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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 5/15/2018

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Tuesay, 15th May 2018. Remember that you can read full articles via subscribing to Nation News Online, purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN), via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS).

MIA’S PLAN WON’T FLY – Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur says it is highly unlikely that a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Government would be able fulfil many of its campaign promises, including one its signature plans to reinstate free tertiary education, if it goes to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In fact, Arthur, who is a trained economist and former Minister of Finance for 14 years, warned today that instead of a repeal of tuition payments instituted by the current Democratic Labour Party (DLP) led administration, Barbadian students attending the University of the West Indies could be asked to pay both tuition and economic costs. “I don’t think the Fund is going to support the payment of tuition fees for university education in Barbados. In fact, I think that the situation has gotten so bad [with the economy] that if you go to the Fund now, having just exhausted every opportunity, the Fund may tell the Government that they can no longer pay the economic cost,” Arthur told reporters during a press conference at Barbados TODAY’s, Manor Lodge, St Michael office this morning. Arthur, who has been persistently recommending over the past two years ago that the island enters into a formal programme with the Washington-based IMF to stop the free fall of Barbados’ foreign reserves, argued that with the reserves now at $423 million, 5.1 weeks under the recommended 12 weeks of import cover, Barbadians should brace themselves for a no frills, rough ride under any programme agreed to with the Fund. In 2014, amid serious economic challenges, the DLP implemented its decision for students attending the UWI to pay 20 per cent of their tuition costs, in effort to save Government $35 million per year. The move has resulted in hardship for many Barbadian students who have been forced to drop out of the tertiary institution. However, last year at her party’s 79th annual conference, Mottley gave the commitment that a BLP Government would immediately repeal the DLP’s decision if elected in the upcoming poll. This pledge has since made its way into the BLP’s 70-page manifesto released last week ahead of the May 24 poll, which also includes proposals for the abolition of road tax, removal of the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL), an increase in non-contributory old age pensions and an across-the-board pay hike or cost of living allowance for Government workers within the next three to six months. During last Thursday’s BLP manifesto launch, Mottley also proclaimed that she was not afraid to go to the IMF if that were required to turn the ailing Barbados economy around. However this morning, Arthur, who has had a hand in drafting Grenada’s successful IMF programme, argued that if Mottley were seriously considering the IMF as an option, it was a contradiction to speak of “lofty giveaways”. The trained economist contended that the BLP’s promises were geared at winning an election but had not accounted for the reality of running a Government, which “likely has no option, but to go the Fund”. “If you go to the Fund, you cannot feel as though it is a bed of roses,” Arthur cautioned, pointing out that “when [former Prime Minister] Erskine Sandiford went to the Fund in 1991 the choice was between devaluation or cut public sector wages by eight per cent. “A new Government is not going to be able to cut wages because the Constitution now prevents that, but they would take the IMF’s money on the understanding that they would restore external and internal stability,” he said. “That would mean accepting policies that would restore your reserves by US$500 million over a five year period,” Arthur explained. However, he said “the problem is that Government gives a lot transfers so that state services can be maintained, such as free services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and free secondary education. Those transfers are going to have to be adjusted under the IMF,” he said. The former Prime Minister therefore suggested that Government would need to implement a combination of means testing, privatization of some state assets and tax incentives to encourage persons to save for health and education. (BT)

