Moontown

BLACK EYE PEAS AND RICE; MACARONI PIE

CANDIED POTATOES; FRIED PLANTAIN

BAKED LAMB; BAKED CHICKEN

FRIED SNAPPER; GRILLED BARRACUDA

TURKEY STEW; FISH GRAVY

STEAMED VEGS; TOSSED SALAD

Jamaica Gleaner

Avia Collinder, Business Reporter

Legislation facilitating the creation of credit bureaus is under consideration, and soon, it will be fairly easy to establish your track record for paying your debt through credit agencies.

So, if you are one of those who routinely fails to pays credit-card bills, falls behind on car payments and your mortgage, the new system will make it easier for lenders to obtain this information. a bad credit history could limit your ability to borrow in the future.

The consequences of allowing bills to pile up are far more serious than a reputation spoiled by a bad report.

As Elena Villafana-Sylvester, Scotiabank Jamaica’s vice-president of retail banking, said failure to service loans is a breach of contract and exposes the borrower to legal action.

Loan default occurs when a borrower breaches all or part of a loan agreement or condition of credit.

While failing to make instalments as agreed is the most commonly highlighted breach, there are others, such as failing to keep the security insured - real-estate secured loans - and improper use of the security.

If the debt that you are ignoring is your mortgage, you may lose one of the best investments you could make in your future and that of your family.

first response

Sophia Lewis, communications officer with the National Housing Trust, pointed out that although the trust’s first response was to work with mortgagors on solutions for repayment, eventually, it would be forced to begin legal action, usually ending in confiscation of the asset and forced sale via public auction or private treaty.

If a payment is not made after 15 days, then late fees are added.

The debt-servicing cost also multiplies.

If arrears are not cleared after 90 days and there has been no arrangement for payment, legal action will ensue.

Locally, legal sources add, Jamaicans do not have the protection from their creditors that citizens of the United States and other jurisdictions have.

“I do not know of any laws which grant protection to individuals who are indebted. We do not have Chapter 11 laws, such as those which exist in the United States,” said attorney Hilma McNeil of Hilma McNeil and Company in Kingston.

“Instead, you can be declared bankrupt by one of your creditors, an action which means that all your assets can be sold and distributed among your identified creditors.

“In the meantime, a number of restrictions are placed on you in terms of economic activity.

“You will not be able to become a company director for a number of years, and in order for you to be freed, you will have to go back to court and ask for discharge. In the meantime, your credit rating will be zero,” McNeil said.

The attorney said the only option for those trapped in indebtedness is to sit with creditors and renegotiate the loan outstanding, and that it is best to do so before the issue reaches the courts.

Villafana-Sylvester said that debt default:

Increases the cost of borrowing, since all costs, incurred by the lender in trying to recover the sum loaned is for the account of the borrower.

Increases interest costs as it continues to accrue on higher principal balances as a result of the default and is due and payable to the lender.

Results in the borrower relinquishing rights of ownership of any security pledged, and the lender can exercise its powers under a bill of sale to dispose of the asset to recover the sum owing, hence resulting in loss of property.

Destroys the borrower’s credit rating and limits opportunities for future credit with the lender, or even other lenders.

The banking executive said that on default, borrowers need not panic, as in most cases, the financial institution will work with customers to ascertain the problem, and resolve it.

The first action is likely to be the issuance of a letter of demand for full payment and/or reclassification of the loan as non-performing 90 days after default.

The letter of demand gives the lender 30 days in which to respond.

It is only failure to respond, which will result in the assignment of loan to the bank’s attorneys, who will also issue a second letter of demand before the commencement of foreclosure proceedings.

maintain contact

In the case of default, the borrower is advised to maintain contact with the bank/lender and forthrightly discuss the problem and circumstances resulting in default.

He or she should look frankly at options and discuss resolutions and alternative arrangements, such as refinancing, payment holidays, or nominal payments, pending sale of assets and security.

