Members of the public suffered a grueling morning at the Winston Scott Polyclinic. The sick and those accompanying them endured hot sun and intermittent showers, as they waited in vain on the promised reopening of the medical complex.

In fact, at least one trade union official said Barbadians will have to live without the services of the clinic until nurses and other members of staff are convinced that the complex is suitable for re-opening.

[caption id="attachment_292481" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Scores arrived at the Winston Scott polyclinic this morning but were eventually informed that it would remain closed for the day.[/caption]

Over the weekend, the Ministry of Health and Wellness announced a 10 o’clock, Monday morning re-opening of the polyclinic as officials sought to implement security upgrades after two violent incidents last week.

At that time however, staff was struggling to re-open the complex as Medical Officer in charge of the polyclinic, Dr. Ingrid Cumberbatch informed those waiting to enter that they would have to wait for another hour and a half.

“I think they have handled this situation very unprofessionally. If they knew they were not ready to re-open, we should have been informed of this from yesterday, instead of having people come around here from as early as 9:30,” said one woman, who arrived early in hopes of having an “important procedure” performed.

Another chimed in: “There are people out here with babies from as early as 9 o’clock or maybe even before that. Only one young lady with a child is seated and all of the other mothers are standing outside with their babies, just waiting and at a standstill. There are elderly people out here also, so they should have been a bit more upfront about letting everybody know what the case is.”

During the lengthy morning wait; a young girl in a primary school uniform began to vomit near the entrance of the clinic, but was forced to continue waiting outside with only a bottle of sprite to replenish her lost fluids.

When asked by Barbados TODAY to provide an update for the benefit of the public, Dr Cumberbatch exclaimed, “No and No and No!”

Eventually, management reportedly decided to close the polyclinic for the day and re-open tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.

However, acting General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), Delcia Burke is not yet convinced that such a time is reasonable.

“I am not going to tell them to stall the opening, but it is pretty obvious that it cannot be opened tomorrow. From what I am seeing, the cleaners and the nurses are trying, but it does not look feasible at this time.

“They are now in there with all kinds of bleach and all kinds of things and in some areas, they can’t start doing anything, because the areas have not yet been cleaned,” said Burke.

She added: “I don’t think they see it as beyond the call of duty, but because it is something they don’t normally do, and so it is taking some time.

Longstanding General Secretary of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados, Dennis DePeiza, was a bit more optimistic about the new proposed re-opening.

“Clearly there’s a lot of work to be done in terms of the sanitation and reopening of the operation and some internal work that has been commissioned over the weekend by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

“I would hope that by midday tomorrow it would be in a position to open the doors to the public again,” he said.

The union leaders could not comment on the proposed security upgrades, saying they had not yet been sufficiently briefed on the matter.

In the evening session of the House of Assembly Minister of Health Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic addressed the situation at the polyclinic with a stern appeal to Barbadians to desist from engaging in lawless behaviour at polyclinics or at any healthcare facility.

“This is a no, no,” he said.

“I appeal to people to be responsible about this because when you behave in a manner that was displayed over the last two or three weeks and you traumatise the staff and then services cannot be delivered, you may be stopping services from being delivered to your family, friends and members of your community and that does not make sense.”

He warned that if necessary his Ministry was prepared to take tough action to counter such bad behaviour.

“And while I am not one in favour of denying people access to healthcare, [when] you have repeat offenders then we are going to have to find some mechanisms to ensure that the few do not interrupt the flow of the many,” Bostic told the Lower Chamber.

Electric doors, scanners and limits on the number of people allowed to accompany those seeking care are among sweeping security measures to be implemented at the clinic. In light of the recent violence, the changes have received some public support but others pleaded with authorities to take it a step further.

“Instead of guards, there should be police posted at the polyclinics, because they are better equipped to handle these things than a guard who hasn’t encountered these things before,” said one woman waiting outside of the polyclinic.

“I came here on Friday and saw the people outside scrubbing the chairs and telling us the clinic is closed. If people want to get into those types of altercations, take it outside or something. An innocent person could have been seriously injured or killed in the crossfire,” she said.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb

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Business owners who stand to lose out as a result of the soon-to-be implemented ban on single-use plastics in Barbados should be compensated by Government.

That suggestion was made today in Parliament by Opposition Leader Joseph Atherley during debate on the Control of Disposable Plastics Bill 2019.

Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey, recently announced that vendors and retailers will now have until July 1, to use their existing stock, while the ban on the importation of the products will remain April 1, as planned. Additionally, the January 1, 2020 ban on all petro-based plastic bags also remains in effect.

Atherley said the ban meant that jobs would be lost, at a time when Government was also looking to make cuts in the public service.

“There are people who are involved in enterprises, whose main business relates to the use of plastics and this ban and the breadth of it will have implications for them going forward and their jobs.

“Some of them have been working in this area for 30 and 35 and close to 40 years. So in this era where we are constrained significantly by our relationship with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the arrangements that flow there from, part of which is the address of employment levels in the public sector and we are into the business of retrenchment, we have to be acutely aware that unintentionally so in this instance, we will be adding to the numbers who are unemployed going forward,” the Opposition Leader said.

He contended that while the ban was an act of good intention by Government, it was also not the fault of those business owners who will be negatively impacted.

As a result, Atherley said Government needed to look at the possibility of compensating those businesses, as some had invested heavily in buying equipment and would therefore “suffer significant losses” as a result of the ban.

“I want to suggest to the Minister and seriously so, that perhaps Government needs to think about compensating those businesses which will be significantly impacted by this measure.

“This loss in their case will not be as a result of bad business practices. It will not be resulting from failure of their business...but they now will be forced to suffer economically and financially because of this measure, through no fault of their own,” Atherley maintained.

“The question in that context will always have to be raised, as to whether or not Government has a moral responsibility at least, to consider compensation to some of these people, since this loss incurred by them with respect to their businesses is not induced by their own failure or bad practices, but by Government’s good intentions to clean up our environment.” 

