PEAS AND RICE; CHICKEN PELAU;
MACARONI PIE; SCALLOPED POTATOES;
COU COU; BBQ SPARERIBS;
BAKED CHICKEN; BAKED PORK;
STIR FRIED SEA CAT; BBQ PIG TAIL;
FRIED SNAPPER; FRIED STEAK FISH;
GRILLED STEAK FISH; BEEF STEW;
FISH GRAVY; STEAMED VEGETABLES;
TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW
| NEW ORLEANS, USA (Reuters) — The potentially damaging El Nino anomaly will last into the early summer of 2010 and have a big impact on weather patterns, the US government’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday.
“El Nino is expected to exert a significant influence on the global weather and climate in the coming months,” the CPC, a unit under the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, wrote in a monthly update. It said El Nino, which means little boy in Spanish, will persist through April to June, a period covering the end of spring and the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. June 1 is also the start of the annual hurricane season in the Atlantic and Caribbean basin. El Nino is an abnormal warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific which causes havoc in global weather patters, especially around the Asia-Pacific region. The weather anomaly has been linked to the weak monsoon which hit cane areas in India, becoming a key factor in causing sugar prices to rally to nearly a 29-year high. El Nino was first noticed by Latin American anchovy fishermen in the 19th century, causing drought in places like Indonesia and Australia while spawning floods in Ecuador and Bolivia. The fishermen called it El Nino for the Christ child because it happened around Christmastime. The CPC said there was still some debate among scientists on how strong this El Nino will be. The weather pattern was blamed for the low number of hurricanes in last year’s storm season because it is supposed to allow wind shear to filter into the Atlantic, ripping apart nascent storms in the process or pushing them far out to sea. Most weather experts are also uncertain if El Nino has had any role in the bitterly cold winter currently gripping large portions of the United States. The CPC said the impact of this El Nino will result in more rains and below average temperatures for the southern US Indonesia would continue to suffer from dry weather, it added. The last major El Nino struck in 1997/98, killing scores of people and causing billions in damages around the world. (Caribnet) |
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| By Robert Campbell and Aizhu Chen
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — PetroChina’s move to take a big position in Caribbean oil storage should give the state oil company immediate muscle in the region’s residual fuel trade and open up longer-term options for crude trading. PetroChina’s assumption this week of Saudi Aramco’s lease on 5 million barrels of oil storage capacity at the strategically located Statia terminal in the Caribbean signaled its intent to build a global oil trading network. The NuStar Energy LP Statia terminal on the Dutch Caribbean island of St Eustatius can handle the largest oil tankers. It is just a few days sail from major US refining and transport hubs on the Gulf Coast. The Caribbean is growing more important as an oil trading center with the emergence of a possible new sour crude benchmark in the Argus Sour Crude Index. Still, sources say PetroChina’s initial focus probably is on shorter-term marketing goals that will make it a major player in the Caribbean “bunker”, or ship fuel, market. “It will mostly be used for fuel oil or bunkers but may also be used for crude in the future,” said a PetroChina trading official. Fuel oil is China’s most widely imported oil product. It is burned in power plants, ships and processed by China’s small privately owned “teapot” refineries. Venezuela has emerged as China’s biggest supplier of fuel oil as President Hugo Chavez looks to shift the country’s oil marketing efforts away from the United States, even though the Caribbean nation lacks access to Pacific ports. But the fuel oil market in Asia is becoming more competitive as demand growth eases and traders fight for market share. Analysts say economies of scale are needed to weather the downturn, driving the expansion of regional players into other markets such as the Middle East and India. “It’s in the center covering both North and South America. If you look at the bunker market alone, it’s huge,” said another Beijing-based PetroChina executive. Underscoring PetroChina’s eagerness to expand its reach in the Caribbean residual fuel market, the company is reportedly in talks with US refiner Valero to acquire its shuttered refinery on the island