by Emmanuel Joseph

Inniss and Sir David start tour of rum distillery and distribution warehouse at Foursquare.

A leading local rum producer has secured a contract with a world-renown spirits brand, that is expected to bring in more than $100 million in foreign exchange to the Barbadian economy and create substantial indirect jobs over the next five years.

Describing this as good news for Barbados, Executive Chairman of R.L. Seale and Company, Sir David Seale, announced this morning during a media conference at his Foursquare Rum Distillery in St. Philip, that just last week the company concluded an agreement with Moet Hennessy of France to distill, blend and bottle a brand of rum known as 10 Cane.

Speaking during a tour of the Foursquare plant by Minister of Industry, International Busines, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, Sir David said this brand of rum, had previously been distilled, blended and bottled in Trinidad.

“So you may say, this is Barbados’ gain over Trinidad,” the prominent business beamed. “It is very exciting because this brand, having been established world-wide, it has a track record, so we are not starting from zero. We are starting from a point that is a guaranteed amount that you can produce.

“Our sums say that it is quite possible that we will earn in excess of $100 million in foreign exchange over the next five years. And obviously from the first year, things will start slower, because they still have stocks from Trinidad, so it won’t take up the full stock things until probably a year is gone,” explained Sir David.

He said he saw this major deal as a recognition of the Foursquare Rum Distillery, which had been named distillery of the year in 2010, and was now being acknowledged internationally as a world class facility. The executive chairman noted that his company’s decision to build a facility which was also designed as a tourist attraction had worked effectively, in that the word-of-mouth advertising by the visitors had lead to a massive increase in export sales of the local rum brands to Europe and the United States.

“In fact, we’ve gone down in Australia … last year November, and also recognition was very much. I can only imagine that Moet Hennessy came here, because they are satisfied that they are going to get a quality product,” asserted the business mogul.

Managing Director Richard Seale suggested that the future development of Barbados partly rested on the rum industry.

“Our concern in the industry is for Government to … understand the importance of the rum industry. Barbados has very few indigenous industries…; tourism is one, rum is another. But rum is untapped potential. It’s our opinion that the future development of Barbados …, if Barbados is going to be successful, rum is going to be a major player in its success,” observed Seale.

The managing director said he believed rum would be a major source of foreign exchange that’s required to sustain growth in the local economy. He argued that in the same way Government supported tourism years ago, particularly through the establishment of the Barbados Tourism Authority and the education of the public on the sector’s importance, similar treatment now needed to be extended to rum.

Seale noted too that the new contract with Moet Hennessy could result in many indirect jobs, increased economic activity and between 10 per cent and 30 per cent more exports.

“This brand has the short potential to sell in the region of two to three hundred thousand cases and to become a major global brand when you want it to sell a million cases,” revealed the Foursquare Rum Distillery boss. emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

The curriculum of The Codrington School is attracting the attention of the Ministry of Education.

This was revealed by Parliamentary Secretary in that ministry, Senator Harry Husband, after touring the St. John campus this afternoon with other education officials.

Husbands told Barbados Today that Codrington, which classifies itself as an international education institution, does not follow the syllabus of the Caribbean Examination Council, but instead offers its students the International Baccalaureate.

This, Husbands explained, was said to offer high school students planning to move on to international universities a better chance of access. Codrington prepares students at three levels, primary, middle and upper — and of about 3,000 institutions worldwide offering the International Baccalaureate, it is one of only 200 providing classes all three levels.

“This shows the diversity of the private school offerings in Barbados,” Husbands said, adding that the ministry and Government were particularly interested in the foreign exchange potential of this programme.

“The ministry is certainly not opposed to an approach that would support the expansion of this aspect of our education system.”

According to the official, who until the last general election had responsibility for immigration matters, there were persons from a number of places in the world interested in sending their children to Barbados to benefit from this type of education, and others who wanted to move to the island to live so their children could be enrolled in the school.

The Codrington School currently caters to 140 students from 28 countries with a staff of 22. It offers Wi-Fi access in all classrooms and throughout the campus and all classrooms utilise the latest in computer technology, the parliamentary secretary pointed out. (RRM)

The Department of Archives, in collaboration with the West Indies Federal Archives Centre, will host a public lecture on Thursday, May 30.

Scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., it will be held at The 3Ws Pavilion, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.

The lecture, which is titled Keeping the Record Straight: The Uses and Abuses of Archives, will be conducted by Pro-Vice Chancellor — Undergraduate Studies, UWI, Professor Alan Cobley.

After the lecture, a panel discussion will take place.

It will feature Lecturer in the History Department of the Barbados Community College, Trevor Marshall, and Lecturer in the History Department, UWI, Dr. Tara Inniss.

Both the lecture and panel discussion are being staged to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UWI, Cave Hill Campus as well as National Archives Awareness Month 2013.

The public is invited.

With the official launch of Heritage Month this morning Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley, has appealed to Barbadians to see history as much more than a record of the past.

And he further encouraged them to view it as something they experience daily as they marked the importance of the month under the theme: Celebrating Our Heritage, Connecting With Our Future.

“We must now view heritage as something that is more than lifeless. View it as something that is not only reflective of our past; indeed we live at a current time when our heritage is real. We create history everyday of our lives and therefore we must continue to feel a part of it.

“Everyday we are writing our names on history’s page, we are living a culture that we will pass on to future generations. I wish to encourage you to take the time to learn as much as you can about our platinum City and its Garrison,” he told an audience at The West Wing of the Parliament in the City.

On June 25 Barbados celebrates the second anniversary of the World Heritage inscription of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison as a UNESCO world heritage site. Lashley said that while his ministry was challenged to educate the public about the importance of such a designation, and it has thus far done a credible job in that effort. However, he said he believed there was still much more to be done to educate Barbadians about their heritage and its potential benefits, as well as how to avoid the multitude of risks that could have a negative impact on the world heritage properties.

He cited littering, illegal restructuring of historic buildings, inadequate maintenance, lighting and signage as some of the major problems which must be addressed.
The minister added: “All Barbadians should feel a sense of pride, they should feel also that they have a very critical role to play in the preservation of Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison. They should develop a sense of ownership and a desire to work with my ministry and the World Heritage Committee in this regard.

“After all, the significance of our property reflects on the contributions made through the years by Barbadians of all ethnic groups and all walks of life. Our rich and diverse heritage should indeed be shared with the rest of the world and in sharing there are many possibilities.”

