Top brass of the NUPW

Public workers and employees of statutory boards have been summoned to an emergency general meeting tomorrow at the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Dalkeith Road headquarters.

The 2 p.m. meeting is to update workers on the outcome of yesterday’s discussions of the sub-committee of the Social Partnership chaired by Minister of Labour Dr Esther Byer and to decide on the way forward in their dispute with the state-owned Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC), the union said.

A Bridgetown court heard today that school supplies which a St Peter man stole from a City business, were not for a student but for sale in order to get money to buy “blackies” to satisfy a drug habit.

Richard Ricardo Jordan of Six Men’s, pleaded guilty to the theft when he appeared before acting Magistrate Elwood Watts in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court.

Jordan stole three erasers, seven books, two boxes of wax crayons and four packs of pencils valued at $119.94 from Pages Bookstore in Cave Shepherd yesterday.

Sergeant Theodore McClean told the court that the unemployed 44-year-old went into the bookstore and was seen by security taking the items and placing them in a haversack which he had with him.

After doing so, he walked past the cashier. However, on reaching the ground floor, he was stopped by security personnel and the supplies found in his bag.

After police were summoned and they interviewed Jordan, he told them, “I does smoke blackies [marijuana mixed with crack] and I was going to sell them for some money.”

The repeat offender told the Acting Magistrate that he did landscaping and other odd jobs. He also said he lived with his mother and brother but did not depend on his mother’s pension to feed him.

“I try to hold my own,” he said.

Asked about his drug use, Jordan replied that he smoked “when pressure comes” because, although his mother loved him a lot, support from other family members was not forthcoming.

“I really don’t want to go back to prison,” he pleaded.

However, the Acting Magistrate told him that any help he would receive, would have to be in prison, especially since he had not sought any help for his drug habit since he came out of jail.

Jordan was sentenced to 12 months and an order made for him to enrol in the drug rehabilitation programme.

There’s uncertainty surrounding the date for the start of the controversial Cahill Energy Project, and it could be at least three years before it materializes.

That’s according to Kerry McKenna, Practice Leader in Gasification and Coals to Liquids at Hatch – the Honour Engineer for Cahill Energy – who explained that designs for the project were still ongoing.

Speaking from his office in Mississauga, Canada this morning, McKenna told Barbados TODAY that due
to the complexity and nature of the venture, it could take between three to six years to complete the waste-to-energy project.

“These projects vary in length. As you go through the engineering and design phases, they take a few years to design, and then there is also financing steps which sometimes delay these type of projects, so it could be anywhere from three years to five or six years depending on how many bumps happen to occur,” McKenna revealed.

“There are a lot of factors and it’s a big window, but there are a lot of things that can still happen . . . but a concerted timeframe would be anywhere from three to six years.”

The technology engineer stressed that there had been no agreement on a start-up date for the project.

“I’m not aware of any confirmed date. There are a bunch of engineering steps that are going to be needed to be progressed through, so we are still doing a lot of design work and selecting the final technologies and things like that.

“There needs to be an environmental assessment and a permitting process that needs to go through. So all those steps that we are still getting to, create some uncertainty as to exactly how long it will take in terms of the time for constructing,” McKenna noted, stressing that this was typical for projects of this nature.

However, during a town hall meeting at the Lester Vaughan School on Monday night, the former professor of Chemistry
at St Lawerence University of New York, Paul Connett, suggested that a waste-to-energy plant in Barbados was unlikely to become a reality.

“Don’t get too scared, because they’re not going to build the stupid thing. It won’t happen, either because of the legal aspects, or the people of Barbados just won’t stand for it,” Connett told the packed audience gathered for the event, organized by the Future Centre Trust.

“Before I came to Barbados, I had no knowledge of Barbados,” Connett said, in an attempt to emphasize his neutrality. “I have no interest in the politics here [or] the political parties, I have no axe to grind.

“I am just going to give you what I believe, based upon 30 years of studying waste management.”

Connett, who is a Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, and author of the book, Zero Waste Solution – Unthrashing the Planet One Community at a Time, suggested that a waste conservation solution would be a more suitable option for Barbados.

“We want model solutions, and my dream for Barbados is to help this island become a model for the whole Caribbean. We want Barbados to show that an island can develop a circular economy, and persuade not only the rest of the Caribbean to follow suit and cooperate on this, but also to be a model for every island in the world,” he insisted.

“I’ve been to many islands – Hawaii, Isle of Man, St Maarten, Curacao Puerto Rico, Guam. . . and they’re all struggling to handle the waste problem, because they’ve all taken the attitude of, ‘let’s find a place to put it.’”

The Guernsey-based Cahill Energy announced in March 2014 that it had signed an  “historic” agreement with the Government of Barbados to build and operate “a leading edge” US$240 million clean energy plant in n Vaucluse, St Thomas. The company said it would utilize “the most innovative technology available” to transform all kinds of waste on Barbados into clean, renewable energy.

