Sixteen finalists have advanced in the two categories of this year’s Scotiabank Junior Monarch competition.

At 11:50 p.m. last night MC Darrio Prescod assisted by National Cultural Foundation’s Corporate Communications Specialist Simone Codrington made the announcement before a crowd which had stayed on after the competition had ended just after 11 p.m.

Finalists in the 7 to 12 category are: KCB (Save the Country); Might Bit Bit (Please Give Bit Bit De Crown); Just Kari (Where All the Good Girls Gone); Joshua B (Magic Man); Sakarah (Colour My Country); Master Kei (Homeless not Hopeless); Browne Star (Peace) and Star Diamond (Bim Tomorrow). Reserves are Dazzle (Violence in Barbados) and Xavi (No Idea)

While finalists in the 13 to 18 category are: Quon (Why I Sing); Dynamo (Tales From De Crpyt); De Overcomer (Bon Appetit); Miracle (Education); Princess Make’da (Tell Me Why); Ranaan (Kneel & Pray); Symar (Beauty) and Yahandje (Don’t Cry). Reserve is The Mighty King (Lef da Alone!)

The Scotiabank Junior Calypso Monarch competition comes off on Saturday, July 22 at the Wildey Gymnasium at 7 p.m. Anyone hoping to see the juniors in action before then can go to the Junior Monarch lunchtime concert on Wednesday, July 18 at 12:15 p.m. (IMC)

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The Pic-O-De Crop Finals is back to being held on the traditional last Friday of the Crop Over festival, the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) has announced.
In a statement detailing changes to the final weekend of the festival, the NCF said the battle of the island’s top calypsonians would take place on Friday, August 3 at 8 p.m. at Kensington Oval.
In recent years, the popular event has been held on the final Saturday of the month. This time around, once the 2018 Calypso monarch is crowned, revellers will take to streets at 1 a.m. for the popular Foreday Mornin’ Jam, which will end at 7 a.m. on Saturday, August 4. 
The NCF said this change is expected to have a favourable impact on the annual Bridgetown Market which will offer patrons extended hours this year, running from noon on Saturday, August 4 to 5 a.m. on Sunday August 5. 
The market will again reopen on 2 p.m. until midnight on Sunday and end on Monday, August 6, after  Grand Kadooment.
The NCF assures patrons all tickets previously purchased for the Pic-O-De Crop Final will remain valid.(PR)

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The island’s mental health facilities are incapable of coping with the resulting trauma if a major natural disaster strikes, Minister of Health and Wellness Jeffrey Bostic said.

However, Bostic signalled Government’s intention to address this deficiency as a matter of urgency, given the magnitude and frequency of storms affecting the region in recent times.

“I am not aware of any plan or programme at the moment to deal with mental trauma associated with natural disasters. This is a matter which we must address and start to develop the relevant programme,” the minister said this morning on the sidelines of the opening of the Pan American Health Organization’s regional training  programme for  trainers, on mental health and psychosocial support in disaster management.

“We need to start with our first responders and we have to go on a sensitization programme nationally so that Barbadians are aware of the destruction that can be caused by a devastating hurricane. We are taking this seriously as a Government,” he added.

Bostic explained that the current mental health services in Barbados are already very heavily subscribed.  He therefore argued that  “when it is considered that individuals with no known mental health related diagnosis are placed at risk with the onset of a disaster, the potential disease burden rises astronomically, and the need for interventions to avert a public health crisis becomes an urgent necessity.”

According to the latest data from the island’s lone psychiatric hospital, the facility has an average in-patient population of 530 persons with an annual average of 1,229 admissions recorded over the five-year period 2013 to 2017. Of these, an average of 974, or 79 per cent, were re-admissions. During the same five-year period, 2013 to 2017, there was an average of 9,612 attendances in the hospital’s outpatients’ clinic while the mental health clinics in the polyclinics, or what are sometimes referred to as district services saw, an average of 8,281 attendances.

Bostic contended while the system can handle the regular demands, it was important for Government to move to the next step to ensure functionality in a mass crisis scenario.

“You can see that services are heavily utilized but we need to go a step further. The day-to-day mental assistance that is required is one thing but a national traumatic experience like the Dominican experience for example [Hurricane Maria], is a whole different ball game. We have to now work on sensitizing and preparing people for what is possible,” said Bostic, while noting that such psychological training must extend to Barbadian responders rendering assistance to hurricane ravaged neighbours.

“This is an area that we have not paid attention to regionally. Having experienced the aftermath of hurricanes in other islands, this is critical to rebuilding. We have to train our first responders to be able to deal with what they would encounter. We need to ensure that they would be able to cope. We have to prepare them for seeing communities and countries being devastated and lives disrupted. This is traumatic not just for the citizens of the countries affected but for the first responders as well,” he added. 

colvillemounsey@barbadotoday.bb

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If you have noticed that the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) has been inactive lately, it’s because it is broke.

BRSA President Sharmane Roland-Bowen told Barbados TODAY the association has been functioning without a budget since January last year, after the then Freundel Stuart administration abruptly stopped providing a subvention.

Roland-Bowen said she was confident the decision was in retaliation for the BRSA’s anti-pothole initiative.

“They never gave us a letter with a reason, it just stopped. We were just calling and going there and there was nothing there,” the road safety advocate said.

Much to the chagrin of Stuart’s Democratic Labour Party Government, the association initiated a programme to alert unsuspecting road users to dangerous potholes, which at the time were a major area of concern for motorists and pedestrians, by placing brightly-coloured warning signs ahead of the potholes.

