At least one senior academic is not about to entirely dismiss the Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) highly criticized manifesto.

Though warning that political parties had to be careful not to engage in any bait-and-switch schemes as they seek to entice the electorate to vote for them in the May 24 general election, Director and Senior Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute Dr Don Marshall told Barbados TODAY he felt that some aspects of the BLP’s plan were workable, while others just required a little bit of rejigging.

“So I think a little tweaking here or there would suffice to make it more realistic,” Marshall said.

During its manifesto launch on Thursday night in Kingsland, Christ Church, BLP economic advisor Clyde Mascoll explained that the party would abolish road tax and make it a requirement for vehicle owners to pay a small tax on gas.

He also said that it was the BLP’s plan to increase non-contributory pension, remove tuition fees for Barbadians studying at the University of the West Indies (UWI), remove the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL), and reduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 17.5 per cent back to 15 per cent, should that party form the next Government.

Reacting to the news today, Marshall told Barbados TODAY the planned removal of the NSRL was not a good strategy and since Government still needed to raise revenue, reprofiling the country’s debt was simply not enough.

“I think if the Barbados Labour Party
becomes the Government it would do well to use the confidence provided by a new mandate, to think through the tax strategy that in the short-term would not lessen what we are currently taking in. I don’t think it needs to go towards a bait-and-switch strategy to woo voters. I think Barbadians are well advised and appreciate the need to bring in some revenue. There may be some ease in one or two areas, but certainly . . . abolishing the NSRL, that is not a good strategy,” Marshall insisted.

The international political economist said while the plan to remove tuition fees for Barbadians studying at the UWI seemed attractive, it could do with some alteration.

“The tuition fee could be a useful strategy. You could engage in a conversation of students paying back afterwards . . . . [It] would be to suggest restoring the full 100 per cent, but asking students to pay upon completion of their degree, the fees they are currently asked to pay, before starting their programmes,” he explained.

Marshall however suggested that whichever administration forms the next Government “it will be a point for them to meet with key personnel from the United Progressive Party and Solutions Barbados to discuss plans on the way forward”.

“I don’t think any of the leaders of the parties could pretend that they have all the answers, nor do I think they would want to appoint International Monetary Fund officials to do the imagining for them,” he said, while cautioning that the public sector should be repurposed before any attempt to cut expenditure.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur is making it clear that he had absolutely nothing to do with any major tax write-offs for either the father of Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader Mia Mottley, or for Barclays Bank.

The just-retired St Peter representative issued the clear-the-air statement today while joining with Prime Minister Freundel Stuart in calling on Mottley to give full account of both dubious financial transactions, which reportedly occurred as soon as he turned his back and left the country when the BLP last held office.

Addressing a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) meeting last night, Stuart dropped the bombshell news as questions continue to swirl around an alleged meeting between Mottley and Nigerian billionaire Benedict Peters.

He called on the BLP leader to give account of millions of dollars in tax waivers, which reportedly occurred under the last BLP administration, including a near half million-dollar write-off to her dad.

“Elliott Deighton Mottley had two judgments lodged against him for monies due and owing to the Income Tax Department upwards of $1 million. In 1998, I walked in the Registry one morning and everyone had frowns on their faces. They were saying that here it is that we have to pay our taxes but yet over $400,000 of that tax obligation was being written off by the Owen Arthur administration,” Stuart told the DLP meeting at Carlisle House car park, The City.

[caption id="attachment_237376" align="aligncenter" width="416"] Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur says had nothing to do with a $400,000 tax write-off for Mia Mottley’s father Elliott (left).[/caption]

The Prime Minister however sought to distance his BLP predecessor from the dubious transaction, explaining that while Arthur had denied the request for the write-off, it was granted as soon as he left the country.

“My most diligent enquiries revealed that the matter had been raised with Arthur and he said under no condition could that write-off be given, but as soon as he turned his back and travelled overseas, it happened,” Stuart claimed, adding that “there was a certain stage in Arthur’s incumbency that he was afraid to go as far as St Vincent because he did not know what he would find when he returned”.

While calling on Mottley, who acted as prime minister in Arthur’s absence from the island, to reveal who was behind the decision, the DLP leader also charged that in 2002, during the merger of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Barclays, a circumvention by a member of the then Arthur Cabinet had cost the country $87 million in property transfer tax and stamp duty.

This morning Arthur said he was both disappointed and surprised to learn of the write-off for Sir Elliott, which he said should be criminally investigated since approval for such waivers needed to be given by both Cabinet and Parliament.

“I am in a position to say that Mottley’s father would have applied to me for a waiver of the tax and it was truly outrageous for Elliott Mottley, with a daughter in Cabinet, to apply to me to waive that kind of tax for him,” the former Prime Minister explained, while stressing that no approval was given by him.

Though stating that he did not know on whose authority the waiver was granted, Arthur suggested that there would have had to have been “a conspiracy to defraud the Treasury because a Minister of Finance said no to the tax waiver”.

The former prime minister, who served between 1994 and 2008, also said had he been aware of the write-off, the perpetrator would have been fired.

He also said he was equally unaware of the circumstances under which the Barclays waiver was granted, explaining that he had recused himself from that transaction due to the fact that he was shareholder in CIBC.

However, in support of another disclosure made by Stuart last night, Arthur confirmed that he was being enticed by current BLP leader Mia Mottley, as well as political strategist Hartley Henry and a prime minister from another Caribbean Community country to sign the Petrocaribe oil deal with Venezuela in exchange for campaign financing from then Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

“The purpose of the meeting was to get me to agree to go to Venezuela to meet Hugo Chavez to arrange to get campaign financing for the Barbados Labour Party on condition that I would change the position that I held as Prime Minister of Barbados on Petrocaribe,” Arthur said.

All CARICOM member states with the exception of Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados signed on to the Petrocaribe framework agreement back in June 2005, which allows countries to purchase oil on a delayed payment system.

Arthur, who held a press conference this morning at Barbados TODAY’s Manor Lodge, St Michael office, said there was a record of the meeting in question.

“The meeting was held at a house with Hartley Henry and the Prime Minister of the Caribbean country. Mr Stuart is in a position to speak to it because I called in the Venezuelan ambassador, so there is a record.

“I also briefed my deputy Dale Marshall. I refused to go because there was no circumstance under which I was going to agree to surrender Barbados’ foreign policy for a campaign contribution. So the Barbados Labour Party had to do without that funding that year,” said Arthur, who revealed that the offer was in the millions of dollars.
colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

The post Not me! appeared first on Barbados Today.

St Lucian professor Eddy Ventose and three other Commonwealth citizens who had sued the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) for refusing to include their names on the electoral list, have finally registered to vote in the May 24 general election in Barbados.

