Judgment has been reserved in an appeal by death row inmate Jamar Dwayne Bynoe to his 2016 conviction for murdering six women in the September 3, 2010 Campus Trendz fire.

Bynoe, of Headley’s Land, Bank Hall, St Michael was found guilty by a jury of six counts of murder following the deaths of Shanna Griffith, Kelly-Ann Welch, Pearl Cornelius, Kellishaw Olivierre, Nikita Belgrave and Tiffany Harding. He was sentenced to hang.

[caption id="attachment_304313" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Jamar Dwayne Bynoe (FP)[/caption]

Through his attorney Andrew Pilgrim, Q.C., Bynoe today told the three-member Court of Appeal panel of Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson, Madam Justice Kaye Goodridge and Madam Justice Margaret Reifer, that his indictment on the charges was “inappropriate” when compared to that of his co-accused Renaldo Anderson Alleyne.

Alleyne pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given six life sentences while Bynoe went to trial, was found guilty and was given six death sentences.

“To some extent I am questioning whether the DPP’s decision to go to trial with a murder indictment on one hand and to accept the plea on the other is inappropriate and ought to be called into question by this court.

“It is our submission that the DPP’s decision to proceed in this way is inappropriate and led to a danger that the appellant ought not to have been exposed to at all. And that in fact he should have been indicted for manslaughter and gone to trial for that,” Pilgrim submitted.

He argued that in reviewing the case however you look at the circumstances “those men did not go there to kill those
. . . girls”.

“In this case there was no evidence that the appellant intended to cause grave serious bodily harm or to kill anyone and that as part of his defence, essentially the jury should have been told what exactly was the evidence, if any. It seems that that was never done and the failure by the trial judge to put the defence,” he added.

The Queen’s Counsel further stated that he could not view the case of manslaughter “as the worse of the worse” as he had dealt with manslaughter cases that are “far worse in terms of the intent”.

In the appellant’s nine grounds of appeal submitted before the panel, Pilgrim also argued that the failure to offer the appellant a lawyer in certain circumstances was “the end of the matter” and for that reason he should “be retried”.

“The appellant chose to go unrepresented,” Pilgrim admitted but added that while it was the appellant’s right to do so, it was also his constitutional right to have a lawyer if he wanted one.

“So he can waive, which he apparently did at the beginning of the trial,  . . . but at some point he decided ‘I am not managing, I want a lawyer’ and the judge understood and accepted that as his position.” Pilgrim stated that enquiries were made through the Legal Aide Department and much of Bynoe’s history of having a lawyer and then not having a lawyer was canvassed.

“But all of that . . . is completely irrelevant at the point when counsel comes forward and says ‘I am willing to act’. So the only issue for this court in my view is, was Mr Keith Simmons’ request for an adjournment for two weeks to be able to join the trial of which six murder trials are pending and the man faces six death sentences . . . unreasonable?

“We are bound to weigh up whether counsel seeking to join the brief at that stage (when the court had already heard evidence of 17 witnesses) would have been entitled to a reasonable adjournment to prepare and whether failure to do that is so significant a breach of constitutional right to counsel, that this matter ought to be retried with counsel,” the veteran defense lawyer submitted.

In reply however, the prosecutors – Principal Crown Counsel Alliston Seale and Crown Counsel Oliver Thomas - submitted that the appellant’s appeal should be “dismissed” and “the sentence affirmed”.

Seale, a leading prosecutor from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions argued that the appellant was “the mastermind” for the Campus Trendz robbery and “he created the plan”.

He further argued that the appellant’s decision to go to trial as opposed to “copping a plea” was his right.

“So I cannot see realistically how we can argue that he should not have been put on trial for the offence of murder.”

He says as the Crown’s case was at the time of trial, there was “no doubt” from the onset of a plan for robbery and to “execute it” by way of fire bombing the store which contained people.

“So how can we say there was no intention to kill or at the very least no intention to cause serious bodily harm when one fire bombs a store in the circumstances. And even if that is so, who determines that? Isn’t it the duty of the jury? . . . . And I think the trial judge put it clearly to the jury when she spoke at her summation,” Seale stated.

He went on to state that the charge of murder was also properly indicted.

“Not withstanding that, one opted to proceed along a certain route and the other decide to adopt another route . . . So I do not know how we can determine that in those circumstances that the charge was improper
. . . both were in an equal position.”

The prosecutor further stated that it was his view that “the judge did not err” when she did not facilitate a further two-week adjournment in the trial.

“There was no breach in the appellant’s right to counsel for this type of matter notwithstanding the seriousness of the matter . . . In this case the learned trial judge was correct to decide that the trial had to press on . . . ” he added.
fernellawedderburn@barbadostoday.bb

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With poor maintenance resulting in dilapidated structures at several National Housing Corporation (NHC) projects across the island, community activist Rodney Grant is concerned that overcrowding has become one of the social ills plaguing those communities.

Grant, the head of the Pinelands Creative Workshop, declared the housing areas were set up with no room for expansion and as a result, families desperate for more room are resorting to erecting shanties.

He told Barbados TODAY that the issue has grown to epidemic proportions in The Pine and was quickly turning his community into a slum.

“The problem is really widespread, and we have a situation now where there are shanties all over the place. We have scenarios where families are squabbling for space, and people are being put out for one reason or another,” He said.   

Grant contends that it was clear that those who conceptualised the housing projects never factored in the stark reality that families grow, and now current residents were paying for this miscalculation.

He explained: “You have an area which has two small bedrooms [units] and there is going to come a time when families are going to grow and when this happens, one has to either find ways to provide additional expansion for the family or it is going to be a social problem.

“We have never really amended the law to ensure that people could really add on to their homes. It is either you allow people to add on to their homes to cater for the expansion of families or you build more housing stocks to deal with the increase in these communities.”