The orange triangular flags on bright yellow sticks were placed 40 feet from potholes in a number of parishes, including St Michael, St James and St Thomas.

Then Minister of Transport Michael Lashley was highly critical of the programme, which received widespread support from road users.

The BRSA defied orders to remove the flags, although it ceased erecting any more after it was ordered to take them down.

Having already reduced its subvention from $2,500 to $2,000, the administration decided to financially starve the BRSA, Roland-Bowen charged.

“We were given a budget of $2,200, it used to be $2,500 under the Barbados Labour Party and it was reduced under the Democratic Labour Party, [and]because of the flags they took it away,” she explained.

“We have no funds, we came out last year and took a stand where the potholes were concerned [and we paid the price for it],” Roland Bowen explained.

This notwithstanding, an unapologetic BRSA head said even though it had been forced to all but halt its road safety education programmes, the decision at the time to bring attention to the dangers posed by the potholes was worthwhile.

“We don’t mind losing it because we achieved our objective, which was getting the road fixed and we warned people,” the road safety advocate said.

“You know how many persons said that those flags saved them from falling into potholes?”

Roland-Bowen also said she was hoping the Mia Mottley-led administration would take road safety seriously, and treat it as a “mission critical” issue.

“ I don’t see anything more critical than losing lives on the roads or trying to save them,” she said, as she appealed to the public and the private sector for support in order to help the BRSA spread the message of road safety.

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A number of logistical issues are getting in the way of Government’s plan to switch to a 24-hour service at two of the island’s polyclinics in order to ease the burden on the Accident and Emergency department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), according to Minister of Health and Wellness Jeffrey Bostic.

Therefore, Bostic said today, the Mia Mottley administration could not commit to a definite timeline for the round-the-clock service at the Randal Phillips and Sir Winston Scott polyclinics, announced in Mottley’s mini Budget last month.

“The response from the public to the idea has been going quite well, but we have not actually started that exercise as yet. We are in the process of doing so because some work has to be done. So, for example, there is going to be requirements for additional human resources,” Bostic said in response to questions from Barbados TODAY on the sidelines of the opening of the Pan American Health Organization’s regional training programme for trainers, on mental health and psychosocial support in disaster management.

The minister also said talks between Government and the trade unions on the change were also pending, making it even more difficult to pinpoint a start date.

“We cannot give a time frame until we are able to meet with the unions because they are going to play an important role in this regard,” he said.

“We also have to meet with the Personnel Administration Division because the Ministry of the Civil Service would have to provide some additional resources in order for us to run a 24-hour service at those two polyclinics,” Bostic stressed, adding that both medical facilities needed to be upgraded before the transition to 24-hour service.

“It is not only extended hours but an expansion of services in that the two polyclinics have to be able to provide dispensing, diagnostic services and radiology services. So we have to get all of those things in place to make the exercise worthwhile. Remember the intention is to cover for 25 per cent of the persons who now go to the QEH that are not urgent care. So in order to make the numbers going to the Accident and Emergency, we have to provide some facilities,” he pointed out.

The switch is expected to cost taxpayers an additional $3 million,  Mottley said when she announced the plans.

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An explanation is likely tomorrow from The Ellerslie School for the sudden and controversial change in uniform.

Principal Lieutenant Colonel Errol Brathwaite has summoned parents to a meeting at the Black Rock, St Michael institution to address the issue, which has left some parents and old scholars fuming.

Members of the school’s alumni association staged a peaceful protest outside of the compound last Friday to vent their frustration over the decision.

In addition, former student Rodney Garnes has started an online petition titled Don’t Change My Ellerslie Uniform, which up until the time of publication had attracted 1,232 of the 1,500 signatures he is seeking in a bid to pressure the Ministry of Education to reverse the decision.

The students, known as Brown Cows for the brown trousers worn by senior boys, brown overalls worn by girls, and the all khaki in the junior school, will have a different look come next school year.

Instead of the traditional khaki shirt and pants in the junior school, the boys will wear white shirts with the school crest, and khaki pants, while the girls will wear a khaki overall, as opposed to brown.

Senior boys will continue to wear white shirts, but the brown trousers will be replaced by khaki pants, while the school crest and tie will replace the epaulettes.

“You are cordially invited to attend a meeting in the school hall at 4 p.m. on Tuesday July 10, 2018 to provide you with an update of the uniform changes,” the letter addressed to parents read.

However, a senior member of the school’s alumni association has questioned the rationale for tomorrow’s meeting.

“I think it’s because we kicked up a rumpus they are trying to get a dialogue now from parents who are also complaining about the change in uniform as well. This meeting now has me a little baffled as to why they now have to call parents to update them,” the former student said.

In fact, Caramel Weir, who was among the placard carrying ex students last week, said the old scholars’ association felt disrespected by the lack of consultation.

“We are concerned with the complete obviation of our school’s 50 year-plus history. Nobody has said ‘let me hear what the old scholars think about the change’ and our point of view. It says to me that it was blatantly done. We are interested in Ellerslie; anytime they ask us to assist at the school we do,” Weir said.

“I’m perturbed about the incident and I feel disregarded because nobody had the courtesy to say, ‘let us bring the old scholars in on this dialogue and see what they think about this change’ and what ideas we could put forward. Let us have a voice to saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Don’t just do something and think we have to accept it. That is not fair to us. It is very hurtful,” she added.

Neither the Ministry of Education nor the school’s management has commented on the development, and no reasons have been given for the change.

