CHICKEN FRIED RICE; RICE AND PEAS
MACARONI PIE; CORNMEAL COU COU
BATTERED POTATOES; BBQ SPARERIBS;
BBQ PIG TAIL; BAKED CHICKEN;
BAKED PORK; FRIED SNAPPER
FRIED STEAK FISH; GRILLED STEAK FISH
CREOLE FLYING FISH; LAMB STEW
STEAMED VEGETABLES; TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW
CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — The Nevis Sea Island Cotton Producers Co-operative (NESICOPS) received US$97,046. from the Japan Grant Assistance for Grass Roots Human Security last week, for the establishment of a proper irrigation system for Sea Island Cotton production.
The cheque was presented to the Co-operative’s President Winston Pinney by Counsel and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Trinidad and Tobago Kiyoshi Kateuchi at a signing ceremony to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Conference Room at Prospect. Minister of Agriculture in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Robelto Hector was present at the ceremony and in remarks thanked the Government of Japan for its invaluable assistance to the cotton farmers of Nevis. “I want to thank you at this time when farmers find it a difficult time in attracting loan funds, a time when climate change, global warming are some things that we have to grapple with…we have had a long and established relationship with the Japanese Government and one that I would dare say we would continue,” he said. Hector also underscored the significance of cotton as an important foreign exchange earner for the island. “The issue of cotton production must always be looked along the same lines as we speak of foreign exchange and as a small country, we want to make sure that we produce something that can help with our balance of trade,” he said. The Minister praised the cotton farmers for their decision to become a registered cooperative society and urged other groups whose focuses was also on agricultural production to do the same. He reminded them that, that type of organisation was one avenue through which Nevis had developed over the years. Hector also told the Department of Agriculture officials that he held them responsible for the progress on the grant fund. “I am not satisfied until I see cotton in St Kitts and I want you to find strategic means to get cotton planted in St Kitts. “I would say to you that when we would have done that, I would feel that we would have taken that other important stride in the vision and direction of cotton production,” he said. Meantime, Kateuchi noted that the Grant Assistance for Human Security Project programme was designed to assist nongovernmental organisations such as Sea Island Cotton Producers Cooperative Society Limited with development type projects. The programme’s focus, he said, was on deficiencies and needs in the area of human security, an area in which the Government of Japan had placed high regard to address worldwide. “This grant will lend support to the … programme of Sea Island Cotton Producers Cooperative Society Limited as it seeks to improve the production of Sea Island cotton and to increase the financial status of the cotton growers… “I also think that the implementation of this project will contribute significantly to improve the Nevis economy,” he said. The Japan Government Official regarded the cooperation between his country and Nevis as necessary given the number of global issues faced in today’s world among them climate change and the economic down turn. “With regard to climate change, my country understands the urgency with which this issue must be addressed by each country. As such Japan has pledged to reduce its emissions by 25 percent by 2020 and it is considering including its financial and technical assistance to European countries… “I hope that Japan and St Kitts and Nevis will share a greater responsibility in coping with climate change in the future both laterally and bilaterally,” he said. Kateuchi reminded that St Kitts and Nevis had shared friendly relations and the ceremony showed how bilateral relations were built not only through intergovernmental interaction but also through cooperative efforts on a community based grass roots level. (Caribnet) |
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Howard Chin
Monday, April 05, 2010
Remember Sisyphus of Greek mythology? His task in Hades being to forever push a rock uphill that immediately rolled downhill again. His name became associated with the embodiment of endless, futile tasks.
I think the task of the National Water Commission has many similarities to Sisyphus’. In many places the NWC pushes (pumps) water uphill, 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 1/4 days per year with electricity from the Jamaica Public Service Company generated by expensive imported oil.
A thankless task. Cursed when it does not reach the parched customer. Bullied by politicians into adding more pumped water supply systems to supply their constituents. Pumping water through old pipes, having more in common with sieves. Having pipes being endlessly bored into by thieves who extract the treated water forcing them to ask for rate increases not likely to be granted, and so on, endlessly.
This pushing of water uphill a couple of years ago reportedly cost roughly $3 billion per year (or $260 million per month). The NWC’s Charles Buchanan has said the appropriate things: that they’re trying to store water high up on slopes, tried to get discounts from JPSCo, etc.
Now, think about it this way, the rain falls, it runs downhill, it is collected, treated and pushed back uphill: neat, eh? NWC pumps multi-multi-megatons of water uphill every day.
There is a thing called “least cost expansion”. This is what is often used to decide what to install next. As it says, at the least (supposedly overall) cost. In the long run, and water systems are generally really long-term things, what is prudent or wise to do, is not necessarily what is going to fit into the least overall cost.