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Government is set to save millions of dollars when the ban on the importation of single-use plastics comes into effect.

That is according to Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Kirk Humphrey who said using environmentally-friendly materials was not only healthier but also more cost-efficient.

Speaking in Parliament today during debate on the Control of Disposable Plastics Bill 2019, Humphrey revealed that single-use plastics in packaging had been calculated to cost around $5 million.

He said within the first year of the ban, the country was set to save almost $6 million on plastic bags alone.

“If we were able to reuse some of these plastics, we would save a significant amount of money. So here is the plan; I believe all Barbadians should have one or two reusable plastic bags...the initial costs may be a few dollars, but if you keep those bags for a year, the savings to the country would be phenomenal,” Humphrey assured.

The Minister said it had been calculated that 150 000 pounds of single-use cups, or six million cups were being imported into Barbados annually.

Additionally, he said 140 000 pounds of plastic straws were also being imported into the country every year.

However, the most shocking statistic revealed that Barbados was using almost 90 million plastic bags annually.

He said Barbados had to pride itself in becoming the cleanest country in the region.

“At the end of the day we don’t need them, and I hope we get to the point where Barbados has said this is the final straw,” Humphrey noted.

“Barbadians are using millions of bags in a year and it only looks so, but the fact is most of these bags are not going to any recycler because you don’t recycle these bags. A significant portion of these bags is ending up in the ocean, ending up in the fish.

“We have to change the way we do business and that is how we got to this legislation,” he added.

Humphrey said studies had shown that the use of plastics was not only killing fish and marine life, but human beings as well.

He said microplastics were ending up in fish and were eventually being consumed by human beings, leading to a “direct contribution to ill health”.

According to Humphrey plastics had been shown to cause gastroenteritis and could also lead to depression among human beings.

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A well-known local economist is warning Barbadians that unless Government comes up with a growth strategy during this period of austerity, the country will be in for a “foreign exchange” crisis soon.

According to Michael Howard, Professor Emeritus in Economics at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, “In the context of a serious foreign exchange constraint on growth, Barbados will continue to be a low growth economy and will experience future foreign exchange crises.”

Howard did not go into detail about the nature of the foreign exchange crisis but his prediction flies in the face of Government’s best assurances that the Barbados dollar is safe.

The retired economics professor is concerned by what he sees as a lack of Government strategy for structural transformation and economic growth. Howard told Barbados TODAY in an interview that it was simply impossible for growth to occur under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Barbados Economic Recovery Transformation (BERT) programme.

“Sustainable growth is important for the future. However, it is almost impossible for Barbados not to experience severe austerity under the present IMF/BERT programme and sustainable economic growth simultaneously, in the present recessionary context. Even though Jamaica has done well under recent IMF programmes, and had a private sector-supported growth strategy, Jamaica’s average growth rate has been a low 0.9 per cent for many years,” he explained.

He added, “The fundamental problem of restructuring the Barbadian economy is that we lack internationally competitive export growth engines other than tourism, which can earn foreign exchange.”

The economist argued that with more layoffs certainly on the horizon, resulting in a further dampening of Government’s tax revenues, it was difficult to see Government meeting the IMF target of six per cent primary surplus of GDP.

“Moving the public finances from a three per cent surplus to a six per cent surplus is a big task requiring further cuts in public expenditure and increases in revenue.

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LIAT’s owners - four Caribbean nations including Barbados - are being urged to take pay cuts for pilots off the table as they mull options for a new flight path for the cash-strapped carrier.

Ahead of planned talks in Barbados on Wednesday between LIAT’s shareholder governments, management and unions representing the airline’s workers, pilots have served notice that a salary cut is not an option.

President of the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIAPA), Carl Burke, said his members are very reluctant to accept the call for a salary cut at this time.

Burke told Observer Radio in St John’s: “Looking at the situation as it is right now, if we are to go forward doing the things that we are doing now, if we do not look at the scheduling, if we do not look at how we are going to generate the revenue going forward, we can give up ten per cent now and we have no idea when the company will rebound for us to recoup that investment or even for them to start paying the staff back,”.

He said the pilots feared being in a position “where next year they come asking for an additional five per cent. We just do not have the confidence in the team”.

At another round of talks in Barbados on Saturday, Vincentian Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, the chairman of the shareholder governments, was tightlipped on proposals emerging from the meeting, but said more would be revealed after Wednesday’s discussions.

Earlier this month,  Dr Gonsalves said progress had been made regarding the future direction of the regional airline, following a more than four-hour meeting in Barbados.

The shareholders have been asked to raised $10.8 million (US$5.4 million) in emergency funding need to keep the airline aloft. At the same time, 11 destinations had been given until March 15 to respond to the airline’s minimal revenue guarantee (MRG) proposals.

Under the MRG model, unprofitable flights may be cut if a destination’s government is not prepared to fund them with a guarantee, Gonsalves said, adding that theoretically, several countries reported having no quarrel with the MRG.

Gonsalves had suggested that the major shareholders – Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines – were close to securing buy-in from the unions into the plan, even though it would call for some sacrifice on their part.

The workers were represented by the LIALPA and the Barbados Workers’ Union, whose representatives declined to comment until they had first reported to their members.

But Dr Gonsalves said the extent to which workers would be expected to sacrifice is still to be determined.

“The extent of what is to be borne we will know in a couple of days when [the unions] talk to their members, but we had a very positive response,” he said.

During her Budget speech last week, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said that the restructuring of the airline is expected to dramatically cut the airline’s costs to the taxpayer.

She said: “Although our goal is to eliminate the need for capital contributions to the airline altogether, our fiscal year 2019 budget includes a small subsidy assumption for minimum revenue guarantee agreements on specific flight arrivals to BGI. The exact cost will depend on ticket fares and how full the planes are, but, needless to say, we think it makes sense to guarantee specific flights given the taxes and benefits to the broader economy that accompany arrivals.”

Burke told radio listeners in Antigua that while the pilots had rejected the call for the salary cut, they were not closing the door entirely on the idea.