However, Barbados TODAY understands it has been in the works for over a year.

Still, a clearly upset Weir said there were more serious matters at the school to be addressed.

“Changing up the school’s image and still not dealing with the issues of school behaviour is like taking a pig out of a pig pen, bathing it and putting it back into the dirty pen,” the past student said.

“Address the behaviour issue. It is not only Ellerslie that has those type of students, but you don’t see them change a whole school’s history.”

The Ellerslie School, which until late last year was known as Ellerslie Secondary School, has been beset by violence in recent times, including a student-on-teacher attack in 2016 and a cutlass attack last November in which a student lost a finger.

Weir told Barbados TODAY the ministry and the school must give an explanation for the uniform change.

“Nobody from the Ministry of Education or the board of management is saying ‘at least let us hear the old scholars issues’. It is like, to hell with us. It would blow up now and everything will go back as normal. They are laying their foundation on that so we would just go away.

“I am peeved with the fact that nobody is talking to us. We have a genuine concern also . . . so why isn’t anyone giving us the time of day to address our situation? I don’t understand why we won’t be informed. Give us a reason for the uniform change,” Weir insisted.

Approached by Barbados TODAY for comment on the matter, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw said she was not prepared to enter the raging debate at this stage.

anmargboyce@barbadostoday.bb

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Joseph Nathaniel Gittens has travelled the hard road to becoming Barbados’ newest centenarian, but you could not tell today by his upbeat mood and spirited personality.

Gittens was the centre of attention at his Haggatt Hall, St Michael residence this morning as he was paid the traditional visit by Governor General Dame Sandra Mason in celebration of his remarkable milestone.

[caption id="attachment_273248" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Governor General Dame Sandra Mason (right) in conversation with centernarian Joseph Gittens (centre) and his 93-year-old wife Lillian Gittens.[/caption]

Flanked by his 93-year-old wife Lillian, to whom he has been married to for 58 years, and with whom he has two children, the attractively clad Gittens - dressed in a lily white shirt, grey trousers, tie and black shoes – entertained the Governor General, as well as family members, friends and well-wishers, who gathered for the memorable event.

On more than one occasion during the brief gathering, Gittens sang the Joseph Niles song,  Hard Road to Travel, which, according to his 73-year-old daughter Vivienne St Hill, has recently become one of his favourites.

“Recently, he has been singing that [song] every morning with mum, that is why it stick in his memory. But, he was never a singer or dancer. Mum is the singer, not daddy,” she jokingly stated.

[caption id="attachment_273247" align="aligncenter" width="515"] 76-year-old Clarence Carter (left) and 73-year-old Vivienne St Hill (right) are Mr Gittens two living children.[/caption]

St Hill added that her dad, who was a joiner and carpenter in his youthful days, had followed in his family’s footsteps with his love for the trades.

“We have lots of memories with him. All of his uncles were in the furniture business and he followed as well. They were all into building furniture. Up to one year ago he was still sawing wood with an electric saw and we had to beg him to stop. He also would tell us stories about when he was a teenager and he drove cane trucks to Lower Estate,“ the daughter said, adding that her dad still maintained a decent appetite even at 100.

“He was never one who would be picky about eating. Very seldom would he dislike a certain food.”

St Hill also reminisced on Gittens’ love for cricket, stating that he would always dress in the sharpest gear when stepping onto the field of play.

“His sport was cricket. I remember he played until he was in his forties. He would play at Lower Estate on Sheffield pasture. He would put on his white suit every Saturday evening and he would go down spick and span. That is what he loved.”

As she reminisced on life with her parents, St Hill said her dad was a stickler for discipline, although her mother was even stricter.

“Oh yes, very much so, but mum even more so. If you blinked she would be down on you. I got more discipline through her. She was harder on us than him. Daddy would normally just speak to us and leave it for another time, but mum was much stronger in discipline.

“He was strong as well because he would even discipline my cousins who lived next door and they could tell you,” she recalled.

Gittens also has a 76-year-old son, Clarence Carter, seven grandchildren and eighteen great grandchildren.

anmargboyce@barbadostoday.bb

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The national spotlight was today turned on the operations of the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) with the National Organization of Women (NOW) calling on the top brass of the Force to ensure that an alleged case of harassment of two females was fully investigated.

However, when contacted the Force’s Public Relations Officer Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss was tightlipped on a reported incident on Saturday night in which two lawmen are accused of harassing a group of three women at the Soca Legends event at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

According to one newspaper report, one of the women was approached by one of the two officers and asked for a dance. However, after he was denied, both he and his colleague, who were said to be operating under the influence of alcohol, responded in an aggressive manner to the women. Police were summoned and the two cops were taken to District ‘A’ Police Station for interviews.

However, up to today the names of the officers were still not released and no charges were laid against them, with Inniss reporting that the matter was still under active investigation.

In response, NOW Public Relations Officer Marsha Hinds told Barbados TODAY the two officers in question needed to be held accountable for their actions, as she issued a call for lawmen to take another look how they deal with harassment cases.

“I hope that what has happened over the weekend becomes a turning point in our discussion about the police force and about the responses to patriarchy within the police force,” she said, adding that “these things are open secrets so it will be interesting to see how this case plays out because police officers protect their own”.

Hinds also called for a full and thorough investigation into the matter, while lamenting that in criminal cases involving lawmen, “you never get names or [find out] what happens with these investigations or if the people are brought to account.

“We are hearing too many of these accounts,” she said.

