Students were inspected as they filed into the school hall.

About 180 new students were given some of the ropes to coping with secondary school life during their orientation at the Alexandra School this morning.

Additionally, their parents who stayed for the first hour, were given an orientation of their own in the do’s and don’ts concerning their children’s educational future.

Principal Orson Alleyne told the students they should strive for excellence, as they were entering an institution known for its high standards and success.

“For many years this has been the beacon of the north … and I want you to strive for excellence,” he told the students, adding that their marks at Common Entrance in the 70s and 80s had already established a benchmark for where they should aim.

As such, the principal told the first year students that they had a pass mark of 70 per cent and that was the lowest they should aim for as the school continued to focus on opportunities for success.

“You have a good start and having achieved that, I would be disappointed if you were getting in the 40 and 45 at the end of this first term. We are going forward, building on the foundation that is there.” But he told them that bad behaviour, disrespect of their peers, teachers and other staff, as well as bad deportment would not be tolerated, warning parents as well that such was the culture of the school.

It was a matter also touched by Acting Guidance Counsellor Shernelle Clarke, who apart from outlining tips to deal with the transition from primary to secondary school, told the adults that they needed to be there, physically and emotionally for their children and wards.

The transition would take time, she said, but parents could help by ensuring the children got acquainted with the bus route, or even found positive older students to travel with. She even suggested parents could travel with the students on the first week and talk to them about what to do if the bus was forced to travel off-route or any other such incidents.

Warning parents to get to know their child’s friends as well, she urged where there was conflict in the family between parents, to not allow it to escalate to the point where the child was caught in the middle.

Conflict between parents where the child was used as a pawn, she told them, often resulted in behaviour and other challenges at school, and additionally, if there were issues with a teacher, to never disrespect that teacher in front of the child because that too could lead to problems.

Year head, Wendy Green, told students their journey was now starting and along the way they would learn skills to help them reach their full potential, which at the end of the day was the intention of education. (LB)

Principal Orson Alleyne and his deputy, June Brown.

While the Alexandra School, with larger first and third years, has had to refuse returning fifth form students, Principal Orson Alleyne says plans are already in place to increase classrooms ahead of the addition of a sixth form next year.

Space has been a significant factor in the school’s inability to accept returning fifth form students this year, Alleyne confirmed for Barbados TODAY this morning during orientation of a larger number of first form students.

He said whereas it was customary for the school to take in somewhere in the range of 140 to 150 first year students, this year they were looking at about 180 students, across six classrooms.

Alexandra School has traditionally been one of the smaller, top six schools in the island, with a roll of about 800-plus, compared to 1,000 and over for most secondary schools.

“Based on my experience we would normally cap off, the ministry would normally allocate, about 150 or so, but a few others would come. This year we got the number and then the additional. One or two sought transfers and moved, but not many; … there weren’t many at all,” he said, giving the example of one parent who moved her child because of the challenges associated with where she worked in relation to where the school was located.

Asked about the situation with there being no returning fifth year students, Alleyne clarified: “You see the number I have. We have [six first forms] now. We have about 180 here and the truth is because of some other issues with respect to the numbers we have, because we retained some students too who we are trying to work with.

“For example, we have an additional group in the third year and those things will create a problem and so on, some students who we had and didn’t do very well. So we had to create another class and teaching resources are going to be very tight,” he said.

With teachers being tight now, the principal said though that the proposal for the CAPE curriculum that would be added with the sixth form was ready to be submitted to the ministry for approval, following which they expected to make the transition to a sixth form school in September 2014.

How this would be accommodated with space already being an issue, Alleyne said was already being considered.

“The ministry is providing some additional room. We are looking at two areas, a lot … behind there [to the north west] and also behind there [to the east] and once they approve it we will have some additional space. We have this year to get in the additional facilities and so on, but the ministry has committed itself to working with us,” he noted.

He said all was ready for the start of the new term, with a burst main in the main car park having been repaired and now only awaiting paving not expected to create any challenges.

Additionally, he said his first couple of months since taking over the school have been “good” thus far.

“It has been good in the sense that I think that basically we are working towards one goal, ensuring the students succeed. So we are all working around that… It has been a good experience so far. I have a school with a lot of potential and I am going to exploit it to the benefit of the students. I must say this year we are working with them. This is the formal thing but during the week I will be working with them to ensure they understand what is the Alexandra brand, the standards and values.” (LB)

Comissiong pays tribute to the memory of victims of domestic violence.

Chairman of the September 3rd Foundation, David Comissiong, yesterday questioned whether schools, churches and even politicians were failing the Barbadian society when it came to addressing issues of violence.

He posed the query shortly before midday while addressing a gathering in Heroes Square there to commemorate the death of six young women in a store on Tudor Street, the City, which was fire bombed three years ago by two young men attempting to rob the business.

“What do we need to do to create a Barbadian social ethos, a culture in which we no longer produce men and women who are so alienated from their fellow Barbadians, who are so lacking in empathy with their fellow Barbadians, who are so bereft of any sense of connection with their fellow Barbadians that they are capable of doing the unspeakable acts that we have seen played out time and time again in Barbados.

“So we want this occasion to be one of self-reflection as well. What responsibility do our churches have for creating the kind of positive nurturing and nourishing society to create healthy men and women. We want churches that preach that prosperity gospel for example, are you giving people a correct estimation of human and social worth.

