Chief Agricultural Officer, Lennox Chandler is of the view that persons in Barbados must be trained before they are able to hold the title of ‘farmer’.

Chandler’s view was expressed as he delivered a few remarks during the graduation ceremony of the SJPI students who took part in the Protective Agriculture Training Project.

“There is this notion that everyone thinks that agriculture is very simple and anybody can do it. They plant a few seeds and all of sudden they’re scientists; seeds are designed to grow anyhow, so if you throw a seed outside and it doesn’t grow then something is wrong,” he said.

“Farmers really need to be trained and this is exactly what this training sessions is about. We’re training young people in the rudiments of and the basics of agricultural science and farming.”

He revealed that many people went into the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Fisheries and Water Resource Management looking to be registered as farmers. However, he expressed that if he had his way, “no person could register as a farmer until you can provide me with evidence that you have received some basic training in farming and agriculture.”

“Just because you have O’level Maths does not make you an accountant or a book keeper; you really need to have some training so that when you go out there you don’t waste your time, waste your money or waste your energies in trying to produce a crop which may very well fail,” he said.

“A garden bed is not three or five acres of land, so you really need to train people.”

He expressed that programmes such as he Protective Agriculture Training Project was an example of the collaboration that takes place between other agencies in agriculture and the ministry as a way of teaching the young people the rudiments of agriculture as persons in the ministry with skills and expertise were sharing these skills and experiences with the young people of Barbados who had an interest in agriculture.

Barbados’ major challenges will be to eliminate the fiscal deficit and to reverse the declining trend in foreign exchange reserves.

This was the assessment reiterated by President of the Barbados Economic Society (BES), Shane Lowe, in his opening remarks yesterday at the Barbados National Debate on the Economy, facilitated by the BES and the CFA Society of Barbados at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

He suggested to the incoming administration, “Given the need to boost capital works to enhance physical infrastructure and few sources of financing, a new administration will need to cut current expenditure and/or raise tax revenues more than the existing fiscal gap to sustainably balance the budget and provide enough room to finance necessary infrastructure upgrades. More austerity could further slow growth of the Barbadian economy, unless private sector investment rebounds. Thus, improved conditions for doing business and the courage to facilitate innovation in new and exciting economic sectors are necessary to enable economic recovery.

“Finally, without substantial growth in financial inflows, planned debt service payments will likely further reduce the stock of foreign exchange reserves. One-off inflows may stabilise the reserves in 2018, but likely do not address large debt payments due between 2019 to 2022. Policymakers must secure a cheaper and more sustainable source of foreign financing to stabilise reserves in the medium term, facilitate a sustainable reduction in the fiscal deficit, and restore Barbados’ international credit rating to a more credit-worthy status.”

He recounted the economic landscape that currently exists.

“Over the last year, the Government reduced its fiscal deficit to 4.2 per cent of GDP from 5.7 per cent of GDP in the previous year. That adjustment, while falling short of the desired balanced budget, benefited from greater revenue generated through new and higher taxes, as well as decreased spending on infrastructure. However, greater transfers to public institutions and higher interest costs pushed current expenditures even higher. Further, while higher earnings from tourism increased exports of goods and services, the Government’s austerity programme has constrained demand for imports. Thus, economic activity has declined since June 2017. Of immediate concern are the level and trajectory of our foreign exchange reserves. These reserves – now at $423 million – fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2017 and were 40 per cent lower in March 2018 than they were 12 months prior. For the past three years, foreign private sector investment inflows declined annually, and the country has been repaying maturing foreign debt without sufficient capacity to replace these outflows at favourable interest rates,” Lowe indicated.

“This debate included discussions centred around the following themes: (i) Reversing the downward trend in foreign exchange reserves; (ii) Utilising fiscal policies and exploring alternative industries for accelerating economic growth; and (iii) Minimising the fiscal gap, which includes prioritising and funding our social services. We sincerely hope that all involved benefit from this session, and hope that such a debate becomes a common fixture of our economic and political calendar in years to come,” he added. (NB)

Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur has shed some light on a number of issues raised by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart on Sunday night during a political meeting of the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP).

Speaking in a press conference at the offices of Barbados Today, Manor Lodge, St. Michael yesterday morning, the former Prime Minister revealed that there were attempts to get him to secure campaign financing in the last general election from any country in this hemisphere. He recalled a meeting arranged by another member of his party, where he met with a political operative and a Prime Minister of another Caribbean country, to encourage him to journey to Venezuela to seek financing for the Barbados Labour Party’s election campaign.

According to Arthur, one condition of that financing was that he would change the position he held as Prime Minister of Barbados on Petrocaribe.

“You would recall that when we were in Government, Barbados was one of the countries that refused to participate in Petrocaribe and we did so on the grounds that I did not think it was appropriate to have to get future generations of Barbadians to pay for the gasoline that this present generation consumes. Petrocaribe lent you money to buy gas and I said no to it,” he said.

Arthur added, “Mr. Stuart is in a position to speak to it because I called in the Venezuelan ambassador and briefed him, so there is a record… Obviously I refused to go, because there was no circumstances under which I was going to agree to sell the Barbados foreign policy for a campaign contribution.”

Arthur, who was leader of the Barbados Labour Party from 1993 to 2010 and again took over the reins of power before the 2013 election, said that the financing “could have run into the millions”, but on principle he did not accept it.

