The Ministry of Agriculture has issued a reminder to Barbadians who are travelling this holiday season that they must obtain an import permit from the Veterinary Services Department of the Ministry if they are planning to bring meat or other animal products into the island.

Meat and meat products in their original commercial packaging may be brought from the United States of America, Puerto Rico and Canada.

Commercially packaged cooked chicken and chicken products are also allowed from the Caribbean.  Food products of animal origin include but are not limited to fresh, frozen or chilled cuts of meat or poultry; cooked, smoked, cured, pickled, salted, dried or canned products, for example, sausages, hams, hamburger and other raw meat patties, hot dogs, haggis and blood sausages.

Also included are pastries containing meat fillings, for example, patties, meat rolls, rotis and pizzas; and dairy products including ice cream, yoghurt, cheeses and eggs and egg products.  These products must be in the original sealed commercial packaging and must not exceed 25 lbs (11kg).

Importation of poultry and poultry products from the United Kingdom is prohibited at this time due to the Avian Influenza outbreak.  However, other types of meat from the UK have not been restricted.

Also, individuals and places of entertainment planning to import items such as headdresses, masks or decorations, which contain feathers or other animal-derived products for the holiday season or for personal use, are reminded that import permits are also required.

Non-food animal products include but are not limited to loose feathers, for use in costumes and craft; products made from skins, feathers, antlers, hair, hooves, horns and bones; meat scraps and treats for pets.

Three men have been detained by police following a drug bust just off the Crane in St Philip last weekend.

A statement from the police today did not reveal the identity of the men but it said members of the Drug Squad, assisted by the Police Marine Unit and the Barbados Coast Guard, carried out the operation at sea off the Crane, St. Philip on Sunday afternoon, in which one Barbadian registered fishing boat was intercepted with three Barbadian men on board.

A subsequent search of the nearby beach discovered one duffle bag containing 54 lbs of compressed cannabis.

The detainees  are being questioned in connection with the seizure.

The website of the Barbados Supreme Court has been attacked.

A hacker going by the name of Copres-DZ has taken responsibility.

However, it is not clear how long the site has been down.

The hacking incident comes weeks after another group attacked the website of the Royal Barbados Police Fore. That site remains offline.

Following today’s vicious attack on 36-year-old Marva Ward, the National Organisation of Women (NOW) has issued a fresh appeal to women to speak out against domestic violence.

NOW President Marilyn Rice-Bowen has specifically called on them “to seek help early and to treat every threat as serious”, while condemning the cutlass attack, which has left Ward warded at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) with multiple cutlass wounds and in serious condition.

NOW President Marilyn Rice-Bowen (right) was among those taking part in tonight’s walk against Crimes of Silence.

“It has upset us all very much because violence at any time takes a toll on you mentally and we do hope that the lady survives,” the NOW President said, noting it was the second time this year a woman had fallen victim to such an attack.

“We do hope that she pulls through and then [we will] to be able to meet with her and meet with her family to see what other assistance that we can render,” Rice-Bowen told Barbados TODAY.

Police say the attacker, who was known to the victim, is currently in their custody.

While not releasing his full identity, lawmen say the St Michael man, who is in his 30’s, was apprehended a short distance away from the scene of the incident, which occurred around 7 a.m. at the back of Sky Mall in Haggatt Hall, St Michael.

Maintaining that it was one incident too many, the NOW President also used the opportunity to urge women to “speak out” and not to suffer in silence.

“There is always someone willing to listen,” she said.

“They [domestic abuse victims]  can call the crisis hotline. Somebody is always there to talk you through the situation. If they feel that their lives are threatened by all means, don’t even hesitate, go straight to the police station and don’t leave until they get a solution.

“The major thing is to treat every threat seriously,” she stressed.

Back in August, 27-year-old Margaret Christopher was viciously attacked by her former companion as she and her six-year-old son disembarked from a bus at Parris Hill, St Joseph after weeks of harassment, threats and stalking.

Christopher, a resident of Halls Road, St Michael was slashed across her throat and from ear to mouth.

Tonight, as she addressed a gathering in the Oistins Bay Garden, following a walk against the Crimes of Silence to end the 2014 16 Days of Activism, Rice-Bowen reminded women that love and “licks” don’t mix.

She noted that once “licks” were introduced to a relationship, the person being abused should exit immediately.

“There is this old feeling that if you don’t hit me you don’t love me and this morning when we were doing some canvassing, a man said, ‘but the women say if you don’t lick me you don’t love me’. We will continue to focus on ways to assisting victims and transforming their lives,” she said.

(FW/AH)

Tourism officials say the outlook for this island’s vital tourism sector is bright, with air and sea arrivals up substantially so far this winter.

Executive Vice President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Sue Springer reported on the state of the industry at this morning’s fourth quarterly general meeting of the BHTA at Hilton Barbados .

She said long stay arrivals for November showed an increase of 6.3 per cent, with significant growth of 8.8 per cent reported in the United Kingdom and 14 per cent in Germany.

BHTA executive vice president Sue Springer

“The long stay arrivals year-to-date to the end of November showed a minimal increase of 0.1 per cent over 2013, which is considered as flat,” she added.

However, for the first week of December, the news was much better.

Springer disclosed that there was a whopping 71 per cent increase in long stay arrivals out of Canada, compared to a 15.3 per cent hike in the United States and a 35.4 increase in the UK.

Overall, arrivals so far this year were higher than in 2012 by as many as 8,979 visitors.