In general, failure to pay bills on time leads to an accumulation of interest, with the end result a rise in the debt owed.

Unpaid debt in the thousands can literally become a million-dollar liability.

It is better to pay a part of your debt than nothing at all, as this will go towards reducing the impact of penalties and also stand you in good stead with your creditors.

Considering your situation, which you know best, it might be prudent to sell some free assets in order to pay off and remove the burden of outstanding payments.

If you allow your assets to be sold out from under you, you will receive less monetary benefit from the sale.

Avia Collinder, Business Writer

The University of the West Indies (UWI) has transformed its law faculty into a self-financing entity, which has responded by rolling back subsidised tuition for its student enrollees.

The 40-year-old law faculty was told it had to start paying its own way after the Government cut the subsidy to the UWI by some $700 million, from $7.59 billion in 2008, to $6.9 billion this year.

Starting September, law will be taking in more students at significantly higher tuition fees quoted in US dollars.

New students will now pay US$10,000 (J$890,000), just US$400, or J$35,588, less than what the university says is the full economic cost to deliver the programme each year.

This system mirrors one introduced six years ago in the equally popular Faculty of Medical Sciences. (see related story on Page C2.)

Under the new scheme for law students, 80 applicants will be accepted at the Government-subsidised fee of J$201,011 per year.

The faculty is planning to take in 200 students, of which 120 would be required to pay the full cost.

It is those students with the highest grades who tend to qualify for the limited subsidies now available.

Last year, the faculty had about 68 students, who paid a subsidised $183,000 each for the programme.

The UWI is promoting the change as a necessary expansion to enable the law and medicine programmes to pay for themselves, while addressing the problem of limited space.

expanding

“We have had a law programme which was originally subsidised. All we are doing now is expanding the same thing into a self-financing programme,” said Dr Derrick McCoy, law faculty representative at Mona.

“The full economic cost of the programme on the campus is US$10,400 per year per student. We have charged the students a little less. With scholarships and bursaries, it can be significantly less. We would love to take everyone, but it is not possible. We are trying to do our best to take as many qualified applicants as we can.”

Bursaries are said to range in value from US$1,000 to US$4,000 and are awarded on the basis of need.

The UWI is also trumpeting what it says are efficiency gains from its decision to scrap the historical trek of Jamaican students to Barbados for the second and third years of the undergraduate law degree, part of the campus-sharing objective originally designed to give UWI students a truly Caribbean orientation at a regional institution.

The cost of the Barbados leg of the law programme has been calculated by the UWI at US$16,800 per annum.

In recent years, the UWI has received increased competition from Jamaica’s other universities, Northern Caribbean University and the University of Technology, as well as overseas institutions, like the University of London, which have introduced law programmes entirely based in Jamaica and, therefore, seen as more cost competitive.

But the UWI is maintaining that the competition has not reduced the demand for the UWI law programme.

Applications for law places continue to outstrip by far, the number of available places, said principal of the Norman Manley Law School Professor Stephen Vascianne.

In June, Vascianne said the law school got more than 1,800 applications each year for its law degree, with applications said to be also on the rise for acceptance to the Norman Manley Law School, where holders of the law degree gain the Legal Education Certificate that qualifies them to practise.

The professor - speaking at the launch of Paige and Haisley, a new law firm started by two recent graduates of the Norman Manley Law School - said Norman Manley can now accommodate 126 students per year for the two-year programme.

new cohort

The new cohort of law students expected in September will nearly triple last year’s intake.

“I am satisfied that we will take more students this year than we did last year, because we now have the advantage of the self-financing programme. We are doing our best to broaden opportunities,” said Dr McCoy.

“These are things that we have to expand on our own. We are not getting the support we need from the Government, but we are doing the best we can. This is true for every department. All departments are not getting the help they used to.”

