Independent Senator Dr Kristina Hinds is concerned about what it will take to move the St Joseph Hospital in St Peter which has been abandoned for three decades, into a facility set to be the home of a partnership between the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus and Government.

Delivering her maiden speech in hte Senate Wednesday on the rescinding of Resolution No. 12/2012, Dr Hinds said she hopes provisions are being made for the investment aspect of the partnership between the university and the state.

“This will also require some investment and I hope that this element of this arrangement is taken very seriously and we are not left with another asset that is overgrown, sitting down for years, with people wondering how we will make effective use of it.

“I hope that it will be put to good use for the health sector. I also, in thinking to the previous debate about the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), I would love to see a healthcare facility in the north that stops us from being so reliant on just our Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown,” she said.

The partnership is intended to give Government access to 25 per cent of the shares, and UWI Cave Hill the remaining 75 per cent. The initiative is being seen as an opportunity for UWI to become more financially independent.

However, Dr Hinds said the research and innovation that will be derived from the proposed partnership must not only be seen as a means for UWI to generate money, but must also be used to improve the lives of Barbadians and its regional neighbours.

“I would like for us to think about this beyond monetisation because there is value in this beyond whatever the University of the West Indies may be able to gain financially to support itself. There is greater value in this. I think we need to move beyond a neoliberal conception of universities and education, which see them as just putting out items to be sold,” she said. (AH)

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Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight has endorsed Government’s move to ensure a trade union representative sits on the board of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).

Pointing out that Government and trade unions had “locked heads” in the past regarding issues at the state-run QEH, she acknowledged that the exclusion of a trade union representative on that board had been a mistake.

However, while leading off debate on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Amendment Bill, 2022, in the Senate this morning, she said that was now being corrected.

Last year, Government and the Unity Workers Union (UWU), which represents some nurses at the QEH, were embroiled in a highly-publicized dispute which led to scores of nurses staging protest action.

“One of the very, very important additions to the board is that of a trade union representative. The Government essentially has done a course correct. We recognize there was an absence of a trade union representative and in the context of this amendment we have ensured that we have moved to include that level of representation that was previously missing and importantly so.

“I want to address the elephant in the room because I think that we are all aware that in the context of the healthcare system and particularly the QEH, the Government and the trade union movement have locked heads at some point in time. The fact that we have moved to ensure that in the context of this amendment that we have a trade union representative is testament to the fact that we are not bringing together an amalgam of persons just to be able to sing Kumbaya and to say yes, but that we understand that it is important to have different voices contend in the context of the improvement of our healthcare system,” Dr Munro-Knight said.

The amendment will see the number of members on the QEH’s board moving from 13 to 15.

Dr Munro-Knight said the decision to increase the number of persons on the QEH’s board was made to ensure it was equipped with the necessary skills and human resources.

“This bill essentially is to alter the constitution of the QEH board. Currently, that board stands at 13 and this amendment will move the constitution of that QEH board to 15 members. As we move, particularly in the context of our healthcare system to make it fit for purpose, it is incumbent upon us that we address the issue first of leadership. Leadership of any institution sets the tone, sets the manner, sets the agenda for how that institution will run and evolve, not only to address the concerns and issues of today but also to look forward to be able to anticipate issues and challenges for that institution,” she said.

“Many of us would recognize that if we look at the COVID-19 pandemic we could not have anticipated the mammoth task that would have been ahead of us as a country but that faced our healthcare sector in trying to address this issue. In that context, it is extremely important that the QEH ensures that it has at its disposal all of the necessary skills and human resources that would be critical to ensuring that it can meet the challenge, that it can respond adequately to challenges that are current and challenges that are to come.” (RB)

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The site of the St Joseph Hospital at Ashton Hall, St Peter which has been handed over to the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus through a partnership with Government is to be used to focus on diabetes reversal research.

Leader of Government Business in the Upper Chamber Senator Lisa Cummins said during debate on the Resolution to rescind Resolution No. 12/2012, that she understands from the UWI that they intend to use the hospital for a range of purposes, including research and partnership, particularly in the area of diabetes control and management with specific emphasis being placed on diabetes reversal.

“In addition to that Mr President, it is my understanding from the University of the West Indies, in speaking with them as recent as yesterday, they too as part of that internationalisation agenda that I have just spoken with you about, have been partnering with international schools,” she said.

Senator Cummins, the Minister of Tourism, introduced the resolution to rescind a resolution passed 10 years ago that approved the lease of the hospital’s property to America World Clinics (Barbados) Limited and another resolution to approve the vesting of the abandoned hospital’s 21.485 acres in a joint venture between Government and UWI.

Under the agreement, Government will maintain a 25 per cent shareholding and the remaining 75 per cent will be held by the UWI Cave Hill.

Government Senator Gregory Nicholls, during his contribution to the debate said that a former Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration was proposing to lease the St Peter property to build an international health centre at a lease payment of BDS$1000 per year for a period of three years.

“When we say today that there is a contextual difference in approaches of the two political parties in terms of the development initiatives that drive this country, we cannot let this debate pass without making that contrast very clear. Three years at a $1000 a year in Ashton Hall, St Peter. Think about that. It passed this Senate and the other place,” the attorney-at-law said. (AH)

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The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) which was built over 50 years ago was not designed to deal with 2022 issues.