We should consider the wider picture, as well as the local picture.
The global picture says oil is becoming more and more expensive. Sure there will be a few ups and downs, but the price of oil will generally increase, sometimes really fast as we have seen in the past years. Who would have planned for more than a US$100 per barrel price for oil a few years ago? Now, it’s been there, and it will go there again and stay. It also makes global warming worse. Plans to burn coal to make cheaper electricity in the short term will make things even worse. The international oil company, Total, has said that without considerable investment now, oil shortages will occur by 2015 and the price of oil may again return to the US$100/barrel (BBC, September 20, 2009).
Consider this, NWC is JPSCo’s largest single customer, and, within the NWC, Manchester uses the most as a region. Let’s look a little closer at the Mandeville area. It’s on top of a high plateau, and when it rains heavily, there’s flooding. There are sinkholes on the plateau where water drains away. Where does Mandeville get its water from? The wells at Pepper and Porus at the foot of the plateau. Then, it’s pushed up the hill with electrical pumps.
So, where does the water at the foot of the plateau come from? Since it’s fresh water, I know it’s not coming from the lowlands or sea to the south. Could it be percolating through the rocks and running down the slopes into the aquifer for the NWC to pump back uphill? Holy Sisyphus!
Let’s step back a moment and consider a few obvious things staring us in the face. Talk about missing the obvious. Not seeing the forest for the trees.
* It rains in Manchester much like the rest of Jamaica.
* The water that’s being pumped uphill is coming out of aquifers at the bottom of the Manchester plateau, and there are sinkholes on top. Odd, isn’t it?
* It’s hard and expensive to store electricity, but it’s easy to store water.
* Bauxite has been dug out of open pit mines on the plateau, and there are still big holes in the ground there.
* The Wigton Wind Farm, a little to the southwest with its two dozen windmills making electricity, is just around the corner.
* Jamaica has a lot of sunshine.
* Water on top of a hill has more energy than water at the bottom.
Wait a minute! Can all of these things be put together to form some kind of solution?
What could we do to get water to the people on the plateau?
First, we must get away from the narrow foci typical of institutions and governments. NWC is concerned with water, and complains about the cost of electricity. JPSCo is concerned with electricity and complains about the cost of oil. The bauxite/alumina companies are concerned about, what else? Bauxite. The government is weeping and wailing about finding the foreign exchange to pay Jamaica’s oil bill.
Let’s try this
First, grab the water before it falls to the bottom of the hill, store it - you’ve got some big holes in the ground left over from the mining, maybe you should make some reservoirs out of them by lining them - treat it, pump it a wee bit and drink it. Simple? Eh?
If you’re still short, pump the shortfall from the same old places, Porus and Pepper.
Now, where on earth are you going to get the electricity to run the pumps and other systems you still have to use, and not mess up the Earth?
How about windmills or photovoltaic panels to make electricity? There are the usual problems; no wind or low wind, and cloudy days when photovoltaic panels won’t make electricity; and of course, it’s prohibitively expensive to store electricity. However, you can store water (interesting thought).
So what to do?
If you were to do the following, it might be a good long-term solution, but probably not a “least-cost” solution. Shut your eyes and stick your hand deep into your pockets. It’s going to cost a bit.
Remember the new lot of reservoirs on the plateau we just made by using the mined-out bauxite pits. Make sure there’s enough storage to keep you satisfied for a few days. Say, five days. Install some more pumping capacity to be able to pump more than the entire water demand for a day in the daytime (you’ll see why shortly).
Install enough additional windmills to produce enough power at the moderately low wind speeds of the slowest time of year to supply all of your electrical needs throughout most of the year. Sell the excess produced to the grid.
Install enough photovoltaic panels to be able to pump more than the entire water demand for a day in the daytime when the sunlight is bright enough.
When the wind is good, sell the excess wind-generated electricity to the grid, and all of the electricity from the photovoltaic systems, and build up a reserve buffer of water in the reservoirs. Build up a money reserve as well to maintain and operate the systems, and put away some for windless, cloudy days.
When the wind is poor, but it’s sunny, use the electricity from the photovoltaic systems to do the same and sell the little you get from the windmills to the grid and put away some for windless, cloudy days.
For the few times when there are windless, cloudy days, use whatever energy you can generate to move the reserves from the reservoirs, and if there is the unlikely situation when there is an extended period (heaven forbid) of no wind or sun, and you have run down your reservoirs, buy some power from the grid with your money reserves.