Insisting that Saturday’s incident was not an isolated one, she recounted a personal experience of going to report a domestic abuse case and being “hit on” by an officer.

“We have heard about police officers using that [domestic abuse complaints] as an opportunity for a dating service,” she said, while pointing out that “it is a reason why some victims in domestic violence situations do not go to the police to report because of the response they get - that not being the matter being trivialized, but overtures that are made by police officers.”

However, while making it clear that it was not all officers who were engaging in the worrying practice, the NOW spokeswoman said her organization was concerned that there were still too many instances of police officers using their influence to prey on the vulnerable.

“We also have complaints from men that after having gone through a police circumstance they then find themselves on the outside of the relationships because the officers were having relations with those same women,” Hinds charged, while warning that there was a bigger issue of the Force and what had become its culture.

She is therefore calling for a change in how the RBPF operates.

“The culture has to change, but the culture belongs to an overall society where women are not valued and domestic violence is still not seen as a real complaint,” she said.

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It’s back to Friday for the Pic-O-De Crop calypso finals.

And even though reigning Calypso Monarch Ian iWeb Webster is yet to decide whether or not he will defend his crown, he immediately gave the thumbs up to the National Cultural Foundation’s (NCF) announcement today that after consulting with stakeholders, the island’s biggest calypso competition would revert to the final Friday, instead of the final Saturday leading up to the annual Crop Over climax in Grand Kadooment.

“I am delighted. I don’t know why it was moved in the first place,” he told Barbados TODAY following the announcement which came as music to the ears of reigning the calypso king.

[caption id="attachment_272678" align="aligncenter" width="313"] Ian ‘iWeb’ Webster[/caption]

He explained that Pic-O-De-Crop finals on Friday not only held traditional value for Barbadians, but made good business sense for artistes.

“What it now allows is for persons like myself that have party songs that are doing well to leave Pic-O-De-Crop and work. Last year and the years when it was held on Saturdays, you couldn’t do any fetes and you could not do gigs because you had to preserve your vocals for the competition. But on Friday it is the last competition, you can do your gigs and enjoy Foreday Mornin’.

“I have never enjoyed Fore Day Mornin’ [so] I am happy; very, very happy,” he said.
The reigning calypso monarch, who previously won the title in 2013 and 2014 and who has already generated significant interest with this year’s offerings, including M.I.A and Best In Me, was however unable to say whether the change would convince him to defend his 2017 crown.

iWeb, who is also a finalist in this year’s Party Monarch and Sweet Soca contests, said he would make the announcement next week.

“By next Friday I will definitely announce what I intend to do,” he told Barbados TODAY.

In 2014, the finals had to be pushed back by 24 hours as a precaution against Tropical Storm Bertha which threatened the island with heavy showers and winds.

The following  year, the then Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, Stephen Lashley, announced that the change would be permanent, with the popular Foreday Mornin’ Jam and Pic-O-De-Crop finals taking place on separate days.

That year, there were 54 bands registered for Foreday Mornin’ compared to 37 so far this year, with Lashley suggesting that “so phenomenal has been the growth  that it is now abundantly clear that it is necessary for this event to be held on a separate day in order to allow for more efficient and effective management of this event”.

He also said at the time that notwithstanding the fact that the 2014 decision to postpone the Pic-O-De-Crop finals was in reaction of impending bad weather, “we had an opportunity to give this a test run. And after consultation with our stakeholders, we have decided that in 2015, Foreday Mornin’ Jam will be held on Friday, July 31, and the Pic-O-De-Crop Finals will take place on Saturday, August 1”.

However, following the May 24 general elections in which Lashley’s Democratic Labour Party was swept from power and a new minister – former calypso monarch John King – has taken control of the NCF, the organizers seem to have had a major change of heart.

This time around, once the 2018 calypso monarch is crowned on Friday August 3, revellers will take to the streets at 1 a.m. for the popular Foreday Mornin’ Jam, which will end at 7 a.m. on Saturday, August 4. While assuring patrons that all tickets previously purchased for the Pic-O-De Crop Final would remain valid. The NCF said this change was expected to have a favourable impact on the annual Bridgetown Market, which will offer patrons extended hours this year, running from noon on Saturday, August 4 to 5 a.m. on Sunday August 5.

The market will reopen on 2 p.m. until midnight on Sunday and end on Monday, August 6, after  Grand Kadooment.

In the meantime, the recently introduced room rate levy may well be the straw that broke the backs of Grand Kadooment bandleaders, some of whom are complaining about cancellations from their regular overseas patrons this season, since the additional tax took effect on July1.

Head of the Barbados Association of Masqueraders (BAM) Chetwyn Stewart told Barbados TODAY the levy had made the already high cost of playing mas in Barbados higher, during a time when tourists were finding better value for money from other carnivals across the region.

[caption id="attachment_271597" align="aligncenter" width="390"] Chetwyn Stewart[/caption]

“The new levy is just one of many things that would affect the festival. When you add all of these things together, the impact is really telling because Barbados is already expensive,” Stewart said.

However, the BAM president’s solution to the problem was not a removal of the tax but rather an upgrade of the festival so that visitors could feel as if they were paying a premium price for a premium product.

“The reason why we are getting a big hit is because we have not paid enough attention to the Crop Over brand,” he lamented.

“So a lot of other countries have caught up with Barbados because they are putting attention into their carnival because they value the overseas money that it brings in. So you find places like Jamaica and Vincy Mas [St Vincent carnival] being more appealing and it has gotten to a stage where people just decide to skip Barbados because the price has gotten so high,” Stewart said.