Forward-bookings are also looking positive. However, Springer said officials would have a clearer picture for 2015 after they meet with industry partners at the December 26 to January 30 Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s Marketplace.

The BHTA executive also noted that projected cruise passenger arrivals for 2014 were 690,000, an increase of four per cent over last year.

She pointed out that next year, three ships – two with a carrying capacity of 4,000 passengers each – were scheduled to visit the island. They are the Britannia and the Mein Schiff 3 and Fred Olsen out of Germany.

The vessels will homeport here,  increasing the island’s homeporting numbers significantly.

Springer also noted that Quantum of the Sea, the third largest cruise ship in the world, sailed into Barbados on Sunday with a capacity of 5,000 passengers and 1,500 crew.

On the matter of vital airlift, the BHTA official recalled that the first Air Canada 777-300 series arrived at the Grantley Adams International Airport on December 1 and is scheduled to ply the Toronto-Bridgetown route until April 2015.

However, Springer said it may stay here even longer, if Barbados can manage to keep loads high.

The BHTA spokeswoman is forecasting a 52 per cent rise in airlift with Air Canada.

She also noted that JetBlue had placed its newest aircraft with 190 seats on the Barbados route.

Springer said the island was benefiting this winter from Condor’s three flights per week, as well as 12 per week by British Airways.

She is also excited about the prospects for next year with new tourism projects scheduled to come on stream.

“The eagerly-awaited opening in January of Sandals. A new luxury villa project will commence in the new year at Settlers; the breaking ground of the Hyatt Hotel in March and the opening of Port Ferdinand,” she said.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

A 36-year-old mother of two girls remains warded at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) tonight in critical condition after she was chopped multiple times about her body with a cutlass by a known attacker.

The victim of today’s attack – Marva Ward.

While police have not yet revealed the   identity of the St Michael man, in his 30s, who they apprehended a short distance away from the scene of this morning’s brutal attack, family members are already pointing the accusing finger at the father of Marva Ward’s two children, who along with the victim’s parents were still struggling to come to grips with the incident when a Barbados TODAY team visited their Haggatt Hall, St Michael home earlier this evening.

The terrible ordeal unfolded just after seven this morning as Ward, who is employed at the QEH as a maid, left home around 7 a.m. to walk 11-year-old Deansha to the bus stop.

After seeing the child off to school,  Ward, who is also the mother of 10-year-old Delesha, reportedly went to a nearby newspaper vendor to make a purchase and was making her way back home when the attack occurred.

An angry Leroy Brewster told Barbados TODAY that he was at home when he received the horrible news that his daughter, who he described as a churchgoer, had fallen victim to a severe cutlass attack.

“While I home here somebody start calling and hollering telling me to come. I put on a old pants and I went cross the hill over there and I see Marva out there in a pool of blood,” he said, still in disbelief following the incident.

“I couldn’t do nothing,” he said.

“I could not go near because my two foot would not [hold] me up, so two or three people bring me back home. I could not stay up, I really could not stay up,” said Brewster, who was still very shaken up over the entire episode.

The father of nine also reported that the incident had  devastated Ward’s mother, who he said had been crying ever since she got word of the attack and had been unable to speak. The victim’s children also had to be counseled at school today.

While unable to say whether the victim and attacker were currently in a relationship, the taxi driver indicated that the two were last together at the family home on Sunday, when an argument ensued and he was forced to step in and ask the alleged perpetrator    to leave.

“She [Ward] come out and told him, ‘it is time you go home in your bed where you live. Your bed is calling you’,” Brewster recalled.

However, the distraught father said his daughter’s alleged perpetrator had initially refused to leave.

“He still stay up there talking a lot of gibberish. So he get me kinda angry and I arose to my feet and I stay up. I told him, ‘listen, I don’t want nobody making no noise here. Any noise making here it is me’.

It was then that the father of Ward’s children left and “went about his business”, Brewster added.

Though admitting that his daughter and her alleged attacker were still friends up until then, “he got this thing in him about accusing her.

“If she leave here and go to church, she gone looking for a man,” he said.

However, he said he never suspected “that he had something up his sleeve”, meaning today’s vicious attack on Ward.

While  hoping and praying for his daughter’s speedy recovery, Brewster, who is in his 70s, said he also wants to see the back of domestic violence.

“It is horrible to tell you the gospel truth. It should stop. It is a total disgrace that a woman can’t walk the road in peace. This violence want stopping, it want something doing about it and that is the truth.

“It is a total disgrace . . .  It is foolishness,” he stressed.

“I feel that it can be stopped . . .  after all we are human beings. It is not an ants you are walking on,” the visibly upset father said as he anxiously awaiting word on his daughter, who at the time was still undergoing emergency surgery.                                 

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

Donations to the HIV/AIDS Food Bank are down, but the number of people putting in requests for assistance is up, says manager Stacia Whittaker, who is appealing to Barbadians to give generously this Christmas season.

“We have seen a reduction in the number of donations  . . . Normally around this time you do see more companies and individuals and schools, all different areas of the community, coming forward and donating but this year we are not seeing that as much,” she said after receiving a food barrel from the staff of the Barbados Postal Service this week.

“This year, we have seen more referrals not because of new diagnoses, but individuals that are HIV positive [who] would have fallen on hard times and therefore would have the need to access our food bank,” Whittaker explained.

“We have an age range from early 20s to mid 50s, 60s, even 70s. We see all individuals, different ages, men and women that come in for food assistance, nutrition assistance, those types of things that we provide.”

Whittaker said while the Food Bank was in need of basic food items, she was also urging members of the public to make their donations more festive since it was Christmas.

