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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 4/15/2018

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Sunday 15th April 2018. Remember that you can read full articles via subscribing to Nation News Online, purchasing a Sunday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS) or via Barbados Today (BT).

STAB OF DEATH - The usual hustle and bustle of a Saturday afternoon in Bridgetown came to a standstill yesterday following the brutal murder of a 36-year-old nail technician and mother of two. According to police reports, the woman, whose name was not released, but who our investigations indicated is Onica King of Four Roads, St Philip, or Lead Vale, Christ Church, was working in her shop at No. 41 Mandela Plaza on Swan Street when she was attacked around 2:45 by a man who is well known to her. He reportedly fled the scene on foot. This latest killing sent the number of murders in Barbados for this year to ten. When a Sunday Sun team arrived on Swan Street, the mood was sombre, with people speculating on what had taken place. Shops in the immediate vicinity of the plaza were also forced to close because the area was inaccessible. As news of the stabbing incident spread, hundreds of curious onlookers gathered on both sides of the cobbled street, which had already been cordoned off by police, so they could only watch from a distance. Many who abandoned their shopping or delayed trips home took up any available vantage point as they tried to catch a glimpse of the body, which was still in the building. Many passers-by, including fellow nail technicians, vented their frustrations about the incident and most called for the Government and the law to do something to punish the perpetrators. Since the stabbing, a video of the dying woman has gone viral, showing the victim’s two children (a boy and a girl) crying and screaming for their mother before being taken inside a room by an unidentified male. At least one woman collapsed on the street sobbing uncontrollably. When the news team left the scene at 5:45 p.m. a large crowd was still gathered, waiting on the body to be removed. This incident comes on the heels of the stabbing death of police officer Shayne Welch on March 26 during a reported love triangle at his home in Kingsland Drive, Christ Church. Applon Parris has since been charged for his death. (SS)

NEW BUT PRESIDENT ELECTED – Sean Spencer is the new president of the Barbados Union of Teachers. He secured more votes than former president Pedro Shepherd and Everton Briggs when elections were held on Friday. Below is the full list of those elected to serve on the executive for the period 2018 - 2019. President - Sean Spencer; Vice president - Richmark Cave, General Secretary - Herbert Gittens, Deputy General secretary - Rudy Lovell, Treasurer - Candacy Griffith, Public relations officer - Julian Pierre;  Executive members: Andre Holder, Asha Yearwood, Tanya Mayers, Jacqueline Prescod, Andrea Puckering, Dwayne Greenidge.  (SS)

MARA: IT WAS STRESSFUL, STRENUOUS – The former Member of Parliament (MP) for St John Mara Thompson is confident she made the right decision to step down from electoral politics. She spoke about the decision on Friday night after a meeting at the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) constituency office in Carters, Gall Hill. There she said her final goodbyes to party members and those who made up the constituency council. In a brief interview after the proceedings, she said while she enjoyed representing the people of St John as one of the few female MPs in Barbados, as a mother, she felt relieved. “I am so filled with relief that I am not sure if I have mixed feelings of such,” she said. “I am sure I made the right decision and I am happy to go and take care of Mara now.” Thompson, who was elected in 2011 after the death of her husband former Prime Minister and MP for St John David Thompson, in 2010, said public life was a bit more than she could chew. “Yes I found it was stressful and strenuous. I felt that I wasn’t paying sufficient attention to what’s happening at home and how the girls were doing. I still have a 16-year-old. “One of my daughters said to me when I first started out that I have taken on all the hats that David wore and as I thought about it leading up to my coming out, it was true. I pretty much took on everything he did, constituency and all, but David had a wife, a cooperative, supportive wife and I don’t have what he did.” When asked what was the straw that broke that camel’s back for her, she said it was too personal and could not comment. However, as it relates to her achievements, she said she was pleased with what she did, pointing to her success in completing the David Thompson Health And Social Services Complex at Glebe Land, opening a new post office in Four Roads and fixing roads in Haynesville and other areas. Thompson added that she thought people in that constituency were annoyed with her for her decision to back down but to her surprise they were not. “They seemed thankful and grateful to me for running . . . . It was a phenomenal experience and I learnt a lot despite it was taxing.” The candidate for the parish in the upcoming General Election is George Pilgrim, the general secretary of the DLP and three-time defeated St Thomas candidate.  (SS)

ALARM OVER WEIGHT OF GIRLS, WOMEN – Barbados is eighth in the world in relation to the number of females – 15 years and over – who are overweight or obese. According to a report produced by the World Health Organisation in 2011, Barbados comes in at 63 per cent in the rankings. Trinidad and Tobago runs a close second with 61 per cent, while Dominica and Jamaica bring up the rear with 60 and 53 per cent, respectively. Professor Alafia Samuels, director, Chronic Disease Research Centre, at the University of West Indies Cave Hill Campus, said the situation was alarming. She was giving the inaugural lecture entitled Confront The Epidemic Of Obesity – Is Sugar The New Tobacco? in the Roy Marshall Lecture Theatre. Data analysed in 2010 showed that 33 per cent of nine- to ten-year-olds were overweight or obese, representative of more than one per cent increase yearly. “The other issue with childhood obesity is that it causes raised blood pressure in children. Most children have no reason to have high blood pressure; it is a disease of adulthood, but obesity will bring on raised blood pressure in children,” she said. While she added that obesity was the most important underlying cause of death in Barbados, she said in order to reduce the amount of sugar consumed on a daily, people needed to eat foods with a low glycaemic index. “We break everything down into glucose, but the large starch molecules or complex carbohydrates give you a slow and extensive breakdown and therefore a slow rise in blood sugar,” she explained. She said sugar-sweetened beverages was the leading cause of obesity, diabetes and heart disease in both adults and children. (SS)

