art aesthetics are included and an additional 60 staff employed. “We wanted to be sure that when our guests visit us at Sea Breeze Beach House that they feel a sense of connection to the island, the people, the local sounds and flavours and more than anything else felt they were ‘at home’ being cared for rather than served,” Affonso Dass told the function. Sealy stressed the value of a modernised tourism plant and increased rooms to grow the island’s main economic sector. While applauding the investment by Peter Defreitas, chairman of the three-hotel Ocean group, the minister said the island’s room capacity was expected to increase to 8 000 by 2020. “We are on an upward trajectory. This is good for Barbados. Tourism is still at the core of the economy,” Sealy remarked. (SS)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 233 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles #dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

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stephaniefchase · 8 years ago

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Bajan Newscap 3/13/2017

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is your daily news cap for Monday 13th March 2017. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT) or by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’ - It was a sea of red in Bridgetown on Saturday as supporters of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) chanted “Enough Is Enough”. The March of Disgust started in Jubilee Gardens and made its way through The City as shoppers, store owners and workers watched from the sidelines. People from all walks of life came out with their placards criticizing the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and their management of the country. Residents from the drought-ridden areas such as St Peter and St Joseph also made a stand demanding water. A large group from White Hill, St Andrew was also present, calling for solutions to their problems and a change of Government. (BT)

GONE WITH THE WIND - KERRIE SYMMONDS is feeling a breeze of change in Barbados. And when it passes, he hopes Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and his entire Cabinet will be blown by the wayside, the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) MP told a large crowd on Saturday night. The St James Central MP ramped the partisan crowd into a frenzy at the climax of the Opposition-led “march of disgust” titled Step Up If Yuh Fed Up that began and ended in Jubilee Gardens, The City. He told them why he thought Barbados would be better off without the current Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration. The rally also included entertainment by Biggie Irie, Peter Ram and TC. (DN)

PILGRIM IT WAS A RENT A CROWD - The ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is charging that Barbadians were paid to participate in yesterday’s national March of Disgust organized by the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP). Speaking on a local radio programme this morning, DLP General Secretary George Pilgrim charged that yesterday’s march, which is said to have attracted about 10,000 people, really was a reflection of how money can influence an election. “Based on my knowledge, people were offered money to come and march,” Pilgrim said on Starcom Network’s Down to Brass Tacks programme. “The fact that people were willing to turn up to the march and receive a gratuity for just turning up speaks [volumes] of what Barbadians should fear going into the next election,” he said. Pilgrim further claimed that the BLP has opened “a call centre” with paid staff to mobilize people for the march. “The amount of people that were called yesterday for the march, there had to be a call centre in place. That is one thing I want to thank and congratulate the party on, it’s assisting Barbados in reducing the unemployment figure. “It is clear to me that the amount of people that were employed over the last five days that they have made a significant contribution to that [reducing the unemployment figure],” he stressed. Pressed to substantiate the claim, Pilgrim responded: “The supermarkets were bursting on Friday.” BLP representative Dale Marshall, who was also a guest on the programme, rubbished the claim. He explained that the party got volunteers from every single constituency to man telephones at its headquarters. “I know because some of my young people went down to party headquarters and manned telephones. They do it during the general elections, they are not paid a cent. Not a person was paid for this so-called call centre,” Marshall insisted. Pilgrim also alleged that Barbados was being sold out by the Opposition BLP, while warning that as far as the ruling DLP was concerned “Barbados is not on the auction bloc”. He said: “If Barbadians took note of what has been occurring in Barbados they have to ask themselves, . . . ‘who ultimately stands to benefit if Barbados is auctioned . . . by the Opposition?” “They cannot deny that they are telling investors not to invest in Barbados,” Pilgrim said. However, Marshall took issue with the suggestion, saying for the DLP to even allege that yesterday’s mobilization had cost “vast sums of money that the BLP could only get it off the ground if they sold out to the highest bidder is rubbish. The St Joseph Member of Parliament pointed out that political parties in Barbados get a small subvention from Government. Therefore he said: “We all have to go out there and approach our base. There are old ladies who contribute $10, there are some individuals who will contribute more and . . . the reality is that until we reach the stage where political parties in Barbados are funded by the state we have to go out there and we have to get contributions,” Marshall said. Meanwhile, the Leader of the newly-formed United Progressive Party Lynette Eastmond said there was need for a serious discussion about election campaign funding. “I don’t know that there are any rules in place with respect to maybe a rent a crowd, but there certainly are laws in place with respect to the bribing of electors, and individuals who bribe electors and those who receive those bribes are committing a criminal offence under the legislation in Barbados.” she warned. (BT)

RUBBISH - The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) yesterday accused the Opposition of paying people to march with them on Saturday. The accusation, fiercely denied by senior member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), Dale Marshall, was made by general secretary of the DLP, George Pilgrim. The two, along with chairman of the newly formed United Progressive Party (UPP), Lynette Eastmond, and Grenville Phillips II, of Solutions Barbados, were taking part in Starcom Network’s Sunday Brass Tacks post-mortem on Saturday’s Step Up If Yuh Fed Up “march of disgust” and rally in The City. “Yesterday’s march shows us how money can influence an election,” Pilgrim said. (DN)

MIXED REACTION TO BLP-LED MARCH – The Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is pleased with the turnout for yesterday’s national March of Disgust, which party spokesman Dale Marshall says has “rattled” the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration of Prime Minister Freundel Stuart. “I can’t see that they’d be sitting in their homes today and be thinking that the Barbadian electorate is continuing to be passive, that the Barbadian electorate is continuing to be satisfied with the decline in our standard of living, our economy,” said Marshall, in reflecting on Saturday’s BLP-led march and rally, which culminated in Jubilee Gardens, The City, and is said to have attracted about 10,000 people. However, two of the island’s newest political groupings have sought to downplay the success of yesterday’s event. Former BLP Cabinet Minister Lynette Eastmond, who is the leader of the United Progressive Party, and Grenville Phillips II, the leader of Solutions Barbados, were both guests on Sunday’s Starcom Network’s Down to Brass Tacks programme, along with Marshall. “Elections are won constituency by constituency and how each constituent feels about their current representative,” cautioned Eastmond, while pointing out that the BLP has had “three stabs at mobilizing people to make it appear as though Barbadians actually support the Barbados Labour Party”. “I think in the two first marches it was a bit appalling that the BLP was not able to even mobilize its base, because if you think of the 30 constituencies by how ever many members, they really should have had more people on the street in the two first attempts. In this third attempt, I think they were able to mobilize their base and they worked very hard at it,” she said, explaining that “there are a number of individuals who got telephone calls, even one of our candidates got a call about coming to the march. “So the BLP really did put a lot of effort, a lot of money, into ensuring that it got its base out and I think it managed on this occasion to get its base out, which I think is excellent.” However, Eastmond said the party needed to acknowledge that there were several Barbadians who came out yesterday to march but who had said quite pointedly, ‘we are not here to support the Barbados Labour Party, we are here to say that we are not happy with the various downgrades, we’re not happy with the debt situation, we’re not happy with the lack of growth etc.’ (BT)

DO NOT VOTE FOR BLP - Founder of the new Solutions Barbados party Grenville Phillips II. Also reacting to yesterday’s BLP-led event, which the ruling DLP has dismissed as “a reflection of how money can influence an election”, said his party was in the business of providing solutions to the myriad of problems plaguing the country. “We have not asked people to come out and march because the others can do that. So the BLP has come and they’ve asked people to march and they’ve marched. And I encourage people, ‘go and march, just do not vote for them’. “The gravest error they could make is to go and vote for them,” he said. “We’ve heard our politicians telling us we’re doing well, but it’s easy to say that when you’re spending other people’s money. But now the IMF [International Monetary Fund] is giving the report card and they’re saying that we’re doing abysmally bad,” the Solutions Barbados leader said. Just last week, the island suffered two downgrades at the hands of Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s which have expressed concern about the island’s ballooning debt of 111 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and its falling international reserves, which plummeted below the recommended 12-weeks of cover to less than $700 million last December. The international ratings agencies also warned that the situation not only poses a threat to the stability of the Barbados currency — which currently trades two to one against the United States dollar — but that it could put the island at high risk of debt default. Phillips suggested that both the ruling DLP and the Opposition BLP were to blame for current poor state of the country’s economy. “We published our solutions about two years ago and we said, ‘BLP adopt these solutions’ and they were not done. I said, ‘DLP do the same’ and they haven’t done it. Almost two years have gone by [and] they have not adopted any solutions or even discussed them with us,” he lamented. (BT)

COALITION OUT TO BREAK DUOPOLY - A new political coalition has been formed. The Citizens Action Partnership (CAP) has been created as an umbrella group for anyone looking to run in the next general elections outside of the two established political parties. Partnership chairman and former Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Christ Church East Member of Parliament, Wendell Callender, speaking at the movement’s launch last week at Sky Mall, called for an end to the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and BLP duopoly. “I’ve gone to all kinds of people, whether they be doctors, lawyers, teachers or vendors. We have spoken to them and we know how they feel about the leadership of Barbados,” he said. (DN)

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STILL A CONCERN – Domestic violence continues to be a “real” problem in Barbados. Minister of Social Care Steve Blackett spoke to the issue just before he and his wife Eleanor joined hundreds who turned out in support of the Life In Leggings march from Queen’s Park through Bridgetown and back on Saturday. “That is principally why we, as a Government, moved to amend the Domestic Violence Protection Order Act to give it more teeth, and give the police wider scope, wider powers, to assist in wrestling this scourge to the ground,” Blackett said. The vocal marchers carried placards and chanted as they walked along the short route to get their messages across. Several of them spoke to the fact that hitting and loving was not a mix that should be tolerated. (DN)

WARRENS DUMP SITE DISCOVERED – An illegal dump site was found right under the nose of the Ministry of the Environment on Saturday. Hidden in plain sight in the middle of the busy commercial centre of Warrens, St Michael, it held all of the waste one would expect in an out-of-the-way gully or cane field. This included fridges, stoves, mattresses, old tyres, the rotting carcass as well as bones of a long-dead animal, in addition to mounds of discarded household waste. The ministry’s headquarters are located in the Warrens Office Complex next door. The mess was discovered by the eagle eyes of a first form boy, who spotted what looked like a washing machine through the tall grasses of an open lot. (DN)

DIRTY HABITS - VISITORS ARE TAKING to social media to talk about the dirty state of the island. And the negative reviews are driving the gatekeepers of the Barbados Brand – the Barbados Tourism Product Authority (BTPA) – to step up education and guilt trips to drive Barbadians to curb their filthy garbage disposal habits. Chief executive officer of the BTPA, Dr Kerry Hall, made the comments as a clean-up campaign, spearheaded by the Clean Bim programme, removed 415.89 pounds of garbage, in an hour, from a small section of Warrens on Saturday. Stressing that Barbadians should and must clean the island for themselves and then for their guests, Hall said the BTPA had been receiving the negative reviews from the visitors with whom the entity spoke and reading them on social media. (DN)

OISTINS MARKED OUT FOR CHANGES – Oistins Town and its environs in Christ Church are in for major changes based on the draft amendment to the Physical Development Plan 2017. This was revealed at the sixth and final town hall meeting to discuss the amendment held at Oistins Bay Gardens on Saturday. Among the plans are a waterfront pedestrian walkway and relocation of the bus terminal to the inland side of Oistins main road to accommodate a new waterfront park and civic centre. The Berinda Cox Fish Market jetty is being considered as a facility to link Oistins to Bridgetown and other locations on the South and West Coasts by water. Foundation School and Christ Church Parish Church would also be incorporated into key community spaces, while upgrades are on the cards for portions of Maxwell and Enterprise that form part of the Oistins Community Plan. (DN)

TEEN SAVES VISITOR - On Saturday, a 17-year-old’s beach outing with friends took an unexpected turn when he spotted an unconscious visitor and her frantic husband by her side on Browne’s Beach, St Michael. After finding out that the woman, Ann Freeman, had swallowed large amounts of water while diving, Dre Brown’s training instinctively kicked in and he performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her. Dre, a former Princess Margaret Secondary School student and a Barbados Youth Service (BYS) recruit, is an aspiring fireman, and spent part of his weekend completing the required number of hours for community service. “We had to cut down some trees at Codrington College and after community service, we attended the beach and had some fun and played sport. When we were on the verge of going home, I passed and saw a husband with his wife and she was lying unconscious, so I basically attempted what I was taught to do,” he recalled of the Saturday incident. (DN)

LOW NUMBERS CONCERN ISCF – The once thriving Inter-school Christian Fellowship (ISCF) has seen a dip in numbers, especially at the secondary school level. Speaking to the DAILY NATION after a service yesterday to mark the start of ISCF Week at the First Baptist Church, Constitution Road, The City, field worker Carson Atherley said the drop in numbers might have to do with the “growing trends today”. He revealed that primary schools accounted for about 2 500 members, secondary schools for between 250 and 300, and between 80 and 100 members were at the tertiary level. “Students are not as keen about spiritual matters as they were before. A lot of other things are vying for students’ attention, even in schools,” Atherley said. (DN)

DOMINICA AIRPORT RE-OPENS - Operations are back to normal at the Douglas Charles Airport in Dominica following a temporary closure on Saturday due to inclement weather. The Ministry of Public Works and Ports said the airport had to be closed due to widespread flooding. Heavy rains also caused landslides and led to the collapse of a Bailey bridge in Macoucherie, along the west coast of the island. (BT)

THREE INJURED AT SILVER HILL - Police say three men were injured during a shooting incident at Block 3D, Silver Hill, Christ Church last night. The victims — all from the same area — were reportedly among a group of men who were liming on the block around 10:50 p.m. when a number of loud explosions were suddenly heard. During the commotion, 32-year-old Randy Went of Green Hill, Silver Hill was shot in his right rib and right forearm and 38-year-old Adrian Cox of Maxwell Hill in his right foot. A third man, 21-year-old Devon Rowe of Block 3D, Silver Hill, suffered a laceration to his right hand. Rowe was subsequently transported by private vehicle to FMH medical centre where he was treated and discharged. Cox was taken by private vehicle and Went by ambulance to the state-run QEH, where they are both listed as stable. Police are asking anyone with information that can assist them with this investigation to contact the Oistins Police Station at 418-2612, 418-2608, Police Emergency at telephone number “ 211”, Crime Stoppers at 1-800 –TIPS (8477), or the nearest police station. They say all information received will be treated as strictly confidential. (BT)

POLICE INVESTIGATE ST JAMES ACCIDENT - Two men were injured in a two–car smash up at Lower Carlton, St James that occurred around 6:45 p.m. They are Ryan Browne, 30, of Denton Road, Grazettes, St Michael and Wilfred Francis, 60, of Sion Hill, St James. Both Browne and Francis received injuries to the right hip, feet and hands. They were transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by ambulance. Browne and Francis are said to be in stable condition. Police are continuing investigations. (BT)

GUTSY KING FALLS TO MONFILS – He didn’t get the win, but Darian King certainly won the hearts of many. The king of swing may have turned in his best performance yet, having shocked the tennis world by taking the first set off No. 10 Gael Monfils before ultimately falling to the Frenchman in Saturday’s second round at Indian Wells. Playing in his very first ATP Masters event, the 131st ranked King made the appearance memorable, defying the odds to take an early lead until the heavily favoured Monfils won 12 of the last 13 games to pull out a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory in the BNP Paribas Open. It was a gutsy effort to say the least from the 24-year-old Bajan ace, who took the court against his first top ten opponent less than a month after stunning former world No. 17 Bernard Tomic at the Memphis Open. (DN)

‘POLLY’ AND TINO BURY HATCHET – Three years after a bust-up during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Kieron Pollard and Tino Best find themselves on the same side. Pollard was Barbados Tridents captain and Best was a member of St Lucia Zouks in 2014 when there was a row between them at the teams’ hotel after a match at Kensington Oval where Best was involved in an on-field spat with Tridents batsman Shoaib Malik. Moments after Best was snapped up by the Tridents during the 2017 player draft last Friday, Pollard said the incident was behind them. “As human beings, you get past certain things,” he told NATIONSPORT on a Skype link-up. (DN)

CONNELL DELIVERES DESPITE WEATHER –The weather conditions made it difficult for those seeking to reach the CARIFTA Games qualifying standards at the inaugural Junior Stars track meet at the National Stadium on Saturday. The impressive Hannah Connell of the Foundation School was the lone athlete to meet the standard once again in the Under-18 Girls’ 100 metres hurdles. Though not as quick as the previous week’s 13.89 seconds clocking at the national junior championships, the promising Velocity athlete ran clear of the 14.35 standard, finishing in a time of 14.18 seconds. She was followed home by Velocity’s Dominique Lafond in 15.21 seconds. (DN)

THOMPSON AGAIN TOP UMPIRE – Up-and-coming Elite Division umpire Dave Thompson received the perfect birthday present on Saturday evening. For the second year running, he was the recipient of the President’s Award at the Barbados Cricket Umpires’ Association’s (BCUA) awards ceremony held at Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union headquarters, Belmont Road. Thompson, who was also BCUA president Gregory Brathwaite’s choice for the coveted award last year, celebrated his 32nd birthday on Saturday. Brathwaite cited Thompson’s high work ethic, commitment to the cause and willingness to continue learning as among the attributes that influenced his decision to confer the accolade on the former Benfica off-spinner who first signed up for the BCUA training course in 2012. (DN)

HAITI SAYS FAREWELL TO FORMER PRESIDENT RENE PREVAL - Thousands of Haitians gathered on Saturday to say an emotional final farewell to former President Rene Preval, 74, the country’s first democratically elected leader to peacefully transfer power to his successors. In two hours of religious and civil ceremonies, bishops and family members remembered the soft-spoken former agronomist as a man of simplicity who held the country’s farmers in high regard. “Many people have said that my father did not like to speak too much. In effect, that is true,” said Patricia Preval, his daughter. Rene Preval, who died on March 3, had an understated style, a marked contrast to the fiery oration of his one-time friend, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, or the showmanship of his final successor, Michel Martelly. Preval will be best remembered internationally for leading Haiti in the immediate aftermath of a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that killed at least 200,000 people. His daughter also said that, despite serving as a prime minister and later a popular two-time president, politics did not even interest him. “Politics was a means to development, (that) was what he loved,” she said during a speech in which her voice occasionally cracked with emotion. Yet local politics were not completely absent from the funeral, in which Preval’s casket stood in the center of a stage draped in Haiti’s blue and red flag. Current President Jovenel Moise’s speech at the end of the service was met with jeers, as some said it resembled more a campaign speech than a eulogy. Preval’s body was buried on Saturday afternoon in his hometown, Marmelade, in the north of the country. “He wasn’t a bad president… he wasn’t a liar,” Anna Lamartiniere, 64, said in the stands before the service. “He did good work for the country, he built roads.” (BT)

QUEEN’S COMMONWEALTH MESSAGE – IN HER MESSAGE for Commonwealth Day, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II reflects on this year’s theme of ‘A Peace-building Commonwealth’ and the onward journey of The Queen’s Baton Relay. “This Commonwealth Day, a baton will set out from Buckingham Palace and begin a long and extraordinary journey. Over the next twelve months, the Baton will visit people living in the nations and territories of our Commonwealth family in every continent and ocean. Carried on its way by thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds, by the time it reaches its final destination, The Queen’s Baton will have brought together through its route and symbolism, almost 2.5 billion people who share the special connection of being Commonwealth citizens. Contained within the Baton will be a written message that will be opened and read at the Commonwealth Games in Australia next year. However, there is an even more powerful message to be seen and experienced as the Baton passes from hand to hand, from seashore to mountaintop, through cities, towns, and villages. It is the message of a peace-building Commonwealth. The cornerstones on which peace is founded are, quite simply, respect and understanding for one another. Working together, we build peace by defending the dignity of every individual and community. By upholding justice and the rule of law, and by striving for societies that are fair and offer opportunities for all, we overcome division and find reconciliation, so that the benefits of progress and prosperity may be multiplied and shared. As members of the Commonwealth family we can find much to be thankful for in the inheritances we have received from those who came before us. Through consensus and cooperation great things have been achieved. We can find further reward and fulfilment by continuing to collaborate with others in a spirit of goodwill to build a peaceful and abundant future for all Commonwealth citizens.” (DN)

That’s all for today folks. There are 293 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 3/29/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Friday 29Th March 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN).

ARMING SECURITY OFFICERS ‘TOO EXTREME’ – A call to arm security officers is being shot down by experts, as well as the police. While many businesses are being encouraged to invest in more security equipment and personnel, especially following the brazen fatal shooting last week Thursday at Sheraton Mall, Christ Church, where there are no armed guards, equipping every security officer with a gun is getting the thumbs down. “Under the law, security officers are not allowed to carry firearms unless they are working cash-in-transit (moving money) or if they have a licensed firearm, as you’re supposed to have your firearm on your person 24/7,” said security consultant Randolph Hackett. However, he warned that a firearm was not supposed to be used unless in cases of self-defence and not in the execution of the duties of a security officer. He also said there were certain locations where personal firearms were banned. (WN)

YOUTH AND CRIME CONCERNS – One noted economist is making a link between the high levels of youth unemployment in Barbados and the upsurge in crime. Director of Economics at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Dr Justin Ram said on average approximately one in four young people were unemployed in the region, and this was a worrying trend that needed to be arrested urgently. Focusing on Barbados, Ram told the 10th Domestic Financial Institutions Conference at the Central Bank on Thursday, that the crime situation was a particularly concerning one. “Across our borrowing member countries unemployment continues to be a real problem. Some of our countries have unemployment in excess of 20 per cent. In Barbados it is [just under] 10 per cent. But a real important issue for us to remember is that one in four of our young people is unemployed, and this is on average. In some of our countries it is as high as 50 per cent,” said Ram. Noting that persons living in Barbados are particularly concerned about the homicide rate per 100,000 population, Sam said if the trends continue the country could end up with even higher rates of murders. So far for the year Barbados has recorded 20 murders, just eight fewer than it recorded for the entire 2018 period. In 2017 the country recorded a total of 31 murders. “This is all related back to this – if young people don’t have anything meaningful to do then they will find something to do in their time, and we have to be paying particular attention to this,” warned the CDB economist. At the same time, he urged authorities to pay close attention to the dwindling population. Stating that it could create serious problems for the future of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), Ram said it was a situation that the CDB was also concerned about. “This is quite concerning. In Jamaica we expect to see, by 2100, a 50 per cent decline in population. In Barbados we are estimating about a 10 per cent decline in population. Folks, it is important for us to pay particular attention to this now because it will bite us particularly hard if we don’t do something about it,” he said. “You have to think about who will pay for those pensions. In this population decline there is a significant proportion of that population who will be older and retired and we have to think about what is going to be the dependency ratio,” he warned. Ram advised that “it is not only about having more children”, while pointing to the influx of Venezuelans in Trinidad & Tobago, hinting that importation of labour could be part of the solution. “We have to ask ourselves what do we need to do in order to arrest this declining population, and it is not only about having more children,” he said. He said while Barbados continued to make strides in several areas, some challenges exist including the need for improvement in the access to finance for micro and small enterprises, and ensuring everyone had access to “good education”. He also pointed out that gender inequality remained a concern, a lack of workforce skills training based on employers’ needs, lack of adequate data, and too few citizens and private sector involvement in the financial system. “We certainly need to have financial sector reform . . . we also need to ensure that there is good regulatory autonomy that when the regulator decides to do something there is no real political interference there. That is particularly important. And we need to ensure how we get productive investment opportunities,” said Ram. According to him among the measures needed in Barbados and other Caribbean countries, were the development of the junior stock exchanges, development of more investment options, greater global integration, greater financial inclusion and more innovation and increased technology use. (BT)

HOLLIGAN IS NEW UPP CHAIRMAN – Everton Heru Holligan will lead the United Progressive Party (UPP) for at least the next year. Holligan beat out Ambrose Grosvenor and Wayne Griffith for the top post following the completion of online voting to elect a new Executive Committee to serve from 2019 to 2020. The UPP’s former chairman Lynette Eastmond who did not seek re-election was voted in as vice-chairman. Eastmond, who founded the party in 2016, had said she would not be contesting the top post as she thought it would be appropriate to give as many people in the party as much exposure as possible. The remaining members of the committee comprise general secretary Wayne Griffith; assistant general secretary Raquel Gilkes; chief financial officer Ambrose Grosvenor; assistant chief financial officer Edison Bynoe and Ria Riley who was elected public relations officer. In a press release to announce the new committee, the UPP said one of Holligan’s goals would be to change the political landscape in Barbados. “Mr Holligan is deeply honoured to take up the post of chairman and carry on the mandate of the UPP and continue this progressive movement. He also thanked the outgoing executive management committee for their stellar work over the past year,” the statement read. “The new chairman indicated that our journey is one to change the political landscape of politics in Barbados and hopefully also inspire the region to function differently in the political arena.” The statement went on to add that “the voting population is surely disenchanted with the present way in which politics is practiced as it shows a disconnect with the reality of the public experience.” (BT)