[caption id="attachment_237377" align="aligncenter" width="600"] From left, Queens Counsel Elliott Mottley, Professor Eddy Ventose, attorneys-at-law Faye Finnisterre, Gregory Nicholls and Alicia Carter outside of the Supreme Court.[/caption]

Chief Electoral Officer Angela Taylor was ordered yesterday by the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to ensure that Ventose, the principal applicant in the class action suit, was registered before noon today or risk imprisonment and/or fines.

[caption id="attachment_236860" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Angela Taylor[/caption]

“All of the litigants in the matter have been registered and have received confirmation that they are on the voters’ list,” attorney Gregory Nicholls, who is part of the legal team representing the litigants, told Barbados TODAY this afternoon.

Nicholls said since the lawsuit was filed, a number of Commonwealth citizens had contacted the legal team advising that they had registered but their names did not appear on the voters’ list, adding that he was not certain about their fate.

“It doesn’t appear as though that the other Commonwealth citizens who would have registered during the special registration period have been put on the list. So that I am not certain what would be the issue or how the issue would be resolved tomorrow, because once the list is published, they are not going to be able to vote. The electoral department would therefore have to explain why people who have applied during the special registration period and who otherwise qualified were not put on the list,” he added.

The attorney said this case had no implications for Barbadians and other Commonwealth citizens living in other Commonwealth countries since “Barbadians all over the world who are in other Commonwealth countries vote ordinarily without any hiccup at all”.

“It seem that the electoral department was being advised by people who are ignorant as to the basis for which the Commonwealth as a grouping of nations gave that right to each others’ citizens who are resident for a qualifying period of time in another country of the Commonwealth,” Nicholls pointed out.

The legal counsel said it was as a result of that ignorance that the EBC had taken the law into its own hands and decided not to register citizens from other Commonwealth countries.

“That is really, really regrettable because . . . I can tell you, I registered when I was in Trinidad and Tobago as a student. I know a lot of students who are currently in the UK and Canada since we started this case who indicated that the mere fact that they are studying overseas in a Commonwealth country, allowed them to register in Canada and the UK, and that has always been the case,” he stressed.

In handing down its judgment yesterday, the CCJ declared in the ruling read by President Sir Dennis Byron, that it was satisfied the legal and regulatory conditions for Ventose’s registration had been met.

Ventose had stated that he was qualified and entitled to be registered to vote, but his registration was consistently refused.

The Court of Appeal here had, on Tuesday May 8, 2018, ruled that the professor of administrative law at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies was qualified to be registered to vote.

However, it stopped short of compelling the EBC to place him on the register of voters, instead giving the Chief Electoral Officer 24 hours to make a determination on his application.

When the EBC again failed to register Ventose, he took the matter to the CCJ, which said its decision should also resolve the matter for other Commonwealth citizens resident in Barbados for the relevant qualifying period, who are also claiming a right to be registered as voters under the Barbados law.

“The longstanding policy of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission in relation to Commonwealth citizens to register as electors only those persons who are Barbadian citizens, permanent residents or holders of immigrant status is unlawful and ultra vires,” Sir Byron declared in the judgment.

It was in February that Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson ruled that Commonwealth citizens who meet the requirements under the Representation of the People Act had a right to vote here.

He had said that any decision to exclude the four Commonwealth citizens would be in violation of the Act, which does not make it mandatory for the applicants to be permanent residents, immigrants or citizens of Barbados in order to vote.

“Only the Parliament of Barbados has the power to insert those conditions,” Sir Marston said then, while explaining that the only requirements needed for a Commonwealth citizen to vote in Barbados was for that person to be a resident here for three years, and living in the constituency in which they are desirous of voting for three months.”

When contacted Brian Barrow, who is an attorney and an EBC commissioner, said he had no comment to make on the CCJ ruling.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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Do not entertain the International Monetary Fund (IMF)!

That advice has come from Solutions Barbados’ candidate for St Philip South Ronald Lorde, who has warned that any relationship entered with that financial institution would lead to the downfall of Barbados.

“I remember hearing one of the parties currently on a quest to become the next Government saying they have not ruled out the IMF, but I want you to rule them out.

“Be sure that they are not your next Government. I want you to ensure that Solutions Barbados is the next Government because our tax policies, our policy on education, our policy on agriculture and energy will ensure a better Barbados for us all,” Lorde said during a spot meeting at Country View Estates Recreational Park in St Patrick’s, Christ Church yesterday evening.

His comments come in the wake of a pronouncement made last Thursday by the leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Mia Mottley that she is not afraid to go to the IMF route if that were required to turn the ailing Barbados economy around.

Unveiling her party’s manifesto at Kingsland, Christ Church ahead of the May 24 general elections, Mottley, who is confident of winning, said while such a decision could only be made after an assessment of the true state of the economy, she was prepared to make the tough call if she had to.

“I said it before that we would do whatever is necessary, that is legal and moral, to rescue this country. Does that mean going to the IMF? It may, we don’t know. But when we get the results in the first few days [of taking office], we will be able to make the judgement,” Mottley said, while pointing out that Barbados had gone to the IMF before and that each time it had done so, the economy rebounded.

“The IMF was set up for purposes such as this and that is why you heard [former Prime Minister] Owen Arthur in Parliament months ago talking about it; that is why you heard of Tom Adams going in 1981 and Erskine Sandiford going to the Fund and each time, Barbados came out of it. The IMF is not the only way, but it allows us the confidence to deal with partners and capital markets,” Mottley explained.

However, Lorde cautioned that “if we wait or depend on the IMF, which obviously means an increase in debt, it means a further stranglehold around our necks.

“It means we are going to struggle a little more, it means that we are going to have to do without the things which we so love. It means we are going hand in glove to somebody else who will determine our own future when I believe as a country we need to determine our own future.”

Also addressing the Country View meeting, the St Michael South candidate for Solutions Barbados Paul Gibson dismissed as “an open book”, the BLP’s manifesto in which it promises to abolish tuition fees for Barbadian students attending the University of the West Indies, as well as road tax and the dreaded National Social Responsibility Levy in addition to granting a pay hike or cost of living allowance to public servants as well as a hike in old age pensions.

In fact, Gibson advised eligible voters to dismiss the BLP altogether.

“I want you to be very sober and very aware. Do not go behind the BLP. As a matter of fact run from them, run away from them,” Gibson said.

“The reason you have to run away from the BLP is because you are being hoodwinked and fooled. They made us feel like they were the saviours and they had a solution to fix Barbados, but they do not have a solution.

“I’m sorry to tell you, but they brought out a book with nothing in it. They brought a book with no fix. They brought a book and suggested they had the answers, but it is all smoke,” he added.

