The Barbados Light and Power Company (BLPC) spent some $19 million over a two-year period to replace components of a steam turbine generating plant that it had planned to retire following the last electricity rate hike in 2010.

Instead, the BLPC has extended the life of the plant until 2023, but repurposed one of its two power-generating units to house spare parts.

“I believe it is S2…is not actively generating [electricity] right now. S1 is. But the unit S2 is used as spares for S1,”Director of Finance at the company Ricaido Jennings testified on Thursday before the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) on day 7 of the hearing that’s reviewing a request for a rate increase.

The information was made public as intervenor and accountant David Simpson – who has teamed up with attorney-at-law Tricia Watson – cross-examined Jennings.

“What would have happened and the accounting treatment that would have happened there, is that these investments would have been included in the cost of the plant and the retirals would have been taken out of the cost of the plant as well,” the finance chief stated.

The witness was also asked if the $19 million provided any new generating capacity during the two years identified.

“To the best of my knowledge, no it did not provide any additional capacity,” Jennings told the commission.

The intervenor asked, why then were the millions spent and the witness deferred the question to the company’s asset management team.

“What happens…is that these are the things that need to be

replaced to make sure the steam engine continues to run. So we have a number plant and every year there are things that need to be retired and they get replaced. They are retired…and treated as depreciated and added as interim additions,” the witness offered.

“In your professional expertise and your understanding of the $19 million investment and your explanation of retirement dates, should that $19 million have been capitalised as additions to the plant, or should it have been treated as repairs and maintenance to an asset that was fading in terms of its useful life and ability to generate power and treated as an expense?” Simpson asked the finance director.

“Not just in my professional opinion, but in the professional opinion of the auditors as well,” he replied.

The intervenor also asked Jennings to explain the economic benefit of the unit that is being used for spares and which is

depreciated.

This question was once again deferred to asset management, but the witness still pointed out that the company cannot run a unit without spares.

But while agreeing that a unit can’t be operated without spare parts, Simpson suggested to the finance director that normally spares are a repairs and maintenance expense cost as needed.

He expressed concern that the unit was taken out of production and allocated to spares but was still being maintained as part of the asset category and even being depreciated.

The intervenor then asked Jennings to give the present value of the unit that is being used for spare parts, but the witness told him there are other company officials better-placed to answer that when they testify.

However, he said the spares are treated as “critical”, a description supported by the auditors.

Pressed further, Jennings could not say if all of the spares in the unit are critical, but admitted that the company still has to source spares from the open market.

Asked how long the unit housing the critical spares could remain dormant without further deterioration to the plant, the finance chief replied: “I can tell you that the information I have from the asset management team suggests that the critical spares that they have are useful to the life of the steam [plant] which is 2023.”

Jennings was also cross-examined by acting Public Counsel Sharon Deane who asked him to justify a series of increases in the price of items the company is requesting in its application. He agreed with the data contained in a document that was read by Deane showing that the BLPC wants $260 for a damaged meter that currently costs $50; $650 for another type of damaged meter that is presently priced at $200; $130 for a new service that’s below 200 amps and costs $50; and $200 for a renewable service application that is currently priced at $50.

“Is it possible to justify such increases for the above services, when by your own admission, inflation as measured by the consumer price index only increased by 38 per cent since 2010?” Deane queried.

“These are typical non-standard charges. There are not typical standard charges. I think this is just to realign with the costs of these proposed services. There are not expected to be everyday charges that everyone pays. My colleague who deals with cost of service can certainly help to understand the justification for it,” the witness replied.

The hearing resumes Friday at 9 a.m. at the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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Tourism authorities are looking to move swiftly to get additional airlift into Barbados with the departure of Eurowings from the domestic market.

Chief Executive Officer of the  Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) Dr Jens Thraenhart said Barbados and other countries in the region are faced with the reality that the German airline has cancelled all its Caribbean flights.

As Thraenhart broke the news to tourism stakeholders who attended today’s 35th Annual General Meeting of the Tourism Development Corporation (TDC) at the Radisson Aquatica Resort, he said Eurowings reassigned the planes that were scheduled to come to the region, to North America which he said is a more profitable route.

“That was communicated to us just last week. So this is obviously short-term. It’s very hard to kind of work with that. But that’s the situation that we are in. We are working on trying to make something happen. I mean obviously, we have directors in our core markets in the UK [United Kingdom] and in Europe, Canada, US [United States] and in the Caribbean.

“We have daily calls with airlines. I have a call actually today with a German airline. We are looking to try to save this lost flight we got from Eurowings. We are working daily, we have two top aviation consultants who are working with us. It is a priority,” Thraenhart said.

It was recently reported that Eurowings Discover would take over four long-haul routes from parent company Lufthansa. It was suggested that Lufthansa was getting a new type of aircraft and pilots are not available for flight operations due to retraining, forcing the airline to cancel some of its own flights, with destinations in the Caribbean affected.

Eurowings made its first non-stop, ten-hour to Barbados in 2019 landing at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) with almost 300 passengers, giving Barbados a greater access to traffic from Europe.

