Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur has refused to be drawn into the raging controversy between Opposition Leader Mia Mottley and parliamentary representative for St James Central Kerrie Symmonds.

Owen Arthur

When pressed for comment by members of the media in Parliament Yard today, Arthur, who is an ardent cricket supporter, quickly switched the conversation to the current test series between India and England in the UK, saying with a broad smile:

“The match between India and England was a most exciting affair.”

He further stated in jest: “Leave me alone, I am tired of being the centre of controversy.”

Opposition MP Dale Marshall is suggesting the Government introduces a new Limited Partnerships Bill to Parliament.

Marshall, who was contributing to the debate on the International Business (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill in the House of Assembly this evening, suggested that if the Government intended to enact any new legislation that brought international business to Barbados, he would like to see the Limited Partnerships Act.

Opposition MP Dale Marshall

“. . . after six years, obviously going on seven, I was delighted that we actually have a piece of legislation that was going to change the face of service providers and how we deal with international business. It has caused many transactions to be scuttled, where simply because you did not have an international business licence renewed, you couldn’t close,” he noted.

However, the Opposition MP suggested that the fault was not with the service providers, but with the International Business Unit.

He said the unit could not keep up with the renewal of licences. He also accused the Government of cutting the budget of Invest Barbados between 2010 and 2012, the agency which was responsible for bringing millions of dollars into the island.

Marshall noted, though, that only recently it “grudgingly” increased the vote when it realised Barbados was falling “way way behind”.

The former attorney general also told the House there was much praise during the 2013-2014 Estimates Of Revenue And Expenditure debate about Government’s Foundation Legislation, but up to this day, not a “single foundation” has been established in Barbados.

He also said that no one has yet promoted this country in Denmark or Greenland, two of the countries with whom Government has boasted of having double taxation treaties.

The time is “ripe” for Government to increase its subvention to private schools on the island, as parents who are facing the challenges of the economic climate are seeking to transfer their charges to public schools.

Veteran educator Matthew Farley has revealed that he was aware there had been no change in the quantum of funds allocated to private schools since 1984, though initially the subvention used to be increased every five or six years.

“While funds allocated to the public education have been exponential increases, for 30 years these schools, many of which have been forced out of existence, have not benefited from an increase,” he said.

Farley sent out this SOS as he addressed the Barbados Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Secondary School’s 2014 graduation ceremony themed Our Dreams Our Reality at Hilton Barbados Resort.

Some of the 2014 graduating class of the Seventh-Day Adventist Secondary School.

The outgoing principal of Graydon Sealy Secondary indicated that schools outside the public sector, including denominational or church schools, had made an outstanding contribution to the development of Barbados, and cognisant of this, the Government since 1965 had provided private schools with a subvention to assist with operational costs. He said the Government must be lauded for its foresight and vision in this regard.

“The retrenchment of workers in the public and private sectors has forced many parents to seek transfers to public schools. Perhaps the time is ripe for the Government, which has not been unmindful to the importance of education, to revisit the amount of money allocated to what is referred to as “the assisted schools”. It is important to note that the children in those schools are Barbadians too,” Farley said.

The educator also explained that over the years, public and private schools had co-existed, operating side by side in the delivery of education. He suggested that it might be argued that public secondary education had its beginnings in church or denominational schools.

Giving a brief history, the principal said the first private grammar school, the Codrington Grammar School which was established in 1745, is now known as The Lodge School, and was established through the resources of the Society For The Propagation Of The Gospel. On this note, he stressed that the development of Barbados owed much to the early establishment of a relationship between church and state, and between the public and private sectors.

“I make bold to say that the denominational or church schools have been undoubtedly the pioneers in making the education available to the masses and not just the classes.”

Turning his attention to the 45 SDA graduands, Farley encouraged them, as they opened a new chapter in their lives, to take inspiration from black hero Dr Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement which he led valiantly with determination, hard work, perseverance, fearlessness, moving from the dreams, hopes and aspirations of his people to the reality which Blacks around the world now enjoy.

Graduand Jatonia Smith.

“With that attitude like Dr King’s, your dreams, your hopes and your aspirations will become reality; and like him you can say, ‘I’ve been to the mountain top; and I’ve seen the promised land. For your mountain top and your promised land will have been achieved when those dreams, hopes and aspirations birthed in your mind and thoughts become one with your reality.

“While you are too young to be able to say “I’ve been to the mountain top, or that you have seen the promised land at this point, it is my hope that the past five or six years you have spent in the corridors of the SDA school would have brought you some distance from the imaginary state of dreams, hopes and aspirations and closer to their being your reality; for there is a sense in which true education can be described as the convergence of dreams with reality,” Farley said.