Gibson warned that if the BLP were elected, between 10, 000 and 15, 000 public servants would lose their jobs as the party turns to the IMF for a financial bailout.

“They are making a lot of promises that cannot be kept. They are asking Barbadians to follow after them, but it is all aboard over a cliff!

“Look, be very, very careful. Be warned . . . Mia cares for herself as far as I am concerned. The reason why I say that is because you cannot be seriously thinking of directing Barbados and taking us to the IMF,” Gibson said.

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One of the key planks of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) election campaign is proving unpopular with taxi operators in Broad Street, Bridgetown.

The BLP’s pledge to abolish road tax and replace it with a tax on petrol is not going down well with the taxi drivers, some of whom have dismissed it as an election gimmick.

[caption id="attachment_237384" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Taxi operators discuss concerns about a repeal of road tax.[/caption]

“It is total nonsense because public service vehicles going to have problems. I have no problem paying road tax when the year comes and then putting in gas in my car,” one operator who referred to himself as Rockweller told Barbados TODAY.

“She [BLP leader Mia Mottley] is making promises that she cannot keep. She is making madman promises. I feel she going mad. She promising things, but one minute you saying that the country in this amount of debt and then all of a sudden you can do all of these things. She gine mad, that is what I have to say,” he stressed.

The sentiments among those who spoke to Barbados TODAY, most of them anonymously, were similar.

The general feeling was that the BLP was seeking to attract votes by offering carrots that could not be sustained.

“I feel it is just a catch to get votes. I believe that to remove the tax from vehicles will do some serious damage. So I do not feel that that one gine make sense. It is a political catch. It might not materialize,” one driver, who did not want to be identified, said.

Clyde Mascoll, the BLP’s economic
advisor, said at the launch of the party’s manifesto last Thursday night that the road tax would be replaced by a fairer tax on petrol, which would ensure that those who made greater use of the island’s road bear the greater burden.

“We are abolishing the road tax. However, we can’t be irresponsible so what we are going to do is shift the tax towards the business community. Those people, who use the road most, should pay most. It is called equity and justice. We are going to transfer the road tax to a small tax on fuel so those that are on the road all day with heavy vehicles would pay proportionally,” Mascoll said.

However, one taxi operator who identified himself as Tony, said the petrol tax would be particularly damaging to those involved in freighting and the taxi service.

“I would say that road tax done is bear foolishness for the average taxi person and the persons who doing shovelling and those sort of things. It is going to be an expense to those persons. Also, persons who doing freighting it is going to be an expense to those persons,” Tony said, while suggesting that the cost of living would increase significantly.

“Automatically the cost of living will go up because businesses that used to do freighting and so on will put on a charge for that. So automatically you are saying it is an expense to them. So they are going to be saying ‘it is an expense to us, so we have to get back our money’. I think they have to reconsider that,” he said, adding that the incumbent Democratic Labour Party had already imposed taxes on petroleum products.

“Right now this present Government has put tax on it so I guess if that is the way they got to go, that is the way that they have to go. But if you say that you are going to finish with road tax and put it towards gas it is a no-no. It is not a good thing at all and I think they need to rethink that.” 

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After two sittings separated by19 days and 16 hours of voting, the Anglican Church here is no closer to electing a bishop to lead the Barbadian flock.

The House of Clergy and the House of Laity aborted yet another attempt today, having failed to reach consensus after six hours of voting.

They ended today in the same position as they did on April 25 after ten hours of voting and four ballots at the Ivan Harewood Centre of the Christ Church Parish Church to choose a successor to the retired John Holder.

As it did back then, the laity continued to throw its support behind youthful candidate Rev John Rogers, 45, rector of St George Parish Church, while the clergy backed his senior, Dr Jeffrey Gibson, 61, dean of The Cathedral of St Michael’s and All Angels.

[caption id="attachment_237382" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Dean Jeffrey Gibson and Rev John Rogers[/caption]

When it was clear that they could not break the deadlock, Diocesan Administrator Canon Wayne Isaacs, who chaired the proceedings, outlined the four options – to continue voting today, invite further nominations, refer the voting to a selection committee or adjourn until a date to be determined. The group chose the latter, however Isaacs made it clear if the two houses remained divided for much longer, the Anglican Synod would have to decide.

“We have up to August to select [a bishop]. If in six months time we don’t select, we would go to the House of Bishops. The other option is to send it to a select committee and they would have a longer time . . . 12 months [to decide],” he explained.

In order to be elected bishop, the winner must secure 53 votes from the laity and 55 from the clergy.

While Rogers secured 54 laity votes at the end of the first ballot today, compared to 24 for Gibson, he fell way short of receiving the required two-thirds of the clergy votes, polling 33 to 49 by Gibson.

The youthful Rogers lost one clergy vote in the second ballot, which went to Gibson, but kept his 54 laity votes, although Gibson added two more.

The results for the third ballot were not available up to the time of publication.

Asked to comment on suggestions that the Anglican Church now stands seriously divided by failing to find consensus for a second time, Isaacs said: “I suspect people might think so, but we have to allow the process to run its course. I know people would not be happy but, you know...”

Among the House of Clergy were a number of retired priests, well advanced in age, including one in his 90s, and some of whom were physically disabled, including a blind cleric.

Also showing up to vote was former Governor General Sir Elliott Belgrave, who needed help walking.

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Incumbent Democratic Labour Party (DLP) St George South supporter Selly Payne has an extraordinary wish this general election.

While Payne has no doubt that he wants the DLP to be returned to power in the May 24 poll, his wish is that it will be done with the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate, Dwight Sutherland, retaining the St George South seat.

“It is very ticklish up here but I believe that Dwight will win the seat again. But I would like Dwight win it and the Democratic Labour Party get back in power,” he told Barbados TODAY.

[caption id="attachment_237459" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Selly Payne[/caption]

Payne holds no brief for the BLP or its leader, Mia Mottley, whom he said could not possibly fulfil her campaign promises to repeal the onerous National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL), reintroduce free education at the university level, abolish road tax and replace it with a petrol tax, purchase vehicles for the Transport Board and the Sanitation Service Authority and give public servants a pay rise.

“What will Mia Mottley do to make Barbados better? I know the Democratic Labour Party has to get back in because there is a lot of work to be done. We want to get back the power so we can have a good country. Mia can’t make Barbados better.

“I don’t believe she can do half of the things she is talking about. She putting we to dead. When she take away the NSRL and the road tax, how will that make us better?” Payne asked.

His overt support for Sutherland was a manifestation of the strong support which the incumbent enjoys among constituents, many of whom expressed affection for his main opponent, the DLP candidate, Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo.

She appeared to have a chance when Barbados TODAY visited the constituency last September to gauge the Pulse of the People.