Then Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Kerrie Symmonds, told a gathering of airline and local tourism officials who gathered for the welcoming ceremony, that the decision taken by Lufthansa officials to fly to Bridgetown three times weekly was a show of confidence in the Barbados economy. He said at that time that Barbados was among the first of three destinations chosen by the airline to fly the retrofitted long-haul Eurowings aircraft. The other two others were Mauritius and Namibia.

Stressing the difficulty for Barbados to compete with other destinations for airlift, Thraenhart said the island is caught up in a complex scenario as it relates to how airlines go about selecting which destinations they fly.

“It has something to do with business travel, something to do with trade, cargo, and it also has something to do with this volatile situation that we are in right now where a lot of things are actually out of our control: high fuel prices, labour shortage and capacity shortage.

“In the end, in order to get the airlift, we need to drive  consumer demand. In order to drive consumer demand, we need to tell a compelling story that make people want to come here and beaches alone will not do that. We need to change the way we tell the story and sustainability and experiences are a way to change that narrative,” he said.

However, in the face of that news, Government has been proactive in pursuing additional business opportunities. Today, it announced that it had concluded an air services agreement with the government of Qatar in the margins of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) 41st General Assembly. Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, formalised the agreement while attending the ICAO General Assembly, which took place in Montreal, Canada from September 25 to 28.

Minister Cummins revealed that as part of the efforts to deepen and strengthen Barbados’ relations with Qatar, the two countries also signed a joint Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in addition to the air services agreement. She noted that the agreements would allow Barbados and Qatar to begin discussions on commercial carriers flying to this island. It was also disclosed that Barbados was in the process of finalising and approving code-sharing arrangements for Qatar Airways, and in the coming months “dedicated engagements” would occur with the Government of Qatar regarding airlift between that country and the region. (SFC/BGIS)

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Minister of Energy and Business Development Kerrie Symmonds is casting some of the blame on Governments over the years and the global business sector for Barbados being cited by international agencies for non-compliance specifically as it relates to the sharing of information.

He admitted to the slow, inefficient and costly processes that have been hindering Barbados’ ability to comply with international requirements regarding access to, and reporting on, beneficial ownership information.

It is against this background, that he insisted that the setting up of a dedicated beneficial ownership register should take place as a matter of urgency.

Addressing a Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) business luncheon on Wednesday at the Savannah Beach Club, under the theme The Road Ahead for Global Business in Barbados, Symmonds expressed disappointment that the issues relating to beneficial ownership have not been ironed out despite years of concerns.

Asking the room of global business industry operators not to be upset with him, Symmonds said “We invite negative reflection on ourselves if we see a problem. We accept that it is a problem, but we choose not to fix the problem but wait for somebody to come and tell us that it is a problem, and we have to do something about it.

“In this particular regard, I cannot fault those oversight agencies who would put us on lists that are unfavorable if something as simple as this can be rectified only by a bit of effort on our part to face it and fix it and wrestle it to the ground, and that is my position.

“In my judgment there is no good reason why we should continue to play Russian roulette with standard setting bodies on matters which we can deal with and treat to ourselves in a decisive way,” said Symmonds.

“Every time that the OECD or the financial action task force has reflected negatively on us it is because they have not been satisfied and they can only be satisfied by us that our system allows for us to be able to adequately monitor the number of companies that we have on the register,” he added.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) seeks to deter and prevent the misuse of companies, trusts, foundations and other legal entities from engaging in money laundering, corruption and other illegal activities. Countries are required to meet certain standards on transparency and beneficial ownership.

According to FATF, a beneficial owner refers to the natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls a customer and/or the natural person on whose behalf a transaction is being conducted. It also includes those persons who exercise ultimate effective control over a legal person or arrangement.

As part of the requirement, the intergovernmental organisation maintains that “countries should ensure that there is adequate, accurate and timely information on the beneficial ownership and control of legal persons that can be obtained or accessed in a timely fashion by competent authorities”.

Putting forward his case for the establishment of a beneficial ownership register in Barbados, Symmonds pointed out that the Corporate Registry “had a lot of work to do” and not enough resources to do all that is required with the collection and sharing of beneficial ownership information.

Noting that Government should be prepared to “hold up the mirror and scrutinise” itself, Symmonds said in addition to limited human resources there was “the issue of efficiency, the issue of the speed with which we do business, the issue of economy of cost, not only for you in the private sector, but for us in Government, and the issue of economy of effort on both sides, an absolutely critical matter that we have to confront”.

“I want to say to you candidly that it cannot be business as usual, and for a number of very good reasons,” said the minister.

The Companies Act currently requires that beneficial ownership information be held by the company’s registered office. The Corporate Affairs Registry has the task of pursuing the companies for the beneficial ownership information, carrying out the necessary risk rating exercise and deploying supervisory mechanisms based on the level of risk found.

However, indicating that there were some 40,000 firms on the register in Barbados, many of which had “a plurality of companies”, he said this meant there would be “myriad locations” where there is beneficial ownership information being held.

“Now, the Financial Action Task Force, the OECD, the EU, everybody has come to an agreement that beneficial ownership information is absolutely critical if we are going to be seen as a jurisdiction that is seriously doing financial services business,” said Symmonds.