NOT ME! – Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur is making it clear that he had absolutely nothing to do with any major tax write-offs for either the father of Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader Mia Mottley, or for Barclays Bank. The just-retired St Peter representative issued the clear-the-air statement today while joining with Prime Minister Freundel Stuart in calling on Mottley to give full account of both dubious financial transactions, which reportedly occurred as soon as he turned his back and left the country when the BLP last held office. Addressing a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) meeting last night, Stuart dropped the bombshell news as questions continue to swirl around an alleged meeting between Mottley and Nigerian billionaire Benedict Peters. He called on the BLP leader to give account of millions of dollars in tax waivers, which reportedly occurred under the last BLP administration, including a near half million-dollar write-off to her dad. “Elliott Deighton Mottley had two judgments lodged against him for monies due and owing to the Income Tax Department upwards of $1 million. In 1998, I walked in the Registry one morning and everyone had frowns on their faces. They were saying that here it is that we have to pay our taxes but yet over $400,000 of that tax obligation was being written off by the Owen Arthur administration,” Stuart told the DLP meeting at Carlisle House car park, The City. The Prime Minister however sought to distance his BLP predecessor from the dubious transaction, explaining that while Arthur had denied the request for the write-off, it was granted as soon as he left the country. “My most diligent enquiries revealed that the matter had been raised with Arthur and he said under no condition could that write-off be given, but as soon as he turned his back and travelled overseas, it happened,” Stuart claimed, adding that “there was a certain stage in Arthur’s incumbency that he was afraid to go as far as St Vincent because he did not know what he would find when he returned”. While calling on Mottley, who acted as prime minister in Arthur’s absence from the island, to reveal who was behind the decision, the DLP leader also charged that in 2002, during the merger of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Barclays, a circumvention by a member of the then Arthur Cabinet had cost the country $87 million in property transfer tax and stamp duty. This morning Arthur said he was both disappointed and surprised to learn of the write-off for Sir Elliott, which he said should be criminally investigated since approval for such waivers needed to be given by both Cabinet and Parliament. “I am in a position to say that Mottley’s father would have applied to me for a waiver of the tax and it was truly outrageous for Elliott Mottley, with a daughter in Cabinet, to apply to me to waive that kind of tax for him,” the former Prime Minister explained, while stressing that no approval was given by him. Though stating that he did not know on whose authority the waiver was granted, Arthur suggested that there would have had to have been “a conspiracy to defraud the Treasury because a Minister of Finance said no to the tax waiver”. The former prime minister, who served between 1994 and 2008, also said had he been aware of the write-off, the perpetrator would have been fired. He also said he was equally unaware of the circumstances under which the Barclays waiver was granted, explaining that he had recused himself from that transaction due to the fact that he was shareholder in CIBC. However, in support of another disclosure made by Stuart last night, Arthur confirmed that he was being enticed by current BLP leader Mia Mottley, as well as political strategist Hartley Henry and a prime minister from another Caribbean Community country to sign the Petrocaribe oil deal with Venezuela in exchange for campaign financing from then Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. “The purpose of the meeting was to get me to agree to go to Venezuela to meet Hugo Chavez to arrange to get campaign financing for the Barbados Labour Party on condition that I would change the position that I held as Prime Minister of Barbados on Petrocaribe,” Arthur said. All CARICOM member states with the exception of Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados signed on to the Petrocaribe framework agreement back in June 2005, which allows countries to purchase oil on a delayed payment system. Arthur, who held a press conference this morning at Barbados TODAY’s Manor Lodge, St Michael office, said there was a record of the meeting in question. “The meeting was held at a house with Hartley Henry and the Prime Minister of the Caribbean country. Mr Stuart is in a position to speak to it because I called in the Venezuelan ambassador, so there is a record. “I also briefed my deputy Dale Marshall. I refused to go because there was no circumstance under which I was going to agree to surrender Barbados’ foreign policy for a campaign contribution. So the Barbados Labour Party had to do without that funding that year,” said Arthur, who revealed that the offer was in the millions of dollars. (BT)

DON’T MIND THE BLP CRITICS SAYS MASCOLL – Barbados Labour Party (BLP) economic advisor Clyde Mascoll is proposing that Government makes it mandatory for the hotel sector to pay a tax in foreign exchange in order to help shore up the island’s struggling international reserves. The economist put forward the idea on Monday as he stoutly defended the BLP’s plan to restructure the country’s debt while removing the National Social Responsibility Levy, scrapping the road tax for a tax at the pumps, and reducing the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 17.5 per cent back to 15 per cent after two years, should that party form the next Government after the May 24 general election. In its recently released manifesto, the BLP said it would also increase non-contributory pension, a plan which critics, including former Prime Minister Owen Arthur have dismissed as “pie in the sky” and “madness” that could force the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) into bankruptcy. However, taking part in a Barbados Economic Society (BES) forum today at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Plans for Economic Adjustment: Post General Election, Mascoll insisted that the BLP’s proposals were sound. “The notion that a policymaker would seek to bankrupt the NIS or seek to advise a Government with such recklessness is unfounded,” said Mascoll, while insisting that there was need for the tax system to be simplified, and anyone who did not understand the proposal of replacing the road tax with a tax at the pumps “must be someone who doesn’t want to listen”. Mascoll said in addition to the proposed changes in taxes, Government would also have to address the high debt and falling reserves through “a mixture of defensive attacks”. “We are proposing that there has to be some kind of reform, simplification of the tax system in a way that permits us to not only defend, but to attack,” he said, adding that the most sustainable way for growth in the economy would also require capital expenditure by Government and private sector investment. The university lecturer suggested that Government makes legislative changes in an effort to make hoteliers pay a tax in foreign currency, pointing out that there was speculation that the country was not getting enough of the earnings from the sector. “The taxation in tourism can be rejigged and altered in such a way that you ask or make the hoteliers pay a tax in foreign exchange. If there is a room tax on a hotel, the tourist pays that tax. A VAT should not discriminate,” he said. “What could be so wrong in asking the hoteliers to pay some of their tax in the form of foreign exchange. What will happen is that money then goes directly to the Central Bank through the Treasury. So you don’t have to wait until a commercial bank feels its okay to sell the Central Bank,” the former Central Bank employee said. He questioned why Government was reporting that the tourism sector was performing “extremely well”, but at the same time saying that global economic environment was “responsible for our plight”. “I have been trying to figure this out now for a decade. How it is that the external environment is responsible for Barbados’ bad position, but yet still tourism is growing. I have not yet been able to reason it out,” Mascoll said. In his presentation, leader of Solutions Barbados Grenville Phillips II warned that the country was on the brink of economic ruin, while insisting that it was a result of mismanagement on the part of successive Democratic Labour Party and BLP administrations. Highlighting the country’s high debt, and “excessive” borrowing by the last administration, Phillips suggested that if Government wanted to go to the IMF for assistance it should have done so “no later than 2009 when people still had sufficient savings to cushion the foreseen austerity”. He said three years ago Solutions Barbados had published its “non-austerity option” that would provide the island with “a surplus in our first year”, adding that it was independently assessed and deemed “workable”. Phillips said that economic plan did not require debt restructuring, but without giving details, said it would call for addressing “the structural issues in the economy”, “without laying off a single civil servant [and] without reducing any of their salaries”. It would also include the “elimination” of the VAT. However, Mascoll dismissed the plan, saying it was “voodoo economics” because it was impossible to realize a surplus without the VAT, which was one of Government’s most significant revenue earning measures. “I heard some voodoo economics earlier that you can get rid of a billion dollars in VAT and still have a surplus and there is no austerity. I need to find which planet I can go to in order to understand that economics,” said Mascoll. (BT)