of Aruba. The Aruba refinery mainly produces fuel oil and unfinished feedstocks, making it potentially an excellent source of fuel oil blendstocks for the Statia terminal. But regardless of PetroChina’s short-term plans for the Statia terminal, some oil traders and analysts believe it is only a matter of time until the state-backed company begins to use it as part of a crude oil trading network. PetroChina began building a presence in the giant US physical crude markets several years ago. But with little of its own production in the region it may be some time until the PetroChina plays a bigger role in regional crude markets. “Without equity crude it would not make business sense to use the terminal as a crude oil staging point … the margins would be minimal,” said Sarah Emerson, director of Energy Security Analysis Inc in Boston. However, PetroChina is among the companies interested in Venezuela’s Orinoco heavy oil belt, which could give it significant crude oil production in the Caribbean basin toward the end of the decade. The widening of the Panama Canal later this decade will also alter the dynamics of the Caribbean market, making it more responsive to market forces in the Pacific. The $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal will allow the waterway to handle Suezmax ships, which can carry up to 1 million barrels of crude, when completed in 2014. It is expected to open up new trade flows for crude oil shipments from West Africa and bolster the role of Caribbean storage in the portfolio of global oil traders. “With the canal expansion you’ll have options to deliver to a lot of places. It opens up arbitrage to the (US) West Coast in a meaningful way and is going to turn the region into a key storage point for both oceans,” said a US Gulf Coast crude oil trader. (Caribnet) |
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Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer 
Left: Windwards captain Darren Sammy. Right: Jamaica’s captain Tamar Lambert. - file
The first round of the 2010 regional first-class four-day championship will bowl off at 10:00 a.m. today with three matches across the island.
In the feature game of the round, hosts and defending champions Jamaica will begin the defence of their title against last season’s runners-up the Windward Islands at Chedwin Park, while reigning regional WICB President’s Cup one-day champions Trinidad and Tobago will tackle the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) at Jarrett Park. In the third encounter, last season’s third-place finishers Barbados will go up against the Leeward Islands at Kensington Park.
In the Jamaica versus the Windwards clash, West Indies middle-order batsman Brendan Nash, who returned to the island last weekend, captain Tamar Lambert and several West Indies fringe players, including Wavell Hinds, Xavier Marshall, Donovan Pagon, David Bernard Jr, Carlton Baugh Jr and Nikita Miller, will seek to lead Jamaica past the Windward Islands, one of only two teams to defeat them on their way to the title last season.
Favourites
In what is expected to be a close affair, Jamaica will start as favourites, but the Windwards who have in their line-up West Indies all-rounder Darren Sammy, last season’s second-highest wicket-taker, off-spinner Shane Shillingford and flamboyant openers Devon Smith and Andre Fletcher, are expected to be pushed all the way.
“The Windwards have a quality team, so we can’t take them lightly and, as such, we will have to be on top of our game,” said Jamaica’s coach, Junior Bennett, who guided the team to back-back titles last season, and is seeking to guide Jamaica to their first-ever ‘three-peat’.
“Everything has been going well in terms of preparation, and once the players go out and execute efficiently, as they are capable of doing, I am confident we will come out on top,” he added.
With Jamaica having enjoyed much success in recent years with the use of two specialist spinners in their starting line-up, namely, Miller and leg-spinner Odean Brown, who was the championships third-highest wicket-taker last season, it is expected that Bennett will employ a similar tactic in the showdown, which could mean that at least one specialist batsman in Parchment, Pagon or Marshall could miss out on the contest, along with young pacer Jason Dawes.
This is so as a result of widely held expectations that in-form West Indies one day representative, batsman-turn-batting all-rounder Shawn Findlay, who was the most outstanding all-rounder in the recently concluded trial and practice matches, will get his 11th cap for the country and, as such, join Nash, Lambert, Hinds and David Bernard Jr in the team’s middle order.
