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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 2/14/2019

Good MORNING & HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Thursday 14th February 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

TRANSPORT BOARD FUNDING CUT BY A THIRD – In the clearest indication yet that Barbadians could face a rise in bus fares and likely more private operators in mass transit, Government has slashed its subsidy to the Transport Board by one-third – even as the state bus company plans a new electric fleet to replace its dwindled and aging stock. In the Estimates of Government’s spending and revenue targets for the next financial year, laid in Parliament on Tuesday, the cash-strapped bus company is to get $15.8 million, cut by $7.5 million from the 2018/2019 fiscal year. The subvention to the Transport Board is “to assist with offsetting the operational cost”. The cut is in keeping with the mandate to cut transfers to state-owned enterprises under the IMF-backed austerity plan known as BERT. While not indicating an imminent fare hike, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has already said the $2 fare for any journey on public transport would inevitably end – even as she rejected notions of a $5 bus fare. Mottley had given the assurance that pensioners and police officers would continue to ride free on Transport Board buses. “Will we have to sensibly review what the Transport Board and the minibus and ZR drivers get? Yes, we would,” she said during a joint media conference with the International Monetary Fund last year. Mottley said: “We are sensitive to people’s plight and that is why there will not be a $5 bus fare in Barbados. But we have to increase the bus fare from the $2. And the Government will continue to maintain its role to support those who cannot carry that cost as we have always done.” The 2019/2020 Estimates also made provision for a $1.58 million grant to the state regulator, the Transport Authority, for spending on improvement to public transport. But this is also a roughly one-third reduction from the $2.12 million received in the previous fiscal year which ends on March 31. At the same time, the Transport Board is to get $400,000 for capital works at Roebuck Street, Mangrove, Fairchild Street, Speightstown and Princess Alice bus terminals and depots – the same amount approved last year. Overall, the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance is earmarked for $120.66 million for the new financial year, which begins on April 1, an increase of about $16 million for the last financial year. The Transport Board, which is currently experiencing a severe fleet shortage, is in the process of introducing between 120 and 180 electric buses over the next 18 months. At the same time, Williams Industries is to embark on a pilot project with the state bus company to retrofit some of its redundant buses into electric-powered vehicles. (BT)

ENOUGH – Several teachers at the Ellerton Primary School stayed off the job today in an apparent response to the Ministry of Education’s perceived failure to adequately address their security concerns. Barbados TODAY understands that earlier this week and for the second time in as many months, a seemingly mentally unstable man barged onto the premises. Barbados TODAY visited the school, which currently has neither perimeter fencing nor a security guard, but was unable to ascertain if classes were disrupted by the absences. On January 7, the man, who was later picked up by police, barged onto the compound, alarming teachers as they were attending a meeting in preparation for the start of the school term. On Monday the man returned, this time coming into contact with students, who were reportedly terrified by the encounter. “Luckily no one was attacked. The first time it happened it was planning day so no children were around but children were around on Monday. This time around he was spinning around in some incoherent manner and also had a conversation or two with some of the children. The kids were quite shaken by the ordeal,” said one teacher, who did not want to be identified. Another teacher said, “This situation cannot be allowed to continue because these are people’s children that are being put at risk. That’s all I have to say.” On this occasion teachers and their bargaining agent, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT), were not satisfied with the reactionary response, calling in the police or dispatching officers from the Ministry of Education to the school. “So far the ministry’s response has been to send an officer who comes and takes notes and we have to wait and see. So yes some of the teachers stayed off of the job, that was their response and I have been in conversation with a few of the officers,” said BUT president Sean Spencer. Back in January Spencer had lamented that the school in question has been without a proper perimeter fence for over ten years. “The fence has been very porous. It could be one where you could say that the poles and the fence have long divorced and gone their separate ways,” Spencer said. The union boss said at the time that the incident brought into sharp focus teachers’ concern regarding the security at the island’s schools and he queried whether a more serious incident would have to take place for measures at schools to be urgently improved. “And it really and truly is not a tenable situation. The teaching fraternity is really and truly highly desirous of seeing that these needs be addressed urgently . . . and we are going to have to look into this matter more thoroughly,” he promised. (BT)

GAIA PARTNER SEARCH – Government’s plans to partially privatise operations at Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) are about to move a step further. Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds said he would be seeking Cabinet’s approval, at today’s meeting, to put out a worldwide tender for the creation of a public-private sector partnership for the operation and expansion of the airport. This was in keeping with proposals in the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan. “It is known that we intend to work with the International Finance Corporation, which is essentially the private sector arm of the World Bank, to give us [that] kind of technical expertise because Barbados does not possess it,” he said. (DN)