“In addition to what we need like non-perishable foods, rice and peas and things like that, we ask if people could even contribute things like sorrel, whether it is the dry sorrel or the syrup, and even the green peas for this time of year or the candy canes. Anything that you could imagine that you would like to see on your table at this time of year, share with us that we can also give to individuals that don’t have the means to purchase these type of items.”

Postmaster General Joel Brathwaite, who presented the food items on behalf of the postal workers, said they were encouraged to give in light of continuing economic difficulties.

Postmaster General Joel Brathwaite (left) and staff presenting Manager of the HIV Food Bank Stacia Whittaker (right) with a food barrel.

“We felt that as part of our community efforts and since the Post Office is the only organization in Barbados that touches every part of Barbados on a daily basis, we felt it would be a good contribution, a good way of acknowledging our corporate support by donating this food to the HIV/AIDS bank.”

There will soon be adjustments to the Grantley Adams International Airport to increase the comfort level of arriving and departing passengers, including provision of “jet bridges” to protect persons from adverse weather.

Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Sealy revealed last night this aspect of what he called a “master plan” as his ministry officials and Air Canada representatives celebrated 65 years of aviation connection between this island and Canada.

The Minister also indicated that the air transport capacity has been increased by half owing to Air Canada’s introduction of new and larger aircraft on the Canada-Barbados route.

Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy

“We are in an advanced stage of designing adjustments to the terminal that will lead to the jet bridges,” Sealy said at Charles Fort, the Hilton. “Gone will be the days when if the rain is falling someone from the airport has to share out umbrellas as you descend a very treacherous stairwell to get down towards our terminal”.

“We are committed to enhancing the infrastructure at the airport and the seaport in order to make ourselves more competitive in terms of capacity and comfort in terms of those who are coming to our shores,” he said and added, “That will be done in the context of an airport master plan that will take into account all of the additional capacities that will be needed.”

Among the additional capacity needed by tourism authorities is a stepped-up ability to transfer those passengers arriving by air but bound for the Bridgetown Port to board cruise ships, along with “all the expected increases that we will have in airlift capacity, which of course will be led by Air Canada, as they continue to increase frequency”.

That expected increased frequency is favourably compounded by a jump in the number of seats aboard aircraft coming out of Canada.

“For the first time in a very long time we are going to see major increases with the advent of the Boeing 777 service into Barbados. It started the first day of this month and that new service will see approximately 50 per cent increase in seating capacity,” Sealy said.

Sealy told the gathering at a cocktail reception held for the airline company representatives and operators of its travel agency Air Canada Vacations that the Barbados Government had more than increased flight capacity as the Canadians have opted to take sole responsibility for insurance contingencies of passengers.

“Air Canada Vacations has assumed the risk on the Barbados route and that is, I understand, a first, and speaks volumes.”

Further, Sealy said he was pleased with arrangements to attract vacationers from farther parts of Canada.

“It [Air Canada Vacations] has also developed an integrated plan with the Sandals brand, and this I am told has the potential to support in the short to medium term introduction of a direct service to Barbados from Western Canada…that is of course music to our ears.”

Three Barbadians are due to appear in the District “C” Magistrate’s Court today in connection with Sunday’s seizure of 54 pounds of compressed cannabis.

They are Anderson Omar Lorde, 31, and Dario Layne, 22, of Silver Sands, Christ Church, and 48-year old Jeffrey Alleyne of Hinkson Gap, Baxters Road, St Michael.

The men, who were reportedly nabbed during an operation at sea off the Crane, St Philip, are jointly charged with possession, possession with intent to supply, trafficking and importation.

During the joint operation by members of the Drug Squad, the Police Maine Unit and the Barbados Coast Guard, a Barbadian registered fishing boat was intercepted with three men on board.

A subsequent search of the nearby beach discovered one duffle bag containing the illegal drug, the police said.

Police are investigating a shooting incident at Sargeant’s Village, Christ Church.

Reports indicate that multiple people have been injured.

Lawmen are at the scene.

More details to follow.

The organizers of Hennessy Artistry have seemingly perfected the art of blending.

During the sixth annual version on Saturday night at Kensington Oval, Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley told Barbados TODAY he believed the organizers had done extremely well in putting on the show year after year.

“The Hennessy Artistry production has continued to excite Barbadians and visitors alike,” he said. “I think that the crowd so far tonight shows that the brand is really taking off in Barbados. It is a calendar part of the cultural agenda in Barbados. Persons have actually demonstrated that this is a good show, and I think it is going to be fantastic, going forward.”

Lashley was of the view the show would be around for a long time because patrons were assured of quality.

“The food and the drinks add to the entire event. If you can get that right, along with the music and the comfort of being at an event such as this, I think that is something patrons would come back for.

“You don’t only hold an event and plan for now; you try to capture and retain your clientele. Give them a good show and they have a great time, certainly next year they would be your ambassadors for persons who may not have come to the event before,” Lashely added.

The minister, who was taking in the show with some friends, stressed that the Government needed to support events like that.

“These events help to stimulate activity in the economy, and we have been very keen on supporting them; and I think that is something that augurs well for Barbados, going forward.

“I think it is necessary and absolutely important that we as a Government support these events, and allow for them to grow, with the least number of impositions –– whether it be taxation, whether it be VAT, or otherwise.”

Lashley explained: “I say that because I believe that these events have a tremendous spin-off in the economy, and I believe that certainly going forward we have to find a way to allow for promoters of these events to feel a bit more welcome.

Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley sharing a joke with reggae artist Sizzla.

“. . . This event, of course, requires a number of persons to be employed . . . in relation to security, certainly the performances, lighting and sound, and beyond.

“Persons don’t come to these events without going into Bridgetown and other shopping areas and buying some outfit. So I know that these events add to the economic activity of the country and must be supported.”

The three men charged in connection with Sunday’s seizure of 54 pounds of compressed cannabis have pleaded not guilty.

However, while Anderson Omar Lorde and Dario Layne were granted $25,000 bail with one surety each, Jeffrey Alleyne did not share the same fate.

He was remanded to Dodds and is due to return to the District “C” Magistrate’s Court on January 8, 2015, the same day as Lorde and Layne.

The men were reportedly nabbed during a law enforcement operation at sea off the Crane, St Philip.

They have been jointly charged with possession, possession with intent to supply, trafficking and importation.

Police have confirmed that three men were shot at Smiths Corner, Sargeant’s Village, Christ Church around 9:30 this morning.

However, their names are being withheld at this time.

Two of the men have undergone surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Police have not released further information.

Thieves hit the Dallas Discount outlet at Sheraton Centre in the wee hours of this morning destroying the store’s show window before making off with merchandise.

“It seems that around 2:30 a.m., someone broke into the show window, undressed the mannequins and stole the clothing.

“The stone they used was like a meteor, it was huge. I don’t how they were actually able to lift and throw it,” said Bassem Masri, managing director of Dallas Discounts.

The stone that was used to break the show window.

He told Barbados TODAY the company was yet to tally its losses but he noted that the most substantial cost would be replacing the show window.

Managing director of Dallas Discounts Bassem Masri speaking to police.

Masri described the incident as  “sad” and “lawless” but he insisted that it would not put a damper on the store’s operations this Christmas.

“You expect that these are some of the things that you are going to come across, whether it’s going to be inside the store shop lifting or otherwise, you do expect these kind of things.

Meanwhile, General Manager at Sheraton Centre Kim King expressed her dismay at the incident but stressed that security at the mall was beefed up at the start of the Christmas season to ensure the safety of businesses and customers.

“This was an unfortunate incident that occurred after hours at the mall. As always, we increase our security presence for this time of year as a precautionary measure. The Royal Barbados Police Force has been fully apprised of the situation and we wish to reassure shoppers that Sheraton Mall remains a safe shopping environment,” she told Barbados TODAY.

A High Court judge has called on the leadership of the Methodist Church in Barbados to amicably resolve its impasse with Reverend William St Clair, the controversial priest who was recently “fired” for breaching his contract, including preaching barefoot to his congregation.

The judge’s request was one of the key decisions coming out of an injunction hearing in the Number 10 court today that was attended by the disputing parties and their attorneys.

Following a near three-hour court sitting, Queen’s Counsel Hal Gollop, who is representing Rev St Clair, told Barbados TODAY that as a result of the injunction, his client would now be allowed to keep the church house and car until the case was determined. The church had ordered the priest to leave the house and turn back in the vehicle, which had been offered to him as part of his emoluments as priest-in-charge of Ebenezer.

Reverend William St Clair (left) with his lawyer Queen’s Counsel Hal Gollop.

However, Rev St Clair remains without a congregation. His attorney said he did not raise that issue with the court today, saying it was a matter for the church leadership to deal with as it saw fit.

Asked if Rev St Clair would be allowed to preach in any of its churches following the injunction, Superintendent of the Ebenezer Circuit Pearson Blackman said Rev St Clair was no longer a member of the Methodist congregation “and that stands until a ruling is made”.

The church, led by President and General Superintendent of the South Caribbean District Rev Dr Cuthbert Edwards is being represented in the case by a legal team headed by Queen’s Counsel Elliott Mottley.

When he appeared in court today, Rev St Clair was dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, priestly collar and black shoes.  The disputing sides return to court next Wednesday, when, according to Mottley, the hearing may be open to the general public.

Barbados is currently caught up in a political “stalemate” with no immediate end in sight.

This assessment came today from political scientist Dr George Belle, as he cautioned that both Government and the Opposition were faced with serious internal challenges which they would eventually have to face up to.

Belle’s comments came against the backdrop of an apparent rift between Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler and Minister of Agriculture Dr David Estwick, which has prompted Estwick to formally write to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart warning Stuart that unless he brought Sinckler back in line, Estwick may not continue on in his Cabinet.

Apparent rift between Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler and Minister of Agriculture Dr David Estwick.

Reacting to the development, Belle said the situation only served to highlight the “weakness of the Government”.

In fact, he suggested that the Freundel Stuart administration  was so weak that the Cabinet was now in “disarray”.

Dr George Belle

“The Government seems to have reached a stalemate. What the stalemate in Government does is to create opportunities for people on one side or the other. They would do that on the basis of how they judge their political futures,” he said.

He emphasized that the current administration was currently split in two factions – one which felt its future was tied up in maintaining the status quo and another made up of persons who felt their political careers would be best advanced if the Democratic Labour Party goes back into Opposition.

“When that starts to evolve, the interests will start to separate within the Cabinet,” Belle argued.

With Government in the position that it is, Belle argued that the masses should be taking to the streets.

However, he said the fact that they were not meant that Opposition Leader Mia Mottley would soon need to face up to some difficult questions.

“A leader cannot be too far ahead of the people otherwise they would leave you out there. At some point she has to ask, ‘where are you all?’  If the people are not coming with you, you cannot go anywhere or any further.”