Carlton Baugh Jr will perform wicketkeeping duties with fast bowler Andrew Richardson expected to round off the team.
Fast-bowling sensation
The Windwards are expected to look to 22-year-old fast-bowling sensation Nelon Pascal, who made his West Indies one-day debut last year against Bangladesh, for inspiration along with their front-line players.
“We are looking to get the ball rolling against Jamaica. As you know, last year we defeated them and we are confident we can do it again. Last year, we came second and this year we are looking to improve and take it one step further,” said Sammy.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago will start as favourites against the CCC, despite the fact they will be without young batting star Adrian Barath, who is injured, Dwayne Bravo and big-hitting all-rounder Kieron Pollard, who are in Australia competing in the domestic Big Bash Twenty20 championship. Barbados, with fast bowling trio, the impressive Kemar Roach, Tino Best and Pedro Collins, are expected to get the better of the Leewards, who will look to expreinced players Runako Morton, Gavin Tonge and Omari Banks.
The championship will be played over seven rounds with the team with the most points at the end being crowned champions and awarded with the Headley/Weekes trophy.
Jamaica (from): Tamar Lambert (captain), Brenton Parchment, Xavier Marshall, Donovan Pagon, Wavell Hinds, Brendan Nash, Carlton Baugh, David Bernard, Shawn Findlay, Odean Brown, Nikita Miller, Andrew Richardson, Jason Dawes.
Windward Islands (from): Darren Sammy (captain), Devon Smith, Andre Fletcher, Rawl Lewis, Keddy Lesporis, Donwell Hector, Lyndon James, Liam Sebastien, Tyrone Theophille, Deighton Butler, Shane Shillingford, Kenroy Peters, Nelon Pascal.
Round One Matches:
Jamaica vs Windward Islands at Chedwin Park
Trinidad vs Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) at Jarrett Park
Barbados vs Leeward Islands at Kensington Park
Bye: Guyana
Hosts Jamaica face tough Windwards. (J/ca Gleaner)
R. Anne Shirley, Business Writer 
Bank of Jamaica, Nethersole Place, Kingston. - File
The Government has sent clear signals this week that it is now ready to sign off on its letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a US$1.3-billion stand-by agreement for 27 months.
The draft letter of intent will be presented to the Cabinet for consideration at its four-day retreat this weekend. Thereafter, the letter will be signed next week and submitted to the IMF for further internal review by senior members of the IMF staff and circulation prior to being consi-dered by the IMF executive board at its meeting on or around January 23, 2010, said well-placed sources.
The parliamentary debate, which will be scheduled on or after January 19, will provide details about the conditionalities of the proposed IMF agreement, and the medium-term economic framework underpinning the agreement.
However, even if there are substantial points raised by the Opposition during this debate, these will not have any bearing on the intended IMF agreement, as it is now basically a done deal.
A statement issued in mid-December 2009 by the head of the IMF team that has been in negotiations with the Jamaican authorities, indicated that the agreement would include the following measures:
A coordinated set of fiscal reforms aimed at strengthening public finances, including through new fiscal responsibility legislation; reform of public enterprises and public sector employment; and making the tax structure more efficient
GCT exemptions on rice and counter flour will be maintained
Measures could also include a mixture of controls on public-sector salaries, some tax increases, as well as cuts in other spending
The programme also allows for an increase in social safety net spending to protect the most vulnerable, in particular, a 50 per cent rise in the budget of the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) cash transfer and the school feeding programmes
Additional reforms are envisaged to strengthen the resilience of the financial sector.
There have been consistent indications out of Washington that there is some disagreement among members of the IMF staff on the impact of the proposed debt-management programme on the stability of the financial sector.
Finance Minister Audley Shaw to take centre stage at Cabinet retreat. - File
Debate in Jamaica and Washington has been centred on the possibility of bringing interest rates as low as 8.0 per cent, but that suggestion is gettingstrong resistance, our sources say.
