Argentinian national Joaquin Alberto Lobo has been remanded to Her Majesty Prisons Dodds until August 14.

The 33-year-old accused appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant charged with two counts of theft of money.

He pleaded not guilty to stealing $3, 040 in money belonging to the Barbados Public Workers Credit Union Limited between July 6 and 7.

However, he was not required to plead to the indictable charge of stealing $79, 770 in money belonging to CIBC First Caribbean International Bank (Barbados) Limited between July 5 and 8.

The post Accused ATM skimmer remanded appeared first on Barbados Today.

A second major hotel could soon be coming to the Bridgetown area.

Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds today revealed that the legal work related to the construction of the Hilton Garden Inn at Carlisle Bay, Bay Street had already begun.

While not disclosing many details on the project, Symmonds told members of the media that a contract was in the process of being prepared.

He said once that was completed it would pave the way for construction of the hotel.

If given the green light, it would be the second hotel planned for construction in the area, with the Hyatt Centric Resort scheduled to be built a short distance away.

“You will recall that when the Barbados Labour Party had its meeting in the Carlisle car park at the start of June, the Prime Minister had announced that steps had been taken by way of an investor to express an interest in a Hilton Garden Inn being built at what is now Carlisle House.

[caption id="attachment_304992" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds (left) in conversation with chairman of the Intimate Hotels of Barbados Soni Kessuram (centre) and Dr Kerry Hall, tourism consultant with the Ministry of Tourism.[/caption]

“The legal work has been completed and we are on our way towards seeing the fruition of that investment,” Symmonds said on the sidelines of the Intimate Hotels of Barbados’ Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Sweetfield Manor, Britton’s Hill, St Michael.

“Obviously that is within the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment, so I can’t really speak much further…”

But Symmonds said there was also a possibility that other hotels could also be coming to the area.

The Minister said the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Coca-Cola, who resides in Barbados, had expressed an interest in investing $30 million on the property by the Waterfront Café and Careenage.

According to the Minister that project could also see a hotel being built in that area.

“It is in the same area and it will probably be a number of things. Quite likely it may have a hotel component to it as well as some degree of shopping…” he noted.                        

He said such projects were always welcome as Barbados badly needed the foreign exchange along with the employment opportunities.

Symmonds said Government would be working with investors to ensure that these initiatives were quickly dealt with.

“So we are making progress. The basic good news is that people recognize that Barbados is open for business. They are expressing an interest in further investment and obviously we are trying to ensure that investment is facilitated in as transparent a way as possible, but making sure that we expedite it because the country needs the foreign exchange in order to get past some of the difficulties that we are still in,” the Minister explained.

“…But I do know that there has been a number of expressions of interest for people who are interested in doing hotel development in the Carlisle Bay area and in the general area of the Bayfront in Bridgetown, Barbados, which will be across the water from where the Customs and Immigration used to be.”

During a speech in Carlisle car park just over a month ago to celebrate the BLP’s first year in office, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that $3 billion would be spent in a Carlisle Bay project over the next seven years.

She said it would result in hotels being constructed between Hastings, Christ Church and Batts Rock, St Michael.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb

The post Prime property appeared first on Barbados Today.

Other suspects are being sought in connection with an alleged ATM scam in Barbados and there are fears that an Argentinian man charged with theft of money from two of this country’s financial institutions may interfere with the ongoing probe by the Royal Barbados Police Force.

That was just one of the objections put forward by police constable Kenmore Phillips against a grant of bail for accused non-national Joaquin Alberto Lobo.

The 33-year-old alleged ATM skimmer, from Caseros, Buenos Aires, Argentina, who arrived in Barbados on July 3, is accused of stealing $3, 040 cash belonging to the Barbados Public Workers Credit Union Limited between July 6 and 7. He is also charged with stealing $79, 770 cash belonging to CIBC First Caribbean International Bank (Barbados) Limited between July 5 and 8.

Speaking through an interpreter the non-national denied the first charge but was not required to enter a plea to the second charge, as it is an indictable offence.

In his objection before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant this afternoon prosecutor Phillips said given the “nature, seriousness and complexity” of the offences before the court the Crown strongly believed that the accused would not return before the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court if granted his pre trial liberty at this time.

“He would abscond the jurisdiction . . .
this being a serious indictable matter . . . The accused is a non-national and has no known ties in Barbados. Investigations are still ongoing and other accused are being sought in these matters and if granted bail he may interfere with those investigations,” the prosecutor argued.

But Lobo’s attorneys Andrew Pilgrim, Q.C. and Rashida Edwards argued that it was “routine” to admit accused persons to bail for the sum of money.

Pilgrim also argued that the issue of nationality could be met by the “quantum of the surety” to allay the fears of the prosecution that Lobo was a flight risk although the concern that he may flee was not based on “any knowledge” about the accused.

The defence attorney stated that the prosecutor’s belief that the accused could interfere with the investigation is not grounded in any fact therefore what they are asking is “to lock him up because he is not a Bajan”.

