SUNDAY’S SPECIAL MOON TOWN BARBADOS
Sunday, February 21st, 2010RICE AND PEAS; MACARONI PIE
BBQ SPARERIBS; BAKED CHICKEN
BAKED PORK; FRIED SNAPPER
FRIED DOLPHIN; LAMB STEW
FISH GRAVY; MIXED VEGETABLES
TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW
Archive for February 21st, 2010
St Lucia opposition asks government to clarify airport financing
Sunday, February 21st, 2010WATER NIGHTMARE! Will government declare State of Emergency?
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
General Manager of WASCO, John Joseph, has some straight talk for St Lucians about the water situation. He hopes that if using water indiscriminately becomes illegal citizens will listen up. Left: The low levels at the John Compton Dam are evident.
General Manager of WASCO John Joseph has gotten used to “getting cussed out on a regular basis.” And he is also used to uninformed consumers suggesting the Water and Sewerage Company invented the current drought situation or is only sending water to “important” people. So concerned is Mr Joseph that he arranged a visit by the media to some of the island’s reservoirs and catchment points so they could “see for themselves that there is no water. People need to see to believe,” he said while shrugging. Ten years on the job and even the drought of 2001, says Joseph, cannot compare to now.The John Compton Dam at Roseau has been receiving increased traffic, from not just the media but curious people, who are all shocked when they get there at how bad things are. Pictures of the dwindling water supply at the main dam have even surfaced on Facebook! With a stack of papers on his desk, which painted a dismal picture, including the obscenely low levels of rainfall, Joseph told the STAR in an interview on Tuesday that it was time for drastic action.
The STAR has learnt that it is expected in the next few days the government will officially declare a state of emergency as regards the water situation. Under the Water and Sewerage Act of 2005, under the section titled ‘Water Related Emergencies’ it states that an emergency can be declared if the relevant minister, in this case the Agriculture minister, is satisfied “by reason of an exceptional shortage of rain, or contamination of water, a serious deficiency of supplies of water exists or is threatened.” This would mean that the way we use water will now be controlled under the law. The government in conjunction with water authorities will release a list of the prohibitions on the use of water, chief among those is expected to be the watering of lawns and the washing of vehicles.
According to the Act people who contravene the Order can be charged. It reads: “A person who . . . commits an offence and upon summary conviction is liable to a fine of not less than three thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term of not less than six months or to both and to a further fine of not less than fifty dollars for each day during which the breach continues.”
The declaration of the water related emergency, said the WASCO head, is what St Lucia needs.
“Government understands the situation now,” he told me speaking of an emergency meeting he had with the Minister of Communications and Works on Monday. It is expected that after Thursday’s Cabinet meeting the official word will come.
“The use of water needs to be policed. If that emergency is declared and it becomes illegal to use a hose or to wash a vehicle you can be arrested and charged,” Joseph said while also making the point that there are already water police in Trinidad.
Joseph hopes that the emergency declaration will be effective and says it will at least paint in people’s mind that WASCO and the government mean business. Joseph is hoping St Lucians will get serious before its too late.
He hit me with some hard facts: “The dry season normally starts in January so by about March-April we tend to get the John Compton dam about 10 feet below the spillway, where the water overflows. In January we were already 13 feet below the spillway. We have had three months of drought and we are looking at another three months of the same. We are managing the supply to make it stretch as long as we can . . . We extracted on a normal basis about nine million gallons a day, while we were doing that the levels of the dam were going down at one foot a day,” said Joseph, while admitting that he could not give a time line for how long the water we have now will last. He said that if WASCO had continued extracting nine million gallons a day we would have been out of water by March!
“The people in the south of the island, I think, are taking the situation more seriously than people in the north. There needs to be a shift in attitude. People’s lifestyles will have to change,” he said bluntly.
Joseph also spoke about the supply to the hotel sector.
“Our priority is our residents. I appreciate that hotels have guests . . . But at the point where we are, the hotels need to take a different approach. We have recommended that they augment our supply with their own independent supply. We have made information available to them. They need to take the initiative. It is increasingly difficult to deal with the larger hotels that consume up to 50,000 gallons a day. We have also had to cut back on the cruise ships because it makes no sense to supply a cruise ship with water and then you can’t get it to Morne Dudon.”