Questions posed to leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), Mia Mottley, about tax waivers granted when that Party was in power, have caused former Prime Minister Owen Arthur to make his position on the matters known.

In a press conference hastily called yesterday morning at the offices of Barbados Today, located at Manor Lodge, St. Michael, Arthur responded to concerns raised by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart that a tax write-off of close to half a million dollars was granted to Mottley’s father by Arthur’s administration. Arthur told reporters that Mottley’s father had in fact requested a waiver, but he denied the request. He said the request is one he remembers because of its “outrageous nature”.

“In my whole experience as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance there was no circumstance under which I did, or would have waived tax payable on millions of dollars, including and especially the father of a member of the Cabinet. I can go categorically on the record as saying that,” Arthur contended.

He went on to explain that the law states how the Cabinet and Parliament should manage the process of the granting of waivers, and he maintained such was not met. He said under the law, while a Minister of Finance can with the approval of Cabinet waive taxes, it is on the condition that having done so he or she has to take the matter to Parliament by way of an Order to uphold transparency and accountability.

“The laws of Barbados say that if a Minister of Finance brings an Order to Parliament waiving a tax, Parliament can by negative resolution overturn that waiver… I am in a position to say that I am aware that Ms. Mottley’s father applied to me for a waiver of the tax and as I said earlier, as Minister of Finance, I never did, or would have agreed to a waiver of a tax on income running into millions of dollars,” he told reporters.

The former Prime Minister said he can only confirm the request was made and denied, and he therefore has no knowledge as to if such a waiver did occur. As such, he made it clear that if such did occur, it was not done with the consent of him as head of Cabinet, nor did it go to Parliament for final approval.

Arthur said having now made public all he knows on the issue, the ball is in Ms. Mottley’s court to shed further light on it, should she know the details.

Arthur also touched on the suggestions made that millions of dollars in property transfer tax and stamp duty was waived by the former BLP Government, during the merger between the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Barclays Bank to form FirstCaribbean. Arthur denied knowledge of such as well, noting that as a shareholder he was careful throughout his tenure as Prime Minister not to get involved in any matter pertaining to the company, recusing himself from any discussions so as not to raise concerns about a conflict of interest.

“I did not participate in the matter of property transfer tax because it would have raised a conflict of interest on my part. I’m not sure if I was out of the country when it was done, but even if I was in the country, I would not have been in a position to participate in the decision. But I would have been in a position to have told Cabinet that I would think that it would have been a little bit excessively generous, unless there was something that the Government had committed itself by the way in which the terms of the agreement to constitute FirstCaribbean here, as a Caribbean company, was arranged,” he stated.

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has called on Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Leader, Mia Mottley, to explain a tax waiver totalling millions of dollars, which was approved under the previous BLP administration.

He was referring to the merger of Barclays Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in 2002.

“Back then, the Corporate Affairs Registry received communication that these two banks were going to be merged and they wanted to apply for a change of name. They were informed that it was not only an issue of change of name, but when enquiry was made it was revealed that Barclays was going to be selling its shares to CIBC, and therefore was required to pay Property Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty.

“There was a lot dilly-dallying, to-ing and fro-ing over this issue of payment of Property Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty. And the people at the Corporate Registry made their position very clear that it had to be paid…” he told supporters at the DLP meeting held at Carlisle car park on Sunday night.

The Prime Minister revealed that a waiver of Property Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty was given, amounting to just over $87 million. He also made it clear that he does not know who granted the waiver.

“I know that my most diligent enquiries have revealed that the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance was not here, so he could not have exercised any responsibility or power or discretion under section 86 of the Financial Institutions Act... But, the Treasury of Barbados had you forgo the sum of just upwards of $87 million as a result of that waiver.”

Moreover, Stuart called on the BLP Leader to also come clean about a tax write-off. He disclosed to supporters that in 1995 her father, Elliott Deighton Mottley, had two judgements lodged against him for monies owed to the Income Tax Department.

“Again, my most diligent enquiries revealed that this matter had been raised with Owen Arthur and I am going to challenge him to come out and verify what I am saying,” he stressed.

“My most diligent enquiries revealed that this had been raised with him and he said under no condition could that write-off been given... So I want the question answered, ‘Who was it really that brought about that substantial tax write-off?’” (TL)

This country’s too main political parties are being urged not to take Barbadians for a ride, as doing so could prove detrimental for Barbados.

The advice is coming from Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur, who warned that putting unrealistic promises in their manifestos in order to win the May 24 election could backfire. He made the remarks while speaking to the media earlier this week during a press conference at the offices of Barbados Today.

The outgoing Member of Parliament for St. Peter raised the issue as he suggested that some of the proposals in the Barbados Labour Party’s recently launched manifesto, coupled with the BLP’s admission that they have not ruled out seeking help from the International Monetary Fund, are in fact sending mixed to the electorate.

“You cannot have a problem designed not to go to the Fund, but is to go to the Fund and I am hearing that mixed message that we might go to the Fund, but we’re going to do these things. The things that are really being proposed, massive increases in spending, massive reduction in taxes without any concern as to how you’re going to pay for them, could not fit within a Fund programme,” he maintained.

