Moontown

Hundreds didn’t mind being Frazzled when Bash Brothaz (BIM), in association with Primetime Promotions, staged their second annual fete on Thursday night at the Cricket Legends of Barbados.

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This group of party animals – at the first-ever Frazzled Fete – obeyed Li’l Rick’s order in his hit song Go Dung.()

Hundreds didn’t mind being Frazzled when Bash Brothaz (BIM), in association with Primetime Promotions, staged their second annual fete on Thursday night at the Cricket Legends of Barbados.

Packing in from one end to the other of the open-air Fontabelle, St Michael location, patrons took to the 2K10 Mug Madness Event with a frenzy, dancing in unison as deejays from 357 Entertainment and those from 101.1 SLAM FM played some of the more popular songs until the wee hours of yesterday morning.

Everyone had a ball when People’s Monarch Mr Dale Drop(ped) It, and raised their hands to the command of Trinidad’s former road march king Naya George. Of course there was Li’l Rick, who has made audiences Guh Down over and over since the release of what must be one of the most popular songs for this season.  (Nation News)

LONDON, England – A mother has been reunited with the baby she thought had been killed in the earthquake that hit Haiti six months ago.

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MARIE SEIGNON happily holding Landina, her child she thought to be dead. ()

LONDON, England – A mother has been reunited with the baby she thought had been killed in the earthquake that hit Haiti six months ago.

The 26-year-old, who was told that her child was dead after a baby of the same age was found following January’s quake, was tracked down by a charity which paid for her daughter’s treatment.

On Wednesday, she wept with joy as the pair were reunited at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, saying: “My feelings were very, very strong. But when I saw her I was amazed. I couldn’t believe she was alive – this is a very happy moment.”

Landina was just two months old when the quake struck Port-au-Prince, destroying the hospital where she was in intensive care being treated for burns.

Some of the nurses treating her were killed but, after 48 hours trapped in the rubble, Landina was plucked free.

She was brought to London by the charity, Facing The World, and had surgery on her badly burnt skull at Great Ormond Street.

The charity also set about trying to trace her mother, using family documents which were also found in the rubble.

Marie Seignon, whose middle name is Miracle, said she first heard her youngest child might still be alive from a friend.

“A notice was put out on a radio, a friend raced to my house and said: ‘Please sit down. This may sound like something from the movies but sometimes movies do come true. I need to tell you that Landina is alive’,” she recalled.

DNA tests were carried out to confirm she was Landina’s mother and Facing The World arranged a passport and a visa so they could be reunited. (Nation News)

A MAVERICK with money and a relative public profile, who has been given some authority in the post-2008 period, has brought a reign of terror to bear on an important institution.

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A MAVERICK with money and a relative public profile, who has been given some authority in the post-2008 period, has brought a reign of terror to bear on an important institution.

The man has got rid of about nine people who had much to invest in that entity, and in Barbados generally. His last victim was a well respected gentleman with many years’ service at the institution.

Word is that there is neither rhyme nor reason for his actions other than that a lifelong problem seems finally to be ravaging his brain.

What is particularly galling is that he was given authority at the institution in the first place.

Cou Cou understands that it is too important a potential money-making agency for those responsible to have placed it in the hands of an intellectual eunuch, whose main claim to fame is his frequent visits to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

The great escape

ANOTHER MODERN version of the late Charles Ponzi is now far away from Antigua and the wider Caribbean and is safely behind barsin the land of the brave and the free.

But Cou Cou recently discovered that the keen insight and diligent homework of an old general saved many a local investor from shedding tears over lost funds.

Word is that a very prominent Barbadian with banking and other connections to the latter-day Ponzi, approached local authorities to get in bed with the foreign high-flyer.

But after some checks, the old general told the proposer that under no circumstances would his ally get a foot in the island under his watch.

Now, while we can shower praise on the old general, one is left to ponder what the real motivation of the prominent proposer was. A bank statement might present some answers.
VIP indeed!

IT PAYS to be considered a very important person, even if it is just for a day.