“Where are the masses of the people? he asked.

Making a comparison to the recent situation in the United States where there were police shootings of blacks, he noted  “black, white and green people are on the streets [of the US] . . . [but] here in Barbados people are being laid off, they are being sent to an Employment Rights Tribunal that does not exist and everyone is sitting down and taking it”.

Belle therefore said “Mottley has to have an understanding of who is behind her.

“If the people are not behind you, or you cannot be sure of that, you cannot keep going forward. Soon you would recognize that there is no one behind you. In Mottley’s case that is the nature of the stalemate,”

However, one of his former University of the West Indies colleagues has suggested that there still may be a way for Mottley to break the current deadlock, even as he criticized her recent decision to hold a public march against the Government’s imposition of the Municipal Solid Waste Tax.

Dr Tennyson Joseph, who is a lecturer in political science at the UWI’S  Cave Hill Campus believes that the Opposition Leader would have been better served had she called a march around an issue such as the non-payment of tax returns, which he said had a beginning and an end.

Political Scientist Tennyson Joseph

“The pending lay offs in the public sector and the merging of statutory corporations are issues around which a movement can be built,” Joseph added.

However, he argued that “the Municipal Solid Waste Tax was “too abstract a demand and one that Mottley cannot force the Government to reverse”.

As for the Government and in particular, the Estwick saga, Joseph pointed out that “in a Westminster System actions like these are abnormal”, but he said “we are in a condition of abnormality and because we are in a condition of abnormality, abnormality now passes as normal.

“In the case of Estwick, what I am sensing is a genuine sense of professional frustration. There seems to be a big split between him and the Minister of Finance on what needs to be done to assist the sugar industry.

In this situation, the proper thing to do is to resign from the Cabinet,” Joseph said.

The political scientist also said there were other cases where ministers were faced with “resignable options”, citing Minister of Education Ronald Jones, who had promised the awarding of 3,000 bursaries to UWI students that never materialized.

nevilleclarke@barbadostoday.bb

Chairman of the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers Inc. (WIRSPA) Dr Frank Ward warns that the region’s rum industry has now reached the tipping point as a result of subsidised rum from the United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico flooding the markets.

Ward issued the caution last night during a Caribbean Rum Producers meeting at the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa, Rockley, Christ Church.

Describing the current trade practices as simply “unfair”, Ward noted that WIRSPA had been working with regional governments for the past two to three years to effect a solution.

Dr Frank Ward

“I think the time has come, given the fact that some of our companies are now beginning to struggle, certainly in Barbados, we cannot wait much longer and I am urging the governments to start making concrete steps to engage with the US administration to effect a solution that is fair and reasonable,” he said.

“We are supposed to be operating in an environment which promotes free and fair trade,” he added, pointing out that “subsidised product from wherever cannot be considered to be promoting free and fair trade.

“In our region we subscribe to the rule of democracy, the rule of law and property rights. We do almost everything that is expected of us as countries to participate effectively in the global system whether it is on the political or on an economic level.

“I therefore see no reason why we should not demand that the same consideration be given to us. It needs to be taken into account that we are small countries with very little policy space to manoeuvre,” Ward added.

While insisting that action needed to be taken in a very short space of time, he said some rum companies were already cutting back on production as a result of the market conditions.

“That does not bode well for the company or the wider economy. You must remember that rum is by and large export driven. It is a significant earner of foreign exchange. If you cut back on production, you cut back on exports, then you will cut back on the availability of foreign excahnge.

Based on figures I have seen exports of rum from Barbados decline because we cannot compete with what is happening in the world,” Ward said.

The rum chairman also cautioned that one of the biggest challenges facing the Barbados rum industry was the cost of raw materials, such as molasses, which now had to be imported because of a decline in the acreage under sugar.

“Barbados imports most of the molasses that we use and we do so at a cost. We buy on the world market and we have to pay in foreign currency. The price of molasses has quadrupled over the years and then quality has declined,” noted Ward, adding “you cannot make rum without sugar cane juice or molasses”.         

nevilleclarke@barbadostoday.bb

There is a new twist to the sugar industry saga facing Barbados, as one of the world’s most powerful sugar and multinational agribusinesses resists moves by the island to end it exports of bulk sugar to the United Kingdom.

Officials of Tate and Lyle’s Sugars (TLS) have been seeking to get the Ministry of Agriculture rescind its  decision to stop supplying the commodity to TLS, which is the only sugar cane refiner in the UK, providing 850 jobs at its Thames refinery in Central London.

However, Minister of Agriculture Dr David Estwick has been insisting that it made no sense for the island to persist with its sale of bulk sugar to the EU at a “massive” loss. He has further suggested that the only scenario in which bulk sugar production makes financial sense, is at the domestic and  regional level where Barbados could take advantage of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy rules of origin with respect to importation of sugar.

Dr David Estwick

However, this position is not sitting well with the UK’ sole sugar refiner, which, according to Barbados TODAY investigations, has now enlisted the support of the British High Commission in Bridgetown.

Last month, the High Commission, through it Trade & Investment division, wrote to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Esworth Reid seeking to arrange a meeting between local agriculture officials – including Minister Estwick – and the top brass of Tate and Lyle to discuss the matter.

However, Estwick declined to meet with the officials and instead sent his Chief Agricultural Officer Barton Clarke as the Government’s representative at the talks.

In the letter dated November 7, 2014 – a copy of which has been obtained by Barbados TODAY – the head of Trade & Investment for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, H.S. Howell, sought to make a case for this country to continue selling bulk sugar to TLS in London.