Back then, the fledgling Solutions Barbados had been receiving significant support from residents who had previously tried the two main parties, tightening the race.

However, no one even mentioned Solutions Barbados this time round, and even those who are partial to Byer-Suckoo were predicting she would have to climb mountains in order to oust the incumbent.

Sutherland has the advantage of running in a seat which has gone to the BLP on only three occasions since it was created in 1971, although Byer-Suckoo held it for one term between 2008 and 2013.

Retired prison officer Lloyd Knight told Barbados TODAY there was no way the outgoing Minister of Labour can retake the seat.

[caption id="attachment_237461" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Lloyd Knight[/caption]

“I trust no one but I am voting red,” Knight said in reference to the BLP, which has red as the party colour. “Sutherland will win this seat hands down,” the 63-year-old said.

A confident Knight also threw his full support behind the Mottley-led BLP, while accusing the governing DLP of doing nothing to improve the country during its two terms at the helm.

“I really hope the Bees get in because for the ten years I have seen nothing from the Government. The blues [DLP] haven’t told Barbadians what are their plans for the island as yet. What they are doing is waiting to see what the reds will do to criticize.”

Over in Ellerton, a couple metres from Byer Suckoo’s constituency office, Mark Rollins appeared torn between two former classmates.

[caption id="attachment_237462" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Mark Rollins[/caption]

But upon closer examination Rollins hinted at casting his ballot in Sutherland’s favour come next week.

“All two of the candidates are my good friends. From what I am getting and feeling I think Sutherland will win and the Barbados Labour Party seems to be out front,” Rollins, a mechanic in the community, told Barbados TODAY, adding that it was time for a change of Government.

“I think this country running very bad and this Government needs to go. We have good people in Barbados who can’t get a job. People are suffering. I can’t wait for May 24 to come. If I could go sleep now and wake up on the 24th I would just to get rid of this Government. I want this Government out of power. It is nothing [but] nonsense,” he said.

Another resident, Rose Boyce, believes both candidates have done well to uplift the constituency, and although she said it would be a tough choice between the two, Boyce gave Sutherland the advantage.

[caption id="attachment_237460" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rose Boyce[/caption]

“For the time I was living up here I can’t say that Suckoo didn’t do anything. I would never say that. She did her part. In fact each of them [played their part]. No one is better than the other [but] for right now Dwight is in the position to win. Suckoo have to come with more power,” she said, while calling on the political parties that are yet to release their manifestos to tell Barbadians what they intend to do to improve the lot of the people.

anmargboyce@barbadostoday.bb

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Social activist and attorney-at-law David Comissiong is questioning claims by former Prime Minister Owen Arthur that his successor as leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) had tried to entice him to pursue a questionable election finance arrangement with then Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

Comissiong issued a statement today seeking to discredit Arthur’s claim that Mia Mottley, who once served as the former Barbadian leader’s deputy, had attempted to persuade him to change his position on Petrocaribe - an energy cooperation agreement initiated by Caracas to provide a preferential payment arrangement for petroleum and petroleum products to some Caribbean and Latin American countries - in exchange for campaign funds from Chavez.

The social activist said in the statement that Arthur needed no persuasion because the former Prime Minister had made his intention clear at a meeting in November 2012 during the visit to Barbados by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan that he would sign the Petrocaribe deal if he won the 2013 general election.

“I attended that meeting as a guest of Minister Farrakhan. Owen Arthur informed us that he had come to the conclusion that he had made a mistake by not having Barbados sign on to Venezuela’s Petrocaribe Energy Cooperation Agreement when he was Prime Minister of Barbados. He went on to inform us that if his Barbados Labour Party won the general elections that were due in 2013 that he would be taking Barbados into Petrocaribe,” Comissiong charged.

Arthur today said he would not comment “on the things Comissiong says”, telling Barbados TODAY “you are wasting my time”.

However, he told a news conference yesterday, at which he supported calls by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart for Mottley to give full account of a dubious tax write-off for her father back in 1998 and one for Barclays Bank in 2002, that the current BLP leader, along with campaign consultant Hartley Henry and a prime minister of another Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country, had invited him to a meeting “to get me to agree to go to Venezuela to meet Hugo Chavez to arrange to get campaign financing for the Barbados Labour Party on condition that I would change the position that I held as Prime Minister of Barbados on Petrocaribe”.

The former BLP leader said he dismissed the attempt because he had no intention of surrendering Barbados’ foreign policy “for a campaign contribution”.

However, Comissiong countered today, stating that it was “remarkable and bemusing to hear the same Owen Arthur now talking about signing on to Petrocaribe as being tantamount to selling the foreign policy of Barbados”.

Contending that he had an abundance of witnesses to support his account, Comissiong chided the former Prime Minister for “playing partisan political games with this issue”, going on to add that Arthur should be “ashamed of himself”.

“The fact is that as late as the end of November 2012 he was raring to sign on to Petrocaribe as a programme that was in the national interest of Barbados and did not need any further persuading on the matter. Fortunately, there must have been a good 20 or so people in that meeting room in November 2012, all of whom can verify the truth of what I say here,” he stressed.

Petrocaribe was established in 2005 with the signing of the Energy Cooperation Agreement by 14 Caribbean countries at the first energy summit of Caribbean heads of government in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela.

Under the payment arrangement, the participating countries would buy oil on market value with only a portion paid for upfront and the remainder paid through a 25-year financing agreement on one per cent interest.   

Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago were the only CARICOM countries that did not sign onto the deal, with Arthur insisting at the time that such and agreement would have had a negative effect on the island’s debt ratio.

Both countries also maintained that with Trinidad and Tobago being an oil exporting country, the Petrocaribe arrangement would violate the CARICOM agreement, which made it clear that items produced outside CARICOM that are available in one of the member countries should attract a common external tariff. colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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A meeting scheduled for Monday, May 21 to approve the controversial sale of the Hilton Barbados Resort has been abruptly called off, effectively leaving the future of the Needham’s Point property in the hands of the new administration to be elected next week.

Dr Justin Robinson, chairman of the National Insurance Board (NIB) - a minority shareholder in the property- told Barbados TODAY this afternoon the NIB had been informed that Monday’s meeting had been cancelled.

This means the proposed sale cannot proceed in the absence of a resolution by the shareholders, he said.

“A sale would require a shareholders’ resolution to sell the property . . . so a sale could not take place in lieu of that shareholders’ resolution. So until such a time there is a shareholders’ meeting that passes a resolution for the sale of the property, then there can be no sale of the property,” Robinson explained, adding that a new date had not been communicated to the NIB.

“The Company’s Act requires a 21-day notice period for any such meeting,” he said.

Robinson said the NIB had not taken an official position on the sale, adding that the board was expected to meet tomorrow to decide its position.