Pointing out that Barbados was doing the collection of beneficial ownership information the same way for the past quarter century, Symmonds said establishing a dedicated beneficial ownership registry would result in more accurate and timely collection of the information noting that failure to do this could result in a penalty for non-compliance.

Cabinet has already accepted and agreed on the policy paper for the establishment of a beneficial ownership registry. This type of registry will require legislation for its establishment and to ensure protection of information.

Symmonds said having this in place meant that the Corporate Affairs Registry would be “freed up from some of the administrative burden that it now has to deal with and is able to deal with some of the other things that we all know we wanted to be able to do.”

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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It will soon be mandatory for all animals in Barbados to be microchipped, says chief inspector at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Wayne Norville.

He made the disclosure on Thursday, saying that new legislation to facilitate this is in the works. Norville said there will also be significantly increased penalties for failing to register animals.

He was the guest speaker at the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Food for Thought lunchtime series, at which he explored the interconnectedness of animal control and food security.

Norville said the legislation would make dog owners more accountable for the actions of their animals, and microchipping would also come in handy in the case of stolen or missing animals.

He said that over the years, many farmers had lost thousands of dollars worth of livestock due to dog attacks.

“This is now making the owner of a dog responsible. [It is not just] giving the dog food and water, you have to be more responsible now. You’re an animal owner, you took it to your home, you are responsible for all aspects of that dog’s life. That is what owning a dog is all about,” Norville said.

He disclosed that the Government was also looking to amend the Dogs Licensing and Control Act 1981 and introduce stiffer penalties, as high as $100 000, to make Barbadians take registering their animals more seriously.

Currently, under the legislation, a person failing, without reasonable excuse, to comply with the regulation is guilty of an offence, and is liable on summary conviction, to a fine of $100 or imprisonment for one month, or both.

Norville said there were scores of unregistered dogs in Barbados, adding that in some instances owners were trying to get around the system by placing the tags of deceased dogs on puppies.

The RSPCA chief inspector also said he was concerned about the culling of monkeys.

He said he would rather see an alternative approach to controlling the monkey population, including planting more fruit trees in gullies across the island to attract the primates.

Norville said it was the perfect habitat for the animals once there were more fruit trees, and it would allow humans and monkeys to coexist peacefully.
(SZB)

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Prime Minister Mia Mottley says the reduction in the level of flooding in Holetown during recent heavy rains is an indication that the island’s Water Resource Management and Flood Resilience Project has delivered.

She told attendees at this week’s St James Speaks town hall meeting that the Barbados Meteorological Services (BMS) has been keeping the government informed and data suggest an improvement in the flooding patterns normally reported in that part of the country.

“We have a Chief Meteorological Officer who keeps us up to date . . . and one of the things he said to me – because we now have water level radars and he sent me the graphs this afternoon – [was] that the water in the Holetown canal really only rose by two feet, which is unusual because it would have risen by far more had we not done the work before and then the other work that USAID [United States Agency for International Development] had been helping us with here in Holetown,” Mottley reported.

In 2020, USAID in collaboration with the Government of Barbados, completed the seven-year Water Resource Management and Flood Resilience Project to alleviate flooding in the communities of Trents, Holetown, and Speightstown.

It included upgrading culverts, erecting new drainage channels, and managing stormwater flows.

Though Mottley acknowledged that the scenes of flooding in the parish on Thursday afternoon would be a concern, she stressed that the intensity of the rainfall was to blame and not poor drainage.

“Water will build up with the intensity of rainfall. The question is, will it run off quickly, and if it does not run off quickly . . .  where it can last for two and three days, then we have a problem. But we would expect that [with] any level of serious intensity of rain, the water will build up, that is the truth,” she said.

“The level of water that we had this afternoon – we had four inches here in Holetown – that is crazy within the timeframe that it came. We also had in St Lucy 30 millimetres in 30 minutes,” the Prime Minister noted. (SB)

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Fire officials were on the scene of a house fire at Rock Gap, St Michael.

More information as they come to hand.

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Expressing concern about the potential impact of the plummeting value of the British pound on the tourism industry here, Roseanne Myers has suggested a campaign to encourage travellers to book in advance and take advantage of end-of-summer specials.

She said while several tourism players may be looking to discontinue discounted rates on products and services as the winter season approaches, there should be a campaign to get potential travellers to book accommodation and visits to attractions in advance.

Myers, who is General Manager of Atlantis Submarines, said such an initiative would also help small businesses.

Raising her concerns during the 35th Annual General Meeting of the Tourism Development Corporation, at the Radisson Aquatica, she said: “…. We have a scenario where you may be able to say how our winter season is looking occupancy-wise. But in terms of spend to the very businesses you are focusing on here, the value of the pound is going to be directly affecting the persons who come on island and are then looking to spend that money.

“Now most people come with US dollars, so from the time they go to travel and they go to change that pound to US to bring to Barbados they are going to immediately be recognising that their spending power has been reduced. So I am just wondering what is the strategic positioning of Barbados right now in the UK to address that specific issue.”

Early Monday, the exchange rate of the British Pound Sterling fell to US$1.03, a decline of about 22 per cent from six months prior. It later regained some ground to stand at US$1.08, following a signal by the UK government last Friday that it will pursue more aggressive tax cuts while it also attempts to subsidise energy costs for households and businesses.