SOCIETY LOSING FIGHT AGAINST NOISE – The Society for a Quieter Barbados (SQB) has not been muzzled. But a lot of its members who agitated over the years for a noiseless Barbados have either passed away or are no longer active in the organization. President Carl Moore told the Sunday Sun that he was still inundated with noise complaints from Barbadians and visitors, but he said with only he and a public relations officer now running the show, there was little they could do to campaign against noise pollution.  Recalling when the organization was first launched in 2002, Moore said he never expected it to be around for a long time because he believed Barbadians would easily comprehend the seriousness of such an irritant. “All we had to offer was quiet, and we thought that people would welcome a little quiet, but it was not to be,” he confessed during an interview at his home.  At the height of its popularity the organisation attracted a membership of 250 people.  “But overtime people died. . . . We lost people like Dr Leonard Shorey, Peter Morgan, Leonard St Hill, Sir Frederick Smith and Oliver Jackman and things started to slow down from about 2006. We were pretty active in keeping a website, we ran short notices in newspapers and we participated in town hall meetings.” One of their major successes was having the issue of noise pollution addressed in the National Commission on Law and Order 2000. However, Moore said even with this significant mention the legislation which they so badly needed to bring effect to the issue, eluded them.“We were involved in all these things but still not able to nudge the decision-makers to the point where they would put on the statute books strong legislation to deal with noise pollution,” he lamented, pointing out that even though noise pollution was addressed in four pieces of legislation, they were relatively weak. “We were calling for something with real teeth. The Road Traffic Act, Highways Act and the Public Order Act, they all touched on noise and the nuisance that could be addressed. As far back as 1979, discussions were held but to date there has been no real progress and police have to rely on persuasion and veiled threats of prosecution. Moore, 78, said the SQB started to fall off around 2008, struggling for three consecutive years to raise a quorum. “So Barbadians have learned to live with noise, to tolerate it; but the thing about noise, you may adjust to noise by ignoring it but the ear never closes . . . .” Some of the noise pollutants include loud music, kites, revving of vehicles and motorcycles, political and church meetings, barking dogs; even the ringing of cell phones. Moore hopes that Barbadians would become more considerate and tuned into the health hazards that excessive loud noise can create, but he still remains optimistic that young people will step forward to continue to fight for a quiet society. (SS)

POLICE APPEAL FOR INFO ON JEMMOTTS LANE FIRE – Police are currently investigating the cause of the building fire which occurred about 5:30 a.m. today at a section of the Ministry of Health at Jemmotts Lane, St Michael. They have cordoned off the area and are appealing for anyone with information to contact them. Public relations officer Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss revealed that both the upstairs and ground floor sections housing the Vector Control Unit were destroyed by the blaze. The upper floor of the Barbados Family Planning Association was destroyed while the ground floor suffered water damage only. One section of the two-storey wood and wall structure was used to store files, furniture and chemicals belonging to the Vector Control Unit. The ground floor of another section contained computers belonging to the Barbados Family Planning Association and, the upper floor was used as an exercise area. Three fire tenders and one water tanker along with 12 personnel responded to the fire and at 12:30 p.m. they were still on the scene. Anyone who may have any information on the fire is asked to call Central Police Station at 430-7676, Police Operations Control Room at 430-7100 or any other police station. All information will be held in strict confidence. (BT)