Jamaica Gleaner

Shernette Gillispie

From left: Brithone Tate of Pembroke Hall Primary School, Dionne Henry and her daughter, Peta-Jhay Shelly, examine books at the Sangster’s Book Stores‘ booth at the annual Book Fair at the Girl Guide

headquarters yesterday. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Stung by a recent Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) survey which found price differences of hundreds of dollars for some school books, local distributors say they are not to blame.

“It’s not that the book stores are stealing, or that they are wicked, it is just that many factors influence the prices,” a local book seller told The Sunday Gleaner.

The CAC survey, which was published last Tuesday, showed that Jamaicans could save hundreds of dollars by shopping around when making those back-to-school book purchases.

For example, the text, Chemistry in Context (fifth edition), by Graham Hill and John Holman, is being sold for $6,000 at the Hamilton Bookshop in Portland, and for $4,713 at the Linstead Books and Variety Store in St Catherine.

The book, Geometric and Engi-neering Drawing, by K. Morling, is being sold in the stores from a low of $1,500 to a high of $4,090.

But, Maxine Cole, manager of A-Z Bookshop, which sells The Merchant of Venice for $1,121, said the price of books was dependent on the printing house.

“The Merchant of Venice is published by many, many printing houses, so it could be a Longman, Nelson, or a number of others,” she told The Sunday Gleaner.

It was a similar story from Sydney Parkinson, manager of the L.C. Bookstore.

Parkinson added that where or how the books were bought by the local companies would also affect the price. “Probably different retailers bought it from different companies,” Parkinson said

Franklin McGibbon, president of the BIAJ, echoed that view.

“Some stores will have old stock, thus, they will sell at the old price until they have actually purchased new stock,” he said.

McGibbon pointed out that the price of some books had increased by as much as 43 per cent in the past 12 months.

devaluation

He explained the sharp increase by pointing to the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar against most major currencies, and the revision of some texts.

“There are some books that have been revised and are now considered as a new product. The cost of any revised text will increase, as the US foreign exchange went up by 25 per cent,” McGibbon said

That view is shared by Racquel Chambers, research officer at the Consumer Affairs Commission, who admitted that factors, such as paper cost and inflation, could account for some of the price variations.

According to Chambers, the annual survey is not to raise questions about the integrity of book retailers, but to equip consumers with information as to where they can get affordable books.

Jamaica Gleaner

Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner ReporterAfter firing warning shots earlier this year, the Ministry of Finance has dispatched approximately 10,000 letters to local professionals who, it believes, have not been paying their taxes.

The Sunday Gleaner understands that the ‘professional’ tax dodgers are again being invited to voluntarily come into the tax net, or face the full force of the law.

When contacted last week, officials at the finance ministry were not willing to comment on the latest campaign.

However, sources close to the tax operation confirmed that the letters had already been sent to entertainers, doctors, lawyers and other professionals who are robbing the country of millions of dollars.

But even as the Government goes after tax dodgers, at least one professional group has made it clear that it will not be implementing any measures to ensure that its members paid their taxes.

Dr Rosemarie Wright-Pascoe, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ), said her association would not implement a suggestion to make tax compliance a mandatory requirement for membership.

She believes getting people to pay taxes is the Government’s job, not the association’s. “I think that would be encroaching on the responsibility of the Government,” Dr Wright-Pascoe said.

In defence of her colleagues, Wright-Pascoe said of the 2,000-plus doctors on the island that more than 600 were employed by the Ministry of Health and were numbered among the nation’s nearly 350,000 PAYE workers.

However, many of those doctors have private practices as well, and it is suspected that some are not making income-tax declarations on earnings from those practices.

‘come clean’

The MAJ president encouraged her colleagues, who are either not paying or not handing over everything, to come clean. “It is an obligation that we have as citizens of this country to pay our taxes, and we encourage them to do so,” she said.

However, Dr Wright-Pascoe said she was not aware of any member of the medical association who was not honouring his or her tax requirements.

Tax evasion is still a taboo issue that many people do not want to touch, and musicologist and director of Shocking Vibes Clyde McKenzie is one of them.