“By way of background, TLS – part of the ASR Group – purchase (and has done so for many years), all of the bulk raw sugar exported from Barbados with preferential access to the EU,” the letter said.

It noted that in 2012, the value of those sugar sales to Barbados was about 11 million US dollars.

The British official was also at pains to inform the Permanent Secretary that TLS was currently facing “existential challenges” as a result of changes to the EU sugar regime.

“The amendments will liberate the production and sale of beet sugar and isoglucose products in the EU market from October 2017. They will tend to drive down the price of sugar in the EU, which has traditionally been higher than world prices, due to the regulation,” Howell noted.

However, he told Reid that imported raw cane sugar was covered by the European Partnership Agreements.

And to press home its concern regarding the Government’s decision to cease bulk sugar exports to TLS, the senior official said that sourcing the commodity from traditional suppliers such as Barbados was important to its operations.

“It also means TLS have a shared interest in their sustainability and success,” added the letter.

The trade and investment official also brought to light plans by TLS’ parent company – American Sugar Refinery (ASR) – to take control of the Barbados-based West Indian Central Sugar Cane Breeding Station (WICSCBS) as part of moves to make major inroads into the local sugar industry.

It informed the Permanent Secretary that the plan would improve the sustainability of the breeding station in Barbados by joining forces with other Florida cane growing companies to widen membership in the Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC), comprising Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Belize.

The letter further revealed that this plan would contribute a pro-rata basis of cane ground, meaning that TLS and ASR would pay the lion’s share of the running costs, thus relieving the other SAC members of any responsibility.

The UK official said in the correspondence that the two companies were seeking Barbados’ support for this initiative and that was one of the reasons the Senior Vice President and International Relations Advisor at Tate and Lyle Sugar of London, Mac McLachlan, and President of Redpath Sugars in Toronto Jonathan Bamberger were trying to have a meeting with Estwick.

But in a letter to Minister Estwick after meeting with the TLS representatives, the Chief Agricultural Officer reported that a company called Florida Crystals, which recently bought over the Belize Sugar Corporation, was owned by the same Tate and Lyle, which were all affiliates of ASR.

Sources told Barbados TODAY that Florida Crystals had been advising a group of local industry stakeholders who recently withdrew an alternative plan to rescue the struggling sugar industry.

Tate and Lyle has also had meetings in recent times with the Barbados Agricultural Management Company as they were concerned about the Government’s proposal for transforming the sugar industry from bulk sugar production to “a multipurpose sugar cane industry, producing food grade sugars, electricity and other downstream products to ensure the economic viability of the industry,” Clarke warned Minister Estwick.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

The island’s most powerful trade union has come out strongly against violent attacks on women.

Twenty-four hours after a 36-year-old woman was brutally assaulted in a cutlass attack by the father of her two children at Haggatt Hall, St Michael, the executive council of the Barbados Workers Union (BWU) has described as disturbing “the apparent tendency by some young Barbadians to engage in violent criminal acts”.

“The BWU said young people in Barbados seemed to have copied some of the ‘foul’ behaviour from the developing world, and some of our Caribbean neighbours, such as drive-by shootings.”

But what pains the BWU more, is the inclination of some of young men to commit violent and deadly crimes against their partners, in the process using weapons, such as knives, cutlasses and guns, the union said in a statement today.

“We often wonder what could drive a man to use a cutlass, knife or gun on his partner?” the BWU added.

It warned that such violent acts not only created lasting physical pain and suffering for the victims, but also etched ugly scars on the psyche of the children, the family and the entire nation.

“While it may be true that every country from time immemorial may have suffered a season of violence, we don’t think that Barbados and the Caribbean, which traditionally have prided ourselves as a zone of peace and as a paradise which woos visitors, would wish to have our reputation sullied by the acts of a few violent and unthinking persons.”  The union also blamed the mass media for influencing the behaviour of the youth in this country. It said television and cinema especially featured movies which were replete with unbridled violence.

In some cases, the union said “the media seemingly have taken over the role of parenting of some of our children from an early age and have been feeding them daily doses of negative behaviour”.

The workers’ body said it did not think a change in behaviour would come about merely by “the wail” of public protests.

“We believe that fundamental change will only come about if the family, as the primary social institution, seeks to instill into our young men, values such as tolerance, peace, love and respect for the human beings, as God intended it to be.”

The BWU also suggested that parents, with support from the other social institutions, have to continually “drill” into the minds of the children, that women cannot and must not be brutalized “at the whim and fancy of men”. It said the time for positive action was now.

It is business as usual at Columbus Barbados, despite the acquisition of the company by Cable & Wireless. And while Columbus is pushing ahead with its plans, it is also moving to assuage public concern about the deal.

Barbados TODAY’S Senior Reporter Carol Williams yesterday spoke with Columbus’ managing director Niall Sheehy. 

Columbus managing director Niall Sheehy.

What prompted Columbus’ decision to sell? 

Financially, it was obviously a very good deal; but, secondly, the structure of this deal means that even though it’s an acquisition, three of the major shareholders in Columbus now own just under 40 per cent of the new combined entity. Therefore, even though it’s an acquisition, we’ll have significant impact in controlling the destiny of the new company.

Also, as part of that deal, the senior management was recently announced, and there are a number of key senior management positions being held by Columbus people –– and also obviously by CWC people.

And I think that deal and the structure of it is probably what made it attractive as opposed to what you would normally see which is: “Here’s your money.” “We’re gone; we’ve nothing more to do with it.”