“At the end of day even if you have a product that costs a little more, as long as it is good, people will come. Barbados has always been an expensive destination but people always say how much they love it and want to come back. So the same thing goes for Kadoomen. We have to make sure that we refresh and upgrade the quality of the festival so that people don’t feel as if they are shortchanged,” the Power X Four band leader stressed.

Fellow masquerade bandleader, Anthony Martin of Kontact, concurred with Stewart’s assessment saying he had noticed a drop in overseas patronage since the introduction of the tax.

“Our people that jump with us are telling us that it costs them $3, 000 to come to Barbados from the United States. Now we have the additional room levy and it is causing us some pain,” he said.

Barbados TODAY contacted the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association for a fuller picture of the cancellations. However, officials said they had just begun to compile the data.

During her Budget last month, Prime Minister Mia Mottley revealed that the mandatory room rate levy would be applied across the board.

In a follow up notice, the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport said the levy, which is to be paid by guests, would be applied to the Villa sub sector and all other vacation rental properties, as well as luxury class hotels at a maximum of USD $10.00 per night ; “A” class hotels at USD $5.00 per night and “B” class hotels, apartments and guest houses at USD $2.50 per night.

sandydeane@barbadostoday.bb 

colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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SOURCE: (CBS Miami) Transportation security Administration (TSA) officers at Miami International Airport stopped a passenger on his way to Barbados attempting to sneak a snake on a plane on Sunday.

TSA agents say the passenger tried to “artfully conceal the snake inside the electronics of a hard drive, which was placed in a checked bag.”

The ‘organic mass’ was detected by baggage screening and then a TSA bomb expert was called to investigate the inside of the electronic component where the baby Python was found.

The United States Fish and Wildlife impounded the snake and TSA said the passenger would be fined.

TSA said the “Interception prevented a possible wildlife threat on an aircraft.”

“Animals of many species have been known to escape and chew through wires with fatal results,” they added.

The passenger did not embark on his flight to the Caribbean island and neither did the snake.

(CBS Miami)

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The Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) has a new board, which will be chaired by Jeffrey Headley.

The other members are: David Denny, Senator Rudy Grant, Hal Ifill, Carolyn Maynard, Kirt Trotman, Fabian Sargeant, Glenroy Wade, Barry Wilkinson, and the permanent secretaries in the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment and the Division of Family and Youth, or their nominees.

Meanwhile, Ramon Orlando Alleyne has been appointed Chairman of the National Conservation Commission (NCC), and Alicia Carter his deputy.

The other members are: Leroy Campbell, John Silfred Howell, Lorimer C.A. Denny, Marsha Greenidge, Avril Trotman, Robert A. Tudor, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification or a nominee; a representative of the Barbados Workers’ Union and a representative of the Barbados National Trust.

The appointments took effect from June 16, and are for a period of three years. (BGIS)

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The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s Pesticides Control Unit is urgently seeking the public’s assistance in collecting unused and expired pesticides, as well as empty pesticide containers and equipment used in the treatment of weeds, insects and rodents, among other things.

This information will aid the ministry’s efforts towards ensuring the safe and proper disposal of such materials.

Persons are asked to contact Gennia Oxley of the Pesticides Control Unit, at 535-5122, or email goxley@agriculture.gov.bb; or Sheldene Victor at 535-5249, or svictor@agriculture.gov.bb, by Friday, July 20.

The public is being cautioned by the Unit against disposing of these toxic chemicals in the general garbage collection. Persons in possession of pesticides or such chemicals are also urged to store them in a locked container that cannot be accessed by children. (BGIS)

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Attorney General Dale Marshall today openly accused former ministers of the previous Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Government of corruption.

And without identifying anyone by name, Marshall said enough for persons to deduce where his investigation was headed, as he promised to do everything in his power to bring those culpable to justice.

At the same time, he sought to warn private sector officials not to engage in bribery and corrupt practices, while insisting that those who pay bribes were just as guilty as those who accept them.

“For so long as I am Attorney General of this country I intend to strain every sinew of mine to the point of breaking. I intend to engage every agency of the Crown, either in Barbados or outside of Barbados. I intend to do everything that I can to bring the perpetrators of that dishonest activity to heel,” Marshall said to sustained applause as piloted the Integrity in Public Life Bill in Parliament on Tuesday.

The bill was one of the critical pieces of legislation which the Mia Mottley led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) had promised to introduce during the campaign for the May 24 general election, in which the BLP was swept to power with a mammoth 30-nil victory.

Reflecting on the DLP’s ten-year reign before its spectacular ousting, Marshall said there were many whispers of corrupt practices involving several politicians, as well as bribes being paid by some individuals and business people for various services “whether a contract, licence or permit”.

The Attorney General also charged that several Government contracts were not subjected to a tendering process, despite costing in excess of $200,000. In this regard, he singled out multi-million-dollar contracts for the building of housing units and for the construction of a berth at the Bridgetown Port.

Marshall also highlighted the contract awarded to a private firm to rebuild transmissions for the Transport Board, while insisting that “two ministers of the last administration were driving, and are still driving two BMW 5 series vehicles that are registered to that company that received $28 million of Transport Board taxpayers funds within a contract and without going to tender over the last two years”.

Suggesting that these individuals were warned “time and time again”, Marshall also recalled that certain individuals were called before the Public Accounts Committee to give evidence  in relation to the National Housing Corporation, but said nothing had come of that inquiry.