Opposition Leader Mia Mottley has questioned Cahill Energy’s ability to deliver, while warning that plasma gasification technology was “largely untested commercially”. She has also called on Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to release details of the agreement to the public.

McKenna said while he understood some of the concerns being raised about the multi-million dollar project, there was no reason to fear.

He pointed out that similar technology had been instituted in countries such as Japan, as well as across Europe.

“The technology which is going to be used in the project, called plasma gasification, this process has been demonstrated in Japan where it has been operational for over 10 years. It’s being introduced in Europe and there are two major plants of similar scale being built in England right now,” the engineer explained.

“It’s very well researched and used in England in terms of the health effects to the local community, so we know it’s quite safe,” he said.

An unsightly scene of refuse and waste littering Bucks, St Thomas, has angered Member of Parliament Cynthia Forde.

And today, the Barbados Labour Party MP invited a team from Barbados TODAY on a tour of the area, located a mere two minutes from the Mangrove Landfill.

During the half-hour tour, the outspoken parliamentary representative pointed to the coconut shells, used tyres, the skeletal remains of a butchered cow, burnt plastic bottles, withered shrubs, barrels bearing the names of persons who did not reside in the parish and rubble from construction sites dumped indiscriminately at the site.

“I think that the dumping at Bucks, St Thomas, is extremely dangerous, not only for our health, but for the environment as well,” a worried Forde said.

The Shadow Minister for Social Care explained that the area was normally used for raising livestock, however a fire in Christie Village, St Thomas, several weeks ago, burned all the way down to Bucks. The land now lies fallow and “people have sought to turn the area into a dumping site”.

Blaming truckers for the illegal dumping, Forde said she was concerned that the large number of tyres filled with rain water provided fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and presented a threat to the health of residents.

Shadow Minister for Social Care, Cynthia Forde

“It is really heart-wrenching to see that all of a sudden that Bucks, St Thomas, is now becoming a dumping ground for irresponsible truckers. It is so sad that Barbadians have been fortunate to benefit from free education and free health services for quite some years now, yet the education seems not to be touching those of us who believe that the quckest way to dispose of their garbage is on other people’s property, not considering what the repercussions would be,” she said.

The opposition MP promised to draw the issue to the attention of the Environmental Protection Department at Warrens, St Michael.

Forde also suggested that the property owners at Bucks should install chains at the entrances to their properties in order to halt the illegal dumping.

Arguing that there had been a culture shift in Barbados in recent years, Forde said: “People in Barbados have become more self-centred. They have no considertation for others, once they solve the immediate problem that affects them. People now dump old television sets, batteries and other toxic waste in waterways, oblivious of the fact that they may be contaminating the water supply. They are not thinking about the welfare of future generations.”

When contacted today, Principal Environmental Health Officer Ronald Chatman said the matter was drawn to his attention only earlier today.

However, Chatman assured residents that he and a team from his department would tour of the area on Friday to assess the situation.

The tremor occurred at 7:01 a.m about 128 km northeast of Bathsheba, St Joseph, according to the European‑Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

Residents in parts of St Andrew, St Michael, St Philip and Christ Church reportedly felt the tremor.

Roscoe Moseley does not intend to allow a vehicle he owned to cause him to go before the law courts again.

When the Carrington’s Village, St Michael man appeared before acting Magistrate Elwood Watts in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court today, he pleaded guilty to one charge related to the vehicle.

Namely, having the car’s glass windows tinted to such a degree that it made the driver unidentifiable from a reasonable distance, by a person outside of the vehicle. The traffic violation was committed last December 4.

When Watts reminded Moseley of another 2014 traffic offence which he had committed, Moseley replied: “Since that last one – and now this one, I sell the car, Sir.”

“So you passed on the problem to somebody else?” asked Watts.

“No, I told the person to remove the tint,” Moseley responded, adding that he had purchased the vehicle from a cop.

After he was convicted, reprimanded and discharged, a smiling Moseley said, “thank you, Sir” and walked briskly out of the courtroom.

For the second time this morning, an earthquake rattled Barbados.

According to the United States Geological Survey, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck at 11.16am.

This morning  a 5.3 magnitude earthquake also struck at 7:01.

Sanitation workers walked off the job today, one day after ending a week-long strike in support of employees of the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) and the Customs and Excise Department, who had been at odds with Government. However, today’s wildcat strike, which began from as early as 5:00 o’clock this morning,  was over their wages.

The Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) workers were angry that management docked their pay for the period for which they were on strike.

When a Barbados TODAY team visited the SSA’s Wildey, St Michael headquarters around 8:45 a.m. several workers were seen sitting around, vociferously protesting the latest development.   

Several sanitation workers were seen standing and sitting around the Wildey headquarters.