“As I come from a family that contains Bajans and non-nationals I regard the objections as insulting and baseless,” he added.

Pointing to the fact that the media had been following the matter with great attention, Pilgrim questioned whether the prosecution would “focus on the need to have some evidence disclosed” on the accused if it was the intention to “sustain the objections” beyond today’s date.

“Putting it another way . . . so long as this man remains in prison without evidence being brought, we are denying his right to a fair trial. He is a man with a family, a wife and children who rely on him . . . . We must treat him with respect and not as a spectacle,” Pilgrim further submitted.

He also questioned whether the two charges before the court related to any others in other districts apart from the District ‘A’ jurisdiction. However, Phillips responded saying that the investigations were still ongoing so he would be hard-pressed to speak on other charges at this time.

After considering the submissions from the prosecution and the defence Magistrate Cuffy-Sargeant denied the bail application and sent the accused Argentinian to the St Philip prison until August 14.

The accused who was dressed in a red and white t-shirt, black pants and black slippers was then escorted out of the precincts of the court by a prison warden to the holding cells and subsequently transported to Dodds.
fernellawedderburn@barbadostoday.bb

The post Argentinian remanded appeared first on Barbados Today.

Government is exploring the possibility of rearing Barbados Black Belly Sheep in CARICOM’s two largest member states, Suriname and Guyana, as top civil servants prepare for a mission to South America next week.

Paramaribo and Georgetown have offered land to Barbadian farmers for sheep rearing, said Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir.

“We are sending out a team now to look at Suriname and then Guyana to make sure we have a suitable arrangement and type of land that we can raise the black belly sheep in Suriname and possibly Guyana.

A team from the agriculture and foreign ministries, including Agriculture Permanent Secretary Terry Bascombe and Chief Agricultural Officer Lennox Chandler are
to travel to the two South American republics to assess the viability of rearing the prolific breeding hair sheep, prized for its meat.

Weir touted the initiative as a great opportunity to further develop the black belly sheep industry.

The current black belly sheep population in Barbados is estimated at 15,000 heads, he said, which is below the required number for a full-fledged industry.

“So we have to increase the number of black belly sheep heads that we have in Barbados, said Weir. “If we are to get to be able to produce the amount of lamb that we import to produce it locally, we need approximately 35,000 heads, so it is a significant jump.”

The Agriculture Minister added that if Barbados wanted to also explore the clothing and textiles spinoffs such as sheepskin leather craft, from 600,000 to one million sheep would be needed.

“This is a major project and will offer an opportunity for several Barbadians to be involved in animal husbandry through the development of the black belly sheep population,” he indicated.

The black belly sheep expedition is part of the Government’s Farmers Empowerment and Enfranchisement Drive (FEED) programme in which landless farmers are being given access to land to grow crops and rear livestock.

The Minister of Agriculture also disclosed that to prevent inter-breeding, the Greenland Livestock Station in St Andrew is to genetically trace the sheep to be used in the project.

“The farmers who will be part of this project will be part of a trackability system as well and the extension offices that we have within the ministry and those who are working within the FEED programme will be going out frequently to make sure the farmers get the assistance they need to avoid inter-breeding,” he said.

Guyana and Suriname, at 83,000 and 63,000 square miles respectively, are home to vast plains, fertile lands and abundant freshwater supplies and rainfall.

The notion of Guyana serving as the potential breadbasket of the Caribbean stretches back to the era of Guyanese leader Forbes Burnham more than 40 years ago.

A number of private sector ventures involving Barbadians and Trinidadian investors have been using vast tracts of land for farming in Guyana.

Following a visit to Suriname, Prime Minister Mia Mottley ramped up interest in farming and commercial joint ventures between two of the region’s biggest nations.
katrinaking@barbadostoday.bb

The post New venture appeared first on Barbados Today.

With tonnes of Sargassum seaweed still washing up on the northern and eastern coastlines, Minister of Maritime Affairs Kirk Humphrey has acknowledged that Government must go back to the drawing board to find a permanent solution.

Speaking at Wednesday’s CARICOM workshop on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), Humphrey described the scourge of seaweed as the most problematic part of his ministerial brief.

“We came into office in May last year and one of the first mandates that I was given was to tackle the seaweed by June. This is now a year later,” he said.

Humphrey admitted numerous strategies, which he said involved tremendous manpower and machinery have all been humbled by Mother Nature’s power.

“The truth is that we have hired some young people who worked daily moving seaweed on the beaches, we studied all the various people who’ve used booms across the world to prevent the seaweed from coming on the shore. We’ve seen cases where they have been fairly successful and we’ve tried them here.

“Usually when booms are working across the world, it is normally in calm waters but on the North and East coasts, which are mainly affected, those waters aren’t ‘playing’. So to drop a boom there, you
have to go very deep and it has to be very strong. But we have made efforts to study those.”

Explaining the Ministry’s difficulty tackling the problem, he said that numerous sugar cane harvesters and trucks were able to move seaweed weighing “hundreds of thousands of tones” from off the beach at Consett Bay. But even those efforts were hampered by the unpredictability of the tides, he added

The Minister said: “We cleared Consett Bay and did a video of the efforts and then persons went to Consett Bay the next day.

