The Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) has revealed plans to apply to the newly elected Mia Mottley-led administration for tax write-offs to established businesses that invest in start-up companies.

BCCI President Eddy Abed said the private sector grouping had raised the issue with the last administration but there had been no action.

Explaining that capital was a critical component to new businesses, Abed said established companies could help to provide the funds needed if there were tax incentives.

“We see our role . . . as assisting some of the capital requirements of the young start-up companies who historically have been yearning for finance by way of debt or equity, and we would like, with the assistance of the incoming Government, perhaps to look at a tax write-off that our members can use to invest in these smaller companies,” Abed told journalists at the signing today of a memorandum of understanding with the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC).

“A lot of them are starved for finance and frankly, a good idea is only as good as getting it into the marketplace and we see our role in assisting in that,” he said.

The business executive said the BCCI was in the process of putting together a proposal to present to the new administration, making its case for a tax break in those circumstances.

“The idea is quite simple. If you are putting out venture capital you do so because you are expecting a greater return than what the banks are currently giving you and equally because it is a start-up that capital could be lost. So you need to know the downside is covered, you can write off the capital should you lose it and if you don’t the advantage or attraction is for the greater return,” he explained.

Abed said this would “free up Government” from having to provide financing for those businesses, adding that the private sector understood how to run businesses and the approximately $8 billion sitting in the banking system here needed to be invested.

The two-year agreement between the BCCI and the BIDC provides a framework for the two organizations to collaborate in a number of areas, including sharing of resources, training, promotion and market research.

It also has as its objective, the facilitation and promotion of cooperation within the business community and increased commercial activities for businesses locally and internationally.

Sonja Trotman, the chief executive officer of BIDC, said the intention was to grow local companies and increase exports.

“We know that the chamber here can use their resources and their membership and relationship with chambers throughout the region and throughout the world . . . so we can see using that kind of relationship to help us to touch base and develop relationships with persons in the international arena so that we can collect information, identify market opportunities and promote Barbadian products and services,” Trotman said.

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Newly elected Minister of Labour Colin Jordan today promised that the Mia Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration would stick to its campaign pledge to expand the Social Partnership.

The BLP said in its 76-page manifesto for the May 24 general election it would invite additional members to the partnership, including non-governmental organizations.   

Following yesterday’s meeting of the Social Partnership at Government Headquarters, which was described as upbeat by those who were present, Jordan, who has responsibility for Social Partnership relations, told Barbados TODAY the inclusion of more partners was still on the cards.

“There are ongoing matters that the Ministry of Labour and the Social Partnership will look after. The one I can tell you about right now is from our campaign manifesto, which seeks to include and expand the Social Partnership to include religious and non-governmental organizations.

“At this point it is tripartite - we have Government, unions and the representatives of business - but one of our early areas of focus in terms of transforming Barbados is to include some others in the dialogue,” Jordan stressed.

However, Jordan, who comfortably won the St Peter seat in last week’s general election, admitted he was still unsure how the inclusion of the new members would proceed.

“We just have to work through the mechanics of it to see how it will be done. The Social Partnership is a main area of focus. We met with them and we are in focus immediately. We are not sure what form it will take but we will work through that in the coming weeks,” he said.

“It is clear in our manifesto and that is what we will be proceeding with. We have always seen our manifesto as a social contract with the people of Barbados. They elected us based on that and we are going forward with the implementation of policies based on the manifesto,” Jordan stressed.

The Social Partnership is set to meet again on Friday.

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Prime Minister Mia Mottley is leading members of her ministerial team including  Minister of Tourism and International Transport Kerrie Symmonds;  Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Kirk Humphey; Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams; Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance Dr William Duguid; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Jerome Walcott on a tour of the South Coast Sewerage Project.

During the recent General Election Campaign, Mottley had pledged that fixing the crisis would be a top priority for a Barbados Labour Party administration.