MARSHALL SEES SOME VALUE IN BLP PLAN – At least one senior academic is not about to entirely dismiss the Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) highly criticized manifesto. Though warning that political parties had to be careful not to engage in any bait-and-switch schemes as they seek to entice the electorate to vote for them in the May 24 general election, Director and Senior Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute Dr Don Marshall told Barbados TODAY he felt that some aspects of the BLP’s plan were workable, while others just required a little bit of rejigging. “So I think a little tweaking here or there would suffice to make it more realistic,” Marshall said. During its manifesto launch on Thursday night in Kingsland, Christ Church, BLP economic advisor Clyde Mascoll explained that the party would abolish road tax and make it a requirement for vehicle owners to pay a small tax on gas. He also said that it was the BLP’s plan to increase non-contributory pension, remove tuition fees for Barbadians studying at the University of the West Indies (UWI), remove the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL), and reduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 17.5 per cent back to 15 per cent, should that party form the next Government. Reacting to the news today, Marshall told Barbados TODAY the planned removal of the NSRL was not a good strategy and since Government still needed to raise revenue, reprofiling the country’s debt was simply not enough. “I think if the Barbados Labour Partybecomes the Government it would do well to use the confidence provided by a new mandate, to think through the tax strategy that in the short-term would not lessen what we are currently taking in. I don’t think it needs to go towards a bait-and-switch strategy to woo voters. I think Barbadians are well advised and appreciate the need to bring in some revenue. There may be some ease in one or two areas, but certainly . . . abolishing the NSRL, that is not a good strategy,” Marshall insisted. The international political economist said while the plan to remove tuition fees for Barbadians studying at the UWI seemed attractive, it could do with some alteration. “The tuition fee could be a useful strategy. You could engage in a conversation of students paying back afterwards . . . . [It] would be to suggest restoring the full 100 per cent, but asking students to pay upon completion of their degree, the fees they are currently asked to pay, before starting their programmes,” he explained. Marshall however suggested that whichever administration forms the next Government “it will be a point for them to meet with key personnel from the United Progressive Party and Solutions Barbados to discuss plans on the way forward”. “I don’t think any of the leaders of the parties could pretend that they have all the answers, nor do I think they would want to appoint International Monetary Fund officials to do the imagining for them,” he said, while cautioning that the public sector should be repurposed before any attempt to cut expenditure. (BT)

LOWE: MORE FISCAL MEASURES NEEDED – The need for more fiscal measures will not vanish after next week’s General Election, says Barbados Economic Society (BES) president Shane Lowe. Speaking yesterday at a national economic debate hosted by the BES and the Chartered Financial Analysts Society of Barbados at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Lowe said: “Given the need to boost capital works to enhance physical infrastructure and few sources of financing, a new administration will need to cut current expenditure and/or raise tax revenues more than the existing fiscal gap to sustainably balance the budget and provide enough room to finance necessary infrastructure upgrades.” The bad news, he added, was that “more austerity could further slow growth of the Barbadian economy unless private sector investment rebounds”. “Thus, improved conditions for doing business and the courage to facilitate innovation in new and exciting economic sectors are necessary to enable economic recovery,” he said. Lowe also said that “without substantial growth in financial inflows, planned debt service payments will likely further reduce the stock of foreign exchange reserves”. Participating in the debate, United Progressive Party spokesman Bruce Hennis said his party’s strategy for the economy would focus on the export of creative services. “The net effect is to become an export-led, highly innovative, high growth economy where we are earning foreign exchange and having a high level of growth within the economy itself,” he said. Solutions Barbados leader Grenville Phillips II said his party, if elected, would address structural issues affecting the economy. “We have costed our proposals, [and we] would run a surplus without laying off a single civil servant, without reducing any salaries and while we eliminate [value added tax] . . . . There would be no austerity,” he said. (DN)