He continued, “So if the Labour Party has in its mind it might want to go to the Fund, it cannot ask the people to expect these things. It would have to tell the people that there would be a period of at least three years when the Fund would be helping us with foreign exchange to stabilize the economy, but it would be asking us also to make difficult decisions in respect of how we spend the people’s money,” he said.

Arthur made the point while contending that what the BLP has been promoting in this election is reminiscent of the promises made by the then David Thompson led Democratic Labour Party in 2008. He mentioned this as he contended that there is a distinct difference between a manifesto aimed at securing a win and one for which the goal is to govern the country.

“You can have a manifesto that is intended to win a government, but it is not a manifesto that is intended to run a country ...,” he said.

He made the point while noting that the economic climate in Barbados today is very different from that of 2008. He explained that while the DLP was not able to follow through with all of its promises, persons accepted it because they “had money in their pockets”. Today, he lamented, the same cannot be said. Having had to hold strain for 10 years, former Prime Minister Arthur said persons are now looking for relief and hope and he warned that if they do not get what they need, the consequences could be dire.

“… The next government that promises these things that can’t deliver may find that it triggers social disorder in this country. Many people are at their breaking point and I don’t think they are prepared to be taken for a ride either by the Barbados Labour Party or the Democratic Labour Party,” he maintained.

The former three-term prime minister contended that that reality is what he believes is responsible for the rise in third parties. The “anti incumbency feeling” in Barbados, he said, is affecting both parties.

“Mr. Stuart and them have explained to the public what apparently was done wrong. I hope that too they can face up to what they are doing wrong, and that when they come with their manifesto it would address what I just said needs to be addressed.

The first order of business really has to be to save the economy, especially to save the offshore sector and stabilize it, and to put us back on a stable footing. But we can’t go on a frolic or a financial gallop,” Arthur told the media.

He is therefore urging the parties to have frank discussions with the people, and ask them to understand the circumstances to help “mobilise Barbados to save itself”. (JRT)

This country’s too main political parties are being urged not to take Barbadians for a ride, as doing so could prove detrimental for Barbados.

The advice is coming from Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur, who warned that putting unrealistic promises in their manifestos in order to win the May 24 election could backfire. He made the remarks while speaking to the media earlier this week during a press conference at the offices of Barbados Today.

The outgoing Member of Parliament for St. Peter raised the issue as he suggested that some of the proposals in the Barbados Labour Party’s recently launched manifesto, coupled with the BLP’s admission that they have not ruled out seeking help from the International Monetary Fund, are in fact sending mixed to the electorate.

“You cannot have a problem designed not to go to the Fund, but is to go to the Fund and I am hearing that mixed message that we might go to the Fund, but we’re going to do these things. The things that are really being proposed, massive increases in spending, massive reduction in taxes without any concern as to how you’re going to pay for them, could not fit within a Fund programme,” he maintained.

He continued, “So if the Labour Party has in its mind it might want to go to the Fund, it cannot ask the people to expect these things. It would have to tell the people that there would be a period of at least three years when the Fund would be helping us with foreign exchange to stabilize the economy, but it would be asking us also to make difficult decisions in respect of how we spend the people’s money,” he said.

Arthur made the point while contending that what the BLP has been promoting in this election is reminiscent of the promises made by the then David Thompson led Democratic Labour Party in 2008. He mentioned this as he contended that there is a distinct difference between a manifesto aimed at securing a win and one for which the goal is to govern the country.

“You can have a manifesto that is intended to win a government, but it is not a manifesto that is intended to run a country ...,” he said.

He made the point while noting that the economic climate in Barbados today is very different from that of 2008. He explained that while the DLP was not able to follow through with all of its promises, persons accepted it because they “had money in their pockets”. Today, he lamented, the same cannot be said. Having had to hold strain for 10 years, former Prime Minister Arthur said persons are now looking for relief and hope and he warned that if they do not get what they need, the consequences could be dire.

“… The next government that promises these things that can’t deliver may find that it triggers social disorder in this country. Many people are at their breaking point and I don’t think they are prepared to be taken for a ride either by the Barbados Labour Party or the Democratic Labour Party,” he maintained.

The former three-term prime minister contended that that reality is what he believes is responsible for the rise in third parties. The “anti incumbency feeling” in Barbados, he said, is affecting both parties.

“Mr. Stuart and them have explained to the public what apparently was done wrong. I hope that too they can face up to what they are doing wrong, and that when they come with their manifesto it would address what I just said needs to be addressed.

The first order of business really has to be to save the economy, especially to save the offshore sector and stabilize it, and to put us back on a stable footing. But we can’t go on a frolic or a financial gallop,” Arthur told the media.

He is therefore urging the parties to have frank discussions with the people, and ask them to understand the circumstances to help “mobilise Barbados to save itself”. (JRT)

“I am a Windrush child!”

UWI Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles acknowledged the above, as he spoke yesterday during a Vice-Chancellor’s Forum focusing on the topic “Empire Windrush: Migration, Exclusion and Compensation”, which was held in the E. Nigel Harris Council Room at The UWI Regional Headquarters, at the Mona Campus in Jamaica.

The event was hosted on UWItv via livestream. According to the UWI, the forum was held in the context of much regional and international discourse about the British Caribbean peoples who went to live in the United Kingdom in the period after World War II, referred to as the Windrush generation. This is a reference to the MV Empire Windrush ship, which arrived in Essex, England on 22 June, 1948, transporting workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other islands, as a response to post-war labour shortages to the UK. Despite living and working in the UK for decades, many Windrush immigrants have experienced numerous social challenges and are currently being threatened with deportation.