Analysts have predicted that the weak pound could also push British vacationers to opt for domestic trips or travel to destinations where their currency remains relatively strong.

In response to Myers’ concerns and suggestions, Chief Executive Officer of the

Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI) Dr Jens Thraenhart explained that Barbados’ tourism market has an advantage over other countries in the region because mostly high-end travellers from the United Kingdom who have greater spending power visit the island during the winter season.

“It is a problem but not too much of a concern if you compare it to a UK consumer that is looking at more discounted hotels or all inclusives. So that’s why we are seeing that even with the airlift, the prices for flights are high, we still see that the demand is there. So it is a problem, but I think everyone has the same problem. So it’s not unique to Barbados,” he said.

“And I think that actually, Barbados has an advantage based on its positioning and the type of segment of consumers it attracts from the UK.”

However, Myers insisted that visitors who spent money on attractions were not from the high-end market.

“The people who go all the way to attractions are not west coast people, it’s your south coast guests who will be affected by the issues of spend. So your hotel rooms might be full and you may have your restaurants full on the west coast, but on the south coast those are the people that are basically the bread and butter for most,” she said.

“So if you look at what the cruise lines do, which is you put out your itineraries early and you try to get people to book tours early.”

Traenhart acknowledged that visitors staying on the west coast were sometimes not aware of the island’s offerings and said the BTMI was about to launch its winter campaign to advertise what Barbados has to offer. (AH)

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Officials in the global business sector are being assured that all issues that could hinder Barbados’ chance of receiving a passing grade from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as it relates to the exchange of information have been addressed.

This assurance has come from Minister of Business Development Kerrie Symmonds, as he spoke during a Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) business luncheon on Wednesday at the Savannah Beach Club.

Providing an update to the industry officials, Symmonds said a critical piece of the puzzle had been implemented and the necessary exchange of information was already taking place.

“The OECD, our friends, had given us a very clear indication that we would incur their displeasure if 2019 assessments had not been completed by the end of September 2022 and 2020 assessments completed by December 31st 2022. I want to say that all issues that could potentially hamper the effective assessments and exchanges of information have been treated to,” said Symmonds.

“The electronic reporting platform that was essential, is now in place and the economic substance reporting process has begun,” he said.

Based on OECD rules, Barbados implemented economic substance legislation in 2019, governing a range of categories of financial and other service activities, requiring resident entities to file an economic substance declaration annually in the prescribed form on the self-reporting portal.

The Barbados Companies (Economic Substance) Act aims to address concerns that entities could be used to artificially attract profits that are not in line with economic activities and substantial economic presence on the island.

As such, it requires certain entities to demonstrate that they have economic substance in the island by meeting certain reporting requirements. This may require the sharing of information between Barbados and other jurisdictions.

Symmonds told the BIBA gathering that the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) had started “notifying partner jurisdictions who have opted into the process, with respect to those entities that might have failed”.

However, he indicated: “While we have about 1,600 relevant declarations, that are companies that would be relevant for the process of reporting and exchange of information, we hardly have any that are in a position of failure.”

This, he said, meant “we are doing well in terms of keeping our reputation as being a very clean and desirable jurisdiction with which to do business”.

The last time Barbados was penalized by the OECD Global Forum was in March 2020, when it was considered “partially compliant” for failing to implement three essential elements of the OECD’s standard within a certain timeframe.

Barbados was required to implement a number of changes to its tax exchange framework between July 2015 and June 2018 in order to be fully compliant with the OECD Global Forum, but did not complete those changes until December 2019.

During his update on issues affecting the global business sector, Symmonds also touched on the issue of the proposed global minimum tax rate of 15 per cent, which is expected to take effect some time next year.

Responding to a question from the audience, the business development minister gave the assurance that Barbados would ensure that it had a seat at the table for the discussion on implementation. He noted that lawmakers will not be rushing to make changes to the local corporate tax rates, which is currently set at between 1 and 5.5 per cent based on earnings.

“You can be assured that we are going to have a place at the table and we are going to be aiming for a consensual approach on the way forward,” said Symmonds.

“It is for us to watch and be vigilant and be very ready to be at the table to have the necessary consultations to be a leader in trying to shape consensus. But in the interim, we continue in the way that we are going.”

The powerful G7 bloc is pushing for the establishment of a global corporate tax rate of 15 per cent, which it says is designed to ensure that big businesses pay their fair share of taxes.

Barbados is a signatory to the new agreement, which officials are aiming to implement by early 2023, but are yet to decide on how it should be implemented. (MM)

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Police are conducting investigations into a house fire which occurred at Rock Gap, New Orleans, St. Michael around 9:10 a.m. No injuries were reported.

“The two (2) bedroom timber house which was extensively damaged, is owned and occupied by four adults and six (6) children. A second house owned by Paul White received heat and water damage,” Acting Communications and Public Affairs Officer of the Barbados Police Service, Acting Inspector Stephen Griffith said in a statement.

He said three (3) fire tenders and twelve (12) fire officers under the command of Station Officer Stanley Wilkie from the Barbados Fire Service responded and extinguished the fire.

