1. November 2009 by admin.

PIGEON PEAS AND RICE; MACARONI PIE

SCALLOPED POTATO; PINEAPPLE SWEET POTATO

DEEP FRIED OCHROES; BAKED CHICKEN; BAKED PORK

BBQ SPARERIBS; BBQ PIG TAILS

FRIED SNAPPER; FRIED STEAK FISH

GRILLED STEAK FISH; LAMB STEW

FISH GRAVY; STEAMED VEGETABLES

TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW

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1. November 2009 by admin.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) – President Rene Preval designated Haiti’s planning minister as the next prime minister Friday, moving swiftly to fill the vacuum left by the overnight sacking of the previous government. President Rene Preval summoned the heads of both chambers of the Congress to the national palace to inform them of his selection of Jean-Max Bellerive to head up a new government, Senate President Kelly Bastien told AFP. Jean-Max Bellerive AFP PHOTO “We should convene the Senate early next week for the ratification and the whole process should be completed before November 18,” Bastien said. After a 10-hour debate, 18 members in the 29-seat Senate voted just after midnight to dismiss prime minister Michele Pierre-Louis, citing her poor performance in shepherding economic recovery in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Senators then passed a resolution asking Preval to quickly name a new prime minister who would in turn form a new cabinet. Senators who backed Pierre-Louis, a 61-year-old former economist who had led Haiti for just over a year, boycotted the vote. Pierre-Louis also refused to attend the session, which was broadcast on radio and television. “This session is illegal and unconstitutional,” said Senator Yuri Latortue, one of the prime minister’s supporters, urging fellow senators not to back the censure motion to “avoid plunging the country into another political crisis.” The United Nations mission for stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH) had called for “a new prime minister to be installed as soon as possible in order to avoid a return to instability.” The 7,000-strong, Brazilian-led mission has overseen the country since 2004 due to its recurring political and social turmoil. “This censure motion was adopted at a critical time for political, economic and social stabilization efforts in the country,” MINUSTAH said in a statement. The mission, which paid tribute to the work accomplished by Pierre-Louis in the past 14 months, urged politicians to “work together in a spirit of solidarity and partnership to take up the many challenges and deadlines facing the country.” Just weeks ago, Pierre-Louis had called on international investors to take advantage of Haiti’s improved security situation and political stability by bringing back foreign capital. Haiti’s lawmakers last year overwhelmingly approved the prime minister’s political program, originally aimed at resolving a months-long stalemate sparked by the resignation of her predecessor, Jacques-Edouard Alexis. The country was gripped by a tense standoff after Alexis was ousted in April 2008 amid riots over skyrocketing food prices. Friday’s vote is the latest major political upheaval for Haiti since Preval was elected in February 2006, following two years of turmoil sparked by the ouster of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In the last year, Haiti — despite being battered by successive hurricanes in 2008 — hoped to improve its flagging tourism industry, considered the key sector driving economic development in the Caribbean island nation. Michele Montas, spokeswoman for UN chief Ban Ki-moon, said there was “absolutely no relationship” between the political turmoil and MINUSTAH’s mandate. She expressed “legitimate concerns” over Haiti potentially entering a new phase of instability. “However, it is a decision taken by the Haitian Senate and what the consequences will be, we’ll see, it will depend on how fast the new government is named and whether there is any instability at all is to be determined by what’s going to happen in the near future.” Seventy percent of Haiti’s population lives on less than two dollars per day and half of its 8.5 million people are unemployed. Many Haitians fear a return to political violence or to bloody feuds between drug trafficking gangs if the UN mission leaves the country. “We are here to guarantee security so that other agencies and institutions, including the government, can allow the country to take care of itself,” MINUSTAH’s military commander, Brazilian General Floriano Peixoto, told AFP in July.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Jamaica Gleaner

Dawn McNeil, collector of the Virtual Tax Office, shows Timothy Fullerton from Tank-Weld Group of Companies how to file and remit payroll deductions online, using the tax portal www.jamaicatax-online.gov.jm at a focus-group session held by the Tax Administration Department on October 15. - Contributed A five-year-old attempt by the tax authorities to make it easier for Jamaicans to pay some taxes using electronic facilities has failed to engage taxpayers, revenue collectors have all but accepted.