Pastor Danforth Francis, chairman of the school’s board of management, congratulating the graduands, told them the church organization was happy to have provided them with an environment that exposed them to a holistic education. Francis also urged them, as they made their decisions for the next level of their education, to remember that the church had made full provision for their tertiary needs, noting that right here in Barbados there was an extension campus of the University of the Southern Caribbean.

International ratings agency Moody’s has rejected the Barbados Central Bank’s growth projection of 0.3 per cent for this year.

Pointing to what it described as the island’s fiscal challenges and persistent economic weaknesses, Moody’s warned today that instead of growth, the local economy was expected to contract by 1.0 per cent in 2014. “Exacerbating the credit-negative fiscal trends, Barbados’ economy continues to struggle, and was unable to achieve growth in the first six months of this year, extending its subdued performance over the past seven years,” reported the global ratings agency.

It expects ongoing challenges in the key industries of tourism and offshore services, as well as austerity measures to weigh down economic activity for the rest of the year.

“Therefore, we project a 1.0 per cent year-over-year contraction in 2014,” Moody’s said.

Despite recent positive developments in tourism, such as an additional chartered flights out of Europe, it also pointed out that Barbados’ main industry continues to face significant headwinds.

“In the first half of 2014, total visitors declined 0.2 per cent year-over-year from the low base established last year,” stated the entity.

Moody’s also said that, given the larger budget gap in the last fiscal year, it was now estimating that the Freundel Stuart administration needed a total adjustment of at least $450 million (5.2 per cent of projected 2014 GDP), to reach its deficit objective in the current fiscal year.

“The fiscal first quarter ended in June was an important test for the Government’s ability to deliver its ambitious deficit reduction programme, introduced in August 2013, as the majority of measures are targeted to take effect in the current fiscal year,” said Moody’s.

The agency said that although it foresaw fiscal consolidation to accelerate over the next three quarters, Government will remain constrained by revenue underperformance, difficulty reining in transfers and subsidies and rising interest costs.

“Consequently, we are adjusting our 2014 budget deficit projection to 8.5 per cent of GDP from 8.0 per cent, about two percentage points above the Government’s target, with risks firmly tilted to the downside,”

Moody’s said that while public sector layoffs completed earlier this year had reduced the Government’s wage bill by about nine per cent relative to the first quarter of the previous fiscal year, transfers and subsidies – the largest item on the expenditure side – declined only 1.6 per cent.

It noted that interest expense had increased by 14 per cent, limiting the overall decrease in fiscal outlays to just 1.3 per cent.

“In our view, this illustrates how difficult it is for the Government to curtail socially sensitive expenditures and control interest costs,” Moody’s added.

The ratings agency also expressed concern over the state of the country’s foreign reserves.

“After recovering slightly during the previous three quarters, foreign exchange reserves have resumed their decline, and as of 30 June, remained around 25 per cent below early-2013 levels. This decline occurred, despite a slight recovery in long-term private financial inflows that traditionally help support the Central Bank’s international reserves,” Moody’s said, while cautioning that any further erosion in reserves would likely put added pressure on this country’s currency, which is pegged to the US dollar.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.com

The Royal Barbados Police Force today sounded a new warning to members of the public to be extra vigilant when conducting transactions at Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs).

This following several reports of unauthorized withdrawals via the ATM network.

In a press release, the Force urged users to be on the look out for strange devices on or around the ATM and to also thoroughly inspect the ATM for any devices before inserting their cards.

Police  further advised users to cover the keypad when entering their pins.

“Be aware of suspicious persons in the area of the ATM,” the release added.

A $150,000 appeal has been launched to rebuild the three uninsured houses which were destroyed by fire at Richmond Gap, St Michael on July 9.

In making the anouncement this afternoon at a press conference at the office of the Urban Development Commission in The City, Parliamentary Representative for St. Michael West Michael Carrington called on Barbadians and the business community in particular to help the three householders who lost everything in the blaze and now had to start all over.

He said they were looking to build two-bedroom houses with a concrete toilet and bath at an estimated cost of $50,000 each. He also said he was holding discussions with the insurance companies to see if they could not cover the three houses which were occupied by David Bennett, Sheila Mapp as well as Marion Wickham, who shared her home with her incapacitated mother, Norma Best.

Bennett, Wickham and Mapp attended the press conference and took the opportunity to appeal to Barbadians to help them return to their homes by contributing to their reconstruction.

Also in attendance was the director of the Urban Development Commission Derek Alleyne who said his agency would be addressing each case according to its merit. Alleyne said the Commission, which has already cleared the site where the burnt out houses once stood, would likely lay down the foundations.  However, he made it clear, the UDC would not be assisting the three families with everything.

Carrington, who is the MP for the Richmond Gap area, said while the replacement of houses was outside the mandate of the UDC, he expects some kind of assistance from that government agency.