In Parliament yesterday, Minister in the Ministry of Housing Charles Griffith acknowledged that there was indeed an overcrowding problem in the public housing areas and revealed that Government was considering the possibility of making land available to residents to build on. The Minister did not go into time frames with regard to this possibility while noting that the NHC was strapped for cash.

But in his interview with Barbados TODAY, Grant painted a picture of a social concern which needed to be addressed urgently.

He declared: “If we don’t deal with this situation from a policy level and in a proactive way, we are going to have a situation where people continue to find their own means of housing themselves.

“The reality is that nobody wants to be on the streets, and we are seeing a situation where more persons are becoming homeless. So, this is a situation that we have to grapple with urgently.”

The community activist, who stood for Parliament last year in the St Michael South-East riding that envelops the sprawling Pine Housing Area, charged that the structures were being built in a shoddy manner and were not only creating a slum-like scenario but present a clear danger. He suggested the structures were fire hazards waiting to happen.

“These things can be serious fire hazards because they are makeshift structures that are not properly built. These persons are scrambling to keep their head from getting wet at night and truth be told, the safety of the structure is not the biggest priority,” he said.

The Pine, one of the earliest social housing projects in Barbados, dates back to 1947, when along with Belfield, Deacon’s Farm and Bay in St Michael and Clinketts Gardens in St Lucy, the houses, first out of timber and later, limestone blocks, were originally built by the occupants in self-help labour schemes.

Social housing was proposed in the aftermath of the 1938 Royal Commission into the 1937 riots, but large-scale projects were prompted by the devastating floods of September 1949 which inundated low-lying Bridgetown districts, Delamere Land, Ellis Village, Halls Road and Martindales Road, washing houses into the Constitution River and drowning seven people.
colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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In a bid to bring Barbadian products and services up to international standards, Government is seeking to upgrade the national agency charged with setting the bar, Minister of Commerce Dwight Sutherland has revealed.

Sutherland today unveiled plans to install a new board at the Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI), which will be charged with updating many of its by-laws. He also said the BNSI is to upgrade its laboratory to ensure that BNSI’s testing and certification standards are of the highest quality.

“We have by-laws that govern the BNSI and we are in the process of amending these by-laws to ensure that we have the right governance structure. We also plan to have the requisite board in place to take BNSI to the next level. Next week Friday we will be meeting with the members of BNSI to focus on amending those laws.”

The Minister pointed out that currently Government pays for 95 per cent of the BNSI’s operations and therefore it was pointless to fund an institution that does not have the requisite latitude to enforce standards for Barbadian products.

“Presently the Government funds the Barbados National Standards Institution and when a Government funds an institution it has to make sure that we have the right requisite policy framework that can take all of our institutions forward.

“We will restructure BNSI and after that, we will put in place a national quality policy which will govern the quality infrastructure on which we will build our products and services.”

Sutherland, who was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a workshop by the regional standards agency, the CARICOM Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ).

The Minister insisted that any attempt to raise quality standards during production, must start with an improved level of the governance structure to match the quality standards hoped for.

Sutherland declared: “I believe that the only way we can achieve a high level of competitiveness with our international counterparts, is through high quality. The national quality infrastructure is built on certification, accreditation, labelling and metrology (the science of measurement).

“The BNSI is the governing body, who sets policy and regulates and implements the national quality infrastructure. So, you have to get the governance structure right first because you can’t move forward unless this is fine-tuned.”

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Some fisherfolk operating on the country’s eastern coastline feel forgotten by local authorities and are becoming increasingly restless about deteriorating working conditions.

Fish vendors and other stakeholders at the Consett Bay, St John facility say they have been disadvantaged by frequent water outages, which have been occurring as often as every two weeks. They also highlighted numerous other issues preventing them from working efficiently and in a clean environment.

[caption id="attachment_304319" align="aligncenter" width="500"] The Consett Bay Fish Market in St John.[/caption]

Voicing their concerns anonymously for fear of being labeled “complainers”, they told Barbados TODAY, operations at the small facility have slowed down and cleanliness placed in jeopardy because of the problems.

[caption id="attachment_304318" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Fisherfolk at Consett Bay are calling for better working conditions.[/caption]

The outages, which have been occurring for almost a year, happened as often as four times in one month, reportedly over a faulty pipe. One female worker said she is often forced to leave the facility and take a long trek home simply to use the bathroom.

In addition, a glass freezer used to store and freeze fish overnight has not been functioning well, forcing workers to carry home their fish, disadvantaging those lacking the capacity to move large quantities of fish.

Workers are also peeved at an abundance of abandoned boats being housed at the facility. In the hurricane season, the nearly two dozen vessels are reportedly beginning to harbor mosquitoes and vermin.

While Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey could not be reached for comment on the matter; the Minister has been extremely vocal about his mission to have fisher folk operating under more desirable conditions.

Earlier this year, upgrades were made to the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex and Humphrey said improvements were planned for all the island’s markets. During the estimates debate in late February, he promised Member of Parliament for St John Charles Griffith that upgrades specifically for Consett Bay would be made in short order.

In addition, Humphrey has warned that derelict boats would be removed from the country’s boatyards if owners did not take the initiative.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb

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Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw is appealing to parents and guardians to be aware of their children’s whereabouts this summer vacation, especially since a number of school plants will be unavailable for camps.

Bradshaw told Barbados TODAY that while it was her wish for children to thoroughly enjoy their nine-week vacation, she wanted them to do so safely.

“I would ask parents to be vigilant with their children. I think as a Government we have responded, and certainly as a ministry we have responded to the cries of parents, teachers and students in the institutions, in relation to the deteriorating state of the premises.