GOVT EXPLORING PARTNERSHIP TO RUN AIRPORT – Ministers are to consider a proposal to begin a worldwide search for a private firm to partner with Government to run the Grantley Adams International Airport, Minister of International Transport Kerrie Symmonds has revealed. Symmonds is to present the plan for a public/private partnership when Cabinet meets in weekly session tomorrow. Symmonds, who launched a project to rehabilitate the airport’s pavement and expand its near 40-year-old terminal at the Caribbean Development Bank’s Wildey headquarters this morning, maintained that the move is critical to develop and expand the island’s lone airport. He said it was necessary to seek a worldwide tender as Barbados did not possess the technical knowledge for such an initiative. Government, he added, was also not in a financial position to develop the airport on its own and would therefore need assistance. Symmonds said: “It is known that we intend to work with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is essentially the private sector arm of the World Bank and the world’s leading developmental institution, to give us the kind of technical expertise because Barbados does not possess it in a matter of this nature. “It lends not only to an improved operation efficiency, but for our purposes in Barbados it is critical because of the capacity constraints. Our two terminals, the arrival and departure lounges are literally bursting at the seams and we cannot continue in this vein…substantial developmental work has to be done and the country is not in a financial position where we can add that to one of the several guarantees that the Government of Barbados has been asked to make.” The civil aviation Minister said this would not be the first such partnership in the Caribbean as Suriname, St Maarten, Jamaica and Martinique had also entered public/private partnerships to operate their airports. But he insisted that while the concessionaire would be granted a lease of between 20 to 30 years, the airport would remain government property. Symmonds said: “The proposal will be that the concessionaire, once identified, would be given an operational lease for a period of 20 to 30 years so that they have a reasonable time to have a return on their investment. The ownership of the airport will remain with the Government and people of Barbados and at the end of the period of the operational lease the control of the airport will revert to the [airport].” He also said the time had come for Grantley Adams to find ways of making additional revenue. While studies by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) showed than an average airport in North America and Asia had non-aeronautical revenues of around 60 per cent, in Barbados it was 25 per cent, he said. Symmonds said the large plot of land surrounding the airport needed to be used efficiently. He said: “We need to have substantially greater returns on our capacity to see the aviation sector first and the airport as a vehicle within the aviation sector secondly, giving this country greater revenue. “As far as I’m concerned it is unacceptably low, but yet we have tremendous potential…we have acres and acres of airport land which we have not utilized, but which has the potential for a number of things such as a hotel, car rental facility, aviation related industry, maintenance repairs and operations. “All those things usually bring revenue to airports. Those things are the things we are not doing and if we are to seriously speak the language of growth in Barbados and seriously speak the language of transformation and development in Barbados then the hour has come when there has to be a fundamental, philosophical rethinking of the process.” Speaking on the CDB-funded Pavement Rehabilitation and Expansion Project, Symmonds said the $80.8 million loan would be used to resurface the 2.8 mile long runway, allowing for larger commercial planes to land at the airport. He said this would allow large commercial jets such as the Airbus A380 to be able to land at the airport. The Minister said: “The pavement work is not only going to resurface the runway, but also the taxiways and the parking aprons and lend us capacity in the context of making us able now to play host to the Airbus A380 which is the largest piece of equipment being used in commercial travel.” Symmonds gave his assurance that operations at the airport would not be compromised, with the majority of work scheduled to be done between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. He said while the project had not yet gone out to tender, he was hoping that would be done early next month. Symmonds said once that was completed it was expected that construction would begin around May. (BT)

BETTER DEAL ON THE WAY FOR PORT TAXIS – A better deal is coming for taxis operating inside the Bridgetown Port that should see them getting a larger slice of the cruise tourism pie. Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds yesterday disclosed that a plan was in train that would give the taxis inside the Bridgetown Port the opportunity to operate “bespoke tours” by next winter season. “We are trying to make the pie more inclusive so that there is an opportunity to share economically in the cruise business,” he told the NATION. Giving the details, he said the small taxi operators “will be able to have their own connection to the cruise line and they will be able to take people on tours, whether it be for beach and adventure purposes, or whether it may be for a wellness tour experience”. He added four categories of tours had so far been identified and they should begin around October or November this year. (DN)

SYMMONDS BAULKS AT CENTRAL BANK FIGURES ON TOURISM PERFORMANCE – Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds has flatly contradicted the Central Bank Governor’s declaration of a weak performance by the tourism industry in the last quarter of 2018, when the winter season began. But the Minister also accepted that depending on what dates were used as the parameter for measuring the performance, there was a possibility of a slight decline. “I have no idea where the Central Bank Governor got this information,” Symmonds told Barbados TODAY. Contrary to Haynes’s statement at last month’s news conference, the Minister declared a “bumper year” which had spilled over into January. Symmonds said: “I personally asked the Governor from whence it came and what he was guided by. He assured me that it would have to be a misrepresentation, but I cannot ascertain what the basis of that would be.” As he reviewed the economy for 2018 last month, Haynes told journalists that tourism’s sub-par performance was largely responsible for the economy shrinking a further 0.1 per cent to 0.6 per cent over the final three months. The governor said cruise visitors for the year fell by almost 10 per cent while the rate of growth for tourism had fallen 0.6 per cent. But Symmonds insisted: “Our end of year figures for December 2018 would indicate that tourism in Barbados would have grown in spite of all the odds.” He said although the issues surrounding the South Coast sewage spillage had led to four source markets issuing travel advisories against Barbados last February, the industry had still managed to thrive. During the Test match between England and the West Indies at Kensington Oval it was almost impossible to get a hotel bed in Barbados, he added. Symmonds told Barbados TODAY: “We overcame that. In terms of cruise tourism I think that was flat, but it certainly was not able to reflect the suggestion that the Governor is making. It was a bumper December and January has continued in the same vein. “I know that it is an unquestionable fact that out of the United Kingdom we have had the second best ever year of performance on record. Out of the United States we broke all previous records and had the best year ever and in terms of Canada’s long stay arrivals it has been the third best year on record. “So I am not sure where the statistical data came from or what informed it or what even was the cutoff point.” But the Minister acknowledged that if October or the start of November was used as a cutoff point, there was a possibility an argument could be made that there appeared to be a decline. Yet, Symmonds said he was not too concerned about those statistics. What was much more important, he declared, was the need to get tourists to open their wallets and spend more freely. He said: “I don’t worry too much about the numbers. I think what we have to look at really and truly is the spend and all that I’ve been saying especially with regards to the cruise sector has been aimed at trying to get the Barbadians who are involved in craft, in vending and watersports activities to get their act together, to up their game. “It all resonates in terms of spend and this country desperately needs the spend from our tourists if we are going to continue to maintain and sustain the quality of life that we now have.” (BT)