Many activities are planned for Heritage Month, including: A presentation of the Breitling Clock, the George Lamming Distinguished Lecture to be delivered by Dr. Lennox Honychurch, who will speak on In The Castle Of My Skin: Architectural Heritage & The Caribbean Psyche.

There will also be a presentation titled, Garrison Guns and Galas featuring professor Pedro Welch, a sidewalk exhibition and art market, a movie night in Independence Square and an unveiling of a plaque at the Garrison to commemorate the second anniversary of the inscription. There will be three marble plaques, the base of the first at Garrison was designed by architect John Allsopp. (KC)

by Shawn Cumberbatch

An apparent public mending of fences between senior trade union officials in Barbados has not been enough to reconcile the labour movement’s representation at next week’s International Labour Organisation conference.

The leadership of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados had left the door open for former affiliate the Barbados Workers Union to attend the annual meeting as part of a three-member trade union group in an advisory role.

Barbados TODAY investigations today revealed, however, that when the Barbados delegation headed by Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo, takes up its place in Geneva longstanding delegate the BWU will be missing. This was confirmed by CTUSAB President Cedric Murrell, who said the organisation’s board had opted not to fill the second adviser position.

A list of delegates seen by this newspaper showed that the ILO had been notified that CTUSAB’s General Secretary Dennis de Peiza would the workers delegate from Barbados, with National Union of Public Workers President, Walter Maloney the lone adviser.

In addition to Byer-Suckoo, Government’s delegates are Permanent Secretary in that ministry Andrew Cox, and Chief Labour Officer Vincent Burnett.

The Freundel Stuart Administration’s advisers at the discussions are the island’s Ambassador in Geneva Dr. Marion Williams, and Counsellor at the Geneva diplomatic Permanent Mission Emalene Marcus-Burnett.

The Barbados Employers Confederation Executive Director, Tony Walcott is the employers’ delegate.

‘Spot won’t be taken up’

“What will happen is that Mr. de Peiza will go as the delegate and Mr. Maloney as the adviser and the other spot will not be taken up,” Murrell told Barbados TODAY.

“The adviser would have to be an affiliate and we didn’t extend that invitation beyond that initial situation and that was the decision of the board. Next year and other times will actually take care of themselves,” he added.

The issue of Barbados’ union delegation at the 102 Session of the ILO conference, which runs from June 5 to 20, became a controversial one after CTUSAB met and chose a new delegate, prompting previous regular delegate the BWU, represented by spokesman General Secretary Senator Sir Roy Trotman, to complain of unfair treatment.

At a media conference on the issue last month Murrell had said that if the BWU indicated it would not be accepting the adviser role the congress would have to chose a replacement, but CTUSAB has evidently had a change of heart.

“The Congress is firm in its position that the decisions of the executive board are binding… It is regretful that that decision arrived at was not agreed with subsequently by all of our affiliates and in particular the Barbados Workers Union,” Murrell said then.

About 5,000 delegates representing governments, employers and workers from the ILO’s 185 member states are to expected to take part in the conference, which will discuss issues including social protection in an ageing world, sustainable development and social dialogue. shawncumberbatch@barbadotoday.bb

by Emmanuel Joseph

A mosquito haven.

Food and clothing vendors operating next to Accra Beach in Christ Church, are complaining that government bureaucracy and the snail’s pace at which they claim, the National Conservation Commission was responding to their concerns for improved facilities, has the potential to kill their business and put them on the breadline.

Most of their complaints, the vendors explained, were nothing new, and rather than getting better, the conditions under which they ply their trade were becoming worse.

Investigations by a Barbados TODAY team which toured the beach side small businesses this afternoon, uncovered a litany of issues that included a canal of stagnant water, covered with thick, green moss, just a few meters from the food court; termite-infested kiosks; a dining area where the floor is made of planks of board, some of which have rotted and are dangerously projecting in the air, and decaying casuarina trees in the parking area, that are earmarked for removal.

The nearby canal, we observed as well, has become an illegal dumping ground. Strewn along that waterway are such items as plastic bottles and plastic bags, styrofoam containers and even a haversack.

“When it rains heavily and the road (Rockley) floods, all the dirty water comes through the canal and creates a stench that affects my customers, especially if they are eating. On one occasion, one of my customers even reported the situation to the press,” lamented Joan Taitt-Boyce, owner of the Oasis Beach Bar, the eatery located nearest to the canal.

“They need to cover it or treat it. They don’t clean it often enough. When it smells, it affects my customers who are eating. Sometimes I see mosquitos,” reported Taitt-Boyce, who has been operating at Accra for the past seven years.

“When it rains and floods, all the water in the canal goes out into the sea and makes it dirty and people can’t bathe in there for a long time, and that’s not healthy,” she added.

The small businesswoman also told this newspaper that her kiosk was scheduled to be demolished because it was termite-infested.

“This has to be pulled down (by the NCC), but they still have to get back to me. I tired complaining. When they pull this down, it means I will lose business and not compensated for loss of income. You only get compensated for rent,” pointed out entrepreneur.

She was also upset at the existence of the adjoining trees, which she believed could be a danger to those using the area.

Patricia Forde

We also spoke with Patricia Forde, who has been running De Rock Beach Bar – located a few meters away from the Oasis – for the past 13 years. Forde, who also serves food, said she had been bitten by mosquitos as a result of the stagnant water in the canal.

“It’s (water in the canal) an eye sore. They need to get rid of the canal or cover it. It needs to be cleaned more often,” said suggested.

“When they (drainage division workers) come, they just put sand in it. People are also throwing garbage in it,” continued the businesswoman. Forde said, too, that the NCC had promised to replace the wooden floors where customers walked and dined, with concrete, but no action had yet been taken.

“The Government changed, the board of the NCC changed, and in the meantime, it is getting worse. This situation had been so for more than five years. It was so when Owen (Arthur) was prime minister,” she stated. “They (NCC) shut us down one weekend to cut down the rotten trees and now they want to shut us down again this weekend to cut more trees. We are losing business, which is already declining badly. Why they can’t do all the work one time?” asked Forde.

Another food operator, who preferred to remain anonymous, showed the Barbados TODAY team the rotted and dangerously loose wooden floor around her stall. “Locals and tourists trip over these floorings. Some people lose their shoes. The NCC came one time and nailed down the boards, but they fly back up on the other side,” related the stall owner, who has been doing business there for three years now. She, too, expressed similar concerns to her colleagues, regarding the canal and the trees.