“We have sought with the assistance of the Prime Minister to be able to put additional funds to get the school plants to where the premises are safe and environmentally friendly. This summer therefore, you would see a lot of major works being done to a number of the school plants,” Bradshaw said.

The Education Minister explained that due to the extensive repairs being executed at some schools, there would be a disruption to the traditional venues where children engage in camp activities.

She said though accommodation has been made for some camps to  be held, the ministry believed that getting schools ready and fully functioning for September was a priority.

“We are asking them to appreciate that a sacrifice has to be made at some point if we are going to be able to focus on giving children, and certainly those who work within education, the opportunity to have a proper environment to operate in and to be able to learn.

“That therefore means that parents will have to ensure that they take responsibility for their charges over the summer vacation and ensure that they are involved in wholesome activities where there is supervision.

“I think parents need to spend more time with their children and work with them during the summer vacation. I appreciate there are parents who will be working, but I would ask that the community too pays attention to what is happening to children who may be unsupervised,” Bradshaw said.

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The new President of the Barbados Council for the Disabled (BCD) is concerned about sexual predators who are looking to take advantage of disabled women, and some men too.

Kerry Ann Ifill said she was worried that there were too many instances where particularly disabled women, were being approached by predators.

Ifill, who said the situation was one which could no longer go unnoticed, made a call for members of society to restrain from taking advantage of persons from vulnerable groups.

“There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about persons with disabilities and their sexuality. The general thinking in a lot of minds are that persons with disabilities are highly-sexed and therefore they will always be willing and up for that kind of thing.

“There are others who believe that they can prey on somebody who is vulnerable and because many persons with disabilities still do not have ready access to information about sexual reproductive health, about sexuality in general, a lot of them are ignorant of a lot of issues. Therefore, people prey on them and take advantage of their naivety,” Ifill said.

She explained that most times when disabled persons, particularly those who are intellectually challenged, find themselves in situations where they are being asked for sexual favours, they do not know what to do.

“She may feel uncomfortable with it but if they prey on their insecurities and their naivety a lot of them don’t complain. It is persons around them that complain about it, like their family members and so on.

“The other part of it too is that persons who have genuine interest get the same brush because they say that all men just going after women with disabilities to take advantage and abuse them,” she said.

The former President of the Senate of Barbados said she was also concerned that women in the disabled community were remaining in abusive relationships because they have limited opportunities for employment and income.

She explained that some years ago, she heard of a young woman who was intellectually challenged living with a man who was known to be HIV positive “and he bluntly said that she is to get whatever he had and she had no where else to go”.

“Let us face it, families are also abusive too. If your family members still see you as a little child, though you are a woman in your 20’s and 30’s, and somebody outside treats you as though you are in your 20’s and 30’s, what do you think is going to happen?

“If every time you get a penny your family takes it from you because they say you don’t know how to handle money, what will happen? When you are not bringing in anything into the home and the family treats you like a nothing, what do you do?” she asked.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

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The Supreme Court acknowledged today it is caught in a “conundrum” when it comes to sentencing murder convicts after the nation’s highest court struck down the mandatory death sentence.

That was the consensus by a Justice of Appeal and senior attorneys-at-law as lawyers wrapped up oral arguments in the appeal on the six death sentences of convicted murderer Jamar Dwayne Bynoe.

Bynoe was found guilty back in 2016 of six counts of murder in the robbery and firebombing of the Campus Trendz store on September 3, 2010 which led to the deaths of six women - Shanna Griffith, Kelly-Ann Welch, Pearl Cornelius, Kellishaw Olivierre, Nikita Belgrave and Tiffany Harding.

He was sentenced to hang while his co-accused Renaldo Anderson Alleyne, who had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter, was given six life sentences.

Appealing Bynoe’s death sentences, Andrew Pilgrim, QC told the appeal court: “It’s our position that the fact that this man went to trial for murder means that automatically we are setting him apart.

“In other words, we are denying him the possibility of a sentence that would be appropriate. And right-thinking persons looking on at this would wonder how is it that one man is sentenced to six death sentences and one man six life sentences.”

In reply, Principal Crown Counsel Alliston Seale declared there was no “inequity of sentencing” because Boyce was the “protagonist” in the crime and Alleyne was not. He said that this was a case of a murder conviction as opposed to a manslaughter plea and that the same options were put to the two accused.

Seale said: “Clearly there is no statutory provision yet to deal with this.... Parliament has not yet done it.... We started but we all know where that went and as a result, we are still left with the old Offences Against the Persons Act.”

In June 2018, the final appellate court, the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), struck down the mandatory death penalty in Barbados.

The judgment in the appeal cases of Barbadian murder convicts, Jabari Sensimania Nervais and Dwayne Omar Severin, also deemed that a section of the Offences Against the Person Act was unconstitutional because it provided for a mandatory sentence of death.

“You are saying that we are in a conundrum?” Madam Justice Kaye Goodrige asked, adding, “Because the Caribbean Court of Justice has made certain pronouncements but the law states certain things? The answer is rhetorical. And Parliament is supposed to make the necessary amendments to bring whatever is there in line... so we are really in a conundrum. What do we do? Do we follow law? Do we follow the CCJ which is saying something progressive but it doesn’t match with what the law is? What do we do? Rhetorical again.”

Seale responded saying that although judicial officers understood that the court was supposed to interpret the law, the issue now was on the separation of powers.

Goodridge responded: “Yes the court could determine whether something is constitutional or not... and we did, but the question is that something further needs to be done.”

However, Seale maintained that this “uneven situation” cannot continue.

“The Constitution itself... is the supreme law.... The only person who could change that is Parliament. So court pronouncing that, with the greatest respect, doesn’t change what the Constitution has said. We need to have the amendment done all throughout whatever needs to be done,” Goodridge responded.