“We only saw Sargassum Seaweed because overnight it came in such numbers that you would never have believed we had cleared the beach the day before. But that is the nature of this work.”

Humphrey praised and encouraged the efforts of those attempting to manufacture secondary products from the seaweed, including fertilisers and other commodities.

He also promised Government would continue to work closely with academics and maritime stakeholders to continue tackling the problem.

kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb

The post Big battle appeared first on Barbados Today.

Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds has advised the hotel umbrella brand, Intimate Hotels of Barbados, that it cannot compete against the bigger brands if each hotel operates individually.

In a speech to Intimate’s Annual General Meeting at Sweetfield Manor, Brittons Hill his afternoon, Symmonds urged the group of hotel owners to band together.

The Minister said he was aware of several challenges being faced by the smaller hotels, including the rise of all-inclusive hotels and a drastic change in the US market.

Symmonds said the Intimate Hotels’ 49 properties which provide 1075 rooms, were not on equal footing with the rest of the hotel industry.

“The very fact of the matter is that in terms of your ability to capitalise yourselves and to recapitalise yourselves and to flesh out an operational approach which allows you to do tearing down of rooms and retrofitting and refurbishment on a cyclical basis of a seven-year cycle, so that you are constantly renewing your plant and being on the cutting edge of a new product, I know that the Intimate Group is severely challenged and cannot stand on equal footing with many of your larger competitors.”

He said their marketing budgets and pocketing capacity on an individual basis paled in comparison to larger competitors.

Symmonds also described the relationship between the Intimate Group, his ministry and the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI) as “apathetic”.

And while he gave the assurance that the tourism ministry was willing to work with them more closely he suggested that the group take certain steps to ensure their viability.

Symmonds said while smaller hotels were “indispensable” and “needed to be defended”, he told them they could not continue to operate in the same vein as they had done for the past 40 years.

He said the smaller chains were mostly responsible for attracting long staying and repeat visitors to the island.

Symmonds called on the Intimate Group to join forces rather than compete against each other.

The Tourism Minister declared: “It is my judgment that the Intimate Hotels should be branded as a group that the 49 separate properties should be brought together as a group, under a common brand. There is some obvious things you will benefit automatically from.

“Your procurement right now, if you have a 25-room hotel you are buying linen for 25 rooms, buying cutlery for 25 rooms.

“But for 1075 rooms… those things become a lot cheaper and a lot easier to achieve if it is done at that level than if it is done at the level you are now doing it at.

“Also in terms of marketing there is potential for a new reality. If you have a marketing programme for which the Intimate Group is being marketed, this Minister is prepared to use the BTMI and its considerable reach and also affiliate entities which are still knocking on the door of the BTMI and which have in some instances even greater reach than the BTMI.

“Let us not see it as competition and bring all the players to the table.”

The Minister’s stance was support by the group’s deputy chairman, Mahmood Patel.

He said the Minister’s remarks were “welcomed” and called on his colleagues to work collectively in the future.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb

The post Tourism Minister to hotel bloc: ‘Don’t go it alone’ appeared first on Barbados Today.

People living in a St Michael community are demanding urgent action from authorities at the National Housing Corporation (NHC) to cover a “very deep” well in their area, which they fear is on the verge of collapsing.

[caption id="attachment_305009" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Residents of Friendship Terrace, St Michael fear that this well is on the verge of collapsing.[/caption]

Less than two weeks after 17-year-old Kyrique Boyce plunged to his death in a 100-foot well in the Pine Government Housing Estate, an elderly woman from Friendship Terrace, Lodge Hill, St Michael and her daughter are pleading for authorities to prevent a similar tragedy happening there.

Yvonne Hinds purchased a house in the 1970’s from the Government, with her now deceased husband. Prior to moving in, a communal well was dug next to her house, which was connected to the septic systems of approximately ten nearby residents.

Years of wear and tear have caused the concrete slabs, which cover the well to slowly deteriorate until large chunks started falling in, leaving gaping holes, which people could fall through.

“I called them (NHC) here perhaps for the entire time I have been here. My husband died calling them about that. They came and looked at it and then left. I am fed up with it,” said Hinds.

She explained: “Two of the planks dropped in and the other sides dropped in. They came and placed a plank on it and they haven’t come back. All they are telling us is to keep far from it. How can I keep far when I have to walk around there to get to my place?” she asked.

Approximately two months ago, NHC officials reportedly came to the well and placed caution tape around it, but did not
fix it.

With scores of children now at home on summer vacation, the elderly woman fears the risk of an accident occurring is now heightened.

“I am busy telling children not to run on that well. It’s annoying me and I am upset because my son goes out there to cut the grass and I can’t manage if it drops in,” she complained.

Numerous efforts to reach NHC officials proved futile but Yvonne’s daughter, Michelle Giles who grew up in the area is concerned about the wellbeing of her mother.

“I have never seen a well in such bad shape,” she told Barbados TODAY.