Even though he was grateful for the contributions of some individuals and entities such as the National Housing Corporation and the Welfare Department, he noted that these were short term.

In tracing a series of fires in his constituency every year since 2008, Carrington said this latest one in which five houses were razed, required much more than handouts.

“There isn’t every need that the constituency, whether it’s Council, the constituency representative or something could fulfill. But I am saying that, in this particular case, enough is enough; and we have to do something more than just the limited amount that we have been able to do,” he added.

“Yes, we’ve gotten some assistance from NHC they’ve been able to provide a temporary unit, yes we have gotten some assistance from [the] Welfare [Department], yes we will get some assistance from Urban [ Development Commission], but is only temporary.

“I have thrown out some other ideas which we can look at. But we felt that because of the magnitude of this one, we neeed to see whether we can go a bit further than just the offering the words of solace and offering the little donations,”   he said.

Barbadians are being urged to remain vigilant as a tropical wave passes through the area.

That advice from Director of Meteorological Service Hampden Lovell following today’s downgrade of Tropical Depression Number 2.

“As we were anticipating, the system was downgraded to a tropical wave. Overnight the system was struggling to survive as it moved to an area of very dry air, along with a lot of level shear, that inhibited any development. That was the prediction from early times, that this system would not really develop as it got closer to the islands.”

However, the met official maintained that while the country would not be affected by storm conditions, tropical wave activity would be experienced tonight into tomorrow.

“There is some cloud associated with the system still and for us here in the Lesser Antilles, Barbados included, more so the northern islands, we should still get some pockets of moderate showers out of this system, accompanied by some thunderstorms and probably some gusty winds.

“We had earlier talked about moderate to heavy showers and we have lessened that activity because the system has petered out somewhat. So although we anticipate some showers, it will not be as drastic as we had anticipated before,” he said.

He expects the system, “will make its merry way through the area and go out of here by Friday”.

Scores of supporters, some armed with placards, were gathered in Heroes Square, The City,  to join Leader of the Opposition Barbados Labour Party Mia Mottley in her march for a repeal of the controversial Municipal Solid Waste Tax.

Among BLP parliamentarians in attendance was Kerrie Symmonds who had earlier indicated that he was not backing the repeal call.

However, visibly absent was former Prime Minister Owen Arthur who has said he is staying away as a matter of principle.

The majority of those gathered were dressed in white. However, there are those who have opted to dress in the BLP colour – red. A truck with music is also on hand.

A little more than 60 persons turned out to support this afternoon’s picket outside the Israeli Honourary Consulate on Palmetto Street in the City.

The protest held in collaboration with the Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine Group and the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration was staged in a show of solidarity with the people in Palestine. From about three o’clock, the protesters, mostly of Asian descent, loudly voiced their contempt for what they described as genocide occurring in Palestine.

With placards detailing the oppression of Palestinians for more than seven decades, they pleaded for world nations to come together to end the bloodshed and suffering of the people.

Enough is enough!

Championing the cause, social activist David Comissiong pleaded with Barbadians to embrace the cause of the Palestinian people and give them their undying solidarity and support.

And though many Barbadians did not appear too concerned about the cause, Comissiong implored “all right thinking people” to do whatever they could to bring an end to, what he called, the horrendous system of murder and genocide that was being inflicted upon the people.

“Let it be said that as small as we are as a nation, that we tried. That we denounced this injustice against the Palestinian people. And we are asking all of the people of Barbados . . . the descendants of people who went through the worst forms of oppression during those centuries of slavery and colonialism, we of all people must have an empathy, must have an undying sympathy with those in this modern world who suffer injustice. Let the Palestinian cause be our cause as well,” he said.

“We are calling upon every power in this world that can bring an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people. . . we are calling upon the governments of the Caribbean region, we are calling upon CARICOM, we are calling  upon our own Barbados Government . . . . We cannot simply sit back and allow the Israeli military with impunity to slaughter Palestinian women, children, and men. It is not right,” Comissiong said.

Improved technology is coming to the banking sector in Barbados to tackle the growing problem of skimming, but that could be years away.

In the meantime, president of the Barbados Bankers’ Association Glyne Harrison is warning customers to be proactive in the way they go about using Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the island.

His advice came a day after police reported a recent spate of unauthorized ATM withdrawals, which reportedly affected a number of residents.

Although he could not say how widespread the problem was, Harrison told Barbados TODAY skimming was generally an organized crime that was on the increase worldwide.

And he warned that the issue should be one to watch out more for as the Barbados economy becomes even more open to new markets and the movement of people was made easier.

He gave the assurance, however, that a special committee set up to deal with bank fraud was currently carrying out its own investigations into the recent incidents.