PAINFUL RESTRUCTURING – One veteran banker has likened Government domestic debt restructuring plan to that of “an axe in the heart of banks”, while giving a strong indication that commercial banks will no longer be willing to take on Government debt, other than what they are mandated to by law. Chairman of Republic Financial Holdings Limited Ronald Harford suggested that banks would be even more skeptical about investing in Government paper, following the deal reached with them last year. He was speaking while taking part in a panel discussion at the 10th Domestic Financial Institutions Conference at the Central Bank on Thursday under the theme Repositioning Barbados’ Financial Sector. “Banks have to revisit their thinking about lending to Government. I think the goal that the Government has, of having a debt to GDP of 60 per cent is going to visit them [banks] in their needs to access capital from today . . . [and] the banks are going to take a view that if they are going to lend to Government the debt to GDP must not exceed 60 per cent,” said Harford. “So the vast majority of the islands will not be able to access capital from the banking system, they will have to go to the CDB [Caribbean Development Bank], IMF [and others] to finance their debt, and that is a lesson that came home very clearly and has sunk into the psyche of the banks in the region,” he said, as he pointed out that the banks lost heavily on a number of Government securities in the region. In its 2018 annual report published last December, Republic Financial said that increased provisions resulting from the impact of the Government default and subsequent restructuring of its debt had resulted in a $22 million decrease in the profit of its Barbados operation after tax. As at September 30, 2018, the bank’s commercial banking subsidiary had made a total provision of TT$727 million for its exposure to the Barbados Government. “When in negotiating the restructuring of the debt, the Barbados Government could say to the banks if you lend to a country whose debt to GDP exceeds 140 per cent, you can’t be serious about getting back all of your money, that was like an axe that went into the heart of the banks. We will need to be [wiser] about how we go forward, it is a very strong and brutal lesson that we have learned,” said Harford. As at December 2017, commercial banks were required by law to hold 20 per cent of their deposits in stipulated Government securities and at September last year, commercial banks had a total of $180.7 million in Government debt. Back in September, Government had announced that it had reached a debt restructuring deal for domestic holders of Government debt, while promising that a similar deal for external creditors would be announced in the not-too-distant future. Under that deal, which was finalized for domestic debt holders in last October, the majority of loans were swapped for new debt instruments, with lower interest rates and a longer period over which they would be repaid. However, external creditors have been adamant that they were not prepared to take a similar deal, while presenting Government with their own proposal. Economist Dr DeLisle Worrell, who is an advisor to a group of external creditors, had revealed last December that “a proposal, which meets the Central Bank’s foreign reserves needs, and at the same time, is acceptable to the holders of US-dollar denominated debt, is now in the hands of the Prime Minister and her advisors”. While the details of the proposal have not been made public, Government is seemingly sticking to its original offer. Meanwhile, a central banker is indicating that the March 31 deadline, which Government was working towards winding up negotiations and coming up with a mutually beneficial debt restructuring deal with external creditors, is no longer a reality. Responding to questions at the Domestic Financial Institutions Conference at the Courtney Blackman Grande Salle on Thursday, Acting Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Michelle Doyle-Lowe said with March now coming to an end no new date has yet been identified for Government reaching a deal with external creditors. “We are already at the ending of March. It is a negotiation and ultimately our ideal is to have it wrapped up because obviously it is creating unnecessary or additional uncertainty. But at the end of it there has to be some coming together of minds as to how we move forward,” said Doyle-Lowe. “Remember we are dealing with international investors where their holding of Barbados Government debt is a very small element in their overall debt portfolio, but we know that at some stage we want to be able to partner with entities again and go back to the international capital market. So it is important how we proceed on these matters. So ultimately, there is no definitive date that I can say to you it will be completed by X time. Our ideal is that it be wrapped up sooner rather than later,” she explained. About 20 per cent of Government debt is external. “I think it is important to understand that there is a difference in perspective between your average domestic investor and the foreign investor. So it really relates to what they consider to be their stake and what they want to contribute to the reprofiling and overall exercise for Government to reposition itself,” Doyle-Lowe said. “Part of it is related to them trying to understand where our economic fundamentals are at and what form the domestic exchange would have taken. But ultimately it is a case of creating some balance between them (external creditors) feeling comfortable that they are not bearing more than they want to in terms of the brunt of the external exchange versus what we need to achieve by way of repositioning the external debt,” she explained.(BT)

FOOD PRICES TO INCREASE – Farmers are predicting that the price of locally-produced food will rise sharply as production costs go up. Small farmers in particular, say they have found themselves at a crossroad. They must either evolve or exit the vital industry after the most recent announcement of an increase in commercial water rates. Farmers have been crying out ever since the Garbage and Sewage Contribution levy, announced during Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s mini Budget last June started cutting deeply into their profits. During last week’s Budget, the Prime Minister announced that from May 1, commercial entities would have to pay $4.66 per cubic meter for up to 40 cubic meters of water and $7.78 per cubic meter for usage in excess of 40 cubic meters. Against the odds, many farmers have committed themselves to the supply of locally-produced food. However, the most recent announcement has left some agriculture workers, particularly livestock farmers who rely on a heavy supply of water, concerned that they may not be able to compete with similar products imported from developed countries. “If Government doesn’t protect domestic products and if you don’t have food, we have lost a part of our anatomy as a nation. If we develop a pattern here in Barbados where the importer is king and not the farmer who lives in the country, we have a problem for future generations,” argued young farmer, Mikkel Rogers who specialises in pig farming and root crops. “When you look at the cost of water and the water tax implemented in the mini Budget in 2018, that was difficult for us . . . now if you are a commercially rated customer and you grow a crop like lettuce, which requires a daily supply of water and the cost of that lettuce used to be $2.00, now you have to go to the consumer with a higher price. “So in the supermarket the cost of lettuce may have to increase by a dollar to accommodate the rise in costs, while the price of romaine lettuce from overseas remains the same,” he said, adding that countries like America, Canada and England had the resources to subsidise their agricultural inputs and drive up production, while reducing the cost of the products on supermarket shelves. Rogers added that farmers would now have to find more tactful ways of getting the same production, while using less water. He also suggested developing desalination plants or rainwater harvesting and using emerging techniques like reverse osmosis. “We farmers have to be innovative and I am not going to just blame the Government. The recent measures are going to hurt us as farmers, but we have to find new ways to beat the system,” he said. CEO of the Barbados Agricultural Society, James Paul earlier this week predicted that some farmers who were now operating at “break even” could “go under” due to the increased cost of the important resource. “The water bill has gone sky high and I definitely have to use a lot of water,” said 47-year-old Junior Foster, a pig farmer with over 30 years of experience. He said since the introduction of the GSL, his bill has increased by almost $200 per month and would increase even further when the new measure is implemented. Foster however told Barbados TODAY that he would never consider giving up on farming. “This is my livelihood so I’m not thinking about closing right now. Some of these farmers around here are part time. Agricultural work is always difficult regardless of which Government is in power, but certain measures have been put in place and they will either make us or break us. “But I just can’t pack up and shut down just like that. If you are a 24-hour farmer, the farthest thing from your mind is closing down, whether you’re into livestock, food crops or whatever,” he said. Rico Dyall, a 23-year-old, who started farming at the tender age of 15, specialises in the cultivation of kale, but also grows beans and peppers. Dyall said he would continue to press on despite the challenges, but admitted his business was under pressure from all angles. “Sometimes supermarkets don’t want to pay the price charged by the farmers and try to make us bring down our prices and I can’t do that if I have water bills and all kinds of bills to pay. I can only give them according to what I pay to produce the crops,” he said. “The prices are definitely going to go up. I am hoping that the people who usually like to support local farmers, will continue to do so.” (BT)

LIAT’S FATE – There is a very real possibility that regional carrier LIAT could be grounded for good. The airline’s fate now rests with trade unions, who were given until 5 p.m. this evening to report back to LIAT’s management on whether their workers would be willing to accept a pay cut. A well-placed source told Barbados TODAY that during an almost six-hour meeting at the Hilton Barbados yesterday with Prime Minister Mia Mottley and chairman of the LIAT shareholder governments, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, trade unions agreed to a six per cent pay cut in an effort to keep the regional carrier afloat. However, those trade unions, which also included the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), said they would first need to report back to their membership before any agreement could be reached. The source said if the trade unions and LIAT management failed to reach an agreement by 5 p.m. this evening, the airline could collapse. “Today at 5 p.m. is do or die. LIAT’s finances are so dire that if they do not come to an agreement to allow for savings for the shareholders, which would keep LIAT viable, the airline could fold,” the source explained. The source further explained that the timeline given was critical as Barbados’ financial year ends on March 31. The source said officials in the Ministry of Finance were working “around the clock” so that in the event an agreement was reached, an emergency injection of funds would be made available to support the cash-strapped airline. If that money is not accounted for this financial year, Barbados, the main shareholder, will be unable to inject any funds into LIAT due to IMF restrictions, the source said. In a telephone interview with Barbados TODAY from St Vincent just after 9 p.m. – four hours after the reported deadline had passed – Gonsalves, who was in a meeting, said he had not yet heard of any further developments. “I don’t know if they have sent anything to the CEO of LIAT . . . but I am in a meeting right now,” he said. When contacted, Roy Morris, Press Secretary to Prime Minister Mottley confirmed that the trade unions had asked to report back to their membership at the end of yesterday’s meeting. “The meeting really was to try to achieve certain agreements from staff that would allow the airline to proceed on a restructuring programme given its dire financial position. That meeting achieved certain results, but the unions needed to go back to their membership to get certain proposals that were hammered out in caucus here, ratified since a number of them had said they were not authorized by their membership to alter at that stage and hence were given a timeframe within which to return information on whatever they agreed to the shareholders,” Morris said. (BT)

TEEN CHARGED WITH MURDER – Nineteen-year-old Kadeem O’Brian Clarke has been charged with the murder of Graeme Addison Norville. Clarke, of Johnson Road, Workmans, St George is scheduled to appear before the Oistins Magistrates’ Court on March 29, 2019. Norville,22, was shot and killed on February 16, 2019 at Rock Hall, St George. The deceased was recorded as the country’s 11th murder for 2019. (BT)

TEENAGER RELIEVED OF HIS GUN – Yet another teenager has been remanded to prison in connection with gun and ammunition charges. Carl Leslie Hinds Jr., 19, of Lot 49 Lodge Crescent, Lodge Hill, St Michael got an automatic 28-day stint at HMP Dodds starting today when he appeared before Magistrate Douglas Frederick this afternoon. It is alleged that Hinds had a firearm and four rounds of ammunition in his possession on March 27, 2019. The accused who returns before the District ‘A’ Magistrates’s Court on April 25, 2019, was not required to plea to the indictable offences. (BT)

CAREER CROOK REMANDED – Pleas and tears of an unemployed 58-year-old woman who admitted to a theft charge were not enough to prevent her from being remanded to Dodds. “Give me one more chance please, please, I don’t want to go to jail,” Earlinda Alesha Maughan, of Lot 30 Neil’s Tenantry, St Michael said as she pleaded before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant today. It came moments after she admitted to stealing four glasses frames worth $600 belonging to Haroon Chothia on March 27. She entered the establishment known as Mobile King located at Kensington Mall on Fontabelle with a black haversack around 1:10 p.m. However, her actions as she walked around the store caused another customer to become suspicious and reported her behaviour to Chothia who then went to check the display where she had been seen. The property was discovered missing, Maughan was quickly apprehended and the police called in. A restitution order was granted for the items to be returned to the owner. “I had a bad past. I know that I did this act but right now I am taking care of my mother and I suffer from gastroenteritis,” said Maughan who has quite a history before the court. “I asking you to give me a chance. I don’t want to go to jail that’s the honest truth. Just give me one more chance please, please, please,” the middle-aged woman added before she began to cry. She was remanded to the St Philip institution to return to the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on April 25 for sentencing. (BT)

BABY BRINGS GUILTY PLEA – Now that a 42-year-old man knows he has a new baby girl at home, he threw in the towel and pleaded guilty to importing a quantity of marijuana into the country. Anderson Dacosta Clarke of Drax Hall Hope, St George also admitted before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant to possession, possession with intent to supply and possession with intent to traffic the illicit drug on August 9, 2018. Clarke has been on remand since his first appearance in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court in October last year. He has maintained his innocence for the past four months. Today, however, he told Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant that the reason he did not “go before the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) and plead was that my girl was pregnant . . . my baby girl born on March 6 and . . . I really wanted to see the little girl. I am sorry for wasting the court’s time.” After listening to his explanation Magistrate Cuffy-Sargeant adjourned the case until April 1 when Clarke will be sentenced after the facts of the offences are revealed. (BT)

A HEAD THING – His declaration of wanting to “plead guilty to bursting de man head” today earned a 25-year-old man who is already serving time at Dodds, an additional six months behind bars. Daniel Denaro Reece, of no fixed place of abode, was at 1st Avenue, Bank Hall, St Michael on November 13, 2018, when he came across Jody Farnum. According to Sergeant St Clair Phillips, Reece approached Farnum and struck him in the head with two stones, knocking him to the ground before fleeing the scene. He was later charged for assault occasioning actual bodily harm to which he pleaded guilty before Magistrate Douglas Frederick today, three months after he denied the offence. Reece explained from the dock of the No.1 District ‘A’ Magistrate’s Court that he wanted to deal with other matters before the court in a bid to focus on a case in the High Court. However, he told Magistrate Frederick that he committed the act because he believed the guys in the area were searching for him. “It was a setup. He was trying to get me set up so the group of men would chop me up. At the time I was smoking dope and breaking into people places and I broke into the wrong person place,” Reece said, as he asked the magistrate to take into consideration the sentence he was already serving at Dodds Magistrate Frederick said that could not be done in this case. “Not in this case. Not following the callous manner in which you said it, ‘ I want to plead guilty to bursting de man head’. But you did the right thing,” said Frederick who informed Reece that the sentence would run consecutively to any he is now serving. The accused man explained that his current sentence would be completed in July this year. “Can you make it concurrent sir because Verdun [House] still interested in treating me,” he stated. Frederick, however, explained to him that was not the case and read out a report from the drug rehabilitation centre. It said that citizens of Barbados were afforded two Government-sponsored rehabilitation attempts in any 12-month period and Reece had already had his quota. The report also stated that he had discharged himself from the programme and as such “would not be eligible for Government-sponsored admission until August 27, 2019”. Further, if he was desirous of being interviewed for possible re-entry before that date he would have to pay $16,500 for the 90-day primary stage of the programme. Reece returns to court on April 25. (BT)

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 1/29/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Tuesday 29th January 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

PUZZLING MOVE – Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s recent appointment of former Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin as a crime consultant to the current Commissioner Tyrone Griffith has raised a red flag from ex-Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite. Last Friday Mottley told a press conference at Parliament Buildings that Dottin was being brought back to the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) to lend “his skills” to the crime fight. While the Prime Minister did not elaborate, her Attorney General Dale Marshall later explained that Dottin, who was sent on administrative leave during the previous Democratic Labour Party administration’s tenure amid allegations of illegal wiretapping being carried out by the Force, would be advising Griffith on crime matters. Dottin had denied the wiretapping allegations. Two members of the Special Branch had given sworn affidavits to the Police Service Commission that they had carried out the wiretappings under instructions. Those officers have recently been transferred from the Special Branch. “I believe that this will be an opportunity, first to welcome the former commissioner back in the area of lending his skills in helping us deal with the issue. The current commissioner has welcomed him and has welcomed the advice of the former commissioner because he recognizes that many of these issues have presented themselves in Barbados society in the past,” Marshall said on Friday. However, former Attorney General Brathwaite is not buying that. “I find it difficult to support such an appointment. What does it say about the deputy and other Gazetted officers,” Brathwaite told Barbados TODAY this afternoon. He also saw the return of Dottin as having an adverse impact on the morale of the constabulary. “I can only see such an appointment undermining the confidence that the rank and file and the ordinary man in the street have in the [present] commissioner who in my opinion has been doing an excellent job in tackling crime in this country, [while] repairing a fractured police force which he inherited,” Brathwaite warned. This development comes on the heels of a frightening spike in gun violence which is responsible for five of the eight murders so far and a decision by the Prime Minister to relieve Home Affairs Minister Edmund Hinkson of those duties related to law and order and reassign them to AG Marshall. Meanwhile, the former Attorney General has hit back at Government accusations that the police force was starved of resources under his watch, resulting in the present crime situation. “It is not true. Yes, we had certain measures in place that all ministries were impacted. But over the last three years, if my memory serves me correctly, the [then] Minister of Finance made it quite clear, that when it comes to law and order that we would not be compromising this society by [being] forced to cut back within the ministries [the AG’s Office and Barbados Defence Force (BDF)],” he added. He recalled that the former Minister of Finance had told the commissioner during the time of the last Democratic Labour Party Estimates he would get what he requested. “The police were given the resources that they required. They didn’t get everything that they would have liked. No ministry gets everything that they would like. But it is untrue to say that they were starved of resources and that impacted on their ability to solve crime because they were solving crimes all along,” the ex-Attorney General told Barbados TODAY. Brathwaite also conceded that he would have liked to see more police officers on the streets and an increase in community policing. In further defending his stewardship as Minister in charge of the police, he said he had discussed with the commissioner removing officers from doing clerical duties to undertaking actual crime-fighting. “Certainly as Attorney General and certainly as an administration, we didn’t put our hands up in the air and said we could not do anything to arrest the issue of gun violence in this country. We identified what was required,” contended the former legal advisor to the DLP Government. He insisted that his administration did more training for officers during the tenure of the present commissioner than was done in the three years previous. Barbados TODAY reached out to former commissioner Dottin for comment, but he declined to speak at this time. Another former commissioner Grantley Watson said he was not in a position to comment as yet, while his predecessor Orville Durant said he was not touching the issue of Dottin’s appointment. “You are dragging me into the political thing and all of that . . . I don’t want that. I have had enough of that in my life,” declared the ex-top cop. Barbados TODAY also sought to hear from Sir Elliott Belgrave, who, as then Governor General, was called upon by the Police Service Commission (PSC) to sanction its recommendation that Dottin be sent on administrative leave. However, Sir Elliott refused to be drawn into any discussion on the Dottin issue, insisting that he was retired. When contacted, president of the Barbados Police Association (BPA) Mervin Grace made it clear that Dottin’s appointment was not an issue for its members. “He is there to consult to the commissioner of police on the matters in relation to the crime situation, not the other internal running of the force,” Grace said. This would mark the first occasion in modern Barbados’ history that a retired police commissioner has been brought back to serve as a consultant/advisor to a sitting commissioner of police and/or Government. (BT)

UPP WANTS ANSWERS ABOUT EX- COP’S ROLE – The United Progressive Party is demanding Government provides greater details on the consultative function to be performed by former Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin. As a matter of fact, head of the UPP Lynette Eastmond says she is puzzled as to what unique services the retired lawman could bring to the table, suggesting that the move could be construed as questioning the competence of current Police Commissioner Tyrone Griffith. She also called on the Prime Minister to state how much, if any, was Dottin’s consultancy going to cost the taxpayers. “I don’t have any idea what former Police Commissioner Dottin’s role is meant to be. I don’t think that was outlined. I have had no reason to believe our current Commissioner of Police [Tyrone Griffith] isn’t up to the task,” said Eastmond During Mottley’s press conference on Friday, Attorney General Dale Marshall provided rationalization for leaning on the expertise of Dottin, noting that the current Commissioner of Police has welcomed the input. “I believe that this will be an opportunity for us to welcome former Commissioner back into the area of lending his skills to helping us to deal with this issue. The current Commissioner has welcomed him and has welcomed the advice of the former Commissioner because we recognize that many of these issues have presented themselves to the Barbadian society in the past,” he explained. Griffith also spoke at the media briefing on Friday but he did not address Dottin’s return Marshall further pointed out that “these kinds of spikes are not unknown to Barbados, but perhaps more importantly [the move to bring in Dottin] is a demonstration of the fact that every single Barbadian, former police officers, have an opportunity and a role to play in dealing with these issues.” However, this morning Eastmond revealed that she was far from satisfied with the Attorney General’s explanation. She pointed out that based on her knowledge as an officer of the court, the police are in desperate need of forensic resources and suggested that area should receive first priority. “The police force itself needs additional resources in terms of their crime detection, gathering of evidence and maintenance of evidence. I don’t know if the former Commissioner is going to bring any of those services. Maybe he is going to do research to see how we could improve the current force, but we need to know what his role is,” said Eastmond, who called on either the Prime Minister or Attorney General to spare the country the guessing game. Eastmond made it clear that she was not impressed with the rest of the Prime Minister’s plan to combat the worrying issue of gun violence. Describing it as a public relations exercise, Eastmond charged that Mottley’s remedy for the gun violence scourge, which has claimed five lives and injured 13 persons, was essentially a mop-up exercise rather than an actual fix. “We do not believe that the measures go far enough to get to the root of the issue, especially as it relates to guns. As a friend once told me, you don’t get a mop and bucket to fix a leak. So, to have additional soldiers to deal with a situation that currently exists does not stop the rot at the core. Having soldiers and police officers walk through communities is just optics, it is PR, we really want to get to the root of the problem,” said Eastmond, who was speaking at a press conference this morning held at the Courtyard Marriot Hotel. The UPP leader contended that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was in power for almost a year and therefore had no excuse for coming with a strategy that only scratched the surface of the issue. “We should have received something that was better structured. Any structure that is put in place to deal with this issue has to take into account, not just police officers whose mandate it is to deal with crime when it occurs, but it must also involve personnel who deal with prevention of crime and community issues and early intervention,” she stressed. (BT)

DRAWDOWN – Government has received another US$49 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as representatives from the finance institution prepare to visit Barbados next month to ensure the country is meeting its agreed targets. But having received US$98 million of its US$290 million IMF loan, in addition to US$175 million from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the authorities stressed Barbados’ “underlying international reserves position . . . remains fragile”. Despite this concern, which partly relates to the unresolved foreign commercial debts issue, the Mia Mottley administration said “the roll-out of the various fiscal reforms contemplated under the Barbados Economic Reform and Transformation (BERT) plan and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the IMF have been progressing as planned”. That’s what Government outlined in its latest “creditors update” dated January 23, 2019, released ahead of tomorrow’s 2018 economic review and 2019 outlook by the Central Bank. It came as the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department predicted Barbados’ economy would decline by 0.5 per cent this year, with consumer prices forecast to increase by 4.2 per cent. (DN)

PM AND CARICOM MEET WITH UN GENERAL SECRETARY – Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is part of the CARICOM delegation which is meeting today with Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, to discuss the political crisis in Venezuela, and request assistance in resolving the issue. Ms. Mottley has been invited to participate in the meeting by Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr. Timothy Harris, who is also Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis. Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley, and CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, are also part of the discussions. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott, and Chair of the CARICOM Caucus at the UN, Ambassador Elizabeth Thompson, are also part of the delegation. Several Heads of Government of CARICOM and Foreign Ministers met in a special emergency session last Thursday to discuss the current situation in Venezuela. They agreed that the long-standing political crisis, which has been exacerbated by recent events, could only be resolved peacefully through meaningful dialogue and diplomacy. In this regard, the Heads of Government offered their good offices to facilitate dialogue among all parties to resolve the deepening crisis. The Heads of Government have already called on external forces to refrain from doing anything to destabilize the situation in Venezuela, and called on all actors, internal and external, to avoid actions which would escalate an already explosive situation to the detriment of Venezuelans. (BGIS)

GOVT TO TACKLE CLIMATE CONCERNS – Locating utilities underground has been identified by Government among a list of priorities requiring urgent attention to address climate change and protect communities and the economy from natural disasters. The point was raised by Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment Marsha Caddle, at a round table with senior Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) executives yesterday to identify priority areas on climate change and resilience. “Compared to larger countries, the Caribbean is now seven times more likely to be hit by a natural disaster, with the average estimated damage six times higher,” Caddle said. In addition to highlighting the target of a fossil fuel-free economy by 2030, Caddle noted the importance of supporting the early resumption of essential services, “such as through undergrounding of cables or enabling water to be delivered without the grid”. Upgrading of the island’s network of climate resilient shelters and identifying new approaches for financing and insurance were among matters the minister identified needed urgent action. (DN)

BWA DOING THE DIRTY WORK – The ongoing work on sewage lines running to and from the Graeme Hall sewage treatment plant truly give weight to the saying: “It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it”. From early Saturday morning to yesterday evening, Barbados Water Authority (BWA) workers were on the job, in shifts, repairing a 24-inch gravity line which handles sewage going to the plant, work the men assured would be completed yesterday. Alongside United States-based subcontractors, the workers were replacing the lining of the sewage line from the entrance to the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary in Worthing, Christ Church, to near the old Scotia bank, and flushing the system. The men said there was a lot of criticism being levelled at them but the public failed to understand how difficult the job was. “We work in tight spaces surrounded with faeces. We’ve come across condoms, pampers, towels and even US money. People just don’t know the things that you can find down here. “We work through the elements and what people don’t know is [that] there are a lot of springs which feed into the sewage line as well as seawater, so we sometimes end up in waist-high water,” said supervisor of joining, Sheridan Grosvenor. The senior BWA worker said the job was not for the faint-hearted and assured the men were not slacking. “We do this because we love our jobs. It’s a challenge but my team likes challenges,” he said. As for the next step, the men said it was best to speak to consultant Dr John Mwansa, who once was the BWA general manager. However, efforts to reach Mwansa were futile. (DN)

BWA STILL WORKING ON PUMPS AT APPLEWHAITES – Barbados Water Authority (BWA) crews continue emergency repair work tonight, to replace pumps affected by a power outage at its Applewhaites Pumping Station. Thus far, one pump has successfully been replaced and is working once again. Work is currently underway on the second. Once both of these pumps are back in operation, the BWA will regain fifty per cent of the production from this facility. This will allow more water to be put back into the distribution network which will in turn reduce the number of districts experiencing water outages or low pressure. While residents in some districts may continue to be affected overnight, the BWA remains committed to assisting the remaining affected areas via water tanker while the emergency repair work continues. The Barbados Water Authority sincerely apologises for the inconvenience these outages have caused its valued customers. (DN)