He said: “Of course we would have laid down some conditions which must be looked at before we could consider making such a huge investment at this time.

“As you know it took us some time to get us to where we are. We haven’t signed a contract with LIAT since 1996 and from 1996 to 2010 when we went to arbitration, the pilots had foregone at least five years of wage freeze.”

The Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) reported that workers in all of LIAT’s 15 stations have also rejected a salary cut.

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Some farms could go under, the head of the nation’s oldest farm body warned today, as they face rising costs linked to a rate increase on commercial water usage.

CEO of the Barbados Agricultural Society James Paul revealed that livestock farms have already been knocked by the Garbage and Sewage Contribution (GSC) levy that is tacked on to water bills.

He also said he expected the burden to intensify due to rising rates on commercial water.

From May 1, commercial entities will have to pay for excess water which is above the limit. The commercial rate will be $4.66 per cubic meter up to 40 cubic meters and then $7.78 per cubic meter for usage in excess of 40 cubic meters of water, with a monthly cap of 12,000 cubic meter, after which the rate reverts to $4.66 per cubic meter. This tax change is expected to result in a net revenue increase of $2.1 million per month for the Barbados Water Authority.

Paul argued that the November 2018 levy was a burden for local farmers. He stressed that the increase on commercial water rates will have an additional impact on agricultural operations, especially livestock farms.

Paul said: “In terms of the poultry industry, they have to use a lot of water because it is a normal part of the whole hygiene process. Pig farming, for instance, needs a lot of water you can’t use irrigation water for that.”

The BAS head told Barbados TODAY that some farms were operating at “break-even” and the increased bills would send their businesses off the deep end.

Paul said that a request for a tax waiver since the GSC levy was implemented had gone unanswered.

The two-term former Democratic Labour Party backbencher asserted that farmers were not getting the assistance they needed from Government.

He said: “We have to be careful how this is going to pan out. Water is a critical cost in a lot of these farming operations.

“We need to find a way to resolve these issues, in some cases effectively you have had an increase in 50 per cent on water and in addition to the other increases they would have experienced in terms of the cost of fuel and other suppliers to farming sector would have increased costs on them so after going through all those you now have to deal with this one and I am not sure how the sector is going to deal with this cost increase.”

Paul went on to disclose that he intends to write to the Ministry of Agriculture to request a consultation on what measures can be taken to help farmers cope with increased costs.

And responding to the Prime Minister’s call for Barbadians to eat more local produce, James suggested that it was counterproductive as the increased bills would lead to increased prices in local products, therefore, making them unattractive to the price-conscientious consumer.

Paul added: “You are actually putting the farmers at a disadvantage in relation to imported products... Farmers would have to adjust their prices to reflect the increase in costs

“Government has got to find a way if they are serious about Barbadians eating healthy and about supporting our local agriculture sector.”
katrinaking@barbadostoday.bb

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Describing Sagicor Financial’s decision to domicile in Bermuda as a “great regret”,  Prime Minister Mia Mottley is hopeful that the insurance giant will return.

And a Sagicor official has held out hope that it may heed Mottley’s request.

The Prime Minister was addressing a sod-turning ceremony at Boarded Hall, St George, where the company is embarking on a multi-million dollar retirement village dubbed The Estates at St George.

“One of the great regrets of the last lost decade was the [re-domicile] of Sagicor from Barbados.

“Therefore, I will continue to express the anguish that is associated with a jilted lover for as long as Sagicor remains offshore,” Mottley said.

After about 170 years, Sagicor Financial Corporation, successor to the Barbados Mutual Assurance Society, re-domiciled to Bermuda in 2016, shortly after Barbados was slapped with a downgrade of its sovereign credit rating to ‘B’ from ‘BB+’ by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

That downgrade had meant that Sagicor Life’s rating would also drop from BB+ to BB-, while the Sagicor Finance’s $150 million ten-year senior unsecured notes were rated B. Ratings on life insurers are capped at two notches above the sovereign rating of the country of domicile.

Domiciling in Bermuda meant that while Sagicor maintained its headquarters in Barbados and is being treated as resident here for tax purposes, it is now registered in Bermuda, where it has its holding company.

Group Chief Operating Officer Ravi Rambarran maintained that moving the legal incorporation of Sagicor from Barbados to Bermuda was done to ensure that company’s ability to raise capital and expand its foot print in the region would be “uninterrupted”.

“So there is no change in any of our operations in Barbados or any of the other islands within the Caribbean,” he said.

However, when pressed as to whether it was possible for the company to be re-incorporated in Barbados as requested by the Prime Minister, Rambarran suggested that there was always that possibility.

Ramrattan said: “Our board of directors and the management, we continually monitor the economic outlooks of the various countries we operate in and we respond to them accordingly. So we never rule out any decision that will improve our ability to continue to serve the communities. But first and foremost, we must maintain our financial strength to meet those promises. So that is always under review.”

Late last year, Sagicor entered into a business combination agreement with Canadian special purpose acquisition firm Alignvest Acquisition II, which will see that company acquiring all the shares of Sagicor Financial in a deal worth about US$536 million.

That transaction is expected to close by the first half of this year and see the formation of a new entity, New Sagicor.

In a separate deal, Alignvest and Sagicor have agreed to acquire the life insurance business of the Canadian-based bank Scotiabank in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.

The insurance giant has also signed off on a 20-year exclusive agreement, which will see it providing insurance solutions to Scotiabank clients in those Caribbean countries.

Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sagicor Life Inc. Edward Clarke told Barbados TODAY he was satisfied with the company’s performance over the years, adding that over its more than seven decades of existence, Sagicor had survived numerous economic recessions and natural disasters, which was a testament to is resilience.

Clarke said: “I think if a company can come though all of those things and still be as strong as we are that shows we are the company for the future... and we are the company that is going to transform Barbados and the wider Caribbean at this time.