“From our end though we do have a process that has been in place since we had the last incident with the Bulgarians. We do have a bank anti-fraud committee that sits and reviews these types of incidents and that committee is currently working to identify the compromised customers as well as the compromised ATM locations. They are sort of working through that process to make sure that all those persons who have been affected have been identified,” said Harrison.

The senior banker said the industry was moving towards “higher type of security” worldwide, and Barbados was already making headway with some of those technologies when it comes to the credit card market.

“It is relatively new technology so you are not going to see it rolled out in its entirety across the Barbados landscape in the short term, but it is certainly an area where it is moving in Europe and the US and North America it is something that you will start to see down here as well. But that is pretty much in the medium term. You are not going to see that happening right away,” he said.

Harrison said in the meantime, however, there were a number of steps customers should take in order to protect their Personal Identification Number (PIN) and their banking accounts.

Among them, he said, customers should be aware of their surroundings and use an ATM inside a bank, business establishment or a busy location, as these areas were harder to be targeted by skimmers.

“The other thing is making simple checks. So look for things on the ATM. These devices they are meant to be temporary so they are usually put on with things like glue or tape. So you are looking to see if there are any signs of scratching around the ATM card slot [and] if there is any adhesive tape around the slot where you are pushing in your card. You should look if it looks nice and tight and firm or can you shake it and it sort of moves around. Things like that are red flags and you really should contact the bank if you are seeing those types of things and then go to another ATM to be safe,” added Harrison.

Adding that customers should check the keypads before entering their PIN, Harrison advised Barbadians to be very careful about accepting assistance from anyone at an ATM, and to check their balances regularly, as well as use online banking whenever possible.

Quarantine officers are complaining of being marginalised, says deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Lennox Chandler who believes the situation seriously needs to be addressed.

Speaking at the launch of the Plant Quarantine Procedures Manual at the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters in Graeme Hall, Christ Church this morning, Chandler said based on the conditions under which the officers were forced to operate to the manner in which they were treated at both ports of entry, it was evident that their role was not seen as important.

The agriculturist said many people were not aware or may not even be cognizant that plant quarantine represented the first line of defence against threats of incursion from pests to the island.

“It is sad that in 2014 that plant quarantine has not recorded such a status in Barbados that I would want to see. Our officers are treated, and I am not going to apologise for this, as second class citizens, both at the airport and seaport, in terms of accommodation and the way how they are allowed access in and out of the airport when other agencies are not treated in the same way,” Chandler lamented.

“Other agencies are treated like they are superior to the Plant Quarantine Section. It is something that we have to address and address seriously. Even within our own ministry, plant quarantine has not accorded the type of status that I think it should be,” he said.

Chandler stressed that even after Barbados was able to avoid some of the havoc caused by the pink hibicus mealybug in the region, the scant disregard still looms.

One of the reasons for this, he said, was that people were of the belief that Barbados has no agriculture or little agriculture; hence no need for its protection.

“The fact of the matter is we have plant life . . . we have flora that needs to protected.

“I always use the example of the pink mealybug, which was a pest that ravaged the Caribbean. Through the efforts of the Plant Quarantine Division we were able to prevent Barbados from suffering the same fate as other islands, and we were able to restart trade. Trade had been suspended between Barbados and the islands . . .  it caused a lot of stress across the region. Through the efforts of the Plant Quarantine [Division] . . . we were able to restart trade soon after it was suspended. People don’t recognize these things when it comes to the [importance] of plant quarantine to trade,” Chandler said.

“We in Barbados like to brag that we are a developed country, or we are the most developed of the developing countries. When you look at countries like the USA and see how the plant quarantine unit or division is treated, [they] basically enjoy the same status as any other boarder security agency. And we have to rise to that level in Barbados.

Traffic on Broad Street ground to a halt today just after noon; and Probyn Street and Bay Street were transformed into a sea of white as thousands of demonstrators, led by Opposition Leader Mia Mottley, made their way to Government Headquarters to present a letter to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart protesting the imposition of the Municipal Solid Waste Tax.

Opposition Leader Mia Mottley led like a true general today; she was upfront.

It was just after noon that Mottley emerged from the southern gate of Parliament, surrounded by several members of her parliamentary team, to be greeted by loud cheers from a large and excited crowd that had assembled in Heroes Square long before the scheduled noon start of the walk.

During the march, it was noticeable that the only no-show today was former Prime Minister Owen Arthur, while St James Central MP Kerrie Symmonds, who had locked horns with Mottley earlier this week over her stance on the tax, featured in the front ranks of the demonstrators.

It took about ten minutes before Mottley could pull herself away from the enthusiastic supporters who hugged her, patted her on the back and offered words of encouragement.

There is no doubt where BLP supporter Anne Lythcott’s allegiance lies.