Given the above context, Sir Hilary noted, “For me this is a conversation that is at once academic, part of my own advocacy in the area of social justice and (there is) also the personal dimension to this.”

“I am a Windrush child. I was a part of that. My parents like thousands of West Indians, moved to Britain in the late fifties. In the early sixties, I remember in the village the officials of London Transport Board coming into my rural community, deep rural Barbados … coming to recruit workers to come to England to make sure that the buses and the trains were going to function efficiently,” he said on reflection.

“I remember that sense of eruption of dozens of young men and women signing documents to go off to England and even as a child, this was very impactful, because you felt the depletion of the village” he added.

“When I went to England I was 13 years old. It was a normal process where the parents would go then children would follow…so we were part of that and I continue to be influenced by a child’s perspective of Windrush. That is still my dominant perspective” he further remarked.

He meanwhile suggested that while the British economy boomed, thanks to the input of West Indian labour, “a deep and severe” issue later surfaced.

“The question of citizenship was always problematical, because when people empowered call for your labour, it is not that they want you as citizens. So what they wanted from the Caribbean was labour input. They did not wish that labour input to evolve to the level of citizenship and thus, three generations of West Indians had to endure the humiliation of being told that they will never be British. And even if they do become British legally, culturally, sociologically, psychologically, they could never be British,” he maintained.
He meanwhile suggested that if there was more economic growth within the region, such issues would be diminished.

“So it comes back to us. The ball is back with us. That we do in fact need to put all hands on deck to get our economies to function at a higher level of development. That is the cure. It is the only cure to all of this,” Sir Hilary said. (RSM)

In about two weeks’ time the Constitution River Terminal will be fully operational.

The calls of the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators and commuters for improved conditions have been answered with this brand new three-storey building, completed at an estimated cost of $3.2 million.

Yesterday, Minister of Transport and Works Michael Lashley Q.C. unveiled the plaque at the City facility and alongside stakeholders witnessed the arrival of the first vans to the concourse.

“Our presence here today is evidence of the strong and deep commitment of my Government to bring about the changes necessary to transform the River Bus Stand into a modern, comfortable and safe terminal for Public Service Vehicle operators and the travelling public,” he expressed.

“There is evidence on record that spoke to the conditions of this terminal and it was placed in a document by the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders. In fact, it recommended that this terminal be closed because of the conditions that existed. And being a responsible Ministry and a responsible Government, we acted on what we found in that document.”

The terminal offers a waiting area with seating, covered access to buses, public restrooms, an information section and advertising space. Also, not turning a blind eye to recent incidents of bad behaviour in the area, and even one death, the Transport Minister has stepped up police presence and made provisions for an outpost. The Transport Authority will also occupy one of the three floors.

The second phase of this project, according to Lashley, will be the establishment of stall spaces for the vendors.

“We will seek to develop spaces with good facilities and include those stall owners and other persons who want to recent a space in this area … We are going to look at developing a prototype that will include not only better restroom facilities, but of course something that will really match the outlook of this fantastic terminal.”

Furthermore, he disclosed that phase three will see the redevelopment of the neighbouring Fairchild Street Terminal and Market. Lashley also highlighted future plans to upgrade the Princess Alice Terminal, Speightstown Terminal as well as developing hubs at Oistins and Six Roads.

“But, these are only part of a wider plan to develop and modernise the public transport sector in Barbados,” he said.

CLAIMS that Opposition Leader Mia Mottley waived income tax arrears for her father Elliott Mottley Q.C. have been categorically denied and are apparently being met with legal action for defamation.

During a press conference held in his law offices in Strathclyde Drive yesterday morning, E. Mottley, while wrapping up a prepared statement in which he described Arthur’s claims as “untruthful and misleading”, sought to disassociate his daughter from the allegations that were made against her and himself on the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) political platform on Sunday night and a press conference held by former Prime Minister Owen Arthur on Monday morning.

“I am particularly disappointed that Mr. Arthur, for whom I have acted as attorney-at-law, and continue to act, and on whose behalf I obtained damages for defamation, should now resort to making the kinds of statements he made on Monday,” Mottley said.

Emotions ran high for Mottley who was unable to complete the end of his statement after dissolved into tears at which point his son Warren stepped in to assist his father, giving the assurance that his sister during the period 1994-1999 never acted as Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.

Mottley also made it clear that contrary to the recent claims, that his daughter did not waive the income taxes owed; neither did he make an application to have his income taxes waived by the Minister of Finance. Rather an application was made for a waiver of interest and not the penalties or taxes owed.

According to attorney-at-law for E. Mottley, Roger Forde: “It is my opinion that Mr. Arthur’s statements betray a misunderstanding of the relevant Laws of Barbados which deal with waivers of taxes and duties as opposed to waivers of interest and penalties for income tax.”

“Indeed, waivers, of taxes and duties are provided for in a general way under Duties, Taxes and other Payments (Exemption) Act CAP 67 B of the Laws of Barbados and the waivers of interest and penalties on income tax are specifically dealt with under the Income Tax Act CAP 73 of the Law of Barbados. Under that Act, the Minister has no power to waive income tax due and owing by the taxpayer.”