“Most people who visited just said this well can’t be fixed and it will have to be abandoned. That has been our issue, so when I got through to the NHC, they sent someone to put the caution tape around the well two weeks later and said they would conduct a site visit to see the status of these wells. Nobody has called us back,” said Giles.

“It’s not looking very good, because we are expecting the well to fall in very soon.”

Giles recalled that a man in a nearby avenue fell into a well in the 1980’s and survived, prompting authorities to abandon and replace the well.

“We don’t want the fix to be a reactive measure after somebody falls in…. we can’t even cut the grass at the edge of the property because there is a hole there and we don’t know how close you can go to the edge.

“My mother walks around there and we don’t want her going to the back gate because her house is at the end of the avenue and no one can see and we really can’t have her wandering around there until that is addressed,” said the concerned daughter.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb

The post Concern over well appeared first on Barbados Today.

Senator Althea Wiggins has been appointed envoy to Suriname, President of the Senate Sir Richard Cheltenham announced today to the Upper Chamber.

“I wish to report to all honourable members that Senator Althea Wiggins has been appointed as the Prime Minister’s special envoy to serve in Suriname.

“Her duties will involve moving between Barbados and Suriname and to that extent she will not be resigning from the Senate to carry out her duties as special envoy.”

The Senate President wished the Senator well in her new posting.

“I just want to take this opportunity and I know I speak on behalf of all fellow senators in wishing her well in this new and important assignment,” Sir Richard said.

Senator Wiggins served as Deputy High Commissioner to London under the Democratic Labour Party administration. She spent 12 years abroad. 

The post Senator to become envoy to Suriname appeared first on Barbados Today.

Workers in the tourism industry have been told by Minister of Labour Colin Jordan that there is no room for discrimination against tourists.

Jordan, himself a former tourism executive, took his anti-discrimination message to a seminar on inclusive tourism organised jointly by the gay and lesbian advocacy group, B-GLAD, the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Canadian High Commission and Virgin Holidays.

“We are human beings who are interacting with other human beings”, Jordan said as he stressed the need to treat others as they would want to be treated.

“In tourism, there is no room for stereotyping.

“Human beings fear the unfamiliar, and we sometimes have to train ourselves to be kind, understanding, and respectful.

“In tourism, there is no room for discrimination. We, as workers in this industry, do not discriminate because it is not the decent, human thing to do.

“We do not discriminate because our guests are human beings. When we check in a guest, we are concerned only with the ability of the guest to pay. We do not ask if the guest has a temper, and is prone to destroy hotel furnishings. We accept people as they present, and we work to make their stay an enjoyable one.

“Discrimination is an issue that must be addressed because it speaks of treating to some… as inferior and as not deserving of the same level of treatment and respect as those of the main group(s).

“There are those who are traditionally discriminated against because of their ethnicity; racial identity; gender; sexual orientation; a disability; gender identity; religion; or in some cases their denomination.”

The Labour Ministry is preparing legislation to combat discrimination in the workplace, and put a framework in place to prevent its occurrence, the minister said

“Secondary to being the right thing to do, there are genuine economic benefits to rejecting stereotypes and discrimination, and rather being inclusive in our approach to the tourism industry,” said Jordan.

He stressed tourism’s vital role as the main driver of the Barbados economy, earning approximately half of the country’s foreign exchange, and as the single largest employer in the Caribbean, considered the region most dependent on tourism.

The post ‘No room’ for discrimination against tourists – Jordan appeared first on Barbados Today.

Government’s decision to ban single-use plastics has been no easy journey, Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey has admitted.

And while declaring his ministry was committed to “staying the course” on the issue, Humphrey said while many Barbadians are committed to the massive change in principle, they were not willing to adapt in reality.

“We believe it is the right thing, but to ask people to give it up and commit to that adaptive work, that is where the challenge is,” Humphrey told a gathering at the opening of the 3rd CARICOM Regional Workshop on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).

The ban, which took effect from the first of this month, has received tremendous criticism ever since it was announced last September, forcing distributors and retailers of single-use plastic products to swiftly find alternatives.

“Like many of our sister CARICOM states, Barbados has taken steps to ban the importation, sale, retail and use of single-use plastics in polystyrene in Barbados.

“It is my ministry that has implemented this ban and I don’t know how many others have tried to implement a ban on plastics. It is no easy feat,” he said to the amusement of the audience.

Just last week, it was revealed that many of the replacement products tested positive for dangerous chemicals and so far, the minister has declined to address the matter.

During his address, Humphrey told reporters: “For those of you who are here, I will not have a conversation about the ban on plastics. But the truth is this is not an easy thing.

“Even as I was driving here, a member of the press was calling me asking me about the ban on plastics.”

To successfully implement the ban, Humphrey explained: “I have a friend who is a doctor and he told me ‘most people don’t die because of an operation, but because they have to change their practices after the operation. It is not the technical fix; it is the nature of the adaptive work that people must do. So people agree that we should ban plastics, but in reality it seems a very difficult task.