As the large placard-bearing crowd made its way in front of the Treasury Building and over the Duncan O’Neal Bridge and on to Probyn Street, several shoppers and pedestrians assembled on the sidewalk to cheer and offer words of encouragement.

As members of the procession made their way along the route, they were treated to the popular Bob Marley tune Get Up, Stand Up For Your Rights and such popular calypsos as Black Stalin’s You Can Make It If you Try; Gypsy’s  Captain, The Ship is Sinking; Red Plastic Bag’s Bim; and Serenader’s Out of Wuk.

The crowd was armed with placards that carried such messages as The DLP Is Not Working; Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay; and a report card that showed Failed for the years 2008 to 2014.

During the hour-long march, a speaker from the truck carrying the public address system and providing the music, said to the crowd: “If you working with Mia, raise your hand” –– at which point scores placard-bearing hands shot up into the air, showing their support for the Barbados Party leader.

Addressing the large crowd at the conclusion of the march near the traffic lights on Upper Bay Street, Mottley said: “Today is about sending a message that the people of Barbados will not allow anybody, not even the Barbados Labour Party, Democratic Labour Party, the private sector to intimidate them ever again. You have been raised to think for yourself, and you have the right to speak out without somebody trying to unfair you in this country.

“So today is equally about reclaiming for Barbadians the right to express themselves in an environment where fear is removed. We do not believe that the removal of a Commissioner of Police, or the charging of a reverend for saying this is the worst Government, or threatening businessmen with contracts, or threatening people with jobs –– this cannot continue in a Barbados of the 21st century.

“If ever the time comes that you give us the confidence to lead you, we too must ensure that we never rule a Government that’s unfair, or to cause fear in the country. This is the solemn promise of the BLP.”

Several party stalwarts made their presence felt today and they included former Cabinet members Sir Louis Tull and Delisle Bradshaw, Lady St John (widow of former Prime Minister Sir Bernard St John) and former Deputy High Commissioner to London Herbie Yearwood.

Also making their presence felt were pollster and political commentator Peter Wickham; lecturer in political science at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, Dr Tennyson Joseph; and DLP candidate for Christ Church West in the 2008 general election, Taan Abed.

nevilleclarke@barbadostoday.bb    

Barbados Labour Party stalwarts such as former Cabinet members and former high ranking members of the diplomatic corps turned up today to participate in the protest march against the imposition of the Municipal Solid Waste Tax.

Included among the party stalwarts were former ministers Sir Louis Tull, Delisle Bradshaw and Erskine Griffith; former Deputy High Commissioner to London Herbie Yearwood; Mia Mottley’s mother Amor; and Lady St John, wife of late Prime Minister Sir Harold St John.

Party stalwarts, Dr William Duguid and Sir Louis Tull were in the crowd today.

Giving his views on today’s march to a Barbados TODAY team, Sir Louis said: “I am happy with the outcome. I certainly did not expect such a large turnout and such an enthusiastic one. I stood by the side of the road and watched the people move by; and I am very pleased with the outcome.

“However, more importantly, the question is: why are they here? Why did these people come out in the midday sun? They have come out to register their disappointment with not only the way the Government is running the country, but the way in which they were treating them.

“I heard that the Prime Minister has not met with the Leader of the Opposition to accept the letter that she was handing over. I find that somewhat surprising in Prime Minister Stuart. It is a bit petty,” Sir Louis added.

Asked to comment on the absence of former Prime Minister Owen Arthur, Sir Louis said: “I do not know about the former Prime Minister, because I am not in touch with him. I do not know what he is thinking, what he is saying, what he is feeling, or why he is not here. I am the wrong person to speak to about Arthur’s no-show.”

Giving her thoughts on the march, Lady St John said: “It is wonderful to come out with the people marching and saying what we had to say. If the Prime Minister does not listen now, that’s his problem. I think the crowd was wonderful.

“It is good to see the island speaking –– not only the Barbados Labour Party –– but the island speaking against this tax.”

Long-standing first vice-president of the Barbados Cricket Association, Condey Riley, also commented on the protest action today.

“It was a very encouraging march. People just came out to show discontent with not only the tax, but the other 26 increases in tax and fees imposed over the last five years. It is like the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Asked to give his views on the march, St Michael West-Central constituent Richard Harper said: “I think it was a very beautiful and educational march; and I feel that we should have had about 70,000 to 80,000 people in the march. It shows that the people are dissatisfied with the Government and the tax.”

Opposition Leader Mia Mottley says the “massive” turnout for today’s anti-Municipal Solid Waste Tax march shows the Freundel Stuart administration that Barbadians were willing to stand up against “a bad tax”.

Mottley told a news conference at the end of the trek to Government Headquarters that the letter she delivered to Prime Minister Stuart urged him to set up a new governance mechanism, which she contended the country needed.