Officials from the Barbados Water Authority, the Ministry of Health and engineers including Leader of Solutions Barbados Grenville Phillips II and experts from Canada are also on the tour.

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A bicyclist is nursing serious injuries following an accident along Lower Collymore Rock yesterday.

Fifty-nine-year-old John Paul of Mill Yard Road, Brittons Hill St Michael suffered serious head injuries, a broken right leg and facial injuries after being involved in an accident involving two cars, a black Nissan and a white Toyota Vitz.

The Nissan was driven by 47-year-old Shawn Foster of Chalky Mount, St Andrew while 57-year-old Peter Cumberbatch of Upper Walkers, St Andrew was the driver of the Toyota Vitz.

The two drivers were not injured.

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A Christ Church man is now homeless after fire destroyed his wooden two-bedroom house yesterday.

Sixty-three-year-old Dorian Burke was not at home at the time of the blaze, which struck just after 5:35 p.m.

Burke had left home to lime with some friends, but shortly after he received the dreaded news from two men.

He rushed back home, but the uninsured property was already destroyed.

Two fire tenders and seven fire officers responded to the blaze that was extinguished around 6:15 p.m.

Police are continuing investigations.

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The Derrick Smith School & Vocational Centre at Jackmans, St Michael was forced to closed early today due to cow itch in the  surrounding areas.

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Police are at the scene of an accident by the roundabout at Hothersal turning involving two vehicles.

According to preliminary reports, one woman was injured.

Investigations are continuing.

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Tourism dependent Barbados could benefit from an overall increase in visitor arrivals from the Caribbean over the next two decades.

However, in order to do so, it would first need to reduce its taxes and airport charges, says President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Dr Warren Smith.

Pointing to the findings of one of two recent studies financed by the bank, Smith suggested that the island could receive as many as 200,000 additional regional tourists over the next 20 years if the cost of regional travel were lower.

“The biggest beneficiaries in absolute terms would be Barbados and St Lucia with 200,000 and 140,000 additional passengers respectively,” Smith said, while stressing the need to lower taxes, liberalize the regional market and make changes to increase airport efficiency, combined with a recapitalized and restructured regional airline industry.

Barbados received 95,156 visitors from the Caribbean between January and November last year, a 3.9 per cent rise, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization. Local tourism officials also reported a 5.4 per cent increase in arrivals from Trinidad and Tobago last year, and a 3.6 per cent hike from the rest of the region.

Smith said statistics have shown that the aviation industry in the Caribbean faced several major difficulties that were stymieing the movement of businesses and leisure travellers within the region.

He warned that this was not a good trend, especially since the region depended heavily on tourism, agriculture and financial services.

“The CDB study confirms that air travel within the Eastern Caribbean is price elastic . . . . That study also concludes that a reduction in both taxes and airport charges would lead to sizeable growth in arrivals in virtually all countries.

“The study estimates that these measures would stimulate increases ranging from a low of five per cent in Dominica to a high of 18 per cent in St Kitts and Nevis over a 20-year period. In the case of Nevis, this expansion amounts to about 65,000 passengers,” Smith said.

The CDB president did not say when the survey was done or by whom. However, he said it also revealed that aviation problems in the Eastern Caribbean stemmed from a combination of internal governance issues and an insufficient enabling operating environment.

Smith explained that the aviation industry faced a combination of high and regressive taxes and airport related charges, operational inefficiencies, regulations relating to security and border control. He said there also were issues concerning arrangements for funding of the regional airline, its governance framework and the industrial relations environment.

“There is no sound justification, in my humble view, for the regional airline industry to remain in this condition. Indeed, its survivability is constantly under threat,” Smith said.

The CDB boss also reported that between 2003 and 2016 the number of annual round-trip journeys by Eastern Caribbean residents to the US rose by more than 200 per cent to 250,000, while round-trips originating from the Caribbean to the Eastern Caribbean during the same period fell by 30 per cent.

“These statistics point to a worrisome shift in the pattern of travel as regional air travellers demonstrate a growing preference for destinations in the United States over travel to the neighbouring island,” he said.