“Business last year was not as good as we would have liked, but I think the reasons are obvious why – Barbados was in a recession for quite a long time. I think this year things have picked up a bit. It all has to do with confidence – confidence in the economy and confidence in leadership. And we look forward to a better 2019. It has started better so we hope it continues in that vein.”

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Prime Minister Mia Mottley tonight sought to further clarify Government’s position on the multi-million dollar Sandals Beaches project earmarked for Heywoods, St Peter.

As she capped debate in the House of Assembly on the 2019 budget, the Prime Minister responded to Sandals officials who had denied Mottley’s previous assertions that the hotel chain sought excessive and unprecedented concessions, including indemnification against tax advantages granted future hotel developers.

The Prime Minister, who also holds the finance, economic affairs and investment portfolios, explained that the current administration stand by what was agreed to by the previous Democratic Labour Party administration.

Mottley told the House: “If you are simply asking for what was promised then there is no issue. I have stood here and I have stood elsewhere and said that the Government of Barbados remains committed to the two agreements signed by the previous Minister of Finance, we don’t like what he did, we abhor what he did, but by the rule of law, by a country governed by the rule of law that we stand by it.”

Mottley said Government had laid the agreements in the House and also completed the town planning process “as we were committed to do under law. But what we can’t do is to close these ‘two critical gaps”.

While admitting that she welcomes the project which is likely to employ up to 1,800 from start to finish, the PM made it clear that it could not come at any cost.

She said: “Barbados welcomes Beaches but it can’t be at any price. I hope that we can find an understanding because the truth is that we are not in any way anti-investment but there is a national interest to be protected here for the people of this country and that is why we relented.”

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Chris Jones, an officer of the Barbados Fire Service has grown accustomed to responding to serious accidents and road fatalities. However he was not prepared for the news that the latest victim would be his brother.

Twenty-nine-year-old Brent Allan Jones became Barbados’ fifth road fatality for the year, the victim of a horrible crash along Spring Garden Highway in the early hours of Monday morning.

“Sometimes I have to work with the Jaws of Life and I always fear that my family would be involved. I never want that call,” said Chris.

While he was not called to respond to the accident, the news of his brother’s passing was equally heartbreaking.

[caption id="attachment_292513" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Chris Jones (left) with his younger brother and Barbados’ latest road fatality, Brent Jones in happier times.[/caption]

“When I had heard the news this morning it was rough and it’s still rough, but you just have to take it as it comes,” he said.

He was among members of the close-knit Bridgefield, St. Thomas family, slowly coming to grips with the reality of life without one of its most vibrant members.

According to police, the deceased was heading north in a Toyota when he ran off the road directly opposite the Oran Bond.

He was reportedly ejected from the vehicle as the car flipped several times and was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Monday afternoon relatives including his brother Chris, aunt, Kathyann Ifill and grandmother, Gloria Ifill were at a family home in the community where Brent was born and raised, reflecting on their relative’s short, but meaningful life.

“I always worried about Brent and I also worry about my other brother Brian. They are the only two people that I have to worry about and I never wanted to get the call that I had to end up cutting out one of them,” said Chris.

Just two years apart, Chris revealed that he and his younger sibling were “close” from young.

Family members remembered Brent as an extremely helpful person, who was relentless in accomplishing any task, particularly relating to mechanics, which was his primary skill.

“He was the kind of person who would stop what he was doing and come and give you a hand. Even if he can’t get it done, he would still fight with it, especially with bicycles and stuff, because he liked bicycles from small,” Chris said.

Family members told Barbados TODAY that Brent previously worked at the Barbados Agricultural Management Company, before starting work with a mechanic shop in the Carrington Village area.

They recalled that when they last saw him on Saturday, he was in good spirits.

“I am not quite sure what happened last night or where he was going, because Brent is just a ‘roller’, he just ‘rolls,’” said Chris of his outgoing brother.

“He was just trying to live life,” he said in reflection.

Brent’s aunt, Kathyann Ifill described her nephew as “energetic and full of life,” adding that, “he knew a lot of people and was really just a good boy.

“He was not perfect and like everybody else had his ways, but he was a good boy. There’s nothing to do with a car that he would just leave alone. He would always fight to get it done,” she recalled.

Meanwhile, Brent’s grandmother, Gloria Ifill spoke glowingly of her grandson, remembering him as a man who would always attempt to fix her cellular phone. She also recalled that he would religiously give her a package of the popular Candy Mentos, on Friday evenings.

Jokingly, she informed Brent’s brother, Chris that he would have to fill the void left by his younger brother.

Brent Jones leaves a young daughter, dozens of family members and friends to mourn.

The post Tragedy appeared first on Barbados Today.

Privately-owned Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators are following  Government’s lead and looking at a discount system for commuters but they remain concerned that some measures, including the fare hike, may cause them to lose customers.

In fact, Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael told Barbados TODAY that operators were expecting an immediate fall off in business when the increase in bus fare takes effect on April 15, although he acknowledged that the sector had received 50 cents more than it initially requested.

They fear that while their wish for a fare hike has been granted, it may turn out to be a cost to them when the fares go from $2 to $3.50 next month.

“We will see a great fallout in the first place. By the 15th of April, we expect to have a fallout from the number of passengers travelling on our buses . . . . because of the discount,” he said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that frequent travellers on Transport Board buses would pay less for their trips, and the Ministry of Transport would be meeting with PSV operators to see how they too could put systems in place for high-volume users.

She explained that the ministry would issue multi-trip tickets in ten, 14, 20 and 28-trip tickets, with discounts ranging from 30-50 cents.

Mottley also pointed out that the Transport Augmentation Programme (TAP) has committed 40 PSVs to work on Transport Board routes.

Raphael told Barbados TODAY PSV operators welcomed the TAP and were willing to meet with the ministry on the matter of implementing a discount system on PSVs, adding that it was something that was already discussed among the members.

“There is no way we can survive as owners and operators of PSVs under the conditions in which the bus fare was given. The $3.50 we welcome, but I believe for us to really capitalize on it we have to roll out a few initiatives that will see more people catching our buses,” said Raphael.

