7. February 2010 by admin.

RICE AND FIELD PEAS; MACARONI PIE

BBQ SPARERIBS; BAKED CHICKEN

BAKED PORK; FRIED SNAPPER

FRIED STEAK FISH; GRILLED FISH

BEEF STEW; FISH GRAVY

MIXED VEGETABLES; TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW

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7. February 2010 by admin.

In the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake that devastated the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, Guyana’s National Committee for Haiti Relief will be sending more assistance to the island as the committee’s donations topped $261M on Friday, GINA reported.

Minister of Human Services and Social Security and Chairperson of the National Committee for Haiti Relief Priya Manickchand updated the media on the committee’s status on Friday during another donation exercise convened at the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) office, Thomas Lands.

She said, GINA reported, that in addition to the 10 containers that left John Fernandes Wharf on February 4, five more containers which include foodstuff and clothing will be leaving Guyana for Haiti on Tuesday. The items for shipment include rice, other food items, clothing and water.

The minister noted that the committee will continue its work to aid Haiti as long as the island needs it.

The Relief Committee currently has approximately $261,374,104 in its account at Republic Bank and according to Manickchand, in addition to actual cash persons have donated in excess of $45M in kind so far.

Meanwhile, at Friday’s ceremony the committee received donations from the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) company – $2.5M, MP Insurance Broker and Consulting firm – $100,000, RK’s Security Service- $250,000, N&S Mattai- $200,000 in food items and the Guyana Forestry Commission – $106,000.

The human services minister thanked the contributors for their generosity and encouraged others to contribute to the worthy cause, GINA added. (Stabroek News)

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7. February 2010 by admin.

Renuka Singh

she’s the queen: Zaria Pinder, portraying “Fire Dancer “, parades before the judges at the Red Cross Children’s Carnival 2010 at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, yesterday. Pinder won in the Individual Queen category. - Photo: CURTIS CHASE THE pervasive heat and dust of the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, failed to diminish the colour and revelry of the Red Cross Children’s Carnival 2010 as the young masqueraders came out in their numbers to cross the Big Stage yesterday. It was a kaleidoscope of colour and creativity from the hundreds of youngsters. The Savannah took on a Carnival atmosphere as the young paraders danced and chipped along to the music of Blaxx, Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez and Machel Montano HD. With a massive 14 categories ranging from babe-in-arms, who were carried across the stage by proud parents, to the two-adult operated floats, big band sections and individuals, Red Cross Kiddies Carnival was simply a smaller version of what the country could expect on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Starting promptly at 11 am, the parade had no major hiccups and proceeded smoothly throughout the afternoon. ’Ole time mas’ and colloquial adages featured prominently, including the funny ’Devil and He Wife Fighting for a Ham Bone’ in the Girls 6-8 category which was presented by Shanika Hernandez, and earned laughter from the audience. ’Sweet T&T, Land of Calypso, Mas & Pan, Treasures of the Caribbean’, earned the Most Original prize for the costume that showcased all the popular aspects of local culture. A special prize was awarded to Jeanessa Neptune, who portrayed ’Chutney Soca’ in the Girls 9-11 category. In the small bands’ category, ’Look to the Hills - A Celebration of Life in Paramin’ awed the crowd with its intricate designs and very professional appearance as did ’George, the Legend’ by The Zabapique Productions & The Midas of T&T. (Trinidad Express)

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7. February 2010 by admin.

NEW KING: Red Cross Junior King Enrique Sham Poo portrays “Baoreas, Keeper Of D Wind”, to capture the title at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, yesterday. -Photo: CURTIS CHASE on stage: Above: A section from the band Zebapique, from Tony Alleng Productions and The Midas of T&T’s portrayal at the 2010 Red Cross Children’s Carnival. (Trinidad Express)

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7. February 2010 by admin.

