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stephaniefchase · 7 years ago

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Bajan Newscap 11/28/2017

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Tuesday 28th November, 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 Daily Nation Newspaper (SS).

SECRET BLP PLAN: SOLUTIONS WARNS THAT MOTTLEY-LED OPPOSITION INTENDS TO TAKE BARBADOS STRAIGHT TO IMF – One of Barbados’ newest political parties is warning that if the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) wins the next election, it will take the country straight into the hands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Solutions Barbados candidate for Christ Church East Central Scott Weatherhead issued the warning at the weekend during a public launch in Independence Square at which he was equally adamant that the incumbent Democratic Labour Party (DLP) should not be returned to office. While suggesting that both of the major parties were both responsible for the current economic mess in which the island finds itself, Weatherhead cautioned that neither party had a clue of how to fix the problem. At the same time, Weatherhead dismissed a suggestion made last week by the leader of the United Progressive Party Lynette Eastmond that her party would be willing to enter into a borrowing relationship with the Washington based IMF, while cautioning that this would only result in immeasurable pain for Barbadians. “Do you think we are feeling economic pain now? Do you know what prescription the IMF ordered for Guyana? They doubled income taxes in Guyana overnight, among other measures. “Now look at the Guyana dollar. Two hundred and eight Guyanese dollars to one US dollar today. Do you want that for Barbados? Absolutely not,” the businessman stated before turning his assault on the BLP, which he warned was not a viable alternative. “We know what the BLP will do if you elect them. We believe they will take this country straight to the IMF. Why? Because they have no clue what to do to solve our economic problems. None whatsoever. “If they did, they would have told you already, exactly what they will do to fix the problem, [but] all they have said recently is that they will do whatever is legal and moral to fix this country. “Legal and moral? There are a lot of legal and moral things you can do, but the BLP has not outlined a single one,” he said, while pouring scorn over the Opposition’s suggestion that it would have its economic stabilization and growth plan ready for presentation to Parliament within six weeks of taking office. “So they want you to elect them first and then they will come up with an economic plan. Where will they get this plan from, the IMF?” he asked, adding, “We want to hear that plan now, or they don’t deserve a single seat. Not one.”In the face of a mounting national debt in excess of 100 per cent of gross domestic product and a fiscal deficit in excess of $300 million, Weatherhead said “the citizens of this country are not stupid. “Bring your economic plan,” he implored the BLP, while telling the electorate “when you see them canvassing asking for votes, ask them to outline to you exactly what their economic solution is and compare it with ours”. Weatherhead was equally critical of the DLP telling Barbadians that “they don’t have a solution. If they did, they would have implemented it already. “After all, they had nine years to perfect one and we are still facing economic suffering. So they clearly have no idea what to do either. “The only plan I have seen from the DLP is tax and borrow, tax and borrow. That is their solution. More taxes, more debts, more borrowing, more economic suffering. “[But] at least they had the good sense to keep away from the IMF so far,” he added. (BT)

ADOPT ISO STANDARD OR BE FIRED, PHILLIPS WARNS – Chief executives of some of the island’s top statutory corporations are being put on notice that should the fledgling Solutions Barbados win the next general election they will be forced to adopt its recommended management system of face the axe. Leader of the two-year-old party Grenville Phillips II is touting ISO 9001, the latest quality management system standard of the Geneva, Switzerland-based International Organization for Standardization, as the management system of choice for all government agencies. Phillips told the public launch of candidates at Independence Square on Saturday night that ISO 9001 “can solve most, if not all, of our nation’s management issues”. Therefore, he said it would be made mandatory for the Barbados Revenue Authority, Barbados Water Authority, Licensing Authority, National Petroleum Corporation, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Sanitation Service Authority and Transport Board to adopt this system. Otherwise, those who refuse to follow this directive will be sacked, he said. “You are all on notice,” Phillips said in reference to the top brass of each entity. “I am calling on you to start implementing the ISO 9001 quality management system for the benefit of your long-suffering employees and the long-suffering public or your contracts will not be renewed in a Solutions Barbados administration,” he stressed. Over one million companies and organizations in over 170 countries are ISO 9001 certified, according to the organization, which explains that the standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management and continual improvement. Phillips predicted that the heads of some of these statutory bodies might question his competence to make such a demand. However, he was confident that he would emerge as Prime Minister after the election, due by the middle of next year, giving him the licence to demand change. “I am well aware that there some fellows on these boards who will ask, ‘who is this Grenville Phillips? Why do we need to listen to him? Why can’t we keep managing these employees and resources as badly as we have?’ Please tell him for me that he will be the next prime minister after the upcoming general elections … I’m trying to help all of you,” the structural engineer and candidate for St George North said. He added that his party would be fair to all involved by organizing a training session on Wednesday to explain ISO 9001 in detail, and invited them to “send some persons and come yourself… so you will be without excuse” (BT)