“Long before the Prime Minister talked about that we felt we had to meet. Actually, we have a cashless system that we are going to be rolling out very shortly, where you will buy a ticket and a discount will be given to you. We have already started to look at it – a PSV discount card – we are going to roll out that probably in the next two to three weeks when we will have our first bus out there with the cashless system,” he explained.

He said PSV operators also feared they would lose passengers because of government’s decision to have more cross-country routes for Transport Board buses that would eliminate the need for commuters to go to Bridgetown, from where the bulk of PSV buses operate.

“For example, those people working in Warrens (St Michael) and Six Roads (St Philip) will not want to go into Bridgetown so that will be a fall-off for us. We wont be able to access those commuters,” he explained.

He is also of the view that the behaviour of some PSV operators would cause the travelling public to gravitate more towards the Transport Board buses.

However, pointing out that the AOPT was closer to implementing a command centre to monitor the behaviour of PSV operators and root out the bad apples, Raphael issued a stern warning that the days of bad behaviour of operators were numbered.

“If you are able to improve your customer relations you will get more people travelling on your bus, but you can’t continue with the loud playing of music or the use of alcohol. Those days are numbered,” he warned.

Stressing that it simply cannot be business as usual for PSV operators, he also pointed out that commuters would have to play a greater role in helping delinquent PSV operators to clean up their act, while explaining that many of the court cases against PSV operators involved passengers catching the mini-bus or ZR van at a location other than a bus stop.

“The driver and conductor are not to be blamed solely because sometimes the passengers deliberately [stop them away from a bus stop],” he said.

“We would like the support of the passengers, the travelling public and everybody to make things right. It cannot be a one-way situation,” he added.

He said when the PSV operators meet with the Ministry of Transport officials in the coming days, they would also be discussing outstanding issues including the lack of access to duty-free concessions and high insurance costs.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb

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Guidance counsellors across the education system are under tremendous pressure having to deal with three times the ideal number of students.

This assessment has come from President of the Barbados Association of Guidance Counsellors (BAGC) Margaret Grant, who is calling on individuals and organisations across the island to help provide guidance for students who were experiencing “difficulties”.

She said while guidance counsellors would receive help from various community leaders and associations in cash or kind, they were still under pressure.

“Sometimes we only see crisis when they really happen, but many times there are signals that we tend to ignore. We need to, as a people, wake up and recognize that all of our children need help, not just the ones that you might think have issues. We have children in every school that need help,” Grant told reporters at the 13th National Career Showcase at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Every public secondary school in Barbados currently has one guidance counsellor, with the exception of St George Secondary and St Leonard’s Boys’ School, that have two each.

At the same time, Deputy Chief Education Officer responsible for schools Joy Adamson revealed that the Ministry of Education currently has only two social workers and one senior psychologist to man all the secondary and primary schools.

However, she said the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust has provided an additional six individuals to give assistance at the primary school level and other non-governmental organisations were giving a helping hand.

Adamson said that Government was aware of the situation and was working to make sure that the needed resources were made available over time.

Grant told reporters that the situation of one guidance counsellor for up to 1,100 students was “really not saying anything”.

“I say that because for the model that we use it is really designed for one counsellor to 250 students. So when you look at having one counsellor in a school of 900, 1,000 or 1,100, we are really disadvantaging the children,” said Grant.

She said, ideally, each secondary school in Barbados needed a guidance counsellor, a psychologist and a social worker in order to effectively tackle the myriad of challenges students were faced with and to help guide them in the areas of career and personal development.

Grant explained that besides how to cope with concerns relating to puberty, students needed to be taught health and family life education, how to deal with social issues and burdens, as well as career planning.

“It is not just the children who come out of crisis situations . . . we are faced with situations every day, there are follow up cases that you have to see,” said Grant, who explained that sometimes there were walk-in cases that required guidance counsellors to “drop everything and do crisis intervention”.

“Then you have bereavement counselling, you have children who are abused, children who have poor self-esteem, who are struggling in school and have lost interest in school. These are real problems. Then you have children who want to get out of a situation, they are carrying the burden so to speak, for the family or the community. We see it every day, and as counsellors our heart goes out to these children because we can only do so much,” she added.

The trained guidance counsellor said while some people would argue that parents of some of those students could seek help from a private psychologist or psychiatrist, many of them simply could not afford it.

“We need urgent help. So I would reiterate that, yes, I understand the economic situation in Barbados right now but I think we need to recognise that a team effort is needed,” said Grant, who said more help from the community was also required.

It was in her mini-budget last June that Prime Minister Mia Mottley first announced that a special scheme would be implemented, which would see the introduction of school safety officers, social workers and guidance counsellors.

However, she said given the financial constraints, the initiative would initially cover only seven schools.

“In addition we will introduce a new designation of Master Teacher so that we may allow our best teachers to remain in teaching and to be compensated in so doing,” said Mottley, who pointed out that this, along with initiatives to address issues relating to nurses, would cost government approximately $6 million.

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Operations resumed at the Winston Scott Polyclinic following its closure last week after nurses walked off the job protesting security breaches.

From as early as 11.a.m. there were people patiently waited outside the Jemmotts Lane, St Michael clinic to receive medical attention. Among them were parents with babies, school children, elderly persons and people waiting to have prescriptions filled at the pharmacy.

Just after 11:30 a.m. the first five patients walked into the facility and were subjected to a bag search and body scans by Government security guards.

A representative from the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) who wanted to remain anonymous said they are in favour of the new security measures but would like the issues concerning the fast-track service to be addressed.

“The union is satisfied, the nurses and the staff are satisfied. There are just a few measures that need to be put in place like the wrought iron on the doors. Right now, we know that the patients are coming in are being scanned. We are satisfied that the measures put in place are working. We need to work out the details of the fast-track evening shift from 3-10 p.m. Once those details are covered, I think the nurses will be much more comfortable with the arrangement,” he said.