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There is a growing concern surrounding the high frequency of house fires being reported in the nation’s capital.

Member of Parliament for the City of Bridgetown, Corey Lane said though the Government will continue to give support to affected families off house fires, the rate of fires is worrying. He spoke to the media on Friday in Rock Gap, New Orleans where a house was completely destroyed and another damaged in an early morning blaze.

“This is the third fire within the last five days or so. As you know we had a fire earlier in Garden Land, we had one in Mayers Land and now we have one in Rock Gap. This is a serious problem for the Ministry of People Empowerment,” said Lane, who is also Parliamentary Secretary in that ministry.

Thirteen fire officers responded to the scene just after 9 a.m. according to acting Station Officer McAllister.

“We received a call to a structural fire [in] Baxster’s Road, opposite Jordan’s Supermarket. On arrival, there were two houses fully engulfed and one slightly damaged. We had two appliances from the Bridgetown Fire Station and one from Worthing Fire Station.

Meanwhile, MP Lane said densely populated communities are a concern because of the safety issues they present. He noted that with Government’s commitment to building at least 10,000 new homes over the next five years, it is hoped this would help to make a dent in relieving some of this congestion.

“In these densely populated areas, one would know if the Fire Service does not respond quickly we could go from an unfortunate situation, to a situation of traumatic proportions.

“We just have one house burnt flat, one shed which had one person dwelling in it, and one house damaged with another occupant. We have five adults and six children; in one house alone we had three adults and six children living, so we have densely-populated areas, and we also have densely-populated houses.”

Sophia Husbands, the Barbados Labour Party Box Captain for the BF2 and BF3 areas, which include Rock Gap, said the community will rally together to help support the families affected, but also made a plea to Barbadians to take fire safety measures seriously.

“Please look out for one another. Turn off the stoves, pull out the plugs, that is something that we are preaching all of the time. This is not like a hurricane season, but this is a season that happens all the time… we will always have house fires. We are urging everyone to please look out for one another, especially in these areas.” (SB)

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If there is one thing about Minister of Energy and Business Mr. Kerrie Symmonds is that there is not much space between his mouth and his heart. He tends to shoot from the hip with little ambiguity about his position on issues.

And so, it was heartening but not surprising, some of the sentiments he expressed to attendees at the Luncheon Seminar hosted by BIBA, the Association for Global Business at the Savannah Hotel earlier this week.

The Senior Minister was candid, informative, and addressed several pressing issues facing the country’s global business sector, its corporate participants, and the raft of professionals who work in it. He also had some tough words for agencies that complement and support the role of the sector.

The seminar titled The Road Ahead for Global Business in Barbados was fitting, given the magnitude of challenges confronting the sector that has become a critical pillar and economic driver.

He outlined his own fears, articulating that he viewed financial derisking and the loss of correspondent banking relations as an existential threat to our livelihood because it could leave so many citizens without the ability to undertake even simple financial transactions.

Without correspondent banking, the thousands of transactions undertaken each year using our credit and debit cards as  well as those done by visitors to the island, will be a near impossibility.

The Minister was not just raising an alarm; this is a fire that needs to be quelled before the house is destroyed.

Symmonds said bluntly: “I would go so far as to say that I am already sensing that it is a danger that can lead to social instability in this region.

“The money transfer operators rely also on correspondent banking relations and, therefore, if there are families located in England or Canada who wish to send money back here to relatives who are living in difficult circumstances financially and socially, their inability to do so, cuts those people off.”

But we wonder if the Minister might incur the ire of his boss in Cabinet by his suggestion that we have been too “timid” in our response to the unnecessary and often unfair road blocks by international standard-setting agencies such as the Organisation For Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the European Union.

His boss, Prime Minister Mia Mottley could argue that her decision to take the fight directly to lawmakers in the United States Congress during a special congressional hearing on the topic: “When Banks Leave: The Impacts of De-Risking on the Caribbean and Strategies for Ensuring Financial Access” was bold and far from timid.

Symmonds was also forthright and challenged not only the private sector officials who comprise the membership of BIBA, he also had a few strong words for government.

To the BIBA membership, he challenged them to essentially use the high-profile ties they have in some of the world’s largest corporate entities, to lobby for fairer treatment of financial services centres like Barbados.

He pleaded with them. “There is simply too much talent in the global business sector in Barbados for us not to recognise that we have reach and we have influence. From all the way in Bridgetown to the financial corridors of influence and power in the United States . . .  in Canada and the United Kingdom. We have to be prepared in an organised manner to let our voices be heard on some of these existential threats.”

To his own administration and government departments, the Senior Minister conceded there is still much work to be done at the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO) despite the robust efforts to modernise its operations to encompass a regulatory role.

He challenged both public and private sectors to be “prepared to hold up the mirror and scrutinise ourselves”.

If Barbados is to achieve the lofty goals it has set, including being the global financial services hub of choice, there is a lot that needs to happen.

In this regard, the Minister did not shy away from citing countries like the British Virgin Islands (BVI), which has addressed the “humbug” of beneficial ownership information by establishing a beneficial ownership register. This satisfies agencies like the FATF, that BVI can demonstrate the ability to monitor and easily access the beneficial ownership information on all registered companies there.