That is the view of Senator Dr Crystal Haynes who today admitted that the hospital’s resources were outstripped and it was operating with a “litany of woes”.

She made the comments during debate on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Amendment Bill, 2022, in the Upper House this afternoon.

The amendment will see an increase in the number of board members at the QEH from 13 to 15.

Dr Haynes said that the new board would be charged with ensuring that the QEH is able to meet the daily needs of its staff and patients.

“A quick listen on any programme on any given day you can hear a litany of woes coming out of the institution. What we have to understand is that the hospital that was established in 1964 was not built to meet the needs of today and what this new board will have to do is to ensure that the QEH is positioned for the needs of the population and the challenges that will be emerging in the future.

“The bed capacity at opening in 1964 was 464 beds. In 58 years, our bed count has increased only by 90 while the general population has increased by 70, 000 people. Annually there has been a doubling of the throughput in admissions to the QEH, so what is clear there is that you have an outstripping of the established resources based on the needs of the population,” Dr Haynes pointed out.

“The toll is just not in relation to the physical plant but the toll is also on our human resources. Many times you talk to any doctor or any nurse and you’re going to hear complaints of burnout, having to work long hours, doubling up on shifts and so on. So while we seek to position the hospital for the future, we can’t neglect to also ensure that we are taking care of the needs of our staffing community because ultimately the care that patients receive is based on the care that can be given based on where our staff is.” (RB)

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by Marlon Madden

Leaders in Barbados and other Caribbean states are being urged to quickly come up with a more innovative, targeted and strategic approach to increase exports of locally produced goods and services.

This challenge has been thrown out by Services Specialist with the Caribbean Export Development Agency Allyson Francis, who said in recent times her organisation has been focused on boosting the region’s export of services.

Pointing out that there were linkages between all sectors that needed to be deepened, Francis said the region must take action in several areas including greater use of technology, in an effort to keep up with the competition globally.

“So many lives have been impacted by this COVID and we don’t want to fall back to a pre-2020, but to look ahead. I think a large dimension of that is the digitalisation and digitisation, rethinking how we look at business and we look at our whole development process,” said Francis.

She said capacity building of Caribbean firms was necessary for there to be an increase in the export their goods and services.

“A very critical element is the issue of quality. For trade, if you are talking about increasing exports in trade a very important factor in that is your quality and standards,” she said.

“From a Caribbean Export standpoint . . . what we see necessary for us to increase exports is that we have to be more strategic in our thinking, we have to be more innovative and more creative in the way we approach what development is and what our product development relates to,” she explained.

She singled out the manufacturing, agriculture and tourism sectors as those to begin with, adding that close attention must also be given to that of transportation and distribution, research and development and marketing and branding.

Francis was addressing students of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania during a recent interactive session, which was organised by Barbados Trek to explore areas of opportunity for tourism and trade.

She said there were three main pillars within Caribbean Export’s strategic plan designed to help regional firms become export ready – export promotion, investment and a focus on services “as the next frontier”.

“In terms of export promotion, we have to look at our manufacturing capacity. Where are we in the Caribbean, where are we in Barbados with our manufacturing capacity? And we have to work with Export Barbados (BIDC) to prioritise the sectors that we need to work on, the sectors that respond to tourism, the sectors that respond to us moving beyond provision of what our domestic market demands but can go to the next level for export,” she explained.

She said the Caribbean Export was also carrying out work in the creative sector that would allow for greater use of technology.

“We have to be very targeted and strategic to get the sort of results that are necessary to help with that development plan and help with the transforming of lives and building of resilience so that we can respond to the development needs of the national member states,” she said.

Francis said Caribbean Export was also keen on helping regional states reduce their food import bills by helping firms to build production capacity while adhering to the highest international quality and standards.

“So our focus at Caribbean Export has been to look at our three pillars and to see how they are intricately intertwined because I can’t speak to services separate without speaking to goods and we can’t speak of the development of the goods and manufacturing sector without speaking to our services sector . . . We have to take a more holistic approach,” she explained.

Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Sandra Husbands acknowledged that the goods offered by Barbados to the export market was somewhat “narrow” and needed to be expanded.

She also agreed that the island has been missing out on “a lot of opportunities because we have not been able to look at what are our strategic best interest in every arena where we are”. What is more, Husbands said the issue of imports should also be addressed to allow for increased trade between Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states.

She explained that while CARICOM had the opportunity to produce up to 75 per cent of some products that it needed, the region continued to import billions of dollars worth of those same items.

“What is happening in the region is that we are importing into the region over US$3 billion worth of goods that we already produce, but we choose instead to buy them from outside. Now that is a travesty. This is something we are working on as a region,” she said.

She said the issue would be discussed at the next Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) meeting, as the region examine “how can we transform the way in which our enterprises act and behave, how can we transform the platform on which they have to operate to make sure that those platforms are conducive to them trading, and how can we make changes to our common exchange tariff and make changes to our rules of origin to enable more regional demand for goods”.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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by Marlon Madden

Some Barbadians began to pay slightly more for natural gas as of last month, with commercial entities being more affected. The National Petroleum Corporation (NPC) has announced an increase in the price for natural gas, while pointing out that the last increase to its rates was in July 2017.