Mottley told the media that having two judgements registered against him in the respective sums of $20 587.91 and $1 031 284.37 on January 23 1995, he engaged the services of a tax consultant who wrote a letter to the Ministry of Finance on September 29, 1995 under the Income Tax Act, not the Duties, Taxes and Other Payments (Exemption) Act, for a waiver not of the tax due, but of the interest and penalties that had accrued and were causing the debt to mushroom.

Mottley said on March 22, 1996, June Chandler, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Finance, sent a letter to Blair Haynes, his tax consultant, stating that the waiver of the interest payable would be allowed in respect outstanding income tax on the condition that the outstanding principal and penalty is cleared on or before March 1997.

Mottley said between he retained Sir Henry Forde Q.C. to assist in the sale of his house, with the intention of liquidating the debt from the net proceeds of sale. An extension of the waiver of interest was sought through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, up to May 15, 1998.

He said a letter dated May 7, 1998 from Ms. Chandler, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary of Finance informing of the approval of an extension of the time to clear income tax liability, on the condition that the outstanding principal and penalty is deemed on or before May 15, 1998.

Mottley referred to a Memorandum of Satisfaction from acting Commissioner of Inland Revenue Frank Forde witnessed by Jennifer Edwards, Deputy Solicitor General acknowledging that he “received a sum of $585 280.28 in satisfaction of the sum of $1 031 284.37 due under the January 1995 judgement. He says a similar memorandum was given in respect of the judgement debt for $20 587.91 to which Forde accepted the sum of $13 369.35.

“I wish to assure the public of Barbados that these two Memoranda, together with the letters sent on behalf of the Permanent Secretary of Finance, are clear evidence that the Minister of Finance, as he was empowered to do under the Income Tax Act, waived the interest but not the tax or penalties. I wish to reiterate that at no stage did I make any request of the Minister of Finance to waive any tax on my behalf and at no stage did I receive any waiver of tax,” he said.

To this end he said there was no need to involve the Cabinet in the application since the application fell under the Income Tax Act and not the Duties, Taxes and Other Payments (Exemption) Act Cap 67B.

Mottley’s comments came in response to the DLP national meeting held on Sunday May 13 in the City and on May 14 during a press conference held by Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur where certain allegations of preferential treatment were made.

According to Forde, the Gazette will show during December 8 to December 14, 1994 Mottley was the Minister of Health (Ag), April 29 to May 14, 1995 Attorney General (Ag); November 5 to November 15 Attorney General (Ag); November 7 to November 11 Attorney General (Ag); November 13- November 19, 1996 Attorney General (Ag), November 5 to November 6, 1998 Attorney General (Ag); September 12 to September 16, 1998 Attorney General (Ag), September 27 Attorney General (Ag), June 12 to June 16, 1999 Foreign Affairs Minister (Ag), September 19- September 28 Minister of Home Affairs (Ag). The lawyer maintains that during the period under review Mia Mottley never acted as Minister of Finance. (JH)

The voters of St. George South were misled.

This is the charge of Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate Esther Byer-Suckoo, who launched an impassioned defence of her record in the St. George South constituency and as Minister of Labour, at the Ellerton Playing Field on Tuesday night.

Byer-Suckoo, who was welcomed on-stage by placard-waving supporters, said she was coming armed with the truth about her performance, especially since it appears others are taking credit for her work or suggesting she has not helped constituents.

Saying that members of the constituency elected the BLP candidate in 2013 because he was from the community just like Byer-Suckoo, she argued that, “He had a chance. Because you gave me a chance and because you gave him a chance...you can now compare the records that both of us have.”

Byer-Suckoo echoed Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s sentiments that she acted as de facto representative for the area despite not being elected in 2013. She defended her all-round track record, citing a plethora of accomplishments at the constituency and national level, including procuring hundreds of jobs for persons from St. George South; housing solutions at Greens and low land prices in Brighton and Todds; resource facilities at Greens; schools such as Blackman & Gollop Primary and Thelma Berry Nursery; refurbishing the day nursery at Ellerton; and the introduction of legislation to help workers, such as the Employment Rights Act, among many others.

In addition to filling the gaps left behind by the former BLP administration, she outlined other reasons why she was compelled to push for social services within the constituency: “St. George South is one of the fastest growing constituencies. People are leaving town and coming into the country area, so that where we were once a rural constituency we are now considered sub-urban because everybody is coming back this way...On the voter’s list this year, we have over 10 300 people registered to vote in St. George South. What that means is we need to have more services, we need to have better infrastructure, more schools, our schools need to be serviced better...More people are living in St. George and so we need to have more facilities.”

The Minister of Labour admitted that the DLP was not able to generate as many jobs as they would have liked because of the country’s difficult economic position over the last ten years. However, she noted that they created new industries where Barbadians could now get jobs, and the country's economy had grown over the last three years. She defended the DLP's accomplishments around the country, including investing in the multi-faceted polyclinic in St. John, creating new sixth forms, and myriad other projects to help meet the needs of the wider population.

Making reference to biblical and mythological stories, Byer-Suckoo warned listeners that the country may end up wondering in a “political, social and economic wilderness” as a result of changes to taxation as outlined by the BLP.

Ninety-nine per cent of the coral reefs in Barbados are being overfished and this is leading to their destruction.