PUZZLED – The first Estimates laid by the eight month-old Mia Mottley administration on Tuesday, is highly ambitious for its projected revenue haul – indicating more burden to come for the middle class, a respected economist has said. University of the West Indies lecturer and former head of the Barbados Economic Society, Jeremy Stephen, is puzzled by the projected uptick in Government’s revenues, noting that there is little movement by way of growth or foreign direct investment to justify this. He said he is concerned that the Government’s projected increase of $163 million in income tax revenues and profits will not augur well for the middle class. He also suggested the Government’s projection of a $32-million deficit – slashed from the one-billion-dollar deficit proposed for this financial year by the previous administration – may be “unrealistic”. Stephen told Barbados TODAY: “Government revenue has actually increased. It is normally estimated to be around the $2 billion mark but has now climbing to the $3 billion mark and this definitely points to some sort of burden, particularly when you are cutting back on capital expenditure. From what I have seen there is a closing of the gap in income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT). So it definitely means that there is bigger burden to be shared by the average person.” Stephen noted that this move is consistent with the International Monetary Fund-approved Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan. In its revenue projections for the new fiscal year which begins in April, Government is to rake in $1.48 billion from goods and services, $1 billion from taxes on income and profits, $216.5 million from taxes on international trade and $186.7 million from taxes on property. At the end of last fiscal year, Government’s intake from income tax was calculated at $837.6 million. But the economist was not prepared to speculate on what form the burden would take, noting that new taxes or collection of owed taxes are all likely options open to Government. Stephen said: “I can’t speculate on whether or not there would a new tax. That would be made known in the Budget. What is clear is that they expect more taxes and it is clear that it is going to be done by personal income taxes. That jump in income tax cannot be from corporate taxes because there are not enough companies in Barbados nor has foreign direct investment jumped that immensely in the short term. So sadly that means that there would be more burden either via compliance, introducing new taxes or shifting rates around.” He argued that this is especially worrying when one considers Government’s plans for wide cuts in capital spending, which often signals a short-term slow down in the economy. He said: “I saw that there was a significant slash with regard to capital expenditure and I am sure that Government’s economic team knows that slashing capital expenditure normally redounds to a surplus potentially on the capital side but it definitely will also redound to a slow down in the economy. Although we are seeing increases in allocation for some ministries, the problem is slashing capital across the aboard as opposed to showing a re-purposing of expenditure that is moving towards triggering growth in the economy. The respected economist also declared that the projection of a deficit of $32.369 million for the new financial year was the smallest he has ever seen. Acknowledging that it was not the first time that Government has set an ambitious targets in Estimates, Stephen said he expected the Government to be flooded with requests for supplemental spending. Even as he expressed hope that Government is able to meet expectations, Stephen added: “No Government Estimates are ever realistic because sadly the process of budgeting is one where people just put increments on top of expenditure or asked to remove certain line items and then are trapped during the year with asking for supplemental. So the realistic nature of this is questionable and supplementary is going to be name of the game until Government starts budgeting on a bit more rigour. I have never seen a deficit this small in my professional life, which begs the question of how realistic it really is.” (BT)