It was not immediately clear what led to the cancellation of the meeting, but one media report yesterday that plans were under way by the NIB to stop the shareholders’ meeting in order to avoid a showdown between the insurance scheme and Needham’s Point Holdings Ltd (NPHL), the hotel’s owners.

The cancellation is also a victory for the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), whose leader, Mia Mottley, flashed documents at a party meeting in Oistins, Christ Church on Sunday night to support her claims that the Freundel Stuart administration intended to sell the hotel and its surrounding properties to London and Regional Properties, a private real estate and leisure investment firm based in London, United Kingdom, for $160 million, after Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler had said in his 2017 Budget presentation that the property was valued at $200 million and “Government is expecting to receive no less than Bds$100 million as the net proceeds from the sale, taking into account the liquidation of existing debt liabilities attached to the property”.

[caption id="attachment_237468" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Opposition Leader Mia Mottley and Dr Justin Robinson[/caption]

Mottley also presented documents that showed that the hotel was valued at $252,824,956 two years earlier, before major renovations of over $11 million, and argued that should the sale proceed there would have been a loss of nearly $93 million.

It was for this reason that she told supporters the sale had to be stopped “at all cost”, as she called on them to turn out in their thousands at Needham’s Point on Monday, if needed, to ensure that the meeting did not take place.

The BLP leader also questioned the rush to sell the property, stating that such an important transaction ought not take place mere days before a general election.

The BLP first pointed to the disparity between the value of the property and the proposed sale price when it posted on its website last December that Government would actually only earn about $33 million from the sale.

Mottley elaborated on Sunday night with the support of the documents, which showed that from the $160 million, outstanding long-term loans of $115 million and short-term loans of about $12 million had to be paid, leaving a net total of $32,981,528.

The NIB was also said to have been unhappy with the proposed deal, with Mottley presenting a document which she said was a board paper from last November declaring that to sell the resort at a “fire sale” price was wrong as it was a performing asset.

She also indicated that the NIB was worried that if the hotel were sold at this price it could result in the NIB not being paid its equity investment.

The Caribbean Development Bank is the second minority shareholder in NPHL, while Government holds 90 per cent of the shares.

It was the same document the BLP appeared to have been quoting from last December, when it posted that “the details of the sale that have been shrouded in secret were revealed over the weekend [Monday, December 4, 2017] through a National Insurance Board paper which was penned out of concern that the scheme stands to lose the $10 million of hardworking Barbadians’ money it invested in the Needham’s Point, St Michael hotel project.

“That paper noted that though a minority shareholder with equity investment of $10 million, their rights were not acknowledged and ‘like everyone else heard of the pending sale via the [May 30] Budget speech and the media. There was no official correspondence or discussion with the minority shareholders of the sale,’” the BLP stated at the time.

Quoting from the NIB paper, the BLP said the document asserted that apart from this $10 million in common equity shares, the board was also a bondholder, having purchased a $17.3 million “bullet bond” which was arranged by Royal Fidelity.

“Here again, no correspondence was received on the repayment of these bonds. The sale of the Hilton Hotel, the main asset of Needham’s Point Holdings Ltd of which the NIB is a shareholder and has a total investment of $29 million for $160 million will put the NIB’s investment at significant risk of loss,” the paper, dated November 28, stated.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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The incumbent Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has put the issue of same sex marriage squarely before the electorate in the lead up to the May 24 general election, with the party’s Christ Church East candidate Dr Denis Lowe declaring stiff opposition to any such unions.

“I stand in opposition to any attempt to legalize same sex marriage in Barbados. I stand firmly against it. If you want to do that [be involved in a same-sex relationship], do it in the privacy of your home. Don’t tell me there is going to be a law that will tell me I have to be subjected to that,” Lowe said during a spot meeting at Carters Gap, Christ Church last night at which he made clear his position on the issue.

It was not the first time that Lowe was publicly denouncing what he saw as advocacy to legally wed persons of the same gender. However, on this occasion he went to greater lengths to explain his strident position on the issue, over which he had warned exactly a year ago that “there is an attempt in certain quarters to advance a legislative call for same-sex marriage, and I do not have any intention, within or without the legislator to support any such notion because I still believe in the biblical way of life”.

To that he added a further caution last night that “there is to be no law in Barbados saying that I have to be subjected to two men walking up an aisle, one in a wedding dress and one in a tuxedo.

“I don’t want to live in that kind of Barbados and that is what we are fighting right now,” he said.

“I don’t want them telling me how to live in my society by creating a law in the statutory books saying that I have to accept a man marrying a man. I am not doing it and I don’t care who don’t agree with me, that is my personal opinion,” the Minister of Environment and Drainage stressed.

In its 70-page manifesto released last Thursday, the Barbados Labour Party - which is the main challenger to the DLP in the 2018 poll - explicitly states that it has no policy on same-sex unions.

“We have said that repeatedly. We believe that no 30 people should be allowed to make decisions on issues that go to the heart of the nation’s collective values. This issue can only be determined by the outcome of a referendum,” the manifesto states.

However, Lowe, in taking a hard stance on the matter, said he had two teenage sons and “I don’t want them to have to get up in the morning and see Paul and Peter and ask which is mummy. I don’t want that”.

While admitting that all citizens were entitled to choice,  the Christ Church East candidate argued that the legalization of same sex marriages would amount to moving away from the island’s traditional morals, values and traditions.

“That is not the kind of society we have. God have given us free will to make choices of our own and whatever you choose to do in your home is between you and your God.

“[But] a society is built on standards. A society is built on principles, integrity and trustworthiness [and] we cannot allow our society to deteriorate into that kind of situation where young men and women have lost sight of the virtues of traditional families and where people don’t care about us.”

Pointing fingers at BLP leader Mia Mottley, he accused her of being silent on the matter of sexual harassment in the work place and domestic violence against women.

“They are supposed to be the party of women and on no occasion did Ms Mottley make herself available for the debate [on these issues].

“You can’t tell me you want to run a modern society like Barbados and you can’t find it in your heart to come out in Parliament and defend women against domestic violence,” he stressed.
anmargboyce@barbadostoday.bb

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Barbados Labour Party (BLP) St George North candidate Gline Clarke last night issued a stern warning to eligible voters not to make the mistake of re-electing the incumbent Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in the May 24 general election.

While arguing that the DLP’s record in office over the past decade has been abysmal, the former Minister of Public Works called on voters to give his BLP, which last held office here in 2008, another opportunity to hold the reins.

“We believe the Barbados Labour Party has the answer. We do not have all the answers for everything. We have to meet with you the people,” said Clarke, who has represented the St George North constituency in Parliament since 1994 and is seeking his sixth parliamentary term.

However, the seasoned campaigner was forced to acknowledge last night that there were those who believed that “the DLP has the answer for this country.