This is according to a representative of the Barbados Dive Operators Association (BDOA), Andre Miller, who spoke to the press at the 2018 launch of the Barbados Dive Fest recently at the Sugar Bay Resort.

Answering a question from the media regarding the issues most affecting the quality of our sea water, he said that there are three major concerns.

“We have three major negative impacts. We have overfishing…we have water quality related issues. You can’t ignore the big elephant in the room, sewage is a big problem right now on the South Coast of Barbados. But even before this issue, we still had the issue of polluted ground and surface water entering into the zone; and then we have our third set of issues which is global climate change. Of those three, there is one that we can work on, especially with divers in this room – I am not saying that the others are not important – but if there is anything that we can do in this room it is to pick the low lying fruit. If we prevent overfishing on these reefs, we make the reefs obviously a lot healthier, a lot more resilient, as the marine biologists would say.

“A resilient reef is a reef that can better handle a hurricane, sea surface temperatures, the outputs of sewage, all of these things reefs can handle if it is healthy to a point. But we have a reef that is overfished as it is – 99 per cent. I want that number to sink in; 99 per cent of our coral reefs right now today…Overfishing kills. 99 per cent of reefs – apart from a little slip in Folkstone and a little slip in Carlisle Bay – is overfished.”

Miller also stated that other Eastern Caribbean islands are seeing this and taking the required action, and it is time that Barbados wakes up and follows suit .

“We have to spend millions of dollars to build boardwalks, to build breakwaters…If we protect our reefs, we are saving hundreds of millions of dollars in coastal construction fees. We import snapper…I am so embarrassed.

"So Barbados it is time for us to get serious. Let’s close of some of our reefs. The fisherman are going to be happy, divers are going to be happy…the hoteliers are going to be happy. We all want the same thing – healthy beaches. Healthy beaches need healthy reefs and healthy reefs need healthy fish. Simple!” (PJT)

Governor General of Barbados, Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason took the lead yesterday, by having a blood pressure screening event hosted at her official residence at Government House, in celebration of World Hypertension Day. Her staff also joined in the initiative.

President of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados, Dr. Kenneth Connell, accompanied by CEO Fiona Anthony, noted that the exercise was conducted as part of the activities for May Measurement Month (MMM), a global awareness campaign which was launched in May 2017, which puts the spotlight on increasing access to blood pressure screening, as potentially the most effective way to reduce hypertension’s adverse toll on health.

“Every year, ten million people die of hypertension and more than half of that group don’t know they have it. This year, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados is teaming up with more than 130 countries internationally to mark May Measurement Month, with our valued partner the Barbados Defence Force and our theme is “Drilling Down the Numbers In 2018”. We’ve been screening blood pressures around the island, during the month of May” Dr. Connell explained.

“We are here at Government House and we’ve just screened members of staff, (and we also had) the privilege of screening Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason. We are very pleased to be here, as we think it signals a message to the general public, of the seriousness of hypertension as a silent killer,” he added.

“In Barbados, we know that in adults over the age of 65, more than half of that population may have the disease and similar to international statistics, more than half of that group don’t know they have it. Of the people who know that they have hypertension, we know that only two thirds of them are successfully treated with medication and of those on medication, only a third of them may actually have control. So the first step is really awareness,” Dr. Connell said.

He therefore highlighted the need for regular blood pressure checks for those over the age of eighteen and the value of living a healthy lifestyle, so as to reduce the number of persons who develop hypertension and to aid those who need to control it.

The deep injection wells, one of the measures to alleviate the sewage issues on the south coast are almost completed.

Word of this comes from General Manager of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), Keithroy Halliday, as he assures the public that the mid-year timeline set will be met.

“Things are progressing really as planned. We know we had some hiccups from time to time, and as we have always indicated, its going to be a process in terms of controlling the overflows. By and large, they are primarily under control,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Constitution River Terminal, yesterday.

“The injection wells are almost close to completion… There are six wells. We have five that are basically complete, and the sixth is being cased… some have already been connected and the others will be connected over the next two weeks or so, possibly sooner.”

“From there we will get on the ground, look at what is happening; determine the remedy and move forward. But, as you have understood always, principally we just wanted to control the overflows in the streets and then we go to effecting some sort of remedy and then we look at the long term,” he further stated.

Also acknowledging another challenge last Sunday this time at Worthing Court, where one of the plugs failed, Halliday said that the BWA team has already started to rectify that issue.

“Any time there is an issue, we will respond. We respond immediately with whatever resources we have. Our teams are on standby and as you recognise it is really a work in progress,” he stressed.

“So, we are moving forward, we are highly optimistic. We are still on target in terms of our timeline and hopefully within short order, we should be able to re-establish new timelines where the remedy is concerned.”

Manufacturing is not dead.

So says Shardae Boyce, new Executive Director of the Barbados Manufacturing Association (BMA).

“We are still very much alive. We had our challenges, but we stood our ground and, going forward, we are going to ensure the sector performs better,” she told The Barbados Advocate at the Barbados Investment Development Corporation (BIDC)’s Annual Buyers’ Programme Brunch at Bagnall’s Point Gallery.