We want to ask our school system – are you not failing too many of our young people, making them feel that they are less than appreciated; making them feel that there is little hope or little of a future for them? We want to say to our politicians that we live in an age where values of cynicism and self-interest are foist upon young people. So when you send your agents on election day into communities to offer young people $100 bills for their votes, aren’t you augmenting that cynicism, that individualism, that selfishness, that ethos?”

MP trevor prescod lends support to Sep 3 movement.

He questioned of parents as well whether inflicting undue criticism on their children was not creating in young people a sense of alienation.

“When we leave communities to fester in inter-generational poverty, where we reduce households to poverty and stressfulness, aren’t we creating a dysfunctional environment to foster and nurture our young people? The point is all of us need to reflect on this issue,” he said, adding that it was not simply a law enforcement matter.

While there was a role for better policing and more community policing with an improved judicial system, Comissiong said that violence concerned every segment of society and as such the day’s activities should be used to remember for all victims of violence.

In his prayer for the nation, Wayne Onkphra Wells too questioned whether self-analysis was not needed, noting that if the society continued doing the same thing, it could only reap the same reward.

“Teach, as all the agencies of socialisation, from the Government, to the church, the schools, to the businesses, the families, lead the inward search oh God, that we can arrive at the place where we can truly call the just society of Barbados, where none will be left behind,” he prayed.

He prayed for healing of the families who still grieve for their loved ones. (LB)

From front left: Sydney Arthur, Minister Ronald Jones, High Commissioner of Canada Richard Hanley and Principal Dr. Gladstone Best with scholarship recipients this morning.

Be grateful and use the opportunity to study abroad for free, is the warning for this year’s ELAP/Canada-CARICOM Scholarship winners.

Minister of Education Ronald Jones, who addressed the 18 from the Fine Arts and Hospitality programmes of the Barbados Community College this morning, warned them that education was very expensive world wide, with students from developed countries in trillions of dollars in debt because of it. So when the Canadian taxpayers make a “sacrifice” for them to receive it free of cost they should use that opportunity wisely, he urged.

Speaking to the recipients at the presentation held at the BCC in Howell’s X Road, St. Michael, Principal Dr. Gladstone Best echoed similar sentiments. He told the winners to take this opportunity to expand their knowledge and to enhance their education so when they returned they would enrich the island.

“It is often said that education does not only take place in the class but education is life. Students who are involved in any exchange programme … have a tremendous advantage. Students, nothing can replace the experience that you can get when you are studying in a library with a number of persons from a whole diverse range in society…

“Persons who are given the opportunity to go abroad and study one week, one month, one semester or one year have tremendous opportunity to … enrich the lives of those who they interact with subsequently by merely taking full advantage of that opportunity and embracing the opportunity and learning. We worked tremendously hard to ensure that we have a smooth transition and we know you will do well,” he said.

High Commissioner of Canada to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Richard Hanley, told them Canada would be a better place for having them study there. Hanley saluted them for their academic achievements while he stated the scholarship programme was designed to help further advance the development of CARICOM countries and the advancement of their people, while he stressed his government was proud to support the next generation of leaders of Barbados. Sixteen of them are headed there to begin their one-semester programme while the remainder will travel in January 2014 to commence their one-year programmes. (KC)

by Shawn Cumberbatch

Site of the proposed PURE project

One of the largest upscale hotel/residential developments ever earmarked for Barbados has been delayed by funding challenges.

But almost two years after breaking ground at the site of their proposed $500 million project at Foul Bay, St. Philip, management of Pure Beach Resort & Spa is assuring their “founding members” the venture remains “attractive and viable” and that new joint venture partners were coming on board and additional sources of funding being secured.

Barbados TODAY understands that in recent months senior Pure Beach officials have been notifying associates that they are now in fruitful discussion with several international financiers after encountering difficulties securing funding from Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates.

The initiative, whose developers and partners are from Canada, Korea, the Middle East, and Barbados, has projected $300 million in earnings for the island and up to 1,000 jobs.

It will be a five-star beach-front residential and brand name hotel development, and as previously proposed would be made up of 15 town houses consisting of 30 units, 240 condominiums, and 100 boutique hotel suites.

Having officially broke ground at an October 26, 2011 ceremony attended by senior Barbados Government and tourism officials, however, Pure Beach management recently told founding members that the Ras al-Khaimah snag “has caused PURE project to fall behind the original schedule”.

“Also, continuous flow of funding for Pure project was interrupted when the RAK funding was made known as many of our joint venture partners in charge of sale of PURE units stopped their sales activities in anticipation of full project funding,” founding members were told in a written update.

“This is why we have re-tooled ourselves with a revised funding strategy for Pure project. Our revised funding strategy is clearly devised for us to simultaneously engage in both the institutional financing and retail funding through joint venture partners network.

“We absolutely believe that this multi-facetted approach helps us to make up the delayed time and make a robust progress on construction.

On the retail front, under our revised strategy, most of our existing joint venture partners have come back to selling Pure units with a renewed commitment and vigour,” it added.

Pure management also said that added to engaging up to five “reputable and productive firms and individuals” to be joint venture partners, the developers were also talking to institutional financiers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Asia.

“As stated, while we face challenges, Pure remains an attractive and viable development project as we pursue institutional financing from several sources that will aid in completion of the project,” partners were told.

The St. Philip project has already received the support of Government officials, including Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, in whose St. Philip South constituency the resort will be built.

“We really want to establish an outstanding quality resort that will bring tremendous benefits to Barbados,” Brathwaite said at the ground breaking ceremony.