DANGER GONE – The controversial structure which once served as the entrance to the Villages in Coverley, Christ Church, is gone. And while the African Heritage Foundation (AHF), which had lobbied for its removal is pleased it is no longer there, they now want the charges against a mother who was hauled before the courts after her son was killed when her vehicle collided with the structure, dropped. President of the AHF Paul Simba Rock told Barbados TODAY he was glad motorists traversing the Adams section of the ABC Highway no longer had to worry about the dangers of the protrusion, however, he said the organization was still very peeved that Felisha Osula Holder continued to face a charge of causing death by dangerous driving, following the death of her son on June 26, 2015. Almost three years after the accident in which 11-year-old Abijah Holder Phillips lost his life, Felisha Osula Holder was charged with the offence. He said the organization had sent a petition to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution calling for the matter which has now been moved to the High Court to be dismissed. “I am glad it has been removed and that a safer structure has been built so that it is no more a danger to others. But I don’t want people to forget that a young man’s life was lost,” Rock said. “We are still very peeved and bewildered that the only person brought into account for the accident is the mother and not the developer.” Rock said what was especially worrying was that then Opposition Leader Mia Mottley had joined in the call for action to be taken against developer Mark Maloney but since her election as Prime Minister he had not heard her voice on the matter. “Before this accident occurred, based on what the Town and Country Planning Department had said, that structure was illegal and it remained there and a young man lost his life. A mother is now paying for something she should not be,” Rock said. “This is unfair and since winning the election Mark Maloney has not been called into account for what happened.” Meanwhile, president of the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) Charmaine Roland-Bowen is over the moon that Maloney has finally come good on his promise to remove the contentious protrusion. While that area has now been completely blocked off, a roundabout has been constructed to ensure a safe exit and entrance to persons entering the residential area, as well as those traversing that stretch of the highway. In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Bowen said she was happy to see alternative arrangements had been made. “That posed a serious threat as there were a number of collisions, including a death which would have happened there. By moving it, it increases the measure of safety for persons using that area of the road. The roundabout is a good move. We believe it is a lot safer and you’re at less risk because it is a safety measure which will allow persons to slow down and it is a good improvement for what has happened there,” Roland-Bowen said. She said the improvements were particularly timely, following the relocation of hundreds of students from the Ross University School of Medicine to Coverley, which meant there would be increased traffic in the area. However, Roland-Bowen said there were still some areas which needed to be upgraded for the safety of motorists. She pointed to stretch of road leading from the Henry Forde roundabout at Newton, Christ Church, that she said needed “some remedial work done”. The BRSA president also called for the government to replace a number of streetlights on the highway which were not functional and posed a serious threat to drivers. (BT)

‘VIOLENT ATTACKS DEEP-ROOTED’ - The National Organization of Women (NOW) is calling on authorities to take a closer look at the circumstances surrounding the bizarre string of violent events which last week claimed the lives of three women in less than 48 hours. In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Marsha Hinds, the outspoken public relations officer of the National Organization of Women (NOW), drew a comparison between the country’s onslaught of violence, the economic situation and dysfunctional families. She argued that with the triad of problems all present in Barbados, an increase in violence against women was likely to follow. “It’s not really strange when you understand the trajectory of Barbados’ crime situation and the relationship that I at least think there is between the crime situation and things like unaddressed family situations and of course the economic situation overall. “When you get those three things together, the crime trajectory, the economic situation and the family dysfunction that is still very closely linked, it is not very surprising that women are caught up in the statistics with the respect to death,” she said. Last Monday the body of a woman suspected to be that of Dr Sarah Sutrina, a University of the West Indies lecturer was found near River Bay, St Lucy, and another woman identified only as “Joanne” was discovered within hours at Northumberland, also in St Lucy. Following that incident, 69-year-old Martha Agatha Doyle was killed while at the Vauxhall Senior Citizens home. The deaths make up three of Barbados’ eight murders, which occurred within the first three weeks of 2019. However Hinds, in her analysis said she believed many of the brazen killers are “problematic” individuals, whose inclination to violence was not only directed toward those regarded as their enemies. “So really you’re talking about unaddressed issues that people have and take account for softer crimes. Intimate partner crimes, violence toward children and animals, so in that context I am not at all surprised that women would make up some of the victims because all types of crime are related and those are the kinds of discussions I think that we have to have and the linkages that we have to understand if we are serious about addressing the situation,” she said, adding that, “violence doesn’t only start with a man going out there and murdering another man. The individuals who perpetrate crime are not just problematic when they go out and shoot somebody. They are problematic full stop.” Hinds argued that interventions are needed from a young age before the ‘problematic’ individuals develop into more menacing societal figures. “We see them, for instance, coming through the school system and causing disruption there. Many of them are known to the court before they before they get into these serious crimes,” she said. While acknowledging that she respected the ongoing police investigations and did not wish to cast definite judgments on the cases, Hinds added that “generally the cases point to some of the overarching concerns that we continue to try to educate people about with respect to culture, value of women and the way that we interact with each other in the society. I think that we have to pay attention to that . . . we have to understand the very deep-rooted challenges that really drive the crime situation in Barbados,” she stressed. The issue of violence against women was also raised repeatedly over the weekend at the Miss Big and Beautiful Barbados Pageant. Tonia Husbands, Director of the pageant said in addition to the many challenges facing plus-sized women, the issue of violence is one which women of all backgrounds needed to have addressed. “Violence against women is unacceptable, regardless of whatever the situation. I am so glad that at least one of my contestants highlighted it tonight,” said Husbands. (BT)

MAN TO BE CHARGED WITH THREE MURDERS – Police might have a suspected serial killer on their hands. Barbados TODAY understands that a man is presently in police custody in connection with the brutal killings of at least two females and one male. He is expected to be charged for these murders soon. The man is being held in relation to the deaths of two women whose battered bodies were found in St Lucy within the space of 24 hours last week. One body was discovered at River Bay with significant injuries to her head on January 22, while the body of the other woman was found lying on her back next to an abandoned car in a bushy area at Northumberland on January 21. The suspect is also being questioned in connection with the 2018 murder of 68-year-old Tyrone Austin of Free Hill, St Michael, whose body was discovered in a track near the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, Cave Hill, St Michael on December 18. Austin’s head was also said to have been bashed in. (BT)

FIRE WARNING – For the first 25 days of the year, the Barbados Fire Service has responded to 173 incidents, 134 of which were fires. Of those fires, 105 were grass or rubbish. This has led the fire service to again appeal to Barbadians to stop burning rubbish and find other ways to get rid of it. Speaking on the sidelines of the relaunch of the SAFE programme at the St Ambrose Primary School, Cypress Street, The City, yesterday, fire officer Andrew Taylor, from the Research and Planning Unit, said the fire service was becoming more concerned about the numbers being reported. “We want to encourage persons to desist from indiscriminate burning. Sometimes when our officers go to the scene, some people would say to them that they were trying to get rid of rubbish and the pests. “Between 2015 and 2016, we had three to four houses being damaged due to persons burning rubbish or grass. Only last year, a house was lost in St Lucy due to someone burning rubbish and [it] got out of control,” he said. (DN)

TEEN ACCUSED REMANDED – An 18-year-old accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl has been remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison, Dodds, St Philip and will return to court next month. He is Tristan Nathaniel Leacock, of Flint Hall, Welches, St Michael, who appeared before acting Magistrate Anika Jackson in the District ‘A Magistrates’ Court. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge of having sex between November 1 and 30, last year with the teen. Prosecutor, PC Kenmore Phillips in asking the court not to grant bail, noted the nature and seriousness of the offence. Defence counsel Lennox Miller however spoke of Leacock’s previously clean record, adding that he was not a danger to anyone. (BT)

‘QUIT WHILE YOU CAN’, MAGISTRATE TELLS BOWEN – It was a one-off situation which won’t happen again! So said 27-year-old Shaniko Bowen, of Clarke’s Road My Lord”s Hill, St Michael before Magistrate Graveney Bannister in the Traffic Court as he pleaded guilty to having cannabis and for not wearing a helmet, on January 27, 2019. Bowen said he was running late for work and asked a family member to give him a ride. According to prosecutor, Kevin Forde, when police officers were on patrol on Government Hill, St Michael, they saw Bowen, a pillion rider without a helmet. They stopped him and told him about it. When they searched him, they found 1.77 grams of vegetable matter suspected to be cannabis in the form of two rolled cigarettes in his pants pocket. Bowen said he was sorry. The magistrate told him since he said he didn’t have a drug problem, “Quit while you can and don’t let it go deeper.” He was convicted, reprimanded and discharged. “Don’t let it happen again,” Magistrate Bannister warned him. (BT)

‘DABBLING IN DRUGS’ – A Bridgetown magistrate yesterday warned a young man that he was going down the wrong path, and urged him to “never let greed or success encourage you”. Magistrate Graveney Bannister, presiding in the Traffic Court also told Chad Roosevelt Eljai Chase, “You have to be more responsible. This time you’re getting an opportunity to pull your socks up.” The 23-year-old shopkeeper of 137, 6th Avenue West Terrace, St James, had pleaded guilty to having cannabis on January 27, 2019, as well as various traffic offences including not being the holder of a driver’s licence; not having a driver’s licence; and failing to comply with traffic signs. According to prosecutor, PC Kevin Forde, police officers were on patrol on Tudor Street, Bridgetown, when they saw a motorcar with two male occupants approaching them and one of the occupants was Chase. He said when Chase was searched two quantities of vegetable matter suspected to be cannabis were found. The police officers also found out that Chase had no driver’s licence, no insurance and the registration plates were not affixed correctly on the vehicle. Chase, who was represented by attorney-at-law Harry Husbands admitted that he never had a driver’s licence adding that he had a permit but missed the date last September. His counsel, in urging the court to be lenient, said that Chase, a national footballer, was currently seeking to have that matter regularized. The court also learnt that Chase, a recreational user of the drug, is the holder of seven CXC’s and is a graduate of the Barbados Communiuty College. The magistrate told him “You have a job that can expand to its full potential, why are you dabbling in drugs?” Urging him to watch the company he keeps, the magistrate said,” Don’t put a damper on your life.” Chase apologized to the court saying he was sorry. The magistrate fined the first offender $1,000 for having no insurance or 100 days in jail and convicted, reprimanded and discharged (CRD) him on the other matters. (BT)

HAYNES WARNED TO STAY AWAY FROM STORE – At 59, Karen Ann Haynes admitted to a court that she is a recovering drug addict and is looking for a job. She made the confession when she appeared before Magistrate Graveney Bannister in the Traffic Court and pleaded guilty to stealing powder and eyeliner worth $16 from No. 1 Beauty Supplies, on January 26, 2019. Haynes, of Garden Land, Country Road, St Michael, also admitted that marijuana was her drug of choice, adding “I don’t have a drug problem anymore. I have been off for about a year.” In reprimanding and discharging her, Magistrate Bannister warned: “Stay away from No 1 Beauty Supplies. Do not venture there. Go and find honest work.” (BT)

DEADLINE FOR INTERIM COACH – Richard Pybus will be gone by October. Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave said the interim head coach probably won’t be under consideration for the full-time post after reaffirming the board’s position of hiring someone from within the region. Grave made the comments after CWI received heavy criticism for giving the English-born Pybus his third high-ranking job in just over five years. “At this stage, I don’t think Richard is thinking longer than September. India are coming directly after September, so I believe Richard will be our head coach for the remainder of this tour, the pre-World Cup tour to Ireland, the World Cup and then the visit by India,” said Grave. “After that point, I don’t think he would be considered as head coach. It’s been clear, certainly for me, considering the discussions I’ve been privy to, that he is interim coach until September. “There’s a strong feeling on the board, and I wouldn’t say it’s been formally discussed, but everyone is aware of the fact that West Indies have had real success at that level with a Caribbean coach, but I don’t think that’s a philosophy just for the head coach as there’s a desire to get Caribbean people working in cricket at all levels and not just within the CWI headquarters,” he added. (DN)

LIONS MAUL WARRIORS – Saturday night’s “Big Rematch” T20 cricket clash at the Weymouth Sports Complex turned out to be a mismatch as Starcom Network/Nation Publishing Conquering Lions inflicted a crushing defeat by 66 runs on the Vincy Warriors Caribbean Connection. It was sweet revenge for the defeat suffered when the teams met last October. The Lions’ blitzkrieg was built around electrifying half-centuries from experienced power hitters Alcindo Holder and Dwayne Smith before captain Derick Bishop snapped up three early wickets to disarm the Warriors whose innings never got out of the trenches. Starcom’s programme manager Ronnie Clarke completed the demolition in spectacular fashion, grabbing the last two wickets, both bowled, in three balls. Holder and Smith entertained the bumper crowd of over 5 000 with pugnacious knocks that saw them pummel a combined total of eight fours and ten sixes as the Lions, invited to bat, sprinted to 173 for seven off 20 overs and Warriors hobbled to 107 in 17.3 overs. Summarised scores: Starcom Network/Nation Publishing Conquering Lions 173-7 in 20 overs (Alcindo Holder 59, Dwayne Smith 59, Jamal Smith 20; Gonzalo Hooper 2-15, Devon Dabson 2-39). Vincy Warriors Caribbean Connection 107 17.3 overs (Jamal Yearwood 17, Jamal Harewood 12; Derick Bishop 3-15, Ronnie Clarke 2-6). Conquering Lions won by 66 runs. (DN)

COLERIDGE AND PARRY CLOSED FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK – The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training has advised that the Coleridge and Parry School, at Ashton Hall, St Peter, will be closed from tomorrow, Tuesday, January 29. It will remain closed for the rest of the week to allow authorities to address an environmental problem there. The Ministry regrets any inconvenience this closure may cause. (BGIS)

TEACHERS IN HAITI REMAIN OFF THE JOB – Teachers at a secondary school in Haiti have vowed to remain off the job until the authorities make good on the promise to pay outstanding arrears and appoint new teachers dating back to several years. The teachers at the Faustin Soulouque High School, who began their industrial action on January 14, vowed to continue even though students have been staging street demonstration demanding that the teachers return to the classrooms. The teachers are demanding the payment of outstanding salaries for the period 2013-2015, the appointment of teachers to who work in the classrooms and payment for teachers who have not been paid for many months. In addition, they are calling on the authorities to respect the rights of students who have clashed with police during their street demonstrations. The teachers, who held a sit-in at the prosecutor’s office of Petit-Goâve, on Monday, in protest at the threat made by the Commissioner of the Government, Fourjy Pierre, that any teacher who incite students to participate in any form of violence would be arrested. The teachers have also denounced statements and threats as well as the smear campaign they claim being orchestrated by the local authorities. (DN)

BEACHES ANNOUNCES CLOSURE OF FACILITIES IN TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS – The Sandals Resorts International (SRI)-owned Beaches Resort Villages and Spa has confirmed the “indefinite” closure of its facilities in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) from January 2021. Media reports here had indicated that shut down is linked to a multi-million dollar tax bill which is in dispute, with the TCI government. “Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa will be closed from September 3rd to October15th in 2019 and from September 7th to October 22, 2020, and then for an indefinite period from January 2021,” the resort said in a statement. “Guests travelling between now and January 2021 that are not impacted by these closures will receive the vacation experience that we have become known for. All features and facilities of the resort will be open and operating per usual. “For impacted guests, we are committed to making this as seamless as possible by allowing them to change their travel dates to Beaches Turks & Caicos or travel on their original travel dates to one of our other locations in Jamaica …at no additional cost, including airfare change fees. Guests may also choose to travel to any of our 16 Sandals Resorts,” it added. Media reports said that the government taxes owed by the hotel are in the vicinity of US$60 million and that discussions to settle the matter have been ongoing for some time. In the statement, the resort noted “the upcoming closures of Beaches Turks & Caicos are the result of several critical and long-standing issues which have impacted our operations over the past several years. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers and look forward to welcoming them back soon.” (DN)

BEAMING BEAUTY – Hadiya Marshall is the winner of the 2019 Miss Big and Beautiful competition. The attractive 26-year-old medical doctor won the contest from eight other entrants at the Sea Rocks Dome, Maxwell, Christ Church last night. The contestants were judged in the categories of talent, formal wear, lingerie and casual wear. Marshall performed a dance in the talent segment. Here, she is crowned by last year’s winner Gale Ann Williams. (BT)

MARZVILLE ONLY BAJAN IN SEMIS – For the third consecutive year, Barbadian soca artiste Marzville will be vying for the 2019 Fantastic Friday International Soca Monarch. The Give It To You singer has made it to the semifinals of the extremely competitive soca competition. Known locally for his versatility and sweet and bashment soca hits, Marzville whose real name is Omar McQuilkin, is the only Barbadian contending for the competition. With 2019 marking the return of the power and groovy soca categories, he will be vying for the groovy soca title with his 2018 single Wuk produced by Dj Spider and Sir Fingaz. The song has been well received on the Trinidadian airwaves. He will be going up against 22 semifinalists. Speaking to Barbados TODAY, Marzville said he was excited to make it to the semifinals and wave the Barbadian flag high. “It feels really good because this is another year making it. . . I’m the only Bajan to be in the semifinals out of all the contestants in both competitions. “It means now I have to show that no matter how much numbers are in the competition from Barbados that we are still powerful . . . I have to show the strength of Barbados,” the Gas It Up singer said. “I’m going to put on a good show,” he added He will be departing for the twin-island republic on February 2 for the semi-finals which will be held February 10 at the Arima Velodrome, Arima, Trinidad and Tobago. Fifteen contestants from the semi-finals will compete in the finals on Fantastic Friday, March 1. (BT)

BISHOP MAXWELL ENTHRONED – The final episode in the extended process of appointing a new Bishop was finally concluded with the enthronement of the Right Reverend Michael Bruce St John Maxwell this evening. The 14th Bishop to hold the position, Reverend Maxwell’s enthronement service at the St Michael’s Cathedral, symbolically started with the Bishop standing outside of the door with his Chaplain and knocking three times. “Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord,” he said to Dean of St Michael Cathedral, the Reverend Jeffrey Gibson, who, standing on the inside, unlocked the door after the third knock. The symbolic gesture introduced the large congregation at St Michael’s row to their new Bishop who was welcomed into the fanfare of trumpets. “I, Michael Bruce St John Maxwell, by divine permission Bishop of Barbados, having been duly appointed and confirmed, make my request to you, Very Reverend brother, that I be conducted to the Bishop’s Seat in the Cathedral Church of Barbados, there to be inducted, installed and enthroned according to ancient usage and prescriptive right,” said Maxwell as he offered himself for service. To which Reverend Gibson replied: “Michael, our Right Reverend Father in God, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we, the chapter of your cathedral church, together with the people of this diocese, bid you welcome to your cathedral church of St Michael and All Angels.” The symbolic Anglican service continued with a number of prayers, the Reading of the mandate, the examination conducted by the Canons, the Archdeacon and the Dean and finally the oath. During the final step, the new Bishop swore to observe and defend the rights of the church and the diocese. He also promised to lead, “with truth, justice and charity, not lording it over God’s heritage, but in all things endeavoring to show myself a servant and an example to the flock.” The new bishop was then introduced to his ‘flock.’ On Saturday evening, scores of people gathered at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex to witness the ordination of Reverend Michael Bruce St John Maxwell following his appointment last November by the regional House of Bishops. It occurred after elections between with the Dean of the Cathedral of St Michael and All Angels, the Very Rev. Jeffrey Gibson and the rector of St George Parish Church, the Rev. John Rogers ended in a deadlock several times. (BT)

MA CARMEN REACHES 100 – Lilian Carmen Batson, affectionately known as Ma Carmen, celebrated her 100th birthday today with family, friends and the Governor General of Barbados Dame Sandra Mason. The retired labourer, mother to six children – two boys and four girls – is also grandmother to 21, great-grandmother to 17 and great-great-grandmother to four. A former employee of Kendal Plantation in St. John, Ma Carmen was born and bred in that same neighborhood until she moved to Montrose, Christ Church. The matriarch of the Batson family told the media she “worked hard, hard” in her heyday and even at 100 years old she maintains an active lifestyle. There wasn’t a job Ma Carmen wasn’t willing to do. During the day she worked the cane fields and in the late evenings she grew produce to sell on weekends at the Cheapside Market. Her daughter Mavis Batson was overcome with emotion as she recalled how her mother singlehandedly raised and sent all of her children to school. Two of them received vocational training and four proceeded to secondary school and later tertiary-level educational institutions. “My mother was so little and the baskets [for the cane] were so big – she was so strong. Even though she would work seven to seven she would leave and come out, plant canes and in the hard times when there was little field work, she would come out at night and plant cabbage and lettuce so she could take it to the market whenever,” her daughter recalled. Batson, who is her mother’s fifth child, described her mother as “a loving, gentle, caring and giving person”. Overwhelmed as she talked about the sacrifices her mother made for her family, Batson shared that she always prayed that her mother would make it to a century. She revealed that they often cruised and vacationed together. Despite suffering a heart attack, the centenarian continues to be very independent and lively. Batson revealed that her mother remained a devoted member of the Christ Church Parish Church where she was active in the Mothers’ Union and the church army. She instilled in all her children and their offspring the value of pray and belief in God. Her steadfast faith was evident as she erupted in a chorus of Ketch A Fire with the Governor General. “She made sure that we had a good education and we went to church. We didn’t ask if we could go to church, we had to go to church,” Batson emphasized. “On Old Year’s night, she prays from 12 o clock to 6 o clock in the morning . . . all night long.” The centenarian’s eldest grandchild Waveney Rouse said that Ma Carmen was “a praying grandmother”. Rouse pointed out that her grandmother’s teachings and unyielding faith were embedded in her family. “I would always pray to God that she would make 100. I wanted that and I asked God for it,” Rouse stated. (BT)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 336 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 1/22/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Tuesday 22nd January 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

UPP NOT DAUNTED BY DEFECTORS – The United Progressive Party (UPP) may now be left licking its wounds after three of its former candidates left to join the Opposition. However, the relatively young political party said it was not daunted and would continue to “build strong” and represent the interest of Barbadians. In a Facebook post the UPP, which failed to capture a seat in the last election, in which the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) took all 30 seats, said it expected that Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley would form a new political party. It was on Saturday that Atherley announced a team he said would speak on behalf of the Opposition on national issues. He stressed that the announcement was not the launch of a political party, but said that would come in due course. Maria Phillips, Bruce Hennis and Paul Forte, who ran under a UPP ticket in the last election, were part of the 13 members named among the Opposition team. The UPP described the move as an interesting one, stating that its members had the freedom of choice. “As expected, Joseph Atherley is forming a new Party. As you know Atherley contested the election under the BLP and in a surprise move crossed the floor to sit in the Opposition seat. Three of the individuals who appear in the media photograph contested the last election under the UPP banner. To the best of our knowledge and belief they have left the UPP. “The development is an interesting one for those who study politics as Barbados seeks to build a multi-party democracy. The UPP in a statement immediately after the last election gave its candidates the freedom to choose,” it said. The party, which is led by attorney-at-law Lynette Eastmond, said it would continue to build strong and continue to represent the interests of all Barbadians. “It is clear that there is a certain amount of discontent among Barbadians as they are not seeing the transparency and access which they were promised during the last election. “The UPP has made it its business to keep its channels of communication open with all parties and will continue to do so in the interest of Barbados,” the UPP added. Atherley, who was elected to the House of Assembly on a BLP ticket, formed a one-man Opposition mere days after the May 24 general election. He had named two Opposition Senators – Crystal Drakes and Caswell Franklyn, who were also named as spokespersons for the Opposition on issues of national importance. He said three more people would be added to that group of senators at a later date. His Opposition group also consists of former Solutions Barbados candidates Scott Weatherhead, Alan Springer, Irvin Belgrave, Rev John Carter and Paul Gibson. There are also Sylvan Greenidge from the Barbados Integrity Movement and lecturer Dr. Philip Corbin and Akil Daley. “This is, for me as Leader of the Opposition, a proud moment. I believe it is for our country a historic moment,” Atherley said on Saturday. (BT)

GUNS SEIZED – Less than 24 hours after Attorney General Dale Marshall announced measures to fight rising gun crime, police seized three guns and an undisclosed amount of ammunition from an illegal fete in Montrose, Christ Church. The NATION was reliably informed the operation took place in the very early hours of Sunday morning. In addition to the three revolvers and ammunition, knives and scissors were also seized and several men were detained for questioning in connection with the discovery of illegal drugs. When a NATION news team visited the area yesterday, residents said they were unaware of the incident. Stepped-up police patrols have become very visible since the upsurge in gun-related activity. (DN)

BODY FOUND AT VAUXHALL SENIOR CITIZENS VILLAGE – Police are on the scene of another unnatural death. Initial reports indicate a woman was killed tonight at the Vauxhall Senior Citizens Village, Vauxhall, Christ Church. (DN)

UPDATE: POLICE INVESTIGATE HOMICIDE AT SENIOR CITIZENS HOME – Police have taken a man into custody for questioning as they commence investigations into the death of an elderly woman at a senior citizens home in Vauxhall, Christ Church. Police were called to the Vauxhall Senior Citizens Home just after 6 p.m. on Monday January 21 for reports that one of the residents there had been injured. Acting Senior Superintendent of Police at the Southern Division Bruce Rowe said on arrival, officers found the body of an elderly woman who had died of suspected stab wounds. “There is a person in custody assisting us with the investigation but we will not disclose any names at this time because of the fact that we have to notify family members,” Rowe said. The superintendent confirmed that the man in custody was also a resident at the home. (BT)

BODY FOUND AT RIVER BAY – Around 5:40 p.m this evening police responded to River Bay St Lucy, where they discovered the body of an adult female. Investigations are continuing. (DN)

POLICE CONSTABLE PASSES AWAY – On Sunday, 20 January about 8:40pm, police at Crab Hill, viewed the body of police constable Donette Cadogan, 41 years of Apartment #1, Josey Hill, St. Lucy. She reportedly complained to a sibling of feeling unwell and subsequently collapsed and died. (DN)