The vendors echoed each others beliefs that the Conservation Commission would not have taken action to remove any of the trees, if one did not fall on a man some time ago “and nearly killed him”.

A clothes vendor, who had been running his business for 13 years at Accra, told us that a number of trees earmarked for removal, had not been dealt with for the past two years. “If you look around, you will see all the trees in here are rotten and if that a tree did not fall down on that man, none of the trees would have been cut down,” he suggested.

However, another businesswoman who sold clothes “for many years”, put a different twist to the whole affair. She argued that Bajans liked too much complaining.

“The Government can’t do everything. These are hard economic times and money is difficult to come by,” she pointed out. “What we should do to boost business and bring life to Rockley is get together and put aside a $20 and bring in a tuk band, Mother Sally or limbo dancer, so instead of the tourists passing through here and looking at us suffering and then leaving, they would stay. We should work on getting some entertainment here,” recommended the vendor.

“We could get sponsorship from Chefette or Accra Beach Hotel and some guest houses in the area. Everybody would benefit, because, who don’t feel like buying a fish cake, would go over to Chefette and so on. We need to come together do things for ourselves, instead of waiting on Government,” asserted the stall owner.

When contacted, General Manager of the National Conservation Commission, Keith Neblett told Barbados TODAY, that a programme was in place to carry out repairs on the kiosks and to remove all the trees identified as unsafe. Neblett said that programme included work at Oistins, Dover, Folkstone and Rockley itself.

He admitted that his department closed down the kiosks two weekends ago to start cutting down the trees which needed to be removed.

“We did not want to close down the kiosks on two successive weekends since the operators would complain of losing business; so we missed out one weekend and will shut down the kiosks this weekend to continue removal of the other trees earmarked,” revealed Neblett.

As far as repairs to the stalls were concerned, he said work would be done as part of the Commission’s routine maintenance, but that the facilities would be fully redeveloped, once the finance was available.

“You just can’t pull up the floor boards and put down concrete. We have to redevelop the whole area, but Government is constrained. We intend to make it (facilities) safer and better, but we have to work within the financial constraints of Government,” the NCC boss insisted.

Regarding the canal, he said his agency coordinates with the Drainage Division to maintain the waterway. When we told him of state of the canal, he promised to get an update of that issue. emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

Minister of Education Ronald Jones says there is nothing wrong with a principal making curriculum changes for the betterment of students at his or her school.

But in response to queries from Barbados TODAY over reports that Parkinson School Principal Jeff Broomes had been summoned to the Elsie Payne Complex to explain changes he announced to parents over the weekend, Jones spelt out the process for changing the curriculum at any of the country’s 22 secondary schools.

“Schools have over time gone through changes. St. George [Secondary] had some, Alma Parris as an alternative school would’ve had some. It isn’t that you can’t go through adjustments to the curriculum, [it] is there to satisfy the needs of the students but there is a process of sign off on that,” he said.

Having said that, the minister said he could not say whether the proposed changes to the curriculum at Parkinson had indeed followed this process, as he had not spoken to the Acting Chief Education Officer Karen Best or another officers connected.

It was on Saturday evening that the principal of the Pine, St. Michael school Jeff Broomes told parents about the changes which will also include adjustments to the uniform for those in the upper classes.

Jones further said that as the person with ultimate responsibility, according to the Education Act, he, as Minister of Education, had the right to “provide an education suitable to the needs of the particular student”.

Any changes a school wanted to make, he added, could be drawn to the minister’s attention by the school’s administration.

“These things are handled by the school and the Ministry [of Education] and everybody agrees before there’s a public discourse. Let’s say you have a curriculum offering of 30 subjects, a school can base its curriculum from any one of those subjects, you don’t have to do all, you can do some.

“There are some schools where students are not able to carry chemistry and physics, they can carry Integrated Science and Human and Social Biology rather that the those Sciences but all of that is signed off between the ministry and the particular school.

“In most instances, you tend to go with what the school might be saying because [the officials] are the ones on the ground and once they’re able to persuade that this would bring about the necessary adjustment then no problem, but I think it is always appropriate that the ministry is always brought in at the beginning rather than at the end,” Jones said. (DS)

Not good enough!

That’s how one local association for persons with disabilities has deemed Barbados’ highest court and the inability of certain physically challenged individuals to gain access there.

It is a situation which Immediate Past President of the Bar Association, Andrew Pilgrim, has acknowledged is a concern and which the body hopes Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson can address sooner rather than later.

“While the building on the outside is accessible, not all courtrooms apparently are accessible and there is a need for them to make it more accessible to the general population, whether they have challenges or not,” Pilgrim said this evening.

It was a matter, he recalled, that had been raised by the association in the past, and which they had been advised that changes would have to be gradually made.

“It has been raised in the past. It came up as an issue quite early on and they were saying that most of the courtrooms can be accessible but there are little things that still have to be done.

“I believe that these are things that the Chief Justice will hopefully be looking at and the sooner the better,” he said.

When contacted, Chief Justice Sir Marston’s secretary said the head of the court system had indicated that concerns regarding the matter should be addressed to Registrar Marva Clarke.

Attempts to reach both Clarke or Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite on the matter proved futile up to late evening.

Pilgrim’s comments stemmed from queries regarding an open letter by President of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Barbados, Boneta Phillips, who today expressed her own frustration and surprise on realising how inadequate the provisions of the High Court were, especially for persons with physical disabilities and those in wheelchairs.

In an exhaustive letter, Phillips told of having to attend the court for the first time and realising that her wheelchair could not even get into the courtroom and furthermore that the lone bathroom for wheelchair-bound visitors, was out of service.

Expressing dissatisfaction that “the physical environment [was] inaccessible”, with “hard” marble benches which though attractive were not practical for those with challenges and had no armrests to assist those who needed help sitting or standing from seated positions.

“The greatest challenge however was walking into the civil court to find that I could not get my wheelchair further than the doorway. The fixed furniture prohibited me from having access into the court. Yes, I had an apology from the Judge for the inaccessibility but that did not change the fact that I did not have equal access and felt at a disadvantage,” noted Phillips.