“Strengthening connectivity of the regional airlines and lowering fares via reduced taxes, are two key options for a smart regional transportation sector. These measures comprise improvements in the resilience and efficiency of the transportation network with downstream enhancements in overall economic resilience,” he said.

The economist said restructuring of the cost of regional travel without negatively impacting on governments’ revenues was necessary.

Without calling LIAT by name, Smith pledged the bank’s support in continuing to work with “shareholder governments and governments of other Eastern Caribbean countries that benefit from the services of the regional carrier”, adding that the aim was to accelerate the implementation of necessary reforms in order to create a sustainable and resilient inter-island air transport system.

Smith also pointed to the need for regional officials to give priority to developing the renewable energy sector, and a sustainable agriculture industry while linking it with other industries in a move towards building economic resilience and food security in the region.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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Orange flames lit up the sky this evening as a massive grass fire spread rapidly from Arch Hall Station to St Thomas Parish Church.

Up to 10 p.m., fire officers were still trying to bring the blaze, which started just after 4:30 p.m., under the control.

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The new short-term fix for the troublesome south coast sewage crisis announced today by Prime Minister Mia Mottley appears very much to be the old short-term fix introduced by the ousted Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Government.

Mottley today led several members of her Cabinet and other officials on a tour of the south coast, during which she said her administration would persist with the injection wells which the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has begun to dig, the very medicine prescribed by the then Minister of Water Resource Management Dr David Estwick.

She said given that the BWA had already spent millions of dollars on the four wells, and based on advice from the technicians, it made sense to continue the programme aimed at bringing relief to residents, businesses and visitors in the affected areas.

[caption id="attachment_245988" align="aligncenter" width="550"] BWA Director of Engineering Charles Leslie (right) briefing Prime Minister Mia Mottley and members of her Cabinet, including (from left) Wilfred Abrahams, Peter Phillips and Kerry Symmonds, during this morning’s tour of the south coast.[/caption]

However, the Prime Minister made it clear the digging of the injection wells would be just one of a list of options, as she was not prepared to pin this country’s hopes for immediate relief on a single solution.

“[The wells remain] one of the plans, that’s just one option. We are also doing the outfalls as well and we hope that the combined impact of all would make the difference,” Mottley told journalists accompanying her on the tour.

“We have already spent $3.5 million on each of these wells . . . but the permanent solution is the new plant, and whether the new plant takes modular pieces of equipment that could be used now to ease the pressure while we build the full plant is also an option to us because we do not want to spend money twice,” she said.

The Prime Minister’s approach to the crisis seems a mirror image of the position espoused by Estwick, who last November said the construction of a new plant was the only way to resolve the ongoing sewage problem because the current system could no longer adequately service the entire south coast.

Estwick had also said in February of this year that Cabinet had approached the Latin American Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank  and the Caribbean Development Bank for assistance to implement solutions identified  following consultation with regional and international experts.

He said then the best options available were “the injection wells and the two bypass systems and the injection well with pre-treatment”.

However, it appeared Mottley was not sold on a limited number of options, and today she instructed the BWA, the Coastal Zone Management Unit and engineering consultants to prepare a Cabinet paper on the best options, declaring that the situation had reached the level of a “national emergency” and therefore no effort should be spared.

“They would go back to the Water Authority now and they are going to prepare for us a Cabinet paper to give us some options in terms of ensuring that we keep the sewage off of the streets, repair the lines and look to long-term solutions,” the Prime Minister said, going on to stress the need for several plans to tackle the sewage stink “because the consequences for the country is too dire”.    

Stating that she was not prepared to render a final decision on possible solutions to the spills, which have forced the closure of several businesses on the south coast and made Barbados the subject of four travel advisories, Mottley said her Cabinet had to ensure the process was expedited and done efficiently.