We concur with the Minister Symmonds’ assessment, “If they can do it in the BVI. . . Barbados can get it right too. . . . The number of companies that are now on our register against the weight and capacity of the registrar to monitor, is a cause for concern.”

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The controversial proposed development of St Lawrence Gap and surrounding areas has not yet been given the green light, concerned residents were assured on Friday as tempers flared at a town hall meeting where Government ministers insisted the plan was simply to improve the long-neglected area.

After grilling Minister of Housing Dwight Sutherland and Acting Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds about the planned compulsory acquisition of several properties in the Christ Church community, residents were told nothing was set in stone and they would have a say on the way forward.

A candid Symmonds also agreed that residents should have been notified of the plans before the publication in the Press last week of a Government notice which stated that several parcels of land situated in Bath Village, St Lawrence Gap and Dover were needed for public purposes, “namely road improvement, car parking, environmental improvement and tourism development”.

The parcels of land identified included commercial and residential properties.

Minister Sutherland, responding to concerns about what the development would mean for people living in surrounding communities, said no final plans had been made for the area.

“We have not gone to Cabinet with any final decision. This land for tourism development will be vested in BTII [Barbados Tourism Investment Inc.] who then will invite bids and, of course, you will sit and you will have your say,” he told residents gathered at the St Lawrence Primary School.

In his opening remarks, Symmonds, who is the substantive Minister of Energy and Business Development, said that the Government’s intention was not to relocate the residents whose properties were mentioned in the newspaper notice, but to bring necessary upgrades to their neighbourhood.

“The fact of the matter is… the St Lawrence Gap that we grew up knowing is not necessarily the St Lawrence Gap of today and we have to refresh the tourism product in St Lawrence Gap. In fact, up until maybe a couple months ago, it was beginning to look exceptionally sleepy because until the COVID restrictions had been fully relaxed as they were a couple of weeks ago there was not a lot of activity taking place in the Gap anymore,” he said.

“If you are going to attract people here and be competitive and allow our hoteliers and our restaurateurs and our taxi drivers and all of those other people who make a living from tourism, then they are going to have to be able to find access to employment opportunities and to an ambiance that is very inviting…. That, in a nutshell, is really what this investment is supposed to be about.”

Loreto Duffy, one of the first community members to alert the public about the proposed plans for the area, said that although progress was welcomed, the way in which the Government had gone about the process so far had left a bitter taste in residents’ mouths.

“There is no question in anybody’s mind; we know the Gap is in shambles and has been for the last 15 years and nothing has been done, and I think everybody here would really welcome progress. But it has to be sustainable progress and it also has to be progress that does not negatively impact the people of the area or the environment of the area. I think that is the main crux of this issue,” she said.

“It was handled badly; Ralph [Thorne, Member of Parliament for Christ Church South] and I got the notification [about the plans] the same way – somebody in New York sent it to me – and when I saw this I immediately spoke to people in Bath Village, Paradise Village, most of who don’t even have social media, some don’t even get a newspaper [so] they were not aware it. When they saw their names in the newspaper, it was a shock.”

Lamenting that residents had also not been consulted on previous development in the area, Duffy added: “In fairness to people in this Gap, we have never had a say on anything, especially some of those monstrosities that have gone up on the east end of Dover…. Nobody asked us if we want a nine-storey building to go up, or a six-storey or whatever blocking off our light, blocking off our air, causing traffic problems…. This is why we try to use this as the opportunity to [be heard].”

Reverend Sandra Hazell of the St Lawrence Church said residents were still in the dark as to the Government’s intentions for the area and the developer’s interests.

“I am trying to decipher between what are the developer’s intentions and what are Government’s intentions because that is the main crux of the matter. We are hearing you are going to take Ms Hinkson’s land which [is] right behind the playing field there. Fair enough, you are only going to take a little. What is the car park you are going to put there?

“Is this going to be a monstrosity of a multifaceted car park which is going to look really ugly? So we need to know exactly what is being done by the developer, what is being done by the Government, and we sincerely pray that the Government is not doing this in the name of the developer or handing over our lands to the developer,” Reverend Hazell said.

Minister Symmonds admitted that the authorities had failed to notify residents in a satisfactory manner about the proposed plans, particularly given the number of properties that would be affected even if on a small scale.

“I will be the first person to say, Dwight, through no fault of your own perhaps – maybe it’s a systemic failing borne out of years of practice that I think has to be cured – but we have to come to a point in Barbados where if we are going to have a notice of any type of this nature put out, that you do not take the community impacted by the notice by surprise,” Symmonds said frankly.

“When people live in a community, they expect the courtesy to be extended to them of you saying, whether for better or for worse, come and sit down and talk with me…. I don’t want to wake up one morning and hear across the street from me, A, B, C, is going to happen and nobody said a word to me, because I am paying land taxes, I am a citizen with rights and so on too, so I get that.”

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb

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Barbados Light & Power Company Ltd. customers should start seeing an increase in their electricity bills as the interim rate takes effect.

In a brief statement today, the utility company issued a reminder that the interim rate increase granted by the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) took effect on September 16.