by Jensen LaVende

“much better”: Kamla Persad-Bissessar United National Congress Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is doing ’much better’ after falling and fracturing her left shoulder in Parliament in the Red House, Port of Spain, on Friday. Speaking with the Sunday Express via telephone, moments after leaving the St Clair Medical Complex yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said she fell directly on her left shoulder causing it to fracture. The Siparia MP added that she was told by doctors at the institution that she could either operate on the shoulder or go about the healing process the conservative way. ’I haven’t decided as yet,’ Persad-Bissessar said, adding that she did not suffer any injuries to her head as a result of the fall, and she was ’okay’ other than the fractured shoulder. UNC member and MP for Caroni East Dr Tim Gopeesingh, in an interview with TV6, said Persad-Bissessar may have to wear a sling for the next four to six weeks. He added that UNC members Jack Warner, Wade Mark and Chandresh Sharma visited the political leader last night. Gopeesingh added that Persad-Bissessar was looking forward to continuing her parliamentary duties. Persad-Bissessar tripped and fell on a railing during the tea break during the debate of the Prison (Amendment) Bill 2010 at the Red House. At the time of her fall, Persad-Bissessar was on her cellphone trying to organise a meeting with the Public Services Association (PSA) which she was supposed to chair. (Trinidad Express)

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7. February 2010 by admin.

Mark Titus, Business Reporter
Raymond Cooper, president of the Incorporated Masterbuilders’ Association of Jamaica (left) and President of the Block Makers Association, Delroy Christie, on a visit to Caribbean Cement Company Limited’s Rockfort plant in October 2009 (right). - File photos

The 7.5 per cent spike in the cost of cement this week is already ricocheting through the construction sector, whose players say the increase that comes atop growing operational expenses from higher fuel costs and inputs will eventually push up the cost of housing and new office space.

A bag of Carib Cement Plus, bought directly from Caribbean Cement Company Limited, is now priced at $590 to $600 per bag, plus 17.5 per cent GCT, the company said Thursday.

Retailers are selling at about $670 to $690, plus GCT, according to checks done by the Financial Gleaner.

The costs will be passed on to customers, block makers and contractors.

five to six per cent raise

“The cost of blocks will have to go up significantly, by some five to six per cent, not only because of the cement increase, but also the implementation of the weighing system and the cost in fuel,” said Delroy Christie, president of the 28-member Block Makers Association.

A six-inch grade ‘A’ block costs $70, but lesser-quality products can be obtained for as low as $50.

Contractors say not only will they have to pay more for blocks, a primary input, they will buy cement at the higher cost, and also pay more for haulage.

Haulage costs are determined by load and distance. Builders, for example, now pay around $10,000 per truck load to haul 800 bags of cement to Hellshire.

“Increases in cement will mean an increase in the cost of building and housing,” president of the Incorporated Masterbuilders’ Association, Raymond Cooper, told the Financial Gleaner on Tuesday, just hours before being returned as president for another term at the association’s annual general meeting.

“We as contractors cannot absorb these costs, because the margin is already tight, so these costs will have to be passed on, ultimately to the final purchaser, developer, or whoever the project is being done for.”

Cooper said transport had become an even bigger cost because of the nascent government programme that regulates weight hauled by heavy-duty vehicles.

Trucks now transport less per load, have to do more trips to haul the same volumes, adding to man hours, fuel and haulage fees.

“Goods will have to be transported from the hardware

to the various sites, so fuel and haulage costs must be factored in,” Cooper said.

“Transport has become a significant cost with the introduction of the weighing system because trucks will have to carry less - because blocks are among the heaviest of construction material - and carrying less means that trucks will have to make more trips for the same load.”

Jamaica Pre-Mix Concrete Limited, one of the biggest users of cement, did not respond to an invitation to comment on the matter, but a letter obtained by the Financial Gleaner, dated the same day monopoly cement producer Caribbean Cement Company Limited’s increase took effect, General Manager John Valentine advised customers of a five per cent increase in its concrete prices, citing a hike in cement, fuel, electricity and trucking.

Tank-Weld, the 40-year-old construction company, which brings in imported cement through its own port operation in Rio Bueno, Trelawny, would not comment on its own response as a competitor to its rival’s price hike.

dumped cement

Block makers predict a five to six per cent hike in prices to customers because of the increases in cement and fuel. - File

Tank-Weld is on the defensive in a complaint filed by Caribbean Cement with the Anti-Dumping and Subsidies Commission, implying that the United States-made Vulcan product - traded by Tank-Weld - was dumped cement, that is, sold at a price lower than it cost to produce in its home market.