Joseph said that WASCO is looking at other ways of collecting water.
“We are exploring the procurement of some portable treatment plants so we can collect at the lower levels of the rivers so we can get water to the distribution plants quicker. We also want
to look for plants that can switch from river water to sea water.”
We also reported in our Tuesday issue that St Lucia was looking into importing water from neighbouring Dominica. That idea was shelved for now, said Joseph, because of Dominica’s own water struggles.
“We explored going to Dominica early in the game,” he admitted. “When I contacted my counterpart in Dominica they went to check on the rivers feeding Roseau (Dominica) and saw it was going down, however, they still have a lot of supply in the inland lakes so they can still provide bulk water. The issue is moving it from one point to the next. We have explored that option and these are things that we can implement as time goes by.”
He says WASCO is also exploring in the long term, deep well drilling.
“We have already contacted the various people who have the expertise in that field,” he offered, adding that the companies are being vetted after which a recommendation will be made to government. Joseph, who has been fighting what some might say is a losing battle against the system when it comes to WASCO says he can only hope that this particular way of getting water will be approved.
“Until you get the policymakers to understand and commit to what we are talking about . . . I don’t know . . .” he trailed off.
Asked about the process of desalination he says this was a last resort because of the expense involved.
But is the current situation St Lucia finds itself only because of the drought? The scenes on the recent episode of much praised ABC’s The Bachelor hardly showed the indiscriminate cutting down of trees and the pollution of waterways that have contributed to our present nightmare. Neither did it show the thousands of people who are now struggling to even have enough water to drink. If there was ever a time for a national approach to something, it is now. If there was ever a time for us to start caring about our neighbour in a real way, it is now. If there was ever a time for us to start worrying,
it is now.(St. Lucia Star)
More land for Haitians Red Cross
Sunday, February 21st, 2010 |
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More land must be made available for Haitians who lost homes in the devastating January 12 earthquake states the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cross Crescent Societies (IFRC). In a statement released by its Caribbean Regional Office in Port of Spain, the IFRC stated that the United Nations has identified 19 settlements which need urgent ’decongestion’ ahead of the rainy season, which starts on average at the beginning of April. ’So far, work on organised resettlement has begun at one new site: La Piste, a disused airport,’ the IRFC stated. The IRFC stated more land ’must urgently be made available as close as possible to the Haitain capital, Port-au-Prince, so that people who want to leave the improvised settlements that sprang up after last month’s earthquake can do so.’ ’There are more than 300 such settlements all over Port-au-Prince and many more in Leogane, which was almost completely destroyed in the 12 January disaster, and the southern port of Jacmel, which is less seriously damaged,’ the IRFC stated. It also revealed The Haitian National Red Cross Society (HNRCS) has at least 5,000 volunteers available who can help make new sites safer by helping with water and sanitation work and added that ’several other Red Cross societies active in the earthquake operation will provide basic water and sanitation and health services at La Piste.’ (Trinidad Express) |
Non-smokers breathe relief
Sunday, February 21st, 2010 |
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THERE was no ’eau de tobacco’ for non-smoking partygoers to remove from their Friday night club wear this week. It has long been the complaint of non-smokers that they are often left with smoke-filled clothing after a night out clubbing. But this problem has now gone up in smoke. Since February 17, Part III and Sections 1 to 9 of the Tobacco Control Act have come into effect in this country. Included in the Part III of the new legislation is Section 12 of the Act which prohibits smoking in enclosed public areas, including bars, clubs, casinos and poolhalls. Friday nights have always been known as a popular night for partying so this Friday was the first true test of the new legislation. The Sunday Express hit the streets on Friday night to see exactly how the new law had affected smokers and clubbing in general. For bar patrons the problem was easily rectified-patrons just walked outside when the tobacco urge kicked in. ’This will really take some getting used to. You know I get so accustomed to just lighting up and taking a smoke while I’m drinking a beer,’ David Walker, 30, told the Sunday Express at the popular Hutt Shutts bar in Tacarigua. There were also little to no problems experienced in casinos. ’All we did was remind the patrons as soon as they walk through the door that they are no longer allowed to smoke inside and they all obliged,’ a manager at Winners Club in Woodbrook, who requested anonymity said. Smokers instead lit up in the casino’s spacious yard. ’Some people tried to go into the bathroom to smoke,’ said Johnny Soong, owner of Zen nightclub. But these instances were few and far between, he added. ’Patrons were reminded of the no smoking ban by the door, we also placed ’no smoking’ signs at various locations inside the club and they were all generally cooperative,’ Soong said. Joe Pires, owner of the 51 degrees nightclub, agreed there were no real difficulties experienced in maintaining the new law. ’We had no problems, we managed it. We created an area for the smokers to enjoy at our club. We set up a smoking section outside at the entrance for them,’ Pires said. A permanent open-air smoking facility is currently under construction, Pires said. Soong called for business owners to be given more clarification on the law so that they could better cater for their customers who smoke. |