At the same time, the company, which is currently engaged in a rate hearing as it seeks an 11.9 per cent increase, is giving the assurance that should it receive a rate hike that is lower than the interim rate of 5.95 per cent, customers would be reimbursed.

“The Barbados Light & Power Company Limited is announcing that in accordance with the Fair Trading Commission’s decision, which became effective September 16, 2022, the Commission determined that Light & Power’s request for interim rates has been approved, at a cap of 50 per cent of the requested rates for all customers, with the exception of rates to be charged to Light & Power employees for whom 100 per cent of the rate requested is approved,” said the company.

As a result, customers billed from September 16, 2022 will see the new rates reflected in their bills, the company said.

Manager of Customer Care Rodney Dottin said “During the last few days, our team has been reviewing the FTC’s decision to ensure that the actions carried out by the company are in keeping with the order. As such, some accounts billed from the September 16th order date will carry the new interim rates at the approved 50 per cent cap as mandated by the FTC.

“We understand the challenges which some persons face and assure customers that the company will continue to lend support to customers during this transition,” he added.

Dottin said “Our customers continue to be at the core of our operations. I wish to affirm our commitment that in the event the FTC sets a rate in its final determination that is lower than the approved interim rates, we will refund customers the difference between the interim rate and the final rate with interest.”

The new interim rates will remain in effect until a decision from the hearing is reached. BLPC insists that the increase would enable the company to maintain the electricity network and continue to provide a safe and reliable electricity service.
(PR)

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The Barbados Light and Power Company’s Director of Finance has suggested that it is likely to go back to the regulators for a new rate hike if it is unable to get the 12.5 per cent increase being sought now.

Ricaido Jennings put this position to the Fair Trading Commission’s rate hearing on day eight of the proceedings which are considering a request from his company for an increase in electricity rates.

Jennings was testifying on Friday when he defended the possibility of seeking another hike. He said even if the current application is successful, the BLPC will still be challenged with how it is going to earn its returns.

He said the company was under-earning with a rate of return on investment of eight per cent – excluding the impact of a tax in 2018 – and in light of the 10 per cent that was approved by the FTC previously. He identified a number of factors that would have contributed to the BLPC not achieving the 10 per cent to justify the request for an increase.

“If you exclude the impact of the tax in 2018, the rate of return is near eight per cent. In 2019 you are under 10 for sure. By then in 2019, we entered construction of a clean energy bridge which is a significant amount of investment and you are not able to earn your return in 2019 even without the clean energy bridge.

“You then add the impact of the clean energy bridge, that pushes you even further. Even with the dip in 2020, the inflationary pressures that you were facing [and] the growth in expenses…you are at that stage,” the witness testified.

The finance chief agreed with intervenor Worme that even if the company were to be granted the rates for which it applied, it would

be under-earning again in the first year after receiving the hike.

“So my question is if eight per cent or 10 per cent is too low, having

gotten this rate, you are expected to come back to have another

increase?” Worme queried.

“You are right, we are in a similar type position. It is something we are going to have to continue to look at and assess and find what’s the right construct. But, you are right,” Jennings replied. “This application is based on a test year of 2020. 2021 has passed…we know that we were well under five per cent. So that is a significant challenge. We are near the end of 2022 and for all intents and purposes, it does look to me like we are going to head around that same four per cent.

“We did get an interim relief decision which gives us some relief for the remainder of this year,” the finance director told the hearing.

“Even if we are successful with this application which I am hopeful we will be, because I think we made a pretty strong case for it, we still are going to have challenges with how we are going to earn our returns,” Jennings stated.

Under cross-examination by intervenor David Simpson, the witness suggested making a fresh bid for an increase was a possibility.

“There is quite a bit that is changing in the industry now. With the changing times and changes in what’s happening, it is going to have to be evaluated as it unfolds. I am not able to sit down here and testify to say that you are not going to end up right back here. I am going to say you are going to try and manage as best as you could as we have always done.

“Seeking a rate increase is always the last thing that we are looking to do,” Jennings declared. However, he told the commission that the

company must ensure it is able to recover its costs once there are

“prudently” incurred, and when that happens, “the determination made, gets done.”

Also in Friday’s session, the tribunal hearing the rate request was told that the agency which conducted a study into the status of the BLPC’s self-insurance fund, was also a beneficiary of the value of any adjustment.

This information was revealed by intervenor Stephen Worme while he was cross-examining the company’s finance director as he gave evidence before the hearing.

“Last night we received a document in response to the queries about the self-insurance fund and the value of what it was. And what struck me was that that study was done by the same company that was the beneficiary of any adjustment.”

Noting that he was not ascribing any motives regarding the discovery, Worme, a former BLPC employee, said “I think these are companies that have high integrity and I actually know one of the persons that did the report and he is very much above board.”

Worme told the commissioners. “My question to you is, from an optics point of view, is that reasonable?…Here you have a company that is going to be receiving the benefits of any recommendations or maybe costs, [and] are the ones to have actually done the study to determine what that should be?” the intervenor asked Jennings.

“I think the more important piece is whether the people who’ve

done the study are adequately qualified to do it and whether the study itself is robust and whether the study is reasonable,” the finance director responded.