“I am hearing from the Water Authority that we have to get two outfalls built. One would be an eight-inch main from the Graeme Hall Swamp, which is now all sewage, the second would be a 16-inch main from the plant itself. Both mains would go beyond the outer reefs and both would have input from the Coastal Zone Management Unit. We would make sure that the equipment necessary for building of those pipes are treated to as an emergency,” Mottley said, adding that a sub-committee chaired by Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams had been established and would meet “two to three times per week to make sure that everything stays on time and on target”.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs has been told to approach the Canadian government with respect to technical assistance that we would pay for. They would also provide a second review,” she added.

colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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An arrangement struck in October 2016 between the state controlled waste management company and private haulers for garbage collection and disposal seems set to continue for some time yet under the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration.

While in opposition, the BLP’s spokesman on health, Dwight Sutherland, had described the deal as a scheme to privatize of the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) through the back door, a position that was shared by the National Union of Public Workers.

However, the new man in charge of the SSA, Minister of the Environment and National Beautification Trevor Prescod, today said he was not yet in a position to decide on the future of the arrangement, even after having met yesterday with senior officials of the garbage collection agency.

“I had a meeting with them yesterday evening and I am still analyzing the material from the discussion. The present state . . . [is that] we don’t have enough trucks at present to carry out the service and I have to take into consideration that we need to build that service back up to a level where it is adequate,” Prescod told Barbados TODAY.

He emphasized the desperate need for additional garbage trucks, revealing that he intended to request those vehicles sometime soon.

Prescod said it was only after the various pieces required for efficient service are put in place would he decide the fate of the private truckers’ programme.

“I don’t know exactly all the terms and conditions attached to the arrangement with the private haulers. Those details I am still trying to get straightened out,” he said.

The minister revealed little about yesterday’s talks, but he said they discussed a number of issues, including the contentious tipping fee introduced in 2015 as a way of recoupng money for waste disposal.

“They will bring me up to date with all the details in relation to the removal of the tipping fee. In fact, we looked at the tipping fee, we looked at the private haulers, we looked at the availability of trucks. I will discuss that matter with the administration within the ministry and I will come to a conclusion thereafter,” Prescod told Barbados TODAY.

However, he made it clear the Mia Mottley-led Government had no plans to privatize waste collection, while repeating the ministry’s intention to increase the fleet of garbage trucks in order to adequately service the island.

Another major issue was the reported rental of a tractor at $23,000 a week for use at the Mangrove Pond landfill.

Prescod hinted at a desire to terminate the contract, but he said a decision would be made after he receives additional information.

“The amount of rent being paid for use of the tractor which is $125,000 a month and to look at that in comparison to what the actual cost of a tractor is, from my rough calculation, in two years’ time the rent itself would actually purchase a tractor. I don’t see that making sense. I can’t take any position on that as yet until I get the terms and conditions attached to any agreement which they had,” he stressed.

Prescod assured Barbadians he would not wait for people to call and complain about garbage pile-ups, but would instead move swiftly to take the necessary action to resolve some of the refuse collection issues.

“We will . . . make sure that additional finance is put at that department’s [SSA] disposal so that they can have a complete order which would be able to provide the kind of service required at present,” the minister said.

Already, the island’s private waste haulers have declared their intention to present fresh proposals to the new administration to help improve the collection of garbage and the management of solid waste here.

Without going into details of the proposals, Chairman of the Waste Haulers Association Anderson Fat Child Cherry said this morning the four companies which currently have contracts with the SSA were ready and willing to present new ideas to Prescod.

Cherry told Barbados TODAY the existing collection deal which covers St Philip, St John, St Peter and St Lucy ends in November, and he anticipated an extension.

“We will continue to put proposals to assist with the waste collection. There are a lot of things that we can produce to help reduce the actual collection costs. We are entrepreneurs, so we will constantly seek ways of looking for new ideas,” Cherry, the chief executive officer of Project Recycle and Jose Y Jose Liquid and Solid Waste Management Company, said.