Pilgrim, who revealed that he may have been counsel in the last murder trial in May last year, also agreed that the court was in a conundrum “in terms of sentencing procedures”.

“I just think there needs to be a sense of urgency,” he stated.
fernellawedderburn@barbadosotday.bb

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Suggesting that more people have been falling ill or getting hurt in the workplace, health experts today said more hectic lifestyles, together with so-called buildings and workplace health and safety issues, are taking their toll on national productivity.

Doctors, Ministry of Health officials and other figures in occupational health and safety discussed Emerging Issues In Health and Safety in the Workplace at a one-day workshop organised by the training consultancy firm, Regal Development Solutions, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Dr Brian Charles, the former head of the accident and emergency department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, who now runs the Sandy Crest and Coverley Medical Centres, expressed concern that so far this year, his clinics were seeing as many as one in ten patients who had fallen ill on the job.

Dr Charles said: “For the second quarter of 2019, six per cent of the attendees at the Sandy Crest Medical Centre came owing to work-related health and safety issues. That is, companies sent them to us after they had fallen ill or sustained injuries that required medical attention while on the job.

“Meanwhile, at Coverley, which caters to people on the south and east coast, that figure was eleven per cent.  Now if one of ten people come to a clinic for occupational safety and health matters, that is a significant amount of people getting ill while at work.”

Minister of Labour Colin Jordan pointed to modern technology which had brought new challenges to the occupational safety and health landscape as well.

He said: “Recent changes in the work environment [have] brought issues such as stress, fatigue and burnout into sharper focus, and for many people, there is now a blurred and increasingly almost non-existent demarcation between work duties and their personal life.

“Rest and relaxation are often overlooked and underrated in today’s society, which places emphasis on a constant state of busyness.

“Those most prone to fatigue are people who work a shift system, whether night shifts or long and irregular hours. Sometimes they work double shifts to fill in for absent colleagues, for bigger paycheques or to meet unrealistic deadlines.

“Adults need seven to nine hours of sleep nightly, and sleep deprivation can have adverse effects on mental and physical health.

“Without adequate sleep, they won’t be able to carry out their duties effectively, which will ultimately affect overall productivity.”

Noting that his ministry had produced a National Workplace Wellness Policy in collaboration with the Barbados Workers Union, Jordan called on more businesses to concentrate on providing psychological first aid, to help workers deal with on-the-job mental health and stress-related issues.

With Occupational Safety and Health Week was being observed next week, he also urged companies to hold workshops for their staff on workplace health and safety.

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A Government commission launched today to  oversee the setting up of community-based People’s Assemblies, is being touted as the first step in putting power back into the hands of the people.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley, whose own grandfather was elected the first Mayor of Bridgetown during a short-lived experiment in local Government 60 years ago, today launched the Thorne Commission on Local Governance, to be chaired by prominent attorney-at-law and Government backbencher, Ralph Thorne QC MP.

The assemblies are to give Barbadians the opportunity to participate in national and local governance, Mottley told the launch this morning at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

She maintained that Barbados could only grow if the voices of its people were heard.

Mottley said: “Today I stand as Prime Minister of this country saying to you that the days of all roads leading to the Prime Minister cannot be the model of development that this country must pursue.

“I am prepared to accept that for us to develop that we need to empower our people, we need to include our people, we need to create platforms for participation.

“That does not mean that a Government does not govern, because at the end of the day an executive is called an executive because it is required to execute and it is required to take decisions.

“But taking decisions in a vacuum without consultation, without caring, without sensitivity to our realities is not the model of development that we want to pursue.

“Equally, failing to take decisions and failing to lead, is too far east going west, so that we have to be able to bring balance but we have to be able to do so in a manner that reflects the values that we want in order to allow for the best precepts of the Government.”

The Prime Minister said while she had supported the idea of constituency councils, introduced by the Stuart administration, she claimed it had been spoiled by a selection process that was driven by political partisans, negating its effectiveness.

She said members of the People’s Assemblies are to be elected and not selected.

Chairman Thorne gave an assurance that those serving on the Assemblies would not be selected based on party affiliation, and would be expected to look after the interests of their respective communities.

He declared: “We want to create a structure that is not partisan… that is fundamental to our design. We want Assemblies that are genuinely reflective of the interests of people and not reflective of the interests of parties.

“We have removed our design from anything that reflects constituency because when people hear the word constituency they think party and therefore I can say to you that we began conceptualizing by looking at parishes.”

Twenty assemblies are to be created across the 11 parishes, with St Michael having four assemblies and Christ Church three.

He said the ten other members of the Commission, including deputy chairman David Comissiong were ably qualified.

“Each member of this Commission qualifies by experience and knowledge to lead this work as a collective and know that we will be strong,” Thorne said.

Earlier in her remarks, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Cynthia Forde – under whose ministry the commission falls – described the former constituency councils’ governance structure as weak.

Forde said: “The proposal to create the assemblies was premised on the view that the reason for the collective difficulties being experienced by Barbadians was a weak and deficient institutional structure.

“Simply put, it is a transformation of Government that puts power and independence back into the hands of our local communities.”

Beginning next month, the commission is to hold consultations with private sector agencies, non-Governmental organisations, trade unions, secondary and tertiary level schools and institutions and other interest groups. Town Hall meetings are to start in September.

Fifty years ago, three centuries of district Government and eleven years of municipal Government were ended with the abolition of the vestry system and disestablishment of the Anglican Church to which the vestries were linked as the official church of Government. The island was divided into the eleven parish vestries, Northern and Southern Districts and briefly, the municipality of The City of Bridgetown.

