Moontown

Davies

Shaw

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Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter

CRITICISMS BY some analysts that the 2010-2011 Budget was not credible have irked Finance and Public Service Minister Audley Shaw who yesterday dismissed comments from his detractors.

In his post-Budget press conference at the Ministry of Finance on Friday, Shaw defended his $503.9 billion Budget.

“This Budget is credible … . We have sought to deal with the issues that must be dealt with, and that is why I was prepared to accept the criticism of making the adjustment to the Budget of $4.5 billion upfront,” he declared.

Shaw told journalists that he made the decision to correct the shortfall in the Budget at an early stage rather than waiting for the Supplementary Estimates to do so.

He warned government departments to tighten their belts, as the administration could not afford to allocate one more cent to them.

“I am instructing them to live within their means. The time has come for us to live within our means and therefore, if travel has to be cut, cut it!” he charged, insisting that no additional funds would be set aside for them in Supplementary Estimates.

Taking aim at his opposition counterpart, Shaw indicated that former finance minister Dr Omar Davies was disingenuous in criticising the 2010-2011 Estimates of Expenditure, which did not reflect numbers from the second Supplementary Estimates.

backed by research

According to Shaw, his research showed that this occurred more than once during Davies’ tenure as minister.

“All of a sudden now the shoe is on the other foot and what was the norm in his time now becomes incompetence on my part or suggested incompetence on the part of my staff.

“It is dishonourable of the former minister to be seeking to trot out something like this when he knows that circumstances exist where this will happen,” he contended.

He said the Budget Debate would have had to be put off to allow the second Supplementary to be represented in the 2010-2011 Estimates. (Jamaica Gleaner)

The 10,000-Man March follows memorable attempts at appealing to those who commit violence. In this 2009 picture, many people, mostly men, marched for peace in Spanish Town, St Catherine. - file

Church leaders in Spanish Town, St Catherine, are using an ambitious initiative, dubbed the ‘10,000-Man March’, to send a strong message to criminals in the nation’s Old Capital.

“This is where we have bought property. This is where we intend to raise our children. We have no intention of running away,” said chief organiser, Bishop Rohan Edwards.

“No longer will we sit by and watch our town being destroyed! No longer are we going to sit down and say nothing! The good people are now retaliating,” he continued.

The bishop explained that the concept of the 10,000-Man March was to get the “good men” to speak up since men were the main perpetrators of violence.

fully supported

The march, schedule for tomorrow, will start in Glendale, St Catherine, and end in the Spanish Town centre, with stops at the Spanish Town Hospital and police station.

Edwards said the initiative had the support of the Spanish Town Ministers’ Fraternal and the Spanish Town Revival, and had also garnered widespread support from the police, the business community and local schools.

Lamenting the increase in criminal activity in Spanish Town, Edwards said it was “very painful” to see children crying for slain fathers.

“Innocent people are dying in the streets and we are not at war,” he said.

Police statistics for last year show that 343 people were reported murdered in St Catherine. Of that number, 101 were gang related.

Edwards said the march would target at least five troubled areas in the parish - Thompson Pen, Lakes Pen, Tredegar Park, Shelter Rock and St John’s Road.

“We want to know who the dons are - those who are not wanted. We want to see if we can transform that power that they have into something positive,” he said. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Dixon

Government admits great expense but calls the programme a success

Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

The public-health sector has given up more than $4 billion in potential income since the Government introduced the free health-care system two years ago.

But this has not prevented health and government officials from describing the system as a success.

Since the no-user-fee policy was introduced, the use of the public health-care system has increased by between 16 and 23 per cent, leaving government officials determined to stay the course.

“The abolition of user fees in public hospitals represents another seminal accomplishment in respect of the social safety net,” Finance Minister Audley Shaw told Parliament as he opened the 2010-2011 Budget Debate on Thursday.

“It has provided access to quality health care for many,” Shaw added.

That was a position echoed yesterday by permanent secretary in the health ministry, Dr Jean Dixon.

Addressing a Gleaner Editors’ Forum, Dixon said free health care had resulted in an increase in traffic to health facilities and had made a significant difference to the most vulnerable in the society.