A more palatable 12-13 per cent goal is under consideration for fiscal 2010/11. The central bank is projecting inflation at nine-11 per cent in that period.
However, both Finance Minister Audley Shaw and Bank of Jamaica Governor Brian Wynter, have downplayed these concerns, pointing to the strength of the monitoring and risk-management systems of the central bank and its ability to manage any particular hiccups in the execution of the debt-management programme.
Assuming, therefore, that the IMF executive board approves the Jamaica stand-by facility at its meeting in late January, it is expected that the government will move swiftly to finalise pending financing arrangements for budgetary support with both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
In this regard, a World Bank mission is currently in the island discussing details of a US$100-million loan facility, and indications are that the IDB is in a position to fast-track several pending loan facilities that have been awaiting the signing of the IMF agreement, prior to these loans being presented to the IDB board for approval.
However, there will be a time lag before the receipt of the funds from the multilateral lending agencies, and as a result, Shaw has indicated that the Ministry of Finance might have to resort to tapping the BOJ for more short-term support during January in order to cover any shortfall in revenue/grant receipts during the current month.
During November and December 2009, the BOJ extended credit to the Government through a temporary advance of $5.1 billion in November, and a further $18 billion in December 2009 when the bank purchased tradable Government of Jamaica (GOJ) securities from two GOJ public offers on December 15. The central bank, through a news release on December 30, has been careful to make a distinction between the advances made in November and the purchase of tradable securities in December.
According to the release, $2.5 billion of the amount was repaid in December, with the remaining $2.6 billion being converted to securities.
The BOJ governor indicated at a meeting with senior journalists at the bank on Wednesday that, as the market receives and digests the details of the IMF agreement and the medium-term economic framework, confidence should return to the market and over the coming months.
And, as demand for GOJ securities once again increases, the BOJ expects to sell some or all of the instruments in its holdings back into the market.
According to the BOJ release, “In January, the key elements of a debt-management programme are expected to be announced and formal agreement with the IMF and other stakeholders and supporters will follow. Any advances that may be necessary during the period of the debt-management initiatives are expected to be repaid by the Government from funds raised.”
As at December 23, 2009, the BOJ balance sheet indicated that the BOJ had accumulated year-to-date profits of $5.35 billion. (J/ca Gleaner)
Dodridge Miller, chief executive officer of Sagicor Financial Group. Moving to scotch speculation that it might be in trouble after two deals to raise cash, Sagicor Financial Corporation (SFC) said Thursday that it merely needed capital to fund its expansion in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) and had chosen private negotiations over a rights issue to cut back on the cost of raising new equity.
But the insurance and financial services group acknowledged that the private placement in which it issued shares to Barbados
National Insurance Board (NIB) would result in a four per cent dilution of SFC shares held by other investors.
That deal in December follows disclosure of the sale of its 33 per cent interest in Jamaican investment bank Pan Caribbean Financial Services to Pan Caribbean’s parent Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited for more than J$2 billion, back in October.
The 11.77 million share placement effectively increases NIB’s stake in Sagicor to 6.8 per cent from 2.6 per cent.
It paid BDS$3.325 per share - a five per cent discount on the stock’s BDS$3.50 trading price at December 29 - giving Sagicor fresh cash of BDS$39.15 million.
The share issue grows SFC’s outstanding shares to 290.9 million units.
Sagicor said its 2009 business plan was configured on new share issues in target markets where its stock trades, Barbados, Trinidad and the UK, to finance acquisition of “diligently selected opportunities” primarily in the US and UK.
But: “After several months of working on the plan, we, along with our advisers, formed the view that market conditions were not appropriate for capital raising,” SFC group chief executive said in a statement dated January 6, but issued in Kingston Thursday morning. “Companies that had proceeded with a plan to raise capital did so at substantial discounts on their share price, ranging from 10 per cent to 30 per cent. The board believed that this was not in the best interest of our shareholders and, therefore, postponed the capital raising exercise, and adjusted our business plan accordingly.”