Following proposals dating back to 1925, the then Barbados Labour Party Government passed the Local Government Act of 1958, establishing separate administration for The City. The municipality was led by a mayor, six aldermen, and 12 city councillors, four for each of the city’s three wards. The first Mayor of Bridgetown, Ernest Deighton Mottley, was elected in 1959.

But by April 1967, under the second Errol Barrow administration, the Local Government Councils were dissolved and replaced by an Interim Commissioner for Local Government until final abolition in 1969.

Forty years later, the Freundel Stuart administration introduced 30 non-elected constituency councils with the passage of the Constituency Councils Act of 2009.

The councils, which were heavily criticised by the then opposition Labour Party, were each allocated $100,000, which amounted to a mere 0.07 per cent of the central Government’s budget. But the councils had no authority to deliver services or raise revenue.

It was not immediately clear whether the proposed new People’s Assemblies will have a mandate with increased powers. randybennett@barbadostoday.bb

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The murder of a deaf man last weekend has rocked the local disabled community.

New President of the Barbados Council for the Disabled (BCD) and former President of the Senate of Barbados Kerry-Ann Ifill, told Barbados TODAY that it was difficult to explain the extent to which deaf persons have been affected by the murder of 43-year-old Rupert Patrick Stoute who was stabbed and beaten to death at the entrance of the Fairchild Street bus terminal while protecting a disabled woman.

“Persons with disabilities have for a long time been victims of varying crime, but to the best of my knowledge, there has been none so horrific, and horrific in the sense that it is a slaying of a deaf person, and from all reports, it was related to his deafness,” Ifill said.

The council president said that this was the second time for the year the disabled community has been touched by violence. She recalled that in March, a number of persons with disabilities were at Sheraton Mall, Sargeant’s Village, Christ Church, when a man was fatally shot.

“It leads us to recognise what we have been saying all along: persons with disabilities are equal members of the society. Violence does not discriminate against us. We can be victims of violence like any other member of the society. And it is worst when it comes to the deaf community with all the language barriers and all the other concerns. The recent increase in crimes is of great concern to us,” she said.

“We want to extend our sincerest condolences to the family of Mr Stoute, to his friends, and to the deaf community itself because we recognize how vulnerable everyone feels at this time,” Ifill added.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

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Below is a full statement by the Central Bank of Barbados.

With the Crop Over festival shifting into high gear, the Central Bank of Barbados is advising both retailers and the public to be on the lookout for people who are trying to pass off fake banknotes as real money.

“We tend to see an increase in counterfeiting at times of the year when spending rises and there is a lot of money in circulation,” revealed Octavia Gibson, Deputy Director of Currency at the Central Bank. “And during Crop Over in particular, when a lot of activities take place at night and when many of the persons collecting money at fêtes and working in stalls are not used to handling large amounts of cash, counterfeiters try to take advantage,” she added.

Gibson explained that people can protect themselves from counterfeiters by becoming familiar with, and using, the security features on Barbadian banknotes. “For businesses that have UV lights, we encourage you to use them. But even if you don’t, there are many, many features on our money that you can check with just your eyes and your hands, and we have many resources to help you learn how. I encourage Barbadians to visit the Central Bank’s website or our social media pages. You can also download our free banknote app from Google Play and the Apple app store, which will show you the security features and how to use them. And we conduct free training sessions for businesses on request. The information is readily available, and we urge everyone to use it.”

Asked what persons who receive fake money should do, the Central Bank official was very clear: “Do not spend it. Take the note to your bank, or to a police station, or bring it to the Central Bank, but do not try to spend it, because passing a counterfeit is a criminal offence that carries a prison sentence.”

“We understand that no one wants to get stuck with a counterfeit note, so do everything you can to avoid getting one in the first place. The best way to do that is to learn the security features of Barbadian banknotes and always check your money.”

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The Royal Barbados Police Force wants help in identifying and locating the individual captured in the attached images.

Police say he is a suspect in a number of reported cases of ATM fraud.

The public is asked to be on the lookout for this individual.

If seen, please IMMEDIATELY contact the Criminal Investigation Department at 430-7189/9019, Police Emergency at 211, Crime Stoppers at 1800-8477(TIPS) or the nearest police station.

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It is official. After close to five decades, the tenure of Roslyn Smith as General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), has come to an end.

In a press release this afternoon, the NUPW confirmed reports carried last month by Barbados TODAY, that the union had declined Smith’s request for a contract extension.

“After careful consideration, the National Council decided that there will be no further extensions of Sister Smith’s contract. The National Council, Executive and Secretariat wish Sister Smith a full recovery and God’s speed during her retirement,” the statement explained.

Smith is still recovering from an undisclosed illness and has been receiving treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) since last December. She had submitted a request for a leave extension in a letter dated March 15. At the time union president Akanni McDowall said a decision on the matter should be deferred to the union’s incoming executive committee and national council.

However, in the NUPW’s statement this afternoon, it was noted that Smith was given a previous extension and would now be retiring.

“The NUPW announces that Roslyn Smith has retired after 47 years of service. Sister Smith’s retirement would have commenced on October 1, 2018. National Council decided to grant an extension of her employment to March 31, 2019,” the union stated.

Last month a source told Barbados TODAY that while a new national council was yet to be formed, the executive of the NUPW took the decision not to renew the contract.

“The new council is being formed now but the executive would have made the decision as it pertains to Roslyn [Smith]. The executive made the decision that the contract not be extended,” the source explained.

Barbados TODAY contacted NUPW president Akanni McDowall to get further clarification on the rationale behind his organisation’s decision, but he declined to comment.

In recent months, Smith’s relationship with the NUPW president has been volatile. In the days leading up to NUPW’s elections last April, news broke that Smith and McDowall were heading to court to settle a lawsuit stemming from a memo dated August 28, 2018, in which McDowall made certain statements to the NUPW’s National Council referencing Smith’s use of the union’s credit card.