The problem: too few taxpayers have access to credit cards, a necessity for online transactions.

However, low usage of the e-payment system, on which the Government is believed to have shelled out millions of dollars, backed by empirical data showing that Jamaicans are uncomfortable paying taxes online, has not deterred the Tax Administration Department (TAD) from adding to the system new features for e-payment of six payroll-deductible taxes.

‘I want my receipt’

The department’s director of communication, Merris Haughton, was not able to give a dollar figure on the investment, but said the cost to operate the system was the equivalent of about 2.4 cents per dollar of e-transaction spend. Users are not charged a fee.

Director-general of Tax Admin-istration, Viralee Latibeaudiere, says tax collectors have accepted that the majority of Jamaicans prefer to pay their taxes in person rather than doing so by e-transactions.

According to Latibeaudiere, a recent survey conducted by the department returned a 100 per cent finding that Jamaicans preferred to do walk-in business rather than going online to do business.

The survey sample size was not disclosed.

online services

“It is the culture,” she said.

“You know what they told me? ‘I want my receipt from the cashier’,” she recounted, referring to the types of responses from persons who join long lines to pay their taxes.

Since 2004, the Tax Administration Department has been offering online services for property tax, general consumption tax (GCT) payments and in recent times, traffic tickets. But Haughton told a Gleaner Editor’s Forum on Wednesday that usage of the electronic system was very low.

According to data from the department, usage for the 2008 to 2009 financial year ended March 31 this year was just 0.65 per cent of collection, meaning that just $1.2 million worth of transactions were done online. The ratio was marginally up from the 0.42 per cent for the previous fiscal year (2007-08).

The data showed that most online payments for the year related to property taxes, followed by GCT.

Haughton is, however, hoping for higher usage when the administration adds the facility for paying even more taxes to the current e-transaction platform of the revenue department.

“As of November 1, 2009, persons will be able to have the option of paying their payroll deductions online,” she said.

“That is in respect of PAYE, income tax, NIS, education and HEART.”

Guided by the current findings, the department plans to run a pilot project from November 1 to 14, after which it expects to fully roll out the service to the public by the end of the month.

The tax authority spokesperson said in order to be able to utilise the added e-transaction facility for payroll taxes, persons will have to do a one-time registration with the department.

She, however, reiterated it was a cultural issue and said that limited use of credit cards, required to do tax e-transactions, could be among the factors for the current situation.

“The older persons, they prefer to walk in, as well as a number of persons who do not have credit cards.”

Haughton said that the department had not set a target for usage of e-transactions but she said a projection would be made when the new online services were added.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Jamaica Gleaner

Bruce Bowen, president of Scotia Group Jamaica, says consumers are less nervous about borrowing. - File Local banks have been crafting a number of strategies to entice a hesitant consuming public into taking their car loans, chiefly reduced interest rates, but which also include financing for insurance, licensing and other expenses.

First Caribbean International Bank Jamaica Limited (FCIBJ) last week began offering to existing car owners a refinancing loan for cars no older than two years, as well as short-term financing for insurance and vehicle licensing of up to $450,000.

The insurance and vehicle-licensing loan will be no more than these expenses cost and must be repaid in 11 months, but is renewable at the end of the period.

The bank stated that Jump Start is available for Jamaicans purchasing new cars. No information could be had on interest rates.

As indicated by the FCIBJ announcement, the facility is intended to “ease the cash flow” of recipients.

high expectations

New incentives being offered by lenders in general may reflect the high expectations among them about the consumer confidence and spending as the holiday season approaches.

In October, COK Cooperative Credit Union

began marketing 100 per cent financing offers for cars again, a product which fell off the marketing radar earlier this year.

For 2009 and 2010 cars, the bank offers an interest rate of 19.95 per cent, with five years to pay.

It is also offering 75 per cent financing for insurance at the same 19.75 rate.

With new and used-car dealers reporting more than a 50 per cent decline in sales, the banks’ marketers are crafting deals to entice them back into the market for loans.

Scotiabank’s president and chief executive officer, Bruce Bowen, says it is not that the market is fundamentally weaker, but that buyers have become increasingly more cautious about their spending habits.

expecting improvement

That mood, he said, is changing.

“The market is getting no weaker and we are going to see gradual improvement,” he said.