“Nevertheless, we are staying the course and ensuring we do what we have to,” he assured.

The Minister lauded a decision by Prime Minister Mia Mottley and other CARICOM heads, who recently adopted the St John’s Declaration, pledging, among other things to maintain a commitment to global advocacy against the harmful effects of marine plastics litter and marine plastics.

The post Difficult plastics ban appeared first on Barbados Today.

A ‘Smart Bridgetown’, involving free Internet access, computer-controlled parking and a mobile guide for tourists, is “a few months away”, the Minister for Smart Technology has declared.

Minister of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology Senator Kay McConney told the Senate: “There will be three basic aspects of our Smart Bridgetown. First, it is free access for internet access for Bridgetown.

“Second is smart parking on streets adjoining Broad Street and the third the mobile app that will facilitate tourism engagement.

“I heard others say there is a need for us to engage tourists in a meaningful way especially those coming out of the port.”

The Senator explained that the process will not only take time but money.

She said: “To provide free wifi for a City is expensive.

“However, we are committed we have determine that we will design and build in adequate capacity to ensure that there is a good user experience.

“As you know if there isn’t a good user capacity what happens is when you log on it takes too long and you get logged off.

“So we are taking our time to design and build a network where we believe it is working for the capacity we expect to have here in Bridgetown.

“Persons, through that wifi, will have access to basic services they will be able to browse, watch videos, access their emails and be on social media.”

On smart parking, she said the ministry is working in conjunction with two other Government departments.

Senator McConney explained: “There will be sensors and geo tagging for the parking spots in town.

“You will be able to detect where the free parking spots are.

“We have started working with the Royal Barbados Police Force and the Lands and Surveys Department and together we have identified those streets in Bridgetown where the first pilot of the small parking will begin.

“We have mapped out the area that will be the first area for coverage.”

McConney said the mobile app was being developed by the Barbados Tourism Product Authority (BTPA).

“The Barbados Tourism Product Authority has already started its work on a mobile app that using the free wifi and active mobile will be able to add value to the experience of the tourists who are connected to the system.

“We are moving to create hot spots [in an] area where you have very high speed access green spaces and you can create social interaction in those areas.”

The Minister said the work being done in Bridgetown is all part of Government’s bigger plan to make Barbados a smart country.

McConney said Government is committed to providing universal access to a minimum threshold of high-speed broadband internet as a means of powering the new national digital economy smart cities and smart Barbados.

“We have to build out the Smart Barbados in phases and we wanted to start with our capital city.”

The post ‘Smart Bridgetown’ appeared first on Barbados Today.

A Government Senator is calling on his administration to do more to tap into the niche market of disabled tourists.

According to Senator Dr Rommel Springer, while there continues to be cursory mention of catering to the disabled travelling public, there needs to be more meaningful steps towards making this a reality.

During debate on the final report of the National Cruise Development Commission, Senator Springer contended that heritage tourism can be the catalyst for building out this niche market.

He argued that heritage tourism can allow for the use of all sensory perceptions in the telling of the story and this could be especially appealing to those who do not have the benefit of sight.

Speaking as a “student of heritage studies”, the senator suggested that Barbados could offer much to a visitor who is visually impaired.

Senator Springer said: “There are a number of monuments in The City, where guided tours for these persons can be conducted and they can touch, they can feel and they can hear the history of these monuments.”

He noted his experience of seeing people being inspired by touching names inscribed on war monuments.

He added: “It is true that these persons may not have the power of sight but they still can create a picture in their mind, especially if the guide is talented enough to explain what is happening around you.

“Even in terms of the Parliament building we could have miniatures of the structure built so that persons can have a feel of the overall architecture.”

Without going into detail, Senator Springer contended that even some of the unpleasant odours of the historic capital could be integrated into telling a story.

He said: “Sometimes it does not have to be the most pleasant smells because sometimes the unpleasant ones tell a story as well.

“So, you can go into parts of Bridgetown and you can tell a story and you can have the evidence of the various odours be it the smell of flowers or the smell of something else but that will give a meaningful experience to that person who is visually impaired to get a sense of what life in Barbados might have been 100 years ago.”

He pointed out that even the graveyards in The City could form part of this experience.

The Senator further argued that Barbados could tap into the international trend of tracking down ancestral roots through genealogical research, noting that this could help visitors form a connection with the island.

The post Barbados ‘still not catering’ to disabled tourists appeared first on Barbados Today.

The state-run National Sports Council (NSC), which is currently experiencing environmental challenges at its Blenheim, St Michael headquarters, started to relocate its operations today to the Wildey Gymnasium.

However, Acting Director Neil Murrell told Barbados TODAY he did not expect the transition to be completed before early next week.

Murrell said while some of the 25 administration employees were able to move to their temporary offices, others continued to function from the existing building on My Lord’s Hill today.

“All staff were not moved. There were some other persons in the accounts department because we are still undertaking an audit. So those persons who have to do the audit, they have some timelines to complete…they were operating at the building,” he said.

