RICE AND PEAS; SWEET POTATO PIE
SCALLOPED POTATOES; FRIED PLANTAIN
BBQ SPARERIBS; BBQ PIG TAIL
BBQ CHICKEN; BAKED PORK
BAKED SNAPPER; BAKED STEAK FISH
LAMB STEW; CURRIED FISH GRAVY
STEAMED VEGETABLES; TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW
Health Minister Julius Timothy said the Government of Dominica is committed to ensuring further improvements is made to the Mental Health Programme.
Timothy was addressing the official contract-signing ceremony for the construction of a building to accommodate a psychodrama, psychotherapy and occupational therapy activities at the Princess Margret Hospital on Friday morning.
The project, which is costing some US$94,450, is being funded by the Government of Japan.
“Gone are the days when mental health was practiced within the context of institutionalization, alienation and discrimination. Through public health education, our society is gaining greater incite in the cause and treatment of mental illness. Hence more people are showing a greater level of respect to persons who suffer from mental illness,” he added.
Timothy said mental health is a priority area for the Ministry of Health.
“Just last year, the Ministry of Health was able to complete a process that saw the formulation of the first Mental Health Policy. The final draft is being reviewed to make it a truly people’s Mental Health Policy in Dominica, and will shortly be submitted to Cabinet,” he said.
According to Timothy, Government is fully committed to reorganizing the Mental Health Program.
He said mental health is now being seen as the area of health that concerns everyone in the population and government is committed at ensuring that the mental health services move to the next level with the other areas of the health sector.
He noted that the new project is testimony of the government’s belief that those who are mentally ill must be rehabilitated for optimum functionality in the society.
“While pharmacological treatment is necessary, efforts at cognitive restructuring and social integration is paramount to the patient well being,” Timothy said.
Project Coordinator Dave Laudat, in delivering remarks at the ceremony, noted that the project will concentrate on the area of treatment.
“The building will facilitate activities such as music, dance, drama, individual and group counseling, art, craft, cooking, baking, sports and remedial education,” he said.
The Counselor of the Embassy of Japan in Trinidad of Dominica Kiyoshi Takeuchi signed on behalf of his government.
He said both governments will work together to ensure the completion of the project in an opportune time.
The project also allows for the purchase of a cooking stove and refrigeration, a therapist office, storage room and other area. (Dominica News)
- DNO Correspondent
The use of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in Dominican schools will be expanded with the implementation of a new project, ‘Digital Classroom Live Portal’.
The Ministry of Education on Friday launched the project at the Public Service Training Centre, in partnership with the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL).
The pilot project, funded by the World Bank, will first be developed in secondary schools on the island, and education officials say it is intended to advance teaching and learning in a technologically advancing world.
In his first speech as Minister for Information and Telecommunication, Ambrose George told those gathered for the launch of the project, government is moving to great heights to facilitate ICT in Dominica in the 21st century.
“As a result of the recent upgrades at over 19 computer labs in schools across Dominica, over 450 computers, printers, servers have been deployed. This has created the right environment for supporting the proposed project. Many schools have been networked and will soon contain servers which could be allowed to catch a certain number of digital lessons which can then be easily streamed into the classroom, using a laptop, wireless connection, and a projector,” George said.
Minister for Education Petter St. Jean stated the use of foreign expertise to enhance the school’s productivity will become something of the past, with implementation of the new project.
“No longer will we be dependent on external expertise for improving our practices …We can now benefit from the demonstrations of examples from within our shores and our very own education system. Through this valuable project, our teachers are expected to enhance their ability to manage and manipulate the power of online communication and sharing, towards the ultimate attainment of the delivery of quality education to every student,” St. Jean stated.
The project is intended to establish online video and multimedia communication between secondary schools, to encourage knowledge sharing, and to familiarize secondary school students with using digital media for learning.
It will be completed within seven months. (Dominica News)
- DNO Correspondent
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee says noise nuisance laws have been and are continually enforced.
He made this disclosure on Thursday in a written response to a question posed in the National Assembly by PNCR-1G MP Dr John Austin about specific policing action that has been taken or proposed as regards noise nuisance in public/private vehicles, residential premises as well as nightclubs or entertainment spots. Rohee said that there have been several cases where noise is emitted by private transport vehicles. He said this can only occur where there is an annoyance to some persons when the vehicle is stationary. Rohee stated that actions have been taken to address the issue, while noting that there is a popular night spot in the city where persons usually park their vehicles, open the trunk and play loud music.
As regards noise nuisance by public transport vehicles, Rohee stated that statistical figures indicate that some 52 persons have been charged between June and December 2009, while 71 persons have been charged between January and March this year. Some 442 cases are pending for 2009, while 192 such cases are pending for 2010. Some 757 cases have been reported to date.