Cou Cou understands that a certain hard-working crew had a VIP tent in their name at an event in St Philip recently. The menu in place included steak, shrimp, spare ribs, Johnny Walker Black and Blue, Grey Goose and Hennessy.

Fewer than 20 people were in the tent and half of them reportedly have never worked at the location in whose name the tent was pitched.

They filled themselves at taxpayers’ expense, belched, and went on their merry way afterwards.

The sad thing is that later in the evening the crew did not even get a chance to sample any of the goodies meant for them.

Cou Cou will be keeping a close eye on the accounts department to see the size of the bill.
Weaving a tangled web

THERE is the one-dollar store. Now there is talk about the five and ten man – $5 000 and $10 000 to be exact.

Cou Cou has been told about a certain individual who is raking in a cool $15 000 off every two jobs he gives out – and he is giving out quite a few.

But there is trouble brewing.

Word is that a feisty woman who has some clout – even if she has never officially ascended those hallowed City steps – is not pleased with the manner he is doing business and has threatened to blow the whistle on the temporary boss.

But the man is not taking her resistance sitting down. Cou Cou was told manoeuvres have already been made to get rid of her.

With her out of the way, it is being said, he can have the people with rubber stamps he wants, who will allow him to make allocations as he likes. (Nation News)

IF ANYONE was questioning the sexuality of a certain truck driver who works in a Government ministry, those questions were put to rest recently when he was overlooked for a driving position.

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IF ANYONE was questioning the sexuality of a certain truck driver who works in a Government ministry, those questions were put to rest recently when he was overlooked for a driving position.

Apparently, he would have been the obvious choice to take over driving the truck when the long-time driver retired, but it seems that his masculinity got in the way, and another colleague, who has a softer voice and a more gentle touch, was selected.

But the truck driver took everything in good stride. He was proud to let everyone know that he was never a part of the Mothers Union, and he would always be a member of the Men’s Fellowship.

Woman’s fire out of control

A WOMAN who is accustomed putting out fires seems to be in so much heat that she may need an extra hose to put out the personal fire in her life.

She has been cheating on her man with a young stud who she claims is only a friend, and sneaking him into her house when she thinks neighbours are not looking.

But the neighbours want to know what excuse she will give her man when he finds out that one of her work colleagues has been hosing her down.

Will a change come?

A CERTAIN dark-skinned, dreadlocked woman has been sitting on the bank since her recent problems with the law.

Her friends are wondering how she is feeling now that she has been caught doing what she does best – stealing.

They are wondering if being caught will cause her to finally change her criminal ways since she is known for robbing poor old people of their pension cheques and their property.

Even her former lesbian lover is saying that she regrets getting involved with the light-fingered woman, who is also a compulsive liar.

Island woman ‘working on’ widow

IF A WOMAN wants to know why she has not received a cent of the thousands that her former husband left behind when he mysteriously died, she should try fighting fire with fire.

She may also want to visit someone with a crystal ball to give her some insight into how she can retaliate against evil forces.

Little does she know that the woman from one of the islands has been doing everything possible to stop her and her children from getting any of her former husband’s wealth.

The woman has been rubbing her body with various oils, sprinkling powder in her underwear, and rubbing substances on her face and under her arm. She also keeps a bunch of feathers, jumbie beads, turpentine, moth balls and garlic very close at hand.

No wonder that she and her children are driving luxury vehicles and living the big life, while the former wife and her children are suffering.

The former wife needs to know that the time has come for her to get her act together since in this case she would have to fight evil with evil.

Objection to teacher-student affair

WHEN THE new school term begins, a group of angry students who attend a tertiary institution plan to object very strongly to the illicit relationship between one of the students and a tutor.

Pudding & Souse has learned that the disgruntled students are claiming that their colleague has been getting only “A” grades since she started sleeping with the tutor.

The students said they had suspicions after seeing her in the luxury car after school. But these were confirmed because the two have been spotted at public events and she was even bringing snacks, water and lunch for him.

Apparently, some students have drawn the matter to the attention of management, even providing photos of the two together, but so far nothing has been done.