Smith had accused McDowall of making several “extremely serious, sensational and irrefutably false statements against her”, which had the potential to cause her to lose her job.

Last week, former trade unionist, Robert Bobby Morris, took the NUPW to task for its handling of Smith’s matter.

According to Morris, a former deputy general secretary of the BWU, the recent decision by the NUPW executive not to renew the contract of General Secretary Roslyn Smith who was hospitalised since last December, is not in keeping with the image of an organisation with strong leadership.

“I am concerned that the general secretary is on her sick bed and we don’t know if she has a job or not. All women would sympathise with her, regardless of what their politics are. For a woman to be on her sick bed and is being threatened with dismissal from a workers’ organisation cannot look good. I don’t care what anybody tell me. It is a signal of where we are,” said Morris.

Barbados TODAY made several attempts to reach Smith but was unsuccessful.
colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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Any constitutional amendments to give judges the power to impose the death penalty, have already been made.

That is the word from Attorney General Dale Marshall, who today sought to clear the air after it was reported in the media that judges from the Court of Appeal called for amendments to be made to the Constitution to clarify how the mandatory death sentence should be administered.

Marshall was responding to comments made by Court of Appeal president Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson and Justice Kaye Goodridge, during yesterday’s hearing of death row inmate Jamar Bynoe who is challenging his six murder convictions and death sentence.

However, the Attorney General revealed that the necessary amendments had been made more than three months ago, paving the way for judges to use their discretion in sentencing persons convicted of murder.

“One judge of the Court of Appeal is reported as having said that the courts find themselves in a conundrum because the Constitution has not been amended and seems to be suggesting that the Parliament of Barbados has to make amendments to the Constitution so as to facilitate hanging.

“I don’t want to get into an argument with our esteemed judges outside of the court, but I do not agree that there is any conundrum at all. Arising out of the decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the Barbadian case Nervais and Severin, the Parliament of Barbados has acted to amend all such laws, including the Constitution, in order to permit our courts to impose the death penalty if warranted,” Marshall contended.

“I admit there was an issue with the sole amendment to the Constitution that was rejected by the Senate, but that has been resolved and the Constitution has been amended accordingly and was proclaimed on April 4 this year.”

Marshall explained that in the decision of Nervais and Severin, the CCJ had ruled on the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Offences Against the Persons Act relating to the mandatory death penalty.

“All of those amendments have been made, and as far as we are concerned - and we have consulted at every stage with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) - all is in order for murder trials to proceed in Barbados, and for the death penalty to be imposed under law,” the Attorney General said.

He said while it had been reported that no murder trial had taken place since May 2018, several murder cases were to be heard shortly.

Marshall admitted while there had been a hitch in obtaining the services of several judges to hear those matters, plans were underway for temporary judges to be in place by September.

“In fact, there are a number of murder trials that are scheduled to be heard for the rest of the year. The High Court of Barbados will go on its annual holiday in August, but I’m assured by the DPP that there are a number of murder trials waiting and ready to be commenced as soon as the court holiday is ended,” the AG said.

“We had expected to put some additional criminal judges in place, but the fact is people don’t put their careers on hold and we have had some challenges with the availability of the individuals. Those matters have now been resolved, and I expect that come the start of the court year in September we will have those additional temporary judges in place.”

Marshall said the active recruitment of new judges along with the establishment of a criminal court would “make a big difference in helping us to get our criminal trials, especially murder trials, through the system”.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb

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Ordinary Seaman, Tyrrel Gibbons, will have a fresh trial, says his attorney.

With two adjournments in as many months and procedural concerns casting a shadow of uncertainty over the court martial of  Gibbons, the matter is now said to be back on track.

Since the latest procedural wrangling over the introduction of a Judge Advocate in mid-stream, Gibbons’ attorney, Larry Smith, QC, told Barbados TODAY that the charges against his client were dropped and then subsequently refiled, paving the way for a new trial.

“The court martial has been dissolved and they have filed fresh charges against my client. We haven’t received a new date as yet but the procedural concerns of that court martial have been resolved by its dissolution,” Smith said.

Gibbons is charged with a civil offence contrary to section 71 (1) of the Defence Act by wrongful communicating information contrary to section 2 (1) (a) of the Official Secrets Act, 1911, as amended by the Official Secrets Act, 1920.

Last month, the prosecution, led by Lieutenant Jamar Bourne, made an application for the matter to be handled by a Judge Advocate, due to the technical complexities of the allegations. This was met with strong objection from
defence attorney-at-law, Smith, QC, who explained that while the defence did not have a problem with the appointment of a Judge Advocate, the rules do not allow for one to be introduced with the proceedings already started.

“I haven’t had a chance to respond but I have a challenge with the type of adjournment. A person who is charged with a criminal offence in the civilian system, has a right to know when his or her trial is going to be and when the matter is coming up next for hearing. You cannot have a charge hanging over a person’s head without a date. That is a problem,” said Smith, who noted then that he plans to do some further research before requesting that the court martial convenes to settle this outstanding issue.

This afternoon the seasoned attorney told Barbados TODAY that while it is possible that the new trial could come with its own procedural issues, his concerns stemming from the last trial have been addressed.

“The issue of the matter not having a date has been resolved by the dissolution of that court martial. So, there is no issue of a date in relation to this court martial because it has been dissolved. They have filed fresh charges and we have to wait now for the court date,” said Smith.

He added, “I have to now wait and see if any new procedural matters arise when the new trial starts. As far as those questions are concerned, we would get the answers when the new trial begins.”
colvillemousney@barbadostoday.bb

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The Oscar Suarez who went missing with his girlfriend, Magdalena Devil during a west coast jet ski ride is no U.S fugitive, lawmen have confirmed.