“The National Petroleum Corporation will continue to provide a safe and reliable service to our customers and ask for your support as we serve you,” said the statutory corporation. While there will be no increase in the monthly consumption rate of $1.70 per cubic metre
for households, the rental fees associated with the service has doubled.

The rental fee for households has moved from $5 to $10. However, all other fees for domestic customers remain unchanged. Meanwhile, the utility company noted that commercial customers will pay an increase in their rates, going from $1.70 for the first 150 cubic metre to $2.28 for the first 500 cubic metres.

The next 151 to 5,000 cubic metre will go from $1.60 to a new rate of $2.24 for 501 to 2,500 cubic metres. It will now cost businesses $2.22 for use of 2,501 to 10,000 cubic metres, instead of $1.50 for use of between 5,000 and 20,000 cubic metres.

Use of over 20,000 cubic metres used to cost $1.41, but commercial customers will now pay $2.20 for use over 10,000. The metre rental fee for commercial customers will increase by $10 to now cost $25. All bills attract a rate of 17.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT). The increases took effect April 1, 2022.

Meanwhile, all other charges including deposit for natural gas supply, deposit for metre testing, installation fee and reconnection fee will all remain the same. It is estimated that more than 16,000 households are users of natural gas in Barbados across several parishes, with the primary use being for cooking.

A minor discount is usually offered to customers who pay their bill within a certain number of days of the date of billing. This increase in natural gas rates comes amidst increases in other commodity prices including food prices and petrol at the pumps.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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by  Marlon Madden

Attempts by local authorities to get Barbadians living overseas to contribute more to the island’s economic development could prove to be more challenging than anticipated. Word of this has come from Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Sandra Husbands, who revealed that undocumented members of the Barbadian diaspora were more hesitant to become part of a system that would “track them”.

She said there was also a growing concern that the younger generation have little to no emotional connection with the country and was therefore not willing to take part. After forming the Government in 2018, the Mia Mottley led administration said it would be putting measures in place so that the Barbadian diaspora could invest more in the country’s economic development and become promoters of investment and marketers of the island.

In addition to being able to pitch different investment ideas, the diaspora will be able to invest more in property and business and expand jobs in several areas including the life sciences, the digital and creative economy and renewable energy.

For this to take place, Prime Minister Mia Mottley had indicated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade would be embarking on a mission to build out a database that would require individuals to register with the various embassies, high commissions or consulates at the appropriate time. This database is to allow local officials to know what service or contribution each Barbadian living overseas is able to provide.

However, Husbands reported that while investigations have started on how to build deeper connections within the diaspora “to be able to track them, to be able to make connection with them and then to be able to service them”, it was proving to be a challenge.

“They are an important source for tourism for example, they are an important source for investment, they are an important source for knowledge, for knowledge sharing, they are important for opportunities which they can present to their countries,” she said.

“Our challenge has been ‘how are we going to find them?’ Part of the challenge of that is that over the years you would have had a number of Caribbean people who went overseas but who were not necessarily legal, so they are uncomfortable stepping forward and putting their names in a database that we can track them, because they are afraid that somebody else will find them and they will suddenly find themselves on a plane and being deported,” she explained.

Husbands was responding to questions from students of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania during a recent interactive session, organised by Barbados Trek to explore areas of tourism and trade. Husbands said that the diaspora was “one of the most powerful weapons that we have in the Caribbean to help us build out our economy”.

Pointing to the practice of the overseas Asian community to contribute to the development of their economies, Husbands said this was something the Caribbean region should do more of.

“This is something we have to do here in the region, that Barbados and CARICOM is not just who lives on these rocks, but rather where our diaspora seeds have been scattered,” she said.

However, she said another challenge that officials have identified was the lack of emotional attachment to the region among third and fourth generation Caribbean nationals overseas. This, she explained, would make it difficult for them to promote Barbados and the rest of the region.

“So what we are now recognising is that we are having third and fourth generation Caribbean diaspora who are not emotionally connected and if we do not find you and connect you very quickly, we will lose you and all of the subsequent generations flowing from out of you,”
she said.

“So one of the most urgent things we have to do as Barbados and that we have to do as the Caribbean, is find our diaspora and engage them in a meaningful way to help build the economy, help build out demand for our products and services [and] provide us with the skills and opportunities that we need,” said Husbands.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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by Marlon Madden

Barbadians continue to increase their savings while paying down their loans faster than they are borrowing from financial institutions.

This is according to the latest Central Bank data, which also revealed that during the January to March 2022 review period foreign currency deposits continued to expand, due mainly to activities within the tourism and real estate sectors.

Total deposits stood at $14.2 billion at the end of March 2022, compared to $13.1 billion at the end of the corresponding period last year.

Total domestic currency deposits in commercial banks, credit unions and other deposit-taking institutions at the end of the review period was $13.1 billion, while foreign currency deposits accounted for $1.1 billion of savings, despite historically low interest rates.

“Domestic-currency deposits grew by 2.4 per cent due to Government spending and heightened foreign exchange inflows during the quarter. While this growth was partly reflected in the balances of households, the build-up was slower than the previous year, as domestic consumption picked up and prices increased,” explained Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes.