When contacted by The Sunday Gleaner for a comment on claims that some entertainers were not paying their taxes, McKenzie respectfully declined to speak on the matter.

Dr Pauline Knight, director of social policy, planning and research at the Planning Institute of Jamaica, said compliance was not just important to beef up the state coffers. She argued that in addition to the benefits afforded to the country, there were also individual benefits to be gained from being tax compliant.

“It is in their best interest to be making payments for social-security purposes … . They need to think about retirement,” she said.

Dr Knight added: “They are not cheating the Government, they are cheating themselves.”

Finance minister Audley Shaw’s push to capture professionals and other self-employed persons who have evaded the tax net comes as no surprise following a recent random sample of 500 doctors which found that 400 were not paying their taxes.

A similar study conducted by the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) in 2001, found that 94 per cent of self-employed persons were not paying taxes. According to the JCTU, with 470,000 persons self-employed, only 25,625 filed returns in 2001.

Shaw sounded the warning in April during the 2009-2010 Budget Debate.

“The tax administration will be putting the spotlight on tax cheats. Everyone must pay their fair share; no more, no less,” Shaw said when he opened the debate in Gordon House.

The finance minister also announced the establishment of a forensic data-mining intelligence unit, which will be mandated to identify self-employed persons who are not paying their taxes.

Elton Tucker, Assistant Editor - Sports Berlin, Germany:

Jamaica’s former world record holder Asafa Powell and American defending champion, Tyson Gay, will clash at just after noon (Jamaica time) in the semi-finals of the men’s 100 metres on today’s second day of the 12th IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

Powell upstaged his compatriot, world record holder Usain Bolt, and Gay, to post the fastest time after two rounds of an event billed here as a race to decide the king of sprint for 2009.

The former world record holder clocked 9.95 seconds to win second-round heat three, beating American Darvis Patton, 10.05.

“I just wanted to get out of today,” a confident Powell said. “I am looking forward to tomorrow.”

Bolt and Powell

An air of expectation is hovering around Jamaica today as the nation holds its breath in anticipation of a first gold medal in the blue riband men’s 100 metres race at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, and Asafa Powell, the former world record holder in the event, are the two expected to chase the historical feat in Berlin, Germany, at 2:35 this afternoon.

This is if, as expected, the two make it out of the semi-finals slated for 12:10 this afternoon.

Last year in Beijing, China, Bolt rocked the Bird’s Nest with an electrifying 9.69, and triggered huge celebrations across Jamaica, as the country won its first men’s 100m gold medal at the Olympic Games..

Now he is aiming to repeat the feat, with Jamaicans preparing for even bigger celebrations.

Powell, who is yet to win a gold medal in a major meet, could spoil Bolt’s party, but that would not dampen the celebrations on the streets across the island.

In fact, the only thing that could stop today’s street parties would be if the American Tyson Gay or any other finalist finished in front of the two Jamaicans.

While eight men will face the starter for the final, the cameras will be focused on Bolt, Powell and Gay.

Gay, with the fastest time over 100m this season (9.77), is the defending world champion on a mission to reclaim his place on top of the world after injuries affected his performance in Beijing.

Since the inception of the World Championships in 1983, Raymond Stewart and Michael Frater have gone the closest to winning the blue-riband event for Jamaica.

In 1987, Stewart was beaten by American Carl Lewis, who had a hat-trick of wins, while Frater was the silver medallist in 2005.

In 2007, Powell, who entered as the world record holder at 9.74, was relegated to third behind Gay and Bahamian Derrick Atkins.

This time around, Bolt will start favourite with his world record 9.69, which took him to Olympic stardom last year, while Powell, backed by his personal best 9.72, could also put Jamaica atop the podium.

Nation News (Barbados)

TALKS between LIME and the Barbados Workers Union (BWU) have made little progress.

Sources told the SUNDAY SUN, last night that after marathon talks on Friday between the two sides and the Minister of State with responsibility for labour, Senator Arni Walters, and the Chief Labour Officer, there was little agreement at the end of the day.