CHRIS: I WILL NOT BE BULLIED - How Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler will respond to threats to sue him unless he withdraws “defamatory statements” by today is unclear. His lawyers are dealing with the matter, the Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) candidate said yesterday, as he declined to comment on the issue involving Nigerian billionaire Benedict Peters, who it has now been confirmed was in Barbados in 2016. On Sunday night during the DLP mass meeting at Carlisle Car Park, The City, Sinckler revealed that Queen’s Counsel Leslie Haynes had sent him a letter accusing him of defaming Peters, the founder of the Aiteo Group, at the DLP’s launch meeting at Waterford, St Michael, on May 6. The letter stated: “In particular, you alleged that my client met with ‘the leadership of the Barbados Labour Party at the Hilton Hotel’ and the said leadership was seeking to get money from my client. You further suggested that my client was ‘funneling money into the Barbados elections just like the Russians were putting money in the American elections’. You categorically stated that ‘Nigerian money is trying to influence the outcome of the election’, clearly suggesting that my client is the source of such money. “Most egregiously, you made references to Boko Haram, a notoriously renowned Islamic terrorist organisation, and so interspersed references to my client by name as to suggest that he is involved with that organisation.” He listed and denied the allegations in the letter. “In their natural, ordinary and innuendo meanings, your words mean and were understood to mean that:

(a) My client is seeking improperly to influence the outcome of the 2018 General Elections;

(b) He is providing large sums of money to the Barbados Labour Party for the purpose of influencing the outcome of the said elections;

(d) He is a criminal or has criminal propensities and/or is associated with Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist organisation that kidnaps schoolgirls;

(e) He is anti-democracy and is prepared to use his money for the improper purpose of influencing the outcome of elections. “The words used by you are completely false, baseless and malicious. They constitute a serious and grave defamation of my client personally and professionally. They have caused my client great hurt, distress and international embarrassment.” Peters’ name first came to light when Sinckler said he visited Barbados and met with Mottley, which Sinckler questioned. On Sunday night the first tangible evidence of Peters’ presence on the island came to light with the letter. “He [Peters] instructs me that he met with Ms Mottley while on a family vacation in Barbados and the two discussed global affairs and investment opportunities in Barbados and the wider Caribbean. Furthermore, that since that meeting, back in September of 2016, he has not met with or had any contact with Ms Mottley or any member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). “Indeed, he does not today have a phone number, email address nor other direct contact information for Ms Mottley or any member of the leadership of the BLP, and has definitely not contributed, in cash or kind, to the campaign of the BLP, neither before nor since that meeting in September 2016,” the letter stated. That part prompted Sinckler to query why Peters didn’t meet with Government officials. The letter concluded: “I call upon you on or before 15 May 2018, to withdraw and retract the defamatory statements and their imputations made by you and apologise to my client in terms to be approved by me, for your defamation of him. “If you do not comply with the demands in the preceding paragraph, please be advised that my client will forthwith take such action against you as he may be advised, including commencing proceedings in the High Court of Barbados for damages, an injunction and legal costs. In the meantime, my client reserves all his rights in this matter.” Sinckler tore up the copy of the letter and said he would not be bullied into silence. “I born here, my navel string bury here, and nobody can come from Nigeria and try to bully me,” he declared. (DN)

SINCKLER PRESENTS CONSTITUENCY MANIFESTO – Chris Sinckler formally presented his manifesto to constituents in St Michael North West tonight while proclaiming he had ten years of strong parliamentary representation. Waving the booklet Ten Years Strong at the platform mounted at Free Hill, Black Rock, St Michael, Sinckler said that over the course of his two terms 18 roads had been repaired or new ones constructed. He also invoked the name of his predecessor Lawson Weekes, the longest-serving member of Parliament for the area and in whose name the branch developed a scholarship programme. Sinckler said out of that programme hundreds of children benefited and some received school supplies. He responded to comments about his giving away iPads, televisions and other devices by pointing out that his staff solicited the items from others. He said last Christmas the office gave away 750 hampers in the constituency and held a 1000-strong Christmas party. "When you have the best you don't worry about the rest. We are not going back. I ask humbly for your continued support," he concluded. His presentation was followed by candidates James Paul, Steve Blackett and Michael Carrington who praised Sinckler and encouraged the members of the constituency to re-elect him. (DN)

INCE: DLP HELPS POOR PEOPLE – Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St George North Jepter Ince said he was surprised that John King, Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate for St Philip West, decided to join the BLP when he and his family are supposedly strong DLP supporters. Ince was the first speaker at a DLP meeting at St Patrick’s, Christ Church. He added that the DLP is always selected as the party of choice to bring the country out of a crossroads. He said that history shows that the DLP, especially during the oil crisis of 1974 to 76, helped poor people put food on the table. (DN)

BLP TACKLES ISSUES IN VILLA ROAD – The Barbados Labour Party mounted one of its platforms in Villa Road, Brittons Hill, St Michael tonight. Among those speaking was incumbent for St James Central Kerrie Symmonds who produced a 2012 letter which he claimed was from Preconco’s managing director Mark Maloney to the director of the National Housing Corporation. In that letter, Symmonds said Maloney asked government to let him complete housing units with tiles and kitchen components before putting them on the market. Symmonds suggested this was evidence that the Democratic Labour Party-led government was prepared to rent incomplete units to people. Meanwhile, candidate for St Michael South Central Marsha Caddle said there needed to be a greater look at how young people are handled in the judicial system. She said a BLP government would look at controversial acts such as the recently amended Police Act and possibly have them repealed. Also speaking was party leader Mia Mottley who announced the BLP would be engaging in a National First Job Initiative in order to give young people the chance to learn on the job. (DN)