“Foreign-currency deposits expanded to account for 7.6 per cent of total deposits, above the 5 per cent share recorded one year earlier. This expansion was largely due to the sale of real estate and increased activity in the tourism sector,” he added.

Haynes indicated that while Barbadians continued to incur debt during the three months under review, the rate of repayment continued to outweigh new credit.

“Credit to the non-financial private sector by deposit-taking institutions remained relatively flat compared to a 1 per cent decline for the first three months of 2021. On the corporate side, the value of new loan disbursements was one per cent higher than the corresponding period a year earlier but, after accounting for repayments, most sectors, with the exception of construction, manufacturing and real estate, registered declines in credit balances,” he said.

“New lending to households grew at a faster rate than the corresponding period in 2021. Credit card activity picked up with the resumption of travel and economic activity, but repayments continued to exceed new credit.

“These events resulted in the outstanding credit card balance being just above the value of debt incurred during the period. Mortgage balances also continued to contract, as repayments outweighed the growth in new credit. New bridging loans to households were higher than last year, but overall supply of funds remained weak,” he explained.

The Central Bank Governor further reported that consolidation of non-performing loans of banks and deposit taking finance and trust companies during the review period reversed the upward trend experienced during the height of the pandemic when people struggled to repay their loans. Noting that the financial system remained stable during the quarter, Haynes added that the improved credit quality reduced provisions and contributed to higher profitability and a strong capital base.

“Liquidity in the financial system remained elevated, with banks continuing to maintain substantial excess cash with the Central Bank. The growth in excess liquidity slowed over the past year from the preceding 12-month period, but the build-up during the last three months was stronger than that of the first nine months of the fiscal year, due to the Government stimulus and private sector inflows of foreign exchange. Interest rates on deposits and loans remained at historically low levels,” he said.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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A 75-year-old woman lost her battle with COVID-19 on Wednesday, May 4.

She was partially vaccinated, and her passing has brought the number of deaths from the viral illness to 402.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Ian Gooding-Edghill, has extended condolences to her family and friends.

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by Marlon Madden

The Central Bank of Barbados is in the process of expanding its data collection to include more information on the micro and small business sector in an effort to better gauge that sector’s contribution to the economy.

During the height of the pandemic unemployment skyrocketed to an estimated 17.9 per cent by the end of September 2020, and was followed by a noticeable gradual increase in the number of new entrepreneurs.

Presenting his report on the economy for the January to March 2022 period, Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Cleviston Haynes was not immediately able to say what changes were experienced in the small business sector.

However, he agreed there was need for more statistics on the sector, given its importance to the economy.

“One of the things we are trying to do within the [Central] Bank is to improve some of the data sets that we have, and data surrounding small businesses in particular is one of the areas in which we are trying to focus,” said Haynes.

“I can’t promise you next quarter, but hopefully going forward we will be able to provide that type of information . . . I think it is important that we understand what is happening to small businesses – how they hire, what’s their employment, what sorts of incomes they are generating, and in some cases, what sort of job is going to be lost like when you go through the pandemic, and their access to credit.  So, there are a number of dimensions of the small business sector which we have identified.

There is a lagoon of information on it and we want to be able to fill that going forward,” he said. Reporting on some sectors during his economic review, Haynes indicated that early data showed an overall agriculture production increase of almost 3 per cent in the first quarter of this year, when compared to the same period last year.

“Non-sugar agriculture output increased by 4.8 per cent, primarily because of improved food crop production. In addition, milk production rose as new herd additions entered into their second lactation period. However, meat production declined and fish landings were adversely impacted by the resurgence of sargassum seaweed across the Eastern Caribbean,” said Haynes.

Non-sugar agriculture is estimated to have generated some $25.5 million in economic activity during the period due to the increased output. This contribution is up from the estimated $24.3 million for the corresponding period last year.

“Manufacturing output increased by 5.4 per cent in the first quarter, reflecting the boost in domestic demand created by the relaxation of COVID-19 health protocols, the impact of improved tourism on demand for locally produced beverages, and the partial recovery of exports. Food and beverages provided the greatest impetus, but there was also strong growth in construction materials, particularly for cement for the recovering construction sector,” he said.

As a result of the increased output, the manufacturing sector is estimated to have contributed $122 million to the economy at the end of the January to March 2022 period, compared to $115.7 million during the same period last year.

Haynes also reported that the non-traded sector activity increased by 3.5 per cent during the first quarter of 2022, against a backdrop of heightened construction activity and gains in output in other sectors, particularly the wholesale and retail and business and other services sectors.

With the 3.5 per cent increase in activity, the contribution of the non-traded sector was estimated at $1.61 billion at the end of the quarter, compared to $1.55 billion at the end of the corresponding period last year.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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Business leaders in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean are being urged to see cyber risk as a serious threat to their operations and become proactive and nimble in their response to such threats. This caution comes on the heels of the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey, which showed that cybercrime tops the list of current threats facing businesses, while emerging risks from environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting fraud and platform fraud could impact businesses in the future.