As regards noise nuisance reports for residences and nightclub/entertainment spots during 2009/2010, some 194 cases, including 43 convictions, have been reported for the former, while in the case of the latter there have been six reports that have seen five convictions. (Stabroek News)
Louis B Homer South Bureau
Bishop Rawle Douglin has served his God and the Anglican Church for 50 years.
In that time, he has seen the world transformed, conservatism stepping aside for liberal beliefs, and right and wrong no longer as clear as black and white - and the Anglican Church allowing the ordination of gay clergy.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the issue was quietly debated and Douglin stands firm on his position - he is not in favour of gay priests in the Anglican Church.
’I share the view of the House of Bishops in the Caribbean, in which we have stated very clearly that we abide by the Biblical stance on that matter,’ he said in an interview.
This is also his personal view on the subject. ’Yes, I am against gay priests serving in the Diocese,’ he said when the question was put to him.
Pilgramage: Bishop Rawle Douglin
This month, Douglin, now designated an Assistant Bishop, would have served the Trinidad and Tobago Anglican Diocese as a priest for 50 years. He was ordained as a priest on March 13, 1960 at a morning service at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity Port of Spain presided over by Lord Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago, the Right Reverend Frank Noel Chamberlain.
He was named head of the Anglican Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago in 1992. He retired in 2000 from the posting.
Now 77, Douglin, to celebrate his spiritual journey as a priest, will be conducting a pilgrimage to all the parishes he served over the years, until his appointment as Dean of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, and later as Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago.
Reflecting on his five decades of service, Bishop Douglin said he was surprised to be appointed to the post.
’I accepted it very humbly and was happy to be given the opportunity to serve in such a high office. In spite of this I have always considered myself firstly as a priest,’ he said.
He said he saw himself as a servant of the church and so was always willing to serve in any position he was appointed to.
’Even as a Bishop I considered myself to be a priest,’ he said.
He is the current minister at St Peters Church, Pointe-a-Pierre, administering to a small congregation.
’It is a small parish but in the sight of the Lord, small is beautiful,’ he said.
Douglin is also one of two former Diocesan Bishops who were appointed Assistant Bishop by Bishop Calvin Best. The other is Bishop Clive Abdulah.
They assist the Bishop with confirmation and consecration of churches.
He is also a member of the House of Bishops of the West Indies, a position which allows him to be a part of the overall church administration.
Totally committed to the idea of ecumenism, Douglin said the formation of the Council of Christian churches and later the Inter-Religious Organisation has given the Church the opportunity to speak with one voice on issues affecting the country.
He said he was happy to be a part of both organisations during their early formation.
Regarding concerns about the reduction in the membership of the church, Douglin said the decrease has affected nearly all churches.
’As for the Anglican Church, we are currently carrying out investigations into the reasons. It is a fairly serious matter for the nation,’ he said, sending out a special plea that the people of T&T ’continue to reach out to your brothers and neighbours, for the love of God.’
As for the highlights during his life as a priest, Douglas responded:
’Everyday was a highlight, and this is so once you are doing the work of God.’ (Trinidad Express)
Kim Boodram
The man who famously blanked Prime Minister Patrick Manning during a People’s National Movement (PNM) walkabout last Monday said yesterday that he is a resident of Trinidad and Tobago and not an annual visitor, as the PM has suggested.
Percy Villafana has become a bit of a celebrity after his actions outside his home on Real Street, San Juan, when he refused to allow Manning to step through his ’gap’ and greet the relatives therein.
Manning was blocked at the gate where Villafana said, ’You are not welcome here’, while holding his forearms in the shape of a cross.
In Parliament on Friday, Manning claimed that Villafana was in a fact a Canadian resident who visits Trinidad and Tobago during the winter season.
Villafana, who said he once supported the PNM as a young man, finds it mostly amusing but slightly disturbing that the PM had him checked out after the incident.
BLANKED THE PM: Percy Villafana at his home in Real Street, San Juan, yesterday. -Photo: CURTIS CHASE
And he stands by his status as a ’Trini’.
’I was born right here, on this spot, grew up here and I live here,’ he said.
’I am a proud father of four with five grandchildren and all my children live in various parts of Canada-including Winnipeg-so I am always visiting them. I travel a lot, as is my right.’
Manning made the allegations on Friday after being heckled about the incident by Oropouche East MP, Roodal Moonilal.
Retrieving a slip of paper from his back pocket, Manning announced: ’It turns out, Madam Deputy Speaker, that the 81-year-old gentleman is a resident of Winnipeg, Canada.’