“Earlier in the year, there were people who needed cars and could afford it, but were nervous and held back because of the general panic. Now people are not as panicky. Today, people are not as panicked and they may not be feeling as nervous.”

At Scotiabank, a special rate of 19.25 per cent was on offer to October 31.

As Christmas approaches, the bank has reintroduced a rate of 19.75 per cent for new cars, along with sweeteners of payment terms up to 72 months or six years, a pre-approved Magna Mastercard or Gold Mastercard credit card, and creditor life-insurance coverage of up to $7.5 million.

Bowen said the movement from 19.25 per cent to 19.75 per cent for new cars simply marked the end of a promotion.

Car loans amount to 25-30 per cent of the bank’s retail portfolio, excluding mortgages.

Another large operator, National Commercial Bank (NCB), says its car loans as a percentage of the retail portfolio is only 0.5 per cent.

The smaller First Global Bank, however, says its car loan portfolio was 36 per cent of all personal loans.

NCB, since September, began marketing its special 19.75 per cent rate for new and used motor vehicles, which includes “no principal payments” for up to three months.

Scotiabank’s retail manager, Elena Villafana Sylvester, said in October that the most popularly priced cars fall within the $2.5 million to $4.5 million range.

At her bank, consumers who purchase a new car for $2.5 million at 19.75 per cent interest for 72 months or six years will pay a monthly charge of $59,520.33 for 100 per cent financing.

Qualifying salaries range from $74,000 to $80,000 after deductions.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Jamaica Gleaner

R. Anne Shirley, Business Writer
Minister of Finance Audley Shaw (left) in conversation with former BOJ Governor Derick Latibeaudiere. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer.

While there have been expressions of surprise in some quarters at the seemingly sudden resignation of Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor Derick Latibeaudiere, with immediate effect on Friday, October 30, 2009, it has been an open secret that all has not been well between the governor and the Bruce Golding administration for several months.

Things heated up in November 2008 when the BOJ took the decision to precipitously raise domestic interest rates by 800 basis points (or eight per cent) in one fell swoop in an attempt to control foreign-exchange demand. This is similar to the move that was made in early 2003, and in both cases, this had a significant impact on the public sector interest payments and ultimately, on the fiscal deficit.

When questioned publicly about the one-shot eight per cent increase in interest rates and whether he was aware of the consequences of this action on the fiscal budget, the former BOJ governor always maintained that the core function of the central bank was to maintain headline inflation and the stability of the foreign-exchange market, and that it was not his responsibility to worry about the impact of monetary policy on the fiscal budget.

It is precisely this issue that is at the heart of the tension that existed between the administration and Governor Latibeaudiere.

full confidence

In fairness, it should also be pointed out that while the former Governor always had the full confidence of the former Minister of Finance, Dr Omar Davies, there was some disquiet among other members of the People’s National Party administration with respect to the massive, build-up in arrears, including significant penalty interest, in an unsecured overdraft facility by the Sugar Company of Jamaica under his tenure as chairman of the board. And as pointed out in a three-part series written earlier this year in The Sunday Gleaner by former BOJ board member, Keith Senior, there were some persons who questioned the direction of monetary policy under the stewardship of Latibeaudiere.

When contacted overseas on Friday night, Minister Audley Shaw declined to provide the precise reasons for the decision that had been taken earlier that day to part company with the BOJ governor, but he said that there were “compelling reasons” why the decision had to be taken at this time.

Latibeaudiere is also refusing to comment publicly on the reasons for the decision, except to say that it was a “mutually agreed” decision. However, supporters of the former governor are stoutly insisting that he is being used as a scapegoat for the Golding administration’s inability to sign off on a medium-term economic framework, which will have significant political and social consequences for the Jamaica Labour Party government.

Persons close to the current negotiations between the Government of Jamaica and International Monetary Fund (IMF) team suggest that one of the major sticking points is the impact that a drastic reduction in the fiscal-deficit target for the upcoming fiscal year 2010-2011 could have on the economy. It is being posited that the IMF team would like to see the fiscal deficit cut to five per cent next year, and that this would be made even more difficult given the fact that it is quite possible that the out-turn for fiscal deficit at the end of March 2010 would overshoot the target of 8.7 per cent.

