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stephaniefchase · 7 years ago

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Bajan Newscap 7/22/2017

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Saturday 22nd July 2017. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today ((BT), or by purchasing a Saturday Sun Newspaper (SS).

DIVIDE ON MARCH - There appears to be discord among the private sector following yesterday’s announcement of a joint protest march between Barbados’ major trade unions and the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA). During a press briefing yesterday at the Barbados Secondary Teachers Union (BSTU), Belleville, St Michael, BPSA chairman Charles Herbert said they were urging the private sector to shut shop on Monday and allow employees to participate while still receiving full pay. However, a check with Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) president Eddy Abed revealed this did not have the chamber’s full support. He sent the SATURDAY SUN an emailed response to another email sent to all private sector organisations by the BPSA, signed by its president, Anne Reid. (SS)

WE MARCHING! – Some of this island’s leading businesses, including one of the largest private sector groupings, are on board with Monday’s national march called by trade unions and the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA). However, Chairman of Williams Industries Inc Ralph Bizzy Williams is making it clear that the action being taken by his company is not in support of any political party, but “just to impress on Government that we want to meet urgently to find a better way to close the fiscal deficit”. While complaining that the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL) was causing “bare confusion with our accounting systems”, the prominent businessman also charged that the recent increase in the NSRL from two per cent to ten per cent was equivalent to increasing the 17.5 per cent Value Added Tax to 27 per cent. In support of Monday’s march by members of the BPSA and the labour unions, Williams told Barbados TODAY he would be closing all but three of his companies – Ionics Fresh Water Limited, which is a desalination plant; Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre, which handles garbage disposal and Big Gases Limited, which supplies oxygen to the hospital – which he said could be considered “essential services that should not be disrupted”. Late this evening, Barbados TODAY also received a copy of communication sent by Chief Executive Officer of Automotive Art Douglas Armstrong to members of staff advising that the company “fully endorses the initiatives of the BPSA” and would therefore be closing its to facilitate participation in the march. Barbados TODAY also understands that similar communication was sent to workers at Caribbean Label Craft, which is a member of the Goddards Group, as well as to other private sector employees on Friday. However, not everyone in the business community seems to be on board with Monday’s march. This afternoon, Executive Director of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Carlos Wharton said in a statement to members that although the BCCI’s Council was in agreement that “dialogue with the other Social Partners is important, we do not believe that this march should have been the first course of action taken”. However, Wharton said the BCCI Secretariat had been instructed to inform members of the march, which takes place from 10 a.m. until noon. When contacted, BCCI President Eddy Abed declined further comment on the matter. However, Abed has been insisting on the need for tripartite dialogue, and for Government to explore alternatives to its recently announced austerity Budget, which he said “gives us the pain”. But fed up of waiting for Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to respond to their demands, General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union Toni Moore announced during a 1:30 p.m. press conference today at the headquarters of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) that the march, which is slated to begin in Queen’s Park, was a “united effort for all of us to show our commitment towards achieving what is best for Barbados. (BT)

MORRIS: ACTION ABOUT POLITICS - The current tumultuous industrial relations climate in Barbados has very little to do with industrial relations and everything to do with politics. So says Ambassador to CARICOM Robert “Bobby” Morris, who is warning Government to take action and ensure the trade union and private sector combo does not become the norm and ultimately destroy the Social Partnership. The prominent historian and veteran trade unionist made his opinion clear yesterday as he claimed the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) were all acting with political intent. “What we are seeing is an attempt by the trade unions and the private sector to wrestle power away from a duly elected Government,” Morris said following a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) lunchtime lecture. (SS)

MORRIS SAYS REDMAN’S ACCIDENT WAS CONTRIVED - A former trade unionist has seemingly made light of the accident in which President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) Mary Redman damaged ligaments in her left ankle while participating in a march last week Tuesday. Former Deputy General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) Robert Bobby Morris Friday said the accident seemed “a bit contrived”. Redman twisted her ankle at Queen’s Park, The City when the area on which she stepped after completing her presentation gave way. “You realize that Mary Redman has a membership of about 350 people, and you realize that the woman went into the park with about 400 [people] and she was the only person who a hole found. I can’t understand. Four hundred people in the park and the hole found the foot of one person – the trade union leader – and the Leader of the Opposition had to lift her up, apparently,” Morris said while delivering a lecture at the Democratic Labour Party’s headquarters as part of the party’s weekly Astor B Watts lunchtime lecture series. However, his comment was not funny to Redman who told Barbados TODAY Friday afternoon she was slowly on the mend. The BSTU leader expressed surprise at the comment, describing it as strange, unbelievable, sad and offensive, and she called for an apology from Morris. “I cannot imagine what would make him think that I would be part and parcel of something contrived. Towards what end? To achieve what? I am so disappointed in him, honestly,” Redman said. “For him to make such a statement I believe it is really beneath him and it is surprising because he knows me for years in relation to trade union matters and he has never in the years that we have known each other, known me to be in a position of compromise of my integrity or honesty as an individual. So for him to ascribe dubious motive and dishonesty to an incident that occurred with me is distressing to me because he is calling my character into question and I take umbrage with that, and I think that he owes me an apology. That is the truth,” she protested, adding, “that alleged behaviour by him is bringing his credibility into question”. Redman has been on crutches since the accident and the healing process is expected to take between six and eight weeks. (BT)

