Moontown

DAILY NATION

JUNE 22, 2005

‘QEH must be able to respond quickly’

Opposition Member of Parliament Denis Kellman is against the appointment of a board to run the problem-plagued Queen Elizabeth Hospital. He believes that a board gives the politician an opportunity to use it to pander to the electorate at election time.

Kellman was taking part in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Amendment) Bill in the House of Assembly yesterday. He said that $98 million was not too much to spend on severance for the staff of the QEH. Kellman said it was reprehensible that civil servants were now being told they should go to the local Privy Council to get their own money.

The St. Lucy MP also charged that Government was trying to privatise health care in Barbados. He added that while saying it was spending large sums of money on the QEH, there were private healthcare facilities being mooted for Welches, St. Thomas, Sunset Crest, St. James and the possible re-opening of the St. Joseph Hospital.

Kellman said the people had the right to know what charges Government intended to “put on their backs” when they sought medical care at the QEH. He also noted that Government had to look at noise and dust pollution as it related to what transpired daily at Martindale’s Road, St. Michael.

Having a Board running the Queen Elizabeth Hospital will not solve all its problems but it will remove some of the bureaucracy in getting health care.

That is the view of Dr. William Duguid who said that bureaucracy was the biggest threat to the hospital and it must be removed in order for the hospital to respond quickly in life-and-death situations.

He was speaking during debate on the Queen Elizabeth (Amendment) Bill in the House of Assembly yesterday. Duguid also wanted to see the 40-year-old institution expanding to include a constructive surgical department.

He said there were several people who could not afford such care privately and it was travesty that the QEH was not offering that particular service. He pointed out that it was beyond belief that after so many decades, there has not been any significant expansion of the hospital.

Duguid was also concerned that the hospitals took in patients from overseas who received subsidized health care. He questioned why visitors should come and benefit from a subsidized rate and he said the patients who could afford to pay should be made to pay the full price of the service.

He revealed that the cost of a private room was $150 but the real rate is $340. Duguid accused the previous Government of starving the hospital of resources and said the present Government was reversing that position.

BLACK EYE PEAS AND RICE; MACARONI PIE

STEW YAM; LASAGNA

BREADFRUIT COU COU; BAKED LAMB

BBQ PORK; FRIED CHICKEN

FRIED SNAPPER; GRILLED DOLPHIN

CHICKEN STEW; FISH GRAVY

PICKLED CUCUMBER; TOSSED SALAD

STEAMED VEGETABLES

Stabroek News (Guyana)

-in wake of Appeal Court ruling
In the wake of a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal which found that the administration has an unlawful radio monopoly, government has again committed to introducing broadcasting legislation in Parliament saying last night it is on its priority list and will be tabled in the National Assembly during the current session.

Saying the ruling is consistent with its own position to end the monopoly on radio, government said President Bharrat Jagdeo has articulated its commitment to liberalise the sector. But it stressed the necessary statutory framework must be place to facilitate the granting of licences. “It is the administration’s considered view that liberalization in the absence of such a framework could invite repetition of the well- publicized television licensing debacle and its associated disorder”, the statement from the administration said.

“In that regard, the Administration notes that its concerns were repeatedly expressed about the likely impact of the lack of such a framework on any licensing exercise. Those concerns led the Administration to undertake the enactment of broadcasting legislation”, the statement continued. This enactment, the government said, would provide the framework under which licensing can be done transparently and without caprice.

The statement from the administration also sought to clarify why no submissions were laid over to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General on the state’s behalf. It said that with the commitment by the President, “it was obviously unnecessary and otiose for the Attorney General to contest the appeal by VCT as it was equally unnecessary to appeal an earlier ruling by the Chief Justice on a similar Linden TV matter”. The reference to the Linden TV matter was the first public statement from the administration on the issue since announcing its intentions to appeal the ruling.

On Wednesday the Court led by Chancellor (ag) Carl Singh and comprising Justices of Appeal B.S. Roy and Yonette Cummings-Edwards allowed an appeal filed by local television pioneer Anthony Vieira on behalf of Vieira Communications Limited (VCT) ruling that VCT’s fundamental right to freedom of expression and freedom to receive and communicate ideas and information was contravened. The Court referred to precedents in the region and other jurisdictions while citing several authorities on the issue. Ironically, Vieira has since sold his TV station to the Ramroop Group and has migrated.

The Appeal Court found that the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) is not doing its job with respect to considering radio licence applications and charged in the ruling that the NFMU has been procrastinating over the years. VCT had asked that the court order NFMU to issue it with a radio licence forthwith but the Court said there are technicalities involved in making such a decision, noting that it lacks the expertise to make such an evaluation. It said the NFMU is the entity which is well-placed to make such an evaluation, and it called on the unit to “do its job”. However, the court did direct the NFMU to consider and determine VCT’s application for a radio broadcast licence which was made since the early 1990s.