[caption id="attachment_303276" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Oscar Suarez and Magdalena Devil[/caption]

Police Public Relations Officer, Inspector Rodney Inniss was responding to the widespread circulation of a Wanted poster, which was posted by U.S Marshals sometime ago as well as an article posted by the FOX6NOW network in 2013, indicating that an Oscar Suarez, who was wanted on cocaine charges had vanished.

However, local authorities, after consultation with U.S embassy officials, have since sought to quash speculation that the two men, of similar ethnicity are in any way related.

Certainly they are two different individuals,” assured Inspector Inniss.

“We have been reliably informed by the U.S embassy that they are two different people. We are not pursuing that at all. It really just seems like malicious intent by whoever is circulating it.”

In fact, the speculation, he said, was causing tremendous distress to the family of the missing couple.

“I don’t know why people circulate these things. Perhaps it seems like a juicy story to circulate, but other than that, there’s no truth to it and that is very hurtful to the family and everybody associated with the situation, especially for those people still hoping for a happy ending to this.

“The family is really asking that we don’t defame the individuals involved. It is not fair to them and I agree with them,” stressed the police PRO.

Suarez and his companion, Devil went missing nearly three weeks ago after setting off on a jet ski from a beach near Holetown. Search efforts by local, regional and American officials were however suspended after nearly a week of unsuccessful searching.

Last Saturday, the jet ski, which is owned by water sports operator, Artneal Bear was found hundreds of miles away from Barbados near the French island of Guadeloupe, but the couple’s whereabouts remain a mystery.

In an interview with US news network, Fox News, Oscar Suarez’s sister, Susanna Cruz announced the couple’s families would be hiring a vessel to conduct their own search at sea.

“We plan to go on Thursday morning to a neighbouring island to charter a boat or ferry…to go up the entire coastline and pretty much look ourselves as a family,” said Cruz.

During the interview, she complained that local authorities were providing “very limited” information.

“The last we heard was that they found the jet ski and their investigations were continuing. The information that we are getting from them is very limited and I think they’re saying it’s because it’s an active investigation.

“We’ve asked questions ourselves and there seems to be a disconnect between what the police know and what we found out when we were there. We were essentially carrying out our own investigations. That’s how we felt,” the emotional sister added.

When contacted about the developments, Attorney General, Dale Marshall said he “certainly wouldn’t comment” on the most recent developments.   

“I am the Attorney General and I don’t investigate things. The police conduct thousands of investigations per year. This one happens to be front-of-mind for obvious reasons but I certainly wouldn’t comment on it. I certainly am not going to comment on an ongoing investigation,” he told Barbados TODAY.

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CARICOM has claimed for itself a victory in the ongoing Venezuelan crisis, declaring that talks in Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines’ taking a seat in the UN Security Council vindicated the regional bloc’s non-interventionist stance and its ‘diplomacy of peace’.

Following talks between the warring political factions, mediated by Norway, held here earlier this week, the ambassador to CARICOM, David Comissiong, praised the region for staying the non-interventionist course, in the face of pressure from larger nations bent on military intervention.

Delivering his report on the last week’s annual CARICOM summit in St Lucia, Ambassador Comissiong said that it is never too late to use the power of dialogue to settle conflicts, echoing a similar sentiment offered by Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

Ambassador Comissiong was not able to give an update on the outcome of the negotiations but said: “Diplomacy of peace has been vindicated. At the conclusion of the CARICOM summit in St Lucia, it was announced that Barbados would be hosting talks between the government of Venezuela and the opposition. This happened between Monday and Tuesday this week.

“This to my mind is a consolidation and vindication of CARICOM’s diplomacy of peace. I think the world is coming to recognize that the position taken by CARICOM in favour of peace and dialogue was the correct position. There were big countries who were saying that the time for talk is over, but CARICOM spoke truth to power when we said that the time for dialogue and the time for peace is never over.”

Barbados is a member of a troika of CARICOM nations including St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago which have been instrumental in pushing for non-intervention in, and dialogue on, the Venezuelan crisis by spearheading the five-month-old Montevideo Mechanism along with Mexico and Uruguay. Norway’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, was a special guest of CARICOM leaders at their 40th annual summit, held in St Lucia. She held private talks with Prime Minister Mottley.

The Foreign Ministry in Oslo issued a statement on Sunday announcing the two sides “will meet this week in Barbados to make progress in seeking an agreed and constitutional solution for the country. The negotiations will take place in a continuous and expedited manner”.

The political deadlock between the two sides reached a critical point in January, after Juan Guaidó declared himself “interim president” of Venezuela and was immediately recognized by the United States. Initial meetings between the two camps to resume talks began in mid-May in Oslo.

Comissiong further argued that confidence in Barbados to host this high-stakes meeting must be viewed on the backdrop of St. Vincent and the Grenadine’s historic elevation to one of the rotating seats in the United Nations Security Council. He contended that these were all signs that the rest of the world is taking stock of CARICOM’s diplomatic position of peace.

He said: “St. Vincent is the smallest country in history to win a seat on the UN Security Council and they won by a magnificent tally of 185 votes to 6 votes. That also constitutes a vote of confidence in the CARICOM diplomacy of peace and insistence to the adherence to the principles of international law.” colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

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Residents of Rockley, Christ Church, have nothing to fear regarding the proposed redevelopment of the Blue Horizon Hotel.

That assurance has come from the project’s developers Blue Tourism Inc, who have assured them that when completed, the 10-storey US$50 million hotel will not only brighten up a “tired” looking south coast, but will also provide much needed foreign exchange and jobs.

The developers made the announcements during a press briefing this morning, where they sought to clear the air regarding several concerns which had been raised by residents.