The tech, media and telecommunications sector experienced the highest incidence of fraud across all industries, according to PwC’s Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2022, which shows organisations’ perimeters are vulnerable, and external fraudsters are becoming a bigger threat as attacks increase and become more sophisticated. The survey of 1,296 business leaders from across 53 countries found that cybercrime, customer fraud and asset misappropriation were the most common crimes experienced by organisations, regardless of revenue.

Cybercrime poses the biggest threat to small, medium, and large businesses, after the impact of hackers rose substantially over the last two years. The rise of digital platforms opens the door to myriad financial crime risks, and 40 per cent of those encountering fraud experienced some form of platform fraud. In this year’s survey results, cybercrime came in ahead of customer fraud, the most common crime in 2020, by a substantial margin.

Forty-two per cent of large businesses reported experiencing cybercrime in the period, while only 34 per cent experienced customer fraud. Bruce Scott, cyber leader for PwC in the Caribbean, said: “Businesses are seeing an increase in threats from outside the organisation with perpetrators quickly growing in strength and effectiveness. Defence against these external threats requires new thinking.” He added: “Organisations need to be more agile than ever to respond to these converging threats, and adopt new approaches and technologies to predict and prevent fraud.”

André Knight, Cyber Senior Manager, PwC East Caribbean, said: “Organisations throughout the Caribbean region, including here in Barbados and across the East Caribbean, should see cyber risk as an emerging and very real threat to their business regardless of size or industry. Given this, strong measures and controls to such cyber risks are becoming even more imperative for the operation of organisations”.

While just under half of organisations (46 per cent) reported experiencing fraud or economic crime within the last 24 months, the impact of these crimes has been more substantial. Among companies with global annual revenues over $10 billion, 52 per cent experienced fraud during the past 24 months.

Within that group, nearly one in five reported that their most disruptive incident had a financial impact of more than $50 million. The share of smaller companies (those with less than $100 million in revenues) affected was lower; 38 per cent experienced fraud, of which one in four faced a total impact of more than $1 million.

The growing maturity of the technology, media and telecommunications sector helped it identify a significant increase in fraud activity since 2020 with nearly two-thirds of companies experiencing some form of fraud, the highest incidence of all industries. Emerging risks, including ESG reporting fraud (the act of altering ESG disclosures so that they do not truly reflect the activities or progress of an organisation) and supply chain fraud, have the potential to cause greater disruption in the next few years, according to the research.

For example, just eight per cent of organisations encountering fraud in the last 24 months experienced environmental, societal and governance (ESG) reporting fraud. Yet, as ESG continues to increase in importance to stakeholders, the incentive to commit fraud in this area may grow. Similarly, one in eight organisations experienced new incidence of supply chain fraud as a result of the disruption caused by COVID-19, and one in five sees supply chain fraud as an area of increased risk as a result of the pandemic. (PR)

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SigniaGlobe Financial says it has maintained stability and its profit levels despite a contracted economy over the last financial year ending December 31, 2021.

In its chairman and chief executive officer report that accompanied the recently published audited financial statement summary, it was explained that the “positive performance” resulted in a net income of $3.18 million.

The report, which was signed by chairman John Williams and CEO Paul Ashby stated: “The company has been able to maintain the size of its deposit and loan portfolios, both of which are in line with the prior year position. . . The company has also been able to maintain its capital adequacy ratio of over 16 per cent.”

According to Ashby and Williams, the level of stability was achieved despite the global pandemic, economic contraction triggered by reductions in tourist arrivals, and very high unemployment.

“Together these factors resulted in increased uncertainty, loan delinquency spikes and other credit risk adversities for all financial institutions in Barbados.  “Through prudent credit risk management strategies, SigniaGlobe was able to navigate this crisis, albeit with a higher bad debt provision expense than in the prior year,” they outlined.

SigniaGlobe’s top executives said the finance institution’s response was to embrace the challenges, expand its several digital elements and service delivery mechanisms.

“A changing banking environment has also been the catalyst for the introduction of new products and services. During 2021, the company added custodial services to the existing suite of personal and commercial financial solutions. This business line is expected to produce increased diversity in the company revenue streams,” the chairman and CEO disclosed.

Regarding the outlook in the new financial year, Williams and Ashby said SigniaGlobe had a renewed focus, assuring stakeholders that as the world changes, the team was committed to “corporate reinvention”.

The financial institution received a clean audit report from its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers.  (IMC1)

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The Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory identified 534 new COVID-19 cases, 234 males and 300 females, from the 1,541 tests conducted on Wednesday, May 4.

The cases comprised 130 persons under the age of 18, and 404 who were 18 years and older.

There were 104 people in isolation facilities, while 3,243 were in home isolation.

A 75-year-old partially vaccinated woman passed away from the virus on Wednesday.

As at May 4, there were 402 COVID-19 related deaths.

The public health laboratory has conducted 655,595 tests since February 2020, and recorded 72,282 COVID-19 cases (33,126 males and 39,156 females).

Under the National Vaccination Programme for COVID-19, the total number of persons with at least one dose is 161,824 (70.9 per cent of the eligible population). The total number of fully vaccinated persons is 152,099 (56.1 per cent of the total population or 66.6 per cent of the eligible population). The eligible population represents those persons who are 12 years and older.

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The Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory identified 534 new COVID-19 cases, 234 males and 300 females, from the 1,541 tests conducted on Wednesday, May 4.