UNION ‘TO REPORT TO SSA WORKERS ON OVERTIME TALKS – The union representing Sanitation Service Authority workers is reporting that it is making slight progress in negotiations for the restoration of overtime pay. The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) and SSA management met again today at the authority’s Wildey, St Michael offices to continue talks on the issue. The perk had been slashed under the IMF-supervised Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, which has affected agencies and ministries across the Government. Shortly after exiting the hour-long meeting, Acting NUPW general secretary Delcia Burke told Barbados TODAYthat the union would report back to its members on the newest developments. Burke said: “We have made a few strides. We are going to meet with the workers within a week and put the two sides’ case to the workers and get back to SSA management in a week’s time with the position of the workers. “We are cognizant of the fact that there is an IMF programme in place and there are certain measures that have to be put in place so that that plan can be effective, but we are also mindful that our workers must not always be bearing the brunt of that programme. We put that to the SSA and we would have made a slight move and they made one as well, so we’re going to discuss it with our workers.” Burke also contended that SSA workers were more efficient in collecting garbage than the private haulers who Government was paying to collect refuse. She pointed out that it would be almost impossible to avoid paying overtime to sanitation workers. Burke added: “We are saying that in some instances overtime is going to be necessary and for the SSA we would have had the example of when the workers worked three weekends and you would have seen the difference with the streets when they worked those weekends. “We also know that when we compare the tonnage of garbage that they collect to what the private haulers collect it is significantly larger. Obviously there are still going to be areas where persons are going to have to continue working overtime because the streets have to be cleaned everyday.” At their last meeting held on February 1, the union’s acting deputy general secretary Wayne Walrond had charged that the nation’s health was being compromised for the sake of a few dollars, after a decision was taken to stop weekend collections to prevent paying overtime. SSA spokesman Carl Padmore had revealed that the overtime cut had indeed contributed to irregular garbage collections in several rural communities, especially in the north of the island, as well as in St Joseph, St George and St John. (BT)

UWI SELECTED TO LEAD CLIMATE-SMART WORLD – The International Association of Universities (IAU) selected The University of the West Indies (UWI) as its global leader in the mobilisation of research and advocacy for the achievement of a climate-smart world. The IAU designated UWI in recognition of the University’s decades of world class research on climate change and sustainable development. At its meeting at UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris, France from January 28-30, the IAU received a report from Vice-Chancellor of UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, in which he commented on the honour and recognition bestowed on UWI. He recognised that UWI was selected from a field of very distinguished universities across the world that have established a track record of research around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Climate Action. Beckles informed the gathering in Paris of some 30 university leaders and IAU officials that UWI had already selected a global cluster of universities from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania to assist in the task of achieving SDG 13. The president of IAU, Pam Fredman, noted that 16 global universities have been selected to lead on 17 of the SDGs. In his address Beckles stated: “UWI’s scientists recognised decades ago that climate change, rising sea levels and ocean temperatures, were an existential threat to the Caribbean, small island states, and the world, and to this end provided a body of scientific knowledge to prove and promote the case.” He noted further: “UWI is therefore satisfied that world leaders and their policy advisors have come to see the truth of its research and rightness of its advocacy.” He commended all members of UWI’s Climate Change Research Cluster currently led by Professors John Agard, Michael Taylor and David Smith, and coordinated by his advisor, Jeremy Collymore, Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Development, and Resilience Consultant to the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for the global impact of their research and teaching. UWI’s commitment to supporting the Caribbean region in the development of a culture of resilience and resilience planning as part of its Triple A Strategic Plan 2017-2022 is evidenced through a number of initiatives with global impact. In August 2018, UWI, led by Director for Development, Dr Stacy Kennedy, was selected by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, and Virgin Unite to host the launch of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator, a ground-breaking initiative to support the Caribbean becoming the world’s first “climate-smart zone”. In its climate advocacy, Professor Michael Taylor, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at the UWI Mona Campus was one of the coordinating, lead authors of the IPCC 1.5 Report released by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2018. The report is the latest in a series from the IPCC assessing scientific, technical, and socio-economic information regarding climate change. It reveals that the planet could reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by as early as 2030, with particularly severe impacts for the Small Island States (SIDS) in the Caribbean region. Now widely referred to as 1.5 to Stay Alive, the Caribbean push for this global warming target was in part informed by UWI Climate Studies research and modelling, and has sparked a global campaign calling on world leaders to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees in order to prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change. (DN)

NO CONFIRMED ZIKA CASES SINCE 2017 – While sporadic cases of Zika continue to be reported in the Caribbean, there have been no confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne disease in Barbados since 2017. This was disclosed by Chief Medical Officer, Dr Kenneth George, as he addressed the opening of a training workshop being conducted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Breakthrough ACTION project. The three-day workshop, designed for local environmental health officers, has as its theme Strengthening the Zika and Arborvirus Response: Using Effective Interpersonal Communication for a Whole Family Response to Zika. Dr. George noted that, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), 48 countries and territories in the Americas had confirmed autochthonous vector-borne transmission of the Zika virus since 2015. In 2016, the World Health Organization declared Zika to be “a public health emergency of international concern” with the major concern being the link between Zika and microcephaly in infants, and between Zika and Guillain-Barre in adults. The Chief Medical Officer stressed the importance of proactive measures in preventing vector-borne diseases. “The oldest and most cost-effective method of prevention is the mechanical method, which includes eliminating breeding sites and improving environmental, community and personal hygiene,” he stated. This method, he said, relied heavily on public education aimed at getting people involved in eradicating breeding sites and limiting human exposure to mosquitoes. Noting the value of training opportunities, such as the workshop, in Government’s efforts to improve the Zika and arboviral response in Barbados, Dr George added: “It is a treasured opportunity which the Ministry is extremely appreciative of, as it will undoubtedly enhance the knowledge, skills and competency of our environmental health officers working in the area of vector control.” This is the third training workshop facilitated by USAID, in the area of Zika response, in which Barbados has participated. The other two took place last year. Engaging Communities in the Zika Response was held in Guatemala in April, and The Role of Innovative and Strategic Social and Behaviour Change took place in Jamaica in June. (BGIS)