TEEN MISSING AT ‘HOT POT’ – What began as a boys’ night out for three friends, turned into a night of tragedy. Teenager Lindy London, of Cottage Crescent, St George, is now missing after a trip to the popular “Hot Pot” area of the Brighton Beach in St Michael. The 18-year-old met up with his two buddies for a planned lime after his church’s evening service. The three friends, including St Auburn Blunt, of Hothersal Turning, St Michael, were enjoying the beach outing when London encountered difficulty with strong currents. He was reported missing around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday and members of the Coast Guard and Marine Unit have been searching for him since then. On Sunday as the search was underway, Blunt returned to the beach around 9 a.m. hoping for an outcome that would bring him closure before he left after 5 p.m. (DN)

PETERS SUCCUMBS TO INJURIES – Barbados recorded its first road fatality. 24-year-old Mario Peters succumbed to his injuries around 11 p.m. last night. Peters, was on his way home and was involved in an accident with a ZM van in front Harbour Lights on Bay Street on January 4. He leaves to mourn his three-year-old daughter, his parents and his four siblings. (DN)

FAMILY MOURNS FOR MARIO PETERS – Gail Peters is trying to be strong for her family. But being strong is difficult after losing your 24-year-old son. In Bayville, St Michael, at the family home of the late Mario Peters, scores of family members and close friends gathered to lend support to his grieving parents, Junior and Gail Peters, who were forced to watch as their son’s life changed in a matter of seconds. “It is not an easy thing for the family,” said the deceased man’s mother, who told Barbados TODAY, “This is the first incident like this that has ever occurred in the family and we are really trying to support one another . . .” Mario’s head was severely injured when his motorcycle collided with a taxi on January 3 just outside the Harbour Lights Night Club while he and a friend were riding along Bay Street. He was knocked unconscious but remained alive and unresponsive for the next 16 days, until he quietly passed away just after 11a.m. on Sunday following days of treatment in the surgical Intensive Care Unit of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). “We are all trying to cope with this very tragic news. It’s not a situation like he was ill and passed away. It was sudden death,” said his mother, who throughout the interview remained very composed. The grieving woman however admitted that the days following the accident had been very “traumatic” for the family, “even watching him in the condition that he was in from then,” she said. The “loving” man, a former student of Arthur Smith Primary and St Leonard’s Boys would battle for his life for more than two weeks as family and friends hoped and prayed that he would emerge from his comatose state. Although he did not, his mother told Barbados TODAY that while her son’s death was unexpected, it happened while doing what he loved. “His love was a motorcycle. At the time [of the accident] he was riding what they described as a Honda 80, a small motorcycle. But he always had a love for motorcycles,” she said. In fact, she revealed that Mario, “who could ride a bicycle, from before he could walk properly,” had proven himself a very adventurous person from a young age. “From as young as I can remember, Mario was always a person who was into activities. He always had a bicycle and by age five or six he was a member of DC Wheelers [a biker group based in the Pine, St Michael,” she said. Mario, who worked at his father’s electrical business, was said to have been very good with his hands and “could pick down and put up things very easily.” The 24-year-old father was described as having “a very strong but a loving personality,” especially for his family and his daughter, three-year-old Kamaria Peters. “He loved his daughter and I know his greatest wish would be for us to take total care of his daughter until she reaches adulthood and we are going to make sure of that,” his mother promised. Mario also leaves to mourn his three brothers – Dale, Denny, and Theo Peters along with his sister, Christiana Peters. (BT)

INFRARED THE COOL WINNER – The Caribbean’s most celebrated female trainer Liz Deane dominated the Coolmore Home Of Champions Raceday yesterday at the Garrison Savannah by delivering three winners. In the process, Deane etched her name in the history books as Sir David Seale’s Brigadier Wood gave herwin No. 600 in a stellar career. However, that feat would play second fiddle to the results of the 20th running of the Coolmore Home Of Champions Stakes And Trophy won by Infrared. The Raizman brothers’ horse, six-year-old Infrared, under jockey Jalon Samuel, brought much-needed joy to the hearts of his supporters as he easily cantered home. Ceroc and Voldemort went to the lead leaving the 1 800 metres starting point as Infrared gradually got into gear. He easily gained control midway down the homestretch first time around and opened a gap on Ceroc and Voldermort. (DN)

PACKED OVAL – There will be bumper crowds at Kensington Oval for this week’s opening Test between West Indies and England. That’s because few tickets are left for the first three days. Barbados Cricket Association president Conde Riley said tomorrow’s opening day had already been sold out. “The demand for tickets is huge. I spoke to Cricket West Indies commercial manager Dominic Warne, who confirmed that the first day has been sold out. I can tell you that the second and third days are 90 per cent sold. I am really happy with the enthusiasm surrounding this Test match. “As you know the last Test between the two teams at Kensington, we won in three days so I am cautiously optimistic we can do well,” he said. Riley says there are thousands of British visitors here for what will be the 54th Test match at the world famous ground. (DN)

‘WI CAN DO IT’ – Defeating the third-ranked cricketing nation would be a feather in West Indies’ cap. That was the view of both Shai Hope and Kemar Roach during a media briefing ahead of tomorrow’s opening Test against Englandat Kensington Oval. Speaking at the Oval yesterday, Hope said he was aware they were viewed as having little chance of winning but were capable of doing so as long as they made the effort. “We know that we are so-called underdogs but if we play our cricket we are going to beat these guys. It’s about using my experience and trying to put my best foot forward. “I think coming off of that loss weeks before and knowing the series was at stake and what they were saying about us, we just motivated ourselves and used that as a big motivator to put up a big performance,” he said. Hope, who made his debut in Barbados back in 2015, was eager to play in front of his home crowd, including family and friends with a personal goal to make as many runs as possible to ensure the team is in a good position. (DN)

TRAIN ATTRACTION LAUNCHED – Barbados’ first train pulled out of the St Nicholas Abbey station after the last train blew its whistle 81 years ago. Approximately 100 tourists and visitors filled the three covered open air cabs earlier this morning on board the Badger, a diesel operated locomotive. Following the hour-long trip, many of the patrons said they were thrilled with the attraction and hoped to return when the steam engine will be added to the train next month. (DN)

CENTENARIAN: DROP THE GUNS - Barbados’ newest centenarian, Tabitha Maynard, is pleading with the youth to put down the guns. While celebrating her milestone yesterday at the Ebenezer Pentecostal Church in Airy Cot, St Thomas, the birthday girl made an impassioned plea for an end to the recent rise in gun violence. “I beg them to stop the shooting, put down the guns and stop the stabbing up [of] each other and turn to the Lord. It’s not worth it. Learn to live in love,” she implored. Maynard, who offered up much praise and thanks to the Lord for allowing her to reach 100 years, said Jesus was the secret to her long life. (DN)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 343 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

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nakeddeparture · 6 years ago

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Is Scotiabank, Barbados, a Criminal Organization, or is it just Business as Usual?

BARBADOS (Naked Departure) -- SCOTIABANK -- Some years ago, I reported about a fraud transaction perpetrated on Scotiabank by Mark B.A. Thompson (member of the Rotary Club of Barbados West), wherein he forged the signature of a payee and cashed a $5,000.00 check at Scotiabank. The Payee was not an account holder at Scotiabank. Mark B.A. Thompson was never prosecuted and the bank never settled the matter of fraud against the payee! Other reports coming out of Barbados have warned against banking or doing business with Scotiabank.

Now, while selling off default mortgages to a (foreign) debt collector can be seen as doing good business (nothing personal), one still needs to keep a keen eye on Scotiabank as its dark, underhanded practices are becoming clear! Naked Departure

Kammie Holder wrote (January 9, 2019):

30 cents on dollar is what Scotia Bank has sold its mortgages at to a Mexican company oh what a #FireSale. I hearing about so many of #ScotiaBankBarbados clients about to loose their homes. Some of these distraught clients have reported the Bank's hard stance to collect arrears and their inability to the show empathy or negotiate an amicable resolution. Why encourage a client to borrow up to his or her limit according to their Debt Service Ratio then cut them off when they fall on hard times? Avinash Persaud Philip F. Corbin Grenville Phillips Neval Greenidge David King I know 3 persons who contacted me who are in a predicament and I am wondering if this is a Barbados Sub Prime Fiasco.

My advocacy unfortunately is for environmental justice and I cannot lead every fight. Roy Hurley Douglas Trotman Lynette Eastmond Laticia Bourne Frederick Alleyne#NoEmpathyFromScotiaBank In one case a person with a mortgage of some $300,000 was given an additional attractive line of credit of an additional $100,000. Persons mortgage is current but Line Of Credit is behind thus bank has made a move to sell $300,000 house to recover the Line Of Credit. What will this customer be left with in this buyers market? #BarbadosForeclosures on the increase. By: Kammie Holder

https://barbadostoday.bb/2018/05/21/bajan-mortgages-gone-to-mexico/?fbclid=IwAR0MWjvTfs_ZAiQ9IXiNJ6cBfxCy9Kn7gm_q_fuLWEjmWK7owoxyf19XM00

#mark b.a. thompson #scotiabank #fraud #mortgage sale #default mortgage

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thechasefiles · 6 years ago

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 1/23/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Wednesday 23RD January 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a MidWeek Nation Newspaper (MWN).

DLP, UPP BEMOAN COUNTRY’S DIRECTION – As Barbadians are called on by the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) to reflect on the life of Errol Barrow, the United Progressive Party (UPP) is arguing that Barbados is currently in a “mid-life crisis”. In a short Errol Barrow Day message yesterday, president of the DLP Verla De Peiza called on Barbadians to reflect and apply the lessons of Barrow’s life “to ensure that what we are doing at this moment can impact just as significantly on the generations to come”. She also called on citizens to come up with ideas that could be shared to improve in the development of the country. “What we recognize though is that each one of us as a people and as a country, has a responsibility to this country. What can we do to make ourselves better as a collective? That will be the focus of what we wish to reflect on as we work through this week as we take our initiatives forward and bring them to the country,” said De Peiza. However, in a letter to the ‘Father of Independence’, the UPP recalled his achievements including the implementation of free education, a national insurance and social security scheme, school meals, improvements in the health sector and his contribution to the island’s independence. At the same time, the UPP, in its Facebook post, recalled that the DLP had lost every seat in the May 24 general election, as it questioned the direction in which the country was currently heading. “With democracy so active you would believe that Barbados is heading into a future based on the foundation of education, pride and industry. Unfortunately, the story of modern Barbados has veered sharply away from your vision,” the UPP said in its letter to “the Dipper”. “We are witnessing a culture which doesn’t value education and its potential benefits and the squandering of this opportunity by many who have achieved accreditation. The severe lack of critical thinking in the management of the country’s affairs at all levels has led to a downward trend in the rating and recognition of Barbados as a leader amongst developing nations. This seems to be as a direct result of greed and a lack of understanding of the principles established by the founding fathers,” the UPP said. The party, which is led by Lynette Eastmond, a former Barbados Labour Party government minister, said despite the abolition of slavery and colonialism “at the legislative and societal levels”, it was still evident “at the psychological level”, even among our educated elected leaders. The political party said it was evident that there was no intention by authorities to empower Barbadians through economic enfranchisement. “Every election cycle sees a return and deepening of the relationship between parties and the class of wealthy whose contribution to national development must equate with contractual expectations. In the meantime, many of our people celebrate only in political tribalism and fleeting handouts. “Furthermore, the foundation of our economy has been eroded to the point where the new norm is the celebration of the acquisition of foreign loans, disbursement of crown lands at an undervalue and the arrival of new garbage trucks. This economic enslavement keeps our nation in the doldrums of development and demonstrates the lack of visionary leadership once associated with regional leaders such as yourself. We are currently at 50 plus years of independence in a mid-life crisis as our national leadership has been contaminated by the influences of Neo-colonialism and blinded by post-independence partisan agendas,” the UPP added. The UPP said in its letter to Barrow that Barbadians were more about politics than transparent good governance, adding that this defied the legacy he tried to create for the country. “We must find the motivation to correct this downslide but with so many bought into the false narrative we fear for the future,” it said. “We in the United Progressive Party believe that you would be pleased at the development of a party which sees true empowerment as the next big step in our democracy. Our leaders have a vision which is consistent with yours,” it added. Former Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Member of Parliament and representative for Christ Church West, Dr. Maria Agard, who is now a member of the UPP, commented on the Facebook post, saying Barbadians have lost the notion of the “big idea, having been conditioned and bullied into celebrating mediocrity”. “We now clap for shady governance once it has been packaged in the right PR narrative, seemingly unable to separate the sleight of hand from the outcomes. We must strive for progress where morality and ethics are fundamental planks of that progress,” said Agard. “As for the Dipper’s vision. He must be weeping into his ashes to see that the free universal education that he fought for has been used to enrich a select few as we sell our brilliance, our skills, our services cheaply to moguls as their employees, while scorning the indigenous entrepreneurs who struggle to forge a legacy of wealth independent of the trappings of the plantation,” she added. (BT)

PARTY SEEKING MONETARY BENEFITS – One of Barbados’ leading political scientists believes the new political party which is soon to be introduced is being assembled for purely financial gain. Head of the Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES) Peter Wickham has thrown cold water on the possibility of Opposition Leader Reverend Joseph Atherley forming a “legitimate” political party. On Saturday at a press conference, Atherley, a former member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) introduced a team of 14 persons, whom he said would speak on behalf of the Opposition on national issues. And while he indicated that it was not the launch of a political party, he said that would occur in due course. However, Wickham told Barbados TODAY he believed the party was only being formed to get the quarter million dollar subvention granted to political parties by government. “I’m not impressed. It sounds to me like a party that is formed in pursuit of a cause, the cause of course being the fact that they can benefit from the $250 000 set aside for political parties. Frankly, I’m not understanding the philosophical relationship between the individual parties. It seems like a group that was just drawn together on the basis of convenience,” Wickham said. “You have people for example like the senator, the economist, who has indicated that she is not political, but notwithstanding she is now a senator in a political party. “I’ve never heard Caswell Franklyn speak of his political allegiance to any central philosophy that resolves around Reverend Atherley. And then we look at Reverend Atherley himself, who was a sworn member of the BLP up until a few months ago, who said he was leaving that party even though he identifies with a lot of the principles. “An individual who won his seat largely on the coattails of Prime Minister Mia Mottley, having previously lost it on two occasions. It doesn’t appear as though the party has any legitimacy quite frankly, and I don’t know that if it were to face the polls it would receive any attention.” Wickham said the manner in which the party was formed was questionable adding that he did not get the feeling that it was being established to serve the public’s interest. “It just seems to be a party cobbled together in support of a financial cause. I wait to be persuaded that it is different, certainly if it is different I would be pleased, but quite frankly I’m not seeing anything in it that tells me this is a genuine, legitimate, political organisation that has been formed to pursue a cause that is central to a philosophy that is expressive like the BLP or the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). I’m not seeing it,” Wickham maintained. He, however, said he believed those persons selected to speak would be given an ear by the media, similarly to members of Solution Barbados and the UPP [United Progressive Party]. While Wickham said he would love for Atherley to call a by-election to see if his constituents in St Michael West would return him to office on a different seat, he said it was not expected. “I would love if he did, but I know he’s not going to. Reverend Atherley is no fool and he understands that if he goes back to the polls he would be obliterated because he knows his own weaknesses and vulnerability so he won’t do that. “But I think on principle it would be a good thing for him to do, because if he did that it would clarify any misconceptions that persons like myself would have…but in the meantime, we are left to wonder about his legitimacy,” Wickham said. (BT)

‘JUST ANOTHER GROUP OF BEES’ – “A grouping of disgruntled former Barbados Labour Party (BLP) members.” This is how the president of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Verla De Peiza, has described Opposition Leader Joseph Atherley’s recently-named shadow cabinet. At face value, Atherley’s Opposition group appears to be a melting pot of candidates from several parties who contested the general elections last May. However, De Peiza charged that upon closer inspection she realised that many of the persons chosen were affiliated at some stage with the ruling BLP administration. “Perusing the names, I see exclusively disgruntled past members of the Barbados Labour Party. None of those persons are in line with the ideals that our party stands for,” said De Peiza, accounting for the fact that apart from the DLP, the new political group was able to attract defectors from most the parties that contested the last election. Among the political parties represented are Solutions Barbados and the United Progressive Party (UPP) and the Barbados Integrity Movement. The DLP president told Barbados TODAY that her party was on the verge of launching its own shadow Cabinet. She explained that this new group would consist of persons who have expressed an interest in representing the party, which failed to retain a single seat when it was ousted from power by the BLP. “We have not named any candidates, so we definitely cannot say that this group will be future candidates. Right now, we have a mixture of persons who have indicated their interest . . . and there are several more besides them and we are presently going through our process but with regards to the shadow group, that is going to be announced very soon,” she said. It was on Saturday that Atherley announced a team he said would speak on behalf of the Opposition on national issues. His two Opposition Senators, Crystal Drakes and Caswell Franklyn, are to be spokespersons for the Opposition on issues of national importance. He said three more people would be added to that group of senators at a later date. The Opposition group also consists of former Solutions Barbados candidates Scott Weatherhead, Alan Springer, Irvin Belgrave, Rev. John Carter and Paul Gibson. Sylvan Greenidge from the BIM, lecturer Dr Philip Corbin as well as Akil Daley, have also answered Atherley’s call. “This is, for me as Leader of the Opposition, a proud moment. I believe it is for our country a historic moment,” Atherley said on Saturday. However, De Peiza made it clear that she has no intention to be dismissive of the new political grouping and she was adopting a wait-and-see approach before making any judgment on their relevance. “We will never be dismissive of anyone’s attempts to represent the country, but I believe that time will speak to their effectiveness. We have to see what their plans are and how they treat to the issues facing the country,” she said. The former DLP senator also did not rule out the possibility of collaborative efforts between the DLP shadow Cabinet and the Opposition group, providing that their concerns and objectives overlap. “We will work with whomsoever meets our own philosophical objectives. At the end of the day it comes down to doing what is best for the country,” she explained. (BT)

WEST COAST WARNING – The mess that took place on the south coast cannot be allowed to float to Barbados’ platinum coast. According to Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Kerrie Symmonds, the sewage crisis that severely affected the south coast would wreak havoc on Barbados’ bread and butter if it touches the west coast where the island’s upscale properties are located. Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Department of Emergency Management St James Central Emergency Organization, held at Queen’s College School Hall, Sunday evening, Symmonds said that Government sees the south coast crisis as a disaster. He said the crisis which affected the coast for three years resulted in Barbados’ major source markets issuing public health advisories to their citizens. Pointing out that Barbados was experiencing financial difficulties, Symmonds said the country has had to rescue itself from the mess created by the south coast sewage disaster. “The country also now had to turn its attention to Bridgetown because the Bridgetown situation was borderline, about to become as bad as the south coast. And the fact of the matter is that while you have wrestled those two we have to turn our attention eventually to the west coast and begin from scratch. It is the platinum coast because that is where the most expensive part of the tourism product is found. “The properties that at this time of the year are being rented at the start at $2,000 United States dollars per night, at the lowest level and at the highest level can run into $30,000 or $40,000 United States dollars. But if you destroy that coast, then I need not tell you that you destroy the economy of Barbados,” he warned. Symmonds also indicated that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration intended to have all future Government bonds include a natural disaster clause. He said such a necessary move would allow the state to put a two-year pause on the payment of interests and principal on those bonds, that gives Government the elbow room to finance rebuilding processes without having to incur debt to do so. Symmonds explained that the clause would help Barbados which is already in a precarious and dangerous position of being the third most indebted country in the world, to be able to carry another generation of Barbadians forward, even if there was a national tragedy. “In the event of a disaster taking place, for example, and heaven forbid, that Barbados was confronted with the tragedy that confronted Dominica, or the tragedy that confronted Barbuda, those kinds of tragedies would confront a Government with the requirement, to have to finance the rebuilding process by incurring debt. Remember, Government must continue. “So when that tragedy happens and you lose 80 or 90 percent of your housing stock, Government can’t just sit down and do nothing. You have to go into the international market and you have to borrow money. And where it is still possible in the domestic economy, you’ve got to borrow more money, so you go to entities that still exist, even if only in law, like the National Insurance Scheme, to put yourself in a position to do the rebuilding,” he said. Noting that the matter of ensuring Barbados is physically and financially ready to deal with the aftermath of a national disaster had not escaped Cabinet’s attention, Minister Symmonds said that even though the public’s purse does not have sufficient funds to correct it all at once, the time has come where the country must recognize that fundamental parts of the island’s utilities infrastructure needed to be repositioned. “For example, the overhead wires which are used by the Barbados Light & Power (BL&P), which are used by the telephone company, we have to be very aware of the impact of a major hurricane on that infrastructure. “I go back to the point of departure. We are not in a financial position now to do it all at once. But as we go forward, part of the corrective process, and certainly the thinking of the Government is that we must now use the opportunity where it arises, when it arises within reason, because it is a heavy financial commitment, to begin to place some of that overhead infrastructure underground,” he said. Symmonds said that whenever a hurricane affects a country, as was clearly seen when major hurricanes devastated several Caribbean territories in 2017, power lines fall and meet flooded waters, putting residents at major safety risk. “The telephone pole has fallen and the wires are on the ground, people do not know what is in a four-foot or three-foot flood zone of water so they walk through the water because they don’t know that there is livewire underneath there and then they get shocked and electrocuted. This has happened time after time across this region, and part of what we must do in terms of preparing ourselves in terms of disaster management, is to fix that situation,” Symmonds said. (BT)

CAHILL ISSUE NOT DEAD – The ghost of the controversial Cahill waste to energy project has apparently returned to haunt the new Mia Mottley Government. This morning Minister of the Environment and National Beautification, Trevor Prescod, expressed surprise that legal issues surrounding the $700 million plasma gasification project, which was dumped by the then Freundel Stuart administration, has resurfaced three years later. “There has been some communication to Government from some new entity representing that agency. I can’t say if it is a lawsuit but it appears there is some element of Cahill in the business and politics of Barbados. The presence of Cahill and its agents is still very much here,” lamented Prescod. It was last Tuesday that Prime Minister Mottley revealed in Parliament that Government received legal correspondence from a successor entity, seeking to assert legal rights in the abandoned project. “Yesterday I received a letter from the successor entity to Cahill seeking to claim legal rights against the Government of Barbados,” Mottley said charging these were “contracts signed under the cover of night before the Cabinet of Barbados got to see them”. This morning Prescod opted not to go into detail about the nature of the redress being sought nor any possible financial exposure to the taxpayers of Barbados. While in Opposition the BLP had demanded clarity on the details of the agreement between Government and the Guernsey-based Cahill Energy in March 2014, which resulted in a huge outcry from the public. According to then Minister of the Environment, Denis Lowe, the decision to halt the multimillion-dollar project, which was to be based at Vaucluse, St Thomas, had taken into consideration events in London and other places, which had revealed that waste-to-energy operations and plasma gasification projects had shown up significant flaws. “So I assure the public today the Government ain’t going nowhere with that option. It can’t do it, not after the fact that so many Barbadians made their voices heard and told their Government ‘be cautious, hold back on this thing’. We don’t understand it enough. There are other options we can explore. The Government of Barbados would have to be absolutely collectively mad to move ahead on an option where there is global evidence that there are flaws with the technology,” Lowe said back then. Minister of Energy Wilfred Abrahams, who was an Opposition Senator at the time and a lawyer for groups opposed to the construction of the waste-to-energy plant, cautioned that Government would have to fork out a “substantial sum” in penalties for breaching its agreement with the Guernsey-based energy firm. He claimed back then that there was a “done deal” in place, which called for Government to provide all of the garbage needed for plasma gasification. Abrahams also said Government had ensured that the necessary legislation had been passed in both Houses of Parliament for the acquisition of lands at Vaucluse, St Thomas for the project, for which he contended the country could not meet the garbage requirement and would, therefore, have had to import waste. “The minister needs to say what is the Government of Barbados’ exposure, and as a consequence, yours and my exposure as taxpayers, for breaching this Cahill contract,” Abrahams argued. He had charged that the Stuart administration had previously denied entering into the agreement with Cahill and only admitted to it when they eventually announced that the project was dead. “They [Government] went recklessly, irresponsibly, selfishly, under the cover of darkness and entered an agreement that they refused to accept, up to the time the minister said they were no longer going ahead with it,” argued Abrahams. (BT)

FOCUS ON DOING BUSINESS BETTER – Government is on a mission to improve this country’s ranking on the Doing Business record in an effort to attract more investment. Word of this has come from Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment Marsha Caddle, who announced today that a Doing Business subcommittee is to be established in that regard. Addressing the first Planning and Development Bill stakeholder review for 2019 at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Caddle said once approved by Cabinet, this subcommittee would work closely with a Competitiveness Council to ensure Barbados climbed the Doing Business ranks and measure up more favourably among the best. “This is not to have general discussions about productivity and ideological and philosophical discussions about competitiveness . . . but these committees are to get to the business of improving the doing business rankings, not just so they look good on paper, even though that is important to help drive investment to the country, but improving these indicators so that Barbados works for Barbadians and those who want to come and live and work here,” said Caddle. “So we have made a commitment to get to the root and the heart and nuts and bolts of what is impeding business and investment in the country,” she said. Caddle said she was not satisfied with how Barbados measured up against its Caribbean neighbours in the latest Ease of Doing Business Report. Barbados was ranked 129th out of 190 countries in the 2018 Ease of Doing Business Report, a slight improvement over the 132nd position in 2017. “We looked across the indicators that were measured . . . and in the rankings, dealing with construction permits for Barbados, it is ranked 154, so it is the second worse after Haiti. Now my colleagues from Town and Planning will say it is question of how the data is collected, how it is compiled and that may be so. “That is one of the reasons we are establishing a Doing Business subcommittee of Cabinet. Once approved, that will be supported by a competitiveness council, which is a smaller subcommittee of our private sector and trade union colleagues and other parties that will make up that committee,” she said. Caddle said the review and reform of the Town & Planning legislation formed a major part of that plan which is tied to the overall Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, which she insisted was more than just fiscal adjustment. “It is, at its base, about transformation. And we cannot adjust our way out of this crisis that has been a longstanding one in this country, we have to grow and transform our way out. So what it means is that the powers of government are not simply tax and spend, we have to use all the powers of government as legislator to bring about the kind of growth that we want to see,” she said. Also high on the agenda for the first half of this year, she added, was the establishment of a corporate registry to better facilitate individuals and companies that wish to live and invest in Barbados. Caddle also revealed that Prime Minister Mia Mottley would soon be giving details about planned developments for the island’s southwest corridor – from Oistins in Christ Church to Fitts Village in St James. The details could come as early as Friday. She said Government has identified some areas including buildings and properties that “something must be done about”. “This is not just about the action that government takes, it is also about how we can develop public/private partnerships and encourage the kind of investment that is needed in particular in the City,” said Caddle, adding that plans were in the pipeline to make Bridgetown into a “work and residential centre” again. Last month Mottley announced that her plans for the miles of prime real estate, at least from the Savannah Beach Hotel to the former Four Seasons development would include the construction of about a dozen new hotels. (BT)