The developers had also said that businesses and the wider St. Philip community, including farmers and artisans, would benefit from their presence and Pure Beach Chairman Mark Purai said once the project was complete the island would be welcoming 3,000 “new families”.

“The objective is to bring the community in; the investment is the right place at the right time. We think Barbados has all of the criteria for the clientele (we will attract), with low crime being number one. We are going to build a community here (and) we want to keep it as natural as possible,” Purai said. shawncumberbatch@barbadostoday.bb

Motorists travelling along Farm Road, St. Peter have to drive carefully because it seems to have sunk a little more. Not only that, the bridge on either side seems to have broken away more.

Barbadian enterprises will quickly jump on the renewable energy bandwagon if they are smart.

The Enterprise Growth Fund Limited, which is one of the state entities responsible for implementing Government’s several energy programmes, has been receiving applications and making millions of dollars in disbursements for companies focussed on energy efficiency.

It’s CEO Timothy Simmons told the media today that there was a new opportunity for businesses to save and make money in this area.

“We have received so far about $7 million in applications for green technologies, renewable energy and energy efficiency. We have already approved $1 million from the Energy Smart Fund for a large PV system to a retailer. I have about $1.6 million in loans on my desk seeking approval,” he said at an EGFL media briefing.

“The interest in renewable energy and energy efficiency is very high. The Energy Smart Fund is right on queue in terms of its timeliness.

“It will be providing low cost financing at a rate of 3.75 per cent to help finance the capital works associated with renewable energy and energy efficiency… “It represents a timely opportunity for businesses to seek to save electricity, save foreign exchange, enhance our energy security, as well as contribute to the greening of the environment. So I would say that if ever there was a time for considering green initiatives, especially with respect to energy efficiency, the time is now,” he added.

The executive said his organisation and by extension Barbados was “on the right track as far as a renewable strategy is concerned”, noting that the three key prerequisites of any such plan was an abundance of sunshine, a financially viable tariff structure, and a source of low cost funding.

“The missing component that we have lacked over time, however, was a low cost source of funding, as the up front expenditure for such projects is very high,” he explained.

“We now have that source of low cost funding with the launch of the Energy Smart Fund, which will provide long term loans at a … based rate of 3.75 per cent. So this completes the puzzle and we have a basis for implementing a sustainable renewable energy framework.” (SC)

Malcolm Mark Small

The family of  Malcolm Mark Small is still hopeful he will return to them safely.

Small has been missing since August 26 and today his family received a glimmer of hope, when news spread that the Royal Barbados Police Force, which were in the Woodale, Taitt Hill, St. George area searching for him, made a discovery. However, when his brother, Kenneth Parris, arrived to the scene he learnt that police had in fact not located his brother but marijuana growing in a gully a few yards away from his home.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY another of Small’s brothers, Evans Parris, said he and the entire family felt terribly about the whole situation. He described Small as a quiet person who preferred to stay at home and kept to himself.

“I feel a lot bad, I feel that he gone,” Parris said as tears filled his eyes.

“Me and he used to be in the house all the time together. This got me feel bad, I nearly dead here a night. I was studying that so deep that I start get some heat running through my leg, then my head start to feel bad, my eyes start to feel dim — I couldn’t see the TV, so I went outside and drink some water. When I come back in, I mek up me bed, lie down and I tried to tek it easy. The family ain’t feel good a’tall, I really hope them find he alive,” he said.

Small is about 5’9” tall, of slim build, dark brown complexion and has an oval face. He has a large broad nose, has a round head and wears his black hair low. The 37-year-old has small dark-brown eyes, thick eyebrows, a long neck and square shoulders. His voice is light and he speaks with a stutter. He was said to have a pleasant manner and has a scar about two to three inches long on his left elbow.

Speaking to the media after the drug find, Public Relations Officer of the RBPF, Inspector David Welch, said the search for Small would continue. He appealed to the public to contact the force with any information that might assist them in finding small.

He also urged Barbadians that whenever a person who was not known to disappear for periods of time went missing they should not wait for 24 hours to report it to the police. He explained a person was deemed to be missing when they had not been heard from in a reasonable time.

So far for the year 56 persons have been reported missing. Besides Small, 21-year-old Anthony Elie Belgrave, of Amity Lodge, Christ Church, is still to be located. He has been missing since June 4 2013. Out of the 56 reported missing, two were discovered dead: Marion Applewaithe and Monica Marshall-Wilkinson. All the others have been accounted for. (KC)

The bushy area where the drugs were found.

There is now no doubt about it, cops report: The Royal Barbados Police Force’s efforts to thwart the importation of illegal drugs is resulting in more drug dealers growing their own here.

Police Public Relation Officer, Inspector David Welch, made the point this morning as over 85 personnel from the RBPF and the Barbados Defence Force made another drug discovery. More than 123 marijuana plants were seized from a gully in Woodale Road in Taitt Hill, St. George today as officers continued the unsuccessful search for 37-year-old Malcolm Small, who has been missing since August 26.

Speaking to the media after the discovery, Welch said along with the growing plants they found a drying area. “There is an effort by these unscrupulous persons to grow cannabis wherever — we [have] found cannabis not only growing in large plots but also backyards, plant pots within houses. So again we will be going after those persons and the areas we believe that these cannabis plants are growing,” said Welch.

Soldiers came prepared.