When contacted yesterday, LIME country manager Alex McDonald confirmed that talks had begun on Friday at 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., but with a break from 12 to 4 p.m.

He said, however, the matter was in the hands of the minister and he could not comment on the stage of talks.

LIME and the union are at loggerheads over LIME’s planned layoffs of more than 100 workers.

Witch-hunt

Sir Roy charged LIME was targeting shop stewards and “proceeding on a witch-hunt against union members”.

Two weeks ago he called for a national protest against LIME, saying that LIME had severed employees in circumstances which were not in keeping with Protocol 5 of the Social Partnership relating to layoffs.

Since then LIME accused the BWU of trying to discredit it in the eyes of the public. It accused the BWU of resorting to a “tactic of publicly discrediting” the company, when for weeks it had tried unsuccessfully to schedule meetings to continue consultations on LIME’s overall restructuring plans.

Another meeting is scheduled for Monday. (RG)

Nation News (Barbados)

Sir John Stanley Goddard

INDEPENDENT SENATOR and former business leader Sir John Stanley Goddard is dead.

Sir John, a frank and at times thought-provoking voice in the Senate and a former leader of the Goddard group of companies, passed away at about 2:15 a.m. yesterday. He was 77.

The death followed a brief illness and stunned members of the large Goddard family.

“He went into the hospital yesterday,” son Geoffrey Goddard told the SUNDAY SUN.

“We thought he was going to come home this weekend. But things didn’t work out that way.”

Sir John died surrounded by members of his family at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he had been taken after complaining of feeling unwell.

“He was in very high spirits yesterday [Friday],” his son said.

“He was making a lot of fun and joking. We never thought he would have died. Maybe it was just a case of age, something as simple as that.”

Sir John was awarded the Gold Crown Of Merit in 1990 and the Knight Of St Andrew was conferred in 1993 for his contribution to commerce and the community.

He spent most of his life working with the group of companies launched by his grandfather Joseph Nathaniel Goddard.

He joined the business as a chartered accountant, after returning to Barbados in 1957 from studies at Queen’s University and a five-year stint with Price Waterhouse.

Over the years, he moved up the ranks to serve as managing director and as chairman of the board of Goddard Enterprises Limited (GEL). He also headed the board of directors of several agencies, including the Private Sector Organisation.

Yesterday Prime Minister David Thompson headed the list of people paying tribute to Sir John. Thompson described him as “an outstanding Barbadian”.

“Over the years that I have known him, his has always been a voice of reason and a very stabilising influence in the corporate sector, in the area of social policy, even in politics, though he has not been in the traditional sense a Barbadian politician,” Thompson said.

“His wise counsel will be missed, particularly in those spheres.

“In the 1991 economic crisis many would not have known of the tireless work that Sir John did in seeking to build consensus across the private sector for the economic programme which was implemented. That programme became known throughout the world as a major triumph for a small developing country.”

Opposition Leader, Mia Mottley said: “We shall miss his contributions to debate in the Senate, which were characterized by both frankness and fairness and an ability to zero in on matters, which were of importance to ordinary people.”

President of the Senate Branford Taitt is out of the island, but Deputy President of the Senate Kerryann Ifill said of Sir John: “His contributions in the Senate were always filled with wisdom and considerable value as he often took a view of proceedings which others did not. His presence in the chamber will be greatly missed.”

Prominent lawyer and former minister Sir Henry Forde described Sir John’s contribution in the sphere of business as “exceptional”.

“He was a nation-builder in many respects, both in industry and in giving proper non-partisan guidance to how we should run our country,” he added.

Sir John is survived by his wife Katherine Lady Goddard and five children - Geoffrey, Susan, Paula, Lynnette and Julie - as well as 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Sir John is the third Senator to have died in about two weeks. His death follows that of former senators Enid Lynch and Marjorie Blackman. (TY)