Moontown

DENIS KELLMAN’S COLUMN- THE DEBATE

BARBADOS ADVOCATE

I have predicted, based on some solid statistics, that the next General Elections will be held in 2006. This conclusion is based on Prime Minister Arthur being able to withstand the pressure from the internal dynamics that are playing out within the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since the poll. It is evident that the poll does not match the internal feelings of the BLP.

Within the Barbados Labour Party, the members are still backing their election machine which has been able to deliver three straight wins. This poll is no different from those which were presented before, and the Democratic Labour Party members will be stupid to see this poll as anything more than data. Polls have never been interpreted in favour of the DLP and the danger of this poll is that the Government is now in its middle term. A careful analysis of this period would assume that the DLP’s showing is far better than the BLP’s.

In 2001, a poll was done demonstrating that the Democratic Labour Party would have been demoralized in the By-Election. The data revealed that the Barbados Labour Party, its leader, the candidate and the former candidate were very popular in the constituency. On the positive side, the candidate who was a young man and a son of St. Thomas was showing signs of increasing his popularity in the constituency.

The pollsters gave us no chance of impacting on the constituency. I was given the “hot potato” to carry and everybody close to me advised me not to take the job. I accepted the job after agreeing with the senior member that I would still attend to my international commitment. This was accepted by everyone until the election began. However, I recognized early that I had to carry out my plans to show the Barbadian public that within the DLP were persons who could demonstrate their independence in order to get the public to continue to support the party.

The Barbados Labour Party expected a campaign that would have seen us behaving like them, but the opposite occurred so much so, certain members accused me of selling out to Owen. This did not deter me and I continued the political strategy that dumb founded my critics.

The candidate was told to focus on the problems within St. Thomas, which were told to us as we did the daily canvassing. He was also told that he could not criticize anything without providing a sensible solution to the problem. This strategy worked so well for us that we were able to defy what the polls were showing and caused the BLP to have internal strife by forcing the Prime Minister to replace Minister Mottley as campaign manager. This also occurred at a time when 50 per cent of the canvassers disappeared from the ground. When this was reported to me by the one who had taken charge in my absence, Mr. Morris, I was surprised since I knew of the ground support that we were receiving on a one-to-one basis.

The press played a major role and I was quick to warn the candidate about the type of information that he was giving to the press. I thought that the progress report was too direct and that the opponents were able to use it to counter us.

Pollsters and political scientists  must tell the public why the minimum swing in St. Thomas was eight percent, and how much it would have been, had not for certain dynamics. They must also tell the public what would have been the impact had the momentum from St. Thomas been allowed to permeate through the country.

Political parties cannot continue to offer persons to the public, and then put them in positions to embarrass themselves. When the reverse occurs, the garbage bin is the next choice. The record will show whenever the election report on St. Thomas is published, that the party was able to create a minimum of 8 per cent swing in the Barbados Labour Party safest seat against Prime Minister Arthur and Minister Mottley as campaign managers.

I have found over the years that my elections fate has been ignored y the Press, political scientists and my own comrades, who have refused to use the plus which my candidacy has been able to create for the party. It is rather interesting that while these players have ignored the impact of it, the BLP has asked for a case study.

Had this feat been done by anyone else, political commentators would still be using it as a factor to help propel a political party that dominates at the party level, but cannot do the same thing at leadership level. Political scientists have been baffled at the increase popularity of Minister Mottley over the other three, but they do not understand that she is the only one that has not been damaged because of leadership, since she has never led. Any equal comparison with Minister Mottley would have been someone who the public sees as a possible leader.

Over a week ago, pollster Peter Wickham asked me after conducting a poll for the other newspaper who I will be supporting? He then asked me whether it would have been Messrs Estwick, Mascoll or Thompson? One would have to wonder, how come the question was asked of me when the poll showed something else? I was told by the same person that I only got a few votes in the poll, but the pollster did not tell the public that I got personal votes and that the persons voting for me went against the status quo or the projected leaders who would carry the party support. I am sure that the pollster would appreciate this point.

I have always gone against the norm and will continue to baffle persons who feel that they can dictate to the electorate who is best suited to represent their interest. I did it in 1994, 1999, 2001 and will continue to operate outside the equation of political scientists.

Another point that Mr. Wickham has not recognized is that Barbadians only see you as a potential leader when you contest the race for presidency and not chairmanship as they keep referring to within the DLP. The only chairman the party has is its Political Leader. I have observed that both Messrs Hoyte and Wickham have referred to a poll in three months and have assumed that the race will be limited to their two candidates, not realizing that any change making the Political Leader chairman of the party will see an increased in political activity within the party and can also result in a member outside of parliament becoming Political Leader and not only Party Leader.