“We believe our efforts on the borders may have contributed to this growing of plants. We have seen in one recent case where they were well laid out, the plots were well manicured, the trees well kept and fertilised. So there is a concerted effort to harvest these plants and also to hide them because they are found in gullies. They are camouflaged.”

But he warned the force intended to intensify the fight against drugs by locating the places used for the growing of cannabis and arrest the culprits as law enforcement personnel strive for a drug-free Barbados. No one has yet been arrested in connection with today’s seizure.

So far for this year police have seized just over 23,000 cannabis plants, a more than 2,000 increase over the entire 2012 figure. Police are also appealing to Barbadians for information about other areas of the island where cannabis is growing. (KC)

Prime Minister Stuart stand beside Gerald McCaughey and Rik Parkhill of CIBC FirstCaribbean. (inset) Sign announcing Michael Mansoor Building.

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart told CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank tonight, it should make financing for business startups more accessible.

Addressing the naming ceremony of the bank headquarters at Warrens, St. Michael in honour of its retiring Executive Chairman, Michael Mansoor, Prime Minister Stuart suggested the institution works with government in assisting the creative energies of young people and entrepreneurship.

He noted that over the past 10 years, the bank has been trying to change the mindset of young Caribbean people, getting them to use their talents and skills to create wealth and employment, particularly in difficult times.

“I therefore now implore CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank to follow through in the spreading of the entrepreneurial culture to all sectors of our societies by leading the charge to facilitate access to capital,” the government leader asserted. “Research by many agencies involved in supporting micro and small business enterprise, shows that a major barrier to establishing a viable business, is inadequate see funding,” he added.

The prime minister argued that even with appropriate education and training, young entrepreneurs were forced to start businesses which were “grossly” undercapitalised.

“I appeal to you to join governments and a range of business development agencies across the region, to help release the creative energy of our people, to diversify and stimulate our economies. There is no time like the present to demonstrate what Caribbean people can do,” declared the Head of Government.

In response, the man of the moment, Mansoor said enlightened leadership was critical at this time of economic and social challenges.

“Never before has the need for enlightened leadership from both private and public sectors been more critical, and never before have the tangible opportunities and rewards for courageous entrepreneurs and public sector sponsorship, been greater,” continued the outgoing executive chairman.

However, he advised that there was no magic bullet and that “we cannot expect to be ushered into a promised land of opportunity, courtesy of anyone other than ourselves.”

The bank’s Warrens headquarters will now be known as The Michael Mansoor Building.

The naming ceremony was attended by a wide cross section of dignitaries including Minister of Finance, Chris Sinckler, President and CEO of CIBC, Gerald McCaughey, CEO of CIBC FirstCaribbean, Rik Parkhill, Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr. DeLisle Worrell, Governor of the East Caribbean Central Bank, Sir Dwight Venner, Principal of the University of the West Indies, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, and construction magnate Sir Charles Williams. (EJ)

by Shawn Cumberbatch

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart (FP)

Follow the rules or suffer the consequences!

That sums up the stern advice the Ministries of Finance and Civil Service have delivered to Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments as Government’s millions of dollars in budget cuts kick in this week.

This has emerged from two separate circulars transmitted last week by Acting Director of Finance and Economic Affairs, Martin Cox, and Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Civil Service, Alyson Forte.

And the August 26, 2013 pieces of correspondence have also suggested that job losses in the public service are not off the table.

Ever since Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Chris Sinckler, delivered his Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals on August 13, speculation about the impact of these austerity measures have been rife.

But if there were doubts that the cuts affecting the civil service and wider country were serious, the circulars from Cox and Forte have put it in black and white.

In his three-page circular, Forte made it clear that not following the various “human resources measures” was not an option.

Referring to the budgetary measures in his correspondence, he told the senior ministry and department officials:

“It must be emphasised that ministries, departments and statutory boards who hire staff in breach of this policy will not receive the necessary resources to cover the salaries of these persons if they are not accounted for in the system,” the PS stated.

“Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments should note that requests for permission to fill critical posts within central government must be submitted to the Chief Personnel Officer, Personnel Administration Division, no later than eight weeks before the date on which the assignment is expected to commence.

“In this regard, I am directed to inform you that the following information should be submitted in making requests to the Chief Personnel Officer: (i) Justification for the request to fill the post(s); and (ii) Comfirmation that funds are available under Other Personal Emoluments to meet the cost of the post(s),” Forte added.

He said the measures were “in keeping with Government’s policy for limiting major job losses in the public service, adding that “where necessary and appropriate, statutory boards are encouraged to explore programmes for regulating work hours among staff since retrenchment should be a last resort”.

The belt tightening was also emphasised by Cox in his circular issued the same day as Forte’s.

He made it clear to the permanent secretaries and heads of departments, who have statutory responsibility for their organisation’s spending and other budgetary issues, that the Ministry of Finance would not be compromising on its measures.

“You should advise the entities for which you have responsibility that if the instructions of the Ministry of the Civil Service are not followed the Ministry of Finance will not provide any additional funds to cover the salaries of persons who cannot be accounted or in the system,” Cox said.

“You should note also that in order to monitor the performance of the statutory entities, it is expected that they would report monthly to the Ministry of Finance with bank balances, cash flow statements for the coming months and an aged payables listing being crucial information which must accompany the monthly reports,” he added.

In light of the difficult financial circumstances, Cox also asked ministries and departments “to review the programmes proposed for this financial year”, and that “any programmes which have not yet started and which are not critical should therefore be put on hold”.

