Moontown

DENIS KELLMAN’S COLUMN- THE DEBATE

JUNE 1, 2006

For the past two weeks, I have been receiving numerous complaints from my constituents concerning the shortage of water. I have also received many calls from my informative constituents in the East of St. Lucy. These persons accepted the excuses given, but were very concerned by the attitude of some junior staff supplying them with water. These persons need to understand that they represent their company and that their attitudes can destroy honest hardworking individuals who do everything to represent the interest of their consumers.

I am told that the ghost has been found and my constituents from the east will be receiving water by June 1, 2006. This problem has created many headaches and frustration for my constituents. My constituents endured the shortage and behaved admirably. My contact on this particular matter, did his/her best to help solve the problem. One of the affected areas was a small area called Alexandria. Incidentally, this is the area where I was born, and normally in times of shortages, we would have been able to source water from the tap downhill. Due to the long outage the supply has dried up.

This particular shortage reminds me of my boyhood days when we had to depend on the church pipe as it is now known, because in those days, we had two standpipes, one by the road leading to the east where the church is now, and the next one was by the original location of the church. We have removed a lot of these standpipes, ignoring the significance of the location of these pipes.

These standpipes and public baths have served Barbados well. As a result of our shortsightedness, we have closed down these facilities without appreciating their contribution to tourism. Visitors to a developed country should not have to go to residents seeking to use their bathroom facilities.

It is even more regrettable to note, that we are building parks all over Bridgetown, without taking into account the natural needs of our taxi drivers and Vendors who are working hard to service the needs of our country. We have been beautifying Bridgetown, without making provision for the engine turners of Barbados and we have to find a solution to this problem. Some of the users of these facilities must appreciate the importance of them and ought to stop treating them as if they must be kept unsanitary at all times. It amazes me that this seems to be a national problem, because where ever you go, at every level, it seems to be occurring.

Bajans must understand that a bathroom is a place to be left sanitary, and it is not the job of the cleaner to flush or leave it clean. Just imagine leaving a bathroom as someone is entering and that room is left in a bad state! Can you imagine what is said about you, even though it might not have been you? Let us learn to be sanitary as a rule, and as some would say, what you do at home, you do outside of your home. But please never believe, that because you leave your bathroom sanitary, that others will. It comes with training.

I have heard the Market Vendor speaking about the chef that went into the bathroom and did not wash his hands. As incredible as it may sound, I believe him because it seems that training is only a text book thing for some persons. I have witnessed and spoken to persons who would leave bathroom facilities and opt for the public road or the garbage to displace their urine. I hope that the Market Vendor reported that chef to the owner, providing that the chef was not the owner.

We in Barbados, of necessity, should understand what is proper service. Sometimes I wonder if efficiency means going back to the old days when persons were dictated to. We must demonstrate that we understand what is service and efficiency. Most employers who try to maintain these standards find themselves under severe stress, because the persons who are supposed to enforce these things are more interested in the friendship than in professionalism.

Another dangerous thing is that customers must know who is in charge by being treated in a manner unbecoming of a professional. Barbadians must understand that we are a service economy and the returns that we will get are a reflection of how we treat the public. We must stop behaving as though everything is about us. Before we treat anybody badly, we must first seek to find out what level of service we expect for ourselves and then better it.

Greatness is not about doing things well, it is now about how many wrongs you can ignore. Being clean is about how many things you can leave dirty. Mannerly is about how many people you can insult. A customer is a beggar. A worker is a customer looking for the service. Good compensation is how much of the store you can get for yourself and friends. A good boss is one who pays well and gives everything he has without workers working. Independence is not having to work because our fore parents did it for us already.

Let us work the triangle, let workers get what they worked for, employers get their fair return and Government revenues without them being regressive, but efficient. Let us help Government from Ambush Taxation by having direct and indirect regressive taxes at the same time.

Peace, love, unity, humility, wisdom and understanding.

RICE AND PEAS; MACARONI PIE

BANANA COU COU; CORNMEAL COU COU

BAKED CHICKEN; BBQ SPARERIBS

BBQ PIGTAIL; FRIED SNAPPER

FRIED STEAK FISH; GRILLED STEAK FISH

PORK STEW; TURKEY STEW; FISH GRAVY

STEAMED VEGETABLES; TOSSED SALAD

-rate of infections up in Caribbean

Caricom Secretary-General Edwin Carrington says assessments of the region’s response to the AIDS-causing HIV show a mixed scorecard, with a 2009 update by UNAIDS and the WHO indicating that between 2001 and 2008, there was a 9% increase in the rate of HIV infections in the Caribbean.

Edwin Carrington

Carrington said the update also indicates that the rate of infection is increasing among women and that other at-risk groups continue to be men who have sex with men as well as  commercial sex workers.

He said that the call for more research into the role of bi-sexuality in the transmission of HIV and the reduction of stigma and discrimination cannot be overemphasized and it is for this reason that the recent establishment of the PANCAP Stigma and Discrimination Unit as part of the regional response to research and policy, is an important first step which must be complemented by the work of the region’s universities and other policy centres.

As the Caribbean joined forces with the rest of the world in celebrating the 21st World AIDS Day yesterday, he said Caricom has made a commitment to placing human rights and universal access to prevention, care and treatment at the centre of its response.

According to a release from the Caricom Secretariat, Carrington said that this year’s theme ‘Human Rights and Universal Access’ could not be more timely as it takes stock of progress which has been made as a community in accelerating its response to the disease and contemplates the challenges ahead.