She further stated: “The major disappointment was finding that the highest court in the land, by it’s physical environment, is making a clear statement that equal access has not considered. Lawyers and staff in wheelchairs could not been accommodated; I can only assume that because of accessibility they are prohibited from even attempting to work in the Court…

“A clear statement by the court would be to have an accessible environment. It would also be a good example to see members of staff with disabilities in the judicial system, at whatever level. Changes would also indicate that there is an understanding of the challenges that persons with disabilities face on a daily basis and that there is a genuine commitment by the Courts to equal opportunities and equal access,” she maintained. (LB)

* Please see also page 26

by Shawn Cumberbatch

Barbados’ international business sector, already in the crosshairs of international tax regulators, is under fresh attack from a familiar foe.

The influential Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is preparing to receive “a comprehensive action plan” it said was to deal with the “erosion” of tax receipts in the world’s largest economies because businesses were “shifting” profits to a number of low tax jurisdictions including Barbados.

But while acknowledging the issue is one that merits discussion and international cooperation, the Central Bank of Barbados thinks the accusations against Barbados were “misleading”, the analysis used inconclusive, and conclusions premature.

In February, following concerns raised by G20 countries, the OECD released a report on the topic Addressing Base Erosion and Profit Shifting in which it said erosion of the tax base in these countries “constitutes a serious risk to tax revenues, tax sovereignty and tax fairness for OECD member countries and non-members alike”.

It added that “while there are many ways in which domestic tax bases can be eroded, a significant source of base erosion is profit shifting”.

The OEC also said it was “committed to delivering a global and comprehensive action plan based on in-depth analysis of the identified pressure areas with a view to provide concrete solutions to realign international standards with the current global business environment”.

The organisation pointed fingers at Barbados as among the countries unfairly benefitting from the base erosion profit shifting issue, specifically in the area of Foreign Direct Investment.

“The OECD and IMF compile statistics on FDIs based on information collected at the national level. More in-depth analyses of these data could be useful. For example, by searching through the IMF Co-ordinated Direct Investment Survey, it emerges that in 2010 Barbados, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands received more FDIs (combined 5.11 per cent of global FDIs) than Germany (4.77 per cent) or Japan (3.76 per cent),” the report said.

“During the same year, these three jurisdictions made more investments into the world (combined 4.54 per cent) than Germany (4.28 per cent).

The Central Bank of Barbados, however, suggested the statements and conclusions about Barbados were unfair, noting that the island’s actual FDI contribution in the year quoted by the OECD “is 0.11 per cent, the same as Malta, Kuwait, Gibraltar and Panama, none of whom are mentioned in the report”.

“Barbados ranks at number 48 in the FDI table, and no other country with such a small contribution is mentioned in the report,” the bank noted.

The Central Bank said its aim was to “dissuade the use of premature inferences and conclusions about Barbados”.

“Further, the absence of reference to country-by-country data, as is available for some jurisdictions mentioned in the report, reinforces our view that it is misleading to in any way highlight Barbados in the limited analysis on foreign direct investment,” it stated.

“From a wider perspective, the added danger of employing statistics as presented may paint a distorted picture of international financial centres in the region.

“We hope that the OECD Secretariat and focus groups working on the action plan will heed to this call and Barbados will remain vigilant in an effort to make a meaningful contribution to deliberations,” it added.

The OECD said there was “an urgent need to deal with this issue” and that it was “committed to provide an innovative and timely response to it”.

“It is proposed that an initial comprehensive action plan be developed within the next six months so that the Committee on Fiscal Affairs can examine it at its next meeting in June 2013. Such an action plan should … identify actions needed to address BEPS, … set deadlines to implement these actions and … identify the resources needed and the methodology to implement these actions,” it noted. shawncumberbatch@barbadostoday.bb

by Roy R. Morris

Barbados’ judicial system could be about to see a rare reversal. Some route taxi operators are threatening to take the Government to court, instead of the usual practice of authorities hauling operators before the judge.

That’s because operators say bus routes are awash with “pirates”, and they want authorities to act urgently and decisively to get them off the road.

In fact, so concerned are some operators that they have come together in an informal association to figure out how to keep their businesses from going under, and have enlisted the services of a lawyer to help them put their case to authorities.

But they have warned they are prepared to take the Ministry of Transport and Works and/or the Barbados Licensing Authority to court if they do not act to end practises that could put them out of business.

Operator Roy Raphael, speaking to Barbados TODAY on behalf of the newly “formed” Association of Owners of PSVs, said there could be as many as 90 “pirate” vehicles working on routes servicing all parts of the island.

And in a swift response to questions from Barbados TODAY, Minister of Transport and Works Michael Lashley warned he had already met with the Transport Authority on the matter and illegal operators could expect swift and decisive action.

While he declined to say what action was contemplated, Lashley said he was aware that the authority had been engaged in discussion with the police and the appropriate response was being put in place.

Impound them

In the meanwhile though, Raphael and his colleagues are insisting that on-the-spot impounding of vehicles found to be engaged in the illegal transporting of passengers for fare should be a main plank in any action taken by the Transport Authority.

“I don’t think a lot of people understand the scale of the problem. Up to a few weeks ago we counted as many as 30 pirate vans operating on the Market Hill route alone,” he said.

“Now they don’t pay the high fees we have to, their insurance, if they are insured, will be as high as ours, and they stop anywhere to pick up passengers. How can we survive under such conditions?”

To point out the scale of the problem, Raphael explained that there were now “pirate” vehicles competing against the state-owned Transport Board on the recently inaugurated ABC Highway route, while on any given day illegal vans can be found plying the Checker Hall route in St. Lucy and the Six Roads route in St. Philip.

He explained too that whereas in the early the practise was undertaken by persons operating vans with private number plates, today a number of the pirates were “taxi vans” with ZM plates, which are not licensed to pick up and set down passengers along bus routes.

“As owners we want a better deal,” Raphael said. “We are satisfied that the police are fully aware of the extent of the problem, and the truth is they do take action from time to time, but the pirates keep coming back. What we need is firm action, consistent action.”

He added: “It has to be understood that we operate under rules and if the authorities impose rules then they have a duty to protect us from people who don’t follow the rules. If they don’t then I believe it is only fair that the courts should be asked to determine if we don’t have a legitimate claim. And we are prepared to test it.” roymorris@barbadostoday.bb

St. Barnabas Anglican Church will be celebrating its 175th anniversary from June 9 to 16, 2013.

Rector of the church, Reverend Mark Harewood, made this disclosure today during a press conference at the church’s Senior Citizens Day Care Centre, Chapel Gap, St. Michael.