The Chris Bicknell-led company has since responded to the complaint and has been subjected to a 45-day wait for the regulator’s ruling.

Tank-Weld sells Vulcan superslab cement at $735 plus GCT per bag, but volume purchases of 800 or more bags are priced at $560 plus GCT, the company said.

Another importer, Arc Systems, sells its Dominican Republic-made Anchor cement at $580 plus GCT.

Carib Cement’s latest price increase comes on the heels of a jump in special consumption tax on fuel and a rise in its own haulage costs and a cost of production that the Rockfort, Kingston-based company said had risen six per cent.

The Trinidad-owned cement maker said that trucks that carried 900 bags of the commodity per load can now haul only 600, to conform with the new regulations under the Government’s Vehicle Weight Enforcement Programme. (Jamaica Gleaner)

mark.titus@gleanerjm.com

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7. February 2010 by admin.

Avia Collinder, Business Writer

The one per cent rise in the rate of the general consumption tax (GCT) in January and what some banks say is an annual revision of their fees structure, are providing cover for the latest round of user-fee increases by commercial banks.

Leading the higher fee rollouts are the biggest two banks, National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS).

GCT, which is priced into bank fees, rose from 16.5 per cent to 17.5 per cent.

BNS has already produced its new fee schedule, which became effective January 1, two months after the usual November 1 publication of new fees, the bank said.

NCB is going beyond the tax hike in explaining its new charges, blaming other factors, such as the effect of higher electricity costs and petrol prices on its overall operations.

“NCB, like most other institutions, will see an increase in operational costs resulting from the new tax on additional services including electricity and gas. It will cost us more to provide some pro-ducts and services,” Belinda Williams, the bank’s manager for corporate communications, told Sunday Business.

The banking group, which has the largest network of branches islandwide, reported only a week ago that total operating expenses shot up by $500 million in its last quarter to $4 billion, from $3.5 billion in September 2009, and $3.4 billion in December 2008.

Last year, NCB collected $5.9 billion in fees and commissions charged against customers’ accounts for transactions with the bank, but spent only $1.2 billion on their collection.

Fees contributed almost half of the $10.2 billion in net profit made by NCB.

For every dollar of fee and commission income collected, the bank retained just under 80 cents as profit. Fees make up as much as 44 per cent of profits for the bank, which reached $10.2 billion after tax for the year ended September 2009.

With profits deflated last quarter by a mixture of large one-off payouts and lower income from segments such as insurance premiums, and the bank bracing for a huge drop in investment income consequent on the Government’s debt-exchange programme, NCB chief executive Patrick Hylton is promising more aggressive income generation and cost cutting to preserve its nine-year profit surge.

While NCB said it was not in a position to say precisely which services would attract increased fees in the new round of escalation expected soon, the GCT rise will figure prominently in the calculations.

fees and charge rates

“The increase in GCT will unavoidably contribute to a move in our fees,” Williams said, even as she maintained that NCB’s fees had been found by an August 2009 survey by the Consumer Affairs Commission to be competitive compared with other commercial banks.

“Any resulting increase in fees will see us remaining competitively positioned in the market,” she added.

In 2009, NCB’s fee guide was a 13-page document detailing 89 fees and charge rates for credit cards alone. Other fees and charges numbered 208, among them a payroll fee of between $350 and $450 per employee account credited.

BNS has about 107 user fees on its schedule, including monthly account-ser-vicing charges, fees for cheque leaves, standing orders, money orders and loan applications.

point-of-sales transaction fees

A transfer or withdrawal from banking accounts costs regular savers $30.30 at BNS, and now when credit or debit cardholders use plastic for point-of-sales transactions, they will be billed $10 where no fee existed before.

And it now costs $12.10 for electronic payments of bills and funds transfers.

While the bank said that services which see a less than $1 increase when the additional GCT is applied would not attract a fee hike, the new list contains a raft of bumped-up charges.