“We are still collecting . . . we are still doing our duty . . . we placed ourselves at the disposal of the new Government and we are willing to extend, to continue to work,” he told Barbados TODAY.

“The waste haulers have proven themselves to be very efficient and we are serving all of our routes without fail. And I think the residents in St Philip and all of the other areas are very satisfied and they can testify to that,” Cherry stated.

A similar position was adopted by Charles Read, the head of Simpson Trucking and Skip Services, who told Barbados TODAY the private waste haulers were willing to partner with Government to improve garbage collection

“We will see what this Government will be proposing in terms of policies to deal with solid waste management in Barbados,” Read said this afternoon.

“The understanding is that they [SSA] has trucks on order. So I imagine when those trucks arrive, they would reassess what their needs are,” Read added.

It was on Sunday during the swearing-in of her new Cabinet on Bay Street, that Mottley reiterated a manifesto pledge to acquire new trucks immediately for the SSA, which had struck the deal with the private waste haulers due to a shortage of vehicles.

In recent weeks, residents in some communities have been complaining about limited garbage collection, and mountains of refuse.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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At least one regional leader is counting on newly elected Prime Minister Mia Mottley to advance the work programme of the “problematic” Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME).

While welcoming her to office, Antigua and Barbuda prime minister Gaston Browne said that based on Mottley’s reputation he was confident she would be able to balance the demands of CARICOM and her “pressing domestic obligations”.

The CSME, which was started in 2006, promotes the free movement of goods, services, people, capital and technology within the 15-nation CARICOM grouping.

However, the pace of harmonization of tax systems, regulations and other governmental policies has been slow, especially following the financial crisis in 2008.

Addressing the 48th annual meeting of the Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in Grenada today, Browne noted that the Barbadian leader now had lead responsibility for the CSME within CARICOM’s quasi cabinet.

“I am convinced that this noble project, which has encountered many difficulties and which will continue to be problematic, will be in constructive, practical and visionary hands in Prime Minister Mottley,” said Browne, as he pledged his country’s continued support.

“In welcoming her to our fold of Caribbean leaders, I do not do so simply because she is a woman. I do so because her reputation as a champion of Caribbean causes is renowned, as is her understanding of the value of the Caribbean’s unity in its global affairs,” he added.

He also highlighted his own recent victory at the polls in Antigua and Barbuda and that of Grenada’s prime minister Dr Keith Mitchell, saying those victories were a confirmation that their governments were “doing something right”.

He also suggested that other regional leaders would do well to emulate their style of “good participatory, inclusive and responsive governance” that “places the people at the centre”, and also emphasizes hard work, fairness and humility.

“Those are principles to which all governments should adhere. They are principles, which if ignored, will tumble the mightiest and punish the haughtiest,” the Antiguan leader said.

And while acknowledging that leaders have, and would make mistakes, he said one had to acknowledge and explain those mistakes, and implement measures so as not to repeat them.

He also said there could be no room for “arrogance and indifference”.

“That brings me to a double historic event in Barbados. Not only the election of its first woman prime minister, but also bestowing upon the party she leads an overwhelming mandate to raise up her country and restore it to the heights of economic accomplishment and social advancement with which it has always been associated.

“I join in offering Prime Minister Mia Mottley the profound congratulations of my government and the people of Antigua and Barbuda,” he said after suggesting last weekend that former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had frustrated Barbadians, which had led to his crushing defeat  in the May 24 poll in which Mottley’s Barbados Labour Party claimed all 30 seats at stake.

Former CDB employee and newly installed Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment Marsha Caddle is attending the two-day meeting in St George’s on behalf of the Barbados Government. 

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With the economy struggling to see growth and an oversupply of properties whose prices do not match current market conditions, the real estate sector could take a further nosedive over the next 12 months.

Chief Operating Officer of Terra Caribbean Hayden Hutton gave the dim projection recently, as he pointed out that the number of properties to be sold over the next 12 months would depend heavily on a change in pricing.