Yesterday, some workers were forced to evacuate the building after complaining of feeling unwell due to the effects of a strong chemical scent which has been lingering from a weekend industrial cleaning.

The workers had also called in their bargaining agent, the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) claiming an infestation of bed bugs.  They had also reported that the office chairs which had been sent for cleaning were brought back wet.

Deputy General Secretary of the BWU Dwaine Paul, who was on the scene, welcomed a subsequent decision by management to close the offices for the rest of the week and relocate staff.

“We should be able to get things across by early next week. I can’t give you a specific time because there are a lot of files here. Files were moved today and areas of the front office [and] part of the registry was moved today,” said the acting director this afternoon.

He also responded to concerns expressed by the union as to whether the files which were being transferred to the gymnasium would be sanitized.

“The files have been sanitized. We discussed it on Friday. Some of the people you may have spoken to were not at that meeting. We had a meeting with the staff on Friday last week.  There were persons who came to work this week who were not present last week,” Murrell added.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

The post NSC starts move to Gymnasium appeared first on Barbados Today.

The Mia Mottley administration is being urged to reform old legislation while guarding against implementing new ones that could place too much burden on this country’s financial services industry, a Government Senator who leads the financial technology industry has warned.

Speaking on proposed amendments to Securities (Amendment and Validation of Fees) Bill, 2019, Senator Rawdon Adams said that while the amendments are a step in the right direction toward unencumbering the financial services industry, Government must maintain the balance between regulating and enabling capital.

Senator Adams, chief executive of fintech firm Bitt, said: “We have to be very careful when we look at this type of legislation that we don’t encumber actors in the financial space with a burden of regulation that is really onerous.

“Legislation to my mind is a living entity and it something that has to reflect changes and development in society, be they economic, technological, social or political. It speaks to balancing proscription against enabling.

“With this type of legislation, we have to make sure that we don’t hamstring society.”

The bill seeks to amend the Securities Act to exempt an issuer of a security, in specified circumstances, from the obligations imposed by sections 63 to 65; and validate the charging and collection by the Financial Services Commission, of certain annual registration fees payable by the Barbados Stock Exchange from January 1, 2016 to the date of commencement of the Securities (Amendment) Regulations, 2018.

According to section 63 of the Act: “Subject to section 64, no person shall distribute a security unless a prospectus or a block distribution circular has been filed with, and a receipt therefore has been issued by, the Commission.”

In section 65 it states: “No registrant shall sell a security of a class that is the subject of a filing pursuant to section 63 and for which a receipt has been issued by the Commission, within 90 days of the date of the receipt, unless he sends or delivers to the purchaser of the security  a prospectus or block distribution circular within two working days before the agreement of sale is made,”

Noting that past administrations have frequently erred on the side of proscription, Senator Adams said it is therefore crucial for the one-year-old Barbados Labour Party Government to strike a delicate balance to ensure the fluidity of the industry.

He told the Senate: “This type of legislation does not only have to take into account balance but also proportionality.

“When it comes to small and medium-sizes enterprises governed by the legislation, we know that they cannot easily finance themselves through credit or equity.

“So, it is really important that legislation like this and the related Acts on our books address this kind of issue.”

The post Adams warns against over-regulating financial industry appeared first on Barbados Today.

If Barbados is to get a bigger slice of the multi-billion dollar international cruise industry, then this country’s tourism product needs to be urgently refreshed.

This is according to findings of the final report of the National Cruise Development Commission, which identified several key areas which have contributed to the worrying trend of low spend among cruise ship passengers and short-stay visitors.

Speaking from the Senate floor this morning, Minister of Foreign Affairs Senator Dr Jerome Walcott laid out the findings noting that in the report, which utilised several surveys, it was revealed that there has been steady decline in visitor satisfaction, decrease in consumer interest and the general view that the tourism product offerings were stale.

The report was divided into eight sections and covers several areas, looking at an analysis of the tourist industry against global trends. The report also looked at the current infrastructure versus what was needed to operate the cruise sector at an optimum level.

“The report spoke of the port and the deficiencies there. Out of 34 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, in terms of the welcome at the port of entry, Barbados ranked at number 29. So this is an area which definitely needs to be worked on as well as the cruise infrastructure. The report calls for massive expansion or a new cruise ship facility,” Walcott said.

The Senator further noted that the report also spoke to the upgrades to road infrastructure, clearer signage to attractions and intense marketing of several tourist facilities that have not lived up to their potential. The commission also urged Government to accelerate its plans for making Bridgetown a smart city, while increasing the number of bathroom facilities in the capital.

“It also speaks to environmental issues where persons go to visit attractions and places of interest and the signs leading to those places are often covered in bush and debris and we need to address this. The report also spoke to a need to refurbish the Pelican Craft Centre in order for that facility to be given a new lease on life, he said, noting that the commission’s report also called for a refreshing of the popular Oistins Bay Gardens facilities

The National Cruise Development Commission was established by Cabinet in August last year. Walcott noted that the cruise commission was charged with the responsibility of doing an in-depth assessment and analysis of the sector.