MINISTER URGES BUSINESS OWNERS TO APPLY FOR LOAN – Government’s election promise to assist hundreds of fledging business owners with trust loans, has resulted in success for some, but has also highlighted the tremendous difficulties faced by others struggling to make a profit in tough economic times. Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, Dwight Sutherland revealed that government has so far disbursed $1.6 million to almost 400 small business owners across the country, since the end of October when the program was launched. While visiting five of the successful recipients on Tuesday, Minister Sutherland said another 800 applicants had not yet received money from the fund, but promised that the initiative was far from finished. “Annually we will be putting in $10 million so we know we are nowhere close to our threshold as yet, but we are getting there. It was a successful launch,” said Sutherland, who added that Tuesday’s visit was intended to send a strong signal to the country’s entrepreneurs. “This government is indeed very serious about building out the capacity and the role they play in terms of adding to our Gross Domestic Product… and also to make sure that we don’t only provide the seed capital, but that we put the necessary infrastructure in place to make these businesses successful,” he said. David Harewood, a vendor at the Constitution River Terminal and owner of Liz Catering has been lauded as a success story, after he managed to fully repay the $5000 trust loan given to him last November, while turning a profit. With the money, Harewood invested in a new, health food product and invested the remainder in his pastries. While showering praise on government for its new program, he encouraged “serious” entrepreneurs to get involved. “You have to be serious about what you are doing,” said the longtime vendor. Harewood said he was finalizing plans to get another $5000 trust loan from government to assist in the further expansion of his business. “I plan to get a little warehouse and do the same thing, but my products will be different, my products will be way different,” said the determined businessman. At Victoria Street in the heart of Bridgetown, Naquita Alexander, owner of clothing store La Flam’s, revealed that she was very impressed with the simple process for acquiring the trust loan. She said the loan came in the nick of time and she was able to acquire new stock for the Hennessy Artistry show. Since then however, she said business had been extremely slow, while adding that much of the stock, which was bought with the money from the loan, is yet to be sold off. Naquita further stressed that journey as a small business owner has not been easy and often required tremendous sacrifice. “Coming to work from nine to five and getting no sales. That was really hard, especially when you have to pay the bills at the end of the month and everything keeps piling up because you’re trying to hold on to the business. I’ve been doing this for 11 years,” she said, while adding that, “going to work for someone else would not be an option, because you create debt when you have a business and the pay [as an employee] would not be substantial to pay off your debt.” Minister Sutherland added that in addition to seed capital, many entrepreneurs needed training on how to get the most out of their investments. He added that the much-needed assistance would come from the Financial Literacy Bureau as soon as Friday in the form of a workshop. “It’s not just financial training but also marketing and customer service. We find one of the challenges in this country relates to customer service and we believe if you get repeat customers, it augurs well for your business.” The minister added that the majority of applications for trust loans were coming from stakeholders in services, apparel, agriculture and sporting sectors, but called on members of other key industries to come forward as well. “We would like to see those people in the renewable energy sector and the creative economy. Those are the ones that we will be pushing to come on board, because we need to build out the cultural industries as well,” he said. (BT)

WE WILL FIND YOU – Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, Dwight Sutherland has issued a warning to small business owners who have received government’s trust loans, but have no intention of repaying, that government will find them. During his visit to some beneficiaries of the loan today, Sutherland revealed that he was already recognizing a trend where some recipients have shown an unwillingness to repay the up to $5000 loans and who, since receiving the loan could not be found. The loan scheme was launched last October. “There are some people who are in the minority that we are having challenges with in terms of finding them,” he said, while also stressing that such persons were in the minority and “at least 99 per cent” of the persons who would have accessed the loan have repaid. Nevertheless, Sutherland warned that the worrying trend needed to be stamped out. “We [government] have ways and means of recovering our money and I as the minister and indeed the trust fund unit manager will put the necessary systems in place to ensure that we recover the money. “We trust you and we want you to trust yourself . . . the persons who would have accessed the loan and would have benefited in terms of enhancing their business, we want you to do the right thing and repay the loan,” he said. Sutherland acknowledged that in light of the “challenging times”, some business owners may encounter difficulty repaying, but cautioned against dodging government’s loan officers. “At least call the trust loan officer, manager or whoever and say to them ‘we cannot pay this month or I can only pay a small portion of what I am supposed to pay.’ We will work with you,” he promised, “but do not come and take the money with the view that you are not going to repay. We don’t want to go that route. We are here to grow businesses,” he said. Sutherland further stressed that not every successful applicant would be given a $5000 loan because the amount of money loaned would be based on need and on the ministry’s analysis of each business. “If you need $3000 in your business and we analyze that you only need $3000, we are not going to give you $5000. It is based on need and not want, because we have other persons here who really would like to access the funding. We will assess your need and we will give you the funds accordingly,” he said. (BT)

WOMEN SLAIN – The discovery of the bodies of two females over the last 24 hours, about a mile away from each other in St Lucy, has left residents shaken up, shocked and police on the hunt for their killer(s). Around 9:15 a.m. today, the lifeless body of an unidentified female was found lying on her back next to an abandoned car in a bushy area at Northumberland, St Lucy. Police spent several hours combing the bushy area for clues, and investigating the wounds about the body. Police spokesman Station Sergeant Michael Blackman told members of the media who gathered at the scene that wounds were found about the body of the woman who is believed to be in her 60s. “The information that we got came from a resident in the area. The road is pretty lonesome but there are residents who traverse the area from time to time,” Station Sergeant Blackman said. Meanwhile, police are also conducting investigations into the discovery of an unidentified adult female body at River Bay, St Lucy. The body of that woman who lived just a short distance away from where she was discovered around 5:40 p.m. wearing a blue shorts and a grey tube top. There were significant injuries to her head, according to sources. Station Sergeant Blackman told members of the media that police were still in the process of identifying the woman found at River Bay. However residents told Barbados TODAY that the woman’s name was Joanne and that she lived with a partner and two young men. Residents described the woman as a quiet, pleasant and polite individual whom they said did not deserve to die in such a “terrible” way. They said she had been living in the area for about two years. “If she needed anything she asked and I find that people were always willing to give her. She always walked and kept to herself, and never troubled anybody. Her death has left the community in shock and people wondering what could have gone wrong,” one resident said. When contacted, an immediate family member of the deceased told Barbados TODAY that Joanne had not been in contact with relatives for a while, and indicated that they were unable to speak about the deceased. She was reportedly last seen on Friday. The neighboring River Bay and Northumberland communities were quiet when Barbados TODAY visited the areas today. While the majority of residents had gone to work or school, those at home were trying to come to grips with the quickly unfolding developments. A group of elderly women expressed outrage at what they described as an attempt “to paint a bad picture of St Lucy”. “We don’t get these kind of things going on down here. All these people trying to do is to paint a bad picture of St Lucy. I really hope the police find whoever kill them two women. “I don’t know what going on in Barbados, look at that woman get she throat cut at that old people home last night,” one of the elderly women commented, referring to the third murder at a nursing home in Christ Church. Police are appealing to anyone with information on the two matters to contact them with information. Lawmen are also continuing investigations into the death of Martha Doyle, who lived at Unit 2A at the Vauxhall Senior Citizens Village, Vauxhall, Christ Church. Doyle’s throat was said to have been slashed by a male resident on Monday evening while at the home. The Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs has launched an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Doyle’s death. Minister Cynthia Forde, expressed regret at the demise of the 69-year-old and extended condolences to family of the deceased, and to the residents and staff of the Senior Citizens Village. “As we await the outcome of the investigations, both by the Royal Barbados Police Force and ourselves, we have taken immediate steps to provide counselling, facilitated by Network Services, for the residents and staff. “I would wish to assure the families of residents at the village, as well as the general public, that we give high priority to ensuring the safety at all our facilities including this centre, and if necessary, even further steps will be taken to safeguard the continued welfare of residents,” Forde said. The Vauxhall Senior Citizens’ Village is home to 38 residents, 19 men and 19 women, aged 46 to 83 years old. It provides housing for independent living as well as persons who require assistance. (BT)

LIVING IN FEAR – The discovery of four bodies – three women and a man – in the space of 24 hours has thrown some residents into a state of unease. Two of the women, who could not be identified immediately, were found in St Lucy – one at River Bay and the other at Northumberland, just a few minutes driving distance apart. The other female was identified as 69-year-old Martha Doyle, a vendor and resident of the Vauxhall Senior Citizens’ home in Christ Church who died there. Police believed that the proximity and closeness in time of the St Lucy women were mere coincidence. Hours later they had not released the identities of the two victims as they had not been positively identified because of extensive injuries. The gruesome discovery had the country and residents in the north on edge. Residents said they believed the woman who was found in River Bay, around 5:40 p.m. on Monday, was well known in the area, with one of them saying he got worried after last seeing her four days ago. (MWN)

PROBE INTO VENDOR’S DEATH – Martha Agatha Doyle, who was found dead at the Vauxhall Senior Citizens’ Village in Vauxhall, Christ Church, on Monday night, is being remembered fondly for her personable character and love for vending. Doyle, 69, lived in Free Hill, Black Rock, St Michael, before moving into the home. According to residents in Free Hill, Doyle, said to be Vincentian-born, lived in that area from the 1980s until about two years ago. She was much patronised for fruits and vegetables as she sold a variety of produce for a living, setting up shop at a small shed close to the Psychiatric Hospital on Black Rock Main Road. Lincoln Connell, a long-time Black Rock resident and one of her customers, said she was a friendly and polite person who always greeted people with a smile. “I knew her for about 30 years,” he said. “She always used to sell in the area. You know that being on the street her ears would always be out there, so she always knew what was going on. She used to sell fruits and vegetables, but after a while sales weren’t too hot so she started selling ornamental plants. In fact, I last saw her on Friday when she was getting ready to leave and go home. (MWN)

ANOTHER MURDER – Police were tonight investigating the murder of Barry Taylor of Shop Hill, St Thomas. The 35-year-old was found beside the road at Cane Garden with stab wounds, not far from the Lester Vaughan Secondary School. Taylor’s bloody and lifeless body was discovered at approximately 6.30 p.m. (BT)

HOT-HEADED HUSBAND – There is a law against posting some things on social media and a young husband found that out today, when he admitted accidentally posting nude pictures of his spouse. Jamar Thomas, 33, of Bartlett’sTenantry, Sargeant’s Village, Christ Church, pleaded guilty to the following charge, that on December 25, 2018, he used a cellular phone to send a message that was indecent or obscene and he intended to cause or was reckless as to whether he caused annoyance, inconvenience or distress to his wife, Alika Thomas. Prosecutor PC Kenmore Phillips, in outlining the matter to the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court presided over by acting Magistrate Anika Jackson, said that the couple had been married for four years, and on Christmas Day last year, they had an argument about Thomas taking up his wife’s phone and reading the messages. According to the prosecutor, Thomas discovered her carrying on a conversation with a male and nude photos of herself were placed on WhatsApp. His wife reported the matter to the police and Thomas turned himself in on January 19. Thomas said that prior to the incident, he had phoned his sister and complained that he was doing all the work and his wife got angry, started to shout and took up his tablet and told him “What is yours is mine and what is mine is yours.” In turn, he said he took up his wife’s phone and said “What is yours is mine and what is mine is yours.” Among other things, Thomas saw some stuff on his wife’s phone including nude videos with his son in the background and he was upset. He said he meant to show them to a woman who counsels them, his head was hot and he sent them on WhatsApp and he later tried to take them down but was not successful. Thomas said he was sorry that it was on social media. The acting magistrate told Thomas “I have taken into account your early plea of guilty at the first opportunity and you have not wasted the court’s time.” With a warning to “walk the straight and narrow way”, the acting magistrate imposed a fine of $1,500 which must be paid by May 24, or he will spend six months in prison. She noted that Thomas’ reputation would now be tarnished at age 33. (BT)

DAMAGED CAR COSTS WOMAN $2,500 – A Christ Church woman readily admitted damaging a car and threw herself at the mercy of the court. Sharon Yvette Harris, 47, of Bartlett’s Tenantry, Sargeant’s Village, today pleaded guilty to damaging a car belonging to Anas Vanzario of Brighton, Black Rock, St Michael, on Errol Barrow Day 2019. Acting Magistrate Anika Jackson, after hearing evidence in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court, ordered a three month sentence which was suspended for a year. In addition, she imposed a $2,500 fine which must be paid in three months or Harris will spend three months in prison. Prosecutor PC Kenmore Phillips, in outlining the matter, said that Vanzario lent his vehicle to Harris’ “significant other” and on the day of the incident he and Harris were in the vehicle on Golf Club Road, Christ Church, when she took a knife from the car and attempted to stab her friend. He got out of the car, and Harris took a hammer which was also in the car and swung at him and it struck the car window in the front passenger area and shattered it. She took another swing at her friend and shattered another window. Her friend went to the police who later picked Harris up at the scene. When asked if she had anything to say, the accused said “There was no knife involved in the argument ,” adding that her friend had a hammer and when it dropped, she picked it up and swiped at him and the hammer struck the vehicle. Harris told the court “I was swiping at him, I damaged the car. I will pay for it. I remained until the police came. They asked me if I did it and I admitted it.” The acting Magistrate asked her if she realised the seriousness of the matter, noting that if the hammer did not strike the car, it would have struck her friend and Harris said she understood. Before handing down sentence, the acting magistrate noted that Harris had not been before the court in ten years and said: “I have taken into consideration your early plea of guilty. You have been contrite and you mitigated that you understand the seriousness of the matter.” (BT)

STOUTE FINED $750 FOR $22 IN WEED – Although there’s talk about medical marijuana in Barbados, this drug is still illegal in this country. This reminder came today from acting Magistrate in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court Anika Jackson, after 20-year-old, Daniel Antonio Shaquan Stoute, of Lightfoot Lane, St Michael, pleaded guilty to having $22 worth in cannabis on January 20. The acting Magistrate pointed out “In Barbados, cannabis is still an illegal drug, despite discussion about medical marijuana.” In outlining the matter to the court, prosecutor Sergeant Carrison Henry said that police were carrying out investigations into another matter and while going through Greenfield, St Michael saw Stoute. Among other things, the prosecutor said that while conducting a search of the young man, they found 12 greaseproof wrappings containing vegetable matter suspected to be cannabis, in a bag in his pocket, and when asked about it, he told them, “Dis is my weed, I had it to smoke.” He was fined $750 in two months or he will spend two months in jail. Stoute also pleaded not guilty to another charge, that on January 19, 2019, he unlawfully assaulted Tarique Charles of King William Street, St. Michael. That matter was adjourned until May 13, 2019 and bail was granted in the sum of $750. (BT)

BAILEY TAKES HIS CASE TO APPEAL – A man who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter six years ago, today told the Court of Appeal he believed his sentence was excessive. In fact, Edward Fitzpatrick Bailey told judges Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson and Justices Kaye Goodridge and Margaret Reifer that ten years in prison would have been a suitable punishment. That was one of the 23 grounds under which Bailey, whose last address is Cane Vale New Road, Christ Church, argued saying that Madam Justice Maureen Crane-Scott had erred in law during his trial and sentencing. Bailey was 42 years old at the time when he was charged with murdering 24-year-old Ricardo Small, formerly of Kendal Hill, Christ Church, on January 15, 2009. The facts revealed that Bailey walked up to a route taxi in which Small was a front seat passenger while it was in Gall Hill, Christ Church and fatally shot him, sending persons scampering. A 12-member jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on May 24, 2013 and he was subsequently sentenced by Justice Crane-Scott. Bailey began his appeal on November 21, 2018 and he reappeared before the three-member panel today in the Appeals Court. Clad in a white shirt, black tie and black pants, the convicted man argued that Justice Crane-Scott had made several errors during the trial which adversely affected him. He accused the judge of “entering into the arena” by certain comments and rulings and that she also obstructed him during his cross-examination. According to him, the judge had also erred in law by deflecting questions and assisting the Crown’s witnesses. He said Justice Crane-Scott had failed to exercise her discretion by withdrawing the case from the jury after hearing evidence which was prejudicial to him. Additionally, Bailey told the Court of Appeal that the trial judge had failed to adequately put his defence to the jury; had failed to analyze the evidence of a witness and that she had failed to direct the jury in relation to oral statements. He also pointed out that Justice Crane-Scott incorrectly dismissed his no-case submission, despite glaring inconsistencies in the Crown’s case. Bailey maintained that the evidence given by the Crown’s two key witnesses had not been reliable saying the prosecutor’s case collapsed because of “indescrepencies” in the evidence. “It is not that I did not commit an offence, but not the offence for which I was convicted,” Bailey said. As it related to his sentencing, Bailey charged that the trial judge had not taken all of the mitigating factors into consideration before handing down her ruling. He said she has “missed” several of those factors including the fact he had acted in self defense, that the now deceased man had a propensity for violence and that he Bailey, had received an “excellent” probation report. Bailey said the trial judge had ruled that a starting point of between 18 to 22 years was adequate. “The sentence is excessive…I believe that the judge should have started with at least ten years,” he said. However, he was quickly reminded by Justice Goodridge and Sir Marston that a firearm had been used and that he had shot the deceased in a crowded public service vehicle in broad daylight, which they said were notable aggravating factors. Principal Crown Counsel Alliston Seale will respond to Bailey when the appeal continues on March 13, 2019. (BT)

MORE ROOM AT OVAL – Boosted by over 7 000 English visitors, including the popular Barmy Army, a record number of spectators are expected to converge at Kensington Oval for today’s start of the Test match between England and West Indies. With tickets virtually sold out for all the major stands such as the 3Ws, Greenidge And Haynes and Hewitt And Inniss for the first three days and the demand increasing, a new temporary stand and bleachers area were hastily put together yesterday. They were assembled between the electronic scoreboard and the Cozier, Coppin and Short Media Centre, and are expected to accommodate an additional 600 local spectators. Costing a mere $30, these tickets were being swiftly snapped up by Barbadians, who were unable to purchase tickets when the sales booth at Kensington opened earlier this month. Kensington Oval has a seating capacity of just over 11 000, but that number will be increased as the PowerX4 Beach Party Stand was being extended to accommodate 1 500 more patrons. (MWN)

HOLDER IN ICC’S TEAM OF THE YEAR – Heartened by being selected to the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test Team Of The Year 2018 Windies captain Jason Holder – the lone West Indian picked – says he would be happier if his performances result in more victories. The 27-year-old Holder was chosen in the Test team captained by India’s prolific batsman Virat Kohli after enjoying an outstanding record-breaking year. Holder snared 33 scalps in six Tests in 2018 at an average of 12.39, the best by any fast bowler with more than 30 wickets in the last 100 years.His performances saw him leap to third among the all-rounders and tenth in the ICC Test bowling rankings. “It is still my ambition to be the No.1 all-rounder in the world, but as I said before, I think I would feel a lot better being the No. 1 all-rounder in the world and the West Indies ranking at No. 2 or No. 3 in the overall ICC rankings,” Holder told NATION SPORT yesterday at Kensington Oval after the Windies’ last training session before the first Test against England starting today. The lanky six-footer has now taken 86 wickets in 35 Tests at an average of 28.50, with four of his five five-wicket hauls coming in consecutive Tests last year, but he wants to see a more collective effort from his teammates. “I think if we move together a bit more as a side, it feels a lot more pleasing to have individual success,” Holder said noting it is something they have spoken about during team meetings. (MWN)

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The Chase Files 8/23/2018

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Thursday 23rd August 2018. Remember you can read full articles by purchasing Daily Nation Newspaper (DN), via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS).

DONVILLE FACING 20 YEARS – Former Minister of Commerce and International Business Donville Inniss could spend up to 20 years in jail and fined up to BDS$1 million if convicted of bribery charges in the United States. Inniss has a date with destiny in a New York courthouse at noon today, when he will be arraigned on three counts of money laundering. The Eastern District of New York’s press officer John Marzulli told the NATION on Wednesday that based on New York law (18 US Code 1956), the former Member of Parliament would face a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in a federal prison on each count. Thursday’s arraignment will be heard by US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, at which time Inniss can enter a plea. (DN)

NO COURTESY – Courtesy Garage has been fingered as the car dealership that so bothered Prime Minister Mia Mottley that she ordered home a team that was in Europe in search of secondhand garbage trucks for the Sanitation Service Authority. Mottley told a meeting on Sunday night the group had to dump those plans and return home because of some suspicious activity by an uninvited guest. She explained that “pursuant to a board paper” the group from the SSA and the Ministry of the Environment and National Beautification had gone abroad to examine used garbage trucks, but “a certain car company’s representatives happened to be at every location that the group went to”. “When the Attorney General and I found out we told the minister ‘tell them to come home the next day because I need to know how a private sector group that was not a part of the Cabinet paper could be there at every location,” the Prime Minister told a St Michael South East constituency meeting. “The Minister and I and the AG have agreed that is not the kind of Government we want to run,” Mottley added, while suggesting the unnamed representative’s attendance was no coincidence. She did not identify the representative or the company. However, an official source has told Barbados TODAY the representative was from Courtesy Garage, whose Regional Product Manager Sam Gaston could not be reached for comment. The source said the firm in Europe has recommended that Government acquires Volvo vehicles, which are said to be internationally-recognized dump trucks. “The company offered refurbished trucks free of cost to Barbados on condition that when things return to economic stability, the Government would give it the business,” the source said. There had been claims on social media that waste hauler and owner of Jose Y Jose Liquid and Solid Waste Management Inc Anderson Fatchild Cherry, who is abroad undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed illness, had been the person to whom the Prime Minister was referring. However, Cherry today told Barbados TODAY, “not me”. The SSA had also called an emergency meeting to get to the bottom of the issue. Mottley had hinted that the local firm may have had inside information on Government’s plans. When contacted for an update on investigations into the matter, Minister of the Environment Trevor Prescod said he preferred to grant the Prime Minister the courtesy to speak, since she was the one who made the initial remarks. (BT)

UPP-STAGING DEMS – With the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in rebuilding mode, the two-year-old United Progressive Party (UPP) is moving to break the two-party grip on Barbadian politics, UPP leader Lynette Eastmond has told Barbados TODAY. And it has begun its own rebuilding effort by dropping its entire slate of 23 candidates who stood for Parliament in the May 24 elections and is starting afresh. With her political party gaining a meagre 1.3 per cent of the popular vote, the former Barbados Labour Party minister and senator who became founding chairman of the UPP, has suggested the party might never have a better opportunity to catch up to the major contenders on the political landscape. “It is a case of us now taking advantage while one of the two major parties is wounded and is now seeking to rebuild,” Eastmond said, referring to the DLP, which suffered an embarrassing loss in the general election, securing only 22 per cent of the votes cast and failing to win a single seat. The DLP has since elected the twice defeated Verla De Peiza as president. Political pundits have argued that De Peiza was placed at the helm to jump-start the process of bringing new blood into the 63-year-old party following the 30-0 decimation in the election at the hands of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). A number of party stalwarts, including former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, former Minister of Education Ronald Jones and former Minister of Social Care Steve Blackett, have announced their retirement from politics. Additionally, the party was rocked by scandal earlier this month with the arrest of former Minister of International Business Donville Inniss, who is set to answer money laundering charges in New York tomorrow. Eastmond, a four time losing candidate, and who was elected to lead the UPP for another year when the party held its inaugural conference last Saturday, acknowledged that taking advantage of the DLP’s wounded state would require hard work. “Our thinking is that we are in a very good position, but it does require work. It is true that we contested one election, but a lot of dedication and commitment is now required over the next four years. I believe that I have a team that is up to that task and we believe that we are in a better position given the outcome of the last election,” she told Barbados TODAY. But the party has retained none of the 23 candidates who contested the election three months ago, Eastmond said, suggesting that would-be UPP candidates would need to canvass on their own steam in order to get the nod from the party when the selection process begins. “Our position is that at the end of the election, seeing that none of us were successful, all of the seats are open again. Individuals who are interested in running again are being told that they can identify the seat that they are interested in and start working in that seat. If the person had won a seat then their case would have been the strongest but at this point all candidates would have to go through a selection process again,” the UPP leader said. She could not pinpoint a timeframe for candidates to be confirmed. “I can’t give an exact date but suffice it to say we have to give the candidates enough time to court their constituents. So, the sooner the better, but anybody interested in running should start working from now,” she added. In a general election that saw a record number of ‘third’ parties and independents contesting the 30 seats that would all be snapped up by the BLP, the UPP came in a distant fourth place in the popular vote, behind the business-oriented Solutions Barbados. Of the 150,141 voters who cast their ballots on May 24, the UPP polled 1,965 votes, less than half that 4,188 votes secured by Solutions Barbados. The Democratic Labour Party, suffering the worst defeat in Barbadian electoral history, received 33,985 votes, while the Barbados Labour Party’s landslide victory reaped an historic 74.58 per cent of the popular vote with 111,968. (BT)