They say the students should be made to redo the subjects which are taught by the tutor and have someone else mark her papers to see if she would still get “A” grades. (Nation News)

Opposition Leader Mia Mottley wants to know why the fact that Barbados will not earn a loan from the World Bank unless it enters into an International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement was hidden from the entire population until Thursday night.

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Opposition Leader Mia Mottley wants to know why the fact that Barbados will not earn a loan from the World Bank unless it enters into an International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement was hidden from the entire population until Thursday night.

Mottley asked the question yesterday in response to the revelation by Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Senator Darcy Boyce, during a press conference in which he revealed Barbados was not getting a loan from the international body because it wanted the country to be part of an IMF programme.

“Barbadians must ask why we are only now learning that the World Bank will not lend the country money unless we enter into an IMF programme,” the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader said yesterday.

“We only learnt this by chance because of a question posed to Senator Boyce last night [Thursday] on the funding for the Government’s Medium Term Fiscal Strategy. What does this say about the World Bank’s view of our economy?” Mottley asked.

According to Mottley, Government has, by its own actions, already abandoned its Medium Term Fiscal Strategy.

“They have not secured the funding on which the plan was premised. The public is still waiting on Senator Boyce to make a clear statement on the economic issues affecting us all and to give clear direction on where the Government wants to take it,” Mottley noted.

The BLP head added that Thursday night’s Press conference left Barbadians with more questions than answers.

Regarding the controversial CLICO issue, Mottley claimed that the Barbados Government had no protection in place for policyholders and investors in CLICO since the life of the Oversight Committee ended six weeks ago.

“For Senator Boyce to say that there is a Supervisor of Insurance in place is to ignore the fact that there was a supervisor in place when the committee was appointed.

“We must remember that the only real official information the public has received on CLICO has come from the chairman of the committee. He has now been silenced,” the Opposition Leader claimed.

Mottley believes that people who deposited their money will now be confused after listening to Boyce as to whether they will get back their money as the Prime Minister and the Governor of the Central Bank had promised.

Concerning the economy, Mottley said that Boyce’s telling the country that debt went up by $2.5 billion in 14 years, but not saying it went up $1.8 billion in the past two years, was equivalent to pulling wool over people’s eyes, and downplayed the present mismanagement of the economy.

She concluded that Senator’s Boyce’s presentation was an insult to the intelligence of all Barbadians, as he was “waffling, indecisive, testy, and even arrogant”. (BA) (Nation News)

Mr Dale has done it again!

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Mr Dale has done it again!

For the second time, the Soca Junkie man has been crowned the People’s Monarch, achieving it this time with the ragga-soca tune Drop It.

Traffic along River Road, The City, in the area of Starcom Network was halted momentarily yesterday evening, as drivers and pedestrians alike took up temporary positions to give a royal welcome for the newly-crowned monarch.

In the final of the three-week long competition, Mr Dale was up against Blood.

People were encouraged to vote via text, with the result that the reigning Party Monarch and Soca Royale champion Blood went down in defeat, while Dale claimed the $25 000 grand prize.

As those lining the sidewalk loudly sang “Oh, we having a ball!” – a line from the winning tune – Mr Dale said he was “ecstatic” to know he had so much support from the public, and he was now “ready for the road”.

He added that he had no idea that the song penned in his Deacons, St Michael home would move the Barbadian public so much.

No problem

Mr Dale further said that he had no problem being pitted against fellow tent member Blood. He said both of them being finalists was really a “victory for Headliners”.

The songwriter stated that this win showed the power of ragga-soca, which was, he said, “palatable to the international scene”.

The new monarch extended special thanks for those who voted because “this one was for the people too”.

He said he was aware his fans were disappointed that he did not place higher in the Sweet Soca competition last Sunday.

After the announcement by Dennis Johnson, first runner-up Blood, along with his Soka Kartel partner Mikey, joined Mr Dale to give an impromptu performance of Drop It.

Blood said that he was “extremely happy” for Mr Dale’s victory.

Lalu Vaswani, chairman of Satjay Bridgetown Centre, said his business was pleased to be one of the sponsors of the competition because it was a unique way to get people’s involvement and it played a major role in “developing our national personality”.