“The prospects for market growth in the next 12 months are distant and minimum on the other side of the 2018 elections,” said Hutton in his latest assessment of the local real estate market in the Terra Caribbean Red Book.

He said two areas to watch would be the value of the British pound against the US dollar and local economic growth, which he acknowledged was well below two per cent.

Earlier this month, Governor of the Central Bank Cleviston Haynes delivered a less than favourable report for the first quarter of this year, noting that the economy contracted by 0.7 per cent, while forecasting growth between -0.25 per cent and 0.25 per cent this year.

In his outlook for the real estate market this year, Hutton said “in any event, with growth unlikely in 2018 and inventory in oversupply, price is key in the new market”.

“Those vendors with properties sitting on the market for protracted periods would be well served to mark the prices to market or to get comfortable for the long haul,” he warned.

According to Hutton there was a decline of 0.1 per cent in real estate sales volume last year resulting in Barbados recording its lowest sales volume in 25 years.

Hutton said with volume flat and most of the market still in oversupply, “the elephant in the market continues to be price”.

He said a substantial segment of the market had “grudgingly re-priced” adding that this was where some movement was taking place.

“The re-pricing effort has been driven in part by lending institutions marketing and selling distressed properties at scale,” he said, adding that the re-pricing was taking place at all levels of the market.

However, he said, “those vendors that continue their romance with the old market – and there are many – are finding their properties sitting for protracted exposure periods”.

According to data, 50 per cent of the properties sold were listed on the market for 12 months or less, 72 per cent for 24 months or less and approximately 90 per cent for 36 months or less.

“This is noticeable when one considers the staggering volume of inventory which has been sitting on the market in excess of five years and in some cases for 10 years or more,” he said.

“Notable is the fact that those properties listed for 36 months at the point of sale, generally had the highest number of recorded price reductions over the exposure period. The punchline for sellers with properties listed in excess of 36 months is they have likely carried their property unnecessarily and followed the market down,” Hutton said, explaining that the majority of residential properties were yielding marginal returns, and negative in the case of many luxury villas, and this hardly warranted holding a property for a “longer than necessary” period.

“With the considerable amount of inventory on the market,” he said, “perhaps it’s time for vendors to join together in universal acceptance that the old market is gone and the new market is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future”.

“There is certainly one group of market participants that is very much aware of the new market, and that is the buyers,” he warned.

When it came to property rental, Christ Church and St James remained the most popular parishes, accounting for 53 per cent and 36 per cent of all rentals respectively.

According to Terra, apartments were the most commonly rented property type, accounting for about 47 per cent of rentals in the past three years. The most common size house rented during the period were three bedroom houses, with about 76 per cent of them carrying a price tag between $2,500 to $5,000.

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Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister Gaston Browne is pleading with Caribbean governments to join forces in resisting the “deceptive acts of economic aggression” being imposed on the region by international bodies.

He explained that while borrowing member states of the Caribbean Development Bank CDB) had to contend with natural disasters that “accentuate” their vulnerabilities, they were also faced with “manmade catastrophes that are mounting”.

Browne, who was addressing the 48th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in Grenada today, pointed to the issue of derisking and threats of sanctions as two of the examples of challenges that the region should collectively fight against.

He said derisking or the severance of correspondent banking relations had resulted in higher cost of doing business, which had adversely affected the region’s global competitiveness.

“At worst, we continue to face the real possibility of being excluded from the world’s trading and financial system. Similarly, we have been coerced into accepting constraints on our capacity to compete in trade in goods and now financial services,” he said.

The Antiguan leader further complained that those who control global trade and financial systems were denying the region the right to compete in financial services, particularly in “differentiated taxation to attract investments”.

“They have sought to deny us a right to operated well-regulated, investor immigration programmes, gaming and offshore banking services, by using the deceptive notion that these industries are harmful to them,” he said.

The Caribbean has had to battle with international bodies and agencies over sanctions and the threat of sanctions over tax laws governing the international business sector.