Chided by Moonilal for taking the time to stake out the man’s business, Manning replied, ’I just have to use the machinery of the People’s National Movement.’
Relaxing on his breezy porch yesterday, in between sips of cold mauby, Villafana calmly stated that if last Monday was to repeat itself, he would still ’brace’ the PM.
The 81-year-old widower, a former Co-operative Development Officer with the Ministry of Agriculture, is not inclined to hide his thoughts or feelings on the present government.
Re-enacting the form of the cross with his arms, Villafana said: ’That sign is to ward off evil.’
But seriously, Villafana did something that even Manning’s most ardent detractors might shy away from were they to meet the PM in person. Why?
’A $2 million flag? You’ve got to be joking,’ Villafana said quietly.
’Not while the Croisee is so filthy and at any given time there are four or five homeless people sleeping in the bus shed. Not while the San Juan River is filled with filth.
’And have you seen the hospitals? A disgrace. The windows are thick with the mess from birds and dust. The facilities are hideous. Terrible. People are suffering. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Too many people are not brave enough to do things like that.’
The pensioner said he has gotten nothing but positive feedback on his actions from residents in the area, a sign that the citizenry is displeased even in PNM strongholds.
Villafana said he was also irked by a remark made by a member of Manning’s security detail immediately after the incident.
’One of his security men told me that there was one thing I ’did wrong’,’ said Villafana, who is still collecting ’fatigue’ from people in the area over the incident.
’I asked him what that was and he said, ’You touched the Prime Minister’. Excuse me? Who the hell is Patrick Manning? If Jesus Christ was walking down this street and people touched Him as He passed, He would be so pleased. So who is Manning?’
Villafana has said, however, that if the PM wishes to sit down with him for a chat, he is more than welcome.
’Sure, if he wants to come here and ask me a few questions, I would certainly do it. I would tell him everything I said here today about why I did what I did on Monday,’ he said. (Trinidad Express)
Carolyn Kissoon and Richard Charan
CANCER-stricken Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls said yesterday he was hiding from no one and was in the process of settling his medical bill with the William Osler Health Centre in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
A feeble looking McNicolls was responding to claims he was being sought by the facility to pay an outstanding bill of Can$23,988.19 (TT$141,050.55).
He said the payment issue was a mix-up between himself and his employers, the Judiciary, which was footing the bill.
In the first public disclosure about his illness, McNicolls smiled and said, ’I am fighting and I have God on my side.’
He has been on leave since last December, travelling frequently out of Trinidad to be treated for leukemia.
‘I have god on my side’: Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls on his way to church yesterday. -Photo: DAVE PERSAD
The Express reported yesterday that the Canadian health facility had treated the Chief Magistrate, with a a specialised drug, Rituximab, last month and that despite efforts to have him settle the bill, it remained outstanding.
McNicolls was about to leave his Torrib Trace, New Grant, home to attend service at the nearby Seventh Day Adventist Church when the Sunday Express met him yesterday.
Holding a Bible in his hands, he said: ’The story has already been published, what can I say now? You should have waited for a response from me. But I am not running away from anything. Am I not free to travel and return home between treatment?’
McNicolls said the Judiciary had agreed to pay for his treatment.
’I would not run from Canada for a couple thousand dollars. I thought they had paid the health facility. But the cheque was made out to me and I had to go and cash it and then forward the payment,’ he said.
McNicolls has received the support of president of the Magistrates’ Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Ramraj Harripersad, who said while he hardly knew the details of what the Chief Magistrate was suffering from, he knew it was serious and that he was too weakened to return to work.
Senior Magistrate Harripersad said:
’We wish him the best. He has been a very good Chief Magistrate, to me, and my colleagues and I hope he can recover and return.’
Harripersad said he knew of McNicolls’ strong faith.
’’I know him as a strong member of his faith and I have been to one or two of his prayer sessions. So everything rests squarely on the Lord’.
Last February, the Privy Council ruled that McNicolls should answer two disciplinary charges levelled by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission over his failure to testify against former chief justice Satnarine Sharma, who was charged, based on McNicolls’ evidence, with perverting the course of public justice.
Sources say the charges will not be pursued against McNicolls because of his illness, and he will remain on leave until his retirement in eight months’ time at the age of 55. (Trinidad Express)
Sharon Lowe is seen here in November 2005 matching fabrics for drapes.
Interior decorator Sharon Lowe at work. - File
Avia Collinder, Business Reporter
Sharon Lowe has operated an interior decoration business for eight years. For a time, business was good, but then 2008 happened. Jamaica was in full-blown recession.