NO SOLUTION – Do not entertain the International Monetary Fund (IMF)! That advice has come from Solutions Barbados’ candidate for St Philip South Ronald Lorde, who has warned that any relationship entered with that financial institution would lead to the downfall of Barbados. “I remember hearing one of the parties currently on a quest to become the next Government saying they have not ruled out the IMF, but I want you to rule them out. “Be sure that they are not your next Government. I want you to ensure that Solutions Barbados is the next Government because our tax policies, our policy on education, our policy on agriculture and energy will ensure a better Barbados for us all,” Lorde said during a spot meeting at Country View Estates Recreational Park in St Patrick’s, Christ Church yesterday evening. His comments come in the wake of a pronouncement made last Thursday by the leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Mia Mottley that she is not afraid to go to the IMF route if that were required to turn the ailing Barbados economy around. Unveiling her party’s manifesto at Kingsland, Christ Church ahead of the May 24 general elections, Mottley, who is confident of winning, said while such a decision could only be made after an assessment of the true state of the economy, she was prepared to make the tough call if she had to. “I said it before that we would do whatever is necessary, that is legal and moral, to rescue this country. Does that mean going to the IMF? It may, we don’t know. But when we get the results in the first few days [of taking office], we will be able to make the judgement,” Mottley said, while pointing out that Barbados had gone to the IMF before and that each time it had done so, the economy rebounded. “The IMF was set up for purposes such as this and that is why you heard [former Prime Minister] Owen Arthur in Parliament months ago talking about it; that is why you heard of Tom Adams going in 1981 and Erskine Sandiford going to the Fund and each time, Barbados came out of it. The IMF is not the only way, but it allows us the confidence to deal with partners and capital markets,” Mottley explained. However, Lorde cautioned that “if we wait or depend on the IMF, which obviously means an increase in debt, it means a further stranglehold around our necks. “It means we are going to struggle a little more, it means that we are going to have to do without the things which we so love. It means we are going hand in glove to somebody else who will determine our own future when I believe as a country we need to determine our own future.” Also addressing the Country View meeting, the St Michael South candidate for Solutions Barbados Paul Gibson dismissed as “an open book”, the BLP’s manifesto in which it promises to abolish tuition fees for Barbadian students attending the University of the West Indies, as well as road tax and the dreaded National Social Responsibility Levy in addition to granting a pay hike or cost of living allowance to public servants as well as a hike in old age pensions. In fact, Gibson advised eligible voters to dismiss the BLP altogether. “I want you to be very sober and very aware. Do not go behind the BLP. As a matter of fact run from them, run away from them,” Gibson said. “The reason you have to run away from the BLP is because you are being hoodwinked and fooled. They made us feel like they were the saviours and they had a solution to fix Barbados, but they do not have a solution. “I’m sorry to tell you, but they brought out a book with nothing in it. They brought a book with no fix. They brought a book and suggested they had the answers, but it is all smoke,” he added. Gibson warned that if the BLP were elected, between 10, 000 and 15, 000 public servants would lose their jobs as the party turns to the IMF for a financial bailout. “They are making a lot of promises that cannot be kept. They are asking Barbadians to follow after them, but it is all aboard over a cliff! “Look, be very, very careful. Be warned . . . Mia cares for herself as far as I am concerned. The reason why I say that is because you cannot be seriously thinking of directing Barbados and taking us to the IMF,” Gibson said. (BT)

TAXI DRIVERS GIVE THUMBS DOWN TO BLP ROAD TAX PLAN – One of the key planks of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) election campaign is proving unpopular with taxi operators in Broad Street, Bridgetown. The BLP’s pledge to abolish road tax and replace it with a tax on petrol is not going down well with the taxi drivers, some of whom have dismissed it as an election gimmick. “It is total nonsense because public service vehicles going to have problems. I have no problem paying road tax when the year comes and then putting in gas in my car,” one operator who referred to himself as Rockweller told Barbados TODAY. “She [BLP leader Mia Mottley] is making promises that she cannot keep. She is making madman promises. I feel she going mad. She promising things, but one minute you saying that the country in this amount of debt and then all of a sudden you can do all of these things. She gine mad, that is what I have to say,” he stressed. The sentiments among those who spoke to Barbados TODAY, most of them anonymously, were similar. The general feeling was that the BLP was seeking to attract votes by offering carrots that could not be sustained. “I feel it is just a catch to get votes. I believe that to remove the tax from vehicles will do some serious damage. So I do not feel that that one gine make sense. It is a political catch. It might not materialize,” one driver, who did not want to be identified, said. Clyde Mascoll, the BLP’s economic advisor, said at the launch of the party’s manifesto last Thursday night that the road tax would be replaced by a fairer tax on petrol, which would ensure that those who made greater use of the island’s road bear the greater burden. “We are abolishing the road tax. However, we can’t be irresponsible so what we are going to do is shift the tax towards the business community. Those people, who use the road most, should pay most. It is called equity and justice. We are going to transfer the road tax to a small tax on fuel so those that are on the road all day with heavy vehicles would pay proportionally,” Mascoll said. However, one taxi operator who identified himself as Tony, said the petrol tax would be particularly damaging to those involved in freighting and the taxi service. “I would say that road tax done is bear foolishness for the average taxi person and the persons who doing shovelling and those sort of things. It is going to be an expense to those persons. Also, persons who doing freighting it is going to be an expense to those persons,” Tony said, while suggesting that the cost of living would increase significantly. “Automatically the cost of living will go up because businesses that used to do freighting and so on will put on a charge for that. So automatically you are saying it is an expense to them. So they are going to be saying ‘it is an expense to us, so we have to get back our money’. I think they have to reconsider that,” he said, adding that the incumbent Democratic Labour Party had already imposed taxes on petroleum products. “Right now this present Government has put tax on it so I guess if that is the way they got to go, that is the way that they have to go. But if you say that you are going to finish with road tax and put it towards gas it is a no-no. It is not a good thing at all and I think they need to rethink that.” (BT)