FIRE CAUSES CLOSURE OF TWO AGENCIES – At least two agencies will remain closed tomorrow after yesterday’s early morning four-hour blaze at the old Ministry of Health buildings on Jemmotts Lane, St Michael. The fire sent residents of nearby communities scampering, affected the Vector Environmental Section and brought operations at the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA) to a halt. It appeared to have started at one of the unoccupied buildings and was reported to the Barbados Fire Service at 5:30 a.m. The upper floor of the BFPA was destroyed and that agency will remain closed while the ministry’s Rodent Bait Distribution Centre will also be closed, with officials advising members of the public to collect the bait from any polyclinic except the Edgar Cochrane, Wildey and the Glebe, St George. A few residents who did not want to be named said they were awoken by the sounds of sirens and they quickly picked up the scent of burning wood. Smithy of Smith’s Corner Bar, which is located south of the compound, was on the beach when he noticed the smoke. He immediately rushed home to see if his property was affected. Though it wasn’t affected, the asthmatic said he and the eight other tenants of the two-storeyed building left due to the thick smoke. The intense flames burned for hours and engulfed a number of buildings, including the section used to store files, furniture and chemicals of the Vector Environmental Section, while the upper section of the BFPA used as an exercise area was destroyed and the ground floor used to store computers suffered water damage only. Those who showed up at the clinic yesterday had to be turned away. Minister of Health John Boyce who was briefed on the incident later said the necessary chemicals were taken away from the area. The BFPA acting executive director Anderson Langdon and chief financial officer Sonya Alleyne were both at the scene assessing the damages. Alleyne estimated that about 35 people from their Youth Advocacy Movement (YAM) which handles the Adolescent Young Mother’s Programme would be affected along with the Community Sexuality Education and other youth outreach activities. Langdon said the BFPA had been the home of the institution since 1966, and even though it was an old building, they had now being set back, as he made an appeal for help. Divisional officer Mervin Mayers said the residents who lived on Jemmotts Lane including residents of London Bourne Towers and Nelson Street were asked to move due to the asbestos roofing. Four fire tenders and one tanker, and 14 officers from Worthing Fire Station and Bridgetown responded and their investigations are ongoing. (SS)

RODENT BAIT DISTRIBUTION CENTRE CLOSED – The Rodent Bait Distribution Centre located on the old Ministry of Health compound, Jemmotts Lane, St Michael has been closed after today's fire which destroyed a block of buildings. The public is advised that rat bait may be collected from any polyclinic except the Edgar Cochrane, Wildey and the Glebe, St George.  (SS)

EUNICE GIBSON POLYCLINIC TO CLOSE EARLY MONDAY – The public is advised that the Eunice Gibson Polyclinic, at Warrens, St Michael, will close at 1 p.m. on Monday, April 16, to allow staff to attend the funeral service for a former colleague. The Ministry of Health apologises for any inconvenience this closure may cause.  (SS)

SIR JOHN A MAN OF PRINCIPLE – He was their cheerleader, their life coach and their teacher. And he was not afraid to take a stand if he believed in a principle. These were the memories of the children of Sir John Connell, Lachmi and Dr Kwame Connell who were speaking at his service of thanksgiving at the Cathedral Church of St Michael and All Angels yesterday. The 81-year-old retired Justice of Appeal passed away on March 28, and his service yesterday drew legal luminaries and politicians from across the divide to the 229-year-old church. During a service attended by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart; leader of the Barbados Labour Party, Mia Mottley; Retired Chief Justice Sir David Simmons; Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson; members of the judiciary, the magistracy and the legal fraternity, Lachmi remembered her father as a man who stood on principle “regardless of the repercussions”. “An example [was] his voting with the Government while being an Opposition senator on the issue of increasing the number of constituencies, having discussed with the leadership at George Street that they would not rescind the law if they win the next General Election, only to be fired from the platform by then party leader Errol Barrow,” she said, adding his philosophy was that he should be able to face the man in the mirror every day. She said he was branded a radical but explained that his humble beginnings in a chattel house in the “Back Ivy”, born to a carpenter father and a seamstress mother, underpinned his philosophy of educating Barbadians. She added his one unfulfilled desire was that he wanted to do more for Haiti. Her brother Kwame said his father taught by example and was a teacher “who was never tired of learning”. “He wanted to educate his people even though it wasn’t always well received,” his son recalled. He held his father as their teacher, their cheerleader, their moral compass and their life coach. “He taught by example and he set a very high standard,” he told the congregation yesterday, adding his father had “genuine trouble” with the “concept of boredom” when “there were so many books to read”. The sermon was delivered by Dean of the Cathedral, Dr Jeffrey Gibson. (SS)

THOUSANDS ATTEND WINNIE MANDELA’S FUNERAL – Thousands of mourners crowded into a stadium in Soweto, near Johannesburg, where the campaigner was given a high-level send-off. Her casket was draped in the national flag, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the eulogy. Mrs Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela, died earlier this month at the age of 81.  (BT)

KADOOMENT BAND LAUNCHES PICKING UP STEAM – The Crop Over Festival fever is quickly heating up. So far, a number of bands including Zulu, Khepri Kulture and Erup The Band have unveiled their costumes which they will take on the road come Grand Kadooment on August 6. The latest was Erup which released their Hidden Treasures: Gems of the Caribbean theme on Friday night at George Washington House. Their five sections include Ametrine, Black Opals, Mystic Topaz, Mojave and White Diamond. Zulu International Inc., the self-proclaimed Fun Band were the first out the gates on March 18 with their theme Hidden in the Stars. Sections include Milky Way, Unidentified Wukking Object (UWO), Stargazer, Apollo, Nebula, Supernova, The Auroras, Comet and SagiA: The Black Hole. New band Khepri launched soon after with sections designed by varying section leaders. Options include Denyque, Silent Morning, Flavaa Nation, Spektrum and Mojito. Krave the Band is set to launch tonite at Ignite Bim, followed by Xhosa tomorrow night. Kontact, Eunioa, Colorz, Baje, Aura, Betty West and LUX Carnival also have quickly approaching dates. Crop Over will be officially launched on June 2. (SS)

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