Before that, the investment schemes that were paying out very attractive returns - providing many Jamaicans with money to burn - began to wobble, then topple.
When the monies were flowing, Jamaicans bought cars and houses. And those who bought or built homes needed the services of decorators and the products they sold.
But then Cash Plus crashed. Other schemes would follow.
Lowe’s business, Sharon’s Interior Décor, started to suffer and then the inevitable: she had to downsize. But, it also forced her to seek new opportunities.
Over the past two years, she has cut staff, gone back to school to learn new skills, and has also teamed up with other decorators, sharing jobs and income.
Now involved in event decoration, floral arrangements and wedding planning, she also found work for house painters, mural painters and other tradesmen in the decorating field, charging a finder’s fee for doing so.
It was in October 2008, she said, that things began to slow down, when Jamaicans had started to feel the effects of a financial crisis that began on Wall Street, but whose aftershocks shook the world.
“It was coming on to Christmas and I found that many of my clients who would be preparing for Christmas were not able to or had no interest in doing so,” Lowe told Sunday Business.
The time since then has been a ‘tamarind season’ for the businesswoman whose home-decorating services were provided in Kingston.
“I had a constant flow of clients who wanted to redo their homes, with many wanting new drapes. There were also returning residents coming back home and expatriates wanting a beautiful look for their homes. In the earlier part of 2008 I had as many as six to eight new clients each month,” said Lowe.
She entered the field of interior decorating accidentally, she says, but soon it was to become an income earner great enough to meet her financial needs, with enough left over for savings.
First involved in fashion designing as a career, she left this field behind for sales after relocating from Montego Bay to live in St Andrew in 1997.
A graduate of the Roseanne School of Fashion in Montego Bay, she considered it easier to sell for established companies in Kingston and St Andrew than to make a name for herself in clothing.
But, one Christmas, soon after arriving in St Andrew, Lowe recalls, she needed some extra cash and, flipping through a JC Penny’s catalogue, she saw bathroom sets, which she knew she could easily do.
“I did a few and photographed them, creating a portfolio, which I took to banks and businessplaces. People placed orders. They went like hot bread.”
The rest, she said, was history. Between 2001 and 2003, she attended the Garmex Heart Academy, completing drapery and interior decorating programmes.
Later, as a full-blown decorator, the average job for Lowe involved colour and design consultations, painting walls, drapery construction and installations and making floor plans.
In 2008, she said, “we were also breaking into wall techniques, with marble finishes and other effects. That was really taking off.”
Drapery at this time was also doing well, with one panel selling easily for $1,500. “An ordinary window took five panels and the average house had 10 to 15 windows. Most of my income was from drapes.”
Lowe was also involved with hotels on a major scale, receiving 20 per cent of her annual income from this source of demand for comforters and drapes.
But, the recession hit in December 2008.
“Usually, for me, the Christmas season starts from October with LP Azar’s big sale. At that time, there is additional work, with lots of subcontracting.” But, as Christmas came, instead of taking on more help, Lowe was forced to cut workers, a measure which grew in 2009 to 80 per cent of her contracted staff.
In that December, sales fell to less than 50 per cent of what it had been the year before. Workers cut included machine operators and hand workers. Painters and upholsterers who were subcontractors did not meet the same fate, as demand in their area was more resilient.
“I went out and sourced work for upholstering, paint jobs and murals and charged a finder’s fee. It was another survival strategy. It was a $10,000 here and another there. It was all about surviving,” she said.
“It was like being in the army and getting a surprise attack. I had to retreat and restrategise.”
In the first quarter of 2009, Lowe vacated rented property used for production after the rent was raised for the third time in a 12-month period. She closed down operations on Red Hills Boulevard and moved production to home on Cunningham Avenue.
The decorator also had to cut back on the charge for each panel of drapery, making deep discounts especially for the hotels.
“If you were planning to do a job and charging $1,500 per panel, often after delivering the proposal it would drop to $500 per panel. I had to because there were other proposals at that price. I had to do that in order to maintain contracts.”
Change in the economy
She admits that at first she “eased off the hotel projects” as “$500 was something I would never work for”, but as the year progressed with little change in the economy, she took the money and teamed up with other decorators as well to complete large contracts.
“We share. We now do not turn down any job. We take it and we work together. A lot of subcontracting went on in 2009.”
According to Lowe, while there were some companies which did not want to share, “some of my competitors decided to pool with me and get the job done. It was about surviving. Everyone got some money”. And, while the cost of materials increased, she was able to pass this on to clients who, as a rule, paid for material costs and would decide what price fabrics to use.
“People were looking for cheaper fabric. They cut back. They were also looking for less elaborate designs.”