Among them was a fear that the redevelopment would tamper with the beach. The residents had petitioned the Town Planning Department to have the project stalled, but Managing Director of Blue Tourism Inc Phillip Tempro told members of the media that residents need not worry.

“We just felt that there was information out there that seemed to be not correct and it is our duty that you have the opportunity to put it out there correctly,” he said.

Along with maintaining that access to and view of the beach would not be blocked. Tempro said the issues of dust control and dust management during construction had been mitigated.

He said dust screens would be used around the entire construction site and would also be raised as work on the hotel progressed.

Tempro said they had also been involved in the construction of Sandals and had received no complaints.

“The method of building that we are using is not a dusty method. We built 50 rooms for Sandals, ten feet from occupied rooms this year and did not have one complaint,” he pointed out.

He said that almost half of the rooms in the current Blue Horizon Hotel were dilapidated and being used by “vagrants and parros”.

In fact, along with sprucing up the popular south coast tourist belt, Tempro said hundreds of jobs would become available.

“In terms of work, we estimate there will be around 350 jobs in construction and the project will take 18 months to build. It will generate a significant number of services after that, so we will estimate that we will probably have in the range of 300 employees for the hotel itself after, plus all the various maintenance that goes on and the ancillary businesses that go on,” Tempro explained.

“The general economic position of this job is that it is going to bring somewhere around US$10 million in GDP [Gross Domestic Product] a year.”

He said while the construction plans had met all of the Town Planning Department’s requirements, they were still awaiting planning permission.

According to him the plan is to have the project started next month.

Additionally, he said they would be providing public bathroom facilities for those persons using the beach.

A townhall meeting is scheduled to be held next Thursday, July 18, at the Accra Beach Resort, where the developers will update residents on the most recent plans.

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The Government unit that was set up to lend seed money to micro and small businesses last year has held its first meeting as a newly corporatised state enterprise, the Barbados Trust Fund Limited.

The new board of the BTFL, formerly known as the Trust Loan Unit, has met with Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce Dwight Sutherland to discuss the lender’s new strategic direction.

According to a Government statement, central to the discussions on Monday was the board’s mandate to digitise the state-owned firm, transfer clients in the informal trading to the formal sector, develop a public relations campaign and develop a policy on loan delinquencies.

Board members have also been tasked with making improvements in the fund’s governance and operations, and build-out its community-based training programme in entrepreneurial development and financial literacy - a Financial Literacy Bureau and Community Cluster - intended to improve the entrepreneurs’ money management skills.

The board is chaired by Ambassador Dr. Clyde Mascoll, while the other members are Dr Jonathan Lashley, Dwayne Grazette, Lynda Goodridge, Trudy Symmonds, and Charles Parris.

Established by Cabinet decree as the Trust Loan Unit on August 2, 2018, and launched on October 29, the BTFL has exceeded its initial loan disbursement targets, Government said.

Sutherland, in providing an update on the fund, said: “The company has disbursed approximately $9,887,325.30 to 2,186 persons.

“These loans were disbursed to persons from the agricultural, cultural industries, manufacturing, retail, services and tourism sectors.

“The loan recipients from the agricultural sector constituted persons in the areas of farming, fisheries and animal husbandry.

“The recipients from the manufacturing sector were in the areas of garments, arts and craft, bakery and natural juices, among others.

“Clients from the retail and distribution sectors were from the areas of pharmaceuticals, frozen products, household products and bars.

“The services sector included entertainment, maintenance, education, landscaping, barbering and catering.”

The objective of the initiative is to provide $10 million per year for each of the next five years to seed a Trust Loan Fund, in order to give all small businesses/entrepreneurs and business owners, security-free loans of up to $5,000.00 each.

The minister for entrepreneurship said: “When this loan is fully paid and the borrower has built a good credit profile, the business/owner would be eligible for another loan of up to an additional $10,000.00.

These loans are available to all legitimate small business owners in every category of business.”

Acknowledging that clients have begun to repay their loans to the BTFL, he said some borrowers had already fully repaid their loans and were currently seeking additional loans.

Located at Building #4, Harbour Industrial Estate, Harbour Road, St. Michael, the fund’s is managed by Gerald Amos.

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Republic Bank has joined a growing list of financial institutions assisting police with their investigations into an ATM skimming scandal as police reveal the possible involvement of a third suspect in the scam.

On Monday, reports surfaced that the scammers had hit an undisclosed number of Barbadians at Republic Bank, CIBC First Caribbean International Bank and Scotiabank over the weekend.

On Wednesday, two men believed to be non-nationals were identified as suspects and their photos circulated by police. Investigations on Thursday revealed the possible involvement of a third suspect.

Lawmen released one photo of the suspect, a male who appeared to be using a Republic Bank ATM and another, which captured him exiting the building.

“The public is asked to be on the lookout for this individual who is a suspect in a number of reported cases of ATM fraud,” said the statement, released by Police Public Relations Officer, Inspector Rodney Inniss.

While the Barbados Bankers’ Association (BBA) on Tuesday released a statement indicating they were aware of the incident, Republic Bank went a step further. The Trinidad-based institution in a statement today assured customers they were supplying information to assist the police and urged patience amid the unsettling situation.   

“We appreciate that this process may cause some inconvenience to any affected customers, and we are making every effort to bring speedy resolution in cases where our customers have been affected,” the statement assured.

“Republic Bank reiterates that this breach has affected several financial institutions and to date there is no evidence that our systems have been uniquely compromised. We also remind all Republic Bank customers of the TBBA’s directive to report any breach detected on your accounts to your respective financial institutions. We are assured that the RBPF is doing all in its power to bring the perpetrators to justice and join the call for all members of the public to share any information that they may have,” the statement said.

News of the incident surfaced on social media through the circulation of voice notes when customers, after using ATM machines, realised their money had been stolen.

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