In terms of moving forward, she indicated, “We are looking at creating inroads into other markets. We are looking at increasing the profile of the local manufacturing sector generally and we are investing in training, innovation etc…

“Even with the challenges we continue to evolve and we do see a lot of young people entering the market with innovative ideas. We know renewable energy is an important sector, and they are areas that local and regional distributors are requesting products and we are looking at developing this area.

“One of the things we are doing better at the BMA is increasing our community outreach programme. We are going into schools because we want our young minds to think creatively and be innovative. This will not only redound to the manufacturing sector, but the country in general. We have to continue focusing on creating the culture that manufacturing is attractive to the local citizens and that is why we are going into schools, because it starts from there. It is important that they know we have quality products right here in Barbados.”

Boyce also added, “From May 18th, we will be hosting BMEX at the LESC (Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Center). You can look forward to a variety of participants this year. We have persons into soap manufacturing that I’m excited about, because this is a sector that I believe we can develop going forward. We also have a number of mature companies. The entire mission is having our members not only look at the local market, but we want to make sure our manufacturing sector becomes world class and not only a manufacturing sector that follows national standards, but we want to create an international sector. We have a variety of companies looking to export and get into a number of European markets as well as South American markets and thus BMEX is an excellent opportunity to connect local companies with buyers.”

In terms of drawing numbers to BMEX, the Executive Director highlighted, “This year we are looking at the traditional fashion show and we are going to be doing that better in 2018. We are looking at a bigger and better fashion show [and] we have local movies being displayed. BMEX 2018 will be a celebration of everything Bajan, not only Bajan manufacturing, but also linking the cultural sector as well.” (NB)

Finance Minister and Democratic Labour Party Candidate for St. Michael North West, Chris Sinckler is adamant that the island is back on a path of growth, but opined this would be threatened if the Barbados Labour Party was put into office.

Saying that the country was successful in reducing its deficit from 11.4 per cent to 4.2 per cent of GDP through the various measures that were put in place by the Freundel Stuart administration, he admitted that it had placed significant pressure on citizens and thanked them for their sacrifices.

“We have to keep moving our deficit down. How do we do this? Not by anymore taxation. In fact, as our economy grows we should be pulling back the taxes, taking them off, reeling them back, but doing this in a responsible manner. You can’t go put VAT to 15 (per cent), eliminate the NSRL, give the students back tuition, spend another $100 million on pensions you don’t have. That is recklessness. What we have to do is to steady as you go. Work it down and work it down. “Maintain certain basic things in Barbados; education, health care, social care, elderly care, community development, keep the core element of Barbadian society together, keep public servants employed, keep our social services – sanitation, water – keep those things going, work our way through the difficulties, steady as you go. Ease it down and ease it down and money will flow,” he said to the loud applause of those gathered at the Oistins car park last night.

He once again rubbished claims that the DLP was selling the Hilton at less than it was worth.

“The price set for the Hilton is over US$100 million. It is a fact! But even if we sell the Hilton, my friends, who would end up buying it? They can’t put it in a suitcase and carry it on a plane with them. The Hilton will still be down there and we can get it back whenever we want,” he said.

Sinckler said that this was all part of the Barbados Sustainable Recovery Plan 2018.

“These plans are realistic, responsible and practical,” he claimed. (JMB)

In an effort to expand access to ophthalmology screening services within the public health system, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) has embarked on a pilot tele-ophthalmology initiative.

This was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer of the QEH, Dr. Dexter James during the opening ceremony of the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital Regional Conference recently.

“We have embarked on a pilot tele-ophthalmology initiative, leveraging the gains already made by exploiting the benefits of information and communications technology. This initiative is being executed between the Ophthalmology department and our telecommunications partners Cisco and Digicel. The project focuses primarily on delivering specialists consultations and second opinions for patients presented with glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy,” he said.

“This project is located within the Ministry of Health’s National Eyecare Policy and Strategic Plans 2014-2019, which contemplates the inclusion of the private sector as an integral part of the providing network.”

James revealed that both Cisco and Digicel have had significant experience in ICT for telemedicine purposes and have developed telemedicine projects in the Americas, Europe and Asia. He noted that both companies were working on digitising projects in the Caribbean and expressed that they have made an unsolicited proposal to support the QEH in designing and implementing this programme.

“This pilot project contemplates the involvement of three locations, one central site being the QEH’s Ophthalmology department, which would provide specialists consultation and two remote sites, one being the polyclinic, the Winston Scott Polyclinic and the Maria Holder Diabetes Centre, an NGO,” he said.

He explained that in order to support the project, their telecommunications department has committed to loaning the equipment for the project free of cost for three months, provide connectivity for the project at no cost and assist in the design and development of the teleconsultation process to support the programme.

“So, while sometimes the focus is on tertiary care services, we must never lose sight of the fact that our public health system is developed around the primary health care approach as that promotes population wellness, such as early detection through aggressive screening programmes, which remains a viable mitigation strategy to delaying or preventing ‘episodal’ care,” he said.

Hypertension is now the leading cause of global deaths in the world and the CEO of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Dr. Dexter James, is encouraging persons to know their numbers.

James aired his concerns during the launch of the hospital’s Hypertension Evaluation Initiative (HypE), which took place recently.

“There are about 10 million deaths per year due to hypertension and of those deaths, 50 per cent did not know they were hypertensive. The sudden deaths that we have been having in Barbados recently, the Ministry of Health has indicated that they were all linked to NCDs and specifically, these were persons who weren’t aware that they were hypertensive,” he said.