BAR OWNERS WATCHING NSRL - Some bar owners across the island are still playing a wait-and-see game to determine whether their liquor prices will go up this Crop Over season as a result of the recent increase in the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL) and other tax measures. Banks Breweries reportedly implemented increases in its products from as early as July 1 when the NSRL increased from two per cent to ten per cent, while manager at Bryden Stokes, Jeffery Evelyn confirmed that some prices went up from the same date and others increased from July 17, when a two per cent tax on foreign exchange transactions took effect. Speaking to Barbados TODAY before the levy came into effect, owner of Chop Arts Sports Bar in Baxter’s Road, the City, Troy Trotman said he was waiting to see how much the prices from distributors would increase before taking a decision on whether his would go up. But shop steward Jennifer Harper said she expected that even with an increase, customers would still continue to purchase alcohol. Owner of Crystal Waters Beach Bar in the south of the island, who gave her name only as Debbie, also indicated no decisions had yet been made on price increases “because it hasn’t been a notable change” since the rise in the NSRL. Meantime, the owner of Mullins Beach Bar, who did not want his name published, confirmed that prices at the St Peter establishment would increase. (BT)

JONES LAMENTS OBSESSION WITH GUNS – Minister of Education Ronald Jones has expressed concern about what he described as a new love affair some of the region’s youth have with guns. And he suggested that because of “corrupt processes in our societies”, some of the most sophisticated guns could be found in the hands of these young people who then act as though they are all-powerful. “So the idiot, the fool, the clown, gets that power against the palm of his hand and . . . he is now a God, because the potential to take life is in his grasp. These are the dichotomies within our space,” Jones said Friday as he outlined what he said were two streams of behaviour in Caribbean societies – constructive and destructive. “Voices must be added and the contradictions must be removed from those who want to be part of the total collective. We have to change our space. We have to ensure that those who put products of destruction in our youth’s hands must be stopped,” added the outspoken minister who said authorities in Caribbean countries seemed incapable of stemming the flow of illegal guns into their territories. Jones voiced his concerns Friday morning as he addressed the closing ceremony of the Caribbean Technical Entrepreneurship Programme (CTEP) at the Accra Beach Hotel. The programme, financed by the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank, saw the participation of 164 young entrepreneurs from the Eastern Caribbean and Haiti. Jones said while there was a set of youth who create “mayhem”, there were other sensible, rational youth, like those who participated in CTEP, who were constructing “strong pillars all across the region” as part of a new Caribbean economy and society. (BT)

BORDER AGENCIES ‘CAN POOL RESOURCES’ TO FIGHT DRUGS, GUNS - Border agencies across the region can fight illegal shipment of drugs and guns by pooling resources, says Acting Commissioner of Police Oral Williams. He was speaking to participants yesterday at the closing ceremony of the Maritime Operations and Planning Course. The project, funded by the European Union and the Regional Security System (RSS), carried a fitting theme of Strength Through Unity and was focused on strengthening law enforcement and border security in the RSS member states. Participants came from the Barbados Defence Force and Coast Guard, Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force, Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force, Royal Grenada Police Force, St Kitts and Nevis Defence Force, Royal St Lucia Police Force and the St Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard. (SS)

MORE POLICE NEEDED – The Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) needs another 200 good men. Assistant Commissioner of Police William Yearwood said Thursday the Force is understaffed and young people of quality are needed to help boost the numbers. The RBPF currently has about 1,300 officers in its ranks. “It is over 200-plus officers the Force is short of. Because of persons who have retired, some . . . have resigned and been dismissed from the Force, we are in need of young persons to come forward and join, particularly males. We do have a good quota of females but we are in need of males,” he disclosed. “It means we have [fewer] police officers on the ground, which is less visibility. We have been doing our . . . best with what we have presently, but certainly having those added numbers would make it easier for our members in terms of the workload.” Yearwood spoke about the RBPF’s staffing issue on the sidelines of a celebration ceremony for eight teenagers who successfully completed the Prince’s Trust International Team Programme. He told reporters that more needs to be done to encourage young people to enter the RBPF, including offering more attractive salaries and benefits. “We have a lot of young men who are hyped to join the Force. Some of them have the education but they choose not to come to the Force. There are certain things that need to be done by authorities to make the Force more viable to encourage others to join the Force . . . . Salary is one, of course, that can be looked at, and also certain benefits and allowances that can be given,” the senior cop said. (BT)