Panday: It’s a betrayal
Sunday, February 21st, 2010|
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Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday says he has been betrayed by Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh, who yesterday announced his support for newly-elected political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar as the next Opposition Leader. Gopeesingh, who had contes ted the post of deputy political leader on the Panday slate, told reporters at a news conference at his Port of Spain medical office that he is satisfied that he has not betrayed Panday. ’I hope that I will never betray Mr Panday, but I had to do this for the benefit of the people of Trinidad and Tobago,’ he said. Asked yesterday if he felt Gopeesingh had betrayed him, Panday said: ’Yes, he did because he also spoke to me a few days ago in which he gave me his undertaking that I had his support.’ He was referring to a meeting with Gopeesingh on February 8 at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in Port of Spain, and which was reported by Newsday. Gopeesingh referred to the newspaper report, saying only that he and Panday had ’a lot of discussions on this issue’. ’And, of course, last night I called him and informed him of my decision,’ he added. Panday said yesterday he said nothing when Gopeesingh told him of his decision to support Persad-Bisessar during the Friday night phone call. Contacted for comment about Panday’s claim last evening, Gopeesingh said: ’I don’t want to make any comment on what Mr Panday said. I have made my statement today, and I prefer my statement to be my final version of events.’ Panday, also, responded to reports that he has said he wants to meet with all Opposition MPs to discuss stepping aside as opposition leader. ’So I have heard,’ he said. ’I have not made any decision and I do not have to make any decision. What has to happen, a vacancy is only created when the president is informed by the majority of members of the Opposition that they want somebody else as the leader of the Opposition.’ He explained why he would not be stepping aside as opposition leader. ’But surely, I will be accused by people of abandoning their struggle and I am not going to do that,’ he said. -JB (Trinidad Express) |
Tim makes eight Kamla says she has majority support for Opposition Leader post
Sunday, February 21st, 2010 |
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Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday declared she has secured the support of the majority of the 15 Opposition MPs she requires to replace Couva North MP Basdeo Panday as opposition leader. Persad-Bissessar, who was elected as the United National Congress’ (UNC) political leader in the party’s January 24 internal elections, made her declaration shortly after Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh announced his support for her as opposition leader yesterday morning. Gopeesingh said he was supporting Persad-Bissessar for the position at a news conference at the offices of his Woodbrook medical practice yesterday, three weeks after he unsuccessfully contested the post of deputy political leader on a Panday slate, and just one day after his own constituency executive called on him to endorse Persad-Bissessar. ’Now that I have the support of the members of Parliament for the office of the official opposition leader, I can ensure that the decisions of the party and the people are empowered by our activities in Parliament. And I will, also, ensure that the voice of every citizen who is frustrated and angry, hurt or hungry, fearful or feeble, is heard in the hallowed halls of the parliamentary chambers,’ Persad-Bissessar said in a statement issued yesterday. At his news conference, Gopeesingh told reporters that the last two months had been ’painful’ for him, referring to bitter divisions during the UNC election campaign and Panday’s statements that he would not step aside as opposition leader. ’It took a great deal of soul-searching to determine, first of all, whether the political leader can work with a leader of the Opposition who is not herself and obviously, my thinking on this is that the political leader should be the leader of the Opposition,’ Gopeesingh said. Asked why he decided to support Persad-Bissessar, Gopeesingh said: ’There is a wind of change blowing through this country that sees there is an opportunity to remove the PNM (People’s National Movement) Government and for the benefit of the people of this country. ’I see this as an opportunity for us to move cohesively, to work together so that we can remove the Government, and Mrs Persad-Bissessar obviously has been voted as the person the membership of the party believes is the person who can lead this change effort.’ Persad-Bissessar needed at least seven signatures other than hers on the letter that would be sent to President George Maxwell Richards, confirming that she now has the support of the majority of the MPs on the Opposition benches. Gopeesingh’s announcement yesterday meant Persad-Bissessar secured the required additional seven signatures. MPs also supporting Persad-Bissessar are Opposition Chief Whip Jack Warner, Mayaro MP Winston ’Gypsy’ Peters, Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma, Naparima MP Nizam Baksh, Cumuto/ Manzanilla MP Harry Partap and Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal. Upon receipt of a letter bearing all eight signatures, President Richards can revoke Panday’s appointment as opposition leader under Section 83 (4) of the Constitution, which states that ’where in the judgment of the President, the Leader of the Opposition is no longer the member of the House of Representatives best able to command the support of the majority of those members of the House of Representatives who do not support the Government, the President shall revoke the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition.’ (Trinidad Express) |
Teachers question public schools overload
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer
Educators across the island have given mixed reaction to the claim by the education ministry that the public-school sector is overstaffed by approximately 1,500 teachers .