These include a higher $355 monthly, or $55.55 per entry service charge for handling personal accounts, and a minimum $550 monthly, or $70 per entry for other accounts.

And, each online payment and transfer between accounts now costs $30.30. The first seven are free, but only if the account has a minimum of $25,000.

Last year, Scotiabank spent $1 billion to collect $4.86 billion in fees, retaining 78 cents on every dollar of fees as profit. Fees contributed 29 per cent of operating profit.

Fees for BNS amounted to almost a quarter of its more than $11 billion in net profit.

“Our annual adjustment in fees is not done in a vacuum, only after comparison with our competitors and in keeping with our commitment to deliver value for the service being offered,” BNS told Sunday Business through a spokesperson.

While the two big banks have rolled out or signalled changes to a range of fees, smaller banks, including FirstCaribbean Jamaica and RBTT Bank, say only the GCT increase is being applied at this time, but the latter bank did not rule out higher fees later on.

The assurance from First-Caribbean came from managing director Clovis Metcalfe last week.

“All our fees have been increased by one per cent based on the adjustment made to the GCT rate,” Karen Watson-Pink, assistant manager of corporate communications and brand at RBTT also reported.

“The impact of the various other taxes on our operating costs is currently being reviewed.”

While user fees make a significant contribution to the bottom line of banks, several financial institutions say they have been pointing customers to ways of saving themselves these charges.

Bank officials stress that some of their services are available online at no cost. Basic services available online include transfers between accounts, account-balance checking and bill payment.

“We are ever mindful of the prevailing conditions our customers face and have recently launched our ‘cut your banking fees’ campaign at www.cutyourbank-fees.com, to apprise our customers of ways in which they can reduce their banking fees and in some instances, eliminate banking fees altogether,” said NCB’s Williams.

Online banking, she said, is free for NCB customers who sign up for Midas Plus.

Last year, NCB said e-banking represented 46 per cent of all transactions.

BNS revealed last week that approximately 20 per cent of its customers utilised the bank’s online services but admitted that not all services were available using this mode.

BNS’ free online services include balance inquiry, funds transfer, bill payment, some standing orders, account history, and credit card online statements.

free service

RBTT’s Watson-Pink also said online banking was a free service “offered by the bank at this time”, as did FirstCaribbean Jamaica’s Metcalfe.

“The retail unit offers an electronic banking product called ‘direct banking’, which is specifically designed to allow customers to avoid in-branch fees and charges,” Metcalfe told Sunday Business.

“All electronic transactions are free of cost, but we have restrictions on in-branch activity.”(Jamaica Gleaner)

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com

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7. February 2010 by admin.

A POSITIVE REPORT CARD, but lots of urgent work needs to be done.

That’s what City residents can expect to hear from their Member of Parliament for the City of Bridgetown, Patrick Todd, when he delivers his report to the constituency conference this evening at Harrison College.

Todd, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, said a significant amount of work had been done, but there were still many areas in urgent need of attention.

He undertook a walk-about in the constituency yesterday morning accompanied by ministers John Boyce (Transport and Works) and Chris Sinckler (Social Transformation and Community Empowerment) to invite residents to today’s constituency conference and allow them to highlight their concerns to the ministers.

Housing, employment, drainage, and street lighting are among the problems identified for urgent attention.

Todd said street lighting remains a serious issue in Bridgetown, pointing specifically to upgrades done by the last Government particularly in Tudor Street and Baxters Road, which has left most of these areas without overhead street lighting, becoming havens for crime.

He also pointed to the need for an urgent upgrade of the drainage situation and improvements to the housing stock and the provision of water borne facilities.

Housing programme

To this end, he is eagerly looking forward to the launch of the multimillion dollar Housing and Neighbourhood Upgrading programme signed with the Inter American Development Bank in 2008.

This five-year programme will see, among other things, Cats Castle and Greenfield - undergoing significant upgrades, including the widening of streets, creation of green spaces, improvement in drainage and street lighting and provision of additional housing units and upgrading of the housing stock. (DM) (Nation News)

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7. February 2010 by admin.