ANGLICAN CHURCH STILL DIVIDED OVER NEW BISHOP – After two sittings separated by19 days and 16 hours of voting, the Anglican Church here is no closer to electing a bishop to lead the Barbadian flock. The House of Clergy and the House of Laity aborted yet another attempt today, having failed to reach consensus after six hours of voting. They ended today in the same position as they did on April 25 after ten hours of voting and four ballots at the Ivan Harewood Centre of the Christ Church Parish Church to choose a successor to the retired John Holder. As it did back then, the laity continued to throw its support behind youthful candidate Rev John Rogers, 45, rector of St George Parish Church, while the clergy backed his senior, Dr Jeffrey Gibson, 61, dean of The Cathedral of St Michael’s and All Angels. When it was clear that they could not break the deadlock, Diocesan Administrator Canon Wayne Isaacs, who chaired the proceedings, outlined the four options – to continue voting today, invite further nominations, refer the voting to a selection committee or adjourn until a date to be determined. The group chose the latter, however Isaacs made it clear if the two houses remained divided for much longer, the Anglican Synod would have to decide. “We have up to August to select [a bishop]. If in six months time we don’t select, we would go to the House of Bishops. The other option is to send it to a select committee and they would have a longer time . . . 12 months [to decide],” he explained. In order to be elected bishop, the winner must secure 53 votes from the laity and 55 from the clergy. While Rogers secured 54 laity votes at the end of the first ballot today, compared to 24 for Gibson, he fell way short of receiving the required two-thirds of the clergy votes, polling 33 to 49 by Gibson. The youthful Rogers lost one clergy vote in the second ballot, which went to Gibson, but kept his 54 laity votes, although Gibson added two more. The results for the third ballot were not available up to the time of publication. Asked to comment on suggestions that the Anglican Church now stands seriously divided by failing to find consensus for a second time, Isaacs said: “I suspect people might think so, but we have to allow the process to run its course. I know people would not be happy but, you know…” Among the House of Clergy were a number of retired priests, well advanced in age, including one in his 90s, and some of whom were physically disabled, including a blind cleric. Also showing up to vote was former Governor General Sir Elliott Belgrave, who needed help walking. (BT)

EBC FINALLY REGISTERS ST LUCIAN ACADEMIC – St Lucian professor Eddy Ventose and three other Commonwealth citizens who had sued the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) for refusing to include their names on the electoral list, have finally registered to vote in the May 24 general election in Barbados. Chief Electoral Officer Angela Taylor was ordered yesterday by the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to ensure that Ventose, the principal applicant in the class action suit, was registered before noon today or risk imprisonment and/or fines. “All of the litigants in the matter have been registered and have received confirmation that they are on the voters’ list,” attorney Gregory Nicholls, who is part of the legal team representing the litigants, told Barbados TODAY this afternoon. Nicholls said since the lawsuit was filed, a number of Commonwealth citizens had contacted the legal team advising that they had registered but their names did not appear on the voters’ list, adding that he was not certain about their fate. “It doesn’t appear as though that the other Commonwealth citizens who would have registered during the special registration period have been put on the list. So that I am not certain what would be the issue or how the issue would be resolved tomorrow, because once the list is published, they are not going to be able to vote. The electoral department would therefore have to explain why people who have applied during the special registration period and who otherwise qualified were not put on the list,” he added. The attorney said this case had no implications for Barbadians and other Commonwealth citizens living in other Commonwealth countries since “Barbadians all over the world who are in other Commonwealth countries vote ordinarily without any hiccup at all”. “It seem that the electoral department was being advised by people who are ignorant as to the basis for which the Commonwealth as a grouping of nations gave that right to each others’ citizens who are resident for a qualifying period of time in another country of the Commonwealth,” Nicholls pointed out. The legal counsel said it was as a result of that ignorance that the EBC had taken the law into its own hands and decided not to register citizens from other Commonwealth countries. “That is really, really regrettable because . . . I can tell you, I registered when I was in Trinidad and Tobago as a student. I know a lot of students who are currently in the UK and Canada since we started this case who indicated that the mere fact that they are studying overseas in a Commonwealth country, allowed them to register in Canada and the UK, and that has always been the case,” he stressed. In handing down its judgment yesterday, the CCJ declared in the ruling read by President Sir Dennis Byron, that it was satisfied the legal and regulatory conditions for Ventose’s registration had been met. Ventose had stated that he was qualified and entitled to be registered to vote, but his registration was consistently refused. The Court of Appeal here had, on Tuesday May 8, 2018, ruled that the professor of administrative law at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies was qualified to be registered to vote. However, it stopped short of compelling the EBC to place him on the register of voters, instead giving the Chief Electoral Officer 24 hours to make a determination on his application. When the EBC again failed to register Ventose, he took the matter to the CCJ, which said its decision should also resolve the matter for 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 law. “The longstanding policy of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission in relation to Commonwealth citizens to register as electors only those persons who are Barbadian citizens, permanent residents or holders of immigrant status is unlawful and ultra vires,” Sir Byron declared in the judgment. It was in February that Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson ruled that Commonwealth citizens who meet the requirements under the Representation of the People Act had a right to vote here. He had said that any decision to exclude the four Commonwealth citizens would be in violation of the Act, which does not make it mandatory for the applicants to be permanent residents, immigrants or citizens of Barbados in order to vote. “Only the Parliament of Barbados has the power to insert those conditions,” Sir Marston said then, while explaining that the only requirements needed for a Commonwealth citizen to vote in Barbados was for that person to be a resident here for three years, and living in the constituency in which they are desirous of voting for three months.” When contacted Brian Barrow, who is an attorney and an EBC commissioner, said he had no comment to make on the CCJ ruling. (BT)