“Today was to set out … I have written the Prime Minister a letter, it is a genuine letter; let him have the opportunity to read it, let him have the opportunity to respond. You would know that we have called for the new governance mechanism too many times. But this is not a case of us now wanting it, this is a case of the country needing it,” Mottley added.

Earlier, while on the march, she told the supporters today’s event was the first in a series.

At the news conference, the Opposition Leader said the demonstrators, numbering between 3,000 and 5,000, were sending a message to the authorities that they wanted to be heard on the levy, which she is urging Prime Minister Stuart to repeal.

Asked what she took away from the march considering attendance she replied: “That the people of Barbados want to be heard, that this is a bad tax, that they feel that their government is ignoring them. When last has this number of people stood up for anything in Barbados?”

“They tell me when people had passed Harbour Lights, people were still down by Bethel Church. But I didn’t see it. Suffice it to say that I know for sure that these numbers have not stood up in Barbados as one for anything and we keep saying people are frightened and it is probably true,” Mottley pointed out.

She said she understood workers employed by the Financial Services Commission were instructed not to get involved in today’s protest march.

“Don’t mind you can’t tell people what to do in their lunch hour, don’t mind you can’t do it because there is freedom of assembly. There is too much intimidatory tactics. But the people have said, irrespective of what you do, there are some of us who are prepared to stand up, and to those who did not come together, we give you comfort that we will hold their shield broad enough to cover you, so that we can move forward peacefully in this long journey to the hope, to restoration,” Mottley continued.

The Opposition Leader complained about the treatment meted out to her when she arrived at Government Headquarters to present a letter to the Prime Minister, regarding the tax.

“The Members of Parliament and caretakers accompanied me, along with a few ordinary citizens; and when we got there [Government Headquarters] we were told that we could not carry the letter to the Prime Minister’s Office. I didn’t expect necessarily to see the prime minister, although I must tell you that if I was prime minister of this country and somebody came to me, I would come to them and greet them, because it is common courtesy and especially if you are holding a constitutional post,” added the Opposition Leader.

“Regrettably the prime minister’s s security came, you were there, you heard how he addressed me, you heard how he addressed the crowd that was there, and before that got out of hand and bearing in mind that we had a couple thousand people in the hot sun, we felt that after 10 minutes of waiting, we left the letter there and came out; because it wasn’t fair to the people outside who were waiting.

“As [soon as] we got in the yard, somebody told me that somebody was coming, but by that stage we were then walking,” she noted.

Mottley told reporters this did not surprise her. “This was not something that happened out of mid-air. These are the kinds of things that we say are wrong with the governance of this country. There has to be a tone of leadership that raises this country, not diminishes each of us,” she contended.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

Saying he was fed up and tired of being perceived “as a source of discord” within the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP), former Prime Minister Owen Arthur plans to make a definitive statement tomorrow on his future relationship with the BLP, which he led for over 15 years.

Arthur served notice of his intention mere hours after the BLP, under the leadership of Mia Mottley, held a protest march through the streets of The City today against the Government’s introduction of the controversial Municipal Solid Waste Tax.

However, Arthur, who was noticeably absent from today’s “white march” which was attended by the other 13 sitting BLP Members of Parliament, said his decision to “abstain” was based on principle.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, the St Peter MP also admitted to feeling “conflicted” as he promised to say definitively tomorrow whether he felt he still had a future with the BLP.

Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur

“I am tired being perceived as the source of discord in the party, and tomorrow I will be making a definitive position in terms of my future relationship with the Barbados Labour Party,” said Arthur.

Pressed to say whether he would be resigning, Arthur would only say “you will get it [my statement] tomorrow, but it will be very definitive”.

At issue for him, is Mottley’s stance that there needs to be repeal of the Municipal Solid Waste Tax.

Arthur, who was Prime Minister for 14 years, said it would be “hypocritical” for him to support such a call at this stage, since one of his first acts when he took over the Government in 1994, was to introduce an environmental levy.

“I am the only person in Barbados who cannot with honour, participate in an event with the intention of protesting totally against a Government introducing a measure to raise resources for environmental solutions, and  I cannot do that with any honour because I introduced one as my first act as Minister of Finance and Prime Minister of Barbados,” he told Barbados TODAY, adding that his decision was prompted then by three reasons that remain valid.

“The first is that at the Rio Summit in 1991, the global community . . . committed itself to heightenng the fight to find solutions to environmental issues and urged that countries and governments introduce in their fiscal system, measures to raise resources for environmental management and sustainable development on the basis of the ‘polluter pays’ principle.

“It is for that reason that in 1995 I introduced an environmental levy as Minister of Finance,” Arthur recalled.