STRIKE ACTION LOOMING AT SSA – Aggrieved workers of the state-owned Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) are scheduled to meet with their union tomorrow morning amid the threat of industrial action. The 6.30 a.m. meeting of all SSA workers has been called by the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), bargaining agent for the garbage collection workers, to thrash out three main issues; namely the suspension of supervisor Michael Stuart from the SSA for over a year, outstanding SSA appointments and their yet-to-be approved collective bargaining agreement with Government. “It is up to the workers to decide what action they would like to take. As a union we would have to follow the direction of the membership. So if they request us to take industrial action in relation to the matter . . . because they are frustrated . . . we would have to take direction from the SSA membership,” NUPW President Akanni McDowall told Barbados TODAY this evening, adding that any protest action would have to be sanctioned by the NUPW’s National Council. On the issue of Stuart’s suspension, the union is claiming that the worker was ��wrongfully suspended” and is demanding his immediate reinstatement. The union is also demanding the appointment of SSA workers who have been acting in their positions for more than eight years. In this regard, McDowall said a list of names had already been submitted to management, which was supposed to refer them to the board and come back to the union. However, the NUPW president complained that “to this day, there has been no word from the management on the appointments”. After completing negotiations on a new collective agreement between late August and early September, he also said the union was still awaiting the final signoff by Government “so that we can confirm the agreed terms and conditions of the SSA workers”. (BT)

NOT DAUNTED – A leading retail furniture and appliance store says it is simply not daunted by Barbados’ ongoing economic troubles, which have been highlighted by a ballooning national debt in excess of 100 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), a high fiscal deficit of over five per cent of GDP and dwindling international reserves of less than $600 million at the end of September. Speaking at the opening of its newest store at the Millhouse Complex in Cane Garden, St Thomas on Friday, Deputy Managing Director of Standard Distributors Ltd Trinidad Kathleen Galy said the close to half a million investment by the Trinidad-based ANSA McAL group was proof enough of its support for, and “full confidence” in, the island. Galy explained that the company had completed renovations on ten of its 14 stores in the region with plans of completing upgrades to the remaining four while carrying out further expansion in the Caribbean in 2018. While giving the assurance that the conglomerate’s investment would continue in Barbados despite the current economic climate, Galy also promised to maintain the high quality customer service that the brand had become synonymous with over the years. (BT)

JONES: TAKE HEED – Minister of Education Ronald Jones intends to “pluck” out students who commit violent acts and create havoc in schools. He sent a stern warning to the perpetrators yesterday while speaking at Ellerslie School, where a student suffered lacerations to an arm, had a finger severed and another partially severed in a cutlass attack by another student last Wednesday. In stressing that no student would be allowed to be a “terror” in Barbados, Jones said the authorities might have to get militant. “We have to pluck them out sooner rather than later, and place them in other institutions. We have some now, but we’re going to have to maybe reformat a bit to help society. The Barbados Defence Force and the National Youth Service will have to be so resourced. If you’re 13 years old and you want to be disruptive and want to give trouble, we’re going to have to do some work with you. You can’t be a terror in Barbados,” the minster declared. (DN)

JONES CALLS FOR CRISIS MEETING –The various stakeholders in education need to sit down and find solutions to deal with violence in schools. This suggestion came yesterday from Minister of Education Ronald Jones, in the wake of a violent cutlass attack at The Ellerslie School last Wednesday, which left a 17-year-old student with serious lacerations to an arm, a finger severed and another partially severed. Jones and the ministry took a beating from the teachers’ unions last week for not responding in a timely manner when concerns of violence in schools were raised at the level of the ministry. The lament of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) was the failure to follow through with a special meeting since May 2016 to look at establishing a special committee to deal with violence in schools. One intervention suggested by Jones was the possible involvement of the Barbados Defence Force and the Barbados Youth Service to deal with students who accumulated more than one strike for anti-social behaviours. He said the New Horizons Academy, constructed on the site of the old Erdiston Primary School, was located for children who displayed deviant behaviour, was not equipped to deal with students who were on the cusp of the justice system. “Where you have situations where there is extreme brutality and things of that [nature], that means that is a severe character flaw. Teachers are not equipped to deal with that. New Horizons carries teachers. The persons that are disciplined enough and would have the kind of training and background would be those who are in the forces of Barbados. There would have to be a programme set up deal with those children. “You don’t want them necessarily to go to Dodds . . . . It is to find all kinds of mechanisms that can stop these young people from causing harm to each from being joined with other miscreants in the society to cause havoc in the wider society. So it is a search, and what I suggested is only a view. One would have to sit down with everybody and work out the best mechanism that would take some of these students who are prone to violence,” Jones stated. He also mentioned the possibility of introducing a new cadre of laws in education to help arrest the seeming increase in violence in schools. (DN)