MORE EDUCATION ON HIV NEEDED FOR OLDER GENERATION –The Minister in charge of the elderly is appealing to the older folks to get tested for HIV. Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Cynthia Forde, said research has shown that the older adult is less likely than younger persons to get tested, so they may not know that they have HIV as the aches and the pains of normal aging as well as other attendant diseases can mask the signs of HIV/AIDS. Speaking at the opening ceremony of an HIV seminar for older men, at the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa, Rockley, Christ Church, this morning, Forde said that often doctors do not always think to test older people for HIV and by the time the older person is diagnosed, the virus may be in the late stages and more likely to progress to AIDS. Forde said that recent information indicated that people aged 50 and older accounted for 17 per cent of the 39 782 new HIV diagnoses in 2016 in the United States. She also said that people aged 50 to 54 accounted for 43 per cent of the new diagnoses among people ages 50 and older. And while many of them were diagnosed with HIV in their younger years, thousands of older people are still being diagnosed as new HIV cases every year. “The aforementioned statistics indicate that there is a need for more strategies to be developed and implemented when seeking to educate our older adults about HIV, its causes, treatment and impact. The Government of Barbados through its policies and programmes has placed emphasis on health and wellness, while creating an environment where persons living with HIV can access a medical regime to ensure that they can continue to live positively and play their roles in society,” she said. Forde said she holds the view that education is the key to behavioural change. “That is why I can stand here today and be proud of the fact that the National Assistance Board in collaboration with the National HIV/AIDS Commission continues to facilitate this annual seminar to not only ensure that the mandate of the various entities is being met but that the older adult can safely engage in sexual activity without compromising their health and that of their partner and to endure the stigma and discrimination that has surrounded HIV and AIDS for 30 years or more,” she said. The Minister also encouraged the participants to be rid of the taboo that lingers with respect to sex and sex education, and stressed that some of the myths could be dispelled through the sharing of information with peers as well as intergenerational sharing given the access to technology by the younger population and their resultant advanced knowledge base. Forde said parents and mentors must recommit to the socialization and education of young people. “This must include sex education and the need to protect themselves against all sexually transmitted infections by using condoms, abstinence or being loyal to one partner. However, as older adults we must have the correct information and model the appropriate behaviour, so that we do not perpetrate the same myths and attitudes which contribute to HIV as well as stigma and discrimination,” she said. (BT)

MINISTER APPALLED AT ATTACKS ON ELDERLY – The Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs is finding difficulty in accepting that three elderly people have been brutally killed in less than one month. In the wake of 74-year-old Douglas Barker dying after a vicious cutlass attack at his Walkes Spring, St Thomas home last night, Forde told members of the media this morning that she has a tremendous difficulty, and was feeling disturbed, with what has been happening in society, where the elderly are being abused in this manner. “I too am concerned about it, and the rest of Barbados is. I pray that when people go into their houses at night, they will secure themselves properly and that the perpetrators be the ones who will turn their lives around and seek the Lord and remember that they too have grandparents, parents, children and others that they would not like anybody to brutalize, or disfigure. “But we know there is this violence across the world. It is permeating Barbados as it is in other countries in the region. And I pray that God would continue to bless the family in these moments of grief. And as I said earlier, not only the family of the deceased but the family of the perpetrator, because at the end of the day, almost everybody is family to each other in Barbados and we need to value human life in a different way,” she said. The Minister alluded to the fact that abuse of the elderly goes beyond the brutality that is being seen, as some of them are also being financially abused and abandoned. “Only yesterday morning I heard of two that I have got to report to the National Assistance Board and I told the lady call the police and then the officer can call me, and we will try to institute measures to make sure that those senior citizens enjoy the rest of their lives in their twilight years, with a measure of peace and comfort . . .” Forde said. The St Thomas Member of Parliament also noted that her ministry has been seeking to address the issue of elder abuse, through the implementation of relevant policies and programmes. She said the ministry has also asked for additional funding in the 2019 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, to be able to ensure that the needs of the elderly are thoroughly met. “As we go forward, we pray that all persons in Barbados would look out for each other. No longer are you getting the neighbour looking after another neighbour. The other thing is that people have so much information and they want to share it sometimes, but they do not know with whom to speak, for fear that there would be reprisals. As long as they are identified they are called snitches,” she said. On January 22, American educator, 68-year-old Dr Sarah Sutrina, who was a lecturer at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, was discovered at Northumberland, St Lucy next to her vehicle with wounds about her body. Hours before Dr Surtina was discovered, 69-year-old Martha Doyle, was killed at Vauxhall Senior Citizens’ Village, Christ Church on Monday January 21. Doyle was reportedly stabbed to death. (BT)