You do see all of the main principals still involved in the new entity, still involved in the senior management team, still involved in shaping the identity and culture of what the new combined organization will be.

Customers were under the impression that Flow was doing well financially and making a mark. Was the company building out too quickly? 

No. I think, if anything, it’s an endorsement of what we have achieved in such a short space of time. We’ve achieved significant success. We have three divisions to the business: the wholesale side; the retail side, which is the Flow brand; and the business solution side, which are performing on track with what our long term plans were.

And I think, if anything, the fact that four or five of the largest companies in the region came and tried to acquire us is really rubber-stamping what we have achieved. This is not a deal whereby we needed to sell. This is really a deal where of the suitors out there, Cable & Wireless was ultimately the most successful.

[Cable & Wireless] looked at what we have achieved and looked at what we are planning to achieve, and believe that it’s something impressive, something that they think their organization can benefit from.

Columbus started ten years ago and now employs roughly 3,000 people across the region. How difficult has the road been getting to this point? 

Like with anything else, it had its ups, it had its downs. Thankfully for Columbus and for Flow, it has been mostly ups. From a Barbados perspective we only turned up our first customers in the middle of last year, and it has been almost all ups. The Barbados public has responded very positively to what we’ve had to offer.

Yes, there are hiccups and there are glitches, and there are changes; but in general I would say it has been a very positive experience for everybody involved. Even if you look at the key players –– Brendan Paddick who is our chairman and CEO, and John Reid who is the president of Columbus Communications, and Paul Scott –– all these people have been there from the very start.

Columbus Communications has previously acquired a few companies as well. Is this just a natural course for companies in general?

What you’re seeing across the world is consolidation. We’ve seen it in North America with a number of companies coming together; and the reality is that the environment is changing constantly. What we did five years ago is very different from what we do today, as I’m sure it’s going to be in five years.

The Caribbean is a small market . . . . I think if you look down the line, we have a very large competitor in this market; one that’s significantly bigger than us financially, and significantly bigger than Cable & Wireless, both from a subscriber perspective and financially –– and significantly bigger than both combined. The new entity combined will probably have under six million subscribers, [while] our largest competitor has 14 million subscribers in 32 countries, earning significantly more revenue.

They have built a tremendous business over the last ten to 15 years and enjoy tremendous success and if you look at our combined entities going forward, the best way for CWC and Columbus to try and disrupt that and compete in this business is to combine.

Some of your customers, including businesses, made the switch though from LIME to Flow. What do you say to them?

Absolutely, a lot of them. From a Barbados perspective, we launched 18 months ago. We’ve had tremendous success. People have come across to us in droves and are very happy with the service that they have received and, I won’t lie to you, that’s been one of our biggest complaints in the last months since this has been announced.

Customers have called us up and they’ve said to me and our staff  “We’re not happy”. They came to us for a number of reasons: our pricing, our service, our quality –– and in some cases they were unhappy with the provider that they had. So some of them are . . . expressing emotions that are not positive.

We are saying this merger is about building on the positives. It’s about looking at what Columbus does well, looking at the network, looking at service –– all those elements that we do well; and looking at what CWC has done well; taking the very best of both to try to create a new entity that can compete effectively with fairly significant dominant players.

This will allow us to compete more effectively.

You mentioned getting calls from customers. Has there been any backlash though, because there have been concerns, especially as it relates to this likely monopoly of fixed lines?

When it was announced, I spent the first two days meeting every one of our staff, explaining to them what was going to happen, the process we were going through. And the exercise I’m going through now is to try to speak to customers. We did write to them. Yes, there are concerns.

In terms of backlash, not major other than people calling in; and I meet people, and they say: “We’re not happy. We were very happy with the fact that Flow had brought something new to the game.” What I say to them is: “Give us three to four months. What we’re looking to do is to bring the best of both worlds together. You have my commitment that you’ll have
at least as good a service as you have today.”

There’s a misconception out there . . . . This is what I’m hearing: “LIME has bought Flow. Flow has been shut down and it’s all going to go back to the way it was two to three years ago.”

And if that happens, the new joint entity will fail because our competitor is going to take all the customers.

What is the plan going forward as it relates to timelines and the name of the company? 

Right now it’s very much business as usual; so we have our Wonderflow Christmas, we have our Twelve Days Of Christmas coming up. We’re still [fulfilling] our corporate social responsibility; all the initiatives that we’ve worked with are all ongoing, and that’s going to happen until we get approval; and we anticipate that’s going to be a three- to four-month process.

Applications have been submitted to the FTC [Free Trade Commission], which they’re reviewing and have come back and asked for more information; and that’s a process. The CTU [Caribbean Telecommunications Union] I believe is meeting today [Wednesday] in Trinidad to give their view on the acquisition. Once the territories that have to approve it have done it, we would like to make the merger in the next three to four months. Certainly, that’s the next phase.

In the meantime, there’s a dedicated integration team that is working on 12 streams –– everything from human resources to network. They are entirely separate from the operations. I have no visibility of what they are doing, and what they’re looking to do is to come up with a plan on how we could integrate this business in the future.

It has been said that Flow’s customer service is above that of LIME’s. How much of the Flow “personality” would be retained in this mix? 

A. John Reid, the president of Columbus Communications, was recently announced as the new senior vice-president responsible for retail (in the new company). So that means the LIME and Flow brands will report to John, who comes from Columbus. So John has made it his personal passion.