THE COUNTRY’S 24 Constituency Councils are expected to go before Cabinet on Thursday for final approval.

Minister of Social Transformation Chris Sinckler, who gave the update yesterday at the start of a walkabout in The City in support of Member of Parliament Patrick Todd, said the pilot phase for the first six councils is coming to an end at month-end, and he is quite pleased with their performances.

“All the works have been done and it is now left up to me to determine if we take all 24 or take them in intervals of 12 before Cabinet,” Sinckler told the SUNDAY SUN. “Twenty-four Councils each having 15 persons is a substantial number of persons to handle at one time, so we have to decide if we will handle them at intervals or together”.

No budget increase

Of the allocated $6 million, between $2.5 and $3 million has been spent, and the Minister is warning that there won’t be any increase in the budget for the next financial year. In fact, he’s looking for savings.

The majority of the funds were spent on pre-establishment expenses including staffing of the Constituency Council Department and on accommodation for the Councils.

He said he was pleased the remaining Council would have the resources to execute their plans but doubts that their existing budget would be fully allocated by the end of this financial year on March 31.

Government’s tight financial situation is also affecting staffing of the Council which is currently being discussed with the Ministry of the Civil Service.

“As you know, Barbados like all Governments is going through some challenges on the fiscal side, so the luxury of creating a whole new set of posts in the public service is not there.

Reassignments

“What we are looking for is a judicious mix of reassigning some people from other departments which are underutilised into the Constituency Council Departments and bringing in some new persons,” he stressed.

He also touched on the vexing question of the politicisation of the councils, saying that the operation of the six pilot councils had shown that the fears of the Opposition had been misplaced.

“Communities know who are the people who do work within the communities, and therefore you are not going to be able to manipulate that situation and just put someone on because they are a supporter of a party, having never done anything in a constituency. It is not going to work in Barbados, it is too small for that to happen,” he said. (DM) (Nation News)

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7. February 2010 by admin.

by CARLOS ATWELL

THIS YEAR’S SUGAR HARVEST may begin as early as tomorrow due to the drought the island is facing.

And it is still uncertain whether Barbados will be able to produce enough sugar to meet the sugar quota agreed with Europe.

“This drought will affect the sugar cane output, as well as the yield. We are hoping to get 300 000 tonnes of cane but we don’t know if we can, so the industry wants to start as soon as possible, possibly as soon as February 8. Most of the independent farmers are ready for harvest,” said Dr Atlee Brathwaite, chairman of Barbados Sugar Industries Ltd.

Brathwaite, speaking to the SUNDAY SUN during a telephone interview yesterday, said the agreement with the European Union was around 30 000 tonnes of sugar per year, but this year’s TC/TS [Tonnes of Cane/Tonnes of Sugar] ratio was around 10.5 tonnes of cane per tonne of sugar. This means the expected sugar yield for Barbados was around 28 571 tonnes.

“This will affect critical foreign exchange, as it is important for the sugar industry to earn as much as possible,” he said.

However, Brathwaite added that he did not believe Barbados’ agreement was in serious jeopardy since the drought was due to “mother nature” and not human error.

“I’m sure the people [within the EU] who are responsible for importing and marketing will take this into consideration. It is not [the] result of bad husbandry, but an act of God,” he said.

Brathwaite said another advantage of an earlier harvest date was to cut down the amount of cane lost to fire, adding they had already recorded 250 acres of cane destroyed by fire.

In an interview on Friday, general manager of the Barbados Agricultural Management Company Ltd (BAMC), Leslie Parris, said stakeholders would be meeting soon, noting that normally the season starts around February 15.

Agriculturalists have been calling for an early start; some wanted a start as early as January. Agricultural attorney for Foursquare Estates Ltd, Neville Ward said: “All like now we should be half crop [half of the sugar cane fields already harvested]. The longer they stay out there, the faster they dry out.”

Michael Pile, the manager/owner of Brighton Plantation, also wanted an earlier start.

The acting chief of applied meteorology and climatology at the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, agro-meteorologist Adrian Trotman, last month issued a Press release indicating that Barbados could expect drought conditions over the next three months.

* carlosatwell@ nationnews.com

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