A number of them showed the team from Barbados TODAY their payslips which indicated that, in some cases, workers were only paid for one or two days, while some received no pay at all for the week.

“All I can say is that as big men and women we showed solidarity with fellow workers employed at the Customs Department and the BIDC, and everybody in the Southern Division received two days pay and I do not think that that is reasonable nor right,” veteran SSA worker Adrian Husbands complained.

Long-standing employee David Sobers contended that they should have received their full wages because over the years, there had been strikes, and the workers received their full pay. Other employees angrily chanted, “no money, no work”, and some who said they had not joined the previous protest warned, “if management wants it, this is a different ball game today”.

Chairman of the Sanitation Services Authority Division of the National Union of Public Workers Hugh Smith held a brief meeting with the aggrieved workers, and later said the employees were hoping to begin negotiations with management soon.

He said the workers were assured by the superintendents that those who had participated in the recent industrial action would be paid, and said they would remain off the job until there was a resolution.

“We have to get to the bottom of this, and until that happens, the workers have been advised to withdraw their services until the matter is resolved. We are basically awaiting some clarification on the non-payment of this week’s wages,”Smith said.

Smith stressed that as Chairman of the SSA Division of the NUPW he could not say how widespread any industrial action would be, and would await direction from senior union officials.

Reacting to today’s work stoppage, NUPW Acting Assistant General Secretary Wayne Walrond expressed concern that the management had taken a “hardline position” in docking the workers’ wages.

Meanwhile, a roving team from Barbados TODAY did not find any evidence that garbage collection had returned to a level
of normality, having found huge pile-ups in St Michael and the City.

This is the unsightly scene on the compound of the Sanitation Service Authority’s headquarters at Wildey.

It is scenes like this one on Country Road that led the Shadow Minister of Health Maria Agard to express concern about the possible impact of the rising sea of garbage on the health of Barbadians.

What has become a children’s playground has been inundated with mounting heaps of refuse at Green Park Lane.

Large stacks of refuse were seen in districts such as Halls Road, Country Road, and Licorish Village, St Michael, and Lightfoot Lane and Greenpark Lane, the City.

The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) President Akanni McDowall said he was willing to meet with the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) as soon as possible to discuss the terms and conditions relating to the future of the ten BIDC employees who were issued letters of dismissal.

The NUPW staged industrial action after several failed attempts to resolve the row.

Following a meeting of the sub-committee of the Social Partnership on Tuesday, the NUPW and its sister trade union, the Barbados Workers Union, announced that the dispute had been settled and that the BIDC had agreed to withdraw the letters.

However the unions’ assertion has been disputed by Minister of Labour Dr Esther Byer and the BIDC Chairman Benson Straker, who said the statement did not fully reflect the BIDC’s offer.

But McDowall told Barbados TODAY they would meet with the BIDC “once they write to the persons who were terminated and say the letters no longer stand and that the letters will be retracted”.

NUPW President Akanni McDowall

“I don’t see why we should try to prolong the situation any longer. The NUPW’s position was clear that we could not sit and negotiate unless the letters were rescinded, and that was the impression that we got. But I’m not sure if there was some miscommunication as it relates to the language being used.

“We sent off a letter to them, they now need to respond to us, and as soon as they respond we’re willing to have the meeting. From the beginning we were trying to make sure that we resolve this issue as quickly as possible; so once they’re available we will make ourselves available and we will try to make sure that we get the best possible conditions for those workers who were terminated by the BIDC board,” he said.

McDowall stated further that as far as he was concerned the dispute has been settled, and he hoped other statutory boards would not terminate employees before consulting their labour representatives.

“I’m willing to go to do whatever I can to make sure those workers are as satisfied as possible and to make sure there is no precedent set in this situation where statutory boards across the service would start to take similar action.

“So I think that statutory boards across Barbados would know right now that no one should really be severed or terminated without consulting the union. If they do that, then we would have to take necessary action to make sure that the process is followed,” he said.

Station Sergeant Irvin Kellman urged the court today to admonish an accused man, so that he understood that where “circumstances have caused a relationship to end, he must move on”.

Kellman was addressing Acting Magistrate Elwood Watts in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court, where a 34-year-old joiner had just denied assaulting the mother of his child on July 10.

After doing so, Andre MacDonald Gittens was placed on $7 500 bail.

The Acting Magistrate also ordered the Green Park Lane, Baxters Road resident to report to Central Police Station every Friday.

Kellman rose today to inform the court that he was of the view that Gittens’ problem was that he “had difficulty moving on.”

The police officer suggested that a third party facilitates the handing over of the child, which the accused and the complainant share, so that any likelihood of further allegations could be minimized.

“I don’t know if they are better fish in the sea but there are other fish in the sea,” Kellman assuredthe court.

Watts acknowledged the words of advice andordered the accused man “not to harass or interfere with the complainant [Kdia Patrick] directly, indirectlyor through any medium including calls, texts or Whatsapp messages.”