JONES SUPPORTS FATHER FACING ASSAULT CHARGES OVER BULLIED SON - A father who is facing a number of charges stemming from angry visits to Christ Church Foundation School and Deighton Griffith Secondary School, today received the support of Minister of Education Ronald Jones. Jones told reporters on the fringes of the launch of a sixth form programme at The Ellerslie School that the Ricardo Ameka Callender he knew was a level-headed man whose alleged behaviour at the two schools was out of character. “I know that young man very well and I have never known him to be what he seemed to have demonstrated, so there had to be some catalyst that would have caused that. I think that some of our parents need guidance on how to handle conflict and to him that would have been a conflict. Leaders of schools have to be equipped to bring calm when a person comes hostile,” Jones said. The 43-year-old Callender of Unity Lane, Gall Hill, Christ Church is charged with entering Foundation’s premises of November 16 and assaulting Deputy Principal Peter Roger Cox. He faces a similar charge of assaulting Deighton Griffith Secondary School teacher Anthony Alleyne at that school, and is also charged with failing to leave the schools’ compounds when directed to do so by Cox and Alleyne. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is believed to have gone to both schools in defence of his son who was being bullied. A video had surfaced showing a number of schoolboys attacking Callender’s son. Jones said school principals and teachers must learn to handle such situations without escalating the problem. “If you come hostile there are ways and means of dealing with that but you don’t join hostility with hostility. You disarm hostility with calm and invite persons to sit and find out what it going on bearing in mind the incident [alleged attack on the student] took place off the school compound and both principals now had to find out what happened,” the minister stressed. “Parents have a right to find out what happened to their child, bearing in mind that when a parent sends a child to school the school becomes the guardian of that child. So there must be answers given to parents where answers can be given,” he argued. However, the minister was quick to point out that he was not blaming teachers and principals involved in this incident, as no one is able to predict what an angry person is capable of doing. “Sometimes the appearance of a threat is more than enough and one might argue that something could get explosive. It is just like you at home and someone comes on your property and raises their voice. You do not know what would be their next step and then you are not trained to deal with these matters but the police is,” Jones stressed. Oistins Magistrate Elwood Watts last week order prison officers to “take the shackles off” Callender after another magistrate had remanded him to Dodds in connection with the charges. Despite objections from the police, Callender was released on $2,500 bail with one surety, and is to return to court on February 1, 2018. (BT)

FEWER THAN 20 HOUSE LEFT – It may look like a ghost town, but the housing development at Parish Land, St Philip, is almost sold out. That is the word from Minister of Housing Denis Kellman, who told the DAILY NATION that of the 117 houses built, fewer than 20 were to be allocated. When a NATION team visited the area, very few of the houses seemed to be occupied. Several of the brightly-coloured purple, green, blue, yellow and peach properties were surrounded by overgrown bush, while others were awaiting the finishing touches to be applied. But Kellman insisted that most of the houses in the development, which was launched seven years ago, were off the market. (DN)

NO BIAS! – When the country’s new Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is eventually chosen, the process will be one of the highest integrity, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite has promised. His comments came in the wake of statements made by Opposition Leader Mia Mottley last week when she was hosted at a luncheon by the Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry. “There are a number of positions in this country that are vacant now, that this country needs to demand cannot be filled in the dying days of an administration,” Mottley said, referring to the posts of Governor General, Central Bank governor and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). “Now if people only allow the Opposition to be the only voice on these matters, then the Government will fill them with impunity. And you will be stuck with whomsoever they choose. “And the consequences of that are not going to be easy because they will affect the condition of life and the options of an incoming Government in a serious way,” Mottley told the business people. “I can only say to you that having discussed it with my colleagues and the chairman, we cannot seriously consider ourselves bound by any inopportune or improper decisions made in the dying days by this administration that will extend its protection for people who ought not to be protected.” However, according to Brathwaite, the Opposition Leader should know better. “Had Miss Mottley done her homework, she would have known that the office of the DPP is filled by the Governor General, acting on the recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission,” the Attorney General told the DAILY NATION in response. (DN)