However, Browne contended that the real threat came from the policies of those establishing “harmful” rules, designed to “keep us in economic dependency”.

“Every niche we seek to establish to diversify our economies and provide for our peoples they conveniently find harmful. The question is, what next? They may soon resolve that our very existence is harmful to them. To the contrary, it is their policies and threats of sanctions that are harmful to our survival. We must collectively resist these deceptive acts of economic aggression against our respective countries,” he warned.

“We in the Caribbean have to seek a more perfect union in our response to these challenges. None of us will overcome them alone. Our only chance is in collective action,” Browne added.

He also reminded his regional colleagues that in order to protect citizens and their countries they should make provision for natural disasters when building their economic, social and environmental resilience plans.

He also urged them to bear in mind the crushing impact of rising oil prices and its ripple effect on commodity prices.

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Police are continuing their investigations into two freak accidents, including one that left a 38-year-old woman injured.

The first one occurred along the Barrow section of the ABC Highway around 9:15 this morning.

However, the two motorists involved managed to escape without injury after a car driven by 37-year-old Leander Clarke, of #1 Fitts Village, St James ended up on the jersey barrier after colliding with a C.O. Williams Construction Limited truck, driven by 52-year-old David Shepherd of Diamond Valley, St Philip, about 100 yards south of the HTC Ramsay Roundabout.

[caption id="attachment_245767" align="aligncenter" width="440"] This car ended up on the jersey barrier after colliding with a C.O. Williams Construction Limited truck.[/caption]

Both vehicles were travelling towards Pine Hill Diary.

In the second accident which occurred around 1:10 p.m at the Clyde Walcott roundabout, Hothersal Turning, St Michael, a Christ Church woman sustained injuries.

Nicole Alleyne of Pitcher Hill, St Patrick’s complained of pain to her neck and right hand after colliding with a vehicle driven by 37-year-old Reschille Cox of Emerald Park, St Philip.

[caption id="attachment_245764" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Thirty-eight-year-old Nicole Alleyne of Pitcher Hill, St Patrick’s complained of pain to her neck and right hand after her vehicle overturned following a collision at Hothersal Turning, St Michael.[/caption]

Alleyne’s vehicle overturned in the carriageway, while Cox’s mounted the central island within the roundabout.

Cox was not injured.

In the meantime, a bicyclist has been left nursing serious injuries following an accident along Lower Collymore Rock yesterday.

Fifty-nine-year-old John Paul of Mill Yard Road, Brittons Hill, St Michael suffered serious head injuries, a broken right leg and facial injuries after being involved in an accident with two cars, a black Nissan and a white Toyota Vitz.

The Nissan was driven by 47-year-old Shawn Foster of Chalky Mount, St Andrew, while 57-year-old Peter Cumberbatch of Upper Walkers, St Andrew was the driver of the Toyota Vitz.

Neither of the two drivers was injured.

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The Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) has come out in full support of the newly elected Barbados Labour Party (BLP)  Government’s promise to abolish road tax and replace it with a fee at the gas pump.

In a statement released yesterday, the association welcomed the proposed move, saying “under the proposed system, no one will be able to avoid paying road tax anymore.

“It also ensures a fairer taxation on drivers, as this tax will be proportionate to road usage.”

In its analysis of the promise documented in the BLP’s manifesto, the BRSA also said the move would result in a number of ancillary benefits.

“It will free up the traffic court, lead to shorter queues at the licensing department, owners of vehicles that are off the road for a while will also benefit from this initiative.

“Police will no longer have to check for road tax discs, but would now check for valid insurance and valid drivers’ licences, as the road tax disc can be replaced by an insurance disc and the driver’s licences be made to be carried on the person,” the BRSA statement said.

“From a road safety perspective, it will take some vehicles off the road, as drivers will reconsider the necessity of the intended trip, weighed against more to be spent at the pump. This also will help reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the environment.