REGISTRATION FOR JANUARY CXCS OPEN – The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training has advised that registration for the Caribbean Examinations Council’s January 2019 examinations begins on Monday, September 3, and will close on Monday, October 1. Registration takes place between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, and forms are available from the Examination and Assessment Section of the Ministry of Education, Elsie Payne Complex, Constitution Road, St. Michael. They can also be accessed online at the Ministry’s website, http://mes.gov.bb. Those registering must bring the relevant fees; a Barbados identification card, driver’s license, passport or certified passport size photograph as evidence of identification; and a blue/black ink pen when registering. In addition, the CSEC examination fees, which are payable in cash on registration, are as follows: entry fee, $36 per candidate; subject fee, $36.50 per subject; and the local entrance fee, $30 per candidate. The local entrance fee covers all examinations which the candidate may be writing in May/June 2019. All fees should be paid in cash to the Finance Section of the Ministry Mondays to Fridays between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Subject entries with a School Based Assessment component will only be accepted from ‘Resit Candidates’. The Ministry advises candidates that it will not reconcile or adjust clashes of subject papers, so they should consult the timetables for the respective examinations before registering. A copy of the timetable is posted on CXC’s web page, www.cxc.org. There is also a link to this web page from the Ministry’s website. (BGIS)

TIME TO APPLY FOR PENSIONER’S REBATE – The Barbados Revenue Authority is advising pensioners that they can now apply for the Pensioner’s Rebate on their 2018 to 2019 Land Tax Bills. The Authority is therefore requesting that only new applicants should apply by either downloading the form from the Authority’s website at www.bra.gov.bb, or by visiting any of the Authority’s offices located at the Treasury Building, Bridgetown; Weymouth Corporate Centre, Roebuck Street, St Michel; Southern Plaza, Oistins, Christ Church; Warrens Tower II, Warrens, St Michael; or the Holetown Public Centre, St James. All existing pensioners have already been processed in the Authority’s system. All applications should be made no later than Friday, August 24. (BGIS)

HOSPITAL’S BACTERIA INFECTION ‘ERADICATED’ – Last month’s outbreak of a serious bacterial illness has now been fully eradicated, officials of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) revealed today. And the head of the hospital’s infection control team, Corey Forde, is praising the hospital for the capability of detecting the disease, known as Burkholderia Cepacia Complex. While outbreaks are commonplace in hospitals around the world, the QEH could boast of having one of the region’s best hospital surveillance systems, and was a regional standard-bearer of best practice, in infection control, he said. And the hospital has become the Caribbean’s standard-bearer for control and detection of these outbreaks. “It is not unusual for outbreaks but the most important thing is how it is dealt with. Our surveillance system at the hospitals is top-notch. We are able to identify outbreaks quickly and then act accordingly. We have had recorded outbreaks and we have dealt with them quite well . . . . Many countries in the Caribbean don’t have a surveillance system and we have been assisting some of them in getting theirs in place,” said Forde. He was speaking to journalists after the Pan American Health Organization handed over three Samsung Galaxy Tablets to the QEH this morning. The QEH confirmed that eight cases of Burkholderia Cepacia Complex were diagnosed in six weeks. At the time several measures were taken to bring the situation under control, hospital officials had said then. The bacteria, said to be most harmful to persons suffering with kidney disease or a weakened immune system, are usually found in soil and contaminated water. Patients diagnosed with the condition were separated from the general population and treated, amid stepped up health surveillance at the hospital, the QEH infection control chief said. The speed with which the hospital handled the outbreak was testimony to efficiency of the health institution’s counter measures, he declared. (BT)

CONTACT NUMBER AT GERIATRIC HOSPITAL – Family and friends of patients at the Geriatric Hospital who wish to visit while renovations at the Beckles Road institution are taking place, are asked to telephone the Nursing Administration Unit at 228-2597, so that they may be directed to the appropriate ward. The rehabilitation project, which started last Monday, is expected to last five months. (BGIS)

PAD CLOSURE STALLS UNION – Closure of the E. Humphrey Walcott Building has halted discussion on appointments and promotions within the Public Service. The building at the corner of Culloden Road and Collymore Rock, St Michael, was closed intermittently since July 20 to treat bed bugs. However, the chemicals used reportedly caused severe reactions among staff and it has now been “closed until further notice”. The Personnel Administration Division, the Ministry of the Civil Service and the Unemployment Section of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) operated out of the building. The Unemployment Section is now at the nearby Frank Walcott Building. Acting general secretary of the National Union of Public Workers, Delcia Burke, told the NATION they were scheduled to meet with PAD officials on August 3, but the bed bug issue had caused it to be postponed. (DN)

SORROWFUL SMITH – A 53-year-old man, who pleaded guilty to two offences involving firearms, has not only apologized but has sought “forgiveness” for the wrong he has done. Anthony Alonza Smith of Clement Hall, Airy Hill, St Joseph issued the apology before Madam Justice Pamela Beckles in the No. 5 Supreme Court today. He had previously admitted to having possession of a firearm as well as for unlawfully and maliciously engaging in conduct that placed Jeremy Young in danger of death of serious bodily harm on April 1, 2012. “I am very sorrowful for my actions and I throw myself at the mercy of the court. I also apologise to my country, my family and . . . the victim . . . whom I have known for lots of years. “[It] was a severe misunderstanding that led to anger, the anger led to a mistake and the mistake was this incident . . . . [I ask for] forgiveness . . . for myself. I ask from this court and the victim . . . I ask forgiveness from everyone concerned,” Smith told the judge. Reading his written address, Smith, who is represented by attorney-at-law Sian Lange, went on to tell the judge that he was a father of three children the youngest who was now 12-years-old. Smith also pointed to his own health battles. “Madam Justice, I am a farmer by trade and many days my sweat and tears are . . . unto this sacred soil in the parish of St Joseph. Madam Justice, prison and the toils of life place an impact on my health…. I have deteriorated to a state where I need two operations. This is due to having a cyst and an abnormal growth and a hernia . . . . . Madam justice please have mercy on me,” Smith pleaded. His attorney submitted that, while the crimes were “very serious”, her client had several mitigating factors that should be considered when imposing sentence, including his guilty plea. “He does not pretend he is a perfect person [as he has a case] of short temperedness [and] at no time tried to deny that this situation was a mistake”. Lange went on to say that Smith had been well behaved in prison and had “no incidents of violence while on remand”. (BT)

KING FALLS SHORT – The comeback kid didn’t have another of those rallies left. Darian King’s latest Houdini act fell just short, as Barbados’ best tennis player couldn’t pull off another great escape in Wednesday’s heart-breaking first-round exit in the US Open qualifiers. Eyeing a great come from behind victory while trailing 5-1 in the third set, rain briefly stalled King’s comeback bid before Gerald Melzer eventually steadied himself for a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory on Court 8. It was a depressing defeat to say the least for the 26-year-old Bajan ace, who was looking to repeat last year’s magic when he made a storybook run to his first ever main draw appearance at a grand slam. But there was no fairytale ending this time, as an inconsolable King sat in his player’s chair unmoved several minutes after the completion of the match. (DN)

MAPLE MASTERS MARCH TO SEMIS – Defending masters champions Maple and three other teams qualified for the semi-finals after yesterday’s tense action in the 33rd Barbados International hockey festival. In the battles which were staged exclusively at the football Astro Turf, Maple lost an early skirmish to another semi-finalist ABC 1-0. However, later in the evening Maple fought Bluez Ole Sticks in driving rain and heavy puddles to emerge 1-0 winners. All Stars advanced to the semis with a 1-0 win over the Islanders while the Y’s Guys proved smarter than Bluez Ole Sticks beating them 1-0. Over at the hockey turf All Stars and the Y’s Guys drew love all and ABC and Islanders fought to a similar deadlock. (DN)

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The Chase Files Daily News Newscap 5/5/2018

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Saturday 5th May 2018. Remember that you can read full articles via subscribing to Nation News Online, purchasing Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN), via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS).

MOTTLEY ONLY WANTS TO BE PM, WARNS GOLLOP – Queen’s Counsel Hal Gollop has sought to warn eligible voters that Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader Mia Mottley’s only ambition is to become the next Prime Minister of Barbados. Gollop, who was speaking at a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) meeting in Long Bay, St Philip on Wednesday night, made direct reference to an article published by Barbados TODAY on April 20, headlined Make Me PM, Please in which Mottley told party supporters at a BLP meeting outside Quimby’s Bar Yard Gap, Bush Hall, St Michael that she did not want to return to Parliament as just the Member of Parliament for her St Michael North East constituency, but as the duly elected Prime Minister of Barbados. “Look at the leader. The leader is a woman whose only ambition is to be a prime minister of Barbados. I went online on Barbados TODAY and I saw the article which said in quotation marks ‘Make Me PM Please’. This was Mia Mottley addressing a gathering in her constituency saying that this was where she first spoke to the constituents in 1991 and she had come back to address them, and that this is the last time she was addressing them as an ordinary person. She will come next time as Prime Minister and she made the request, ‘make me Prime Minister please’. “I was not aware that you run for a seat as Prime Minister. I always thought that your reliance to be Prime Minister is on the 29 other people in Parliament. When somebody could be so arrogant to suggest to people that she is running to be Prime Minister of Barbados you must dismiss her and all associated,” Gollop contended, adding, “You get this crowd of persons who would want to make you believe that a Government led by the Democratic Labour Party is deliberately making life difficult for the people of Barbados, but their aim is to win a Government, that is the only objective.” Gollop also bashed the BLP over its staging of a grand rally on April 28 – National Heroes Day – describing it as “irresponsible extravagance” on a significant day on the Barbadian calendar. “The extravagance is going on. We saw it on Heroes Day. The emphasis is on. . . a level of commitment and responsibility that is consistent with extravagance. So they went down to the east coast in their thousands – free transport, drink, T-shirts and entertainment. It was revelry on a day we use to symbolize the commitment of national heroes. [Yet], you cannot point to one of those heroes and say they would have associated with that revelry on Nation Heroes Day,” Gollop complained. He further questioned the Opposition’s approach to the May 24 elections, saying “we are not interested in revelry. Revelry has its place, but you don’t start that type of campaign with a demonstration of revelry. But we have that type of situation to deal with”. (BT)

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE IMPACT OF THIRD PARTIES:ARTHUR – The so-called third parties and independent candidates can cause sufficient damage in some constituencies to turn the May 24 general election on its head, former Prime Minister Owen Arthur is suggesting. The fringe parties and independents have been dismissed by political scientists such as Dr George Belle and Peter Wickham, who have suggested they will have no impact on the polls. However, Arthur sees things differently, stating that while none of the candidates of these parties stood a chance at victory, they could muster sufficient support in constituencies with small margins to upset the applecart for the incumbent Democratic Labour Party (DLP) or the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). “The public of Barbados will go and express themselves in different ways. There are some people who will use their vote as a protest and they find there has never been a third party candidate or independent candidate, no matter how insignificant, who got zero votes. They always get votes. And where you have tied elections that few votes can decide the election,” Arthur told Barbados TODAY in an interview. “Let me be candid. I don’t think any of the third party candidates will win but if they get enough votes where the seats are marginal, then a third party candidate can be decisive,” he stressed. The former Prime Minister, who led the country from 1994 to 2008, was not about to call the election, stating it could swing either way, between the BLP and DLP, but felt the DLP was “sufficiently unpopular that they might lose”. Still, he envisaged a scenario where “you might have what I call a Hilary election where the Barbados Labour Party gets the majority of the popular vote nationally, but it loses most of the marginal seats because third parties can get enough votes to be able to affect the election”. Arthur pointed to the fact that many of those contesting on the tickets of the new parties, such as his former Cabinet minister Lynette Eastmond who heads the United Progressive Party (UPP), had come from the BLP. This, he said, could make things uncomfortable for the Mia Mottley-led party. “That is why I have been telling the Barbados Labour Party, ‘you don’t want to go into an election based on history, where you have a third party or independent party formed out of your party to contest an election’. I know it. I lived it. “Independent candidates will sometimes get a few votes, but sometimes it can be enough . . . to decide the result of an election. If a third party is formed out of another party, it hurts the party out of which it is formed,” he explained, recalling that a similar thing happened in St James South when Elizabeth Thompson was victorious. Thompson won the seat in 1994 with 2,249 votes, beating the DLP’s Clyde Mascoll by 281 in an election in which the National Democratic Party’s Alfred McClean polled 882 and independent candidate Glenroy Straughn had the support of 58 voters. He listed The City, won by the BLP in 2013 by 124 votes, and St James Central which the party he led into that election took by 68 votes, as two such constituencies that could be disrupted by a third party. “I feel that the elders of the Barbados Labour Party should have found a way to make sure that the Labour Party goes into the campaign without having third party candidates fighting against them too. I know from experience what it is,” Arthur said. Outside of the safe seats, including St John which he said the DLP is not likely to lose anytime in the near future, Arthur said his former party would have a difficult time ousting people such as Minister of Education Ronald Jones in Christ Church East Central, Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy in St Michael South Central and Prime Minister Freundel Stuart in St Michael South. On the other hand, he said, the BLP had a stranglehold on Christ Church West, last held by Dr Maria Agard, who was booted out of the BLP in 2015 and recently joined the UPP. However, Dr Agard has belatedly pulled out of the race, a decision, Arthur said, that was likely to change nothing. “The chances are it is going to vote for the Barbados Labour Party. I can’t say absolutely for sure. Maria had a lot of personality as well. I don’t know who Lynette will get to run, but I think that constituency will be hard for the BLP to lose,” said the former Prime Minister, who made it clear he would not participate in any of the campaigns. (BT)

$1.2 BILLION HEADACHE – One of the country’s most successful leaders is warning that a monumental effort is needed to raise $1.2 billion in foreign exchange to halt the economic slide revealed this week by Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes. Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur said it was clear from Haynes’ economic report of a 0.7 per cent decline in the first quarter and debt of 151 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), that the economy is on the brink of a recession, or could even already be there. Equally troubling, he said, was the fact that the downturn was happening at a time when other countries were performing well. “The review told us that the Barbados economy is in a recession or about to go into a recession, but significantly that we are going into a recession when the rest of the world is not in a recession. Therefore, it commands us to begin seriously to discuss the significant aspects of our own domestic circumstances and explain why Barbados is in a recession when the rest of the world is not,” Arthur told Barbados TODAY in an interview. In his economic report delivered on Wednesday, the Central Bank Governor indicated that while there were slight decreases in Government spending, as well as the fiscal deficit as a result of higher and new taxes introduced in May last year, the administration failed to meet its targets for the fiscal deficit or revenues from the taxes. Haynes also said the international reserves stood at $423 million or 6.9 weeks of import cover, and while there was a 5.8 per cent increase in tourist arrivals last year, overall tourism receipts were down slightly by about one per cent. The economy, he said, would likely record negative growth this year, predicting 0.25 per cent growth at best. Arthur today suggested the new administration elected on May 24 would have to undertake “significant adjustments” in order to prevent further deterioration. “We can begin to state categorically that the next Government of Barbados assuming office in June will find that it will have to face a situation in June, July, August, which constitutes the toughest period of the year for the economy, that it will not be in a position to go on an economic and financial gallop or indulge in things other than to mount a significant resolute for the Barbados economy,” he warned. The former Prime Minister said $500 million in capital inflows was needed to return the reserves to comfortable levels, between seven and eight times more than the $60 million to $70 million Haynes had said the Central Bank was considering seeking from the local private sector. Arthur said the economy was in such dire straits that the next administration would have to seek funding from international sources, describing the Bank’s possible approach to the private sector for a bailout as a “desperate measure”. “If you have to increase the reserves by at least $500 million with an import content for capital expenditures of 60 per cent, it would mean that Barbados would have to attract $1.2 billion of foreign capital as soon as possible in order to bring back stability to the economy,” he said, explaining that raising this much money would be a monumental task which would likely demand an approach to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a last resort. However, he warned that turning to the IMF at this point would mean more stringent adjustments than the country would have had to endure had it gone “at a sufficiently early time”. “Barbados has put itself in a position where it is like an aircraft that is flying too low. There has to be a national consensus about the very difficult things that the Fund may ask you to do now that you are coming at this late stage . . . and it could lead to social disorder if the Government does not talk the country through it in a very empathetic way,” he said. Arthur stressed that additional measures were also needed to drive down the fiscal deficit and spur sustainable growth, insisting that those issues ought to be raised during the election campaign. “Significant adjustments will have to be made by the next administration that can significantly affect the extent of the services provided by the Government to which the public has become accustomed and could even affect the level of employment in the public sector,” he stressed, while cautioning that measures to stabilize the economy would not yield overnight results, with signs of measureable improvement possibly taking a minimum of three years. (BT)

WORRELL: PUBLIC SECTOR HAS FALLEN FROM GRACE – Former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Dr DeLisle Worrell is warning that something needs to be done about this island’s public service, which he says has declined alarmingly from its “gold standard” quality of 50 years ago. In his latest monthly economic newsletter for May, Worrell explained that ‘for many years after its opening in 1964 the Queen Elizabeth Hospital attracted patients from the entire Eastern Caribbean, because of the high quality of its services. He also pointed out that Barbados and Guyana were the champions in secondary school achievement in the Caribbean, and that Barbadian teachers were highly sought after throughout the region. “The same is true for policemen and judges. Barbados was reputed to be the only Caribbean country with an efficient, high yielding income tax; other countries relied on customs duties, which were easier to collect,” the ex-Governor, who was released from the Central Bank back in February 2017 said, adding that “the contrast with the public service of today is stark”. In fact, he expressed the view that while “public services in the rest of the Caribbean have improved somewhat, the quality of public service in Barbados has declined alarmingly” while calling for remedial action to be taken. “The first step is to institute a functioning system of reporting by every Government agency, department, ministry or state corporation. “The reporting should be done at two levels: annually, published reports to inform the Parliament and the people of Barbados on their stewardship; and monthly, to the Treasury, for every entity that receives financial support from the Government budget,” Worrell said. He also called for annual reports on all entities to be released to the public within three months of the end of their financial year, without fail, while suggesting that the “timely publication of the annual report should be a key performance indicator for permanent secretaries, heads of departments and agencies, and CEOs of state-funded corporations. “This straightforward measure would have an immediate effect on transparency and public appreciation of Government’s budgetary limitations. Thoughtful commentators would have hard data with which to compare the costs of alternative policies, and their implications for delivery of services. Efficient public sector managers would have a vehicle to demonstrate how they have made effective use of the human and financial resources at their disposal,” the ex-Governor said. He also called for better reporting by the Accountant General, who heads Government’s Treasury. “Every quarter the Accountant General authorizes expenditure for that quarter only, for all spending approved by Parliament. The quarterly allocations are made with a view to ensuring that spending is kept within the budgetary limit. It is essential for financial control that spending is accurately reported on a monthly basis, within days of the end of each month. In this way, the Accountant General can guide spending units to make adjustments to stay within budget, before overspending becomes unmanageable,” Worrell said. He stressed that the institution of timely financial reporting and published annual reports may be used to kick start a more comprehensive programme of public sector renewal. “From the outset, our aim should be to have public services that are among the best in the world. That is no less than Barbadians deserve, having raised our living standards to the present enviable level. With the human and financial resources this country possesses, that goal is within reach. In addition, we should take example from wealthy countries like Singapore and Bermuda, who are not afraid to import the skills they need if there is insufficient world-class talent at home,” he said. (BT)

NO HIKE! – Minister of Agriculture and Water Resource Management Dr David Estwick has made it clear the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Government is not considering raising water rates, contradicting General Manager of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) Keithroy Halliday who said yesterday the BWA was considering a rate hike to help cope with mounting financial problems. Estwick said he had no idea what Halliday “was talking about”, adding that the matter had not come up for discussion in his ministry, which has oversight of the water company. Halliday had said yesterday that due to the burdensome financial challenges, including $500 million in loans it cannot service, an increase in the rates was being considered to help the utility company cope. He did not say how steep the increase was expected to be or when it would become effective, explaining this would be left to the regulatory agency, the Fair Trading Commission (FTC), to decide. Halliday told a press conference the company’s current financing model was not sustainable and it “does not work and sometime over the next while, we have to take some hard decisions to how we can move towards getting a model that is a little more relevant to our needs”. However, Estwick this morning argued that some the BWA’s debts were in fact investments that would eventually pay for themselves. He therefore advised there was no need to push the panic button in the absence of a full evaluation of the debt profile of the state-owned entity. “I don’t know what he is talking about and the reason I don’t know is very simple. You have to interpret your loans in regards to what investments are there and as a result what investments the loans are going to be dealing with. You have to determine which ones are revenue generating and which ones are not. “So you just can’t simply speak of $500 million. It may sound nuff, but it may not mean anything once the investments pay for themselves. Keithroy is a banker. I am not much of a banker but I know numbers,” Estwick told reporters after he and other members of the DLP had paid their $250 deposits into the Treasury this morning. Asked if the BWA general manager had spoken out of turn, Estwick replied: “You should ask he that.” The minister said any rate hike would be at the discretion of the FTC, but said there were no plans in the pipeline to approach the regulatory authority. “An evaluation for a rate hike is a FTC determination, it is not determined by me . . . .The FTC now has responsibility for tariff setting and service setting. We have worked with the FTC and we are working through the service setting to determine the service parameters that we are able to execute to bring us up to international levels. So we are trying to put things in place administratively, but we have not engaged the FTC at any stage in regards to a rate increase. So it can’t be a consideration,” Estwick stressed. While Halliday had made it clear it would be some time before consumers were asked to pay more for water because no request had been made to the FTC, he also seemed to suggest it was inevitable. “A discussion has to be had at some point in time as to the relevance of the current tariff regime and whether or not it makes sense. This is not a discussion that can be had in isolation; this is a discussion that requires the input of a number of stakeholders. This is not a discussion that we can make solely on our own, simply because we fall now under the oversight of the Fair Trading Commission. They and they alone will arbitrate and determine the extent of how and what figure, if at all, we pursue,” the general manager said. “It would be silly of me to say we wouldn’t look at it, but I can say in the immediate term, there is still a lot of work to do before we can make that presentation or consider such a presentation,” the BWA boss stressed. The water company last raised rates in July 2009, a 60 per cent hike which then Acting Minister of the Environment, Water Resources and Drainage Haynesley Benn had said was meant to encourage Barbadians to conserve the precious commodity. (BT)

WORST STATE EVER – An Opposition candidate has charged that this island’s social services are in their worst state ever. In fact, the incumbent Barbados Labour Party (BLP) representative for the City of Bridgetown, retired Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, last night suggested that the current welfare system was all but dead as he sought to lay blame squarely at the feet of the current Freundel Stuart-led Democratic Labour Party Government. “I am 57 years old and I have never experienced the Barbados that we are experiencing today,” said Bostic, who suggested that “whether you are a Bee, Dee, UPP, or PPP you have to agree with me. “If you had to equate our social services with the human body you have to agree that the patient called Barbados is on its death bed, haemorrhaging and bleeding, that is what is happening in this country,” he said during a BLP meeting in Brittons Hill, St Michael last night. While zeroing in on health care, welfare and sanitation services, Bostic acknowledged that the provision of social services costs money, but said “if you are not doing anything to generate revenue you will not have money to support the social services”. “That is economics 101,” he added, while highlighting recent challenges both within and outside the state-run Queen Elizabath Hospital in terms of accessing medication under the local drug formulary. “I am not knocking the QEH but facts are facts. People are struggling to buy medication that they need. “They [Government] have messed up the drug formulary. You are spending more time in the Accident & Emergency than ever before, everything is in a mess. Sometimes you have to take your own toilet paper for your relatives [at the QEH],” the BLP candidate claimed. He also took issue with the Welfare Department saying it was very difficult to listen to some mothers and fathers, “people who it hurts their hearts to go to the Welfare to ask for a food stamp and to be given the sort of treatment that they get in this country”. Bostic also charged that “we have serious problems with people who can’t even find something to eat”. Zeroing in on the operations of the state-run Sanitation Service Authority, he further complained that “we have a situation where we would build a big building for sanitation and cannot buy sanitation trucks. “We continue with a David Thompson football tournament and summer camps, when we could have bought about 20 water trucks when people in this country were without water for a year,” he added. In his wide-ranging lament, the BLP spokesman was also highly critical of Government’s handling of the education sector as he highlighted the recent closure of the Alma Parris School in St Peter. “This was a school for children with special needs, slow learners, and an uncaring Government without an explanation one day got up and closed that school down. “Now all of those students from Alma Parris have to go and absorb themselves in the secondary schools and I am telling you that they will be lost and we are then going to find the next set of people without self esteem. “This educational system that we have needs a serious transformation. We have an education system that continues to put out people with degrees that don’t have jobs because there are no jobs in that area. That is a fault in the educational system,” he said. Bostic also took issue with the recently amended road traffic law which calls for the wearing of helmets by cyclists. “Elderly people who ride to the beach on mornings and evenings and would ride from village to village as a form of exercise and also to be able to make contact with their family and friends, this Government even put a helmet cost on them. “How can you ask a person who is not working to purchase a helmet for a bicycle that they have been riding for donkey years? But that is the sign of an uncaring Government,” he stressed. (BT)