MOTHER FINDS SON HANGING IN BEDROOM – Residents in a section of The Pine, St Michael, were thrown into a state of shock yesterday morning following the death of one of their own. Police said Davonne Jamal Watts was discovered hanging from a crossbar by his mother around 8:30 a.m. at their Smiths Road home. The 23-year-old’s body was found when she entered one of the bedrooms. As news spread across the densely populated community, several onlookers gathered. Many of them were tight-lipped. One woman, who identified herself only as his sister, was sobbing outside the wooden home and had to be consoled. Police public relations officer, acting Inspector Roland Cobbler, said the mother, who was at the home, was in no position to speak. “At this stage we are providing the family with counselling to help them to cope with this traumatic experience, this significant loss. In addition to this, our victim support counsellors will also be made available to assist the family in coping with this tragedy,” he said. Efforts to reach out to the family later in the afternoon for a comment were also unsuccessful. (DN)

SON’S HANGING DEATH COMES AS A SHOCK – A St Michael mother this morning experienced a nightmare no parent ever wishes to live through when she discovered the lifeless body of her son hanging from the ceiling of her three-bedroom, Smith Road, The Pine, St Michael home in what is believed at this time to be a suicide. Residents have been rallying around the mother even as they try to understand what might have led 23-year-old Davonne Jamal Watts to take his own life. When Barbados TODAY visited the community, family members were too distraught to speak. However, Public Relations Officer of the Royal Barbados Police Force Acting Inspector Roland Cobbler said the mother discovered the body hanging from a cross bar in one of the bedrooms at approximately 8:30 this morning. Cobbler said the family would receive counselling to help them cope with their loss. Barbados TODAY understands the young man was one of a twin and left behind six siblings. He was a lover of football and a former student of the Grantley Prescod Primary Memorial Primary School and the St Leonard’s Boy’s School. One woman from the area who did not want to be identified said the news came as a shock to everyone. “I was very shocked. That is the truth. I was very, very shocked,” said the woman, who added Watts’ death “very hurtful”. “The hope always is that even though he is going through whatever he is going through that he can pass through it. I wasn’t looking for that at all,” she said. Other neighbours, who also did not want to be identified, told Barbados TODAY they were surprised to learn of the death, with one woman describing the deceased as “quiet and cool”. “You never used to see him so regular. You see him today and you are not going to see him until the next two days or so,” she added. (BT)

DEPRESSED WOMAN GETS CHANCE - A mother who said depression led her to steal a pair of shoes was given a second chance yesterday. When she appeared in the District ‘A�� Magistrates’ Court, Shida Sandora Gilkes pleaded guilty to stealing the shoes, valued at $284, from Duty Free Caribbean Holdings on November 11. The unemployed 31-year-old, of Second Avenue Beckles Hill, St Michael, told the court she was stressed out. “I let frustration and depression get the best of me. I took the shoes because I didn’t see any other way out,” a sorry-looking Gilkes confessed. “But I saw the hurt which it brought to my sons and I would like to apologise for my actions.” Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant placed her on a bond to keep the peace for the next 18 months. Failure to do so will result in a forthwith fine of $1 500, with an alternative of eight months in prison. In giving the facts, prosecutor Sergeant Cameron Gibbons said Gilkes had entered Cave Shepherd with a male and proceeded to Total Sport. While there, she asked to view a pair of black Adidas shelltop shoes. However, she seemed indecisive and when the sales clerk left and returned, both the shoes and Gilkes were gone. Unable to locate her, police were called in and a report made. On November 25, Gilkes was spotted in Cave Shepherd and apprehended. The shoes were recovered. (DN)

GUYANA – Intruder shoots sleeping grandma, five-year-old – A gun-toting neighbour shot a sleeping 52-year-old woman and her granddaughter, after clambering up a ladder and sneaking into the victims’ Number 72 Village home at around 03:30 hrs yesterday. Savitri Hassan, aka ‘Sita’ and her granddaughter Renuka Hassan, sustained shotgun pellet injuries, and were treated at the Skeldon Hospital, but were not admitted. Police said 13 shotgun pellets were removed from the child’s left leg, while her grandmother was shot in the lower abdomen. Mrs. Hassan told Kaieteur News that they were fast asleep at around 03:30 hrs Sunday morning when the intruder, whose name was given as Suraj Singh, also called ‘Akash,’ entered their home. According to the woman, she got up and began to scream for help. The woman believes that the shooting stemmed from an issue where the intruder accused her husband of ‘interfering’ with his girlfriend. “He does stand up pon he veranda and cuss all kinda nasty things, we went to Springlands Police and give a statement, they seh they gon come, dem never show up. We go back again two days after and dem send two neighbourhood police and dem go to he, but he start cuss up and had cutlass and dem police frighten and go away”, the woman divulged.Hassan also disclosed that last Thursday, the individual had attempted to chop her husband at a nearby shop but her husband used his bicycle to ward off the attack. (DN)