“Fewer vehicles on the roads can also lead to less aggressive driving, less speeding drivers, less distracted and impaired drivers and so a reduction in accidents,” it added.

The road safety organization also said the initiative could also contribute to the development of a green economy by encouraging more drivers and small businesses to purchase electric vehicles and reduce pollution of the environment.

Earlier, the privately owned transport sector welcomed the announcement. Head of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael has called the promise a step in the right direction while pointing out that public service vehicle owners had to contend with annual payments of over $2,000 for road tax and permit fees, as well as approximately $30,000 for insurance.

He argued that while operators may have to pay more at the pumps, it would be less burdensome, especially if the permit fees were removed.

However, immediately after the BLP promise to abolish road taxes was made, the then Minister of Transport and Works Michael Lashley had dismissed it as fake, while questioning how the Mia Mottley-led BLP would achieve the proposed road tax plan and its replacement.

“How are they going to get it done? But of course it’s another fake promise,” Lashley said.

“We have to wait and see. It’s like an election gimmick as far as I am concerned,” he added at the time, while suggesting that the BLP should look instead to further strengthen the Road Traffic Act to ensure road users pay the tax.

However, in introducing the BLP’s plan, economist Clyde Mascoll had said that in the spirit of equity, commercial vehicles which are more than average users of the roads would be required to pay more under the BLP’s petrol proposal.

“We currently have something called a road tax. Do you know that road tax for a commercial vehicle is only $400 while those of you who have bigger vehicles have to pay $900 and all sort of thing? That has to change because the tax does not make sense,” Mascoll had argued.

“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,” he added, evoking sustained applause from BLP supporters during the just ended election campaign.

The BLP economist further explained that the manifesto pledges were the product of two years of research, and all of its costs had been accounted for.

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One local insurance company has expressed alarm over the high incidence of road accidents, which it says has resulted in a spike in claims.

Without giving any statistics, Marketing and Human Resources Manager of Cooperators General Insurance Cheryl Forde described the increase as both troubling and alarming.

The insurance executive also raised concern that the island had recorded five road fatalities since Friday, bringing to 17 the total number of fatal accidents on the road since the start of the year.

Among the five people killed was pedestrian Ricardo Stuart who was attempting to cross the ABC Highway at Mount Friendship just before midnight on Saturday when he was run over by a motorcycle, ridden by 29-year-old Renaldo Goodman.

“It is a concern [that] every day you are hearing about a fatality . . . . People are not driving in consideration for others and you have to drive defensibly,” Forde lamented, while warning that “every time somebody dies on the road it is not only money, it is a loss to their families”.

The insurance spokeswoman also raised concern about motorists texting while driving or attempting to drive while under the influence, while noting that under the recently amended Road Traffic Act motorists could also face stiff penalties if caught using their cell phones while in command of a motor vehicle.

At the same time, she cautioned motorists to continue to exercise caution.

The most recent statistics from the Barbados Fire Service (BFS) show a 22.4 per cent increase in road accidents as of December 27 last year, when compared with the same period the previous year.

However, Forde suggested that the passage of the road traffic amendments had helped to curb the situation somewhat.

She also said Cooperators General had been seeking to play its part with the launch of the driver’s pledge back in January.

“We have been speaking to our customers every week because the accident rate is too high . . . . We were giving all our policyholders a card where they could read important messages such as, ‘you must insure’ [and] ‘don’t text and drive’, so that they have a reminder every time they look at it,” she said.

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Governor General Dame Sandra Mason will swear in the Senators appointed by the Government of Barbados tomorrow, Thursday, May 31, at Government House at 10:30 a.m.

This follows last Thursday’s general election in which the Mia Mottley-led Barbados Labour Party claimed all 30 seats at stake.

On Sunday, members of Mottley’s 30-member Cabinet were sworn into office and on Tuesday, June 5, the Governor General will deliver the traditional Throne Speech at the official opening of Parliament at the Parliament Buildings at 10 a.m. (BGIS)

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