“I want to say to that they failed and failed in every respect,” he told a large gathering of BLP supporters at Market Hill, St George.

In his 30-minute presentation, Clarke was especially harsh on the Minister of Finance saying, “Chris Sinckler has failed everything that he put his hands to.

“He failed as former prime minister [Erskine] Sandiford’s personal assistant, he failed to become a member of parliament on three occasions and has failed as Minister of Finance,” the BLP spokesman said, adding that under Sinckler’s watch the country had suffered 23 downgrades by international ratings agencies.

“If he couldn’t fix the economy in ten years why would you give him a further five years?” Clarke asked.

“He is failing because he does not put people first, and he does not understand people,” the St George North candidate charged as he continued to tear into Sinckler’s record of performance, charging that “he believes that taxes are the answer”.    

Clarke also zeroed in on the ongoing sewage leaks along the south coast, accusing Government of not telling the truth.

In fact, he charged that contrary to Minister of Water Resource Management Dr David Estwick’s recent suggestion that it would cost $8 million to get four wells fully functional there, “when we checked and got advice from consultants, we recognized that the wells would have cost $150,000 and [even] if you put inflation and profit,  [those] four wells cannot cost $8 million”. 

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Barbados is not at the brink of collapse as the Opposition would have Barbadians believe.

Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite gave this assurance while addressing a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) meeting in Hoyte’s Village, St James on Monday night.

While repeatedly asking why the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was so eager to lead a country which in their estimation was “the worst in the world”, he highlighted the successes of the ruling DLP.

“If you listen to the Barbados Labour Party you would not believe that this country was voted number one destination in the world. You would not believe that this country was voted as having the seventh best educational system in the world. You would not believe that this country is recognized as being the safest country in the Caribbean,” Brathwaite said, adding that “we still have one of the highest human indexes in the world. Recognize this country that they are telling you is the worst country in the world, everybody wants to live in Barbados. Barbadians are not going out, but everyone wants to come in. They even want to come in and vote,” he said following a recent legal challenge brought on behalf of Commonwealth citizens against the Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

The DLP candidate for St Philip South claimed that the odds were stacked against his party as the Opposition was running “59 candidates”, but he told the crowd that team DLP was “far superior” and would be returned to office.

“Ask them if this county is so bad why do you want to have leadership of the country? If the DLP is so poor why do you they have 59 candidates running against our 30? Across Barbados and I am sure here in St James Central there are more pictures of [BLP leader] Mia Mottley than of [the party’s candidate] Kerrie Symmonds. Mia Mottley is running 30 times, in every constituency. So there are 59 of them; 30 of her and 29 of the others against our 30,” he said to cheers.

In endorsing the candidacy of George Connolly, the DLP’s  candidate for St James Central he said the party was proud and confident in all the new candidates.

“They would have you believe this party cannot attract bright young people. They would have you believe the only party with brains is the Barbados Labour Party. They say, ‘why have no new talent?’ But Kim Tudor, Nicholas Alleyne, Rodney Grant, Dave Cumberbatch, Henderson Williams and George Connolly will deliver.”

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Mark Oneal Kazoo Harewood and Ricke Ricartos Slick Rick Harewood were like the proverbial peas in a pod, brothers who were inseparable in life and in death.

They lived together in a Fairview, Christ Church house which they shared with their 72-year-old mother Lucene Bishop, and their eldest brother, Andrew, and they died together in an early morning blaze of April 10 that gutted the rear section of their wooden and concrete home. No one knew they were home at the time, and their charred bodies were only discovered after the blaze was extinguished and fire officials were carrying out an examination of the burnt structure.

[caption id="attachment_237496" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Mark and Ricke Harewood were remembered for their kindheartedness and jovial personalities.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_237495" align="aligncenter" width="500"] From left, Dorial Harewood-Flatt with Lucene Bishop, mother of Mark and Ricke Harewood and her eldest son Andrew Harewood during the funeral service.[/caption]

The cremated remains of Mark, 43, and Ricke, 42, were officially “laid” to rest this afternoon at St Patrick’s Anglican Church where mourners gathered to remember the brothers as caring, loving and cooperative.

There were no tears, just laughter echoing through the small church as the mourners recounted many a humorous story about the duo.

During the eulogy, neighbour Denton Crichlow described the two as “thick as thieves”, meaning they were never apart.

“On any given day these two brothers could be seen from as early as 5:30 a.m. together on the road making a daily trek to work. If not together and you ask one for the other, you would hear, ‘somewhere behind there coming,’” Crichlow said.

A close friend of the two, Crichlow said they were always willing to offer a helping hand.

“Slick Rick and Kazoo did not have much to offer but whatever they had, they were glad to share with you. If they appreciated you, you can bet that on Thursday or Friday for sure they would be offering . . . something to wet your throat, hence people willingly gave them whether they had or not.

“In those two brothers we have what the world is lacking: peace, love, sincerity and caring for each other because nothing was too good for them and no one was considered an outcast because everything they did came from the heart,” he emphasized, adding they were jovial and loved to resolve conflicts with a drink and laughter.

“They loved to help everyone and make a joke,” said Crichlow, who also described Mark as the life of the party.

“He was the person Lil Rick sang about when he said he was the first one in the place and the last one to leave,” Crichlow stated.

Reverend Angela Phillips described the brothers as mannerly and respectful, and she urged the St Patrick’s community to adhere to the values that the duo followed.

“What they had that God gave to them and provided for them, they shared with somebody . . . . That is testimony to how we should live in this community of St Patrick’s. It is about loving one another and sharing with one another and it is about caring for each other,” Phillips stressed as she beseeched the congregation to exhibit the same level of sincerity and generosity.

“Whether we like it or not we are dependent on one another and at some point of our lives you will need somebody . . . . This is what it means to live in the community,” the Anglican priest said.

katrinaking@barbadostoday.bb

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The Barbados Fire Service (BFS) will attempt to douse the flames over a number of burning issues with the rank and file when the two sides meet this month, seven months after their last meeting ended in acrimony.

Chairman of the Barbados Fire Service Association (BFSA) Corrie Bridgeman told Barbados TODAY a meeting has been planned for May 24 where officers will air a number of grievances that have soured the relationship with the top brass of the service for some time.

Until then, Bridgeman said, he would not comment publicly on what has been described as an unhealthy situation at the BFS.

[caption id="attachment_237484" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Flashback: From left, Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite speaking to Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard, CTUSAB President Cedric Murrell and Chairman of the Barbados Fire Service Association Corrie Bridgeman during last year’s meeting.[/caption]

The last time the two sides met at the General Post Office building Cheapside, The City last October in the presence of Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, tempers flared because of what those who were present said were certain comments made by Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard.