On Tuesday after meeting with Cox, Forte and other officials responsible for personnel and financial matters, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said there is no need for alarm by temporary workers and the wider civil service.

“An analysis of the existing financial situation following the budgetary proposal which took effect from September 1, 2013, is being done within all the ministries and departments, with a deadline set for September 30. This information will be submitted to the Director of Finance and Economic Affairs,” he said.

Stuart said once that process was over “we will know what will be the real impact of the 10 per cent cut in Government’s expenditure on the emoluments of temporary employees, persons in acting positions and substitutes”.

“We will then know if anyone presently employed will be affected, but our preliminary analyses show no cause for undue disquiet,” he stated. shawncumberbatch@barbadostoday.bb

Prime Minister Stuart meets with Denis Clarke, Walter Maloney and Roslyn Smith of the NUPW.

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has met with the top brass of the National Union of Public Workers to clarify matters pertaining to temporary employees in the public service following the presentation of this year’s Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals.

Stuart met yesterday with President of the union, Walter Maloney; General Secretary, Dennis Clarke and his deputy Roslyn Smith. Also attending that meeting at Ilaro Court were Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Service, Alyson Forte; Acting Chief Personnel Officer, Margaret Mayers; and Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Sonja Welch.

The Prime Minister underscored the critical role the NUPW has to play in helping its membership and said it was, therefore, necessary to put all the issues into perspective so the union could advise accordingly.

He said: “I met with the relevant Government officials and we have put in place a set of procedures that will govern the process which was outlined in the Budget. The ministries and departments are expected to gather all relevant information by September 30, 2013, for the analysis of the existing financial situation.

“That analysis will put us in a position to assess the real impact of the 10 per cent cut in Government’s expenditure on the emoluments of temporary employees, persons in acting positions and substitutes.”

Stuart reminded the union officials that Government’s fiscal adjustment programme, which was announced in the Budget, would be done over a 19-month period.

“And, we intend to meet this 19-month programme of targets, not in a chaotic way, but in a clear and humane way,” he declared.

The Prime Minister reiterated that Government was currently dealing with some stubborn economic challenges which had to be tackled now, so as to put the country back on a growth path.

Timothy Simmons

Barbados’ smallest businesses are struggling and a leading financier of their sector has the proof. Enterprise Growth Fund Limited CEO, Timothy Simmons, today reported a surge in delinquency and simultaneous “sharp drop” in loan approvals over the past year.

EGFL is a successor to the defunct Barbados Development Bank and was established 15 years ago to provide developmental finance to the island’s small and medium sized enterprises.

Speaking this morning at a media briefing at his organisation’s offices at Barbarees Hill, St. Michael to release and review its 2012 performance, Simmons said while EGFL itself earned $700,000 in profits last year and was on course to tally net income of $400,000 this year, an increasing number of its clients in the tourism, agriculture and manufacturing sectors were struggling to pay their bills and repay their loans.

“Our clients are feeling the stress and naturally they are feeling the stress because their clients are not paying them on time and they too are not paying us on time and the level of delinquencies are increasing, but we intend to manage it, stay steadfast and continue to perform our mandate as the premier developmental financial institution for SME companies,” he said.

While the entity’s loans disbursements moved from $6.9 million to $13.7 between 2012 and last year, loan approvals dropped from $9 million to $4.7 million over the same period.

Additionally, loan delinquencies jumped from 12 per cent in 2011 to 20 per cent last year, a figure which the CEO said while manageable was undesirable.

“I think our delinquency is now around 20 per cent. I think previous year it was around 12 per cent so you see the trend moving from 12 per cent 2011 to 20 per cent in 2012, which is manageable but of course we would always prefer delinquencies to be at the lowest that they can be,” he said.

“Some of it is in tourism, … some of its is in agriculture, I can’t tell you the exact split, but you know that tourism investments are fairly lumpy investments, in other words the outlay for a tourism investment is significant.

“So if you have a tourism loan that is delinquent the impact generally is much higher, so that in absolute numbers there may be more small loans from another sector that is delinquent but because of the size of a tourism investment if that becomes delinquent the impact is more significant on a proportionate basis.”

Simmons traced these difficulties, especially for EGFL clients in the tourism industry, to the current global economic environment, especially in the United Kingdom and United States.

“So generally it’s the impact of the global environment that is cascading down in our tourism sector and until that moderates you will continue to see some businesses struggling under the strain of a declining economic environment,” he stated.

“Meanwhile, there are some green shoots, there are one or two companies that have positioned themselves quite well in the tourism sector in terms of their pricing, in terms of their product and they have been able to come through more or less unscathed, but unfortunately that is the minority of our portfolio.”

Simmons said while EGFL intended to help nurture its clientele “to get them through these difficult times”, enterprises needed to work harder and smarter, deploying technologies to enhance their business competitiveness, and using renewable energy to reduce their energy consumption.

“All of these things will eventually filter down to the performance and the bottom line of the business. There is no one size fits all strategy that you can implement, so my advice to small businesses to small business will be to just dig in and work harder, smarter and be more innovative,” he advised. (SC)

by Wade Gibbons

Flashback: Darwin Dottin at one of his most recent court appearances.

Darwin Dottin has officially severed ties with the Royal Barbados Police Force.

Barbados TODAY investigations have revealed that on Tuesday the former Commissioner of Police, accompanied by a permanent secretary, presented himself at Police Headquarters where in keeping with established force protocols he officially handed over the reins of management of the force to new Commissioner of Police, Tyrone Griffith.