Lowe states, “clients were actually telling you how much they were willing to pay and you had to take it or leave it because there was always someone willing to do it for less.”
The decorator claims that there are about 12 big interior decorators in Kingston and 20 nationwide. She says none have wound up their businesses, but some have closed shops and scaled down operations, while others have moved to cheaper locations, as cost-saving measures.
Lowe said she had to drop labour charges on projects, working instead with the client’s budget.
“You were not able to take a stand on costs, because if you did, you would lose. At the same time, you still need to be building your clientele. When all of this is over, you will need them.”
The decorator is optimistic that her trade will see a recovery in time.
“Jamaicans no longer decorate just at Christmas. There are many gated communities with occupants who are constantly choosing colours, furnishings and hanging drapes.”(Jamaica Gleaner)
avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com
Avia Collinder, Business Reporter
The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) allows a very narrow choice of credit cards
for bill payments online - Visa and MasterCard
.
But now, the utility company has gone a step further in the name of security, insisting that customers must register their cards - including the sensitive code unique to each user - on the JPS website to continue utilising the tele-payment service.
The growing sophistication of commerce has thrown up a new area of worry at the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC), which says there is no designated body under the Electronic Transaction Act to police companies that collect sensitive client information electronically.
So, while the JPS is assuring the public that their credit-card details will be safe because of the firewalls it has thrown up around the data, the CAC says if its system - or any other merchant’s - were to be breached, there is no entity that would hold the power provider to account.
“We are not sure who is doing monitoring to ensure they follow internal security rules
“There is no independent body which checks the security of these organisations. Supervision is not done generally.”
The issue has been brought into sharp focus, with one of Jamaica’s largest banks encouraging merchants to put in place systems to register customers who make electronic payments using credit cards.
The JPS implemented its system in October 2009 at the urging of Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica (BNS). The bank, however, has not said whether others have followed suit.
Omar Ellis, product manager for the electronic commercial services, retail and electronic banking unit, tells Sunday Business that BNS recommends registration to its merchants as “a fraud-mitigation tool”, and that the process does require disclosure of the card-verification value, or CVV number, as a secondary security layer, in addition to card number and expiry date.
Approximately 1.5 per cent of JPS customers, covering some 8,760 accounts, currently use electronic channels to pay their light bills, the utility company said.
Audrey Williams, communications officer at the JPS, said the company introduced registration because of high levels of fraud detected through the online payment system, whereby cloned or stolen cards were being used to pay multiple bills for some families.
Incidents of fraud in 2009 were found to have doubled that of 2008, the utility company said, but did not quantify the amount in dollar terms. The switch to registration was positioned as taking “steps to protect both the interests of its customers and the company”.
Williams, who insists that the JPS asks for no more data than is absolutely required, says the information is encrypted and protected according to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) guidelines.
“Neither credit-card numbers nor CVV data are stored to facilitate registration,” she said.
Instead, “Customers are recognised by a non-reversible ‘hash’ on card data, which is calculated each time they present the card for use to JPS.”
Williams said the practice of credit-card registration is widespread and operates successfully in many countries.
Nascent electronics law
Jamaica, however, is operating under a nascent electronics law that has not been tested for consumer protection, though Andrew Evelyn, the CAC’s information systems manager, says that under the new law, companies “are obliged to ensure that consumer data is encrypted”.
Merchants are not independently monitored under the eletronics transactions law, which took effect April 2, 2007, but Evelyn says there may be other recourse for security breaches; that consumers are protected by the card issuers refund policy.
“If an unauthorised transaction occurs on the card, then the cardholder can make a claim on the bank. Usually, they get a refund,” he said.
He adds: “JPS is a reputable organisation and as a service supplier of a major utility, they should ensure that the customers’ data is kept secured.”
National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Jamaica has its own security measures, but it does not seem to go as far as BNS. The two banks are the largest in Jamaica, together accounting for 70 per cent of a $583.5 billion industry valued by assets.
NCB has implemented its own registration process, but its added layer of security does not require disclosure of sensitive CVV data to merchants.
“NCB does not allow its merchants using interactive voice response or e-commerce platforms the option of storing this sensitive data,” said Claudette Rodriguez, assistant general manager of the card services and e-channels unit.
Rodriguez said NCB prided itself on complying with the PCIDSS.
“These standards dictate that sensitive card-authentication data, such as the card security code, not be stored due to the risk of data theft by way of hacking or other methods,” the card services manager said.
The bank claims its own hybrid registration process has reduced card fraud to zero.
The process requires
Only when this value or code is inputted successfully on the merchant’s website is the cardholder allowed to use the card to carry out the transaction.(Jamaica Gleaner)
avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com