Patients at the polyclinic told Barbados TODAY they were pleased with the heightened security.

Retired University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus security guard who identified herself as Esther said the changes at the Jemmott’s Lane clinic should have been implemented years ago as nurses have to deal with irate patients who engage in misconduct on the premises.

“It should be something like that every since. You would find that people come in here and they are arguing and want to fight in a Government place where they come to get medical treatment that is free. If they had to go where they would have to pay, they would not have [behaved]  this way,” she said.

Retired Psychiatric Hospital employee, Malcom Blackman said the new security measures were running smoothly but he wondered if they were going  too far in response to two isolated instances.

“The majority of people who are here are elderly, children who you do not consider a threat. I believe the answer to it would be having regular police patrols but the people who are really using this clinic are not a threat. I wonder if it is an over reaction. I don’t know.” he said.

A patient, Rocky said he welcomed the new security measures since he felt very safe after hearing the about the situations that led to the closure of the clinic last week Thursday.

Self-employed Johnia Bisette was not in favor of the new security changes. In fact she said the system did not cater to members of the elderly who required immediate attention.

“I do not like the system they have now because they have a lot of elders who came here who needed to sit down right away. They should have a different way but I cannot make the decision for them,” she said.

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Come tomorrow, the fledgling United Progressive Party (UPP) will have a new leader.

That’s because current chairman Lynette Eastmond will not be contesting Wednesday’s elections when a new Executive Committee is named.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Eastmond, who founded the UPP in 2016, confirmed she would not be running for the post.

She said Ambrose Grosvenor, Everton Holligan and Wayne Griffith had so far signaled their intention to contest the top position.

In a release the UPP said “The United Progressive Party is in the process of choosing its Executive Committee for 2019-2020. Nominations for positions are being processed via online nominations and voting which also helps to facilitate our overseas membership. The names and positions of the new UPP executive will be made public on Friday March 29, 2019.”

Eastmond explained: “I thought it would be appropriate to give as many people in the party as possible as much exposure as possible because obviously we are training up people in order to be able to take up big roles in Government,” Eastmond explained.

“It’s important that we have different individuals who can step up and lead the party.”

However, Eastmond maintained her decision not to run for chairman was not a signal she would be joining Opposition Leader Joseph Atherley in his soon-to-be formed political party.

“No this doesn’t signal anything. I know nothing of Atherley’s plans,” Eastmond replied when asked of her plans to possibly join him.

But political scientist Peter Wickham told Barbados TODAY he believed the party would falter without Eastmond at the helm. He said that while her decision not to seek re-election was surprising, the move did not “move the political needle one way or the other”.

In fact, Wickham suggested it would be more beneficial if Eastmond and Atherley joined forces.

“I think that without her as the chairman, the party will eventually come to nothing. The party was really about Lynette Eastmond, she was the face of the organisation.

“There’s talk of an alliance between herself and the current Opposition leader. I think they are curious bedfellows…but politics is always the order of convenience and I think that is a convenient relationship now, largely because they are both opposition operatives that want to gain some level of relevance,” Wickham pointed out.

“She can bring some structure to his party. He wants to form a party so he can benefit from the funds which are available for parties in Parliament, so he has something that she wants and she has something that he wants, so ideally it’s a marriage of convenience.”

However, Eastmond, an attorney-at-law by profession said even though the UPP did not win any seats in the 2018 elections, she still believed the party was relevant. She contended there was room for political parties apart from the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).

“Since the last election the UPP has been making its contribution to the Barbados democracy by reviewing policy, critiquing them and giving our own recommendations with respect to those policies.

“We think that is important for democracy and we think it is important for Barbados to be able to listen to more than two voices in a democratic space and that is what we are about. We are making a contribution and we know people are listening and hearing us and we are going to continue in that vein,” Eastmond said. 

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Government’s plan to offer a discount to frequent riders on the Transport Board buses amid an impending 75 per cent increase in bus fares has been welcomed by Opposition Leader Joseph Atherley.

Atherley, who has voiced concern that the increase in bus fares from $2 to $3.50 was too much to ask Barbadians to bear, contends that the discount would offer some ease to those who depended on public transportation.

He told Barbados TODAY: “I am glad for the discounted arrangement, which would have been referred to on Monday by Prime Minister Mia Mottley. Those discounts should help to ameliorate the burden on those who would feel it most, especially in these harsh economic times.”

In her wrap up of the Budget debate, Mottley outlined which tickets will be made available and the value of the trips.

Transferrable tickets are to be sold in denominations of 10, 14, 20, and 28 trips, with discounts ranging from 30 cents to 50 cents per bus ride. The Prime Minister indicated that instead of paying the full fare of $3.50, each trip could drop to $3.

A ten-trip ticket will cost $32, saving $3; a 14-trip ticket at $44, saving $5; a 20-trip ticket $62,  or $8 cheaper; and a 28-trip ticket of $82 will save $14, the Prime Minister revealed.

Indicating that the tickets were transferrable, Mottley said: “The beauty in this is that also these tickets
can be used by your children or neighbour or whoever else because what is being clicked is the ticket and not the individual.”

Mottley also revealed that efforts were being made to have privately owned Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) put similar systems in place for high-volume users.

But Atherley told Barbados TODAY that the Prime Minister needed to clarify just how the system is going to work, noting that with the exception of the soon-to-be-resumed Transport Augmentation Programme (TAP) - a mix of public and privately-run services on individual routes - privately-owned PSVs did not adhere to a schedule.

He said: “I still have a lot of questions regarding how it is going to work out especially if the private sector operators are going to be part of the arrangement. It is a ticketing system apparently so I have some questions as to how this ticketing system will work with those operators. So, I am anxiously awaiting the full roll out to see how it is all going to work.”

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Two senators believe that the discounted tickets promised by Government, will not protect or ease the most vulnerable in society.

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley outlined a discounted ticket plan Monday night aimed at easing the burden of the increase. However, Senators Caswell Franklyn and Lindell Nurse are both concerned about how the ticket will work for those who earn minimum wage and are not in a position to pay for the discounted tickets upfront. The two are equally concerned about the poor bus system.