It marked the end of a nine-year reign as head of the organisation that culminated controversially in June when on the advice of the Police Service Commission he was sent on administrative leave by Governor General Sir Elliot Belgrave pending his recommended retirement from the public service.

Dottin, 63, challenged the decision of the Police Service Commission in the Supreme Court but Barbados TODAY understands that this challenge will be withdrawn.

Dottin’s troubles with the force’s governing body escalated after investigations into allegations of illegal wiretapping by the Royal Barbados Police Force were initiated by the Police Service Commission. In a document of its subsequent findings, which was served on Dottin and subsequently lodged in the Supreme Court, the PSC highlighted that probably for the first time Barbados found itself in a “dangerous and untenable” in relation to policing activity.

The PSC charged that there was “irrefutable evidence” that the force had been bugging the phones of several Barbadian citizens who were not known or suspected to be involved in any criminal activity.

The PSC said this action had made law-abiding citizens afraid to use their telephones. It was described as “disturbing” that much of the wiretapping activity seemed to be politically motivated. The PSC indicated that this activity compromised the integrity of communications of Government officials and was a threat to Barbados’ democratic way of life.

“We have reviewed the information in the possession of the commission surrounding the rampant reports of phone tapping. The information provides irrefutable evidence of illegal phone tapping, but also paints a picture of circular communications and an unwillingness of persons in authority to take responsibility for dealing with this matter,” the PSC document signed by commissioners Guyson Mayers, chairman, Miriam White, The Reverend Frank Marshall, Keith Whittaker and Neville Lewis stated, noting that in the absence of legal authority to tap people’s phones it was duty-bound to investigate and take action.

Two police officers directly involved in the wiretapping programme gave sworn evidence on the matter with one charging that part of the process was covered under the heading “political”. It was revealed that two of those bugged were security officers attached to and communicating with former Prime Minister Owen Arthur and current Prime Minister Freundel Stuart. The PSC noted that when the telephone of the driver and security officer of the Prime Minister could be tapped, it compromised his communications with that officer.

The court document also alleged that the phones of a number of senior police officers, magistrates and members of the PSC had also been tapped.

It is understood that Griffith, a former Harrisonian and University of the West Indies graduate, is to have Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce elevated as his deputy commissioner. wadegibbons@barbadostoday.bb

Usain Bolt (right) easing to victory today.

BRUSSELS — Usain Bolt completed his season with a 100-metres victory in a solid but not spectacular 9.80 seconds in the Diamond League finale in Brussels today.

Bolt, whose pre-race antics were tame by his standards, held his finger to his mouth to hush the crowd. He got off to an average start, took a clear lead around the halfway point and beat American Mike Rodgers by one tenth of a second.

“If I had got the better start it would’ve been 9.70,” Bolt said.

World bronze medalist Nesta Carter and world silver medalist Justin Gatlin took third and fourth, respectively, both in 9.94 seconds.

Gatlin handed Bolt his only loss of 2013 in June, but Bolt ramped up as the summer went on, while Gatlin stayed fairly level. Bolt’s season’s best was his 9.77 in the World Championship final.

“It’s my last race of the season, the time’s close to my season’s best, I’m happy,” Bolt said.

Bolt said this was his last race of the season, but 2014 could be interesting. He could run in the Commonwealth Games for the first time, and his biggest rival, Yohan Blake, will return from a hamstring injury.

Jamaican triple world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce posted another dominant performance, taking the 100 in 10.72 with a .3 tailwind. Fraser-Pryce came up 0.01 shy of her world-leading time for 2013 and .02 short of her career best. Next closest was American Alexandria Anderson in 10.97.

Jamaica Warren Weir won the 200 in 19.88, edging countryman Nickel Ashmeade (19.93) and American Walter Dix (20.12). Weir, 23, perhaps the heir apparent to Bolt in the 200, took silver to Bolt at worlds in a season’s best 19.79. Dix, the double 2011 world silver medalist, posted a season’s best while wearing a camouflage body suit as he continues to return from injury.

2008 Olympic champion Dawn Harper-Nelson came from behind to beat 2012 Olympic champion Sally Pearson in the 100 hurdles. Harper-Nelson celebrated a mildly surprising win in 12.48 over Pearson (12.63) with a cartwheel. It marked Harper-Nelson’s fastest time of the year.

Ethiopian Mohammed Aman posted perhaps the most impressive time on the track in winning the 800 in a season’s best time of 1:42.37. The world champion bettered surging world silver medalist Nick Symmonds with a time nearly one second faster than any other this year. Granted, world record holder and Olympic champion David Rudisha has missed most of the season due to injury. The American Symmonds took second in 1:43.03, the second fastest time in the world this year.

American Ryan Whiting won the shot put with a throw of 21.45 meters. In a breakthrough season, Whiting won the overall Diamond League title, a silver medal at worlds and the four farthest throws in the world.

American Natasha Hastings upset a strong field in the 400 in 50.36. World gold and silver medalists Christine Ohurougu and Amantle Montsho, who were also in the field Friday, were one second faster than Hastings’ winning time Friday in Moscow.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Jehue Gordon won the 400-meter hurdles in 48.32, his first race since winning the world title by .01 over American Michael Tinsley in Moscow. Gordon had won the world title in 47.69.