When questioned by the Magistrate though, Gittens said he and he woman were through.

The accused, who was represented by attorney-at-law Oliver Thomas, returns to court on August 18.

The island’s child protection agency, the Child Care Board (CCB), has removed an alarming number of juveniles from abusive homes in the past week.

CCB Chairman Kenneth Knight told Barbados TODAY, the agency took a staggering 13 children away from abusive homes last week alone.

Knight credited the recent suspicious and highly publicized deaths of two minors, which sparked allegations of abuse, and subjected the board to pubic ridicule, for heightened awareness of the issue of child abuse.

Child Care Board Chairman Kenneth Knight

“The community seems to [be] becoming much more aware of the seriousness of child abuse in Barbados as a result of this case [six-year-old Jahan King, who died at the QEH], because only last week, we had to take in 13 children from abused situations. If it keeps at this pace, we will have no space for them. That’s quite a large number. That’s what we took in last week. There was definite abuse in the household,” Knight said.

He described the number of cases as appalling, adding it was safe to say this was one of the largest number in a single week, in living memory.

“When it was reported to me [by Director Joan Crawford] last Friday, I was just appalled at the number. What it does now . . . I have another problem on my hand. I have to find the facilities to house these increasing cases. I am just hoping this is just a one-off week where we had an influx, you know,” Knight declared.

The board chairman pointed out that in keeping with protocol and the law, at least some of the parents would be charged, while several would undergo counselling. He would not say if any of the cases was sexual abuse –– something he stressed the board would not tolerate – nor was he able to provide a breakdown of the categories of abuse which forced the board to step in and remove the most recent victims.

“The specific cases I can’t tell you categorically if XYZ is charged, or if XYZ is being counselled. But I would say the majority of cases need counselling. That’s the first line they [child care officers] would take. Then we have the outright cases of sexual abuse. We have zero tolerance for that.”

The child protection agency’s top official added that the abused children came from homes from across Barbados, and said he was pleased that people now appeared to be reporting cases of suspected child abuse.

Following Jahan King’s death, Knight complained that too many Barbadians who were aware of child abuse were failing to report the cases to the board. In the wake of the increased reporting in the past week, he told Barbados TODAY he hoped the communities would continue to play their part in helping the authorities make inroads into this scourge.

“We have to protect our children. I think people have become aware that there is a serious situation in Barbados when it comes to child abuse. I think the society in itself, judging from the comments I have heard from private citizens who have spoken to me, a lot of people are alarmed at the number of child abuse cases that are reported,” he added.

Knight said that while the estimated 700 cases reported every year were fightening, this number did not reflect the true picture.

“You would know if the Child Care Board received 700 a year, you would know that’s up about four times the actual cases that exist. We do not get all of the actual cases being called in. We get a percentage of the amount. So I think the society itself is concerned and they should be,” Knight stated.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

Evangelical churches here have made it clear that they would staunchly oppose any attempt to legalize same-sex marriage in Barbados. In fact, outspoken pastor Rev David Durant has said that, in the United States, where the practice is legal, the Supreme Court should protect pastors who refuse to marry same-sex partners, and Christians and businesses that do not want to participate in such weddings.

A recent US Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages across all 50 states of the United States has caused jitters among religious leaders in Barbados and the Caribbean who worry that it won’t be long before regional Governments are forced to follow the US lead. Voters in Ireland also voted overwhelmingly in a recent referendum to change their nation’s constitution and allow same sex-marriage, becoming the first country in the world to do so through popular vote.

Church leaders in Barbados have stiffened their resolve to fight possible attempts to adopt similar measures.   

Speaking at his Brittons Hill, St Michael Restoration Ministries Church during a press conference organized by the Pastors Prayer Network, Durant said the Christian community was disturbed by two recent events hosted by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community here.

Those activities were a panel discussion dubbed “How Gay is Gay?” at the University of the West Indies, where a male married couple sat on the panel, and a lecture on the theology of inclusion, sponsored by the US embassy.

Outspoken pastor Rev David Durant

“We do not want same-sex marriages to ever be legalized in Barbados,” Durant declared.

Quoting scripture, the evangelical minister argued that the bible clearly taught that homosexuality was a sin, and opposing that lifestyle was based on a desire to prevent individuals from falling into spiritual and emotional pain.

Durant urged Barbadians to remain calm because the churches had a “prayerful response” and he was confident that prayer would conquer the threat. He also prayed that the country would show “love, compassion and understanding [and] not condemnation, redicule or hostility” towards members of the LGBT community, even as Barbadian christians demonstrate strong objection to same-sex marriage. He compared gays and lesbians to drug and alcohol addicts, saying he believed they could be “changed, delivered and set free” from their inclinations.