The hearing resumes on Monday at 9 am at the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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The Barbados YouthADVANCE Corps (BYAC) recently hosted its Parents Orientation Meeting for Cohort 5 at the Ellerslie Secondary School. The September 17 programme for parents, guardians and trainees provided an opportunity for the Barbados YouthADVANCE Corps team to meet and share its mandate giving greater insight into the two-year dynamic programme.

Director of the Barbados YouthADVANCE Corps, Hally Haynes, informed parents and trainees that the programme demanded a huge financial commitment from government of some 12 million dollars to cover programming and operational costs and the monthly stipend of $600 allocated to each trainee, to offset the cost of transportation to the various programmes, meals and uniforms. Haynes made a call for parents to partner with the programme, and trainees to demonstrate their appreciation through their reliability and commitment to attend and fully participate in all activities and assignments.

Senior Programme Officer, Melissa Nurse-Herbert, Senior Counsellor Sophia Parris and Disciplinary Training Officer Victor Bovell also shared the programmes and activities within their respective departments in which the trainees will have the opportunity to participate. An overview of medical standards and COVID-19 protocols relative to the Barbados YouthADVANCE Corps programme was also delivered.

Following the presentations, a question-and-answer session and trainees meeting with respective counsellor groups, completed the evening’s activities.

Trainees will be exposed to technical and academic studies, as well as tuition in life skills, counselling, drill, and a wide range of inter-personal and recreational activities. (PR)

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A man has died after he collapsed at St Lawrence Gap around 2 am on Saturday, police say.

Police were on duty along St Lawrence Gap when a man came from a business place and collapsed outside the police post. Police went to his assistance and discovered that he had a number of wounds about his body.

A family member identified the victim as Corey Jamal Antonio Harvey, 31, of Gittens Road, Government Hill, St Michael. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a Medical Doctor.

Police are appealing to anyone who can provide any information about this incident to call the Hastings/Worthing Station at 430-7608, Police Emergency 211, Crime Stoppers at 1800-TIPS (8477) or the nearest Police Station.

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As Barbados seeks to rebuild its slowly re-emerging tourism industry, one industry veteran is warning officials to be careful not to price themselves out of the market.

This caution has come from tourism consultant Dr Kerry Hall, who said the mature destinations seemed “stagnant” while developing ones were “surging ahead” as they emerged from the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought the industry to a standstill in 2020 and 2021.

“If we work better together, I think we will see a lot more benefits for the region. We also have an issue with a tired product. We need to look at our product, look at the price index of our product because in many ways I think we are pricing ourselves out of the market,” suggested Hall.

“There is one thing being an expensive destination and we call ourselves aspirational for many years, but when value for money is not perceived you become an overpriced destination and people have realised, and this started from back in the great recession of 2008, when they could go somewhere else and get better services or product at a cheaper price than Barbados,” she argued.

Pointing to the challenges facing the globe, including rising inflation, currency fluctuations, the climate crisis and geopolitical tensions, Hall said money was becoming “scarce” for a lot of people in Barbados’ key tourism source markets.

Hall said she believed tourism operators should have been more proactive in their efforts to woo visitors to the island as soon as the COVID-19 restrictions eased.

“We need to be able to exist in this new world order. It is not waiting for us, the world is not waiting for us. The two years down-time that we had for tourism we should have been in the engine room planning our re-emergence onto the world stage because trust me, the rest of the world was doing that,” she said.

“That is why you see when the floodgates have flown back everybody shot out and Barbados seemed to have been stuck in the gates. There is no reason why we should have been stuck in the gates, because our brand is one of the foremost brands in this region and the world,” said Hall.

The former Chief Executive Officer of the then Barbados Tourism Product Authority, also pointed to the need for more research and trend analysis to help refresh the island’s tourism product and drive business.

Hall said she believed too much emphasis was still being placed on promotion while product enhancement and pricing seemed to be underserved.

“When you look at marketing it is made up of product, price, place and promotion. I think many times we jump over the first three and land and spend all the money on promotion, but we have not refreshed our product so we have to ask ourselves what we are marketing. What are we marketing to a changing consumer, particularly a post-COVID consumer,” she said, as she pointed to the need for improved infrastructure across the island.

“The consumer changed during COVID-19. They are looking for new things, more sustainable types of experiences and more authentic [offerings]. For over a decade it has been coming but it has accelerated now in a post-COVID world,” she argued.

“I believe we are very reactive as a destination. In order to be proactive, research needs to be one of the major areas of focus for us, I don’t think we respect research, and I am talking trend analysis – to be able to know what the trends are – the marketing trends, the economic trends, the environmental trends, the technological trends and most importantly, the consumer behaviour trends,” she explained.

Hall was speaking during the recent BHTA third quarterly general meeting at the Mount Gay Visitor Centre, which was held under the theme Enhancing the Tourism Industry – Real Change.

Hall, who has written several policy papers over the years on ways to further develop the industry, said despite numerous studies from various individuals and groups, Barbados still had an “implementation deficit disorder”.

“I am sure every problem we have in tourism now there is something on a shelf somewhere with solutions. We just have not implemented it. We have to move to being a more proactive, actionable type of industry in order for us to move quickly,” said Hall.

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