MAN DENIES BEATING WOMAN OVER DLP POSTER – He admitted to beating the mother of his two young children, but Jamal Terry Blackman denied he did so because she read a Democratic Labour Party poster. Blackman, 24, of Colleton, St Lucy, pleaded guilty in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court today to assaulting Chevianne Pitt-Seale on May 12, 2018. And while he said he was under the influence of alcohol, Blackman said the incident occurred following an argument about her ex-boyfriend. Earlier, prosecutor Sergeant Cameron Gibbons in giving the facts, said the couple went out to a bus crawl where they both consumed alcoholic beverages. When it was finished they got a ride to Eagle Hall and decided to walk home from there. As they approached Carrington Village, the complainant read aloud the slogan from a DLP poster, causing Blackman to get angry. On reaching home she fell asleep, but was awoken by a blow to the body. When she looked up she saw Blackman over her. At that point, he reportedly began to hit her across her face and choke her. Her mother heard the commotion and intervened, separating the two. An enraged Blackman then told her, “You are going to dead in here tonight”, before grabbing her throat again. During that struggle he also bit her above the right eye, the right ear, upper back and right hand. In offering an apology, Blackman said the commotion started after he questioned her about rumours surrounding her former boyfriend. He said he had no recollection of her reading a DLP poster. “I apologize for my actions. I was very upset,” he said. There was no objection to bail for the first-time offender and the magistrate granted him $3,000 bail. As part of his conditions he has to stay away from the complainant. “Stay away from the drinks because it obviously impairs your memory and your judgement,” Cuffy-Sargeant told him. He returns to court on Friday. (BT)

PHILLIPS SENTENCED TO COMMUNITY SERVICE – After being held with cannabis, Dane Raheem Phillips pleaded with the arresting officer to give him a chance. And while that officer didn’t prove to be very forgiving, Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant extended an olive branch to the first-time offender today. When he appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court today, the 22-year-old, of #744, Kingsland Terrace, Christ Church, was sentenced to 120 hours of community service after admitting to having the illegal drug in his possession on Sunday. Police prosecutor Sergeant Cameron Gibbons had earlier told the court that lawmen were patrolling Bibbys Lane when they had reason to stop and search the accused. When they searched his right front pants pocket they found 28 transparent Ziplock bags which contained vegetable matter. “I does smoke. Give me a chance,” was his response when asked to give an account of the drugs. After he apologized to the court and begged for leniency, Cuffy-Sergeant chose not to fine or incarcerate him. She gave him until October 12 to complete the community service. (BT)

ONWARD MARCH – Former three-time kings Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme continued to take charge of zone two with yet another comfortable victory last night, this time 2-0 over University of the West Indies Blackbirds in the Barbados Football Association’s Premier League. The soldiers attacked with two early goals in the opening half when the league continued at the BFA’s Wildey, St Michael AstroTurf. UWI never looked settled and BDFSP took advantage breaking down their defence barriers and grabbing hold of any opportunity that presented itself. The rain certainly did play its part, but the diminutive Omani Leacock did not fail to score under wet conditions for BDFSP. That goal resulted from a combination of two right flank passes that found striker Leacock for the finishing touch in the 14th minute from the six-yard box. Coach Asquith Howell was clearly pleased with those delightful passes and it did not take long for his men to secure goal number two as UWI’s defensive third was found napping yet again and allowed an unmarked T-Shane Lorde to hammer home a shot from inside the 18-yard box. University’s defence led by the experience Tito Beckles was all over the place and just couldn’t control the set plays by the BDFSP. They did not only struggle on defence but also found the going tough on offence even with their ace marksman Mario Harte giving it his all upfront. Harte kept national defenders Shane Codrington and Ranaldo Bailey busy and even at times came up against national attacking midfielder Rashad Jules in what was an exciting battle between the two former teammates when Harte previously captained BDFSP and the senior national team. (BT)