The cleric noted that the corner stone of the church was laid on June 11, 1838, while the dedication of the church took place on October 9, 1839.

Harewood however pointed out that the 17 month period between the laying of the corner stone and the dedication of the church will be covered in the celebration.

He explained that the June 2013 to October 2013 phase of the celebrations has been designated “Rejoicing”, adding that the inaugural anniversary event will be the church’s 175th Anniversary Patronal Festival in June, at which Anglican Bishop Dr John Holder, will lead the church in a week of “Rejoicing with Solemn High Eucharist”.

During the services the congregation will sing a commemorative hymn written by members. The rector explained that directly following the worship service, congregants will gather on the church grounds to witness a pyro-technic display titled Let your light shine before others.

On June 13, the church will stage a major musical event titled Rejoice, Give Thanks and Sing at the LLoyd Erskine Sandiford Centre. The Royal Barbados Police Force Band will be in attendance.

From August 19 to September 1 some of the congregation will travel to the Holy Land as part of an anniversary pilgrimage. The pilgrimage, which is being offered to all members and friends of St. Barnabas, will include tours to sacred sites.

During the week of September 11, the congregation will continue its rejoicing to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Senior Citizens Day Care Centre.

On October 5, 2013 the church will hold a traditional bus excursion, when parishioners and friends will be encouraged to park the family car and enjoy a full day of a bus ride with food, entertainment, games, music and other activities.

It is expected that this fun-filled event will bring back memories and create new memories of a lifetime.

Chairman of the 175th Anniversary Committee, Carlisle Carter, told members of the press that a sports day will be held in January 2014. Meanwhile, the church’s Jubilee celebrations will end with a week that will include a worship service on October 9, 2014, to mark the 175th anniversary of the dedication of the original church building.

There are also plans for a grand gala dinner, plus an open air event to signal “a bold and bright vision” for a church that is being re-dedicated to the future.

by Shawn Cumberbatch

The treatment Canadian insurer Manulife’s meted out to more than 8,000 Barbadians is “reprehensible” and the company should be made to pay. And Ontario Superior Court Justice Frank Newbould’s failure to award the former policyholders $157.8 million in compensation despite acknowledging “a prima facie duty of care” by Manulife condoned the behaviour.

That’s what lawyers representing the Barbadians, led by main plaintiffs including former Supervisor of Insurance Wismar Greaves have told the Court of Appeal for Ontario in their last ditched effort to get the Bajans a big pay day.

An April 16, 2013 appeal argument provided to Barbados TODAY contained heavy criticism of both Manulife and the trial judge. Manulife has to issue its response by September 15. The Barbadians want the appeal court to vary Newbould’s August 2012 decision in a number of ways, including ordering the Canadian company to “pay into a fund the sum of ($157.8) million plus interest to be determined to be held until the claims process is completed”.

This was in addition to stating that “Manulife owed a duty of care to the class … (and) Manulife breached the required standard of care and was negligent”.

“In this case, Manulife has failed to advance a convincing policy reason why it should escape liability for the harm it caused to its Barbados par policyholders. No public good or interest is advanced by letting an insurance company run roughshod over the rights of its part owners,” the court factum stated.

“Any concern regarding the ‘intrusion of tort law’ into the business activities of insurance companies is met by the application of the reasonableness standard. It need not and should not operate to negate the very existence of the duty of care that arises from the proximity and forgeability of harm in this relationship.

“In deciding whether or not to recognise a duty of care here, the court should bear in mind that a decision that no such duty exists is essentially a blanket immunity granting a defendant carte blanche to act negligently. While in some cases there are valid policy reasons for refusing to recognise a duty of care, this is not one of them. On the facts of the present case, Manulife acknowledged its duty to its participating policyholders and the standard of care that it had to meet in transferring their policies,” it added.

The lawyers also criticised Newbould for saying Manulife should have known it was breaching the rights of its policyholders here when it sold its business to Life of Barbados in December 1996, but yet not awarding the same policyholders monetary benefits owed to them. “He [Newbould] found that instead of treating the transferring policyholders reasonably, Manulife actively worked against them.

“In the face of these findings of fact, why did Newbould J. fail to find that Manulife had breached its acknowledged obligations to the participating policyholders? Simply put, he made fundamental errors…,” the Bajans argued in their appeal. “First, he failed to distinguish clearly between duty and standard of care, which led him to exaggerate the effect on insurance companies of recognising a duty of care in this case.

“In this case, Manulife ran roughshod over the rights and interests of people who were part owners of the company and whose interests it had undertaken to protect. If there is an overriding policy issue in this case, it is that the common law should not countenance such conduct. In failing to consider this, Newbould J. erred in law,” they alleged.

shawncumberbatch@barbadostoday.bb

by Latoya Burnham

The island’s chief animal protection agency is calling on families not to give horses as gifts to children.

Manager of the Barbados RSPCA, Charmaine Hatcher, said there was a new trend in the island of children and young adults wanting to own horses without full knowledge or capability for care.

So, almost every week, the RSPCA, police, fire service and other agencies, now including the latest charity for the protection of such animals, HORSE, are being called on to rescue the “pets”.

Hatcher, who along with RSPCA Chief Inspector Wayne Norville have been increasingly vocal about the plight, especially now of former race horses in the island, quickly dispelled any myth that the recession might be playing a role in the inability to care for the large animals.

“It is just the sheer volume of horses now. This is not new at all. It has been happening in the last three, four, five years, but it has reached a climax to the point where now the children are really abusing them,” Hatcher said.

“Before, yes the horses were given away, yes they were given to probably the grooms and more adults, but now the trend is changing a bit and they are going now more towards the children and the children they like to get on a horse and ride a horse.”

In addition to the usual rescue of cats, dogs, even cows, the RSPCA’s Facebook site has been inundated in recent months with pictures of emaciated horses, some with sores, tick-infested, cuts and bruises, and even some dead.

Similarly, some Barbadians have even taken to posting pictures on the Barbados TODAY Facebook forum, pleading for help for the animals.

Hatcher, in a personal note to FB fans stated: “The RSPCA has had long standing relationships with equestrian societies and organisations in Barbados. Several of the owners are personal friends.

“While we cannot dictate the terms of a transaction between the owner and buyer, the RSPCA insists that all owners, be it first, second or third, have a moral responsibility to have the adequate facilities and knowledge to maintain a horse. These animals can live for 30 years and cost as much as $1,000 a month to feed.”