As a result, the Board of Management at the QEH has taken the initiative to launch a programme meant to help monitor the blood pressure of some of their hypertensive and pre-hypertensive employees.

“We want to make sure that our employees remain well and healthy, so that’s the first thing. It is a genuine approach to ensure that we keep our employees well. The other aspect of it is to see to what extent the use of technology could impact this whole question of personal responsibility,” he said.

“We’re really losing the battle with respect to the effect our health promotion programmes are having on impacting behaviour modification.”

He suggested that based on the kinds of sicknesses presented to the hospital, the uncontrollable diabetics and hypertensives, persons who have cardiac problems because they are either not taking their medications or they have poor diets persons were not taking the responsibility of managing their blood pressures seriously.

“So we have to make sure that our caregivers are maintained in a state of health fitness to be able to discharge the responsibilities to the population,” he said.

He expressed that with the use of the device, which is to be distributed to the 350 employees who would have volunteered, they would be able to monitor the impact of technology as being an enabler that would help prompt persons to make sure they are checking their pressures as the device was connected to a call centre in the hospital.

James added that this was not a policing agent as the device being connected to the call centre was strictly meant to monitor the employees pressure and make sure their blood pressure numbers are under control.

Over the next five years, a Democratic Labour Party administration will look to reintroduce the income tax deduction for Credit Union Shares and Deposits, remove asset tax on cooperatives and the provide of deposit insurance on deposits at cooperatives.
Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss made the revelation while outlining some of the strategies contained in the DLP’s 2018 Manifesto ‘The Next 50’.

“Now that we are beginning to turn the tide, commit in our manifesto and we will do it to ensure that the income tax deduction for Credit Union Shares and Deposits that were removed will be restored because we asked you to hold strain during a difficult period and now that we are past that period, we make that commitment,” he said.

Addressing the crowd gathered at Oistins car park for the launch of the DLP’s manifesto, the candidate for St. James South said the banking sector had been put under serious pressure over the last decade, which has affected several Barbadians seeking to do business with these financial institutions.

“We recognise that there is now the opportunity for a bank to be established in Barbados owned by the credit union movement and the DLP pledges in this manifesto to give full support and provide the best enabling environment from credit unions to move from a situation where there are putting money in other people’s banks to one where there are able to create and sustain their own banking services in Barbados,” he added.

Inniss stated that entrepreneurship, and small business would continue to drive this country forward, pointing out that the State intends would continue to provide technical advice on how to start up and run businesses.

“We do not want our young people in particular to feel like they have to sit and wait from a job from a politician. We need to really and truly stop that,” Inniss stressed.

“People want our young people to get a job in just putting together a solar water unit. No! The DLP says ‘yes we need people in that area, but we also want our young people to design the types of systems that can be patented and marketed around the world. We do not just think of you as just labourers. We have to think of you as potential entrepreneurs and the most innovative group in this world,” he continued. (JMB)

Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), Mia Mottley says the Democratic Labour Party’s manifesto, which was launched Thursday night, lacks vision and she is charging that it was could not have been crafted by Barbadians.

She was speaking Thursday night at a National Meeting in Lascelles Terrace, St. Michael in the St. Michael South East constituency, where she also suggested that Barbadians should question why the DLP had not presented their manifesto to the people
sooner.

“That document did not speak of a Barbados that you and I want to relate to. That document clearly was written by somebody offshore and is only being presented tonight with less than six working days because it is a cultural necessity in our elections, for a mass based political party to present a manifesto,” she said.

Mottley added, “You really think that if Freundel Stuart believed that if this election was about two visions for the future, that the Democratic Labour Party would be waiting till less than a week to go, to present their vision and their manifesto?”

The political leader raised the question as she argued that the DLP’s document paled in comparison to that of her party, which she said will transform Barbados.

“In our manifesto I ask you to dare to dream… I tell you what we stand for, and what we will fight for and what our vision is, and we speak to the philosophical changes and the transformation we want to see in this country. We talk about new economic horizons and frontiers, we talk about building an economy that is not just based on the land, but is based on 400 times the size of the land with the ocean. We know that there are already people in this country who make their living by the sea, but we are simply saying there could be more who do it and that there could be different types of activities,” she maintained.

Her comments came as she spoke to changes in the criminal justice system under a BLP government. Mottley said that under a government she leads, there would be an end to “lick and lock for everything”. She made the point while she maintained that such an approach serves only to “hurt poor people and people at the bottom” and Mottley, a former Attorney General of Barbados, says it needs to stop.

“We say that we need a new deal for our family court, that this notion that mothers who are single mothers must go and stand up in the rain or the sun and wait for a maintenance cheque, got to stop; and if you’re married you get the right to go in the High Court in the air conditioner, got to stop. There have to be the same facilities, you cannot rule out bastardy, you cannot rule out the things that cause you to have first class and second class families and maintain a justice system that divides and literally stigmatises people who are single mothers in this country, particularly since 70 percent of the mothers in Barbados are single mothers,” she said.

The BLP Leader made the comments as she promised that a BLP government would create a Family Law Court which would be charged with looking after the interest of the children and the family. She added that such a court will work in tandem with the social service agencies in the interest of the children and family as well.
“This is a vision we are painting,” she affirmed.