In the latest IMF economic and fiscal indicators for the Jamaican economy, published earlier this month, the IMF projects that there will be negative economic growth of -3.6 per cent and -0.2 per cent for 2009 and 2010, and corresponding negative external current-account balances as a percentage of GDP of -14.4 per cent and -11.5 per cent, respectively. The projections also suggest that public sector primary expenditure as a percentage of GDP will remain high over the next year and a half at 23.6 per cent of GDP in 2009, and 21.8 per cent of GDP in 2010.

Government sources suggest that the Golding administration had been quietly interviewing persons for several months for the post of BOJ governor and that they had considered persons both locally and abroad.

Derick Latibeaudiere will be replaced by Brian Wynter, a former deputy governor of the BOJ and former executive director of the Financial Services Commission.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Jamaica Gleaner

Sabrina Gordon, Business Reporter
Audley Shaw

INVESTORS ARE in a wait-and-see mode as they cautiously watch the Jamaican Government wobble towards an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - its chosen cradle in the current economic storm.

Without that agreement, the Government will face another crisis: lack of confidence.

The Jamaican economy has been crumbling under the impact of the global crisis with a fallout in foreign-exchange earnings and capital flows, as well as a scarcity of loans from the international capital market.

So while tax revenues are under-performing, debt charges are mounting, and other operational expenses are eating away at the reduced revenue pool.

Jamaica’s total debt level now stands at $1.3 trillion, and climbing.

Already, the Government is finding it hard to meet its debt obligations, of which, interest cost and principal repayments this year will total about $325 billion.

Additionally, it has been under increasing pressure to increase public-sector wages and salaries.

At the end of September, six months into the fiscal year, Government spending had outpaced revenues and grants by $65.8 billion.

Tax revenue, the Government’s major source of earnings, fell short by $12.9 billion for the period April to September.

fiscal accounts

The fiscal accounts is one of the most closely tracked economic indicators by players in the bond market, and right now, with very little trading activity taking place, analysts believe it is time to be cautious.

“Locally and internationally, it is a time to be cautious, wait and see. When recovery takes hold, then we can build a diversified investment portfolio in a calculated way,” said Charles Ross, managing director of Sterling Asset Management Limited.

“Given the falling interest-rate environ-ment, persons should approach medium- to long-term issues with caution, depending on their level of liquidity and immediate cash-flow needs,” said Rex Shettlewood of Mayberry Investments limited.

“As such, for those with lower levels of liquidity, the focus should be towards three to six months issues. Consequently, for those cash-rich investors, Treasury bills and medium- to long-term government issues may be considered. GOJ globals are also an appropriate option for these investors, but should be cautioned for the long-term nature in the present market environment,” said Shettlewood.

The bond-market performance remains weak and shows increasing signs of inactivity with low investor confidence.

“Activity in the bond market remains relatively weak, with little or no activity currently in the market. During September, we did see a slight recovery of GOJ global bond prices, but this was short-lived, as in October, the prices fell slightly, as most participants are on the sidelines awaiting the outcome of the discussions between the Government and the IMF,” said Johann Heaven, vice-president strategic planning, projects and product development

at Scotia DBG Investments Limited.

Jamaica has 13 global bond issues - most of which are denominated in US dollars - held by local and overseas investors.

For the week ending October 30, the market saw little trading activity as buyers cautiously stayed on the sidelines. The GOJ 10.625 per cent eurobond 2017 saw no trading, even though there were offers at $100.

The GOJ eight per cent 2039 had several offers but no take-up, while the 2019 showed just minimal trades.

The local bond market remained relatively quiet.

“There is very little trading activity. It is very difficult to buy and sell bonds in the market,” said Ross.

“I imagine there is a lot of uncertainty in the market with the Government yet to finalise agreement with the IMF. So people are now in a wait-and-see mood - both local and international players - to see if there will be a return of confidence in the market,” Ross added.

Both Heaven and Ross agreed that once the IMF agreement was in place and the uncertainty behind the country, then there would be increasing activity and a return of confidence to the market.

bond-market performance

“The performance of the bond market will be heavily dependent on the Government’s performance over the next few months,” said Heaven.