This image taken from the RSPCA Facebook page is of an attempted rescue of a horse that fell into a drain.

It was this cost, she told Barbados TODAY, that new owners at the end of the horses’ racing careers were either unaware or unable to handle. Instead, she opined that the animals were being ridden up and down some neighbourhoods, often without food or water, the latter of which a horse can consume about five buckets a day.

The RSPCA commented via Facebook: “An average of 100 horses leave racing every year and the ones that don’t go for breeding are given to whoever wants a horse! Keeping horses is very expensive and time consuming and cannot be taken on lightly…

“Most of the owners at the track rent a stall there to keep their horses but once the horse retires they have nowhere to put them. Stop giving horses to Kids.”

“It is yes, they don’t have the finances to feed it, they can only tie it our in a pasture which we are always in a severe drought, but it is the general harassment and riding of them…

“Children used to have smaller animals in their backyard, even goats, pig, sheep, but now the ‘in thing’ is a horse and everybody thinks they must have a horse. Even a cat costs a lot to feed without what’s involved with looking after a horse,” she said.

Part of the challenge before, she explained, was that there just was nowhere to put the horses after they were rescued by the RSPCA, which was why she highlighted and was thankful for the recent establishment of the HORSE charity.

According to their Facebook page, among the main aims of the charity which runs a now two-month old horse sanctuary, are “to enhance and improve the quality of life for all of the equine species in Barbados and to promote their well-being through a holistic approach”.

This includes, but is not limited to, improving the quality of life for abused and neglected horses. Hatcher said the charity had given them somewhere now to take the horses and where they could be cared for.

“Now because of the horse charity, we have somewhere to take them to. In the past we would collect them and take them to the animal pound in the Pine, but they really do not have facilities either to look after horses and then it would be the sheer volume of them,” she noted.

“We are now more aware and reporting. Before the average Barbadian would drive by make a comment and go on. Now they are more into reporting it. It used to happen with cows and you don’t see as many tied up, but the horses cannot tolerate being tied up like that,” she said, urging the public to continue reporting instances of abuse.

latoyaburnham@barbadostoday.bb

Educate your visitors about the dangers of tsunamis and other coastal hazards!

This was among recommendations given to the management and staff of the Turtle Beach and Crystal Cove hotels by Acting Director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit, Dr. Lorna Inniss, during a presentation at Turtle Beach Hotel this morning.

Inniss noted that when the Chile tsunami struck in 2010, 524 people were killed, with a number of them being tourists.

“One recommendation I would make to the hotels is to have education programmes for their customers to teach them the basics,” she said.

She explained that those programmes did not necessarily have to involve workshops and seminars, but having adequate signage in place and providing fliers to visitors so they would know what to do if they were on the beach and realised they were in imminent danger.

Concerning Turtle Beach, Inniss said: “We would want to know where to go if water levels increased by two feet. Your entire ground floor would be in danger. You need to look at the installations on the ground floor,” she stressed.

She added that for coastal hotels, her recommendation was for vertical evacuation, if the integrity of the building was trusted.

However, she stressed that the key to surviving a tsunami and having a good response was “education”.

“It would be nice if all the hotels in the area came together and decided what they would do,” she stated.

In addition, developers are also being encouraged to leave their ground floors open to be used as car park space. “[Ideally] you should have to go upstairs to get to the lobby. That way you would lose cars and not people if something happens,” she said, adding houses along the coast should also be on pillars.

Inniss cautioned that until all Barbadians and visitors were aware and educated in the appropriate response to a tsunami hazard, then it was possible that what happened in Chile, Japan and Haiti, could happen in Barbados.

However, she described the presentation as a “landmark” in the tourism industry, and congratulated the management of the hotels for their initiative in starting the process. Inniss added that she hoped it would lead the way in the tourism sector to get other hoteliers to focus on coastal hazards.

The former Barbados National Bank is now completely in Trinidad and Tobago hands.

After offering 1,614 about $167 million ($5 each) for their 34.86 minority stake in Republic Bank (Barbados) Limited last year, regional financial institution Republic Bank Limited announced today that the Barbados-based bank was now its wholly-owned subsidiary.

It means that no one in Barbados owns a stake in the Barbados operation which has been in its Trinidad parents control for the last 10 years after government sold the majority of its shares to it. In selling its remaining share of its former bank when it accepted the most recent offer, the Freundel Stuart Administration received about $87.2 million, while the National Insurance Scheme, another major shareholder at the time, earned $48 million.

Giving its rationale for wanting 100 per cent ownership of its Barbados subsidiary, Republic Bank said it would be afforded “more flexibility in determining what additional services and products can be offered in Barbados and a greater likelihood of an increase in the return on investment”.

This was in addition to its provision of “more cross training opportunities and exchanges for staff of RBBL”.

“The current shareholding of Republic Bank Limited only entitles it to offer some and not all of its services and products. With every new product offering and service, there is the issue of cost and the current shareholding restricts the return on investment which is a critical consideration in any business decision made by a corporation,” it noted in the offer document. (SC)

Minister of Industry Donville Inniss and Dr. Leroy McClean of BIDC.

“Big business” is no longer being seen as the main driver of the Barbadian economy, as more family-owned enterprises are emerging as the “main plank on which the modern economy hinges”.

Minister of Industry Donville Inniss noted that between 65 per cent and 85 per cent of all businesses in the world were family controlled, including many of the largest companies in Europe and the Americas, with Wal-Mart, Ford Motor Company, and Samsung being prime examples.

He was speaking this morning at the opening ceremony of the FINPYME Family Business Workshop in Barbados: Governance for Competitiveness and the Continuity of Family-Owned SMEs in Barbados, at the Cave Hill School of Business, Cave Hill, St. Michael.

Inniss noted that these types of businesses, whether identified as the village shop or any other community enterprise, have educated the children and extended family of their owners or in many cases provided credit to ensure a reasonable quality of life to the average Barbadian.

Acknowledging that Small Micro Enterprises are important to almost all economies in the world, the minister noted that this specifically applied to those in developing countries, and, within that broad category, especially to those with major employment and in distribution challenges.

Creation of decent jobs

“On the ‘static’ front, SMEs contribute to output and to the creation of decent jobs; on the ‘dynamic’ front, they are a nursery for the larger firms of the future; and as the next step up for expanding micro enterprises, [as] they contribute directly and often significantly to aggregate savings and investment while being involved in the development of appropriate technology,” he added.