“We have calculated that the fees forgone by the Government, that is fees that would have been paid by users, is well over $4 billion and it is just for about five (critical) services,” Dixon said.

She identified the five services as, pharmaceutical and medical supplies, admissions, accident and emergency centres, health centre visits and surgeries.

challenges

The permanent secretary admitted that the increase in the number of persons seeking treatment since the introduction of the no-user-fee policy has posed some challenges.

But Dixon argued that these were being addressed.

Numerous reports have pointed to the long wait for treatment at some health facilities and the unavailability of several prescription drugs as two of the main problems facing the health sector.

However, Dixon told the Editors’ Forum that the health ministry had responded to the nature of illness from persons seeking treatment by increasing the number of types of drugs available in public facilities to 738.

“To cope with the increased traffic, we have also had to extend the opening hours at some of our facilities,” added Dixon.

The no-user-fee policy was a key plank of the Jamaica Labour Party’s campaign in the lead-up to the 2007 general election and was introduced shortly after the party was elected to form the Government.(Jamaica Gleaner)

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com

PIGEON PEAS AND RICE; MACARONI PIE

STEAMED PUDDING AND SOUSE; COU COU

SALT FISH AND YAM; BBQ SPARERIBS;

BBQ PIG TAIL; BAKED CHICKEN

BAKED PORK; FRIED POT FISH

FRIED STEAK FISH; GRILLED STEAK FISH

TURKEY STEW; FISH GRAVY

STEAMED VEGETABLES; TOSSED SALAD; COLE SLAW

Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com

The United National Congress (UNC) is being destroyed, as it no longer represents the poor and helpless but now the elitist in society, says former party leader Basdeo Panday.

Speaking by phone yesterday, Panday, who was responsible for the birth of the UNC 20 years ago, said, ’The party is fast becoming a party of the elitists… it seems to be going away from the principles which formed the basis of the struggle 20 years ago.’

Panday said a number of his constituents and other loyal UNC members recently visited him at the Rienzi Complex, Couva-where he meets his constituents every Wednesday-to express their concern over the current state of the party.

Panday was defeated by Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the party’s leadership in the January 24 internal election.

’People are concerned… that party has lost control of itself and all that we have fought for and struggled for… the party no longer stands for struggle for the poor and helpless, that is what is bothering them,’ Panday said.

He continued, ’It is a party of elitists. For example, hundreds of thousands of people… the helpless, who supported this party for 20 years, where are they? I don’t see them at the luncheons or the meetings at the Hyatt and the Hilton… I see the party being destroyed.’

Panday has been the MP for Couva North for over 30 years.

Asked if he had decided whether he would continue to represent the people and seek nomination under the UNC, he said he understood that his seat was already given to Suruj Rambachan.

Asked to comment on Persad-Bissessar’s remarks that those who do not subscribe to the vision and mission of the party would be left behind, he said, ’If that’s how she feels, then the reason we formed this party means nothing to her.’ (Trinidad Express)

Joel Julien joel.julien@trinidadexpress.com

PARLIAMENT was dissolved to prevent politicians from taking advantage of their parliamentary privilege to slander the name of the Government, as is normally the case in the build-up to an election, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said on Thursday night.

’What we have to guard against is people, on the eve of an election, using parliamentary privilege to slander those of us in Government. If they wish to make comess, they are now free to do it, but do so outside the Parliament. I have a battery of lawyers standing by,’ Manning said, as he was about to leave the People’s National Movement (PNM) headquarters at Balisier House, Port of Spain, after the second phase of screening of candidates for the upcoming general election.

Manning made the statement as he sought to explain his decision to instruct President George Maxwell Richards to have Parliament dissolved at midnight on Thursday. He said the decision was to ’facilitate’ the Opposition’s intention to have a general election called.

’The purpose of a no-confidence motion is to precede a general election. The method that the Opposition is using to bring about a general election cannot succeed. So that I would facilitate it (the general election), and once we facilitate the general election, there is really no need for a motion of no confidence,’ he said.