‘APPALLED’ – A man’s torrent of abuse in which two tourists were threatened with violence – captured in a video that has gone viral – has been strongly condemned by Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds as an act of “unreasonable incivility”. The incident comes halfway through the make-or-break winter season for the bread-and-butter industry. During an irate rant, the man, so far unidentified, threatens to hit one of the tourists with a rock. He is also heard telling the tourists that he sells drugs and that he does not care about the Government. Speaking on the sidelines of the official launch of a project to renovate the country’s lone airport financed by the Caribbean Development Bank, Symmonds said he was not aware of all of the details which led to the incident. But he stressed that under no circumstances should the incident have spiralled out of control. Symmonds told reporters: “I am appalled at the fact that something could escalate to that level in circumstances where I am sure if the individual on camera had it all to do over, he would on hindsight want to do it a lot differently. “The most polite word that I can use about that video is that it was very unsettling. At a personal level for me it is deeply distressing that some folks are not getting the message. “I believe that I would hear that there are extenuating circumstances and I probably will be told that there are justifications which can be advanced, but I believe that what we are dealing with is a situation that goes beyond just how you treat a tourist. This strikes at the heart of how we as Barbadians treat ourselves and how we interact with each other. ” Describing the man’s actions as a display of “incivility that went beyond that which is reasonable or expected”, the Minister said it was another sign of the declining morals in society – a situation which had now become too familiar. Symmonds said: “If the snocone vendor puts the wrong colour syrup in a snocone he is likely to be greeted with a similar type of torrent of abuse, or if the bread vendor has a dispute with his client that too will happen. “It goes right up the scale. I have heard of these types of displays between lawyer and client and doctor and patient and the problem in Barbados is that we have to learn to disagree without being disagreeable in the process. I think that is really where the process begins.” (BT)

PIGS STYMIED – The villagers of Applewhaites, St George, may soon breathe fresh air again as an illicit pig farm has been ordered to close down by the Chief Town Planner. In a letter by the Chief Town Planner dated February 13, a copy of which was obtained by Barbados TODAY, notice was given to the owner of DL Prestige Farms, Gregory Forde, that he has until March 29th to remove pens which were erected between January 2016 and February 2019. The notice said: “The Chief Town Planner hereby requires that the following steps be taken to restore the land to its condition before the development took place. What you are required to do [is to] remove the structure (pig pens), remove from the land all building materials and rubble arising from compliance with the enforcement notice, restore the land to its condition before the breach took place by leveling the ground.” Forde has the right to appeal the enforcement notice by asking a judge to hear his application. The judge may quash the order if it can be proved that planning approval had been granted for the pig farm. It was back in November that the residents of Applewhaites told Barbados TODAY that they believed that Forde was operating without Town and Country Planning’s approval. They wrote the Ministry of Health and Wellness informing them about the health problems that the residents have been having since the pig farm was set up. St George North MP Gline Clarke hoped that the issue would be remedied by last December. But tempers flared last month as the pig farm still continued to pose problems for the residents of the small St George village. Applwhaites resident Anita Yarde said that the smell was awful, with some passersby referring to the area as ‘Mount Stinkeroo’. Yarde told Barbados TODAY: “We still getting the smell from the pig farm. It is really awful. I cannot open my house, I cannot invite anyone at me. No one wants to come down through here with the smell. I am right below the pig farm. I does feel so awful because my family does not want to come out here because you cannot open the house. Even at nights, I have to put up a towel to keep the scent out of the house. “People have started to rename out here ‘Mount Stinkeroo’ because out here smell so stink. Sometimes when I leave home to go work after 5 a.m. I can smell it. We cannot live like this! I am asthmatic, and I have sinuses really bad. A couple of weeks ago I was on vacation. I had to go to the doctor and then get medication because the smell had my lungs actually blocked and it is really awful. “I would like to see it closed because we cannot go on with this. At the end of the day, it means that we have to go to the doctor and then pay money for medication. Sometimes even if you go and buy over-the-counter medication it does not work.” Another villager, Beverley Forte, told Barbados TODAY that she is hopeful that the pig farm would be closed as the enforcement order states clearly that he did not have permission. Forte said: “We are hopefully optimistic that even if he appeals or applies for permission it will be denied because it is a health hazard to the community. People are getting sick. Up to tonight, the people up the hill were telling me that the smell up there was killing them still.” The enforcement order stated: “This notice is issued by the Chief Town Planner in exercise of powers conferred to him by Section 23 (1) of the Town and Country Planning Act Cap 240 and all other powers enabling him in that this letter hereby gives notice that the development hereunder specified appears to him have been carried out without the grant of permission or approval in accordance with the terms of the Town and Country Planning Development Order, 1972. “It appears to the Chief Town Planner that the above development has occurred within the last four years between January 2016 and February 2019 and being after 14th April 1972, the date of coming into force of the Town and Country Planning Development Order 1972.” (BT)