He noted that the levy, which was in existence for 15 years, was introduced at a time when the absence of resources for environmental development and management led to a debacle at Mangrove called Mount Stinkeroo “and it was no longer acceptable that the country should see the absence of financial resources as a reason why we have Mount Stinkeroos in Barbados”.

He said his former administration had also accepted that environmental management issues were going to factor heavier and heavier in the context of public policy in Barbados.

“We had to put in a South Coast Sewerage System. We still need one for the West Coast. We had to deal with Mangrove. You had to protect the shoreline; and I could go on.”

Based on that, Arthur said he could not now fault the Freundel Stuart administration for its move to apply resources to deal with environmental management, even as he warned “you have to do it properly”.

“This Government abolished the environmental levy and then came with a tax that was absurd. It is [now] trying to make the tax sensible. But I cannot participate with honour in [a march] to have no environmental resources at all,” said Arthur.

He went on to dismiss Mottley’s proposal for a water levy to replace the Municipal Solid Waste Tax, saying it would only make matters worse.

“That would cause me, if that was to be the proposal, to do in St Peter, what I did in relation to the municipal tax. I would have to urge my constituents not to pay that too. So I am therefore in a very conflicted position,” he said.

“I have already indicated that I was not comfortable with what the Democratic Labour Party had done. They have shown an initiative to try to address that. I am not happy with what the Labour Party has put on the table. In fact, I think that will lead to a worse situation; and, therefore, I abstained and I am going to address this matter further in the context of its politics tomorrow. But I abstained today because having introduced an environmental levy, I can’t tell the country now that the Government cannot raise resources for environmental management. I can’t do that. It is not fair,” he stressed.

In a further knock on the knuckles of Mottley, he said: “It is naive to say that we got this vast problem, but it can’t be addressed.”

However, he does see some validity in the argument by Opposition MP Kerrie Symmonds earlier this week when he warned that the country faces “a financial cliff from which we have to come back”.

“It is a $1.8 billion [problem] and there are going to be no solutions that are painless; some will be very unpopular,” warned Arthur.

Within the context of recent statements to the effect that the country now was now “broke”, Arthur also warned that “the last thing” Barbados should want to do now is to go to the International Monetary Fund, which he said “will be more painful than a tax on water or a tax on solid waste”.

kaymarjordan@barbadostoday.bb

Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Chris Sinckler has dismissed the latest Moody’s report on Barbados, saying it is not very important.

However, noted economist Ryan Straughn said he agreed with the latest report, and has questioned the Government’s ability to maintain the reserves and attract private sector investment.

Yesterday, international ratings agency Moody’s rejected the Central Bank’s growth projection of 0.3 per cent for this year, saying instead the local economy was expected to contract by 1.0 per cent.

Moody’s also expressed concern over the state of the country’s foreign reserves, while cautioning that any further erosion in the reserves could likely put added pressure on the Barbados currency.

However, in his response Sinckler told Barbados TODAY “that is Moody’s view”, adding that the agency did not have access to all the information that the Central           bank did.

“Therefore, the thing that they do as much as anybody else is estimate. This thing about the growth this year and whether it is going to be 0.3 per cent or down one per cent, it is all just guess work,” added Sinckler.

In defending the Central Bank’s prediction, Sinckler said it was a given that the economy would not experience any robust growth, adding that there was always a margin of error and no one was debating that.

In response to concerns about the reserves, the Minister of Finance explained that last year the reserves started to decline around the end of April to the beginning of May and therefore when compared to this year it was indisputable that the the reserves had stabilized for the first half of this year.

“Yes, the pace of fiscal consolidation can be quicker, and will gather pace as you go on through the year. But nobody can say that that process has not in fact started,” he said.

Dismissing the Moody’s report, Sinckler said: “It is not that really important. What is important is achieving the targets that we have set and that is what we intend to do and that is what we are working towards. That is what the municipal tax and all that is a part of. So we either want to achieve our tax or we don’t, and I think that most Barbadians want to and [we] will do so.”

In a separate interview, Straughn told Barbados TODAY the Moody’s report was “confirming what everybody knows”.

He said it would be difficult for the Barbados economy to experience any growth this year since the correct conditions were simply not there.

Straughn explained: “Given the domestic situation, there is the continued impact on VAT, the continued impact on consolidation tax and household spending and now the introduction of this new tax [ the Municipal Solid Waste Tax] although it is delayed somewhat, it is not conducive to doing business domestically. So I really don’t see, based on those things, growth in the absence of some foreign injected project.”

He insisted that the current fiscal and monetary policies being pursued by the Freundel Stuart administration were hindrances to economic growth and attracting private sector investment.

“The ability to attract foreign investment is a critical part of the puzzle, because unless we are attracting and earning foreign exchange then we are going to be forever in this problem and borrowing currency to pay public servants is not a strategy I would say is a workable one,” added Straughn.