“The church exist to see people saved and delivered, not to bless the means of their damnation. As a church we need not panic, but have a prayerful response to this situation. I believe anyone with an attraction for the same sex can be changed, delivered and set free from those desires, just as a person addicted to drugs, alcohol, smoking, lying or adultery can be changed and totally delivered,” Durant said.

The Restoration Ministries Church pastor adopted the position that those who engage in relationships with people of the same sex need counselling, and he called for the establishment of “a gay and lesbian anonymous centre for counseling and rehabilitation” with trained personnel to assist those who sought help.

Meanwhile, Rev Paul Watson of Messiah’s House announced that  evangelical churches were running a campaign to strengthen biblical marriages, and would travel around the island hosting seminars on the subject.  He suggested that Barbados would be walking down a dangerous road if it sought to legalize gay marriage.

“Once something is not legalized the country can’t accept it. A lot of laws would have to change, and that would be a sad day if we just react to a change that is taking place in other parts of the world and we immediately change our laws to suit that. [It] would send us down a slippery slope . . . and we have to be extremely careful [of] in the way forward,” Watson said.

A press release issued by the Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies (PAWI) today stated that PAWI “profoundly” condemned same-sex marriage because it “diametrically opposes the word of God”,and that it was against “the divine plan for marriage” and its purpose for procreation.

“Our organisation promotes the family unit as a fundamental institution, where a mother and father nurture children, instil faith, and inculcate moral strengths and spiritual values. Thus, legislation of same-sex marriage will destabilize the family unit and result in harmful consequences for the society at large,” the release said.

The garbage situation in Barbados has reached a deplorable state.

Even though Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) workers have returned to work following a week-long strike, large pile-ups of garbage have now become commonplace across the island.

This is the unsightly scene on the compound of the Sanitation Service Authority’s headquarters at Wildey.

And despite the fact that the National Conservation Commission (NCC) and other private operators pitched in to help bring some relief to the situation, their efforts have not been enough to prevent the unsightly loads and pungent smells of garbage.

When a Barbados TODAY team took a tour through St Michael this afternoon, they were greeted by large heaps of refuse dumped alongside the road.

It is scenes like this one on Country Road that led the Shadow Minister of Health Maria Agard to express concern about the possible impact of the rising sea of garbage on the health of Barbadians.

It’s quite messy outside this public bath at Green Park Lane.

What has become a children’s playground has been inundated with mounting heaps of refuse at Green Park Lane.

A pile-up at Ellis Village, Queens Park.

In one instance in Reed Street, The City, children were seen playing alongside a huge pile of debris.

Only last week, Shadow Minister of Health Maria Agard expressed her concern that the pileup of waste across the island could pose a serious health threat to Barbadians.

The board of management of the state-owned Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC)  today insisted that there had been no resolution to its long-standing dispute with the island’s main public sector union, the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW),  over the “forced” retirement of ten employees over the age of 60.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, BIDC Chairman Benson Straker suggested there was no ambiguity to the offer made to the NUPW at Tuesday’s sub-committee meeting of the Social Partnership, not to act on the letters of retirement issued to the workers.

That same evening during a joint press conference by the NUPW and the Barbados Workers Union (BWU), NUPW President Akanni McDowall announced “agreement was reached that the letters issued to some BIDC workers forcing them into retirement will be withdrawn [and] the workers will therefore remain as full employees of BIDC”.

NUPW President Akanni McDowall

McDowall had also said the way had been cleared for fresh talks between BIDC and the NUPW, while Acting General Secretary Roslyn Smith announced an end to industrial action, including a national strike planned for the following day.

But today, the corporation chairman echoed a statement issued yesterday by Minister of Labour Dr Esther Byer, that the union’s pronouncement did not fully reflect the offer on which the workers’ representative organization based its decision to call off the planned strike.

Straker maintained that there could not have been a resolution when the BIDC’s offer clearly stated that it was ready and willing to meet as early as the following day [yesterday] to resolve the dispute in the shortest possible time, while at the same time agreeing to suspend proposed court action and allow the ten “to remain full employees since they were already being paid until September 30”.

The corporation chairman said the government-run entity was still waiting on the union for that meeting.

“We hand-delivered a letter, and also faxed it to the union for a meeting yesterday. We did not meet yesterday. . . we are still awaiting word from the union,” he said, adding that up this morning, the NUPW had not responded to the invitation.

NUPW Acting Assistant General Secretary Wayne Walrond said last night he was “shocked and disturbed” at the Minister’s statement, accusing her of creating uncertainty in the industrial relations process with the corporation.

Wayne Walrond

Walrond said the union’s executive was meeting last night to discuss the matter and formulate a response, but that meeting ended prematurely when an envelope, addressed to Smith, and containing a powdery substance, was delivered to the union headquarters.

What followed was a lockdown of the compound well into today, after security forces and emergency services were summoned to the Dalkeith Road headquarters to investigate. .