The cases comprised 130 persons under the age of 18, and 404 who were 18 years and older. There were 104 people in isolation facilities, while 3,243 were in home isolation.

A 75-year-old partially vaccinated woman passed away from the virus on Wednesday. As at May 4, there were 402 COVID-19 related deaths.

The public health laboratory has conducted 655,595 tests since February 2020, and recorded 72,282 COVID-19 cases (33,126 males and 39,156 females).

Under the National Vaccination Programme for COVID-19, the total number of persons with at least one dose is 161,824 (70.9 per cent of the eligible population).

The total number of fully vaccinated persons is 152,099 (56.1 per cent of the total population or 66.6 per cent of the eligible population).  The eligible population represents those persons who are 12 years and older. (BGIS)

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Registered farmers are advised that the agricultural water rate became available effective May 1^st, 2022.

Farmers who wish to access the new rate will be required to follow a simple process which includes:

1. Filling out the online forms available on the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Nutritional Security (MAFS) website.
2. Emailing the completed forms back to the MAFS for processing.

The MAFS will validate the farming activity, which may include conducting an inspection of the farm by the MAFS Officers, before the rate can be approved.

Finally, all approved forms will then be forwarded to the BWA for the rate change to be enacted.

It is important to note that NO rate change will be granted to any farmer unless the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Nutritional Security has provided the approved form to the BWA to substantiate the change.

Persons with queries should contact the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Nutritional Security at 535-5100 or via the MAFS website at agriculture.gov.bb/Resources/Forms/

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The Barbados Water Authority (BWA) wishes to update the public today, Thursday May 5^th that the Ionics Desalination Plant is now fully back online and personnel will continue to monitor it over the next few days.

Customers in the distribution systems recently affected by water outages as a result of the Plant being offline, can expect the water pressure in their areas to gradually return to normal.

The BWA will continue to assist residents of any areas still impacted via water tanker as a temporary measure.

The Authority thanks its customers for their patience and understanding. (BWA)

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One of the island’s leading economists is warning that if the Government does not make a radical alteration to the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, citizens should expect further austerity measures in the year ahead.

Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus Dr Don Marshall said on Thursday that a major scale-back of BERT should be one of the key issues Prime Minister Mia Mottley and her delegation ought to insist on with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), during her current talks in Washington with that financial institution, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Dr Marshall contended that any extension of the IMF-financed programme cannot continue in its ambitious pre-COVID form, and must reflect the post-pandemic realities.

The three-phase five-year package of austerity and stimulus measures aimed at avoiding a devaluation of the Barbados dollar, was introduced by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration when it came to power in 2018, and followed a rapid post-election visit by an IMF team to establish the levels of support and actions necessary to address the dire economic state of the economy.                                                      

At that time, Prime Minister Mottley had said the recovery and transformation plan was carefully balanced, would reduce the fiscal deficit in a full fiscal year by $183 million, and would raise the primary surplus from four per cent to almost six per cent. Combined with a further $200 million of fiscal adjustment in phase 2 and 3, the fiscal consolidation before debt restructuring was projected to be $330 million when the measures were in full force. This, Mottley said, would reduce the country’s $15 billion national debt to sustainable levels in five years.

But Dr Marshall has argued that the transformation aspect, in particular, must now take other critical challenges into consideration in order to be relevant in a post-COVID situation.

“I think the BERT programme needs to be scaled back in relation to the ambitious targets that were set out for the period 2018 when we were in the period of the pre-pandemic. So the BERT programme must reflect the fact that the climate change crisis continues, the pandemic continues, and the Ukraine invasion means a worsening of prospects.

“So, rather than a switch to austerity measures which will bring more pain, there should be some attempt to persuade the Fund that the BERT programme has to have some expansionist policies that would involve a mixture of relief and stimulus to get the economy going, to get the small business sector revived by funding their innovation initiatives and so on,” the economic expert told Barbados TODAY.

Dr Marshall further suggested that there is need for investment in innovation and research that could assist the small business community, which would help the country become more self-sufficient.

“Anything less would be to default on sovereignty, and just to capitulate on the need for greater austerity is to proceed in a manner that is ignorant of how much the world has in fact changed in the last couple of weeks. This post-pandemic [environment] is not about a return to pre-pandemic time. In fact, we can argue that we are in an era of a great unsettling,” he stated.

The university academic added: “So I don’t know how, as we move towards a great unsettling, that Barbados is returned to a fiscal consolidation programme that is pre-COVID and pre the environment that we are in right now.”

The SALISES head also believes that critical to the discussions which the Prime Minister is having in Washington is the need for some policy space in order to enact the post-pandemic BERT initiative.

He cautioned that with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is impacting Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean, food security must be top priority.

“We need to contain as much as we could the impact of import inflation. So, rising cost of fuel, rising cost of commodities, meat, feed, etcetera, means that Barbados has to navigate the rapids of the current crises with some policy space to manoeuvre.

“And so, the Mottley administration would be working with the IMF to ensure the IMF recognises that we want to pursue  fiscal consolidation, we want to exercise fiscal discipline, but it is constrained to so do, at least in the direction of trying to achieve the ambitious target of working towards a fiscal surplus in excess of three to five per cent,” Dr Marshall said.