“I am not surprised by that claim when you look at the established student-teacher ratios,” Michael Stewart, president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association told The Sunday Gleaner .
Stewart also pointed out that some graduates of teachers colleges have not been able to find jobs two years after completing their training.
However, Sharon Reid, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS), expressed surprise at the 1,500 figure, which she said appeared unrealistic.
Realistic view
“If you are going to use straight pupil-to-teacher ratio you might get that figure, but a realistic view needs to be taken, which may not bring that result,” Reid said.
Under the guidelines established by the education ministry, there should be 35 students to each teacher at the primary level; 25:1 at the secondary level, and 15:1 in sixth forms.
Using those numbers, the ministry has determined that there are too many teachers in the system.
But Reid argued that it needs deeper analysis. “I know that we have some schools in the remote areas that, even if there are two teachers, you may say it is overstaffed, but it is not practical to say that, because there needs to be a minimum number of persons to run any institution,” she said.
Reid added: “There needs to be some rationalisation because some schools are really suffering being understaffed while some schools, if they are so overstaffed, then how are they going to deal with that?” she said.
Operations crippled
The JAPSS president pointed to St Andrew Technical High School, which she leads, as a prime example of an institution where limited staff is crippling the operations.
“We have had to employ more than 20 part-time teachers who are not paid by the ministry so that our programmes could be properly administered,” she disclosed.
Stewart agreed with Reid that the deployment of teachers needs to be looked at.
“While the numbers say we are overstaffed, there are still many primary schools with one teacher having 60 children in a classroom. You have high-school classes with 45 or 50 children and not the 25 as mandated by the ministry,” Reid said.
“The ministry needs to look at how it deploys teachers because it is untenable for teachers to have so many children in one classroom,” added Reid. (Jamaica Gleaner)
Teacher overload - 1,500 extra educators in public schools
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Arthur Hall and Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Reporters
The local public-education system has an oversupply of teachers. No joke. In fact, the Ministry of Education is reporting that approximately 1,500 extra teachers are in the nation’s schools.
However, the ministry says it has no plans to immediately start dismissing teachers, despite the programme by the Bruce Golding administration to restrain its public-sector wage bill through a transformation unit, which could result in hundreds of government workers being sent home.
“Some schools have a shortage of teachers while others are oversupplied, and that is an issue we are trying to address. Using the established teacher-pupil ratio, there is an oversupply of teachers in the public-education system,” Colin Blair, director of communications at the Ministry of Education, told The Sunday Gleaner .
He said a recent audit confirmed the oversupply of teachers, despite the frequent reports, particularly at the primary level, of unhealthy teacher-pupil ratios.
Not unusual
Checks by The Sunday Gleaner revealed that some primary-school classrooms with 50 or more students are not unusual, despite the education ministry’s guideline of 35 students to one teacher at that level.
But Blair said while the 2008-2009 student-teacher ratio conducted by the education ministry showed some schools understaffed, it also showed several schools with more teachers than the established ratio.
A case in point is the Old Harbour High School in St Catherine, which the ministry has found to have an oversupply of nine teachers.