He has got two very important goals. He wants to make Columbus, and now the new combined entity, the number one employer of choice in the region. That’s not just in telecommunications; that’s across everything; and we have already launched initiatives to put that in place.

What he wants, and what we want as a company is for people to want to work with Columbus CWC, the new entity; and we’re making plans on how we can make that happen. He also wants Columbus CWC to be the number one provider of customer service in the region.

Again, that’s not just in telecommunications; that’s benchmarking ourselves against every other business. We’ve already launched a significant initiative on that front. It’s called Our Customer Experience.

I’ve been involved in workshops for the last five to six months whereby we have recruited some key industry players worldwide who are advising us on how we can enhance our customer experience.

Give some more information on this deal. What does it mean beyond the US$3 billion that we’ve heard about? 

The details that have been announced is that it’s US$3.02 billion of which US$1.2 billion is related to debt. The fact is that John Risley, who is our major shareholder in Columbus, now owns 20 per cent of [the new company] with this new deal when it’s approved, and John Malone will own 13 per cent, and Brendan Paddick will own three to four per cent . . . . That’s as much of the deal that has been announced . . . .

Under normal purchases, I guess, people walk away and they’re gone. These guys haven’t gone.

So the two companies will remain separate for now and be combined at a later point? 

The plan is that it’s going to require three to four months to go through the stages of approval. Various jurisdictions have various requirements, but certainly the company would like for both to be merged within three to four months. That’s the kind of time frame we would like to see happen and we believe is achievable.

At the end of that, a new entity would come out. It would be a combined entity. What that entity would be called, I’m not sure. so I guess that decision is going to be part of [what is looked at] by the integration team. When we come to the end of this process there will be announcements around that.

What will happen to the employees? 

We have here in Columbus Barbados about 240 employees. I don’t have visibility on LIME, as I’ve said, but from what I read
in the papers and what I’m told, they have around 200 employees in Barbados; so, as a combined entity, that is not a large amount of staff.

We’re continuing to take people on; we just took on some staff. We’re continuing to construct; we’re continuing to launch new services. Will everybody be doing the exact same job that they’re doing today in four months time? [That’s] unlikely.

Will there be some areas where we need to consolidate? For sure; but there’s certainly going to be some significant opportunities as well for people?

So resources will be redistributed where necessary? 

For sure. We don’t have any mobility capability. We don’t have a mobile network . . . . So there are going to be some areas where there are crossovers, but there’s also going to be lots of new areas. We’ve launched a whole raft, and are about to launch a whole new suite of services that require resources to support it.

So, again, in four months’ time . . . there’s definitely going to be a lot of opportunities for people, but there will also be some duplications.

What will happen to your Orange Mall headquarters that
is under construction?

That’s continuing as planned. I was just over there yesterday. I’d very much like to be there by the beginning of next year. As I said, it’s full steam ahead for now, and it’s still Columbus Telecommunications Barbados. We’re still looking to get the Flow brand out there.

Tomorrow [Thursday] I’ve got a meeting with Columbus Business Solutions customers. So it’s very much full speed ahead. Orange Mall is still opening; we’re still constructing; building out. In fact, we’re accelerating our construction.

When is it due to open?

We’re hoping to have it by February.

What will be your future in this whole mix? 

That’s part of the process right now as well. We’re going to look at all of the roles. I’m ten years [working] in the Caribbean. I spent eight years in Jamaica. I work very much for Columbus.

I’m not a contractor who is in for a one-year, three-year or four-year contract. I am a full-time employee of the company.

My wife is from Jamaica; my son was born here; so I very much consider myself a Caribbean person, as much as an Irish person. So I think where I’ll sit in four months is part of the discussion that is going to go through the integration as well.

What specifically does the agreement between Flow and the Barbados Government say regarding mergers?

As part of the process that we’re going though, we do have to get approval from the FTC; so Phil Bentley and Brendan Paddick have been down and met with the Prime Minister. They’ve also met with Minister [Donville] Inniss. They’ve also met with Senator Boyce; and they’ve also met with the Fair Trading Commission, and all the stakeholders.

Actually, I’ve been out to meet with some of the stakeholders of the different Government entities to get their views and opinions, because we want to take it all into account . . . . We’re confident that the case that we’ve put forward is very positive. We think it’s very good for people in Barbados. We think it’s very good for customers in Barbados.

It means that we can now offer a full suite of enhanced services; so we’re confident the FTC should approve it.

The companies announced plans to commence consumer panels this week. When is this going to start in Barbados? 

That is part of what we’re doing here today [Wednesday] actually. So, I’m meeting customers to get their feedback, to get their experience, because we’re constantly learning; and I’m sure some of them will have strong views on this, and we’re going to take that into account. This merger is all about looking forward.

Columbus is ten years; Cable and Wireless is 100 . . . ; so very different histories, very different pasts. But what we want to do is build something new, and take the best of both and build a new organization and that’s very much the philosophy from the top down.

We feel that if we come together we can build something that’s much more positive for customers, much more positive for employees; and I think that’s why you’re seeing so much resistance from the competitors.

Digicel has said that US$3 billion was too much for Flow. Digicel was itself in talks with Flow to purchase the company. What is your response?

I think there was a process, and there were up to five companies that bid; they all bid significantly more. I don’t think I can disclose who they are, but they’re very large international companies that have a strong track record and they valued the business as significantly more than what our competitor here has valued it.

So, as with anything, you look at what’s strategic to you, how much you want to pay for something; and CWC said strategically it was the right price and there were others that felt that that was the right price for it as well.

So, how much is anything worth? I guess it’s what you pay for it.