SPLIT PEAS AND RICE; MACARONI PIE
MIXED VEGETABLES; SOUL FOOD
GRILLED FISH; BAKED PORK CHOPS
BBQ SPARERIBS; BBQ PIG TAIL
FRIED SNAPPER; BAKED CHICKEN
PLANTAIN STEW; TURKEY GRAVY
TOMATO AND CUCUMBER SALAD; COLE SLAW
Three people are dead following an early morning blaze that left the entire Surgical Ward of the St Jude’s Hospital in St Lucia ablaze. Residents of the Vieux Fort and Laborie area reported hearing loud explosions between 12:30 and 1am, that shook their houses. Reports are that several residents were on the scene helping to remove patients from the burning building which also houses the Pediatric Ward. Two men died in the St Jude’s Hospital while another died en route to the Victoria Hospital in Castries. Seriously injured patients were transferred to the Victoria Hospital in Castries and other hospitals around St Lucia while others were housed at the nearby Vieux Fort Comprehensive School.
The Prime Minister of St Lucia, who was at the Vieux Fort school held an emergency meeting with the fire service, the police and medical professionals before holding a press conference where he called on St Lucians to do all in their power to help those affected and to bear with the medical fraternity whose resources will be strained in this difficult time. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
STAR Reporter Kayra Williams was on the scene. Read her full story in Thursday’s STAR Newspaper!
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IF Trinidadian drivers maintain their bad habits government should have no problem making up their revenue shortfall in the next fiscal year. Even with the announcement of bigger fines for traffic violations, motorists up to yesterday were trying their hardest to violate every traffic law. The issuing of these soon-to-be-expensive tickets will be all up to the enforcers of the law. They will have to hone their ability to listen to a number of sad stories and be heartless at the same time. If the government has its way … and from all accounts they will, from January 1, 2010 overtaking on the shoulder-$1,000, no park lights-$1,000, illegal use of the Priority Bus Route-$2,000, no seat-belts-$2,000 and illegal tints-$2,000. An Express team took a drive, both along the Priority Bus Route (PBR) (legally of course) and on the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, to observe how motorists were reacting to the scare of increased fines. Not much had changed. Along the PBR the drivers of several private vehicles with no visible authorisation were seen driving up and down the bus route, sometimes with marked police vehicles in plain sight. On the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway motorists were seen speeding along the shoulder. The Express team stopped off at the Aranjuez walkover looking down and motorists heading east didn’t fail to deliver. The question is, however, what are the attitudes of drivers since the announcement of the new fines? The driver’s polled were the ones who use the road the most. Taxi-drivers, or at least those registered to operate a vehicle for hire, were in full agreement with the stiffer penalties. One Morvant driver who didn’t want his name mentioned said “When people start getting tickets they will fall into line…guarantee.” Another driver who operates the Port of Spain to Curepe route said “the increased fines is a good thing”. Basdeo Balkeran said, “People doing what they want and there is no police to charge them. The overtaking on the shoulder is ridiculous. We must obey the traffic laws!” |
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| GEORGETOWN, Guyana — The Ogle Airport in Guyana was on Wednesday officially certified as an international facility along with the ceremonial signing of the contract for the completion of Phase II of a 4,000-ft (International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Class II C Runway.
Speaking at the certification ceremony on Wednesday evening, chairman of the board of directors for the Ogle Airport Incorporated, Michael Correia, said the international status of the airport is a dream come true. He noted that with the Guyana-Suriname crossing and the opening of the Takatu bridge linking Guyana with Brazil set to be commissioned on September 14, the facility will be a critical link to bring the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and South American regions closer. “Clearly these developments taken together will strengthen our developmental ties not only with CARICOM, but South America as well… the airport will provide Caricom the opportunity for the easy movement of the heads of governments and their support staff and we look forward to the many meetings it will facilitate in the future,” Correia said. He added that the role of Guyana in the regional integration process of the Caribbean cannot be over emphasised. “Guyana is a critical part in the DNA of our Caribbean culture, we have the CARICOM headquarters here already and now we have the CARICOM airport (Ogle) and gateway to the south…. Guyana will continue to reemerge within CARICOM as a force to be reckoned with both politically and economically and Guyana therefore must take up the mantle and finished what we started, let us lead CARICOM from the front on the core issue of the Single Market and Economy and the regional integration of our Caribbean people.” In his remarks, transport minister Robeson Benn said the project is part of government’s long term development plans. “This development here is one which relates to other investment which the government has been making in the transportation sector throughout the country,” Benn said, adding that there are some 50 airstrips throughout the country, 39 of which are actively maintained and providing services to hinterland communities. “We have investments at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, which covers our entire airspace and our international air traffic control…. We have ongoing investments over GY300 milion (US$1.5 million) with respect to upgrading the tarmac at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport we have some $30 million (US$150,000) to improve the communications here at Ogle,” Benn boasted. Meanwhile, President Bharrat Jagdeo in his address to the gathering said, while it is a significant achievement, it is water under the bridge and the way forward must now be contemplated. “This is an excellent project but we must never linger too long admiring our efforts, as welcome as they are as important for the development for our country as they are, we don’t have much time, we need to move on to something else.” Jagdeo said. “So I ask you (the private sector) today what the next project are we going to work on how can we partner in the many areas that we huge opportunities for the private sector to make money and for the government though that partnership to provide the services that our people so badly require for their development, what would be the next frontier,” Jagdeo said. He noted that there are several other critical projects and urged the private sector to work closely with his administration in moving Guyana’s development forward. He outlined a series of projects that needs attention including the much anticipated hydro-power and international carriers owned by Guyana and challenge the private sector to come on board. “I would like to see us move on to a few new things, we have to have a new hotel, a major hotel…people constantly complain about not having enough airlift from North America, so who from the private sector will come here will approach the government and say we are going to lease two aircraft to come in fly in from North America to bring in the additional airlift because we want to make money, who is going to come to us and say work with me because we want to make money? That is the next question,” Jagdeo said. The runway for the facility is being extended by four thousand feet and will be completed by 2011 allowing regional carriers to land. |
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| ENGLEWOOD, USA — Western Union said it is ready to implement the new rules issued by the US Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on sending money to Cuba.