TULL, SIMMS ARE TOP NINJAS – Homeboy Levar Tull emerged as the champion of the Barbados Ninja Throw Down in a time of three minutes and seven seconds when the competition now in its third year was held at Featherbed Lane, St George over the weekend. Competing for the very first time, it was sheer skills, agility and determination that led the 36-year-old Tull being crowned king of the ninja showdown having conquered several obstacles to claim the BDS$3, 000 cash prize. The one-day event which was rain-affected on Saturday evening ended up being a two-day affair when organizer Delano Hinds was forced to postpone the competition until Sunday morning when a modest crowd returned to witness who the eventual winner would be. Tull was able to defy several obstacles to complete the course and in so doing dethroned last year’s champion Lee Knight who was third this time around in three minutes and 47 seconds while Darren Perez’ three minutes and 13 seconds earned him the silver. Speaking with media after his performance, Tull who is not associated with any gym but utilizes his uncle’s backyard to train said he was determined to finish the course no matter what. “My aim was just to make it to the end and the fact that I did claim the fastest time is a bonus. I had practice on evenings, had a couple of walkthroughs, we still had gym sessions, so it was a lot of hard work. The course was fantastic, a lot of fun, all the obstacles are not made to beat you but challenge you. So, I found that everything was well put together,” Tull said. The obstacles included Morgan Lewis Wheels, Ragged Point Teeter Tot, Cattlewash Stepping Stones, Walaba Log Posts, Green Monkey Bars 2.0, Garrison Spider Wall, Joe River Jump, Hackletons Cliff Net Climb, River Bay Log Roll, Pico Tenerife Peg Board, Charles Fort Cannon Balls and Mount Hillaby. This year attracted quite a few overseas participants and in the adult female section, Grace Simms from South Carolina won the women’s clash clocking three minutes and 50 seconds despite not completing the course but proceeded a lot further than her rivals and ended at the Ragged Point Teeter Tot obstacle. In fact, the top three finishers in the women’s failed to finish the course as Natalie Duran stopped at the Ragged Point Teeter Tot in three minutes and 33 seconds for second place. Charity Lebanc made it as far as the River Bay Log Roll in two minutes and 38 seconds for the third position. The 31-year old Simms has been competing at Ninja events for the past four years but felt ecstatic to compete for the very first time in Barbados and win. “I thought it was a really fun course, I went too slow, so, unfortunately, I did not get to go as far as I would have liked but next time I would try to pick up the speed and do a few more obstacles. But I am excited to win, I mean it could have been anyone of us girls to win because we all did amazingly, some of the other girls were way faster than me and just happened to slip up, so I got lucky basically,” she said. When asked to give her views about the course and participating, Simms explained: “I was extremely worried about falling, so I really took my time and went super slow which slowed my time down. All this stuff you had to hang from I felt good about because I am a rock climber. My husband and I are building a gym in South Carolina right now because the closest one to us is three hours away, so we are excited to build the gym. It is going to be called Motive School of Movement and then we would be able to train a lot more.” The younger ninjas were also in action and in the males 13 to 17 age group, Tyriek Knight won in three minutes 20 seconds, followed by Nathan Clinton in three minutes ten seconds and Christopher Hayward, one minute and 32 seconds. In the 13 to 17 for females, Saffire Fields won in 39 seconds as she did not get past the first ragged point teeter tot. In the boys eight to 12, Slade Jones had the winning time of a minute and 58 seconds, Jaden Johnson three minutes 43 seconds was second and Charlie Durant finished in three minutes and 43 seconds for third. Charlee Collins’ four minutes and three seconds topped the girls’ eight to 12 age group, Jaleesa Gaynes was second in five minutes and 14 seconds and Hannah Toppin was third in five minutes and 39 seconds. (BT)

BCC’S APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED – The Barbados Community College has extended the deadline for applications for the 2018-2019 academic year. Applications may now be submitted up until Friday, June 8, for a number of programmes. Those interested may visit the College’s website at www.bcc.edu.bb for further details. Forms may also be collected from the Office of Student Affairs, Barbados Community College, Eyrie, Howells Road, St Michael, between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., or downloaded from the College’s website. Queries may also be made by calling 426-2858 or emailing [email protected]. (DN)

EBC TO FUNCTION AS INFORMATION CENTRE ON POLLING DAY – The Electoral Department, Warrens Tower II, Warrens, St Michael, will function as an Information Centre, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Polling Day, to assist electors in locating their polling stations. For information on the location of his/her polling station, a voter should call 535-4800 or 535-4853. In addition, voters may call 535-4875 and enter his/her identification number on the keypad, or visit the website www.electoral.barbados.gov.bb. and engage the chatbot. (BGIS)

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