Other schools in St Catherine display a similar trend, with Waterford High having one teacher to every 17 students instead of the ministry’s guideline of one teacher to every 25 students at the secondary level.
Blair stressed that while the ministry moves to address the issue, there are no plans to deprive any teacher of his or her job.
“We are in discussions with our regional directors to deal with the problem on a timely basis,” Blair said.
“The teachers did not employ themselves and the issue will be addressed in a sensitive manner,” added Blair, as he sought to quash reports that the nine extra teachers at Old Harbour High School were on the verge of being sent home.
Basil Benjie, Jamaica Teachers’ Association regional officer with responsibility for the school, told The Sunday Gleaner that he had received reports that the extra teachers at Old Harbour High would be dismissed.
“We are aware of the ministry’s decision to cut the teaching staff at the school. This, we understand, is due primarily to the teacher-pupil ratio, which differs in institutions; however, we will be doing everything legally possible to protect the tenure of our teachers,” Benjie said.
No drastic action
According to Benjie, the education ministry had already written to the administration of the school instructing it to bring its teacher-student ratio in line.
But Blair was adamant that the ministry has no plans to take any drastic action, even as it continues its examination of the teacher-pupil ratio in schools.
The disclosure by the education ministry of an oversupply of teachers is in stark contrast to data released one year ago by the Ministry of Labour.
According to the labour ministry, an analysis of the demand for specific jobs and occupational groups for the period May 1, 2002, to June 30, 2008, listed job openings for teachers as constituting one of the leading areas of career opportunities in the market.
The labour ministry said its survey showed that teaching has been the single greatest area of labour demand in Jamaica, with advertisements for vacancies running in the hundreds each year.
At that time, Lorraine Salmon, senior labour-market analyst with the Ministry of Labour, said while some vacancies may have been for short periods, the demand for teachers has been unusually high since 2003.
The labour ministry also found vacancies for lecturers and teachers of technical subjects. (Jamaica Gleaner)
A fair day at festival
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Chessel rock took some time out to educate Ian Campbell who is visiting from England about a ÔBajan’ delicacy Ð fish cakes, which she said she has been selling each year at the Holetown Festival since its inception.
by MARLON MADDEN
TOURISTS AND LOCALS braved the scorching midday sun yesterday to witness yet another spectacle of the Holetown Festival: the 54th annual Street Fair & Parade.
Among the central features of the parade were the Vintage And Classic Cars, always a winner with car lovers; the Barbados Landship and Rose Hill Tuk Band, led by Lord High Admiral Vernon Watson; the impressive award-winning Dancin’ Africa; the George Lamming Primary School Cheerleaders; and St James Primary School six to 11-year-olds in the presentation Cinderella Fantasy: Love Conquers All.
The crowds took in to their hearts’ content the displays and performances - even wanting more.
Organiser Toni Thorne said while this year’s presentations were well received, next year’s could be expected to be bigger and better.
“It was extremely efficient. It went very well, the schools were very hands-on. We achieved the goal this year for sure. I thought we gave the audience what they were looking for, which was a variety of different things.
“So next year will be bigger, better, very creative and more exciting,” Thorne said.
Chairman of the Holetown Festival, Eon Phillips, said there was one major improvement this year, but that there were still a few challenges.
“I think we improved on the entertainment that we’ve had for the night concert. This year we’ve had an overseas guest painting a mural of the world. That would have been the major thing that we’ve done slightly different for this year. The challenge we’ve had would mainly be sponsorship because at one point we were thinking of reducing the size of the festival in terms of the number of days.
“There are only seven of us on the main committee and we’ve been doing it for a long time. We would love to get some younger people involved because most of us are getting old,” Phillips added.
Despite the challenges, he said he was pleased with the public’s response this year.
“Judging from the parade, [the turnout] seemed to be more than last year’s.
“I think the fact that we had to turn back stall owners this year shows that people are still very much interested in what we do. Our concept is to have a family festival . . . and that is why we keep out hard liquor, because we feel that the children should be able to come relax and enjoy themselves,” Phillips said.
“It cost over $100 000 to put the whole thing together; but we’ve been able to keep it going . . . . In terms of expanding, I dont think we would want to. We would look to improve the quality of what we put together,” he said.