“Western Union has consistently connected families in the US with loved ones in Cuba through fast and reliable money transfer services,” said Stewart Stockdale, Executive Vice President and President, The Americas Western Union. “We look forward to expanding our agent network to better serve consumers, consistent with OFAC’s guidelines.” While an affidavit is still required, the new OFAC guidelines, effective September 03, 2009:
Western Union has been providing money transfer services from the US to Cuba since 1999, in accordance with OFAC laws. |
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| WASHINGTON, USA – Five extraordinary people from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia and El Salvador will be honored as the 2009 Heroes of the Hemisphere for their dedication to improving the lives of people in their communities, the Pan American Development Foundation announced on Wednesday.
“When their neighbors were confronted with tremendous obstacles and circumstances, these individuals stepped in and made a significant difference,” says Amy Coughenour, Deputy Executive Director of PADF. “These five honorees truly deserve to be called Heroes of the Hemisphere.” PADF, which created the Heroes of the Hemisphere to celebrate the achievements of people in Latin America and the Caribbean, will honor the five during a gala luncheon and celebration in Miami on Saturday, Oct. 24. This hemispheric gathering will unite 350 leaders from business, government, diplomacy, philanthropy and entertainment. President René Préval of Haiti has confirmed his attendance. The five selected for this prestigious recognition are: Yoani Sánchez, Havana, Cuba Nicole Muller César, Tabarre, Haiti Andrea González, Bogotá, Colombia José Silvestre Sánchez, Cáceres, Colombia Juan Ayala, Santa Marta, El Salvador |
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THE COMPLAINANT was willing to let a wounding charge slide, but the Immigration Department might not be so forgiving when it comes to Guyanese Donna Patricia Gittens and her status.
The 30-year-old, who was staying at Baxters Road, The City, was led away by Immigration officials after spending the last four months illegally in the island.
Gittens was in the Bridgetoawn Traffic Court on Tuesday, where she was not required to plead to unlawfully wounding Avery McVain with intent on September 1.
McVain told the court that even though he had made a report to police and knew that Gittens had been charged, he was no longer willing to “carry on with the case”.
However, an Immigration officer revealed that Gittens arrived here in February and was granted 30 days’ leave.
She applied for an extension and was allowed to stay until April. Since then there have been no more extensions.
Magistrate Christopher Birch dismissed the charge but handed Gittens over to Immigration officials.
by TRACY MOORE
THE NATIONAL UNION OF PUBLIC WORKERS (NUPW) is giving the Urban Development Commission (UDC) a bit more time to settle their dispute over staff layoffs.
The union had threatened that it would have turned up the heat with industrial action yesterday.
However, NUPW general secretary Dennis Clarke said he was hoping that with a little more time, UDC would give its workers earmarked for retrenchement the same opportunity telecommunications giant LIME gave its terminated staff on Tuesday.
“I spoke to the Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Rural and Urban Development Chris Sinckler yesterday [Tuesday] and we had a cordial discussion. We agreed that the situation was not as straight forward as Joe Public would think.
“The chairman of the UDC [Gordon Bispham], who is conducting the negotiations, is out of the island as well as Derek Alleyne [the director], so we agreed to meet next Tuesday, September 15. We hope that we can arrive at the same position no less favourable than what’s happening for LIME,” Clarke told the DAILY NATION yesterday.
On Tuesday, in negotiations with the Barbados Workers’ Union and Prime Minister David Thompson, LIME agreed to withdraw “with immediate effect” termination letters sent to about 100 workers on July 30.