The post ‘Stale’ tourism offerings in need of facelift appeared first on Barbados Today.

It will be his first and last performance in the tent for 2019 and he intends to make it count.

Red Plastic Bag will be giving patrons “no less than half hour” of performance tonight at De First Citizens/Digicel Big Show, at the Sea Rocks Dome, Maxwell Coast Road.

In the tent’s last show of the season, the newly honoured Doctor of Letters will perform some of his biggest hits.

Also on stage will be the stellar cast of defending Soca Monarch Mikey, Pic-o-de-Crop defending monarch Mr Blood, Mac Fingall, Mr Dale, Pompey, Skung Yung, Natahlee, TC, Kirk Brown, Jslo, Classic, Marvay, Chrystal Cummins-Beckles-Holder, AC, Biggie Irie, Edwin, Joaquin, Adonijah and Grynner.

Gates open at 7 p.m and the show starts at 8 p.m

The post Just one jump by Bag appeared first on Barbados Today.

Queen’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim has won a monumental victory over the Barbados Court of Appeal that gives him the greenlight to take an outstanding matter directly to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for resolution.

In a landmark ruling on Wednesday, the CCJ gave Pilgrim the authority to “leapfrog” the local Court of Appeal and have a matter heard before the regional judicial tribunal.

The decision of the final appellate court was reportedly made due to the inordinate length of time it was taking the Court of Appeal to rule in the case of Omar Dacosta Holder.

Holder had been found guilty of the triple murders of 20-year-old Sakina Walrond, her three-year-old son Shaqkem Gittens and two-month old daughter Sha-Mya Mapp on March 31, 2005 and was sentenced to death by Justice Margaret Reifer in 2010.

However, Pilgrim appealed the sentence before the Court of Appeal in 2013, but has been unable to get a judgment since then.

In an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY, Pilgrim said after listening to the case management of Omar Holder vs the Queen on Monday, the CCJ made a determination that the Court of Appeal, headed by president Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson and comprising Madam Justice Sandra Mason and Justice Andrew Burgess, by failing to make a decision had effectively rendered a decision.

Pilgrim said the CCJ treated the absence of a decision as if the Court of Appeal had affirmed the conviction and sentence.

He said the CCJ granted the appellant leave to appeal and file grounds.

The surprising ruling has come exactly two weeks after the outspoken attorney-at-law publicly criticized the Chief Justice and the Court of Appeal for the tardiness in handing down judgments.

What had also made the situation more complex was the fact that Madam Justice Mason now Dame Sandra Mason was after being elevated to the post of Governor General of Barbados, while Burgess was now himself a member of the CCJ, precluding either from issuing a judgment on the matter.

Pilgrim told Barbados TODAY he was delighted that his client was finally making some headway with his appeal.

He however, pointed out that it was also a bittersweet moment as they had wasted six years in trying to appeal Holder’s sentence.

“Obviously I am heartened by the fact that the CCJ takes this unique situation of having an appellant have to wait for six years or more for a decision, and waiting so long.

“So I’m really delighted that the CCJ is allowing Omar Holder the opportunity to move forward in his case and to have some sort of resolution eventually, because we know that the court ought not to take anything like six years to give its decision,” an upbeat Pilgrim said.

“So it’s as if virtually we have leapfrogged the Barbados Court of Appeal. So it’s our hope that we can file our documents now and basically begin the process anew, because we have wasted over six years waiting on the Barbados Court of Appeal which failed to do its job completely.”

Pilgrim said he would now have to file to have the matter heard before the Trinidad-based CCJ.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb

The post ‘So long’ appeared first on Barbados Today.

It appears that ongoing acrimony within the ranks of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) is taking its toll on membership with a dramatic falloff in numbers by more than 30 per cent in the last two years, a source within the public sector trade union has revealed.

“We are really seeing a steep drop in membership and I can’t say why, but the problem was especially acute when all the infighting between the president and the General Secretary, Roslyn Smith, got into the public domain. The question marks over the use of the union’s credit cards, which also became public last year, did not help. Also, I believe the Government layoffs have also contributed to the fall in numbers,” the source revealed.

In the latest public spat, five days after the union which she served for 47 years officially announced her retirement, 65-year-old Smith is now alleging unfair dismissal and is claiming close to half of a million dollars in compensation. The source noted that there is concern at the union about what this latest dramatic twist is going to mean for the already dwindling enrollment numbers.

[caption id="attachment_305110" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Members of the executive from left. third vice president Kimberley Agard; second vice president Charles Bostic; first vice president Kim Webster, president Akanni McDowall; general treasurer Pamela Humphrey and general manager Roy Greenidge.[/caption]

Barbados TODAY understands that membership has now slumped to just below 7,000, this after NUPW president Akanni McDowall claimed last year that the union had regained thousands of members between 2015 to 2017.

However, the source said that the enrollment now tells a worrying story of an organisation in decline, as the union was now at a lower ebb than where it was in 2013 to 2014 following the Freundel Stuart administration’s layoff of 3,000 workers.