Section 50 of the Party’s Constitution must be carefully studied, because it has allowed the party to be more democratic than other parties, minus the hiccup. We cannot chop and change every few years like how the English have used the ICC. Any changes that must occur must be in the interest of the organization. Constitutions cannot be seen as toys, like how the present Government treats the Constitution of Barbados, which they constantly change to achieve their objectives.

Let us have peace, fairness, truthfulness, honesty, love and unity.

(Denis Kellman is the Member of Parliament for St. Lucy, Barbados)

Farmers can now have greater access to funding through the use of innovative financial tools.

Minister of Agriculture, Senator Haynesley Benn, told a two-day regional capacity building workshop on ‘Factoring/Receivable Discounting – A financing Tool for Agriculture Sector Development’, that the use of these financial tools could “emerge as an important trade finance mechanism … by helping to minimise risks and facilitate lending”.

He made these comments today during the opening session of the seminar at Savannah Hotel, Hastings.

According to Senator Benn, factoring, if properly applied, could help to integrate small scale farmers into the supply chains of the tourist industry and supermarkets, in their respective countries.

This financial instrument allows entities to raise finance based on the value of outstanding invoices. It also provides the opportunity to outsource sales ledger operations and to use more sophisticated credit rating systems.  In relation to receivable discounting, in the same way that accounts receivable can be factored, notes can also be converted into cash by selling them to financial institutions at a discount.

“Farmers, especially smallholder producers, are often unable to access adequate and timely finance, primarily because of the high risks associated with agricultural products and lack of suitable collateral.  In this context, factoring and discount receivables can emerge as an important trade finance mechanism which can help address this problem, by helping to minimise risks and facilitate lending activities,” Senator Benn explained.

Minister Benn pledged Government’s support of these fiscal mechanisms through the provision of an enabling economic, policy and regulatory environment. 

The workshop, hosted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Caribbean Development Bank, was designed to allow participants to assess the feasibility and appropriateness of factoring and receivable discounting.  It also discussed best practices, including the role of government, farmers associations, regional institutions, financiers and multilateral organisations.  (LB/BGIS)

            Caribbean electoral officers will spend the next two days discussing electoral matters affecting the region, at the fourth General Meeting of the Association of Caribbean Electoral Organisations (ACEO).   

            The conference takes place on Thursday, November 5, and Friday, November 6, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, beginning at 9:00 a.m. each day. Prime Minister David Thompson will deliver the feature address at the opening of the workshop today.

            Among the topics to be discussed are: Functional Cooperation Among Commissioners: Exploring Options; Application of Technology to Electoral Processes: Registration and Electronic Identification of the Voter; Electronic Voter Identification and Ballot Issuing System; and Electronic Registration.

            The Re-launch of the ACEO: Mission, Charter and Structure; and ACEO Network Partnerships are also on the agenda.

            The overall objective of the association is to foster a self-sufficient mechanism of horizontal cooperation among electoral organisations in the Caribbean.  This is intended to improve their capability to register voters, promote voter turnout and implement elections. 

The organisation’s founding meeting was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1998.  It was officially established with 17 founding members: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands. Anguilla, Aruba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines later joined the Association, bringing the total members to 22. (GA/BGIS)  

The National Employment Bureau (NEB), of the Ministry of Labour continues to source employment opportunities for Barbadians abroad, with several positions available in the hospitality industry in Canada.

Barbadians who have worked in the sector are especially invited to register for the positions of Laundry Attendants, Stewards, Room Attendants, Food and Beverage Servers, Cooks, Golf Course Workers and Guest Service Agents.

Individuals should be between the ages of 18 and 55 and have at least two years experience working in the hotel sector, or on a cruise line.  Applications should include a typed résumé or curriculum vitae; copies of qualifications, certificates or diplomas in training for the hotel industry; two signed job references; four passport-sized photographs and a recent police certificate of character.

Meanwhile, the NEB is also searching for persons to participate in its Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Programme in Canada.

To register, persons must be between the ages of 18 and 45 years of age and have four passport-sized photographs; their birth certificate; a valid passport and a recent police certificate of character.

Experience in working in the agriculture sector, a background in mechanics and a heavy duty/international license would also be assets.

For further information on the Overseas Hospitality Programme, interested persons should contact Juliette Brathwaite, Patrina Jordan or Laurison Mayers or for the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme Sonja Quintyne, Valerie Quintyne or Lisa Holder.

The numbers are 426-1511, 426-4450 or 427-4326. (AS/BGIS)

When a delegation of heads of United Nations agencies attended a three-day retreat in St Lucia late October, the purpose was to discuss the development situation on the island as well as areas of support that the local government would like to see from the UN system going into the coming year.

On the occasion the United Nations Sub-regional Team (UNST) for Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) observed UN Day and during the proceedings agreed on development support to be provided to Barbados and the OECS in the coming year to keep the countries “On Track to the Meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”

The UNST for Barbados and the OECS was led by UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Michelle Gyles-McDonnough and met with St Lucia’s Prime Minister Stephenson King and Members of Cabinet on Thursday, 22 October 2009.