He pointed out that while each family had its own dynamics, it was not uncommon that “as the family structure shrinks or expands, the business could change commensurately, particularly with the start of the second and third generations”.

“Changes instigated by new generations can either improve or harm the business. While for example, success stories can be drawn from the Elcocks, Leacocks, Seales and Goddards of our local landscape, we know only too well of the horrendous stories of business failure … international research states that while 15 per cent of family-owned businesses continue to survive to the third generation, 85 per cent either disintegrate or completely vanish before the fourth generation.”

He maintained that “the days when genetics were seen as a qualification for an executive job are long gone”, and stressed that while leadership will come from within the family unit, this could not be to the detriment of the business.

The minister told those gathered that he also wanted to expose another misconception about family business which had sometimes negated its advancement. This, he said, was the notion that when people think of family business they think of small businesses which are expected to remain small. He cautioned that such thinking was myopic and noted that small business should never be intrinsically linked to small-mindedness.

by Donna Sealy

Gregory Skeete

In about 12 hours, Gregory Skeete wrote A Day in the Life of Axel the Ant.

In the 12 hours that followed he had the illustrations done and the book was ready over Good Friday weekend.

The 25-year-old engineer, who works in the manufacturing industry, started writing as a “relaxing hobby to get away from the technical” things he did.

Growing up, he never really had an interest in English or writing preferring to work with Science, Maths, Physics and Information Technology.

The closest he came to writing anything like a book apart from compositions at school, he said, was at the age of 11 when he entered and won an island wide poetry contest his dentist organised.

“I guess I have a little bit of a natural gift,” he said with a smile.

But he did not act on his gift throughout his years at Harrison College, Barbados Community College or the St. Augustine’s campus of the University of the West Indies.

“About a year ago I just started writing not for the purpose of publishing but just to calm my mind. I would just write to put my thoughts on paper sometimes and it would be about thinking, setting goals, having belief and faith and that kind of thing. I would just start writing my thoughts on paper, just to keep them,” he said with a chuckle.

“I’m also working on another book which caters to adults about the importance of learning. [This book which] I started first, is about sharing a positive message … [about] setting your dreams and your goals, that’s where it started.

“The children’s book was an afterthought. That was the Good Friday weekend and I was just thinking ‘what am I going to do this weekend’. I was thinking about how to make an impact on children and share the steps of goal setting, and so on with [them] and the idea just came ‘why don’t I try writing a short children’s book. So that weekend I just did it, probably between Saturday and Sunday, and I said it sounds pretty good. From there I started to see which pictures I would use to make it interesting,” he recalled.

What is interesting about his first book is that his characters, are deliberately Barbadian.

“I wanted to make a series to communicate with children but also what can I do for Barbados because a lot of people in the USA and so on, buy books for their children to read so I thought about how I could merge the two things together and so I came up with the characters. I thought about the Coat of Arms, the Pelican, flying fish, which are two characters in the first book – Pilly the Pelican, and Flo the Flying Fish and then there’s Axel the Ant who wears a tool belt. …That’s a little bit of my personality, a hard working technical type of person,” Skeete said.

He sketched the characters in pencil and then turned them over to “some artists’ whom he met online. They turned them into digital images.

A Day in the Life of Axel the Ant, which has “20 pages with words and 20 photos” is available only on Amazon but he has plans to publish a series of books when the “capital becomes available” to do so. Skeete is hopeful that he can have his first one published by year end.

Pilly the Pelican, is the central character of the series and will be featured in every edition, wearing his blue and yellow jacket.

Skeete said more characters will “definitely” be added as he continues writing and they will have several adventures but you will have to buy the books to find out.

Family is also important to him.

“Actually the entire family helped with the book. I wrote it but my mum, Junetta, is helping promote it… My dad Steve is an agronomist and he actually will write a couple of the books that focus on teaching about plants and agriculture and my sister, Jeniece, who is studying accounts and IT at UWI (Cave Hill Campus) will use her experience to manage the social networking sites and the website as well as manage the finances with their mother.

One of the young author’s hopes is that the parents of those three to six year olds he is targeting, would buy his books and read to their children as his mother did to him when he was a child.

Skeete believes that reading creates that bond and enables children to read and spell.

“My mum is actually a lot of my inspiration because she passed up on her opportunities to study when she was younger to make sure she could take care of her family. She spent a lot of time reading to me and teaching me these types of things. She and my dad played a big role in shaping the person I am today. She’s been trying to find a job after completing her UWI degree last year, but no luck as yet,’ he said.

When he is not at work, writing you could find him taking photos around the island, spending time with his family or playing football, which is his “passion”. Although these days he said he doesn’t get to play much but when he does he plays with some friends at Harrison College, at the Banks grounds in Wildey or with the Cosmos team from Speightstown.

Oh and he hails for popular Spanish football club Barcelona.

He also works out at the gym because he believes that “life should be balanced. Friends, family, fitness, health from the engineering point of view. Just like you would perform maintenance on machines to keep them working you have to keep this body doing the same”.

“I was pretty quiet, pretty shy but I grew out it as I got a bit older. I do think that I can play a role in inspiring other young people to set their goals and aim to make a difference in the world,” he said.

He plays to continue writing and on his Facebook page, Pilly the Pelican, you can read about the book which includes 10 basic points about Barbados for the children. You should buy the book at Amazon or you can download the Kindle app and read it on your smart phones, laptops, and tablets.

Look out for Gregory, his mom and Pilly the Pelican at children’s events, at read-ins and for the next one in the series. donnasealy@barbadostoday.bb

The declining sugar industry in Barbados is expected to receive a $9 million stimulus in a few weeks.

In making the announcement at the annual general meeting luncheon of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Hilton Barbados this afternoon, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Chris Sinckler, said the sugar support funds were about to come before him for signing.

“We have those resources to go out. It’s actually going to be $9 million from what I was advised. They’re ready to pay that over in another two weeks or so. It has to come to me shortly for signature and hopefully we would be able to go now.

“That is a kind of a bridging situation, which will then be taken over by the fuller loan for the complete restructuring of the sugar industry and in its current state, the retrofitting of the factory, into a single factory function, with multi-purpose functions,” pointed out Sinckler.

He said that in addition to producing quality sugar, it would also be a biomas plant, along with making biodiesel for electricity to be fed into the grid. That aspect, he noted, was a longer term project.