Franklyn asked: “Will the people who earn $250 a week be able to afford these ticket packages? Sometimes they are barely scrapping the $2. We have people in this country who are living pay cheque to pay cheque. These things need to be thought out before implementation. It sounds pretty. It sounds real nice but talk to the fella from St Lucy who I spoke to…”

“He says they don’t have a bus on mornings so they have to catch a PSV to Speightstown then from Speightstown they have to catch a bus to Bridgetown. So a guy working in Wildey has to catch another bus. He is paying five bus fares a day. When he gets this fancy ticket will he get the discount on the minibus?  I think not …”

Senator Nurse pointed out that while the discounted tickets were to be lauded it would not work for the less fortunate in society.

“When you have that class of person who is working for $300 a week they can’t afford that $82 up front to benefit from that discount. The discount would defeat the whole purpose for which it is set up. We hear of cases where commuters are really, really disadvantaged because of the bad inefficient system.

Senator Nurse said he had no difficulty with an increase in bus fares but commuters in turn deserved “substantial improvements” to the bus system.

“You cannot ask commuters to pay $3.50 and still continue with the level of indifferent, bad service which they now receive. You can’t ask them to pay $3.50 and yet they have to sit in the busstand for four hours before they can get a bus. We would hope that by putting more revenue at the Transport Board by increasing the busfares that we will see substantial improvement to the operations of the system. …”

Speaking during the debate in the Upper House, Franklyn said poor people did not benefit from any of the measures in the Budget, but rather the rich gained plenty.

“We had this reverse Robin Hood budget. They are putting more stress on the poor and giving the rich a free pass. You sacrifice those people at the bottom and increase the salaries of the others. You are disadvantaging the poor and helping the rich…”

The trade unionist said the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) owners stand to gain more from the $1.50 increase than the Government which is counterproductive to routing cash to a hemorrhaging Transport Board.

“The minibus men will get a windfall. They were making money at $2. All they wanted was to get the dutyfree concessions on parts etc. The Transport Board has about 40 buses running. They need 120 buses a day.”

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The increase in bus fares will have a negative impact on families already struggling to send their children to school, President of the Barbados Association of Guidance Counsellors (BAGC) Margaret Grant has said.

However, she said it was an opportunity for schools and non-governmental organisations to come together to create different programmes to help those most in need.

As from April 15, bus fares will increase from $2 to $3.50.

Grant said while school children would still ride free on the Transport Board buses while in uniform there were many of them who simply could not catch those buses because of the constraints facing the board.

“In every school there is a programme that is designed to help students who are in need whether it be breakfast or lunch and busfare. Seeing that the Transport Board has the school children free, that is not an issue but we know also that the Transport Board has its limitations so some children are forced to catch the private PSVs,” said Grant who was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 13th National Career Showcase at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

“I think it will also push schools, parent teacher associations, NGOs to now come together and see how we can help each other. But at the same time, rather than looking out, within each school I think there are some programmes that can be developed – we can have some fundraising events that can really go towards a fund to help children who are in need. So I think it is just a need to look out for each other and being creative at the same time,” said Grant.

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Senator Caswell Franklyn believes those companies which owe Government large sums of unpaid Value Added Tax should face criminal prosecution.

As debate on the Appropriation Bill moved to the Upper Chamber today, the lawmaker said those who collected VAT as an agent of Government but did not hand it over were essentially stealing from the Crown and should face criminal charge.

Senator Caswell said: “It is a crime. The [Director of Public Prosecutions] can choose not to prosecute. Stealing VAT is a crime in this country that should be prosecuted. I don’t know who is being protected or who is being hidden. I don’t want to guess. But those people need to come before the courts and face a judge or magistrate and be sentenced for their crime. The VAT that you collect is not yours. I will not rest when people are stealing and getting away with it.”

The trade unionist said the VAT funds owed to Government could be put to better use. He then chastised the Prime Minister for forgiving defaulters.

He told the Senate: “We are suffering by people not paying the relevant taxes. You fail to collect the taxes from them and you also write off the taxes that they owe… people who owe taxes for years. We met in here in December to write off taxes to benefit the people who should be in jail for not paying taxes. Now we are proposing also to write off the VAT from 1996 to 2000 for people who actually stole it.

“Government is giving away money that is not theirs to give away. This elitist Government that we have elected that said ‘Gimmuh de vote and watch muh’... well the people are watching and they don’t like what they are seeing . . . . Stop thinking about friends and family and look out for the best interest of this country.”

Senator Franklyn told the Upper House that while he understood that some businesses are facing financial challenges and may not be able to pay salary and income tax, VAT was in a different category.

He added: “If you are in business you may not make enough money to pay the salaries and the taxes.  However, VAT is money you actually receive. So when you get it pay it over. When you collect VAT you are doing so as an agent of Government and when you refuse to pay that money, you are depriving the country… because you are stealing the money. And then the Government would decide to forgive thieves. The Government has no authority to forgive thieves.”

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A ceiling of $50,000  on fines for sellers and importers of plastic bags is way too high, Opposition Leader Joseph Atherley has told Parliament.

He contends that the measure, which is part of the Control of Disposable Plastics Bill, was onerous and could cripple small businesses. He argued that instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to the deterrent component of the bill, the ceiling should have been lowered for those caught using plastics in their retail businesses.

Atherley told the House: “I have serious concerns about the hefty fines for infringements on the ban on plastics beyond the given date. I believe those fines are too high. You could have made two separate stipulations, one that applies to the importers and manufacturers and another for the sellers. Charging the manufacturers and importers $50,000 is fine but I am not comfortable with it being so high for the sellers, especially the small vendors.”

Introducing the bill in the Lower House, Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Kirk Humphrey revealed that businesses breaching the ban, which was extended from April 1 to July 1, could be made to pay $50,000 in fines or face a year in jail if convicted.