Although the BERT plan is scheduled to cover up to 2023, the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Barbados under which the local programme is financed, ends this year.

In December 2021, the IMF’s executive board concluded its sixth review of the EFF arrangement for Barbados, paving the way for the Government to draw down about US$24 million, bringing total disbursements to the equivalent of approximately US$425 million.

The four-year extended arrangement under the EFF was approved on October 1, 2018, for a total US$465 million.

On her Facebook page on Thursday, Prime Minister Mottley announced that she had some “productive” meetings with the new Executive Director at the IMF with responsibility for the Caribbean, Philip Jennings and the new IMF Director for the Western Hemisphere, Ilan Goldfain.

“And of course,” she went on, “I was able to reconnect with those who were involved at the beginning of the BERT programme.”

The Barbadian leader’s itinerary also includes meetings with US Treasury officials, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives from California, and former US Senator Chris Dodd.

She is also meeting with Samantha Powers, administrator of USAID, the global aid-dispensing arm of President Joe Biden’s administration, and is scheduled to attend a reception with members of the Bajan diaspora in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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Newly elected president of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Dr Ronnie Yearwood has pledged to unite competing factions within the political organisation, as he attempts to lead the development of a viable alternative to the government of the day.

In an extended interview with Barbados TODAY, the University of the West Indies (UWI) law lecturer dismissed pundits who have questioned his groundings within the party and the extent to which he can fill the role of political leader, while carrying out the administrative functions associated with the role of president.

With the ink barely dry on Yearwood’s victory on Sunday, political scientist Dr George Belle and analyst Devaron Bruce identified the new president’s greatest challenge as forging unity within the party.

Dr Belle was pessimistic of Yearwood’s chances, citing a lack of “institutional depth” in comparison to more established actors like his predecessor Verla DePeiza and his former opponent for the post, Dr David Estwick.

“I don’t even know if those kinds of things require responses, because I just won the election,” Dr Yearwood told Barbados TODAY.

“I don’t think I could have won the election if I didn’t have a sense of grounding in this party, an understanding of this party, and a respect and love for the people of this party, and the same has been shown to me.

“The reality is we’ve had an election, the elections are over, and it is now time to get on with the business of managing the affairs of this party for the interests of Barbadians, because that’s what this party is about,” he added.

Rumours of divisions within the DLP date back to the so-called Eager 11 within the Freundel Stuart administration. Those divisions became even more apparent as DePeiza attempted to rebuild the party between 2018 and 2022 with no representation in Parliament, following two consecutive 30-nil election losses.

But Dr Yearwood has not backed away from the reality that he will have to confront those divisions in the near future.

“Every single political party will have varying and competing interests. That is normal. What may be problematic is if those competing interests get to a point where it affects the normal day-to-day functioning of the institution,” said Dr Yearwood.

“But you have that in every institution, whether its corporate institutions, civil society institutions; whether it’s parties here, overseas, or even the ruling party, but it’s about how you manage these varying interests so that you can achieve that goal.

“I see myself as a unifier who can reach across all varying interests and understand that people may want a particular thing and someone else may be trying to achieve a particular aim – both of them love the party, both of them want the party to succeed. My role is to bring those varying interests together and make them work on behalf of the party,” he declared.

Dr Yearwood also addressed suggestions from political strategist Hartley Henry that the DLP needed a political leader more than a president.

“I think that is one of those narratives that the media would do better than to buy into,” said the academic.

“The party has a leader, the party has leadership, the party has a team, the party has committed persons who believe in the ideals of this party and who will drive this party to the stage of excellence that it needs to get to in order to become that fit, fighting election machine, because in order to be a government, that’s the first step.

“We need to regain the trust of Barbadians and I assure you that the party will do that. Under my leadership, that is what this party will do,” said the new DLP president.

He continuously declared that the doors of George Street, under his stewardship, would be open to all and sundry for the promotion of ideas to move the country forward.

“This is a challenge like every other challenge in life. There are Barbadians who cannot put food on their tables, they cannot put gas in their cars. Their challenges are as concerning to me as the challenges that this party may face in its revival, and a lot of this will be focusing and trying to understand what Barbadians want of the Democratic Labour Party in the future and how do they want the party to reflect and feel and sound like them and that will be a lot of what we will be doing going forward,” he said.

“It’s not just about rubbing shoulders and trying to use buzz words, but we want to really get to people and engage with them, understand where they are, and then have that reflected to shape the policies that are important to the party, because the priorities of the party have to be the priorities of Barbadians,” he added. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb

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Regional conglomerate Massy Holdings Limited has completed the sale of its insurance business Massy United Insurance Ltd. to the Bermuda-based Coralisle Group (CG) Ltd., in a deal estimated at US$90.5 million.

One senior executive of Massy United is promising there will be no changes to the structure or staff complement but said the competition in the insurance sector is about to heat up.

Announcement of the sale agreement was first made in September 2021, when CG’s Chief Executive Officer Naz Farrow described it as a “game changer” for the company.

The Massy Group said in a brief statement on Thursday that “the sale of this successful business is consistent with the Group’s strategy to focus its operations around its three main portfolios”.