‘facilitating election’: Prime Minister Patrick Manning fields questions from the media at the end of the PNM’s second night of election candidate screening at Balisier House, Port of Spain, on Thursday. -Photo: CURTIS CHASE

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar was supposed to have had a motion of no confidence in Manning debated in Parliament yesterday, but the dissolution of Parliament prevented this much-anticipated debate from happening. (Trinidad Express)

Joel Julien joel.julien@trinidadexpress.com

IT WAS a face-off between political heavyweight, Pennelope Beckles, and relative newcomer to politics, Laurel Lezama, when the two appeared before the People’s National Movement (PNM) screening committee at Balisier House, Port of Spain, last evening.

Beckles, the Member of Parliament for Arima, and Senator Lezama are both fighting for the right to represent Arima in the impending general election.

Yesterday was the third phase of the PNM’s screening of candidates.

Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira was the first to be screened yesterday. She was returned as the PNM’s candidate for D’Abadie/O’Meara.

While Nunez-Tesheira was speaking to the media about the screening process, loud applause erupted on the PNM compound. It signalled the arrival of Beckles around 5.20 p.m.

Beckles, however, left Balisier House around 6.40 p.m., surrounded by the sombre faces of her supporters.

Lezama, who campaigned for Beckles in two previous general elections, exited Balisier House some 15 minutes later. Unlike the large crowd surrounding Beckles, Lezama left with only three supporters walking behind. Lezama’s support, however, included the strength of Rose Janniere, the assistant general secretary of the PNM, and Arima Mayor Adrian Cabralis.

Beckles was chastised by the Screening Committee for her public praise of Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s ascension to the role of political leader of the United National Congress (UNC), a member of the constituency executive said. She was also slammed for being critical of the Government in a recent spatial plan meeting held in Arima.

There was, however, confusion surrounding the PNM’s representative for the St Ann’s East constituency. While incumbent Anthony Roberts appeared before the screening committee unopposed yesterday, the constituency executive was told to return with another choice, a PNM source said. Insiders said party chairman Conrad Enill was being favoured to replace Roberts.

Harold Ramoutar was also screened as the candidate for Caroni East, Ronald Heera for Chaguanas West and Dr Esau Mohammed for St Augustine.

Phase four of the process is expected to continue today around 1.30 p.m, with nominees for ten more constituencies being screened. (Trinidad Express)

Ria Taitt Political Editor

The $2 million flag of honour at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain was yesterday transformed into a shroud in which the political prospects of Sports Minister Gary Hunt were buried.

Hunt, who was nominated for the constituency of Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West by just one party group, yesterday announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy. It was at around the same time reports surfaced that principal of St Francois Girls’ College, Patricia McIntosh, was given the nod by the People’s National Movement Screening Committee, which is chaired by Political Leader (and Prime Minister) Patrick Manning.

McIntosh, who received nominations from 12 party groups, has distinguished herself as principal of the prestigious St Francois Girls’ since 2000. During her tenure, the school won its first scholarship (in 2001) and has produced 13 scholar winners since then. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Modern Languages) from UWI, St Augustine; Diploma in Educational Administration; Executive Diploma in School Management and Leadership (Institute of Business) and a Diploma with distinction in Mass Communication at UWI Mona, Jamaica, among other academic credentials. McIntosh is due to retire this year and was scheduled to go on pre-retirement leave from July.

McIntosh’s achievements have also been recognised by Advocates for Safe Parenthood: Improving Reproductive Equity (ASPIRE), who named her ’Woman of the Year’ 2010.

Contacted yesterday, McIntosh said she had not yet been informed officially of the decision of the Screening Committee. Until informed officially, McInstosh did not want to say too much. But she described herself as a humble person.

TOUGH QUESTIONS: Pennelope Beckles leaves Balisier House, Port of Spain, last evening after being screened for the Arima constituency. -Photo: CURTIS CHASE

Her colleagues, however, spoke of her outstanding leadership skills as an educator and her positive influence on the lives of the young women who have been entrusted to her care.

As he passed on the torch, Hunt was upbeat as he welcomed his successor.