Ethiopian-turned-Swede Abeba Aregawi, the world champion, won her sixth Diamond League 1,500 of the season in 4:05.41. American Jenny Simpson, the world silver medalist, was among a handful of runners who fell in a pileup at the start of the final lap.

Americans Galen Rupp and Bernard Lagat led at different parts of the final lap of the 5,000, but it was Ethiopian Yenew Alamirew who prevailed in 12:58.75. Lagat held on for second in 12:58.99, while Rupp was fifth in 13:01.37. Another American, steeplechaser Evan Jager, took eighth, setting a personal best by 12 seconds.

BVHS, Kemar Saffrey

Gold Coast Records and The Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society are teaming up to feed the homeless.

Through the Love Barbados Campaign, patrons attending the Fantasia Live concert can get their tickets at half price once they donate a can item to the society.

Chairman of the BVHS, Kemar Saffrey, told Barbados TODAY he was thankful for the initiative because it came at a time when they were in need of assistance. He said that the number of persons attending their Wednesday feeding programme had increased to almost 150 and they had been finding it difficult to keep up with the demand.

Gold Coast, he said, was hoping to collect about 6,000 cans, so far, they have collected a little more than 1,000. Saffrey said he expected the efforts to go a long way in helping persons and planned to use half of those collected for their feeding while they will donate the other half to society.

The BHVS had relocated upstairs Yvonne’s Cakes and Pastries on Tudor Street in the City. (KC)

There is no reason to be alarmed about lightning strikes!

So said Senior Meteorologist at the Barbados Meteorological Services, Clairemonte Williams. His comments followed recent thunder showers the island has been experiencing.

Williams said that although many persons are afraid of being struck by lightning, only about 20 per cent of strikes happen between cloud and ground.

“The majority of lightning strikes occur within clouds, from one cloud to another, from cloud to surrounding air or from cloud to the ground,” he explained.

He noted that at this time of the year, conditions were often favourable for thunderstorm activity.

“It’s not unusual therefore, to see the sky illuminated with sparks of natural light, a common occurrence known simply to us [meteorologists] as lightning.”

Williams defined this phenomenon as a “complex process”.

“Lightning is a visible discharge of electricity which occurs in mature thunderstorms… These thunderstorms contain regions of positively charged and negatively charged particles, which, under certain conditions, will interact to create the lightning stroke.”

Pointing out that there is a relationship between lightning and thunder, he added: “The lightning stroke heats the air to about 30,000 degrees Celsius, causing the air to expand explosively. This then creates a shock wave that produces a booming sound wave known as thunder.

“Because light travels at the astounding speed of 300,000 kilometress per second, we can see the lightning flash almost immediately. However, sound travels at the much slower rate of 330 miles per second. This is why thunder takes much longer to reach the ear,” the senior meteorologist explained.

Pedro Shepherd (left) and Executive member Richmark Cave.

It will be another 48 hours before the Barbados Union of Teachers decides what it will be doing at the Alma Parris School on Monday.

President Pedro Shepherd told Barbados TODAY that they received correspondence from Chief Education Officer Laurie King this afternoon but based on the ministry’s position they will be seeking a legal opinion on what has been outlined.

He said the Ministry has informed them that a committee to have a full inspection of the Speightstown, St. Peter school will be set up and will start on Monday, September 23 and conclude on October 25.

Additionally, the recommendations of the Oversight Committee have been passed on the Personnel Administration Division but Shepherd said there was no effort to solve the problem.

On Wednesday at a press conference at its Merryhill, Welches, St. Michael headquarters, Shepherd said that by today teachers should know what was “coming in terms of resolution to their problems”.

Those issues include staff functioning without proper timetables, not being assigned to departments and concerns about discipline.

“Last school year in cases where some of them had timetables they were teaching children who were already assigned to another teacher at the same time. In effect, the timetable was riddled with clashes.

“Teachers were asked to teach outside of their specialty which is not the norm in the secondary system and were assigned to departments which did not fit their qualification and/or training.

“In the opinion of our members, discipline at the school was deteriorating beyond imagination and the staff felt threatened by their mere presence at the school. There were too many fights among students and our members felt that enough was not being done.

“Communication between the principal and teaching staff was at an all-time low, sometimes non existent, and apparently is now by registered mail,” Shepherd told journalists.

Regarding the “simple matter” the trade union said the Education Ministry had failed to act on “over a two-year period” and which had “escalated into one of embarrassment”, the Chief Education Officer reported that the person affected will be reassigned but did not give specifics such as when, where or the position.

The member of the union who successfully completed the Associate Degree in Education at Erdiston Teachers Training College had not been reassigned.

“This union’s position is quite clear and we are asking for her to be reassigned as a temporary teacher effective September 1, 2013. The error has been made and needs to be corrected now,” he said.

“It is my hope that the Ministry of Education gets it right by September 9 and this young lady be reassigned to a school and the emphasis here is reassigned,” he asserted.(DS)

A Barbados-based company, which owns prime real estate here and is landlord to some of the island’s leading companies, is moving to save itself and shareholders from millions of dollars in losses.

Fortress Caribbean Property Fund Limited has summoned shareholders in and out of Barbados to a special meeting on September 26 to get their permission to convert it to a segregated cell company — effectively splitting its $113.4 million “total assets” in two.

And the company’s board of directors, chaired by prominent businessman Geoffrey Cave, is warning that unless urgent action is taken the protracted recession and its negative impact on the real estate market here and in the Eastern Caribbean will continue to bleed the company and shareholders of value worth millions of dollars.