“This transaction represents the Group’s exit of the property and casualty insurance business, and as we exit the insurance business we wish to thank all stakeholders for their continued support and assure our customers of continued coverage and service with the new owners,” said the statement from the Trinidad and Tobago-based conglomerate which operates Massy Stores.

Chief Executive Officer of Massy United Insurance Ltd. Randy Graham told Barbados TODAY the acquisition created new possibilities and meant increased competition for the insurance industry here.

“It is exciting times for the operations in Barbados. All of the staff and stakeholders are very excited about the possibilities because it represents a merger with another insurance company in the region, creating really a hulk of an insurance company. We have a highly experienced staff complement, [and] both Massy United and CG have very strong balance sheets with a lot of liquid assets available to pay claims for policyholders.

“What CG brings to the table is a lot of innovation in terms of products. So we really do create a well-managed big insurance company that will create a lot of innovative products for the clients. The staff are all staying on with the company, and all of the clients,” he said.

Graham said Barbadians should expect innovation and increased competition in the insurance space in the coming months.

“CG has a very innovative and strong medical insurance product and we are going to bring that in a very big way to Barbados and other territories in the Caribbean. The product has very high limits, excellent benefits for policyholders.

“Competition is always good. Competition will bring about benefits for the market, it will bring about benefits for the clients, and people will have more options. So, this merger will bring about more options to policyholders and persons seeking medical insurance in Barbados and the Caribbean. We can expect a competitive but innovative market response,” said Graham.

He said there were no plans for any changes in the structure of the operation, adding that “the only change is the ultimate shareholder will change from Massy to CG, but all structure, management and staff remain in place as is”.

Graham said while the company will continue to operate as Massy United Insurance, a name change was on the cards.

Massy Holdings Ltd voluntarily delisted from the Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE) at the end of 2016, and Graham said there were no plans for relisting at this stage, given that both companies were well capitalised.

CG’s acquisition of 100 per cent of Massy United Insurance, which was previously acquired as part of the Massy Group’s acquisition of Barbados Shipping and Trading in 2008, will allow the Bermuda-headquartered company to now have a presence in 14 new markets where Massy United operates – Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Curacao, Aruba, Jamaica and Belize.

CG and Massy United have complementary operations in the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, British Virgin Islands, Barbados and the Cayman Islands, with minimal overlap in their product offerings.

In its financial highlights for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, Massy United Insurance noted that earnings were US$232 million in gross written premiums, representing a 17 per cent growth over the previous year.

The company recorded a US$10.7 million profit before tax. It settled just under US$30 million in net claims throughout the region during the year under review.

For the sale agreement, RBC Capital Markets acted as financial advisor to Coralisle Group Ltd. with Carey Olsen Bermuda Limited as legal counsel, while Ernst & Young Corporate Finance acted as financial advisor to Massy
Barbados Ltd.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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As petrol prices continue to rise and passenger numbers fall, operators of privately-owned public service vehicles (PSV) are pleading with the Government to come to their rescue by making provisions for them to get fuel at the pump VAT-free.

Communication, Information and Marketing Officer of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Mark A Haynes has urged the Mia Mottley administration to remove the 17.5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) that PSV operators pay on gas and diesel, and allow operators to fill their tanks at the Transport Board’s Roebuck Street location.

He argued that the Government could put measures in place to ensure such a system is not being abused.

“I am calling on the Government of Barbados to move with alacrity to ensure that they create a mechanism to help offset the cost which continues to face the sector,” he said.

“I am calling on Government to revert to the Transport Board where the workers can go to the Transport Board and have their vehicles filled up, in which case they would not pay the 17.5 per cent VAT. If it was illegal under the [last government], I don’t see why the Government cannot go to the Parliament and make what is deemed illegal, legal,” Haynes added.

He said if PSV operators were able to get an ease in the price of fuel, it would help offset other costs. The AOPT official pointed out that in addition to having to spend on frequent repairs, PSV operators had to contend with few passengers and compete with illegal operators.

“The Government needs to create a special road unit whose remit it is to ensure they run down these guys day and night and penalise them wherever possible, because they are really impacting on the legitimate workers. We are seeing too much of this going on and it cannot continue unabated,” said Haynes.

“The sector is faced with miscellaneous costs and other costs coming at you. We have a reduction in ridership and this is impacting negatively on the sector. This is something that I think the Government is fooling around with. It is time the Government wakes up and tries to assist this sector wherever it can because this sector contributes to Barbados’ GDP,” he insisted.

Haynes said while he did not have official figures, he was aware that some PSV operators had exited the industry because they were no longer able to earn enough to meet their daily expenses.

“Some persons are exiting because the cost is astronomical, the cost is burdensome for some people and they say ‘look, I need to get out, I cannot bear this anymore’. They have to pay annual taxes and coupled with the fact that the ridership is down,” he lamented.

Adding that some operators were still paying loans for their vehicles, Haynes said: “The banks are running them down for their monies, and they have other miscellaneous costs when the vehicles break down and so on, so these are costs constantly coming at you. The sector cannot survive with this kind of environment. There has to be a change, there has to be a mechanism to defray this cost.”

Haynes said he did not accept that the Russia-Ukraine war, which has contributed to higher fuel prices on the international market, should be used as a reason for the Government not to assist the sector. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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