Up to late this afternoon, no business could have been conducted at the faciity as police continued their investigations.

Health authorities told Barbados TODAY that testing of the powdery substance was taking place at three different laboratories to determine what it was.

In the wake of the series of earthquakes that shook the island today, a senior disaster management official has called for a higher level of awareness and better preparedness.

During a hastily called press conference just after noon, Acting Director of the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) Kerry Hinds, told members of the media she was not satisfied that residents were properly prepared in the event of a natural disaster.

Acting Director of the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) Kerry Hinds.

“We need to improve our preparedness and our readiness as it relates to a multiplicity of these hazards. I know we traditionally focus on the hurricane hazards, but we at the DEM always applicate comprehensive disaster management because we are susceptible to a number of natural and man made hazards here in Barbados,” she emphasized.

Her comments came following the fourth of six earthquakes of varying magnitudes which struck the island within a four-and-a-half hour span. The US Geological Survey reported two more by mid-afternoon.

The first tremor measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale occurred at 7:02 a.m. Three hours later, a 6.4 earthquake struck at 11:16 a.m., quickly followed by a smaller 4.1 tremor at 11:29, while the fourth, measuring 5.3, hit seven minutes later. The USGS reported that the fifth, measuring 6.5, struck at 3:16 this afternoon, followed by the final one, a 5.2 quake, 20 minutes later.

The quakes were also felt in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines,  Martinique and Guadeloupe, with the British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico also experiencing tremors, according to the USGS.

Hinds alerted the country to the possibility of aftershocks, but ruled out a tsunami.

“Based on the information that we would have received from the Seismic Research Unit, there is a possibility that we can have aftershocks today or during the coming days…and we must be prepared for those. I would encourage you to please protect yourselves.

“There is no tsunami threat. We would have received that information regarding tsunami threats from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, and based on the earthquake, they are saying there is no tsunami threat at this point in time. But persons still need to be mindful of the fact that there is a possibility that we can have further shocks and further secondary hazards may occur as a result of those shocks,” Hinds pointed out.

Hinds said the DEM had not received any reports of damage or injury from today’s quakes.

The last time Barbados experienced an earthquake was eight years ago, when a magnitude 7.4 quake rattled the island, causing panic among some residents and slowing traffic to a crawl as people sought to flee the capital.

Contending that the dispute between the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) and the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) was more about serious underlying issues involving the Freundel Stuart administration, two leading political scientists are urging the Government to sit up and pay attention.

Dr Tennyson Joseph and Peter Wickham, who both view the now disputed eleventh-hour settlement as a victory for the island’s trade union movement, insist that the impasse was not merely about the dismissed workers of the statutory corporation.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Joseph who heads the Department of Government, Sociology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus, said the workers’ struggle against austerity was at the heart of the matter and the NUPW, fully backed by the Barbados Workers Union (BWU), sent a strong message that workers have had enough.

Political Scientist Tennyson Joseph

“What was happening in the past is that the Government was given a free hand to implement IMF [International Monetary Fund] decisions. What you were getting from the Barbados Government is austerity upon austerity,” said Joseph.

“When you listen to the last budget it is taxation and the removal of allowances and cutbacks. What the union did was practically demonstrate that you could resist the austerity package, you could break it,” he added, noting this was a significant departure from the previous position of the unions, which adhered to “false notions” of working with the Government.

Joseph argued this new response should force Prime Minister Stuart to rethink the current economic programme.

“The Government, I am assuming, will present its austerity programme differently to a point where it may be tempered or slowed down. And this may have implications for their relationship with the IMF and so on. But the fact is there is a limit to which you can impose austerity on the people. That is one of the lessons coming out of Greece

He went on: “So I think that the strike may force them to be a little more balanced. Nobody is denying there are economic challenges but you can’t go about doing it crudely when there are human lives involved. You have to do it in a balanced way and I think that this is one of the things that will come out in what I deem as a victory for the labour movement.”

Joseph further knocked the Prime Minister for taking what he called “a bold, loud and aggressive stand” against the unions when the actions of his Government should have been more conciliatory.

“It suggests a Prime Minister that is out of touch. If a Prime Minister is declaring the way he declared, one would have expected a protracted dispute. But in one day, the Prime Minister is making those bold declarations and the next day you are seeing the same union leaders that he was castigating, hugging and celebrating with his own Cabinet members.”

Wickham too argued that Prime Minister Stuart did not help the situation “by speaking so aggressively” but he lauded unions for not engaging the matter.

Political scientist Peter Wickham

“To their credit, they have not responded to the Prime Minister’s rather provocative remarks but instead focused on the fact that in terms of the real issues that are at stake, that a battle has been won. Their constituents would be happy to see there is a seriousness of purpose on the part of this group and that they can actually win battles on their behalf.”