He also revealed that prior to the May 24 election, approximately 160 taxi and ZR permits were issued, with some people complaining that they had to pay out as much as $10,000 to get them.

“I feel that these things need to be looked at, they need to be investigated.

“We need to tear back the wall, tear back the vaults and look at the paperwork and see what was going wrong. It will take courage,” Marshall said, adding that besides legislation and fines, there was a need for a change in mindset.

“So they need to take warning Sir. They need to take warning. I know that people can find all kinds of ways to try to hide everything. We know that. But we also know Sir, that in time . . . every single one of those individuals who we can identify, they are going to have to give an explanation to the people of this country as to how they came by those ill-gotten gains, and prove to the people of this country that they were come by honestly,” the Attorney General said.

He said while there was no effective method of finding out what they went to office with and what they left with, “inferences can be made”, adding that some went into office with “significant debt”.

“The courts are going to be involved and I want to say that they have already begun to put together a team of individuals to advise and to help direct the process. And let me say that this work will not be done by public servants. I have got the permission of the Prime Minister [Mia Mottley] to engage such skills as I need from outside of the public service and even from outside of Barbados to be able to help us to ferret out the incidences of corruption in Barbados that we know about, but for which we have no proof,” said Marshall, who warned that if the issue of corruption were not quickly addressed it stood to wipe out any gains associated with the country’s economic progress.

Among other features, the legislation provides protection for whistleblowers; makes provision for those going to public life to declare their assets and do the same upon their exit; makes provision for an investigative staff to be put in place; and includes penalties including jail time and fines for individuals found guilty.

Marshall said the new law would be accompanied by Freedom of Information legislation, while pointing out that work of the Select Committee would be done during the summer period in order to have the integrity bill enacted and enforced before the end of this year.

Opposition Leader Joseph Atherley, who crossed the floor immediately after the May 24 general election, said while he lauded Government for sticking to its promise and its swiftness in bringing the legislation, he questioned the level of seriousness after some fines under the new law were lowered from $500,000 and $250,000 to $20,000 and $10,000.

Atherley also called for Government to address policies and practices relating to public procurement and contracts, campaign financing, enhanced justice delivery and for legislation to make provision for cross border prosecution.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley has questioned some aspects of the Integrity in Public Life Bill, which he says has changed considerably since it was initially proposed by the then Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP).

Speaking during debate on the measure in the House of Assembly today, Atherley explained, “When this party was in Opposition, it sent out a draft bill for public scrutiny and comment, and that document called for heavy fines of up to $500,000 and/or five years in jail, along with $250,000 on summary conviction and/or two years for those who ran afoul of the anit-corruption legislation or were seen to facilitate corrupt practices.

“But now it is here before Parliament, those fines have been reduced to $20,000 and $10,000, and I echo the fears of John Public which might believe that we are not entirely serious about this,” Artherley said, while cautioning the Mia Mottley led BLP administration that “you cannot provide legislation outlining breaches and then mete out fines that constitute no more than a slap on the wrist”.

He was also concerned about the fact that Attorney General and Member of Parliament for St Joseph Dale Marshall did not spell out why there was such a significant reduction in the penalties.

However, Marshall subsequently sought to assure Atherley and all and sundry that the changes to the penalties were made in error and would therefore be corrected.

During his contribution to the debate, the Member of Parliament for St Michael West also warned that any legislation dealing with integrity had to consider “public access to information, along with policies related to public procurement, the awarding of public sector contracts and private and public sector joint ventures, because, as we have seen in the past and recent past, policy and practice are sometimes very distant cousins, and I would like to hear how some of the provisions in this present bill will address this matter”.

The Opposition Leader, who was elected in the May 24 election on a BLP ticket but immediately crossed the floor of the Lower House, said campaign financing was another major issue that had not been properly addressed in Barbados, explaining that from as far back as 2003, he had noticed a new and disturbing trend of political figures joining forces with the criminal element, especially those in the drug trade, “in a quest for financial support and ‘turf’ in terms of a voter base”.

Atherley also pointed out that this practice had caused serious trouble in neighbouring Jamaica and other countries over the years.

“When you have links being developed between those two, you are creating an evil the likes of which there is no equal. When politicians look for turf and financial support from certain elements who want to protect their turf, then we are in serious trouble.

“It is a dangerous thing for politicians to be in the pockets of legitimate businessmen, but even worse if they are on the payroll of criminals who corrupt our democratic institutions.

“Political figures must always appreciate that we have been given a high sense of responsibility that we must execute in the most upright way possible,” he stressed in his contribution, which garnered thumps of approval from the Government side.

Atherley was pleased to see that the legislation spoke to freedom of information and independence in terms of the bodies set up to investigate incidences of corruption, but said he hoped they would stick to this provision since “in the Caribbean we tend to set up institutions and create entities that do not enjoy the freedom they are supposed to.

“If we are serious about this, we have to make sure whatever mechanisms we put in place are truly independent, and citizen participation is another important element we must consider in any legislation of this nature,” he said, while also stating that a contractor general was needed to ensure greater oversight of the award of state contracts. 

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Member of Parliament for St Philip North Dr Sonia Browne today warned that corruption involves more than illegal money transactions.

In fact, she told Parliament that women were sometimes made to give a higher value than cash and forced to “get on their knees” to obtain a home.

Participating in the debate on Government’s Integrity in Public Life Bill, Browne hailed the ‘whistle-blower protection’ clause of the proposed anti-corruption legislation, saying it may prove especially useful to needy women who suffer exploitation by public officials.