A recent message making the rounds on social media suggested that things had not improved, and Maynard continues to be viewed with suspicion by his officers.

It said morale was at an all-time low since the breakdown of talks last year, and that the fire chief was a dictator who showed favouritism towards a few people.

A high-level source told Barbados TODAY the claims were a reflection of how the rank and file felt, triggered by the fact that lower rank officers were given acting appointments in senior positions for over ten years.

“The chief fire officer was advised not to skip persons who are next in line to act but he refused to heed and submit names for acting, overlooking several highly trained persons. This causes the already low morale to fall deeper into the grave,” the message contends.

It further charged: “An officer had a meeting with him asking why was he overlooked and it’s alleged that he told the officer that this is his fire department and he will run it how he pleased. What fire officers have realized about him is that if you don’t dance to his tunes he is quick to push you one side no matter how good you are.”

The source told Barbados TODAY the rank and file felt the chief handpicked officers to attend training and had taken an adversarial management approach towards the staff.

“The morale is very low because of some of these issues of how the department is going about choosing people to act in positions. They say they are using an internal course of crew managers and watch managers and fire officers there. At minimal standards, there are a number of persons who would have done these courses but are still being overlooked,” the source said.

“We are disgusted with the approach management is taking. It is like, ‘this is my department, I will run it to suit.’”

Attempts to reach Maynard were unsuccessful up until publication time.

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George Connolly is ready and willing to continue the work he started in St James Central only six months ago.

In giving an account of his stewardship, the businessman and Democratic Labour Party first-time candidate told those gathered at Hoyte’s Village, St James much was done in that short period of time.

“In the last six months we have taken a treacherous slope that is like a soap dish with just a sprinkle of water on it in the Berbice area and we have converted into a modern step system, a modern walk. So the elderly people and children are now able to traverse from the main road up Berbice to have access to their homes and more than 40 homes are using that walkway. And we did that in six months.  There is a play park that was just completed by the Good Shepherd School. Residents told me they were waiting on it for 30 years.”

The St James Central candidate also highlighted recent road and housing repairs.

“People in Bagatelle, Bennett’s Road, Layne’s Road, Seaview and Thorpes got roads patched. There are about four houses we have done remedial work on so far and we have another ten to fix this year. We have distributed 11 water tanks and we are going to do 11 more.”

The chairman and managing director of the Pearson Group said he had travelled throughout the Caribbean and Latin America to places such as Haiti, Jamaica and Guatemala and helped the most vulnerable residents there but it was time to do the same at home.

“I said, ‘why am I doing this for other people? I need to be doing this in my country, my Barbados, to move my Barbados forward’. I am here not because there is anything special about me, I am here because in my heart I know that we have a tremendous amount of talent, goodwill and opportunity. Just one person at a time I will, and we can, put this country where it should be,” he said.

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Regional cement giant Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) and its Barbados-based subsidiary Arawak Cement Limited have filed legal action against the Government of Barbados, accusing it of contravening the rules governing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy.

The disclosure was made on Tuesday night by Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader Mia Mottley as she addressed a political meeting at Redman's Village, St Thomas, in the lead up to the May 24 general election.

Mottley explained that the lawsuit was lodged last Friday with the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which, in its original jurisdiction, interprets and applies the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which established CARICOM.

"These people are going in the original jurisdiction against the Government of Barbados and they are saying that we breached rules under the Treaty of Chaguaramas by unilaterally reducing the import duties on cement, the Common External Tariff, from 60 per cent to five per cent," the BLP leader explained, adding that a request had been made for special leave, pursuant to Article 22 of the Revised Treaty and Article 10 (4) of the CCJ original jurisdiction rules.

Since the entry of the Mark Maloney-led Rock Hard Cement into the market in November 2015 the price of cement here has dropped by at least 30 per cent, with the former monopoly provider Arawak Cement trading words with and its competitor over the quality of their respective products.

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The post BLP takes credit for halting Hilton sale appeared first on Barbados Today.

Police are probing the unnatural death of 51-year-old Winston Trevor Bynoe, of Block 4C, St Matthias Housing Area, Christ Church.

Bynoe was shot multiple times around 11:30 last night whilst at the residence of a friend in his community.

Reports are that two masked men entered the gate of the home and fired gunshots, causing both the victim and his friend to run for cover.

After the commotion, it was discovered that Bynoe was injured.

He transported to the Accident & Emergency Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by private transportation.

However, he was later pronounced dead.

As investigations continue into this matter, lawmen are asking anyone with information that can assist to call Hastings Police Station at 430-7612; the Criminal Investigations Department at 430-7189; Police Emergency at 211; Crime Stoppers at 1-800–TIPS (8477) or the nearest police station.

They say all information received will be treated as strictly confidential.

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It was an emotional Elliott Mottley who faced the media today to rebut allegations made against him this week by former Prime Minister Owen Arthur, and to refute suggestions that his daughter, Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader Mia Mottley, was behind a near half-million dollar tax write-off for him back in the mid-1990s.

The matter was first raised by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart when he told a meeting of his Democratic Labour Party at Carlisle House car park, The City on Sunday that the elder Mottley “had two judgments lodged against him for monies due and owing to the Income Tax Department upwards of $1 million. In 1998, I walked in the registry one morning and everyone had frowns on their faces. They were saying that here it is that we have to pay our taxes but yet over $400,000 of that tax obligation was being written off by the Owen Arthur administration”.

Stuart also left the impression that the current BLP leader had something to do with it by by stating that Arthur had denied the request for the write-off, while he called on Mia Mottley, who acted as prime minister in Arthur’s absence from the island, to reveal who was behind the decision.

But it was a clear-the-air explanation by Arthur at a news conference on Monday that angered the 78-year-old prominent Queen’s Counsel and former Member of Parliament, and brought a strong denial from the elder Mottley.

Arthur, who was also Minister of Finance, had contended that Mottley had applied to him for a waiver of income tax arrears which would have required approval by both Cabinet and Parliament. This is believed to have happened in 1995.

The former Prime Minister said he rejected the application on the grounds that Mottley’s daughter, Mia, was part of his Cabinet, and he was surprised when he learned of the tax write-off, which, along with interests and penalties, amounted to more than $1 million.

However, flanked by his attorney Roger Forde, QC, and his sons Warren and Stewart, both lawyers, Mottley this morning told reporters at his Strathclyde law office that Arthur’s claims were “entirely untruthful and misleading”.

“I, Elliott Deighton Mottley, categorically state that at no time did I ever apply to Mr Arthur for a waiver of arrears of income tax which I owed the Inland Revenue Department, as it was then called,” the former Consul General to New York said.

He explained that what he applied for and received from the Minister of Finance was a waiver of the interests and not the penalties or the income tax arrears.