’I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the constituency that I served with dedication over the last two years. It has been truly a fulfilling and enriching experience that allowed me to contribute and make a positive difference in people’s lives. I would like to wish the new candidate a sound victory. I remain committed to the People’s National Movement’s vision and ideals,’ he said.

At yesterday’s screening, another senior member of the party, Deputy Speaker Pennelope Beckles, faced a tough examination by the committee. According to sources, Beckles, who received the support of her constituency executive, was questioned by Political Leader Manning about her public praise of United National Congress leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar on the occasion of her winning the election for the political leadership of the UNC.

Speaking at an ASPIRE function on the theme ’Women in Power’ last month at the Cascadia Hotel, Cascade, Beckles had said that Persad-Bissessar’s victory was not only a triumph for East Indian women, but she could be seen as an example for all women to emulate.

’I am quite certain she can do the job. My expectations are high for her but we as women, if you want to walk the walk, you need to give your support,’ Beckles said then.

She was also questioned by Manning about her apparent criticism of the Arima Spatial Development plan at a public consultation last month, at which the plan was put forward by Local Government Minister Hazel Manning. Beckles had highlighted the need for a proper hospital, for transportation for the burgeoning population and for amenities for pensioners.

No decision has been taken as yet on the candidate for the Arima constituency.

But some have interpreted Manning’s robust questioning of Beckles to mean that she would not be re-selected and that the other nominee, Laurel Lezama, would be favoured.

But the PNM continues to move at a pace. Screening continues today. And the leadership is meeting with the executives of the 16 candidates who have been selected today and tomorrow, to organise their readiness for registration as candidates with the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) as soon as possible. (Trinidad Express)

by LISA KING

THE RECESSION has caused some people to go in search of bargains so as to cut back on spending - but the traditional commercial outlets have not so far suffered.

With some manufacturers advertising factory sales, people may opt to go directly to the manufacturer for their products and avoid interest rates associated with hire purchase terms.

One company that produces wood furnishings primarily for local retail companies but also offers some of these products for sale, said it had been benefiting from people sometimes coming in for “factory seconds” - products that are slightly damaged or have some imperfection, though still of good quality.

Another company, Happy Angels Inc., in addition to producing beds and soft furnishings mainly for hotels and larger companies, makes its products available to the public. Representative Kathleen Juman noted, however, that “numbers have been down considerably due to the recession”.

Ansar Juman of Mico Garment Factory pointed out that direct purchases had to be of a specific item and the amount had to be a dozen or more.

Both ways

At Workbench Furniture, sales representative Kimberley Alleyne said, “I find that it is equal, as people continue to shop both ways, depending on what they want.”

She said that many people want to support local products and they come in for specific pieces of furniture. “The number of persons we have at any given time of the year changes and the sales are usually good except around summer when most persons travel and may opt to purchase items from overseas.”

In the retail sector people were noting that sales were not impacted by the trend. Albert Roche, managing director of Designer Decor, manufacturers of soft furnishing, said: “From experience we see that people come to us manufacturers especially for sales and special promotions.”

Paula Phillips, head of marketing at Courts Barbados Limited, reported that there was a close relationship between the company and their manufacturers, who realise the benefits to them and would not execute advertising at that level.

She suggested that any advertising might come from smaller companies carrying products which could not compare with the products offered by Courts, for example, the Sleep On It sleep range, which is produced only for Courts.

May feel impact

“If the manufacturers were offering products which are directly competing with things we buy from them then we may feel the impact,” she said.

Skeete also disclosed that meetings are held with manufacturers to find amicable solutions regarding products. When manufacturers advertise, she said, it may be an attempt to develop the cash side of their business, as they would be expecting cash for their products. “However, when it comes to financing they do not offer the benefits we do, and manufacturers may end up sending the customers back to us.”

Standard Distributors’ David Holder said the company was not experiencing any fall-off in sales. “We have not been experiencing any problems with our sales,” he said.

Mr Bradshaw of Caribbean Furnishing House had this to say on the matter: “Persons who usually go to the manufacturers are those who can afford to pay cash for the items. There will always be a place for that market, but it does not affect us the retailers in any major way.” (Nation News)