“It encourages people to come forward without fear of victimization,” she said.

The whistle-blower clause offers protection for persons informing on a series of illegal activities involving public officials, once the disclosure is made in good faith.

While observing that corruption mainly involves monetary transactions, the Government spokeswoman cautioned that “bribing, at least in my constituency, is not all about money”.

Acknowledging that sexual harassment legislation was recently passed into law, she said more needed to done to protect women.

“This is the vulnerable group. There is nothing worse than taking advantage of a female who has children and no other support, who needs a home and is suffering in somebody else’s little room in the back, paying $700 a month when something could be done about it.

“No woman should have to get to her knees  . . .  to get a home, or anything else for that matter,” she stressed, while insisting that “I see it every day”.

Browne, a family physician, said, “of course I’m bound by patient-client confidentiality but I am meeting a lot of women who had to give up what I consider more than money to get homes”.

In supporting the new legislation, Browne said while many Barbadians had not dropped below the poverty line in the midst of an ongoing economic recession, they had suffered a fall off in their socio-economic class, while “we see others flourishing” through misdeeds.

“This is basically blatant corruption, and it is a source of frustration for our people,” Browne said, adding that she was pleased with Attorney General Dale Marshall’s assurance that fines for certain acts of corruption would be adjusted to $200,000 and $500,000, as originally proposed in an earlier Barbados Labour Party promissory document, “because I think the punishment should fit the crime.

“We have people going to prison for less in this country. We have people going into supermarkets stealing a little bit to feed their families - not that I’m saying it is right – but they spend some time in prison. And people are allegedly walking away with millions of dollars and not spending a day,” she lamented.

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The Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) has a new board, which will be chaired by Jeffrey Headley.

The other members are: David Denny, Senator Rudy Grant, Hal Ifill, Carolyn Maynard, Kirt Trotman, Fabian Sargeant, Glenroy Wade, Barry Wilkinson, and the permanent secretaries in the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment and the Division of Family and Youth, or their nominees.

[caption id="attachment_273321" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Barry Wilkinson and David Denny[/caption]

Meanwhile, Ramon Orlando Alleyne has been appointed Chairman of the National Conservation Commission (NCC), and Alicia Carter his deputy.

The other members are: Leroy Campbell, John Silfred Howell, Lorimer C.A. Denny, Marsha Greenidge, Avril Trotman, Robert A. Tudor, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification or a nominee; a representative of the Barbados Workers’ Union and a representative of the Barbados National Trust.

The appointments took effect from June 16, and are for a period of three years.

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Police are investigating a shooting incident at Civilian Road, Bush Hall, St Michael.

Barbados TODAY understands that a female was injured.

(more details as they come to hand.)

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Member of Parliament for Christ Church East Wilfred Abrahams today sought to explain a noticeable difference in the fines listed in the draft Integrity in Public Life legislation when compared to those proposed by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) when it was in Opposition.

Speaking in Parliament during debate on the measure, Abrahams said the changes were made by the parliamentary draftsperson responsible for preparing the bill for presentation in the two houses of Parliament with a view to ensuring that the fines were consistent with other domestic penalties.

“Those fines were changed by the CPC [Chief Parliamentary Counsel] without reference to the [drafting] Committee or to the Attorney General”, the BLP spokesman said while pointing out that nowhere in the draft were the original penalties proposed by the BLP drafting team.

“The CPC being the good officer she is and doing her job, sought to bring them down and harmonize them with what existed in the legislation.

“It is not that we backed down from it,” he explained.

“It [the draft] was laid [in the House] before we caught ourselves and the mistake was then discovered,” he said,  telling the House that once the error was discovered there was the option of pulling the proposed legislation and give instructions to correct it or deal with the mistakes within the appropriate select committee of the House.

“We did not wish to waste any further time in getting this legislation through the necessary steps in this House,” Abrahams said while pointing to an earlier assurance by Attorney General Dale Marshall that the error would be corrected.

Abrahams, who was part of the drafting team comprising Sir David Simmons, QC, as advisor; Leslie Haynes, QC; Dale Marshall, QC; Ralph Thorne, QC; Edmond Hinkson and Stuart Mottley, assured Opposition Leader Joseph Atherley, who had queried the change in fines, “there is no subterfuge [or] no deception [and that] the law will go back to what it was when it was drafted.

“The heavy fines will stay in. And those who run afoul of this legislation will be prosecuted as intended to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.

Further explaining the CPC’s thinking behind the changes made, Abrahams said, “legislation has to be harmonious. Fines must bear some sort of relation to other offences”.

“In the rest of the laws in Barbados there were no fines like this for any comparable criminal offence, so those fines were adjusted down by the CPC to bring them in line with what existed in the legislation of Barbados,” he said.

Abrahams, a former president of the Bar Association said, “if I am convicted for something under this Act I can . . . appeal on the grounds that the fines are disproportionate, that they’re much harsher than anything else that exists in the law”.

But he said that in the drafting process, the team’s position was, “we don’t care. Let the people feel the wrath and let them appeal and deal with it then. We need to show we are serious”.

He said that at the time of commissioning the team to draft the legislation, “our instructions were simple from the now Prime Minister of Barbados … to make the bill tight that nobody can wriggle out. No ambiguity.

“Make the powers of the [Integrity] Commission wide. Allow them to do whatever they need to find, trace and punish corruption in public offices. Make the penalties painful,” he stressed, adding that “when we drafted, the penalties that were put in there were higher than anything existing in our current legislation . . . [or] any other penalties found for similar legislation in the Caribbean.