The UDC and the NUPW have been in dispute for a number of weeks, with the union staging a demonstration outside UDC’s Roebuck Street headquarters last week Monday.
Clarke said negotiations should be less difficult than LIME’s. “The number of people the UDC presented to us at first was 18 to be let go. Then that number was reduced to nine people. They then removed three from that nine.
“So we are still uncertain about the figure, but if it is now down to six people we are certain they could find somewhere in the public service for those six people to work,” he said. (TM)
Nation News (Barbados)
Sir Courtney Blackman calls for public service shift.
Published on: 9/10/2009.
by STACEY RUSSELL
THERE IS NEED for an urgent shake-up in the management of this island’s public sector, including the statutory corporations.
And the man calling for the leadership review, former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Sir Courtney Blackman, has stated that this is the only way productivity levels will increase.
Sir Courtney was delivering a lecture on Strategic Planning for Productivity Gains at yesterday’s Tripartite Stakeholder Consultation hosted by the Productivity Council at The Savannah Hotel, Christ Church.
“All the activity you are doing at the micro level here, helping you to divvy up the returns amongst workers and the management, would come to nought unless our national productivity increases.
“And it will not increase unless we drastically, significantly, dramatically increase the quality of management in the Civil Service and in the statutory corporations,” he declared.
Sir Courtney said that productivity was linked to technology and technology was determined by management.
“So the ultimate responsibility for productivity lies with management . . . . And in the Civil Service the process must start at the top, not the bottom. The Cabinet must pursue it, threaten or whatever is necessary to do to the top civil servants to take the action,” he asserted.
Barbados continues to be run much like it was 30 years ago and has performed well, particularly in the early days of self-government, Sir Counrtney said, before citing an article written by incoming Governor of the Central Bank Dr Delisle Worrell, that was published in The Economy of Barbados 1946 to 1980, that productivity increase in all sectors could have been in the order of 300 per cent between 1946 and 1979.
“We achieved in that period very high levels of productivity and Barbados has a reputation for being a very well-managed country, which is not totally undeserved. But it is not because it is well managed; it is because the inputs, the well-educated individuals and the fairly reasonable people on the streets, tolerance . . . are so good.
“If you have the inputs of high quality, you will do better than other countries who have bad inputs into the system and that is what we get along with, but you can’t depend on that forever. We don’t do anything as well, in my viewpoint, as we should be doing,” Sir Courtney said.
Nation News (Barbados)
More than 100 LIME workers attended the meeting with Sir Roy yesterday to hear that many should be back on the job on Monday.
by TRACY MOORE
MOST OF THE LIME WORKERS who were terminated over a month ago should be back on the job by Monday.
That was the word from Minister of Labour Senator Arni Walters and LIME’s country manager Alex MacDonald yesterday after meeting with the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) to discuss “the way forward”.
Walters said everything went well regarding the terms of reference.
“The individual letters to the workers who were made redundant will be delivered by tomorrow [today] although some correspondence has to be vetted by BWU general secretary Sir Roy [Trotman], myself and LIME on format today [yesterday].
“When LIME met with the union [yesterday] they agreed that between September 15 and hopefully September 26 or 27, they would try to work through the various consultations and procedures.”
The senator noted that workers who were offered and accepted LIME’s severance packages would present “some difficulties . . . but we primarily will be working with those who did not accept the packages and they should be back on the job by Monday”.
On Tuesday evening Prime Minister David Thompson, who was chairman at the negotiations, issued the statement that it was agreed that the letters of redundancy which were issued to the more than 100 employees by Cable & Wireless (LIME) on July 30, 2009, would be withdrawn with immediate effect.
Yesterday Walters said any further issues between the union and the LIME would be dealt with at the domestic level and they would “seek guidance through the Prime Minister or myself”.
“The provisions for consultation for redundancy will be used in Protocol V and that is the basis of which LIME and BWU are treating each other,” he added.
Meanwhile, MacDonald said yesterday’s morning meeting was held “in the spirit of progress.”
“There was significant ground covered with regards to the effective withdrawal of letters, and meetings are being planned on how the company and the union will move forward at the local level. But it is our intent for those workers who will receive letters to be back on the job by Monday,” he told the DAILY NATION.
More than 100 LIME workers showed up at the meeting with Sir Roy at the union’s headquarters to be updated.
He told them: “We see this more so as a victory for the special Barbados model of Social Partnership relationship. It’s proof that the Social Partnership works, that the Protocol works . . . if employers and workers respect it and Government breathe approval on it.
“We never at any state in these discussions told anybody that [LIME] may not be justified in wanting to discuss its restructuring.
“What we said was where any employer is contemplating a restructuring programme involving significant numbers of workers that there was a specific process to be followed and that process was not to be driven by greed, stupidity, arrogance or lack of integrity,” he said.