In March 2018, at the opening ceremony of the NUPW’s 74th annual conference at the union’s headquarters at Dalkeith Road, St Michael, McDowall said of his tenure, which began in 2015: “I am pleased to report that despite the challenges aforementioned and the negative impact resulting from the layoffs and retirees, that membership is once again on the increase. For example, the union has attracted approximately 2,000 workers between 2015-2017,” the NUPW boss said of the union, which he claimed at the time boast of a membership of 10,000.

Barbados TODAY made several attempts to contact the president and acting General Secretary Delcia Burke but all were unsuccessful.

However, a top official at the NUPW, who also did not want to be identified, rushed to the defence of the organisation, noting that while membership numbers have indeed fallen to just under 7,000, the slide did not happen overnight as some would suggest. The source noted that while they can’t rule out the apparent lack of unity at the top as a cause, retirements have also played a role in the low numbers.

“I will not fool you by saying that a few persons have not become disillusioned and have dropped out, but this is not a sudden exodus of people. Globally since the economic meltdown of 2008, there has been a slide in trade union membership around the world. One just has to look at the labour statistics of union density. People would want to say that it is because of this little thing that happened in the paper recently, but it happened gradually,” the source explained.

Additionally, the source noted that the NUPW was not the only trade union that was struggling and accused the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) of attempting to poach membership from the public sector because they were struggling just as badly.

“The BWU is now trying to go after the public service, which is really our area. So from what I am hearing, they are really struggling, and one should really ask how things are over there. We also have to
blame our communication because when persons retire, they often don’t know that they could stay in the union for half of the subscription fee,” the union official explained.
colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb

The post Membership dwindling at NUPW appeared first on Barbados Today.

Just three days after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) urged police officers to be thorough in their investigations, a man accused of having almost 300 pounds of cannabis at his residence has walked free because of a lack of evidence.

The case against Wayne Dexter Reid was dismissed by Magistrate Douglas Frederick  yesterday in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court, after he upheld a no-case submission brought by the accused’s attorney-at-law Queen’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim.

Reid had been charged with possession, possession with intent to supply and trafficking 282.7 pounds of cannabis on April 26, 2016.

The illegal drugs had a street value of over $500 000.

In his no-case submission, Pilgrim argued that the evidence produced did not link his client to the drugs.

“The police claimed they went at the house of the accused armed with a warrant to search, claimed they found the door ajar, entered the home and claimed they found drugs inside.

“Where police go to execute a warrant they ought to execute it in the presence of somebody. Even if the accused is not there, some other party should be there to acknowledge that the police came and did whatever they did and found whatever, they found,” he maintained.

“If that is not the case, then police can go into anybody’s home when no one is there and claim that they find any and everything in your absence and you have no defence to it whatsoever.”

The attorney-at-law said it would be tantamount to impropriety pursuant to Section 116 of the Evidence Act and it would mean that the probative value of that evidence would be outweighed by the prejudicial value.

After hearing Pilgrim’s submission, the magistrate agreed that the Crown had not built a strong enough case against the accused.

The court heard that police executed a search warrant at a residence where Reid was staying, but he was not home at the time.

They found the door slightly ajar and smelled a strong odor suspected to be cannabis emanating from the residence.

Police entered the house and after finding no one at home they conducted a search where they found the drugs contained in 16 packages in a bathtub.

Acting Assistant Superintendent Trevor Blackman prosecuted the case.

But in examining the evidence, the magistrate said the Crown was seeking to rely solely on the fact that the accused occupied the premises.

Frederick said the fact that the door was found ajar by police could be interpreted that other persons had access to the house.

The magistrate also pointed to the fact that while the accused’s brother said he lived at the house, when he was questioned, the accused said the house belonged to a female, but he had “some things” there.

However, Frederick said one of the most glaring errors was the fact that police never questioned the owner of the residence about whether the drugs belonged to her.

“The police were too hasty in the execution of their warrant,” the magistrate acknowledged.

Frederick said the Crown simply did not have enough evidence as the accused had denied any knowledge of the drugs, there was no confession and there was no evidence linking Reid to the drugs.

“The Crown does not have enough evidence to establish a prima facie case on the balance of probability,” the magistrate added.

On Monday while addressing a course at the Regional Security System, DPP Queen’s Counsel Donna Babb-Agard told the participants that they needed to submit “a well-prepared police file upon which prosecutors can rely”.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb

The post Charge dismissed appeared first on Barbados Today.

Amid complaints that members of the public have been unable to fill some prescriptions at pharmacies at polyclinics, the Ministry of Health says it has taken immediate steps to address the problem.

Patients seeking medication for diabetes and hypertension took to radio talk shows today to report that they were being turned away when they visited the pharmacies to fill prescriptions.

But in a brief statement, the Ministry of Health said that the problem would be resolved by the middle of next week.

It said that “Government pharmacies” should once again be fully stocked by the middle of next week.”

But the ministry urged the public not to share their prescribed medication with anyone, even if they may suffer from the same ailments.

The post Remedy coming appeared first on Barbados Today.