Under the new legislation, offenders would also have to pay a further $1,000 for each day or part thereof during which the offence continues after their conviction. But Atherley said that while he understands Government’s rationale for such measures, he was not comfortable with giving a magistrate such a wide scope of discretionary power.

He said: “We trust the competence and the compassion of our judicial officers, but I don’t know why the law would have to prescribe for a $50,000 fine. Could you imagine what would happen if a Magistrate gets up in not too good a mood and hands down an $8,000 fine to a small shop owner or vendor? Such a fine would cripple that business overnight. I understand the principle of the ceiling up to $50,000 but this is left to the discretion of the Magistrate or the judge and I have my concerns about that.”

Atherley has said that business owners who stand to lose out as a result of the soon-to-be implemented ban on single-use plastics in Barbados should be compensated by Government.

The ban meant that jobs would be lost, at a time when Government was also looking to make cuts in the public service, he added.

During debate in Parliament on Monday, Atherley said that there are people who are involved in enterprises, whose main business relates to the use of plastics and this ban and the breadth of it will have implications for them going forward and their jobs

He said: “This loss in their case will not be as a result of bad business practices. It will not be resulting from failure of their business…but they now will be forced to suffer economically and financially because of this measure, through no fault of their own.”

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As Government prepares to implement a ban on plastics, importers, retailers and users have been warned that they will face serious consequences for breaching the new law.

From April 1, the ban on imports of petroleum-based, single-use products is to come into force. Three months later, on July 1, distribution, sale and use of these will be banned.

Government is proposing to enforce penalties ranging as high as $50,000 or a year’s imprisonment, or both, for importing, selling, or using single-use plastics.

The measures are contained in the Control of Disposable Plastics Bill which went through its second reading before passage in the House of Assembly on Monday.

In moving the legislation, Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Kirk Humphrey, said single-use containers made of either plastic or polystyrene - Styrofoam - included cups, food containers, and egg trays used in the food service industry.

Under the bill Government proposes that anyone who imports, sells, or uses single-use plastic or cutlery after the deadline had passed would, on summary conviction, be subject to a fine of $50,000, a year’s imprisonment, or both.

An offender who continues the practice may be fined $1,000 for each day or part thereof while the offence continues.

But importers of packaging labelled “environmentally sustainable” would not be able to escape the ban, unless they obtain a licence under the new law after July 1.

The minister said: “That licence is $25 per year. This is to ensure that importers bring in the kind of products that are in compliance with what Barbados is seeking to achieve.” Importers would also be subjected to the same fines if they are caught breaching the Act.

Humphrey said the Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI) had been asked to establish the standards for single-use plastics to ensure that importers did not try to “trick the system”.

He announced that Government was establishing a committee of “people who are passionate about the environment” to oversee the ban.

That committee, to be represented by non-governmental organizations and public servants, is to “address, monitor, develop and implement plastic pollution programmes, and formulate and implement policies and programmes to educate the public on the pollution created by plastic”, Humphrey said.

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A Community College sociology graduate, whose one-woman protest in front of Parliament was thwarted by absence of police permission, said today she believes Government is taking advantage of the poorest in society.

Kelsi Marshall, 23, a recent Sociology and Literature graduate, told Barbados TODAY:  “We as a people are taken advantage of by the people that we vote into power. I believe that if we vote them in that they have the necessary knowledge to put sanctions in place for our betterment or our detriment, but I personally believe the scale always waivers to our detriment.” 

Marshall had planned to protest in front of Parliament but did not apply on time for a police permit. Speaking to Barbados TODAY from a nearby City café, she
urged Barbadians to be vocal about the country’s social ills.

Marshall said: “I believe that sometimes you do have to make noise because Bajans would sit and complain in their little circles and their friends on Whatsapp but when it is time to make their voice known for what they think should happen they just go mute and dumb like they are handicapped. It is laughable at the least to say you have a voice until it is time to speak you act as though someone takes out your voice-box.” 

Weighing in on the 75 per cent hike in bus fares, she declared as unfeasible, the discount ticketing system announced by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and
suggested the Transport Board is in dire need of an overhaul.

Marshall said: “The buses don’t come so why should I pay for a monthly service where I am locked in to only catching Government buses when the Government buses are not coming. So, I am late for my appointments, I am late for work and most of the day I am frustrated. As [members of the public] have been saying the buses are not there.

“I feel one of the first things that [Mottley] should have done with the money collected from the International Monetary Fund is buy buses for the country because as we know there are none. Buses could have been fixed and all of that needs to be done as people are going to continuously suffer.” 

The protester said that even with the ticketing system, consumers would not able to save as they would be forced to use the privately-owned route taxis and minibuses if the bus system is ineffective.

Marshall added: “[The Prime Minister] said that only 20 per cent of people use the bus and that [the Transport Board] loses about $50 million every year. Eighty per cent of Barbadians are catching vans so that means Private Service Vehicles (PSV) are making money because whenever you go into a van stand a van is there.”

The young Community College graduate said she would like to see a minimum wage introduced across the island, arguing that $250 per week is no longer adequate.

She said: “$250 is not a livable wage. I feel it needs to be raised to $11 an hour. A lot of people get $150, $175 a week and it is not livable.” 

A business owner who declared support for Marshall but declined to be identified told Barbados TODAY
that size of the Cabinet is too large and should be reduced.

She said: “If [the Prime Minister] is saying that the economy is bad and she needs to cut back she should not cut back on the poor people alone, you should look at the top because those are the people that are making the money. Every month now you have to pay 10 more ministers that is money which could be used to subsidise the busfare or something else to help the poor people,” she said.

The entrepreneur added that if if the economy is indeed in bad shape, the Prime Minister should slash the number of its economic advisors.

She added: “Look who are the consultants - the wealthy people not the poor man on the streets. Yes, I agree the economy is bad you need the economy to grow.

“I do not have a problem bearing a little squeeze but if you are going to ask us to bear a little squeeze and you have 26 ministers and consultants that is not fair.”

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