He said that even as consideration is given to the merit of a Caribbean Public Health Agency, which was approved by the Heads of Government, and the prospects of shared or pooled public health services, those concerned must give due recognition to the implications of the current world economic crisis on Caribbean economies and the likely effects this may have on public health services.

In these circumstances, the release noted, Carrington said the fight against HIV calls for strengthening of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) and consolidating the integral linkages between the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework that guides the activities of PANCAP and the various national programmes. These circumstances, he noted, demand continued support from Caricom’s developing partners.

Carrington said the establishment of PANCAP attests to continued political leadership in the Caribbean in responding to the epidemic.  However, he said there is much more to be done and Caricom continues to support institutional strengthening and emphasise the fundamental rights of persons living with the disease.

He said Caricom will continue to highlight HIV and AIDS in its work programmes of health, education, youth and culture and advocate for behaviour change in acknowledgement of its response to the epidemic which  must be a multi-sectoral one. He also called for the strengthening of the role of the community of persons with HIV and AIDS in the decision making process and for more emphasis to be placed on the role of strategic information and communication in the overall objective, which he noted, is to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS.

President Bharrat Jagdeo was recently nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for efforts on behalf of climate change, this newspaper has confirmed.

Stabroek News learnt that the nomination information and package have already been sent to Oslo, Norway.

Bharrat Jagdeo

Sources say President Jagdeo was nominated by author, Professor David Dabydeen who is currently Director of the Centre for Caribbean Studies at the University of Warwick.  When contacted in the UK yesterday, Dabydeen told Stabroek News that he could not speak on the matter at the moment but provided his email address and asked that this newspaper make contact with him.

President Jagdeo has spearheaded a campaign to fight climate change which has as its centrepiece the monetizing of the value of Guyana’s forests. He recently secured a pledge from Norway of US$250M for the preservation of Guyana’s forests in advance of the Copenhagen Summit on climate change which is expected to see a major push for financial assistance for developing countries with forests. He has also campaigned extensively overseas on behalf of climate change as adumbrated in the Low Carbon Development Strategy which his government presented recently.

In October this year, US President Barack Obama was nominated for and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Every year since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. (Stabroek News)

A leading Canadian university will this weekend confer an honorary doctorate on Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer.

The 156-year-old St. Francis Xavier University, located in Nova Scotia, will bestow the degree of doctor of laws honoris causa on Spencer, during the institution’s 2009 fall convocation ceremony on Saturday 5 Dec.

Prime Minister Spencer is a graduate of the Coady International Institute, an extension of the university.

On its Web site, St. Francis-Xavier University said Spencer was only 19 when he left the Caribbean for the first time to study at the Coady International Institute. He had already been involved within the work force and in trade union activities for five years. After graduating from the Coady with a diploma in social leadership, he went on to study at Ruskin College at Oxford University and the University of Oslo.

Spencer has been described as a true global leader and skilled diplomat, whose overarching priorities as prime minister are fiscal responsibility and transparency in government.

The prime minister will be one of two individuals who will be honoured. Canadian Allan Markin, a philanthropist and respected businessman in Canada’s energy sector, will also be conferred with an honorary degree from university.

The ceremonies will take place at 3 p.m. at the Charles V. Keating Millennium Centre, Nova Scotia.

Confirmation has come from the Office of the prime minister that Spencer will travel to Canada on Friday to attend the convocation.

In reacting to the news, Prime Minister Spencer said he is humbled and honoured to be the recipient of an honourary degree from such a prestigious school of learning and progressive educational institution.

“Conscious of the fact that education is about knowledge and our ability to acquire it at all times and use it in a manner that would better our lives, I am encouraged even more to continue on my drive to expose as many young Antiguans and Barbudans to achieve tertiary level education.

“As a politician, I am usually at the giving end of the spectrum ensuring that the people of Antigua and Barbuda and the region are taken care of and provided with the necessary support to ensure the ongoing growth and development of our small island states. So I am very much humbled by the decision of St. Francis-Xavier University to give me this honour,” Spencer said.

He has expressed gratitude to the institution that has given him the foundation to execute leadership principles and manage a process of social and economic development for the residents of Antigua and Barbuda.

Prime Minister Spencer has also been asked by the university to address the convocation ceremony which will award approximately 175 degrees and diplomas to graduates in arts, science, education and business administration.

In addition, approximately 46 graduates from the Coady International Institute will be awarded with diplomas in development leadership.

The PM said that his address to the graduates will focus on peoples participation in shaping good citizens and building national capacity, which he says is important to him because the story of his life as
a leader within organisations, communities and nationally, exemplifies the importance of people involvement in decision-making processes and nation building.

“My message to the graduating class of 2009 and the students of St. Francis-Xavier University will be to always seek to become conscious citizens actively participating in the process of nation building and utilising what they have learned to positively shape their communities,” he said.

Coady International Institute has been credited by Spencer as the place where he discovered the value of humility, responsibility, inclusivity and communication; an experience that exposed him to the basic philosophy of social leadership and co-operation for the good of all. These principles, he said, have stayed with him and fashioned his thinking and understanding of life.

Last month, the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda agreed to institute an annual scholarship for a suitable qualified citizen who has displayed tangible commitment to community development and a desire to study at the Coady International Institute of St. Francis-Xavier University.