Wickham expressed the view that the larger issue at stake was the prevailing low confidence in the current administration and the outcome was in the Government’s best interest.

He said: “When we listen to the NUPW, especially when they spoke about the treatment they were receiving from the Government, it went back to the time the 3,000 public servants were laid off. It talked about that infamous list that was supposed to be prepared and scrutinized and the fact that it never materialized and they seemed to identify a catalog of incidents where trust has broken down.

“I think that is the broader issue. Right now, Government is suffering badly from a lack of trust. It is not trusted by the social partners and certainly that should not be the case. Now when you hear the union speaking, it makes more sense to have people focusing on the issue of BIDC which is easier to fix than the broader issues of trust and this is the reason why I am saying certainly that this type of outcome would have been the best thing for the Government because they had to compartmentalize the issue into one relating to the BIDC and thereafter Customs but it does not allow broader political issues, which is really at the root of all this, to come to the fore.”

Wickham further argued that it was useless to discuss who were the winners and the losers, suggesting that Barbados was the real victor in the circumstances. “I am happy that a resolution has been made and I think Barbados is the winner, especially in this very fragile economic environment and, moreover, on the eve of Crop Over when the last thing you want is to have wide-scale disruption as it relates to the tourism industry,” he said.

Gairy Decourcey Zephirin wasted no time admitting to the police and the court that the cannabis police caught him with on Monday, was his.

Zephirin, 38, of King William Street, Nelson Street, the City, appeared before acting Magistrate Elwood Watts yesterday where he pleaded guilty to possession of a small quantity of marijuana.

Police on duty in Storey Gap, St Michael saw Zephirin sitting under a shed with others. However, as the lawmen approached, he got up and ran, holding something in his hand.

Zephirin was pursued and caught with a small quantity of loose marijuana in a transparent plastic bag.

His attorney Romain Marshall told the court that his client had saved time by his early guilty plea, which showed “a willingness to take responsibility for his actions”.

Marshall went on to say that Zephirin was a self-employed vegetable and livestock farmer with five children whom he provided for both financially and emotionally.

The lawyer also pointed out that he had cooperated fully with the police.

Acting Magistrate Watts fined Zephirin $750 forthwith, with an alternative of three months in jail. The fine was paid.

Watts also warned and reminded Zephirin that he had been before the court “already this year for the same offence, not so long ago”.

Well-known Bridgetown street character, Anthony Fitzpatrick “Ninja Man” Lynch, was today banned from going on the premises of the Treasury Building on Bridge Street.

Lynch was told not to do so when he appeared before acting Magistrate Elwood Watts in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court to answer a charge of damaging the government building.

He pleaded guilty and was fined $50 in seven days with an alternative of seven days in prison.

Dr Waldo Waldron-Ramsay Q.C, who was in the same court, appeared ‘amicus’ for Lynch.

He told the court that Lynch did not operate “out of malice” when he painted graffiti on a portion of the building, but intended to do good.

In fact, Lynch himself explained that he was an artist and was “painting something from the 15th Century.”

Waldron-Ramsay went on to say that from what he understood, Lynch was very intelligent from childhood and was headed to Harrison College but was severely affected after being offered cocaine.

The lawyer said that he met Lynch’s mother in the 1970s while she was singing in a nightclub in Germany. They since became good friends and he therefore knew Lynch very well.

The attorney also recalled Lynch representing himself very well in a High Court matter where he had been accused of stealing a clock from St Stephen’s Church.

Waldron-Ramsay said Lynch had stood up well under cross-examination from former prosecutor Elliott Belgrave (now Sir Elliot, the Governor General) and had used “beautiful English.”

Lynch told the court that he had not used his psychiatric medication for a few weeks. He also said that he slept on the pavement of the Treasury Building.

Watts told him, however, not to go on the premises anymore.

Presenting the facts, Sergeant Theodore McClean said police officers went to the Treasury Building after receiving a report. Lynch was interviewed and admitted defacing the building.

He was arrested and charged for criminal damage.

At least 13 people, including a two-year-old, were left homeless today, when a mid-afternoon fire destroyed a wooden house at Jordan Land, Deacons, St Michael and extensively damaged two adjoining homes.

It was not immediately clear who occupied the house that was razed to the ground, but it was owned by Patricia Blackman of St Philip. The two damaged homes were owned by 67-year-old Carlita Kartie, who lived in a section of one of the houses. Kartie’s nine grandchildren, her daughter and the daughter’s spouse resided in the other section. The other house was being rented.

Firemen working feverishly to douse the blaze.

A large crowd of curious onlookers gathered at the scene.

Neighbours reacted quickly to help rescue the children, and there were no reports of injury. However, an asthmatic sibling received medical attention on the spot by Emergency Ambulance Service personnel, after experiencing difficulty as a result of smoke inhalation.