According to the Appeal Court panel of judges, no one has an absolute right to a radio broadcast licence because of the constitutionally prescribed limitations which circumscribe the freedom of expression and the freedom to communicate ideas. However, it ruled that the application by VCT for a radio broadcast licence was attended by indifference and callous discourtesy in that it never received an acknowledgement of its application and a response from the NFMU, adding that more so, it was affected by inordinate delay on the part of the NFMU in giving consideration to the request. The court noted also that there was no urgency and or efficiency by the NFMU in considering VCT’s application. Further, the Court had frowned upon the failure of the AG to make submissions to the Court in response to Vieira’s appeal saying the Attorney General and the NFMU were of no assistance in the determination of issues raised in the appeal. “…the AG and the NFMU have demonstrated a contemptuous disregard of the Court of Appeal. We roundly condemn it and clearly signal that this is not the conduct we are prepared to tolerate or condone”, the ruling said.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says the nation’s Parliament will not recognise same-sex marriage under his watch.“There is the possibility that some time in the future, Parliament could pass a law that says same sex unions are legal, but it won’t be done in this Parliament - not as long as I sit here,” Golding said Tuesday.

The prime minister was opening the debate on the Charter of Rights, which is set to replace chapter three of the Constitution.

The Charter of Rights

At present, the Constitution does not guarantee certain rights to citizens, a situation which the Charter of Rights is intended to change.

However, Golding said same-sex unions and marriages would not become rights under the legislation.

“I make no apology in saying decisively and emphatically that the Government of Jamaica remains irrevocably opposed to the recognition, legitimisation or acceptance of same-sex marriages or same-sex unions,” Golding declared.

The provision being proposed would entrench within the Constitution that laws passed in Parliament relating to the form of unions between people cannot be held in violation of person’s fundamental rights and freedom.

Not preventing homosexuality

In explaining how the law would work, Golding said, “We are not putting in the Constitution something to prevent homosexuality. What we are putting in the Constitution is something that says that if you pass a law against homosexuality, that law cannot be challenged.”

The prime minister said that while he accepts that Government “should not interfere in what two consenting adults choose to do within their own pro-tected privacy, I will not accept that homosexuality must be accepted as a legitimate form of behaviour or the equivalent of marriage”.

He acknowledged that there were international risks the country faces as a result of its position on homosexuality,but said Jamaica would hold dearly to its values on sexuality and the family.

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter
( L - R ) BOLT, GOLDING

Prime Minister Bruce Golding has come out in defence of his decision to afford three-time Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt the Order of Jamaica - the nation’s fourth-highest honour.

On Monday, Bolt, 23, will become the youngest-ever recipient and only the fourth sports personality to have been so recognised with the prestigious national award after Merlene Ottey, Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh. Bolt was also appointed ambassador-at-large and accorded full diplomatic rights.

However, the decision did not go down too well with some sections of the society.

Some argued that the powerful sprinter, who became the first man to break the 100m and 200m world records at an Olympic Game before resetting his own marks at the recent IAAF World Athletics Champion-ships in Berlin, Germany, was too young to receive such an honour.

The present is best

Golding was not bothered by the critique and took time out during his presentation at Wednesday night’s Courtney Walsh Award for Excellence to defend the move and debated that he does not believe the 23-year-old would be able to maintain his standards forever and must be recognised while he was on top of his game.

Said Golding, “I felt that because of the extra-ordinary achievements of Usain Bolt that he deserves the award of the Order of Jamaica.

“That decision has been criticised and people have said that he is too young and that we should wait. I don’t think Usain is a superman, I believe he is a superhuman. But he is not going to remain a superhuman forever. I don’t think that he is going to be able to break any world records when he is 35 because I don’t think that it is physically possible,” Golding added.

Besides his feat on the track, Bolt’s charismatic and playful persona has endeared him to track enthusiasts across the world and has brought the island into sharper focus.

“I felt that anybody that brought that sense of achievement to Jamaica where he demonstrated not once, not twice that you could establish yourself beyond any doubt as the fastest human being that has ever lived deserves that award,” Golding insisted.

Additional reward

The prime minister further argued his case by pointing to a case in the United Kingdom where 33-year-old Scottish cyclist Chris Hoy was recently Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II after securing three Olympic gold medals in Beijing.

In addition to his national accolades, the Government also decided to rename a section of Highway 2000 in the sprinter’s honour.

The Order of Jamaica entitles members and honorary members to wear the emblem of the Order as a decoration. They are also to be addressed as ‘honourable’ and use the post-nominal letters ‘OJ’ (members) or ‘OJ (Hon)’ for honorary members.

‘I felt that anybody that brought that sense of achievement to Jamaica where he demonstrated not once, not twice that you could establish yourself beyond any doubt as the fastest human being that has ever lived deserves that award.’