“If they successfully secure the IMF funding and can credibly put forth a budget that will see a reduction of the fiscal deficit from its current levels, then we should see a recovery in the market and an appreciation of bond prices and hopefully, a reversal of the recent downgrade by Standard and Poor’s of Jamaica’s debt.”

Added Ross: “The sentiment around Jamaica is that a rally on the market depends on the deal with the IMF. How much people believe they will meet the various targets and how that will bring a positive turnaround, then certainly, we will see a recovery in the local bond market in line with economy.”

With the country facing tough conditions and the prospects of continued severe contraction in the economy, Minister Shaw months ago told Parliament that Jamaica had no choice but to return to a borrowing relationship with the IMF and would be going after a US$1.2 billion standby loan facility.

There is general agreement that at this time, there is no better alternative.

Already, the Bank of Jamaica has got a US$303 million drawdown, equivalent to 74 per cent of Jamaica’s quota of special drawing rights, that boosted the country’s foreign reserves to US$1.9 billion.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Juhel Browne jbrowne@trinidadexpress.com

Opposition MP Jack Warner has written the secretariat of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) seeking to have the alleged mistreatment of Chinese workers in this country “tabled for its deliberation” when its 56 Heads of State gather in Port of Spain later this month. Warner is also calling on the CHOGM to refer the matter to its Committee on Human Rights. He did so in a letter he wrote on October 30 to Ambassador Luis Alberto Rodriguez, National Coordinator for CHOGM 2009, calling for an “immediate intervention in the matter.” “I invite you to not only table this matter for deliberation at the CHOGM in November, but to refer it to your Committee on Human Rights. I ask respectfully on the behalf of the people of Trinidad and Tobago that you initiate your own investigation into these reports,” Warner wrote. He said that he had copied the letter to the Human Rights Bureau in London. Warner said he felt he had “an obligation to bring to the attention of the Heads of Government, an issue which has been described in our local media as the exploitation and mistreatment of Chinese nationals by contractors in the construction industry in Trinidad and Tobago.” “In September of 2009, a group of these workers, through their hired translator, brought their concerns to my Parliamentary office. I was told of the long hours at work without pay, unsafe working conditions and very squalid and filthy living accommodation. I was made aware of inhumane barrack styled rooms in which they were forced to live and of a life without basic necessities, which pushed them into the consumption of carcasses strewn on the nation’s roadways,” Warner wrote in his letter. He further wrote: “In October 2009, hundreds of these workers who reside in my Constituency of Chaguanas West were driven into protest action in Port of Spain. Several of them were reportedly arrested by our local police force. Since then there has been a huge public outcry against the dehumanisation of these migrant workers.” Last month, some 80 workers from the Beijing Liujian Construction Corporation protested what they claimed was their employer’s failure to honour its contract with them but did not identify the company by name. Senior Labour Ministry officials have been conducting conciliation talks between Beijing Liujian and its disgruntled employees, some of whom have already returned to China.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Trinidad Express Ariti Jankie South Bureau

HONOURED: Prime Minister Patrick Manning presents the President’s Medal to Ryan Laloo, who topped the country in the Ordinary Level exams this year, during Naparima College’s Speech Day and formal opening of the school’s gymnasium in San Fernando yesterday. -Photo: TREVOR HACKET No one must escape the responsibility of educating the children of the nation, Prime Minister Patrick Manning told graduates of Naparima College, San Fernando yesterday. Manning said that pertinent questions must be constantly asked in the classroom and teachers must be informed and alert. Parents, he said, must ask themselves whether they were measuring up as parents in the midst of the daily hustle and bustle. “Are you spending enough time with your children?” he asked gathered parents as he called on the community to make an effort to contribute to the success of the school and the upliftment of the children of the area. “The community must be the eyes and ears of the school by making simple interventions to report delinquency,” said Manning. He also urged graduates to focus continuously on their goals. “High academic achievement is more critical and demanding in this competitive world,” he said adding that the bar of success has been raised by global competitiveness. He said that more students have been moving on to higher education. “Things have never been as good for young people as it is today,” he said adding that there was an unrelenting pursuit of development in the country. “Do not squander your chances for maximum development,” he told the graduates. Manning unveiled a plaque to formally open the school gymnasium built at a cost of $7.6 million with a seating capacity of 1200 to 1400. With air-conditioning, better seating arrangements and lighting, the auditorium/gymnasium promises to become a major cultural venue in San Fernando, a school official said. Ryan Laloo won the President Medal for Ordinary Level while the school produced 21 national scholarship winners. Reverend Elis Elahie told the students that how they defined power would determine the contribution they made in the world. He said that the purpose of power was to empower and create a community of equals. Erron Ramdass delivered the valedictory speech.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Juhel Browne jbrowne@trinidadexpress.com