“And once the financing for that, which they are currently putting the finishing touches on, … is completed, then the resources from that will repay the bridging which would be undertaken to help the farmers get on with their business,” explained the Minister of Finance.

Sinckler also told the business leaders that the proposed Green Levy which had been announced in his 2012 Budget to assist with funding the treatment of garbage, was now ready for implementation. He disclosed that the levy was scheduled to go into operation from July this year.

As far as the proposed Hotel Fund was concerned, that too, he stated, was ready and would be part of a financing package Government would soon announced. He noted that this facility would finance refurbishment of hotels.

Sinckler said the National Insurance Department had prepared the fund and negotiations with some commercial banks would also be taking place to have the fund put under “very” strict management. He said very stringent commercial management would also be a criteria before it could be accessed.

“We are looking to see how a sub-part of that can also go as a grant to those (hotel) properties,” he added. (EJ)

by Shawn Cumberbatch

Insolvent British American Insurance Company (Barbados) Limited appears on the way to being rescued by a former competitor based in Barbados.

Having taken over BAICO’s health and property insurance portfolios in 2011, followed by its finalised purchase of that company’s Eastern Caribbean traditional life insurance business more than two months ago, Sagicor is now in discussions with the court-appointed Judicial Manager KPMG to complete a deal to buy out BAICO’s life insurance and pensions lines.

Reliable sources told this to Barbados TODAY, noting the talks with Judicial Manager representatives Lisa Taylor and Michael Edghill were “delicately poised”.

The news has come amid new concerns from policyholders, including a married couple with $60,000 in pensions tied up for the last three years in BAICO, that they are being kept in the dark about the company’s status.

Additionally, Barbados Investors and Policyholders Alliance Chairperson, June Fowler, said ahead of her organisation’s first annual general meeting next week Thursday there was “nothing new” to report to members.

As for the effort by Sagicor to take over BAICO’s business here, an official familiar with the negotiations said there were at a delicate stage.

Sagicor Life Incorporated is already in charge of the court-managed company’s health portfolio, while sister company Sagicor General Insurance Inc. is responsible for the property line. This was achieved via an insurance substitution agreement involving 3,000 policyholders.

One concerned policyholder, who along with his wife have BAICO pensions, wrote to Barbados TODAY complaining about the absence of information for longstanding clients like them.

Calling the matter “a horrible saga”, he said: “Almost another year has passed, and we are quickly approaching three years since the British American was placed under judicial management supposedly to ‘protect the interest of the policy holders’.

“I am beginning to think that the administration thinks that this situation is one big joke, but I am sure that like other policy holders none of us is laughing.

“My wife and I need to move on but how can we with approximately $60,000 of our hard earned money virtually down the drain and no other pensions exactly what are we to do? Depend on NIS? Look where that has got retired persons who were once receiving two cheques and are now only receiving one.

“Three years older, now my wife and I have been left with absolutely no confidence in the system of insurance oversight, and much less confidence in the Government that has been entrusted to take care of all of its citizens, poor, middle class or rich alike. Apparently we are not all in this together,” he added.

Sagicor’s interest in BAICO dates back to early 2011 and the company is now on course to amalgamate BAICO’s business, which serves countries in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States by September. An agreed timetable seen by this publication also outlined a plan to establish a new Sagicor company there to replace BAICO between September and February next year. shawncumberbatch@barbadostoday.bb

Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler (left) and BCCI president Lalu Vashwani at today’s meeting.

The tens of millions of dollars which Government owes to the private sector should be paid out by July this year.

Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Chris Sinckler, told the annual general meeting luncheon of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Hilton Barbados resort this afternoon, that he had instructed his ministry to put a plan in place that would significantly reduce or eliminate those debts in the next couple of months.

Sinckler revealed that at the end of March this year, the records showed that Government had paid out an estimated $60 million in VAT returns to the private sector, about $37 million more than in the previous year. However, the finance minister admitted that what his Administration owed to the private sector and visa versa, was far more, in fact startling.

“I have instructed my team to produce immediately for me, a plan to significantly reduce, if not eliminate entirely those payments in the next couple months,” he announced to applause from the packed room of business leaders.

“The recent issuing of treasury bills limit is part of the strategy to address this vexing issue. What we have agreed is that those which have been processed already to be paid, over the next two months, that we will put resources in place to have all of those paid off; so that people could get their monies and get on with their business.”

The finance minister said in relation to the ones that were not processed, a lot related to a staffing issue, adding that the VAT Department was severely under staffed “and we will look to see how we can address that issue”.

But the Cabinet member noted that with the establishment of the Revenue Authority later this year, more personnel should be available to clear that back log of unprocessed VAT returns. Government, he said, was however owed hundreds of millions through such agencies as Land Tax Department, Inland Revenue and National Insurance.

He promised that Government would reduce the massive deficit in a comprehensive way, but insisted that most of it was structural.

Andy Armstrong (left) and Minister Donville Inniss.

“It lot of the deficit spending in the Barbadian economy is structural, locked deeply into the heart the economy. It is not just about salaries and wages in the public service, though much of this growth has not been matched by productivity gains, and that itself is a problem.

“It is about the high debt service costs which the country has been carrying for the better part of the last decade, a lot of which has gone into physical development and so-called capacity building activities, guaranteed by central government, through its statutory entities and have now become contingent liabilities,” asserted the minister.

The statutory entities identified include Kensington Oval, the Judicial Centre, the Coast Guard headquarters, the National Oil Terminals Limited and the Hilton hotel.

“And not all of them have delivered on the promise either,” declared Sinckler. “When we execute a comprehensive exercise in fiscal consolidation we have to address all areas in which we do business.

“We are going to look at the plethora of statutory entities that were created prior to 2008 and to ask ourselves: Do we really need all of them and how can we build synergies across that we can eliminate duplication and wastage? Yes we are going to do it. KOMI, BTI, Invest Barbados, Urban, Rural Development Commission, and I can go on. They were all created in the decade prior to 2007. They are a cost to the public purse.”

The Finance Minister promised that very shortly Government would embark on fiscal consolidation that would directly impact on corporate Barbados.

“Because of the structural nature of our deficit and the significantly structural adjustments to restore equilibrium to our accounts, we will have a potential negative impact on your businesses and their bottom lines,” Sinckler said.

“If there is one truth that has emerged from the economic difficulty in Barbados, it is that too many of our private businesses are too heavily reliant on Government contracts for a large proportion of their income. It