Miller said SFC put out feelers to several institutions in Barbados and Trinidad, before settling on the insurance board in its home market.
The deal does not mean that SFC is in financial difficulty,the company said, adding that free capital exceeds regulatory requirements and that total capital had risen from US$581 million at yearend 2008 to US$661 million at September 2009 - a 14 per cent gain in nine months.
Miller also touted the group’s ‘A’ grade from insurance rating agency AM Best, and ‘BBB’ from Standard and Poor’s as further evidence of its strength.
Total assets also grew by half a billion dollars to US$4.4 billion.
Its nine-month profit, however, was down from US$74 million to US$60 million in 2009. Miller said the 2008 results were boosted by “certain unusual items” which he did not specify.
Referring to questions raised in the press on the company’s health, Miller, having posed the question, “Is the company in financial difficulty?” in his statement, said: “The answer is no.”
New share issue
SFC chose not to have existing shareholders participate in the new share issue by way of a rights issue, the company having concluded it would not be able to raise the targeted funds via this strategy.
The placement with NIB, Miller added, required no pre-approval by SFC shareholders.
“Once the decision to pursue this course of action was taken, the laws of Barbados permit directors to issue new shares by means of a private placement with NIB shareholder approval, and without first offering the shares to existing shareholders,” he said.
“The natural effect of such a transaction would be some reduction in the percentage ownership of existing shareholders. In this instance, the private placement had the effect of diluting existing shareholders shares by four per cent of their previous holdings.”
The stock last traded flat in Trinidad at TT$11.75 Wednesday and at BDS$3.46 in Barbados Tuesday. (J/ca Gleaner)
Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter 
( L - R ) Golding, Davies
PRIME MINISTER Bruce Golding has said that his administration was in the process of crafting a new policy to reduce interest rates.
Golding was responding to a question about the Government obtaining advances from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) and former finance minister Dr Omar Davies’ sharp criticism of that move.
“Right now we are in the final stages of preparing a new initiative which is aimed at significantly reducing interest rates,” the prime minister said.
He said until that action was complete it was not possible for the Government to go to the market to raise funds.
BOJ support
“In this interim, in order for government operations to continue, the Government has had to seek Bank of Jamaica support in order to meet its obligations,” he told The Gleaner Wednesday night at a welcome ceremony of the Caribbean MBA Conference at the Hilton Kingston hotel.
Dr Davies had revealed that a $3-billion advance to the Govern-ment from the BOJ was unsecured funds, which amounted to the printing of money.
The BOJ disclosed that for the past two months its support to the Jamaica Labour Party adminis-tration has amounted to $23.1 billion, a situation which Dr Davies described as one “which raises serious questions”.
The majority of the funds, $18 million, was used to purchase bonds issued by the Government on December 15 to finance, its budget, a transaction the Bryan Wynter-led central bank defended as well within its remit.
Another $5.1 billion was advanced in November, of which $2.5 billion was repaid, BOJ said in a statement issued December 30.
The prime minister said that the Government was working diligently to complete the low interest rate programme, which would alleviate some of the administration’s problems. He did not say when the plan would be completed.
“This is all temporary and as soon as we have completed the programme and we are able to go to the market all of those advances will be repaid. Dr Davies did it while he was minister of finance, albeit it was for a very short period of time. The fact that we have had to do it over a period of two or three months is simply because of the exercise that we are engaged in,” he said.
The prime minister said the aim of achieving low interest rates would help to stimulate the country’s ailing economy.(Jamaica Gleaner)
Manuel von Ribbeck (right) addresses the media during a press conference at Spanish Court Hotel in St Andrew yesterday. Looking on is another attorney-at-law, Anthony Hylton (left), and Max Vermij from Accident Cause Analysis in Canada. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer A team of local and international lawyers has started the battle for compensation for the passengers of the American Airlines aircraft which overshot the runway at the Norman Manley International Airport last month.