The meeting was held behind closed doors but a press conference was convened midway through Thursday’s session to brief the media on the proceedings. Michelle Gyles-McDonnough and prime minister Stephenson King were selected speakers for the conference and McDonnough started off by thanking the ministers and Cabinet for meeting with the UN system.

The UNDP Resident Representative and Coordinator said the UN system went on annual strategic planning retreats covering ten countries in the region. She noted that there were 14 operating agencies of the UN system that carried out development activities in Barbados and the OECS.

“Development is a multi developmental issue and today we were provided with the very comprehensive overview of the development situation as it stands currently in St Lucia by the honourable prime minister as well as clear identification of some areas of support necessary,” said McDonnough adding that prime minister King had highlighted the challenging situation of poverty on the island and the urgent need to focus on poverty reduction, and the reduction of inequality in St Lucia and across the region.

Within that McDonnough said there were a number of areas the UN could support in the social sector, looking at social safety nets, social policy transformation, addressing issues of crime and security, the environment and very pressing climate change and energy issues.

Billions of dollars were spent annually on fossil fuels, on the region’s energy bill and McDonnough said the meeting had discussed the urgent need for the Caribbean to begin to look at renewable and alternative sources of energy. Prime minister Stephenson King is the lead minister for Caricom on the issues of climate change and for that reason, McDonnough highlighted the upcoming negotiations in Copenhagen in December, where she said; “St Lucia and the rest of the region, and people of this region will be relying heavily on the leadership of Prime Minister King as we go into these negotiations.”

With the majority of countries in the world pushing for a 2.2- degree temperature rise at the Copenhagen negotiations McDonnough said countries in the Caribbean could no longer see climate change as a matter of scientists and theorists, but consider it’s impacts on agriculture and the lives of people who live in most of the coastal regions of this world.

“You have to consider what happens when you have 1.5- degree temperature rise,” she said. “What that does to sea level, and to the possibility of disaster and destruction to this region. We believe, along with the prime ministers of this region that we will not survive. 2.2 degrees is too high for this region.”

The UN Resident Coordinator expressed support to the prime minister and to Caricom in costing the adaptation measures that countries in the Caribbean would have to take in order to cope with the changes over time of the climate.

When it was his turn, Prime Minister Stephenson King said the meeting brought cabinet and the sub-regional team together to discuss a number of timely interventions. The prime minister felt something could be done only if the organizations worked together as partners in development.

Crime, violence, security and poverty reduction; the latter being an area King believed society could not lose sight of, were top priority at the three day meeting. King said already St Lucian society was very broad based in terms of people who lived below the poverty line, narrower based in terms of those who were middle income, and thin tipped with those who could be considered “up in the higher bracket.” The prime minister said the impact of the global financial situation could possibly throw more individuals below the poverty line.

“An individual who is earning a reasonable salary that can sustain him on a day to day basis, through losing his job can immediately find himself on the breadline,” King elaborated. “With the issue of climate change, the impact could find societies disappearing, and our economy being affected as a result.”

Projects recommended for implementation at the meeting included a “Sociological Data Capture Project that King said would to allow government agencies to collect and use data as measure of research to influence policy, After School Programs; to capture the youth as there was a growing trend of students left unattended after school. A men’s Support Network project; King brought forward findings from a poverty assessment where a substantial number of young men said they were unable to find permanent employment that paid wages that would allow them to provide adequately for their children. The project would be geared to provide support to disadvantaged young men in an effort to steer them away from negative or illegal activity. In that regard a vulnerability reduction unit, intended to provide financial or other types of protection was brought into the picture.

King made mention of a Social Protection Agency; an extension of St Lucia Social Development Fund and a Micro Finance Program where young school leavers would be encouraged in self employment undertakings. The program would provide support mechanisms, career guidance, counselling and micro financing for young people looking to get their projects off the ground.

Other recommendations included a Central Beneficiary Identification Registry and a Juvenile Rehabilitation Complex. King said there was a need for government to put emphasis on sustainable development in order to “sustain ourselves in the current environment.”

“I believe today’s gathering came home with a very clear statement; the need for social engineering, whether we speak of crime, drugs, prostitution, health, education, sustainable development, economic empowerment and resilience. If we as a government, a people of a region and world, can do that, we’re going the right way.”

GREEN PEAS AND RICE; MACARONI PIE

VEGETABLE CHOWMEIN; CREAMED POTATO

CORN MEAL COU COU; BAKED CHICKEN

BAKED LAMB; FRIED SNAPPER

FRIED KING FISH; GRILLED STEAK FISH

BEEF STEW; FISH GRAVY

STEAMED VEGETABLES; TOSSED SALAD