Mottley admitted that he had owed income tax arrears for the years 1987 to 1993, including interests and penalties, and had two judgments against him for $20,587.91 and $1,031.284.37, for which he had made arrangements with the Ministry of Finance to settle.

He provided copies of letters and memoranda of satisfaction exchanged between his lawyers and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and the Inland Revenue Department as evidence that the minister had waived the interest but not the tax or penalties.

“Let me make it very clear that there was no need for the Cabinet to be involved in my application because it was made under the Income Tax Act and not the Duties, Taxes and Other Payments (Exemption) Act CAP 67B of the Laws of Barbados,” he stressed.

A letter dated March 22, 1996 and signed by June Chandler for the Permanent Secretary and addressed to Mottley’s tax consultant, the late Blair Haynes, stated: “I am to inform you that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs has considered the application and it has been decided that Mr Elliott Mottley, QC, will be allowed a waiver of the interest payable in respect of outstanding income tax on the condition that the outstanding principal and penalty is cleared on or before March 1, 1997.”

A subsequent letter dated March 7, 1998, also signed by Chandler and addressed to Mottley’s attorney Sir Henry Forde, QC, stated that the Minister of Finance had approved an extension of the time given to Mottley to clear his income tax liability and that he was being allowed a waiver of the interest payable.

Other memos revealed that the then Commissioner of Inland Revenue Frank Forde had received various sums of money towards the interest due.

Mottley broke down in tears as he denied that his daughter had a hand in any dubious actions aimed at benefitting him, prompting his son, Warren, to complete the prepared speech.

“I also wish the public to know that at no time during the period 1994 and 1999 did my daughter, Mia Amor Mottley, ever act as Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs of Barbados. Copies of the Official Gazette will corroborate this statement,” Warren read.

The 78-year-old’s attorney Roger Forde, QC, also hinted that Mottley would go after those who repeated “those mischievous and defamatory allegations”, sending the media a clear warning that they could be sued for defamation.

“Arthur’s statements are likely to have further consequences which will certainly extend to others who repeat and republish the untruthful allegations. The public is warned that it is no defence to a claim in defamation to say that ‘I am merely repeating what some other person had said,’” cautioned Forde.

Efforts to reach Stuart proved unsuccessful up until the time of publication, while Arthur promised to comment in due course.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

The post Not my daughter! appeared first on Barbados Today.

Absolute rubbish!

That was how Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler described an alarm raised by Barbados Labour Party (BLP) spokesman Dale Marshall this evening that Cabinet was set to go through with the sale of the Hilton Barbados Resort before the end of this week, without the approval of the shareholders.

Sinckler told Barbados TODAY Marshall’s concern was nothing but garbage, while explaining that there was a step-by-step process that had to be followed in order to sell the property.

“That is absolute rubbish. It can’t be done until there is a shareholders meeting and a recommendation is made to Cabinet. It can’t be done. The shareholders have to meet and then make a recommendation to Cabinet,” Sinckler stressed, going on to state that Cabinet would meet briefly tomorrow, but there were absolutely no plans to deal with the Hilton sale.

It was at a news conference at the BLP headquarters in Roebuck Street, The City this afternoon that Marshall told reporters he was reliably informed that the matter would come up for discussion at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting, the last by the current Freundel Stuart administration before the May 24 general election, and he feared the sale would get the go-ahead.

Marshall explained that while the Companies Act required that a company intending to dispose of its assets must first obtain approval from its shareholders, there was no law that required the approval to be sought before the agreement for sale is reached.

It was on this premise that the former attorney general raised concerns that the Stuart Cabinet could approve the proposed deal before getting the shareholders’ approval.

Needham’s Point Holdings Ltd (NPHL), the owner of the Hilton Barbados Resort, is established under the Companies Act of Barbados, with Government being the largest shareholder.

The National Insurance Board (NIB) and the Caribbean Development Bank are minority shareholders.

Marshall’s concern came a day after a meeting scheduled for Monday to approve the proposed sale of the resort was abruptly called off.

“The Barbados Labour Party has been made aware that the Cabinet of Barbados is to be moved tomorrow by way of Cabinet papers, to agree to the sale of the Hilton Hotel by Needham’s Point Ltd. This notwithstanding that the meeting of the shareholders which was scheduled for Monday, May 21 has now been cancelled,” he told the news conference.

“The essential point is that the agreement, once made between the parties can be enforced, even though at the time it was signed, the shareholders had not as yet met. It is enforceable even though the shareholders might not so approve, unless a court later decides to set aside the agreement under the oppression provisions of the Companies Act. In other words, the fight against the sale of the Hilton Hotel is not yet over so long as this Government remains in office and remains resolute to its sale at this gross undervalue,” he stressed, while charging that Government was proceeding “with indecent haste to commit the country to a sale of this asset” at US$80 million, far less than what it is worth.

However, Sinckler said the sale could not take place as easily as Marshall suggested.

He explained that while Cabinet would agree as a matter of policy to sell the property, it was NPHL that was responsible for negotiating its sale.

“Needham’s take charge of the process, they negotiate with the [buyers], they settle on a price, which they inform Cabinet of the price, Cabinet says, ‘fair enough, that seems reasonable, go to the next step’. The next step is the shareholders meeting. That meeting, which was scheduled for May 21, then would be held, that decision is taken ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ and they come back to Cabinet and say, ‘at the meeting of so and so Y resolution was passed approving the sale of the Hilton for the following price under the following condition’, then Cabinet would note [and pass the resolution]. Until that meeting happens, the shareholders meeting, the Hilton cannot be sold,” Sinckler explained.

One media house reported earlier this week that the NIB was seeking to stop the shareholders’ meeting in order to avoid a showdown between the insurance scheme and NPHL.

Meanwhile, addressing a BLP meeting at Wellington Street, The City last night, party leader Mia Mottley contended that Government was forced to back down after she revealed details of the pending meeting at a rally in Oistins, Christ Church on Sunday night, at which she said the sale must be stopped “at all cost”, and called on supporters to turn up in their numbers, if needed, to prevent Monday’s meeting from taking place.

However, Sinckler told Barbados TODAY the decision to call off the shareholders’ meeting was taken several weeks ago because of the “political environment” that developed after the announcement of the general election.

“Once the elections were called a decision was taken to call off that [shareholders meeting],” Sinckler said.

At Sunday’s meeting in Oistins, Mottley produced a document which she said was a copy of a memorandum from the NPHL giving notice to shareholders of a meeting at 10 a.m. on Monday,  May 21 at Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre to “consider a shareholders’ resolution” on the sale of the hotel.

The document, purportedly signed by NPHL Corporate Secretary Henderson Williams, is dated April 30, 2018, four days after Stuart called the election.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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