“We put in the hardest and highest [penalties],” he insisted.

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Attorney-at-law David Comissiong is suggesting that a settlement could be near in the lawsuit that has held up the US$100 million Hilton Centric Resort on Bay Street, The City.

Comissiong told a news conference today the new Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration was hinting that it was ready to withdraw an appeal against a High Court decision confirming his right to challenge the decision to grant permission for construction of the property without first demanding an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

“I have received hints that the BLP administration is not backward and that it will not be continuing with the appeal against the right of a citizen to challenge the decision on a matter as nationally important as this,” the social activist told journalists gathered for the briefing at which he defended his decision to accept a diplomatic post from the Mia Mottley-led Government.

“I have also received hints that the Barbados Labour Party administration may very well concede that a project of this nature required the holding of an environmental impact assessment,” he added, without going into details.

Comissiong, who was recently appointed as Ambassador to CARICOM, also lashed out as those who asked why a settlement could not have been reached with the then Freundel Stuart administration, suggesting that those questioning his motives were immature.

“Those persons who say that need to grow up and be mature. I wrote to Stuart in August of 2016 offering my advice as an experienced attorney. I didn’t want to go to court,” Comissiong said, explaining that it was costly for him to file the Hyatt case.

Back in March 2017, Comissiong filed for judicial review of the permission granted to developer Mark Maloney by the then Prime Minister, in his capacity as Minister responsible for Town Planning, for the construction of the hotel.

While listing several grounds for his action, Comissiong was particularly concerned that Stuart had failed to demand an EIA and to include town hall meetings with those who reside in the vicinity of the proposed construction.

Stuart responded by filing a counterclaim, arguing that Comissiong, as an ordinary citizen, did not have the right to bring a judicial review application.

Justice Sonia Richards ruled last December that Comissiong did have the right to mount the legal challenge, a decision which was immediately appealed by Stuart’s legal team.

Comissiong said in addition to its apparent willingness to settle the Hyatt case, he hoped the new administration would also demonstrate a willingness to settle the Campus Trendz and Arch Cot lawsuits, in which he represents the families of the victims of both tragedies.

However, the social activist explained that on the off chance that his reading of Government’s position was wrong, he was prepared to pass over these matters to another attorney.

“I have not yet sat down with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jerome Walcott, to be briefed on the rights and responsibilities of the ambassador to CARICOM position. I suspect however, that as an ambassador of the country I would not be permitted to engage in litigation, and particularly in litigation against the same Government that I am serving as an ambassador. I would therefore repose these matters in the hands of my colleagues,” Comissiong stressed.

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The island’s largest public sector union has hinted that it was prepared to accept some job losses - although it said its preference was there be no cuts at all - as the Mia Mottley-led administration seeks to steady the economic ship.

The National Union of Public Workers held “cordial” talks with the  International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday, in which it made its position clear that any job losses must be kept to a minimum, NUPW President Akanni McDowall revealed.

“We met with the IMF  . . . . The discussion was cordial, and we emphasized the point that we were trying to minimize, or if not prevent, job losses,” McDowall told Barbados TODAY this morning.

“We indicated to them that we were more concerned about the social aspect of the economic recovery. We told them that the way forward for us was to maintain those social aspects while ensuring that the country gains revenue,” he stressed.

However, despite being satisfied with the case that was made to the lending agency, from which Government is seeking a bailout, McDowall was not confident that the IMF would consider any of his concerns.

“I don’t want to say that we would have impressed upon them any of our positions because that’s anecdotal. However, at the end of the day we would have made the union’s position clear, and they would have listened intently. So, let’s hope that they would have internalized what we were trying to impress upon them,” McDowall said.

The NUPW president also revealed that the union had indicated in no uncertain terms that it was against the privatization of public services, a position which runs counter to that of the lending agency, which has repeatedly recommended shedding Government assets, most recently in its 2017 Article IV report.

“There were not any hard-line positions, but we told them that our aim was to maintain a high quality public service. We also told them that we were not in favour of privatization as was indicated in several IMF reports. In their last Article IV report, the IMF indicated that several public entities could be privatized. We were adamant that the public sector must maintain the responsibilities that it already has. We don’t hold the view that the private sector is more efficient than the public service,” the union boss told Barbados TODAY.

In the IMF’s 2017 Article IV report on Barbados, which was released by Prime Minister Mia Mottley two days after her Barbados Labour Party swept the May 24 general election, the Washington based institution said “while there is significant progress in reducing the high fiscal deficit, the Government will fall short in meeting the ambitious fiscal adjustment targets set in the May 2017 Budget” which was delivered by then Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler.

“The adjustment, if maintained, will lead to a decline in the debt-to-GDP ratio, but debt will remain unsustainable. Further delays in privatization will lead to a continued decline in reserves, while large financing requirements remain a serious challenge,” the report stated.

The IMF said the fiscal adjustment should focus on reducing expenditure, centred on cutting transfers by reforming state-owned enterprises and public pensions. It said the revenue effort should continue by broadening the tax base while increasing the overall progressivity of taxation.

“Strengthening the business climate and competitiveness would support economic growth. Eliminating reliance on the Central Bank financing of the Government deficit would make monetary policy consistent with maintaining the peg,” the IMF said.

Reflecting on the impact of a prolonged recession following the global financial crisis, and inadequate fiscal policy, the IMF noted that Barbados was contending with large fiscal deficits, high debt, and low reserves.

colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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