Oh, by the way, this reduces the amount of oil we have to import. Maybe we could even get some carbon credits which some people think are like money in the bank. Other people think the oil supply has peaked and is now in decline, and that as a consequence the cost per barrel of oil is only going to increase as time goes by.
Can we afford this? Can we not afford to do something like this? Do it gradually? Check it out! It might work, just like the Air Jamaica synthesis printed in the Observer newspaper on Ash Wednesday might.
Maybe you could think of it as a vaccination against oil. It’s really going to hurt now, but, you’ll be immune to oil (prices) later.
Howard Chin is a member of the Jamaica Institution of Engineers. (Jamaica Observer)
hmc14@cwjamaica.com
It was a fun-filled affair for family and friends who turned out to enjoy Bacchanal Jamaica’s Beach J’Ouvert.
This patron was quite fashionable at Bacchanal Jamaica’s Beach J’Ouvert.
Patrons in a mad rush to get some ‘paint action’ at BeachJ’Ouvert, held at James Bond Beach, Orocabessa, St Mary, on Saturday. - Photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
It was a fun-filled affair for family and friends who turned out to enjoy Bacchanal Jamaica’s Beach J’Ouvert.
These beautiful femmes took time out to strike a sexy pose at Beach J’Ouvert.
This patron was in a rather happy mood after partying at Beach J’Ouvert on Saturday.
Ding Dong performing at Beach J’Ouvert.
Bunji Garlin and Fay-Ann Lyons performing at Beach J’Ouvert.
Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter
Paint, paint and more paint was certainly the highlight of Beach J’Ouvert, which was held at James Bond Beach on Saturday.
As it neared 5 p.m., the selector announced that ‘Flight 69′ would be coming with paint. He advised those who wanted to be painted to go in one direction and those who didn’t, to run the other way.
Soon after, most people were running around with cups filled with red and green paint. Bodies were covered with paint, leaving the eyes barely visible. Throughout, people were still running and dancing like children on a playground.
One male patron was seen walking around with a big, empty, colourful bucket on his head, pretending that he was throwing paint on people. At the sight of the bucket, he had people running, as they thought he was going to cover them in the red and green liquid. And like the patrons in the ‘no-paint zone’, they were spared. But that was not the case for a lonely dog that roamed the venue with yellowish paint on its back. The sight of this victimised dog provided much laughter for patrons.
But it seems there were also criminal elements in the midst of the excitement, as three policemen were seen escorting a man in handcuffs through the party.
Nonetheless, patrons continued to dance in the centre of the venue in their red, green, yellow, orange and pink thatch hats. It was almost like heaven for some men, as they got the opportunity to dance with some women without much frowning. Jumping on one leg at a time, they ‘palanced’ for most of the evening. Red Bull Fever was also well received.
After 6 p.m. there was a very short performance by Dr Evil, who performed songs like Tuck In Yuh Belly. There was also more dancehall from Ding Dong and his Ravers Clavers army who had the soca crowd doing the Bad Man Forward dance move. They did the Summer Swing to Holiday while Bravo made a very loud and annoying bird sound in the background. Announcing that this was his first J’Ouvert, Ding Dong asked people to paint him and some of the Ravers, which they did. Richie Loops also did an a capella version of My Cup.
Hedonistic fun
When they left the stage, the selector played soca songs like Bacchanal, Palancing and Not Going Home. It seems this provided more entertainment than the dancehall addition, as patrons continued to jump, gyrate and practise being acrobats, as they danced randomly with each other in a hedonistic way.
Eventually, Fay-Ann Lyons and her husband, Bunji Garlin, took the stage to create ‘fire’. She did Heavy T Bumpa and he did Party Animal. They alternated and dropped very fast rhymes. Although they were really good performers, it seemed as if some members of the crowd suffered from the ‘unknown song syndrome’, as they were not singing along or dancing much.
They, however, followed commands to bounce somebody and to run to the back and front of the venue. After about an hour on stage, Lyons left saying it was a “great show, no fuss, no fight”.
With an hour left before the scheduled 10 p.m. end to the event, people continued to revel in the music, many of them intoxicated. They were very responsive to the soca songs but technical difficulties caused the music to stop; and every time the music stopped, some people in the crowd shouted “refund”, but they continued to dance when they heard songs like Saluma and Turn It Up. (Jamaica Gleaner)
In this September 15, 2009 photo, financier R. Allen Stanford steps off a prison transport bus at the federal courthouse for a hearing in Houston. Stanford was indicted on charges he ran a US$7-billion Ponzi scheme, which he denies. - File
ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):
Antigua’s Governor General Dame Louise Lake-Tack has signed the order revoking the knighthood of alleged fraudster R. Allen Stanford.