Prime Minister Patrick Manning will, on Tuesday, meet with Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday to discuss crime and constitutional reform among other issues of national importance but which are unlikely to include the woes of the depositors and shareholders of the Hindu Credit Union (HCU). The Office of the Prime Minister announced in a news release yesterday that Manning and Panday will meet at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, “to hold discussions on matters of national interest, namely, constitution reform and crime”. The release offered no further details. Asked if he planned to raise the issue of the HCU and Government’s help, Panday said he does not plan to do so during his meeting with Manning. “I do not know if protocol will allow this, regarding the fact that it is engaging the attention of Parliament. That matter has not been concluded,” Panday said in a telephone interview yesterday. Panday raised a motion on the HCU matter in the House of Representatives on Friday, which was Private Member’s Day. Discussions were not concluded when the proceedings ended on that day and is set to set to continue on the next Private Member’s Day later this month. Panday said yesterday that Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira was “missing the point” he was trying to make in Parliament on the HCU matter while she was responding to his motion on Friday. Nunez Tesheira said that the “major players” in the HCU leadership were not levelling with the Government when it sought to help the credit union in April 2008. “The point we are trying to make is that there is a moral responsibility on the part of the Government to deal with the matter… I wasn’t carrying any case on behalf of anybody else besides the shareholders and the depositors,” Panday said. As for his meeting with Manning on Tuesday, Panday said it was the prime minister who requested it during the Lower House sitting on Friday. “He called me behind the Speaker’s chair and said that the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition should meet on national issues,” Panday said. Asked if he was surprised by Manning’s request, Panday said: “That is usually the practice in most democratic countries that the leader of the Opposition and the prime minister should meet… As leader of the Opposition, I cannot refuse to meet with the prime minister on national issues if that is what he wishes.” The last time Manning met with Panday was in mid-2006, which marked the end of a series of meetings that began in November 2005 to discuss the issue of crime. Those discussions led to several pieces of legislation being amended to give the police commissioner more authority over the Police Service among other objectives, but Panday has consistently criticised the Government for failing to effectively deal with crime despite the Opposition’s support in the matter. Panday said he had written Congress of the People (COP) political leader Winston Dookeran suggesting they meet with Manning to discuss key national issues such as crime, but the idea never came to fruition. Contacted for comment yesterday, Dookeran said he wrote Manning and Panday earlier this year outlining the COP’s recommendations for dealing with the nation’s record-high level of serious crimes. “He (Panday) replied saying that we should meet or something to that effect. That was not the issue. The issue was that they should have met,” Dookeran said.

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1. November 2009 by admin.

Following Thursday’s deadlock in the conciliation proceedings between GuySuCo and GAWU both entities are now awaiting the start of the arbitration process, even as a significant number of employees represented by the union yesterday downed their tools as part of a national strike.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) yesterday reported that 65.6 percent of Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) workers were on strike. The only estate which did not participate in the strike yesterday was the Wales Sugar Estate, the Corporation noted.

According to the Corporation’s Communications Officer Romel Roopnarine yesterday’s strike action by GAWU workers was a direct contravention of the labour agreement which states that when arbitration is imposed, workers are not supposed to strike. He said the action taken by GAWU was not in the best interest of the sugar industry, especially since the sugar company has been struggling to maintain its financial viability in recent times. He also said that were the strike action to continue for an extended period, the company may have to re-examine its yearly production target.

On Thursday, Chief Labour Officer Yoganand Persaud declared the conciliatory discussions between the two bodies at a deadlock.  At this meeting, GuySuCo withdrew its initial offer to GAWU of a 3 percent increase in wages and salaries for the year, saying that it was prepared to go to arbitration.

However, according to GAWU when these developments were communicated to the factory workers at Rose Hall Estate, they immediately walked off the job thereby forcing the factory to cease operation. However, GuySuCo , in a press statement ,accused the union  of taking the talks out of context.
Later that evening, Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir imposed compulsory arbitration in the wage dispute.