BLOODY HORROR – The close-knit rural community of Walkes Spring, St Thomas, has been thrown into a state of shock following the gruesome killing of one of its senior citizens, Douglas “Dougy” Barker. Police said yesterday that a man known to Barker’s family and people within that district entered the elderly man’s house armed with a sword just after 11 o’clock on Tuesday night. Family members and neighbours who were nearby tried to help but to no avail, as Barker, 74, who received several wounds about the body, died at the scene of the deadly attack. His death brought the number of murders for the year to ten. The male suspect was taken into police custody. This murder prompted a reaction from parliamentary representative for St Thomas and Minister of Elderly Affairs Cynthia Forde, who expressed concern about the level of crime, especially that which impacted senior citizens. Forde lamented that the elderly were being ill-treated, abandoned and targeted for their money. (DN)

MAN ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING GRANTED BAIL – A 20-year-old man accused of kidnapping a 60-year-old woman from her Fort George Heights, St Michael home last month, was granted bail this afternoon. Teriq Kaareem Linton, of No. 2 Cavewood Road, Tichbourne, St Michael, was not required to plead to entering the house of Radha Rabilall as a trespasser to commit an arrestable offence to wit: theft and had at the time a firearm on January 31. He was also not required to plead to robbing Rabilall of a $2 400 cell phone, two ATM cards worth $50 and $1 000 in money on the same date. He was further accused of removing Rabilall from her home, without her consent, or someone who was legally authorised to do so, also on January 31. Prosecutor Station Sergeant Cameron Gibbons objected to bail in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court. However attorney Kristin Turton, who represented the man made a stirring argument. Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant granted the lighting technician $20 000 with two sureties, ordered him to surrender his passport and report to the Oistins Police Station every Tuesday and Wednesday before 3 p.m. He returns to Criminal Court No. 1 on October 9. (DN)

MANSLAYER SENTENCED – A 48-year-old manslayer was today given a starting sentence of 18 years in prison for the fatal shooting of Kari Nolan Cumberbatch six years ago. Dave Henderson Powers, of No. 9 Clinketts Garden, St Lucy and Eden Lodge, St Michael was originally charged with murdering 33-year-old Cumberbatch in the car park of CinCin By the Sea Restaurant in Prospect, St James on Wednesday January 16, 2013. However, he had pleaded not guilty to the capital offence, but guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and attempted murder. However Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Anthony Blackman, who was the prosecutor in the case, formally withdrew a kidnapping charge against Powers in the No. 2 Supreme Court today. The incident occurred around 10 a.m. on the aforementioned date when the deceased, who was driving, arrived with Powers’ wife at the upscaled restaurant where they both worked. Powers and his wife were separated. The facts showed that Powers approached them armed with a gun and confronted the deceased who was sitting in the car and shot him in the head. He then went into the car and pointed the gun at his wife’s head and pulled the trigger but it did not discharge. In sentencing Justice Randall Worrell noted that Powers had indicated that the criminal act was not something that he had planned to do but “there must have been some planning involved for you to go there with a firearm and ammunition – there had to be some planning and pre meditation – you were armed, [there is] nothing in this case about self defence . . . I cannot accept that it was a spontaneous act by you. “A person has lost their life. That life cannot be brought back. A person’s life is finished at your hands . . . forever lost,” the judge stated. Worrell went on to explain that while Powers had surrendered himself, he could find no mitigating factors when it came to the offence. “You should not have been there no matter how bad things were . . . . I can’t find anything mitigatory in the case of the offence. [You went] there . . . taking out a loaded weapon, a firearm . . . . It was quite clear you were unlawfully in possession of that firearm and the use of the firearm is also aggravating,” the judge added. Making reference to guideline cases Justice Worrell settled on a starting point of 18 years in prison but adjusted the sentence upwards by four years given that Powers used a dangerous weapon and “you were armed with it in advance . . . showing planning and premeditation”. With a sentence of 22 years the judge then took into account that the convicted man had no previous convictions and according to character witnesses was an industrious and law-abiding young man before the incident. He was also contrite and admitted that it was an egregious act. His guilty plea was also considered but Worrell made it clear that Powers could not get the full one-third credit. “Although you pleaded guilty, persons were there and saw what you did . . . this was in broad daylight . . . what else could you have done but plead guilty,” the judge stated. With all those factors taken into consideration, Powers was left with a 14-year sentence. However, Justice Worrell also took into consideration the six years and one month already spent on remand leaving the convicted man with seven years and 11 months to serve on the charge of manslaughter. On the other charges of attempted murder Powers who was represented by attorney-at-law Angella Mitchell-Gittens was given a ten-year sentence and possession of a firearm seven years on each. However those sentences will run concurrently since the offences stemmed from the same incident. (DN)

THREE CHARGED WITH DIESEL THEFT – Two members of staff and a former employee of the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance (MTWM) have been arrested and charged, in relation to the circulation of a video in which they are seen removing diesel from a Government vehicle. Police arrested and charged Edwin Orlando Clarke, of Thorpe’s St James and Gregg Allan Holder, of Third Avenue, Dash Gap, Bank Hall, St Michael - both employees of MTWM - as well as Keimar Rasheed Browne, of Mount Tenantry, St George - a former employee of the Ministry - for the offence of diesel theft. The three accused appeared in the Holetown Magistrate Court, before Magistrate Wanda Blair, where Browne pleaded guilty, to the charge and was granted bail, to return to the court on March 29 for sentencing. Clarke and Holder both pleaded not guilty and were granted bail to return to court on June 24. (DN)