LIE DETECTOR TESTS COMING FOR CUSTOMS OFFICIALS, BRATHWAITE SAYS - Customs and Immigration officers may soon be forced to undertake lie detector tests as part of Government’s offensive against the importation of illegal guns. Without naming any of the departments, but convinced there are “some undesirables” in border control agencies, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite Thursday warned the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) and Barbados Coast Guard ought not be the only law enforcement agencies requiring their officers to take polygraph tests. “At the risk of causing a national shutdown in Barbados tomorrow [Friday], let me say this also. We need to move to the state where all agencies that look after our borders have to go through the same integrity testing, or shall I say polygraph . . . as required by our marine unit, by our Coast Guard, by certain sections of the force if they want to serve in some sensitive positions. We really need to,” Brathwaite told a joint news conference with Acting Police Commissioner Tyrone Griffith. Brathwaite’s reference to a national shutdown appeared to point to the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), which in August 2015 expressed outrage at comments by Griffith that customs officials were either deliberately or unwittingly allowing illegal guns into the country. From an investigative view point, it is clear that there is an abundance of high calibre weapons and large quantities of available ammunition on the streets. What is also clear is that [those] weapons are not lawfully manufactured in Barbados and the wider region, so they are being smuggled into the island. Our intelligence suggests they are coming through legitimate ports of entry, either assisted by officials, or not detected by them at our borders. This is an untenable situation which has to be addressed if we are to stem the flow of these weapons,” Griffith had said at a news conference, provoking an angry NUPW to described the comment as “inflammatory and without basis”. “If police intelligence suggests that these guns are coming through legitimate ports of entry, then officials should be identified and charged for this illegal activity,” the union had said in a statement. “The union considers the commissioner’s statements to be inflammatory and without basis; and believe they only serve to tarnish the reputations and integrity of all customs officers.” It was not immediately clear how the NUPW, currently involved in industrial action to press Government into compromising on the vexing National Social Responsibility Levy, will respond to the latest concerns raise by Brathwaite. The country’s top legal adviser suggested the introduction of polygraph tests would help lift the lid of suspicion over the border control officers, adding that Barbadians need not become sensitive and feel that everyone inside the agencies was crooked. (BT)

‘VOID CREATED’ BY DPP’S PASSING - Barbados’ justice system has been diminished by the loss of Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock QC. Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson made the comment yesterday as he spoke highly of Leacock’s many achievements and aspirations during his funeral service at the Cathedral of St Michael and All Angels. Leacock passed away on July 8 while in Orlando, Florida, where he was undergoing prostate surgery. He was 59 years old. (SS)

CCB REACTS TO PAYNE’S MURDER - The state-run Child Care Board (CCB) Friday expressed deep sadness over the tragic death of one of its longstanding employees. Fifty-eight-year-old Colleen Payne of Lodge Hill, St Michael was shot while trying to use the Royal Bank of Canada’s automated teller machine (ATM) at University Drive, Black Rock, St Michael around 9 p.m. on Monday. She later succumbed to her injuries at the state-run Queen Elizabeth Hospital. In brief statement issued on Friday evening, CCB Chairman Ken Knight noted that Payne had been employed with the child protection agency for the past 36 years and had given exemplary service to the organization. At the time of her death, she was attached to the Nightengale Day Nursery. “We are deeply saddened by the loss . . . our thoughts and profound condolences are extended to her husband, daughter and loved ones, at this time,” Knight said, adding that “our focus continues to be that of supporting all of our staff, particularly Mrs Payne’s colleagues at the Day Nursery”. Police are questioning three men in connection with the shooting death, which has brought to 19 the number of murders so far this year, compared to 21 for all of last year. Just Thursday, the island’s top law enforcement officials, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite and Acting Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith, admitted to a worrying spike in gun-related murders so far this year. Griffith told a joint news conference with Brathwaite at Police Headquarters on Roebuck Street, The City that 15 of the 19 murders this year were committed with firearms, which were used in nearly 80 per cent of murders this year. (BT)

FAMILY’S PLIGHT - Ernest Lynton and the family he has made his own have found themselves with nowhere to call home and are appealing for help. Over the past few weeks the St Michael family of seven has been experiencing hard luck, compounded by unemployment, and have had to move from house to house. They are in dire need of financial aid and basic living necessities. Lynton, 48, was renting a Blackman Field, The Pine, St Michael house for more than five years, where he lived with girlfriend Lisa Greene and her four children, aged 12 to 18, and her grandson. However, the house was in need of serious repairs and two weeks ago they were told to leave. (SS)