Attorney General Justin Simon confirmed the move, adding that notice of the revocation would be forwarded to Stanford next week. He explained that this must be done since the law prescribes that Stanford must return the insignia.
Stanford was knighted on the recommendation of the main opposition Antigua Labour Party in 2006 during Antigua and Barbuda’s Silver Jubilee Independence celebrations.
Moves to strip Stanford of the knighthood began last year, months after he was charged by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission of perpetrating a US$7-billion Ponzi scheme that bilked unsuspecting investors.
Stanford, who is in jail in the US awaiting trial, has denied any wrongdoing.
He had created a banking empire and increased his popularity in recent years through multimillion-dollar cricket competitions which earned sportsmen unprecedented pay cheques. (Jamaica Gleaner)
Policemen from the Marine Police Division heading out to Bushy Cay to help with recovery operations yesterday.
David Richards and his wife
Kimberly Richards appears lost in thought as she gazes out to sea at the Marine Police Newport East headquarters yesterday. Her father, David Richards, was one of the victims of this weekend’s boat tragedy in Bushy Cay, off the coast of Port Royal. - Photos by Rudolph Brown/Photographer
Policemen from the Marine Police Division heading out to Bushy Cay to help with recovery operations yesterday.
Kimberly Richards is in despair, even as she tries to console her mother, whose husband, David Richards, died in Saturday’s boat accident.
Kimberly Richards is in despair, even as she tries to console her mother, whose husband, David Richards, died in Saturday’s boat accident.
Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer
Different accounts are emerging about what took place on the ill-fated boat ride that left two people dead on the weekend.
While the captain of the boat is claiming that it “tilted over” when a sudden wave caused some people to panic, police sources say the vessel was overcrowded.
One police officer who was part of the initial rescue operation said at least two dozen people had been on-board the 14-foot boat.
“We took 15 to the hospital - nine adults and six children - and there was another vessel in the area assisting people who were in the water,” the officer said.
According to the official police report, 22 people were injured in what started out as a fun-filled Easter weekend boat ride.
The two victims have been identified as Kereen Nelson-Noyan and David Richards, both of Goffe Terrace in Cockburn Gardens, Kingston.
The captain of the boat, who declined to reveal his name to The Gleaner, was one of four persons who gave statements to detectives at the Marine Police’s Newport East headquarters yesterday.
Police reports state that the boat capsized at Bushy Cay, off the coast of Port Royal, at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday.
The captain told The Gleaner that his sister and her husband asked to be taken back to the mainland because they had things to do at home.
On hearing this, he said several people asked if they could ride along to another section of the cay to continue swimming.
He said the waves were calm but, just as they set sail, “outta nowhere, a big wave” dumped several inches of water in the boat.
“Some a di people dem get bummy (nervous) and start move all over the boat, an’ a dat tilt it over,” he said. (Jamaica Gleaner)
livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com
LOS ANGELES (AP):
A STRONG earthquake south of the United States-Mexico border yesterday swayed high-rises in downtown Los Angeles and San Diego and was felt across Southern California and Arizona, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.
CNN reported last night that one man died in Mexico.
The 7.2-magnitude quake struck at 3:40 p.m. EDT in Baja California in Mexico, about 19 miles south-east of Mexicali, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The area had been hit by magnitude-3.0 quakes all week.
The quake was felt as far north as Santa Barbara, USGS seismologist Susan Potter said.
Strong shaking was reported in the Coachella Valley and Riverside, California. The earthquake rattled buildings on the west side of Los Angeles and in the San Fernando Valley, interrupting Easter dinners. Chandeliers swayed and wine jiggled in glasses.
Minor incidents
In Los Angeles, the city fire department went on “earthquake status”, and some stalled elevators were reported. No damage was reported in Los Angeles or San Diego.
One woman called firefighters and said she was stuck in an elevator descending from the 34th floor in a building in Century City, but there was no way to immediately know if the breakdown was tied the quake, Los Angeles firefighter Eric Scott said.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said there were no power outages anywhere in the city.
The quake was felt for about 40 seconds in Tijuana, Mexico, causing buildings to sway and knocking out power in parts of the city. Families celebrating Easter ran out of their homes, with children screaming and crying.
Baja California state Civil Protection Director Alfredo Escobedo said there were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage but added that the assessment was ongoing.
In the Phoenix area, Jacqueline Land said the king-size bed in her second-floor apartment felt like a boat gently swaying on the ocean.
“I thought to myself, ‘That can’t be an earthquake. I’m in Arizona’,” the Northern California native said. “And I thought, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I’m 9 years old’.” (Jamaica Gleaner)