Suggesting that the recent announcement of capital injection into property projects was not enough, Straughn added: “Given that the financing seems to have gone astray, it is difficult to see where you can get genuine growth opportunities in this type of environment.”

The past president of the Barbados Economic Society (BES) said the deficit was only a little less than it was for the first quarter of last year, adding that it demonstrated that the fiscal consolidation measures put in place by Government was not significant enough and it was “a serious situation” that needed to be addressed.

On the issue of the reserves, Struaghn said the reason it was at the levels reported by the Central Bank was due to government’s borrowing last December and March this year, and he questioned “what are they going to do December this year [ if the government continues to spend like it is]?

“So the question is are we then going to continue to go into the market to borrow, on what can only be concluded as onerous terms, just so we can say that we have reserves up there?” questioned Straughn.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler is not moved by the 3,000 plus supporters involved in today’s Barbados Labour Party (BLP) protest to press for repeal of the controversial Municipal Solid Waste Tax.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY following today’s march, which started at Heroes Square and ended at Government Headquarters, Bay Street, Sinckler said while he acknowledged the efforts of Opposition Leader Mia Mottley, it was not enough to convince anyone that the tax should be withdrawn.

In fact, he said he believed former Prime Minister Owen Arthur’s method of dealing with the tax was precisely how such issues should be handled, pointing out that Government had already made interventions and adjustments to the tax.

“Appeals have come in and we have been dealing with them as expeditiously as we can. There was one particular group that we have helped in the circumstances,” said Sinckler, in reference to the recent changes made to the levy.

He also said today’s march was not only about repeal of the tax, but also for the imposition of a tax on water, which will not be supported by the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP).

Asked to comment on the turnout for the event, Sinckler said: “Large is relative. To an ant a dog is large but to a dog an elephant is huge. There are 80 thousand property owners who would have received tax demand notices. Would you consider 3,000 of 80,000 to be large? he asked.

However, he went on to state that “the numbers thing is not important. What is important is the purpose of the tax which is to assist us with the management of the cost of dealing with the solid waste and that’s the basic purpose.

“Everybody accepts that there is a major solid waste problem in Barbados . . . . The disagreement seems to be about the type of tax that you utilize and that way it is six of one, half dozen or the other or the next.”

He warned: “You are still going to have to impose some type of tax and that’s the point Kerrie Symmonds [made] before he had his road to Damascus experience between last Sunday and today. I agree with him, and unfortunately he seems not to agree with his own self, but the fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, whether it is B or D, Chris Sinckler or Mia Mottley, this Minister of Finance or another one, a charge is going to have to be placed,” he added.

He said while today’s exercise may have given promotion to the Opposition Leader and her internal battles with the labour party leadership, at the end of the day this Government was trying to solve a problem that “they [the BLP] created”.

Clyde Mascoll is fed up of responding to reports issued by international ratings agencies on the state of the Barbados economy.

Mascoll, the economic advisor to the Opposition Barbados Labour Party, made his feelings known this afternoon when asked to comment on the latest report by Moody’s, which rejected the Barbados Central Bank’s forecast that the local economy would grow this year by 0.3 per cent.

From left: BLP members Reverend Joseph Atherley, Clyde Mascoll and David Gill took part in today’s march.

Moody’s had suggested that instead of growth, the economy was expected to contract by 1.0 per cent; that the dollar could be in jeopardy if the foreign exchange reserves continued to decline; and that the fiscal deficit would worsen.

However, Mascoll said he said he was tired of repeating himself that the Barbados economy was in trouble.

“I must confess to the people of Barbados, I’m tired of repeating myself. Barbados’ economy is in trouble. It has been now for a while. Barbados has a problem with a lack of growth, Barbados has a problem with a fiscal crisis which it cannot resolve, Barbados has a debt problem, Barbados has a growing unemployment problem
and therefore Barbados’ economy, as we all know by now, regardless of which side of the political fence we are, is in trouble,” he said.

He also expressed disappointment that Barbadians seemed to pay more heed to Moody’s, when he has been telling them the same bad news for years.

Mascoll lamented that this country appeared to prefer listening to foreigners like Moody’s who take their information from Barbados, rehash it and deliver it back here for citizens to consume.

The economic advisor argued that the right thing must be done to ensure the problem was resolved, because the country could not continue on its present path.

“The poor [are] becoming poorer, business people are losing profits, households are under strain, everyone is hurting in Barbados, except for a very few, especially those who continue to ride in very big rides after professing to be poor and not wanting to have a cut in salary. Yet still they are now demonstrating all kinds of vehicles. I see BMWs when I went in to carry the letter [to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart on the Municipal Solid Waste Tax today], I saw Audis, I saw Mercedes,” pointed out Mascoll.