Barbados TODAY confirmed that in recent days shareholders of the company, which is listed on stock exchanges in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, have received an 88-page information memorandum dated August 29, 2013 and correspondence from Cave and Corporate Secretary Hanna Chrysostom.

The property fund was established in 1999 “for individual and institutional investors to gain access to the returns generated by a diversified portfolio of income producing and development properties”.

In recent years, however, property not generating income, the fund’s declining share price, the absence of grow in shareholder value and competing shareholder interests have been problematic, prompting the company split proposal.

Once shareholders give the nod the Fortress Property assets will be divided into two new segregated funds, with the Value Fund comprising the current Fund’s income producing assets and the Development Fund made up of the properties held for development and resale.

Fortress management told shareholders they have conducted a “careful evaluation” its corporate structure and concluded that “a corporate and capital restructuring of the Fund offers the best option of building and unlocking shareholder value within the constraints of the current economic environment”.

“The present structure creates a significant drag on the company’s ability to meet the needs of shareholders who wish to maximise their income … the income being generated from the fund’s income producing properties will be segregated from the portfolio of properties held for development and resale,” they explained.

“This means that such income will be spread over a smaller asset base which will result in higher returns on equity and higher dividends for the income producing fund. In short, the sum of the parts is expected to be greater than the whole.”

The fund currently has 55,652,768 Class “A” Common Property Fund shares outstanding, which will be cancelled and will be replaced by an allotment of 55,652,768 Value Fund Shares and 55,652,768 Development Fund Shares if shareholders give their approve.

Up to end of September last year Value Fund property investments were worth $74.4 million, a figure reduced to $43.7 million when total liabilities ($17.8 million) and minority interests ($15.2 million) were factored in.

This list was topped by the property known as the BET Building, located in Wildey and leased and occupied by Cable & Wireless, and included several properties occupied by Cave Shepherd & Co. Limited and Carter’s General Store ($15 million), Carlisle House ($12 million), No. 24 Broad Street, The Sunset Mall ($2.2 million), and The Chattel Village ($1.7 million).

The Development Fund on the other hand included properties with investment total $35.1 million, reduced to $34.4 million when $2.2 million total liabilities were added.

This included lands at Wotton, Christ Church ($6.8 million), property at Villas On The Green in St. Lucia (villas $6.7 million and lands $3. million), and property at a number of other upscale locations, including Canouan in the Grenadines ($3 million), Rockley ($2.5 million), Apes Hill land and polo villa ($2.8 million), Holders Cottage ($2.2 million), Limegrove ($1.3 million), and Lion Castle ($1 million).

It is the status of the Development Fund properties, however, that is causing the greater concern.

“The appraised valuations of many of these properties have continued to decline in recent years due to the recession and the fall in Caribbean real estate prices. The impact of this has been continuous appraisal losses in the annual accounts for the Fund, most of which have been non-cash charges,” the Fortress proposal noted.

“There are ongoing costs associated with the holding of real estate, including property taxes, insurance, maintenance and management. Many of these properties generate little or no annual income so when the annual holding costs are combined with the annual revaluation losses, the negative impact on the earnings of the Fund as a whole in recent years has been significant.” (SC)

by Wade Gibbons

St. James North MP Edmund Hinkson (FP)

Barbados Labour Party St. James North MP Edmund Hinkson has thrown out the olive branch to political colleague and St. Andrew MP George Payne.

But whether the aggrieved Payne is willing to bury the hatchet is a decision on which their Opposition colleagues are waiting with bated breath.

Barbados TODAY investigations have revealed that Hinkson, an attorney-at-law, has made peace overtures to Payne through veteran attorney and longstanding member of the Barbados Labour Party, Sir Richard Cheltenham.

In correspondence sent to Payne’s legal representative, Vernon Smith QC., Sir Richard stated that though Hinkson was not admitting the precise words complained of by Payne in his defamation suit against his parliamentary colleague, the first-time MP looked forward to “working harmoniously and effectively” with Payne. Sir Richard said Hinkson wanted to work together with Payne in advancing the cause of the party.

“Against that backdrop of high aim, healing perspective and sense of fraternal embrace, my client wishes to assure Mr. Payne that no criminal imputation was intended. He further wishes to unreservedly withdraw the words complained of or whatever words were used and urge that a curtain be brought down on the past, as it were, and that the focus be on a united and impactful team going forward,” Sir Richard stated on behalf of Hinkson.

St. Andrew MP George Payne (FP)

Sir Richard indicated that Hinkson regretted any hurt that Payne might have felt.

“My client wishes to express regret to your client for any hurt caused and assures him that none was intended. In addition, my client is happy to share this letter with all the parliamentarians who were present at the meeting,” Sir Richard informed Smith.

The meeting to which Sir Richard referred to, and the scene of the verbal confrontation between Payne and Hinkson, occurred on February 25 this year at the BLP Roebuck Street, St. Michael headquarters. In court documents filed by Payne in his defamation suit, Hinkson is alleged to have said: “You are a crook and a criminal; you are a big Queen’s Counsel and you committed fraud; you are totally unfit to be a member of parliament; you aint got any right here; you should be in prison”. Hinkson is also alleged to have referred to Payne as a “political clown”.

In his action Payne noted he felt humiliated, depressed and embarrassed by Hinkson’s comments which he described as totally untruthful. Payne also stated he had never had such damaging accusations made against him nor was he privy to any conduct on his part which would warrant such a damaging assessment of his character.