BLP UNHAPPY WITH PRELIMINARY VOTERS’ LIST – With voter registration scheduled to close on Monday, the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is charging that the preliminary voters’ list released by the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) on Wednesday is riddled with errors. BLP Mobilization Manager Lucille Moe told reporters this afternoon most of the concerns revolved around people who had either changed their addresses in the past, or had requested changes to their addresses. Moe said there were cases where people who had changed their addresses prior to the 2013 election appear at their old addresses on the preliminary list. “There are several issues experienced by voters to vote in this current election. The first of them is the issue of the addresses. Monday is the last day for the transfer of voters and many voters have submitted transfer forms to the address they currently live at, yet they are still appearing on the list at their old address,” the BLP operative said at a press conference at the party’s Roebuck Street, The City headquarters. She charged that there were hundreds of discrepancies spread across all 30 constituencies, and while she was careful not to imply any improper motives on the part of the EBC, Moe contended that she had “never seen so many issues this close to an election”. “I myself have changed an address and gone through the change of address process and it is not a difficult one. Clearly, if you have this magnitude of problems there must be a reason, but certainly we do not know the answer to that one,” she stressed. “People want to vote in the election, it is their right to vote in this election and we want the EBC to rectify these matters. The last day of registration is also Monday so people must be on that list by then or they would not be able to vote in this election. People are also being transferred back to their old addresses where they have not lived in over ten years,” she added. Moe said the BLP had broached the issue of voter registration with the EBC last year and had been assured that all matters would be ironed out before the election was called. She therefore called on the electoral management body to give the matter urgent attention before the cut-off period, revealing that a letter had been sent to the EBC seeking a meeting this weekend in a bid to have the matter rectified urgently. “We understand that the EBC has a very short period of time to accomplish some of these things but clearly we will hope that they would have the resources and that they would be able to rectify this problem. We are confident that the EBC would rectify the problems,” she stressed. (BT)

GOING FOR GEORGE – It was only last month that former diplomat Leroy McClean was vying to be the candidate for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in St John. Having failed to secure the nomination, and “after much soul-searching”, an emotional McClean said this afternoon he will contest the seat against his own party, and he has paid his $250 deposit to prove he is serious. However, he told Barbados TODAY even though he was going up against DLP General Secretary George Pilgrim, he remained a staunch member of the party. “I am a member of the Democratic Labour Party and until and unless I resign or I’m expelled from the party, I remain a member of the Democratic Labour Party,” the one-time personal aide to then Prime Minister Errol Barrow explained. Despite McClean’s interest in the seat he calls home, Pilgrim was hand-picked by the DLP hierarchy to replace the outgoing Mara Thompson, the widow of late Prime Minister David Thompson, who recently announced she would no longer be involved in elective politics. However, McClean appeared aggrieved by his snubbing and complained that the nomination process was manipulated to achieve a particular outcome without the participation of the branch. “I find it strange that this process was not followed now and that the people of St John were not given an opportunity to say who should be the candidate for the Democratic Labour Party. And I believe that given the poor response, a very strong, negative response to the Democratic Labour Party candidate in the constituency, that I should contest the election as a member of the Democratic Labour Party, but in an independent capacity,” he stated. He said his chances of winning were “very good”, and in what appeared to be a dig at the outgoing representative, who has supported Pilgrim, he saw himself as the saviour of a badly represented St John. “I believe I could save this constituency for the Democratic Labour Party. I have no intention of resigning from the Democratic Labour Party. I see myself as a legitimate representative of the Democratic Labour Party in this constituency,” the former candidate, who lost to the Barbados Labour Party’s Louis Tull in St George South in 1991, told Barbados TODAY, stressing that although the party council had formally chosen Pilgrim, the party’s rank and file had not rejected him. “When you consider the selection process . . . it was not even an agenda item for the executive or general council on the night that it was done. So that there were several persons who were members of the executive and the general council who were not even aware that there was going to be a candidate selection and who did not have the opportunity to say who they wanted. So I am not even saying this was a party selection,” he contended. McClean argued that if the party had the benefit of participation by the full executive and general council, there would have been a different result in the race for the nomination, which also included High Commissioner to London Guy Hewitt and ex-senator Andre Worrell. Asked where he would sit in Parliament should he be victorious in the general election, the former Consul General to Toronto replied: “Well, that is a long way off and I would not want to make any strong statement in that regard.” McClean also said he would bring “a clear knowledge of the things affecting the people of St John”, citing his relationship with the founder of the party. “Having served as a personal assistant to Mr Barrow in that constituency, and in actual fact, carrying out the duties as the representative for St John while I served as Mr Barrow’s personal assistant and chairman of that branch for some years, I know what is required in St John. I know the situation with respect to the poor bus service, I know the situation with respect that you have several plantations in St John now which provided employment and weren’t productive in that parish and are out of production.” He also said he was cognizant of the fact that a number of young people in the constituency were unemployed and university students were experiencing difficulty completing their studies due to the introduction of tuition fees. “So we have to find ways to offer the people of St John proper representation. And I would say that over the past few years that representation has not been there. I am not doing this as just a whim. This is as a result of being encouraged by senior members of the Democratic Labour Party, in and out of St John, who have said to me that I need to go in there as the representative of the people of St John,” a confident McClean said, adding that he reflected deeply before finally deciding to run, hence the late announcement. “It is not something that I just got up and did. It is something that I have given very serious thought to,” he stressed. Meantime, Pilgrim avoided discussion on the potential clash, telling Barbados TODAY: “I am focused on meeting the people of St John.” St John has been a stronghold of the DLP since 1958, and has been represented only by Barrow and David and Mara Thompson. (BT)

OVER 15,000 NEW JOBS COMING, PROMISES AG – As the campaign for the May 24 general elections heats up, the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Government is promising to find work for thousands of unemployed Barbadians over the next two years. Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, the party’s candidate for St Philip South, said plans were in train to create numerous jobs, especially in the vital tourism sector. “We estimate that over the next couple of years, by 2020, that we are going to create 15,000 new jobs – 5,300 directly employed by tourism and another 10,000 indirectly. [We] reckon that, by that year, these jobs will be connected to tourism,” he said. However, Brathwaite expressed concern that Government may not be able “to train enough young people by 2020 to take all the jobs up that we estimate will be created. “Indeed in our discussions in Cabinet we are concerned that we [may] even need to import labour to fill the demand,” he said, while addressing DLP supporters at a meeting in Long Bay, St Philip at which particular mention was made of the ongoing redevelopment of the defunct Sam Lord’s Castle Resort into a five star Wyndham Grand. “The Sam Lord’s Castle development is scheduled to be completed by 2019, but I suspect given my last visit, that it probably will not be completed until 2020. That will give us an additional 450 rooms in St Philip,” Brathwaite said, adding that “those rooms mean a further 650 individuals being employed”. Braithwaite was supported by his St Philip North colleague Minister of Transport and Works Michael Lashley, who spoke about the significant contribution the old Sam Lord’s Castle had made to the lives of many families in the community. “Sam Lord’s Castle will provide jobs for labourers, carpenters and masons. We are now building it and it will provide jobs there after as well. That same hotel has made an outstanding contribution to this constituency. It has sustained families and provided money for persons,” Lashley said during the meeting at which Brathwaithe also spoke of plans by the incumbent , which has been in office for the past ten years, to transform parts of St Philip. “We want to transform the facility at Skeete’s Bay because, as you know, it is not well utilized currently. In fact it is in deplorable condition and we are optimistic that we can put that to good use in a tourism related project. “We intend also to further develop Six Roads. I can say to you that we have already drawn up the plans for a police station and complex to be constructed in Six Roads just above Automotive Arts. “We are going to go to St Martin’s Mangrove and knock it down and we are going to build a completely new school in St Martins. We will expand the school not only modernize it. We will continue to transform our society to improve the lives of the ordinary men and women,” he said. (BT)

SON WARNED AFTER ASSAULTING FATHER - A 51-year-old man, who admitted to assaulting his father, has been warned to be on his best behaviour for the next six months. If Winston Trevor Bynoe, of Block 43, St Matthias, Christ Church, breaches the bond imposed on him by Magistrate Douglas Frederick he will have to spend three months behind bars. Bynoe had been on remand at the Psychiatric Hospital since April 13 undergoing assessment after he pleaded guilty to committing the act against Winston Bynoe Sr. on January 1, 2018. (BT)

DRIVER AND CONDUCTOR REMANDED – Two public service vehicle (PSV) workers, charged in connection with yesterday’s fracas in the River Terminal, have been remanded to Dodds. PSV driver James Anthony Andrews, 34, of No 236, Apple Hall Terrace, St Philip, and conductor Travis Termaine Brathwaite, 30, of Sealy Hall, St Philip, are to spend the next 28 days in the St Philip penal institution after appearing before Magistrate Graveney Bannister on separate charges. It is alleged that on May 3 around 8:45 a.m. Andrews, the driver of ZR42, loitered in the area of the Nursery Drive Road for the purpose of soliciting passengers and was not properly attired with boots, shoes or sandals and such apparel approved by the Licensing Authority. He is also accused of assaulting Police Constable Donette Cadogan, as well as threatening to rob and kill her. However, Andrews pleaded not guilty to the charges. Brathwaite also denied obstructing, assaulting and resisting Police Constable Denis Murray in the execution of his duties on the aforementioned date, as well as damaging a shirt belonging to the Crown. In applying for bail, Andrews’ attorney Kevin Miller pointed out that his client had no previous convictions and no charges pending before the court. However, the same could not be said for Brathwaite, whose attorney Shamar Bovell revealed that his client had a prior conviction as well as a matter pending before the court. But the attorneys’ submissions were not enough to secure bail as the magistrate deemed the allegations to be “serious” given that they were reportedly committed against officers in the line of duty. The accused men return to the District ‘A’ Traffic Court on June 1. (BT)

TOO BRAZEN! – “People in Barbados must be free to use an ATM [automated teller machine] without that fear of being set up and robbed!” This was the contention of Magistrate Graveney Bannister today as he sentenced 30-year-old Ansley Worrell, a former security guard, to 18 months in jail for assaulting and robbing former Senator Maxine McClean at a Royal Bank of Canada ATM back in February. Worrell’s attorney Shadia Simpson had made an application for a suspended sentence to be imposed for a year while arguing that her client was a person of good character prior to the incident, had no previous convictions and was gainfully employed. The attorney also pointed to his early guilty plea, saying Worrell was remorseful. “The report showed that he has a minimal risk of reoffending and he needs to get rehabilitation for drugs. He must not be treated any differently despite who is involved. He is not a hardened criminal. This is a young man who made a poor decision [and does not need] the book thrown at him. Everyone deserves a chance,” Simpson argued. However, the magistrate described Worrell’s actions as “a brazen, broad daylight attack” which had a level of sophistication attached as his “whole face was covered . . . [and] he punched the complainant in the face”. “The Crown must frown on his behaviour as he was in a position of trust . . . a security guard. The [court] agrees that prison should be the last resort [but the court] must deter others from committing such offences. People in Barbados must be free to use an ATM without that fear of being set up and robbed,” Bannister said. He also referred Worrell’s probation report pointing out that he had a good upbringing, came from a close-knit family, had a good education and a good job, but his life went “downhill” when he left home and “self medicated on marijuana”. Worrell was therefore slapped with a six-month sentence for robbing McClean of her handbag and contents worth $6,830 on February 10. A further 18-month sentence was imposed for assaulting the former senator on the same day, occasioning her actual bodily harm. He was also sentenced to one month in prison for stealing a licence plate belonging to George Knight sometime between December 24 and 27 last year and a further month for leaving a Sol Service Station on February 9 without paying the sum of $147 for gasoline. The sentences will run concurrently. (BT)

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 3/16/2108

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Friday, 16th March 2018. Remember that you can read full articles via subscribing to Nation News Online, purchasing a Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN) or via Barbados Today (BT).

CITY RUN INCUMBENT BOSTIC NOT THREATENED BY NATLEE’S BID - I’m running for The City, so what! With that public declaration, this island’s best known prostitute threw her hat into the political ring, as Barbadians anxiously await the announcement of a date for the next general election. When Prime Minister Freundel Stuart rings the election bell, Natalie Natlee Harewood, whose “office” is said to be located in the red light district of Bush Hill, St Michael, will be contesting the City of Bridgetown seat as an independent. Natlee, who is best known here for her song Dirty Harry in which she took apart a client whom she said had wanted a relationship when she was only interested in conducting a business transaction with him, is set to make a significant shift in career from prostitute to politician. When contacted today for comment on the turn of events, Natlee, who created a stir nearly a year ago when she delivered what was deemed to be an outrageous and publicly offensive performance at Reggae on The Beach, said: “I have nothing to say to Barbados TODAY or any journalist.” However, she confirmed the news on her Instagram page, which has over 38 thousand followers. With a portrait of herself and the words, “Vote For Natalie” plastered on the image, she issued what she said was her political mission statement. “I want to help people, especially the poor, and I’m not coming to be fake, I’m coming real. Vote for me Natalie Harewood, City of Bridgetown.” She also promised that if elected, she would do her best on behalf of her constituents. “I’m going to put my best foot forward and that is a promise,” the prostitute, who calls herself a “night jobber”, said. Barbados TODAY understands the candidate also ventured into Bridgetown yesterday in an attempt to sway members of the electorate and to announce herself as a prospective candidate. On social media Natlee has already been getting some much-needed support from her followers. One Instagramer said: “Got my vote, well done Nat! Please place the x in the box properly. Don’t let it touch the lines. Let’s do this for Nat. I sorry she isn’t running for St Philip West. Let’s go there.” Another commented: “Go Nat, you have my support, you have my vote.” However, at least one person opposed the prostitute’s decision. “You’re going to have a hard time getting people to really and truly support you,” the poster said, with prostitution currently illegal in Barbados, despite its known existence in the informal sector. It is understood that Harewood is a single parent who was forced into her current lifestyle in order to support her offspring, having failed in her attempts to find conventional employment. When contacted, Barbados Labour Party candidate Jeffrey Bostic, who represented The City in the last Parliament which was dissolved earlier this month, told Barbados TODAY he saw no problem with Harewood challenging him at the polls. “I really don’t have a problem with it. If Natalie satisfies the criteria, there is nothing wrong. It is in her rights if she wants to contest the seat. I don’t have an issue with it at all,” Bostic said, adding: “I don’t focus on any of my opponents. I don’t judge them. I respect whoever comes up against me, but I just focus on myself and what I have to do. That is what I have been doing and I will continue to do that. That is my focus at the moment.” In fact, despite Natlee’s popularity, Bostic said he did not feel threatened, and was upbeat about his chances at the polls, as well as those of the Mia Mottley-led BLP. “I am confident in what I am doing. I am not arrogant or overconfident in terms of being re-elected, but I think I have done quite a bit of work in the City of Bridgetown and it is up to the people to make that determination as to whether they think I am deserving of re-election. I believe I am, but the decision rests with the people. “I am very confident in the ability of my party and that we will be returned to run the affairs of this country,” Bostic said. The other candidates in the race are newcomer Henderson Williams of the incumbent Democratic Labour Party and Lynette Eastmond of the United Progressive Party. To qualify as a candidate, all that is required from an eligible Barbadian is a $250 deposit on Nomination Day, and to be proposed and seconded by two people. The Prime Minister is yet to fix the dates for either the poll or the nominations, which must take place before June, with a record number of political aspirants expected on the 2018 ballot. (BT)

NATALIE ENTERS POLITICAL CAMPAIGN - Well-known sex worker Natalie Harewood is contesting this year’s general election. The self-proclaimed lady of the night is creating political history by being the first known sex-worker to do so. Harewood, 36, gained notoriety two years ago with her explicit viral postings on social media and is vying for The City constituency. Earlier this week she was at Nelson Street canvassing and said she wanted to bring an alternative hope to those she feels have been overlooked and discarded by the traditional politician and political parties. “I know them [the people] understand me. I does understand them because in life you got to understand young people. We were young and we got to understand them. Respect due at all times. You got to talk to these young people and let them know this is a real life . . . . “I was a single mum and I didn’t have anyone to help me and the only way that I could have done something was to sell my body to help my children to get them big. But if I could have changed my life I would never ever prostituted. If I had the sense I had today, I would never do that,”said Harewood who is selling her message as an independent. She will be running against Barbados Labour Party (BLP) incumbent retired Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, United Progressive Party (UPP) leader, former senator Lynette Eastmond and Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate credit unionist Henderson Williams. “. . . .I would never encourage a young person to prostitute their body that is not nice. So many young girls does message me and tell me they would like to do that and I try to [discourage] them. [That’s why] I would like to pave a way for young people, especially young girls, so they don’t have to go and do what I did when my children were younger. I don’t know what people think about me, I am not a bad person. I see how much people love me, I does see it daily and I can try and help my people,” she said. She also considers herself a positive role model but admitted that at first she was hesitant to claim such a title because she believed this was the role of parents. Harewood, who said that she was serious about the move and she had already landed a proposer and a seconder and was awaiting the election date annoucement to pay her $250. She has a following of almost 40 000 people on the social media site Instagram. “I am going forward and I am trying to do my best to help the poor people in Barbados and I am not turning back. Nothing beats a try. It was too much fake all these years. I am the real deal right now for my people. It isn’t no more lies. I am not a politician; I don’t know the first thing about politics but I know Barbados is hard and my poor people want help, we want jobs. Too much crime in Barbados. Too much young people coming out on the streets to prostitute their bodies for money. We need help. That’s all I know.” Some of the issues raised were: sanitation, unemployment and road infrastructure and a the lack of green spaces for the children to play in The City. (WN)

CANADA STANDING BEHIND HIGH COMMISSIONER LEGAULT – Canada is standing behind High Commissioner to Barbados Marie Legault who was strongly criticised this week by Minister of Education Ronald Jones. In a statement through her spokesman, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland made it clear that Legault was “in no way endorsing any candidate in their upcoming election.” She added: “On the contrary, she was (speaking) to Canada’s well-established feminist foreign policy as the keynote speaker at an event highlighting gender issues in the Caribbean on International Women’s Day. Canada is proud to support the greater participation of women in all spheres, including politics and government, around the world.” Speaking at a Democratic Labour Party meeting on Sunday, Jones suggested that Legault should be recalled to Canada. This was in response to comments she made last week in which she said she was "taken aback" at previous statements by call-in program host Maureen Holder questioning whether Barbados was ready for a female Prime Minister. "How dare you?" said Jones of Legault, adding: "You should be asked to leave or your government should tell you to come home because ‘you have interfered in the domestic political affairs of Barbados. Pack your georgie bundles and go." He suggested that "there is a wicked and deliberate attempt by one or two forces in Barbados who have the honour representing their country on sovereign soil in Barbados” to interfere in Barbados' politics. "I become seriously offended when somehow your garters pop, everything expose and in a demonstration of your proclivities and because you are functioning with some knowledge that I don’t have, you decide to make certain utterances....Get out! You can’t come and because you eat muskrats (species of rodent native to Canada and some parts of the US) you can come and tell us to eat rats." Speaking at the W Portfolio event for International Women's Day last week, Legault stated: “Given the history, I have to say that I was taken aback when in January I saw political analyst Maureen Holder asking if Barbados was ready for a female Prime Minister and advocating for a national debate on it. I think every country is ready for a male or female prime minister. Gender does not have an impact." Holder's comments came against the background of the pending general elections pending where Opposition Leader Mia Mottley will be leading the Barbados Labour Party. “Has this nation given (a female prime minister) any serious thought, or is it a case that people are so fed up with the DLP that they feel they have no other choice but to accept the next best alternative?” Holder said in January, according to Nation News. (WN)

SCATHING BRITISH TELEGRAPH REPORT ON BARBADOS – Barbados’ tourism image has been cast in a very negative light in its main source market as a result of the ongoing sewage crisis. In a scathing article which carried the headline, The stench of economic decay is overwhelming Barbados, Julia Bradshaw, business editor of the United Kingdom-based Daily Telegraph, warned her readers that “Barbados stinks. It really does”, as she reported on the vexing sewage mess, which has so far resulted in the closure of several establishments and hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses to hoteliers. “A foul effluvium bubbles up from the manhole covers and rainwater drains in the streets, pours into the roads and pavements, and out on to the island’s pristine beaches 24 hours a day,” the article said. The Telegraph is considered one of the UK’s main national daily publications with circulation of close to half a million up to last year, and reaches millions online. Aware of the likely impact of the sewage crisis on the island’s bread and butter tourism industry, the author said “this tragedy is a catastrophe for a country so dependent on tourism and a national humiliation for an island that was once a model of success in the Caribbean”. Just yesterday Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Rudy Grant told the association’s quarterly meeting that at least two hotel properties had losses of about $222,000 in cancellations between December 2017 and February 2018 due to the sewage crisis. Grant also told the gathering of mostly industry players, but which also included Barbados Labour Party spokesman on tourism Ronald Toppin and Minister of Labour Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo, that he had already spoken to Government “with respect to how we believe the issue of the plant should be dealt with”. The sewage problem, which now seem to be somewhat under control since the introduction of injection wells, has so far resulted in the closure of the Worthing post office, the St Lawrence Primary School and popular restaurant Chicken Barn. Bradshaw, who did not say where her information came from, but gave the impression that she had actually lived in Barbados, warned that the “sewage problem is blighting the entire south coast of the island I used to call home”. She also suggested that the entire situation could have been avoided, while further cautioning that it had “the makings of a serious economic and social crisis”. The writer claimed that because of the stench tourists were leaving and many who have not yet arrived were cancelling flights. She also charged that the sewage problem was “a symptom of the incompetence and perceived corruption of the current administration, which Barbadians have dubbed the ‘do-little government’”. In the damning report, Bradshaw said instead of carrying out maintenance on the sewerage system over the years, resources were “poured into the construction of a smart new multi-million dollar” headquarters for the state-owned Barbados Water Authority. Construction on the approximately $63 million, 80,000 square foot Pine, St Michael building began in 2012 and was completed in 2015. “Worse still, it could have been avoided had the authorities undertaken required maintenance on the water and sewage system installed in 2002 under an Inter-American [Development] Bank loan,” she said. Bradshaw said the sewage mess was coupled with the island’s high fiscal deficit, falling reserves, low credit ratings, a slowdown in foreign direct investment and high debt, “and still the Government takes no action”. “The rapid deterioration that has taken place in Barbados over the past few years on the back of the country’s economic malaise is shocking,” she said. In her biting report, Bradshaw also pointed to school violence, broken infrastructure, crime, dumping and littering, while pointing out that general elections were due in the coming months and the incoming administration would be met with “the same notorious message – ‘there is no money left’”. Mindful that the report could hurt this island’s reputation, Barbados TODAY sought a reaction from the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI) on the development. However, Chief Executive Officer William Billy Griffith would only say, “my only comment at this stage is that a response is forthcoming”. Barbados TODAY understands that after learning of the report BTMI officials had met with the officials from the Ministry of Tourism. (BT)

CLOSER SCRUTINY – The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) has commenced investigations into the poultry, telecommunications and hospitality industries in an effort to determine if any of them is involved in anticompetitive practices. Word of this has come from Director of Fair Competition Antonio Thompson, who said consumers would be given a chance in the coming weeks to share their views on some areas, including pricing and quality. Addressing the FTC’s tenth annual training programme at Accra Beach Hotel today, Thompson said the Fair Competition Division was “really and truly driving the poultry study”, while he was liaising with the Consumer Protection Division on the probes into the hospitality and telecoms sectors. (BT)

BHTA SAYS GOVERNMENT STILL TOO SLOW WITH CONCESSIONS – With several hotels here gearing up to pump millions of dollars into the ailing economy this coming summer, the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) is complaining that Government is still too slow to respond to applications for concessions under the Tourism Development Act (TDA). Chief Executive Officer Rudy Grant told yesterday’s quarterly meeting at the Barbados Hilton Resort that hoteliers intended to spend $20 million in improvements and would like to take advantage of the TDA and other measures, such as the Shipping Incentives Act. However, Grant complained in his report about the length of time it takes for Government to authorize the concessions allowed under the legislation. “One of the things that we do have to ensure is that these pieces of legislation, the benefits are facilitated in a more timely manner. It is still taking too long for members when they apply, to access the concessions and we have to make every effort to ensure that there is more timely delivery between the application and the final approval,” Grant said. Among those set to undergo refurbishment this year are Courtyard by Marriott, Cobblers Cove Hotel, Sugar Bay Resort, Coral Reef Club, Rosebank Apartments, Worthing Court Hotel, Bougainvillea Beach Resort, Beach View Hotel, The Sandpiper, Sand Acres, and South Gap Hotel. However, the most significant investment will come from Butterfly Beach Hotel, which is set to spend between $3.5 and $5 million, with Coral Reef Club expected to invest $3 million, Cobblers Cove, $1.5 to $2 million; South Gap Hotel, $2 million; and the Courtyard by Marriott, $1 million. The other pending investments range from $100,000 to $900,000. Various hotel properties spent a combined $30 million in upgrades last year. Grant said in addition to lobbying for timelier access to concessions, the BHTA would continue to petition the various Government entities for promised changes to guidelines related to the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL). Following the announcement by Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler last year of a 400 per cent increase in the contentious NSRL, BHTA Chairperson Roseanne Myers had told the association’s annual general meeting in June that the controversial levy would not apply to tourism-related companies covered by the TDA. Grant yesterday stressed the need for speedier action on the part of the authorities whenever commitments are given to hoteliers. (BT)

BWA EXPECTS DYE TEST RESULTS THIS WEEK - The Barbados Water Authority (BWA) is this week expecting to receive the findings from dye test samples taken from the vicinity of new injection wells on the sewage-infested south coast. BWA General Manager Keithroy Halliday told Barbados TODAY if the test results proved favourable, this would pave the way for repairs to begin on the main or effluent line, thereby bringing further relief to residents and businesses affected by the flow of sewage. “The well-testing was done about four days from Friday, I think, onward. We took dye samples from a number of locations where we expect to be affected, including the swamp. Samples were sent overseas for specific testing. Once we get that information in - I am sure hoping to get it in this week - we will sit with the EPD [Environmental Protection Department], the MOH [Ministry of Health], possibly the Coastal Zone Management Unit, we will look at the analysis, we will look at what the information means in terms of helping us understand the filtration . . . permeability, and to understand where exactly we expect the plumes would manifest themselves,” Halliday said. He assured Barbadians that the wells were sufficiently deep and the injection would go into waters with such high salt levels that all the bacteria would be killed. The BWA boss also said the engineers were comfortable the injection wells were the correct option and would not harm the nearshore or the environment. (BT)