‘MISSING’ ACCUSED REMANDED – Court officials will have no difficulty finding Chad Jamar Roberts for his next appearance in the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ court. That’s because Roberts who was listed as having no fixed place of abode on an almost five-year-old charge sheet, was remanded to HMP Dodds for 28 days. The accused was 26 years old when he was charged along with three others with entering Playfair Arcade as trespassers and stealing $4,998 belonging to the business on March 7, 2014. It is further alleged that Roberts was armed with a gun at the time. However, he had not been been attending his court dates resulting in several warrants being issued for his arrest. “All the time I have been asking for you, where is Chad Roberts, where is Chad Roberts, nobody knows,” Magistrate Douglas Frederick told the accused who responded: “The phone I had with the dates I lose it.” Roberts, who only attended court on Tuesday February 12 after going missing for sometime explained that he had only seen one of his co-accused the day before who told him about the date. “The only reason you run in here today [Tuesday] is because I asked for your surety,” said Frederick before informing Roberts that he would be going to the St Philip correctional facility. “I have a child I can’t afford to go to jail,” was Roberts response. “You have inconvenienced everybody, now it’s time to inconvenience you,” Frederick responded before giving the accused a March 12 remand date even as his accomplices walked out of the court precincts. (BT)

CANNABIS GROWER MUST PAY – A 45-year-old lorry loader has three months to pay $3,000 to the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court if he wants to avoid spending time behind bars at HMP Dodds. Sylvester Christopher Phillips, of Block 7F, Factory Avenue, Wildey, St Michael pleaded guilty to the February 12 charges of possession, possession with intent to supply, possession with intent to traffic and cultivation of cannabis. Station Sergeant Cameron Gibbons told Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant that lawmen were carrying out investigations at Phillips’ residence where they discovered several pots with cannabis trees in the backyard after a family member let them in. Phillips was not at home at time but subsequently turned himself in and admitted knowledge and ownership of the two pounds of marijuana which had a $2,175 estimated street value. He was reprimanded and discharged on the possession and supply charges and the fine imposed on the other two offences. Phillips must return to court on May 14 to show proof of payment. (BT)

CANADIAN LOSES US DOLLARS HE CONCEALED ABOUT HIS BODY – A Canadian man is out thousands of dollars after failing to get permission from the Exchange Control Authority to leave Barbados with US$15,000. Station Sergeant Glenda Carter-Nicholls in prosecuting the case in the District ‘F’ Magistrates’ Court yesterday revealed that 63-year-old Claude Samard of Quebec was caught with the United States currency at the Grantley Adams International Airport on February 9. He had concealed the money on different parts of his body including his underwear and pockets. It was also disclosed before Magistrate Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell that the visitor sold some shares he had in a company here but failed to seek permission from the Central Bank of Barbados to leave the country with it. Investigations by law enforcement officers reportedly showed that Samard was familiar with the procedure for leaving the island with large sums of cash but chose not to follow through. Following his guilty plea and facts of the case Samard was fined $5,000 forthwith with an alternative of three months in prison. The money was paid. He also had to forfeit the US$15,000. (BT)

GABRIEL HIT WITH ODI BAN - A second West Indies cricketer has been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Following captain Jason Holder’s one-match Test ban for his team’s second Test slow over rate, fiery fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has been controversially slapped with a four-match one-day international suspension by cricket’s world governing body, the ICC, after being found guilty of player abuse. The 30-year-old Gabriel was also hit with a 75 per cent fine and three demerit points for the incident, which took place during the England second innings on day three of the finalWisden Trophy Test in St Lucia on Monday. In a statement yesterday, the ICC said Gabriel was found guilty of breaching article 2.13 of the Icc Code Of Conduct For Players And Player Support Personnel, which relates to “personal abuse of a player, player support personnel, umpire or match referee during an international match” following an incident with England captain Joe Root. Surprisingly, the ICC did not reveal what Gabriel said to Root, nor did stump microphones pick up his comments but according to media reports, Root was overheard telling Gabriel in response to a remark: “Don’t use it as an insult. There’s nothing wrong with being gay.” (DN)

YELLOW WIN AT QUEENS – AJANI INCE and Kamile Gaskin-Griffith powered the Yellow Panthers to their third successive victory with 945.50 points during Queen’s College’s Inter-House Athletics Championships at the National Stadium yesterday. Trailing by 37.50 points were the Blue Bull Dogs (908), the Green Dragons (775.50), Red Mad Dogs (728.50), Orange Cheetahs (651.50) and Purple Phoenix with 565 points. Ahead of the relays, the Panthers were leading by 47.5 points and they sealed the outcome by winning five relays. Ince and Griffith-Gaskin played an integral part in their success by capturing the victor and victrix ludorum titles with 86 and 68 points, respectively. In the Under-20 Division, Ince dismissed the field to triumph in the 100 metres and 200 with times of 11.01 and 22.25 seconds. He also had the winning leap in the high jump and finished third in the 400 metres, which was won by Jamahl Burke of Orange in 50.03 seconds. (DN)

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