In the first step in what could be a lengthy battle, the law firms of HyltonBrown of Jamaica and Ribbeck Law Charted of Chicago, United States, yesterday filed a petition for discovery against the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing.
The petition was filed in Chicago on behalf of 12 of the passengers and requests that the court orders Boeing to release information on the aircraft, the recommended training for the flight crew and other data.
Potential first defendant
“We want to determine who is liable for the accident and who should compensate our clients,” attorney-at-law Manuel von Ribbeck told journalists in Kingston yesterday.
Mr von Ribbeck said Boeing had been named as the potential first defendant but other entities, including American Airlines, could also be sued to get compensation on behalf of the passengers.
“It could take months or it could take years,” von Ribbeck said when questioned about the timeline for any compensation package.
He said despite the initial report on Wednesday that investigators had found no evidence of mechanical problems causing the crash, this would not prevent the lawyers from targeting Boeing or any other party in the quest for compensation for the passengers.
According to von Ribbeck, the legal team has retained a private aviation expert to conduct an independent investigation.
Canadian aviation expert Max Vermij will lead the efforts of the legal team to determine who should be held liable.
“Max will take the investigation from a point of view that is a little bit different from what you are seeing. He represents the interest of the victims as opposed to the members of the official investigation who are primarily representatives of the airline or the manufacturer of the aircraft.
“In that sense now, we have someone who will oversee things on behalf of the families,” added von Ribbeck.
In the meantime, local attorney Anthony Hylton of HyltonBrown said the legal team had written to American Airlines requesting that the luggage of the passengers be released quicker than the 60 days which had been announced.
Luggage time frame
“We have made demands on American Airlines to meet with us to discuss a more acceptable time frame in which the passengers can receive their luggage and personal items,” Hylton said at the media briefing.
Hylton had initially expressed concern about an offer of US$5,000 which American Airlines had put on the table in the way of compensation to passengers for the delay in handing over their luggage.
But he told journalists yesterday that having seen some of the letters sent to the passengers by the airline, he is now convinced that they would not be signing away any of their rights if they accept the money offered. (J/ca Gleaner)
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United National Congress (UNC) Leader Basdeo Panday says he will quit politics if he loses the internal election come January 24. Panday said yesterday, ’People have to decide, and if I lose I will have to abide by the wishes of the people and bow out of politics.’ Panday, in active politics for 50-plus years, is in a three-way fight with Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar and former attorney general and Member of Parliament for Tabaquite, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj. Panday said he did not wish to predict the outcome of the elections. ’Things are going good and only a fortune teller could predict the results.’ On the decision to exclude from the vote 16,000 people who recently applied for membership, Panday said ’That is a matter for the (membership) committee. We have set up a committee to oversee the election and that is their job. If you bring in 16,000 people at the last minute, then something is wrong. What is the rush to join the party at this time?’ he asked. Panday said any decisions made regarding the election are not his but a function of the committee. Panday launches his campaign tonight in Persad-Bissessar’s stronghold of Penal. Kelvin Ramnath, who heads the membership committee said there will be no postponement of the elections in spite of rumblings within the party. ’Elections will go on, the list has been approved by the executive, and will be sent to all constituency offices today (Thursday). Interviews will be conducted after the elections for those who have recently applied for membership in the party’ he said. He said schools will be used as the main venue for voting. He said the list to be used at the election, comprises 34,000 names processed from 2006 to November 29, 2009. Ramnath said ’ the action taken by the committee has the approval of the National Executive.’ Persad- Bissessar told the Express, ’I cannot speak for Mr Panday, but as far as my campaign is concerned I am doing well.’ She said her meeting at Claxton Bay on Wednesday night showed clearly that people wanted a change. ’They want us to go into government because they are tired of being in the opposition and they see me as the likely person to take them there,’ she said. (Trinidad Express) |