TESTING NATURAL DISASTER READINESS – An earthquake and the resulting tsunami devastated Barbados yesterday, but many Barbadians did not seem to know about it. As part of the annual tsunami exercise Caribe Wave, the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) in Warrens, St Michael, had largely been “evacuated” as it had been compromised during the natural disaster. Instead, the communications aspect had been moved to the Arch Hall Fire Academy in St Thomas, while a control team stayed behind. “We are now in the warning stage where people are moving to higher ground. We chose Arch Hall for relocation as there is already communications equipment there, plus it’s on higher ground,” said Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency operations specialist retired Brigadier General Earl Arthurs. He said, while the Barbados Government Information Service had been broadcasting alerts, there was no wish to inadvertently cause any panic, so the operation was not fully showcased. In Holetown, students and business houses participated in the exercise, a simulation where an 8.3 magnitude earthquake triggered tsunami waves of 30.6 metres. Students and teachers of the St James Primary School assembled at Morgan’s Hill under the supervision of emergency officials from the DEM, Roving Response Team, Fire Service and more. Programme officer at the DEM, Danielle Skeete, said the exercise was done to test protocols and familiarise the students with the proper procedure in the event of a real emergency, adding it was a success. She was pleased with how the exercises went, but wanted more organisations to take part. (WN)

WAIT IS OVER – The long wait is over for immigration officers, who are due to move to new headquarters at the beginning of next month after seven years of waiting, agitation and protests, including working half day over the last two months. The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), which represents the officers, today revealed that it had received word from Chief Immigration Officer Wayne Marshall that the new offices at the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc (BTI) car park on Princess Alice Highway in Bridgetown was all but ready for the workers to move in. (BT)

Changes to national drug formulary effective April 1 - Effective April 1, there will be changes to the Barbados National Drug Formulary, which will involve the deletion of some drugs and the addition of others. Persons who benefit from free drugs under the formulary are advised to check with their medical practitioners to find out if the medications they are currently taking will be affected by these changes. According to a statement from the Barbados Drug Service, the Drug Formulary Committee recently undertook a comprehensive review of some of the therapeutic categories within the formulary, in consultation with a cross-section of stakeholders, including doctors and pharmacists. The official list of prescribable medicines is updated every two years to ensure that the best and most appropriate pharmaceuticals are available to the public, the statement disclosed. The Drug Service has advised persons whose medications will no longer be available on the formulary that their current prescriptions can be repeated until the end of September, provided that the prescription was initially filled before the end of March. Categories of persons who receive free medication are those aged 65 and over; children under 16 years; and all persons, irrespective of age, who receive prescribed formulary drugs for the treatment of diabetes, hypertension, asthma, cancer, glaucoma and epilepsy. For more information about the changes, persons may check with their medical practitioner or pharmacist, or contact the Barbados Drug Service at 535-4300, or e-mail [email protected]. (BT)

CHILD ADVOCATE IN FAVOR OF FLOGGING BAN – The call by new Unicef representative Dr Aloys Kamuragiye for the banning of corporal punishment in Barbados has received the backing of at least one child advocate. Chairperson of the National Committee Monitoring the Rights of the Child, Faith Marshall-Harris, renewed her support for a ban during the UNICEF Eastern Caribbean area meeting with the committee at the Ministry of Social Care in Warrens on Wednesday. During a presentation of statistics on Barbados’ progress in the sustainable development goals, Kamuragiye explained that a country’s profile was assessed by five broad dimensions: survival and thriving, learning, protection, environment and fair chance. He said the island was marked particularly weak in the areas of protection and fair chance due to insufficient and no data. He reported that under protection, 75 per cent of children aged one to 14 had “experienced physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month”. Kamuragiye urged the Ministry of Education to promote alternative ways to discipline rather than the culturally accepted corporal punishment. Marshall-Harris, a retired magistrate of the Juvenile Court, agreed that more emphasis needed to be placed on alternatives to punishment. She said that because using lashes was a cultural norm, change would not occur overnight and therefore the efforts must be sustained. “The concern that I have is, as long as children know that they can push you and push to the point where you will go to that point . . . ; if on the other hand, they know that the cut-off point is somewhere else, ‘Like I am going to take away your tablet’, then that becomes the standard. “You don’t have to beat them . . . because you can lower the bar on punishment, ” she said. Deputy Principal of Graydon Sealy Secondary School, Peter Skeete, said that many educators, while acknowledging that corporal punishment may not improve learning outcomes, contended that it affected behaviour. He said many teachers saw flogging as an effective way to control deviance and would likely push back against any bid to remove it. He added that many educators would challenge UNICEF’s equating physical punishment and psychological aggression. (WN)

SENIOR CITIZEN SETTLING IN NEW LOCATION AFTER EVICTION – Luinda McKree has settled comfortably into her new location at Lancaster House, St James. McKree was evicted from her home at Tichbourne, Howell’s Cross Road home on Tuesday morning by court marshals on the behalf of the RBC Royal Bank of Canada following the conclusion of an ongoing court case which reportedly lasted seven years. Providing an update on McKree’s condition yesterday, Reverend Dr David Durant, Chairman of the National Assistance Board, told the Weekend Nation she was “doing well”. “She’s settled in quite nicely. A number of people that know her called to check up on her . . . some of whom were extended family. She is safe and we have her valuables stored in a container. The other things that weren’t valuable were taken to the dump,” he said. Durant also made a correction to her age. He originally reported to the media she was 69 years old but said after further checks, realised she was actually 74 years old. He said she would be allowed to stay at the house until other accommodations was made for her. “She is comfortable but of course she is grieving about the situation. We provided counselling and medical health checks for her so we know what condition she is in. She will be here as long as needs be. We just want to make her as comfortable as possible,” he added. When the Weekend Nation contacted RBC for comment, senior manager communications, Southern Caribbean, Hanneke Stomp-Harmsen who responded on the behalf of the bank said such matters were strictly confidential. “RBC respects the privacy of its client. We do not discuss matters relating to our clients with third parties or media, as this is confidential,” Stomp-Harmsen said. (WN)

12 warrants issued for PSV conductor’s arrest - A public service vehicle (PSV) conductor, for whom 12 warrants of arrest were issued, ran out of luck today as he was remanded to prison. Shamar O’brien Blackman, of London Bourne Towers, Bay Street, St Michael, appeared before Magistrate Graveney Bannister in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court this morning where he threw in the towel and pleaded guilty to ten traffic charges, dating back to June 2011, including having excess passengers and giving police a false name and address. He was slapped with $2,050 in fines for the offences, which he was unable to pay by the end of the day’s sitting. Today, Blackman also appeared in the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court where there was also an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Magistrate Douglas Frederick informed Blackman that he had not attended court for the past three years after he was granted $5,000 bail on the indictable November 23, 2009 charge of allegedly having intercourse with a 15-year-old girl. However, Blackman claimed that when he attended court in the past his name was never on the call list. He also told the magistrate that he had moved from his previous address; therefore court marshals could not locate him. However, his surety withdrew today, resulting in Blackman being remanded until April 12. (BT)

Guilty as charged! DRIVER CONVICTED FOR INDECENTLY ASSAULTING 11-YEAR-OLD - A driver was remanded to Dodds prison this afternoon after he was found guilty of indecently assaulting an 11-year-old schoolgirl on September 19, 2007. It took the nine-member jury about 30 minutes to arrive at the verdict against Berkeley Anthony Brathwaite, of No. 51 Rices, St Philip, after hearing evidence, presented over two days, by the victim, her mother and three police officers. However, with the court still to decide what his final fate will be, Brathwaite’s attorney Steve Gollop today argued that his client was a fit and proper candidate to continue bail, as he had not infringed his conditions for the past 11 years. Gollop even suggested that additional conditions could be attached to Brathwaite’s bail, such as reporting to a police station and handing over his passport to the authorities. The attorney also informed the court that Brathwaite was self-employed and had one dependent. Therefore, to place him “on remand right now will disrupt that relationship and his business,” the defence attorney argued, in appealing for his client’s release. However, Principal Crown Counsel Alliston Seale countered, pointing out that Brathwaite was no longer an accused, but a convicted man, and as such the “table has turned”. “He has been convicted of a very serious offence which carries [a term of] imprisonment,” the prosecutor said. Following those submissions, Justice Randall Worrell requested that Brathwaite’s surety attends court on March 23 when both sides are due to make fresh submissions on bail. In the meantime, a pre sentencing report has been ordered on Brathwaite, who was 44 years old at the time of the offence and who has two previous convictions, dating back to 1992. (BT)

WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO THEFT AND MONEY LAUNDERING - A Christ Church woman, who thought she was making “an honest dollar”, has pleaded guilty to theft and money laundering in the High Court. Sally-Ann Rosita Ramsay, of Enterprise Gardens, admitted before Justice Randall Worrell today in the No. 2 Supreme Court to stealing $8,100 belonging to Hazel Tempro and disposing of the proceeds of crime, sometime between August 26 and 27, 2013. Based on the facts presented in court, Tempro, a retired nurse, received a call on the morning of August 26 from someone who identified themselves as her friend. Following that conversation, she visited the Royal Bank of Canada Broad Street Branch and withdrew $9,000. She kept $900 and gave the remainder to Ramsay, who identified herself as ‘Ann’ when they met up at a popular Bridgetown store. Tempro handed Ramsay the money as her ‘friend’ had instructed. The next day Tempro received another telephone call. This time from “John, a stock broker” who was allegedly connected to her ‘friend’. This resulted in her visiting her financial institution for a second time to withdraw money. However, a bank teller cautioned her against doing so. The police were summoned and Ramsay was detained. “I don’t know what this is about. All I know is that my stepbrother, who my father used to raise, asked me to do him a favour by collecting some money for him and I did so,” Ramsay had told police when asked to account for her actions. Ramsay, who was 40 years old at the time of her arrest, had also explained in a statement to police that early in the year her father’s son, who she did not remember, came to visit her at home and during their conversation had asked her to do a job for him. “He told me that he wants me to do work with John. He told me that John is a big man at the Bridgetown Port. He told me that all I had to do is go to the banks and collect money from people,” the statement read. The accused also stated that after collecting the money from Tempro, she handed it over to her brother who gave her $100 as payment. Today Ramsay told Justice Worrell: “At the time I didn’t know I was getting myself into this kind of trouble. I thought I was working for an honest dollar. I didn’t know it would have been like this.” A pre sentencing report has been ordered and is expected by May 10. (BT)

SPRINGER AND ST MICHAEL LEAD AFTER DAY ONE OF BSSAC – It is a wide open race in both sections of the PowerAde Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletics Championships after the first day at the National Stadium today. Scotiabank Springer Memorial lead the girls with 185 points, a mere four points ahead of last year's champions Christ Church Foundation. The other main contenders, the St Michael School, are third on 168. In the boys, champions St. Michael are out front with 139 points. Foundation are second with 123.50 and Harrison College third with 87 points. There were five records - four on track and the other in the field. Harrison College’s Jonathan Jones warmed up for CARIFTA with a meet record in the 400 metres in the under 20 boys division. Jones clocked 46.80 seconds, erasing a 17 year-old record set by Christ Church Foundation’s Wilan Louis in 2001. “I am glad I got the meet record. I wish it could have been faster but I just want to thank the Lord I got through it. It is perhaps a medal time in CARIFTA but I just like to come out and give it my all,” Jones said nonchalantly after the race. In-form Under-17 hurdler Sarah Belle of Foundation beat her own meet record set in this year’s zone meet, posting 14.05 seconds in the final, leading from start to finish finish. Belle is already focused on the Bahamas. “I hope I can win a gold medal for my country and give God the praises.” Jadon Pearce of St. Leonard’s set a junior boys record in the 100 metre hurdles in a time of 13.39 seconds. The day was doubly delightful for Mary Fraser, who won the first track event of the day, holding off a strong challenge from the precocious 12 year-old Layla Haynes of Harrison College to take the girls’ Open 3000 metres. She did the journey in 11:04.01 and Haynes ran 11:04.98. Fraser eased ahead of Harrison College’s Charissa Moore to triumph in the under 20 1500 metres. The Darryl Jordan student stated: “I am happy with what I did today because I am coming back to full fitness.” Triston Gibbons continued his outstanding form, breaking his own discus record in the Under-20 boys. The Harrisonian had a mark of 57.22 metres. He is already CARIFTA bound. Shemia Odaine narrowly missed the CARIFTA standard in the Under-20 girls’ long jump with a leap of 5.77 metres. Shanice Hutson of Coleridge & Parry had a good throw of 13.13 metres in the Under-17 girls’ shot put. (WN)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 290 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles #dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

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thechasefiles · 7 years ago

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From Sex Worker to Politician! Introducing Miss Natalie Harewood the newest candidate entering Barbados’s 2018 Election race. She will be running as an independent in The City of Bridgetown against the following: BLP- Col. Jeffrey Bostic DLP- Henderson Williams UPP- Lynette Eastmond Solutions Barbados - Fallon Best NBKA - Neil Holder or Kenroy Scantlebury She has promised to do her best and I have a feeling that she may get more votes than some expect. #independent #fromsexworkertopolitician #barbadoselections #progress #shemaysurprisepeople #ifpeopevoteformarkadamsontheycanvotefornatalie #electionmadness #barbadoselection #democracy #womeninpolitics

#barbadoselections #barbadoselection #fromsexworkertopolitician #electionmadness #democracy #independent #shemaysurprisepeople #progress #womeninpolitics #ifpeopevoteformarkadamsontheycanvotefornatalie

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thechasefiles · 7 years ago

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 3/12/2018

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Monday, 12th March 2018. Remember that you can read full articles via purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN) or via Barbados Today (BT).

QUOTE OF THE DAY –“The upcoming battle we are trying to save Barbados. We have had Errol Barrow, Tom Adams, Sir Harold St. John, Erskine Sandiford, Owen Arthur, David Thompson and Myself as Prime Ministers. We don’t hear persons quoting Tom Adams as most people felt that he was not reflective of the values we subscribe. Although he was intelligent and an eloquent speaker. Tonight we have a BLP and they are not reflective of the values we subscribe. If you cannot think of something that someone will never do, you cannot feel safe. There is an area called ethics and morals. Every individual should have a moral or ethical minimum. If anyone can tell me of anything you feel certain she would never do then the argument is settle. I can’t think of anything therefore I will never trust her.” Hon. Freundel J. Stuart, Q.C., M.P via his Facebook Page

‘ACTION’ IF CLICO LANDS SOLD – Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader Mia Mottley has warned the Freundel Stuart administration that action will be taken if thousands of acres of land owned by CLICO, lotsof it in St John, are sold between now and general elections. “We need answers on what is being done with the lands,” she said while speaking at the official opening of the St John constituency office of BLP candidate Charles Griffith, at Clifton Hall, on Saturday night. “I pray that the lands would not be sold under the shadow of a Parliament that has been closed down between now and election day. If it is, mark my word, action would be taken to cover the assets of the people of Barbados. The people of Barbados cannot guarantee bonds, and not get the assets under which those bonds are related.” Mottley complained that even though the commitment of the St John people to the Democratic Labour Party could not be questioned, they had not benefited from any infrastructural development. She lamented that she had never seen the roads in St Johnas bad as they were today. “Hold tight. You have suffered enough under Mara Thompson, the parliamentary representative of the constituency, and the neglect of Stuart during the water outages,” she said. Griffith also promised that change was at hand, adding that St John was virgin land for development. He promised that on being elected, development would begin with the youth benefiting from use of the many acres of idle land in the parish. (DN)

GRIFFITH PROMISES CHANGE FOR ST JOHN – The Barbados Labour Party candidate for St John, Charles Griffith, has promised change and to make constituents proud of their district. Griffith’s promise came last night as he addressed the opening of his district campaign office in Clifton Hall. “We don’t have a structured programme for sports in St John. We don’t have a cultural presence in St John, but it will come, because change will come to St John,” he said. Recalling that he has been working on a professional and voluntary basis with young people of the constituency since the 1990s, the St John-born candidate said that he is familiar with the needs of the area. “My candidacy is not one that I just jump up overnight and decided that I should be the candidate for St John. I believe I have something to give to the people of St John. I believe I have the right to make people in St John walk with pride because it is not happening anymore.” “This journey is not my own. On the 23rd of October in 2016, 85 people decided that I should be the candidate and every single day that I canvass across the length and breadth of St John I am lifted by the spirit of the people and those who encourage me to do the right thing and change what is happening in St John, and I intend to do that,” he added. (BT)

UPP MAN GETS BOOT – The United Progressive Party (UPP) has suffered its first casualty. During a 12-minute live broadcast on Facebook Sunday, party leader Lynette Eastmond confirmed that candidate Charleston Taylor was out of the race. Taylor, who was running in St Philip West, came under criticism last week for a Facebook post in which he referenced that if marijuana was not legalised in this island, “blood will flow in the streets”. Eastmond said the UPP intended to return its judgement today but on Saturday Taylor did an interview in which he maintained he did not regret posting his comments. (DN)

VOTER REGISTRATION INFO AT FINGERTIPS – Voter registration information is now more easily accessible to the public. This disclosure has come from Chief Electoral Officer, Angela Taylor, who said registered electors can receive information about the constituency, polling district and polling station in which they are registered by calling 535-4875. After dialling, they should enter their Identification number on the keypad, to access the information from the database. The database will be updated on a weekly basis, until the writ is issued, when the information will be updated daily. Taylor further stated that members of the public may access the Electoral Department’s website www.electoral.barbados.gov.bb, where additional information can be found, including the documents required for registration and the constituency registration centres. On the website, users can also engage the Chatbot, for responses to election queries. She also reminded the public that registration services at the constituency registration centres are offered on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. For additional information, persons should call 535-4800. (DN)

SEARCH CONTINUES FOR WOMAN MISSING SINCE 2015 – Police have not abandoned their search for a St James woman who disappeared in 2015. Lawmen are appealing to the public for help to locate Emela Shaquon John of Paynes Bay. She was last seen sometime between 9:30 and 10 a.m. on October 7, 2015 in the area of the Paynes Bay Fish market. She was 20-years-old at the time she went missing. John is 5 ft 7 tall, slim build and brown in complexion. Anyone with information her whereabouts is being asked to contact the Holetown Police Station at 419-1700, 419-1701, Police Emergency number 211 or the nearest police station. (BT)

$5 000 BAIL FOR DANGER ACCUSED – A delivery man accused of engaging in conduct which injured another was released on bail when he appeared in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court last Tuesday. Shamar Stefan Blackman, 22, of Belair Road, Eagle Hall, St Michael, was not required to plead to unlawfully and maliciously engaging in conduct which placed Darius Bourne in danger of death or serious bodily harm on March 2. There was no objection to bail and Magistrate Douglas Frederick released him on $5 000 bail with a surety. He must report to Black Rock Police Station every Wednesday by midday. Blackman, who was represented by attorney Lesley Cargill, returns to court on August 14. (DN)

TEARY-EYED THIEF WHO RIPPED OFF PENSIONER – The thought of spending eight months in prison reduced many-time convicted thief Deana Rosemary Clarke to tears. But an additional month in prison dried them instantly when she was in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court on Saturday. Clarke, 41, of Scarborough, Christ Church, admitted robbing pensioner Wendell James of $270 on Friday, but said a man actually took the money. But prosecutor Sergeant Vernon Waithe said the orange-wigged thief had a history of stalking pensioners and then ripping their wallets from their pockets. “That is the modus of [Clarke],” he said. “They [Clarke and the man] followed the complainant from Fairchild Street, down to Princess Alice Highway and then to Lakes Folly. They were seen on [closed circuit television] footage. It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon,” the prosecutor added. “In broad daylight? How brazen,” Magistrate Graveney Bannister said. The thief, who has convictions dating back to 1998 and who is on bail from Court No. 1 of District “A” Magistrates’ Court for a similar offence, said she had already given up the man’s name. “I is sell little snacks and drinks,” she said when asked if she was able to work. “You can’t go around robbing old people. Old people built this country,” the magistrate declared. He noted that Clarke had received six-month prison terms for her last two offences and he, initially, sentenced her to eight months in jail. This caused her to burst into tears. But moments later, Magistrate Bannister recalled the still-crying woman to the dock and changed her sentence to nine months in jail. A now dry-eyed Clarke did not respond. Prosecutor Waithe had earlier told the court that the retiree, who rented a room in Lakes Folly, The City, went to Jordan’s Supermarket. He collected his groceries and walked back to where he lived. There, he placed them on the ground while he was trying to open the door. A man ran into him from behind and initiated a struggle, while Clarke ran up and ripped the pensioner’s wallet from his pocket, tearing the pocket. When she got the wallet, Clarke and the man ran off along Cheapside. (DN)

MEN’S HEALTH GROUPS TO MEET MONDAY AND TUESDAY – The Men’s Health Group at the Eunice Gibson Polyclinic, Warrens, St Michael will meet on Monday, March 12, at the polyclinic at 6 p.m. Health Promotion Officer in the Ministry of Health, Donna Barker, will address the meeting. Her topic will be Diet and Heart Disease. On Tuesday, March 13, Dr Omar Phillips will be the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of the Men’s Health Group at the David Thompson Health and Social Services Complex. Dr Phillips’ presentation is entitled An Overview of the Prostate. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the polyclinic, Glebe Land, St John. All interested persons are invited to attend both meetings. (DN)

ROTARACTORS PARTICIPATE IN BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT AT ELLERTON PRIMARY SCHOOL – Rotaractors opened World Rotaract Week 2018 today under the theme ‘Restoring the Environment’ as some 50 representatives came together to beautify the Ellerton Primary School and add another garden. Assistant District 1730 Rotartact representative Keishmar Hurdle told Barbados TODAY that “the organisation wanted to celebrate the week by doing activities which actually assisted in restoring the environment”. “We came to Ellerton Primary School today because one of our rotaractors wanted to do a community service activity,” Hurdle said. Joined by almost 20 children from the school, the group planted tomatoes, kale, christophine and eggplant, while cleaning up the school. (BT)

BARBADOS NUMBER ONE IN WORLD FOR VISITOR SATISFACTION – The Barbados Tourism Marketing, Inc (BTMI) says the country’s tourism is once again in winner’s row, beating out destinations such as second-place Seychelles and third-place Bermuda to land the number one spot on the 2017 Destination Satisfaction Index (DSI). On Saturday BTMI said throughout the year, over 70,000 travellers were interviewed around the world, giving their feedback on 20 categories including beaches, accommodation, cuisine and shopping. In the end, BTMI said Barbados had the highest overall World score, 8.8/10, of the 144 countries included. The destination also ranked highest in the Accommodation category, and highest in the Americas region, ahead of Bermuda and the Bahamas. The awards were presented to the Barbados delegation, led by Donna Cadogan, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, during a ceremony at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade show held in Germany’s capital city, BTMI said. According to William “Billy” Griffith, BTMI’s chief executive officer,the island plans to leverage the accolade in the destination’s marketing communications over the next year. (BT)

ST PHILIP TOASTS DAME – Dame Sandra Mason was the toast of St Philip yesterday evening. From Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and his Cabinet colleagues Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler and Minister of Transport and Works Michael Lashley to entertainer Mac Fingall and the little ones from St Catherine’s Primary School, residents from every corner of the eastern parish descended on the 96-year-old St Catherine’s Anglican Church for a thanksgiving service and community appreciation for the new Governor General. Dame Sandra is daughter of the soil of Marley Vale. And the Queen’s representative was moved. “People of St Catherine, people who have come here today to wish me well in my journey as Governor General, I want to say thank you very much. I really do appreciate this very much. This gesture, it will live forever in my memory,” she declared. “The way how I feel to see you all here, to see and experience what you have done on my behalf, and as Dame Selma [Jackman] said, it will live in my memory as long as I live. And I hope that it will be as long as some of the centenarians I interact with,”she noted to thunderous applause from the congregation. Dame Sandra then greeted the congregation, saving a special moment and hugs for the tots of St Catherine’s Primary. Reverend David Yarde, who delivered the sermon, said the elevation of Dame Sandra and the only other female Governor General, Dame Nita Barrow, both of whom he described as “eminent and trustworthy citizens”, to that high office, showed that men were becoming more aware of the intellectual capacity, potential and worth of women in Barbados. “We thank Almighty God for the work he has done through her (Dame Sandra) in maintaining true justice in our society. And now that He has called her to the highest office in the island, we hope that He will continue to empower her with the fruits of the Spirit so that she will continue to be a beacon of light for all the world to see.” Yarde challenged students to let Dame Sandra’s elevation be their source of inspiration. He also had a word of advice for those who might be experiencing any manner of problems in their lives, including those who were “stigmatised as a result of HIV and AIDS”. He said God offered peace which the world could not give. (DN)

RIHANNA IS THE FIRST FEMALE ARTISTE TO SURPASS TWO BILLION STREAMS ON APPLE MUSIC –Rihanna has become the first female artiste to surpass two billion streams on Apple music. The streaming giant shared their list of the 20 most streamed women in music for International Women’s Day on Instagram on Thursday (March 8). Rihanna landed the top spot, closely followed by Taylor Swift (#2), Beyoncé (#3), and Adele (#5). Rihanna also reacted to the news with an Instagram post of her own, writing, “when I found out that I was the first female artiste to cross two billion worldwide streams on Apple Music! God is too lit!!!!” (BT)

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