“All I know is that dem father gone to Welfare [Department] and supposed to come back. Lisa [sibbling] say duh father say to watch the children till duh father get back home. I did watch dem; and when I come ’cross here I see the bed on fire. One uh dem tell me how de boy went in de kitchen and den duh come back and see de boy underneath de bed. Ah aint know wuh went on from dey,” related Kartie’s 21-year-old daughter, Samantha Peters.

Fighting back the tears, an emotional Kartie, who said she was asleep when the fire started, lamented that she only recently repaired the building which she and her family called home.

The Member of Parliament for the area Michael Carrington told reporters he had sought assistance from various Government agencies, including the Welfare Department and the Urban Development Commission, for the displaced families.

The smoke from today’s fire forced the closure of the nearby Odolls Aluminum and Glass Limited.

Acting Divisional Fire Officer Gordon Boxill said the Fire Service received the call at 12:44 p.m. and responded initially with ten men and a sub officer with two water tenders. These were followed later by a tanker and two other officers, along with the Chief Fire Officer and his deputy.

Customs officers walked off the job this morning, protesting against what they said was Government’s attempts to “railroad” them into transitioning to the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA), and its failure to appoint temporary officers.

Accompanied by the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Acting Assistant General Secretary Wayne Walrond and General Secretary of the Unity Workers Union (UWU), Caswell Franklyn, the Customs officers refused to report to their work stations, arguing that they were being coerced by management into signing option forms so they could be absorbed into the BRA.

Some of the protesting Customs officers who walked off the job this morning.

NUPW Acting Assistant General Secretary Wayne Walrond (right) speaking with officers this morning.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Walrond insisted that talks were continuing on the matter between the NUPW and the Customs Department, yet the authorities were attempting to intimidate the workers, most notably, temporary employees. He warned that the Customs officers would not sign the forms until the consultative process had been completed.

“As you are aware, the NUPW is still in the process of negotiating terms and conditions for the staff of the Customs and Excise Department in relation to the transition to the BRA. It is our understanding that from Monday, management was insisting that staff members sign option forms. We see it as an intimidatory practice, especially in relation to temporary officers, who are seen as vulnerable employees with no security of tenure.

“We at the NUPW take offence to this process. Temporary officers have rights under the constitution, contrary to what is being said, and they have to be treated with respect. Their years of service have some merit. Therefore management cannot treat these workers like that. We are saying that we want the immediate withdrawal of the option forms. No officer will be signing on to any option forms until the process is completed. We are very, very clear in this situation,” Walrond said.

The senior union official complained that he was seeing a “kind of behaviour” creeping into industrial relations practices here, where the consultative process was being ignored.

He defended today’s strike, saying it would appear that industrial action was “the only language” the authorities understood.

“The Customs officers are still cognizant of their duty to the country. Customs officers were forced into a position where it was felt that industrial action was the only language employers understand,” Walrond stated.

Meanwhile, UWU boss, the outspoken Caswell Franklyn, used Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s words against the administration, claiming that Government was attempting to “blackmail” officers.

In a statement to the media on Monday, Stuart accused leaders of the NUPW and the Barbados Workers Union of using blackmail and bullying tactics in their attempt to force Government to accept their demands in the dispute with the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation.

However, Frankly, whose union represents some of the workers, said it was Government which was using blackmail tactics to browbeat officers to join the new tax administration entity.

And the union leader said temporary workers were the ones most at risk.

“These officers, who in many cases are acting in capacities. . . are entitled to be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Act. Since 2010, Government has refused to approve any appointments for Customs Officer. If you keep officers temporary, they can be more easily manipulated. The blackmail is, ‘if you do not accept the offer to join BRA, then they can be kicked back down to your substantive post’. Some officers will lose as much as $2 000 on their salaries,” Franklyn said.

The UWU general secretary noted that under the Public Service Act, an established post could not remain vacant for more than a year, but in some cases vacant positions in the Customs Department had not been filled for more than ten years.

Meanwhile, the go-slow by Customs workers is said to be inflicting a telling blow on the island’s sea port, with the Chief Executive Officer David Jean-Marie fearful of ‘‘adverse effects” on various capital projects.

Jean-Marie told Barbados TODAY the protest had halted deliveries of lumber from the shed at the Shallow Draught over the past week, and the slow rate of processing documents had resulted in a steep drop in the  delivery of cargo.

“The impact is negative because the rate at which you get [deliveries] is normally 20 per hour. I understand it is down to under five. So that must create a negative impact,” the Barbados Port Inc, CEO said.

“It’s not good. It’s not good at all. With respect to some plywood, some lumber stored in the Shallow Draught shed; again what’s been reported to me was that at least during the last six days, a week, we have not been able to deliver lumber from that shed. . . . So there are obviously projects in the country that are being impacted, business is being hampered. We need to have a resolution to this matter so we can get back to business,” Jean-Marie contended.