When contacted last evening, Nadir said that the members of the arbitration panel are still to be appointed and that hopefully this will be done early next week, after which the arbitration process can begin.  He too acknowledged that the strike action by the workers was not in keeping with the arbitration process.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of GAWU, Seepaul Narine said that the union has communicated its interest to GuySuCo in being part of the arbitration process and is now awaiting directions from the Labour Ministry.  He disclosed that the strike action was something largely instigated by the sugar workers themselves who felt that the move by GuySuCo to withdraw its 3 percent offer was in bad taste. He said that the union felt that it was necessary to strike at this time.

When asked about the non-participation of the Wales sugar workers, Narine said he was not sure exactly why these workers were not participating but said that maybe they had not gotten the message about the industrial action.  He also said that so far it is not clear how long the strike will go on for but he explained that this will be discussed at a meeting scheduled for today.

On Tuesday, GAWU said it was asking for a 10% increase for its workers after it was asked to reconsider its initial request of 15 percent. Last week, the union had turned down a 3% offer by the sugar corporation.

Three Tuesdays ago, GuySuCo pulled out of wage negotiations with GAWU after strike action by workers on the La Bonne Intention (LBI) estate. The sugar company stated that it would not negotiate under duress.

Following the corporation’s action, GAWU called its workers out on a two-day national strike over what it deemed to be GuySuCo’s high-handed approach in the ongoing wage dispute. The workers on the LBI estate, however, continued their strike over the failure of the corporation to set a production target for the workers for last week and explained that this would have prevented them from achieving the weekly production incentive (WPI).

Meanwhile, the National Association of Agricultural Commercial & Industrial Employees (NAACIE) and the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) have come out in support of GAWU and the position it has taken. GAWU is the largest affiliate of FITUG.

NAACIE, which also represents workers in the sugar industry, has come out in support of GAWU as they struggle “for decent living wages.”  In a press release, General Secretary of NAACIE Kenneth Joseph said that the current strike “appears to be the fight for decent living wages in what GuySuCo, itself, calls arduous work in an industry that is bigger than workers and their Union.”

“NAACIE while supporting the GAWU’s position that the Corporation can do better is also surprised at the position of the Corporation to withdraw the 3% offer made after encouraging the Union to move from its original reasonable demand to attempt to cause an agreement”, Joseph said.

Joseph further noted that “workers of GuySuCo sacrificed earnings to cause the Skeldon project to be a reality and to attempt to contribute to a sustainable GuySuCo.” He added that “this should be recognised by the Corporation, because, as reported, sugar is bigger than the workers. It is also bigger than Managers and owners.”

While NAACIE workers did not join in the strike action yesterday, Joseph told this newspaper yesterday that the union was monitoring the situation carefully and that strike action by NAACIE workers was a possibility.

FITUG, the umbrella organization responsible for representing most of Guyana’s registered workers, stated that it was cautious about joining any debate between GAWU and its members’ employer, GuySuCo, in the interest of a peaceful, constructive, fair and just arbitration process.

However, the union said that “in the context of the general question of workers’ conditions and wages, FITUG would urge both the GuySuCo and the government spokesperson to be more restrained and sensitive when referring to the nation’s workers and their respective roles on vital industries and even crucial government agencies.”  “For example, to mention that “sugar is more than…. and bigger than the sugar workers,” whilst partially with some merit, is tantamount to a dismissal of the role in this nation’s economic survival being played by thousands of sugar-sector, working-class employees”, the release stated.

On the issue of wage and salary increases, FITUG said “that other workers were recently afforded a $4,000.00 across the board monthly allowance … as a ten per cent increase on their salaries.”   The release stated that “that those workers deserved those considerations just as GAWU’s members deserve fair and just increase in the face of challenging economic realities. In 2007, those workers also enjoyed a nine (9) per cent increase.”

FITUG said that it believed in the sincerity of GAWU in this matter even as it realizes that the timing was inopportune. “Fully cognizant of the fact that increased industrial action is not desirable at this sensitive stage of our country’s economic development, FITUG, nevertheless, assures GAWU of its active co-operation as this specific matter continues” the release said.

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