CAR BURSTS INTO FLAMES ALONG EAGLE HALL - This was a car problem no mechanic could fix. The Barbados Fire Service had to be summoned to extinguish a blaze after a car caught fire along Eagle Hall, St Michael just after 3 p.m today. The driver of the car, who only gave his name as Junior, said he borrowed the car from his friend to run an errand. Junior, a mechanic, said the car “just shut down” and he noticed smoke coming from the bonnet just before it became engulfed in flames. “It just shut down and I see the fire coming from the bonnet. I was going to the mechanic shop to get a part for another vehicle,” he explained. (SS)

STILL ‘NOT A CENT’ FROM NSC – Barbados’ medal–winning effort at the World Relays may all be for naught. The men’s 4x100 relay squad and Barbados’ other IAAF World Championships qualifiers could be missing from the London line-up next month, as the National Sports Council (NSC) is still to provide funding for the team to travel two weeks before the meet. Athletics Association of Barbados (AAB) president Catherine Jordan confirmed the news in a telephone interview yesterday as her body awaits word ahead of the August 4 start to the games. “I have started to talk to the Sports Council already so I am hopeful something gets done the closer we get to the championships because it’s a shame that this would happen after our team did so well at the World Relays with a silver medal,” said Jordan. (SS)

FARLEY TAKES CHESS LEAGUE – International master Terry Farley has hit the front of the second qualifier for the 2017 Digicel Barbados National Chess Championships after he defeated previous leader Kemp Lynch in their round six clash last Thursday evening at the Bridgetown Chess Centre. With this result Farley now takes the lead with five points, a half of a point ahead of Lynch and Jerome Harewood who both sit on four and a half. Farley defeated Lynch with the black pieces in what turned out to be an anti-climactic result for many who thought the young Lynch would have made a tough fight of it. However, after starting aggressively with the white pieces Lynch soon quickly ran into difficulties on his queenside and succumbed to defeat. (BT)

BIRKETT KEEPS COOL AGAINST LOCKHART – Andre who? Finals MVP Keefe Birkett says he wasn’t too fazed about facing Andre Lockhart, figuring he’d be better served focusing on his team’s performance than worrying about a one-on-one matchup in Thursday’s Game 5 of the Co-operators General Insurance Premier League basketball finals at the Barbados Community College. “It’s just a game of basketball at the end of the day and the game is played five on five so it’s not really between me and him. Yeah, we played against one another but it’s a team sport and our team came through in the end,” Birkett said. (SS)

ARCHER MAKES CAREER-BEST STRIKE - Exciting Barbadian seamer Jofra Archer snatched career-best Twenty20 figures as he helped fire Sussex to a comfortable victory over Hampshire, in the English T20 Blast here Thursday. Playing at the Ageas Bowl in the South Group, the 22-year-old right-armer claimed four for 18 in a brilliant four-over spell, to restrict the hosts to 126 for nine off their 20 overs. In reply, Sussex eased to their target with 16 balls remaining, earning their first victory in four games while ending Hampshire’s unbeaten streak. Batting first, Hampshire were powered by Tom Alsop who top-scored with 64 from 50 deliveries with five fours and two sixes but he was the only one to pass 15 and one of only three players in double figures. Archer struck early, prising out captain and opener James Vince (3) and Sean Ervine (2) cheaply as Hampshire slumped to 30 for two in the fifth over. Alsop then joined with Lewis McManus (12) to add 48 for the fifth wicket and rebuild the innings before Man-of-the-Match Archer returned to help engineer yet another decline. In reply, Sussex were guided by Ben Brown who struck 42 while Chris Nash got 32 and Laurie Evans, an unbeaten 24. Former Barbados and West Indies speedster, Fidel Edwards, went wicket-less in three overs which leaked 29 runs. (SS)

CLOUD TEN POSTPONED - BREWSTER’S ROAD CREW’S Cloud Ten event has been postponed. The premium all-white event was scheduled to be held last night at Balls Park, Christ Church. However, organisers announced the postponement earlier Yesterday. A new date and venue have not been announced. (SS)

TEN TO FACE AZIZA IN CALYPSO FINAL - Ten calypsonians will take on reigning Pic-O-De-Crop queen Aziza on August 5. The announcement was made early this morning at Kensington Oval following the performances of 18 semi-finalists. Ten contestants were announced instead of nine because of a tie. The finalists are Colin Spencer and Donella of Cave Shepherd All Stars, De Big Show's AC, Classic, Edwin, iWeb and Chrystal,Smokey Burke of Gladiators and Observer and Sir Ruelrepresenting House of Soca. No reserve was named. (SS)

That’s all for today folks there are 162 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase

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