PACERS KEY AGAINST NZ – Assistant coach Roddy Estwick believes West Indies fast bowlers will have a critical role to play if the Caribbean side is to make an impact in the two-Test series against the Black Caps starting this week. Coming off the recent Zimbabwe tour where spinners were vital because of the slow, turning tracks, Estwick said the conditions in New Zealand provided the opportunity for the Windies attack to show their quality. Frontline pacers Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach and captain Jason Holder all turned in solid shifts while Miguel Cummins and the uncapped Raymon Reifer also impressed, as the hosts were dismissed for 231 in their first innings at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval. Estwick said it was important for the pace attack to use the outing to familiarise themselves with conditions ahead of the Test series. West Indies arrived here last week on a quest to win their first series on New Zealand soil in 22 years. They beat Zimbabwe 1-0 in a two-Test series in Bulawayo last month to win their third Test in eight outings this year. Estwick said the Windies’ performances had been improving steadily and that was in part owed to the outstanding work by the seamers. Yesterday, opener Kraigg Brathwaite warmed up for the Test match by carving out 86 on the final day of the three-day match against New Zealand “A”. West Indies, resuming from 53 for two overnight, were dismissed for 186, with wicketkeeker Shane Dowrich chipping in with 47 to follow up his first innings’ 35. Worryingly, however, there was another failure for Jermaine Blackwood, who fell without scoring after making just four in the first innings. The hosts then rattled up 72 without loss as the match petered out into a predictable draw, with West Indies affording their bowlers decent spells in preparation for the first Test that bowls off on Friday (6 p.m. Thursday East Caribbean time). (DN)

‘EQUAL CHANCE’ FOR STUDENT ATHLETES – The office of International Education at the Marquette University in the United States is equipping student athletes with the tools for equal opportunity at gaining an education. This was revealed by assistant director at the university, Susan Whipple, during a student workshop in the Liberal Arts Auditorium at the Barbados Community College yesterday. “We want to level the playing field that everyone has the same advantage at gaining information and access to education. During the workshop which was hosted by the US Embassy, Whipple, along with Barbadian athletes Anicia Wood and Riechele LeSaldo, who would have both benefited from athletics scholarships, assisted students, teachers and parents in understanding the process and also what they wanted out of studying. Deputy public affairs officer Gaina Davila told NATIONSPORT Whipple was very qualified in the procedure. Davila mentioned that there was an advising centre on the Barbados Community College grounds where students would be able to acquire a wealth of information about the process. (DN)

PRIDE AND JOY – There was joy in Eagle Hall yesterday when long-serving traffic warden Valerie Barnett was announced as one of the winners of the NATION’s Bim’s Best. The NATION’s Independence month initiative is aimed at finding and celebrating the best in the Barbadian community. Readers nominated people in 14 food and service categories and then voted last week on the best of the best. Barnett, 47, has been a warden stationed near to Eagle Hall Primary School in St Michael for the past nine years. “I feel so great to know that I’m doing a good job,” said a near breathless and smiling Barnett when a team from the NATION and Starcom Network’s Road Runner gave her the good news. News of the honour was met with delight. Parent Leila Alleyne said of Barnett: “It doesn’t matter if it rains, no matter what, she is always here. Sometimes, she would say, ‘Oh my throat doesn’t feel too good’ or ‘I have a cough’, but she is always here. My daughter goes to Deacons [Primary] and this is her warden. We have one down there but this is her warden.” (DN)

SOUTH AFRICAN SELF-DEFENCE TRAINER CROWNED MISS UNIVERSE – A South African woman who helps train women in self-defence was crowned Miss Universe on Sunday at the pageant held in Las Vegas, with Miss Colombia and Miss Jamaica also making it to the final three. Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, 22, who unleashed a big smile when she won, hails from Western Cape Province and recently earned a business management degree from North-West University. Her passion for self-defence was reinforced when she was hijacked and held at gunpoint about a month after winning her title as Miss South Africa, she said in a video on the Miss Universe website. Miss Colombia, Laura González, 22, was the first runner-up. She has been preparing to be an actress since the age of 16. After graduating from a performing arts school, she moved to Bogotá to build her career. The second runner-up was Miss Jamaica, Davina Bennett, 21. She is a model pursuing a degree in marketing at the University of the West Indies. (DN)

That’s all for today folks there are 37 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase

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