Johnson, programme manager of Starcom Network Inc., commented on the competition. “Like the World Cup, the favourites went early,” he said, referring to the elimination of the season’s biggest tunes, Go Down and Chrissening. (FM) (Nation News)

ANTHONY GABBY CARTER has added a ninth title to his name.

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Gabby is congratulated by former king Red Plastic Bag (right) after being announced Pic-O-De-Crop winner this morning.()

By: Yvette Best

ANTHONY GABBY CARTER has added a ninth title to his name.

The man who has won a calypso crown in every decade since the competition started, drew even with tentmate Red Plastic Bag (RPB) early this morning when he took the coveted title away from the other nine finalists with a score of 441.5 points.

According to reliable sources Gabby was leading coming out of the semis and he remained in that position. Tassa, who was said to be in second spot, finished tenth.

He beat two-time monarch Adrian Clarke into second place, and also denied defending monarch RPB, who finished third, his tenth title.

Gabby took the title with Haiti and Ole Ashe. His victory did not go down well with the crowd. For the second time in less than a week, a winner was booed by fans. TC, who also hails from De Digicel Big Show, was booed last Sunday at Bushy Park when she was named as the winner of the Sweet Soca competition.

The boos of discontent started when pre-show favourite Colin Spencer and tentmate Crystal from the Cave Shepherd All Stars Calypso Tent were announced in joint seventh position.

There was more noise of protest when RPB was announced in third than when Gabby was named as the eventual winner.

RPB has the satisfaction of pulling the largest response from the crowd who were waving red plastic bags en masse for both Signs and La La, and in support of their king who had to settle for second runner-up this time around.

Clarke brought a brand new song in No Plastic Bag Day, which some might say was visionary at the time, and gained a decent response for it.

In terms of response he would have been among the top three going into the second half for his solid rendition and presentation of Crowd Response. Blood and RPB would have been up there as well.

There were two ties in the final standings. Blood and TC tied for fifth and Colin Spencer and Crystal Cummins-Beckles were right behind in seventh.

Despite the obvious disapproval of the crowd, Gabby was thankful to fans for their support.

“Thank you for all your help. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for all your love. You know all, all, all praises to Jahovah yuh know. All praises Jahovah . . . . I could not do it without Mike Sealy I just want to thank him. Thank him for his help and his love, his commitment. His long hours in his studio, everything,” Gabby said shortly after accepting his trophy.

He took home the first prize of $10 500 and a fully loaded Ford Focus car.

The final positions in descending order and points are as follows: Gabby (441.5), AC (424), RPB (418.5), John King (413.5), Blood and TC (408), Colin Spencer and Crystal Cummins-Beckles (407.5), Sheldon Hope (400.5), and Tassa (369). (Nation News)

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Heavy torrential rain forced the abandonment of the penultimate preliminary match in the Caribbean Twenty20 Cham-pionship between Barbados and Guyana yesterday without a ball being bowled.

Bleak weather descended on the Trinidad & Tobago capital around noon, and when it eased almost three hours later, the Queen’s Park Oval resembled a lake, rather than a premier sports facility.

Teams tied

Both teams arrived at the ground about an hour before the scheduled start, but West Indies Cricket Board officials informed them half-hour later about the cancellation of the match, and meant that the two sides would earn an equal share of four points.

It left them both tied with 10 in total, following victories in their other two preliminary matches against Combined Campuses & Colleges and Windward Islands.

The Barbadians, however, finished in the top spot of Group B with a superior net run rate of +0.975 ahead of the Guyanese (+0.361), under the tiebreaker rule.

The heavy rains left the streets around the Caribbean’s biggest international ground flooded, bringing traffic to a crawl, and even stalling a few vehicles.The abandonment sets up two intriguing semi-finals scheduled for today at the same venue, where Guyana will face hosts Trinidad & Tobago from 4 p.m. before Barbados meet Jamaica in the other semi-final four hours later.

The grand final between the two semi-final winners is tomorrow from 8 p.m., following the consolation final (third-place play-off) four hours earlier between the two semi-final losers.

But the prospects of the semi-finals and the finals being contested also look depressing, unless there is a dramatic change in the weather.

If the semi-finals are not contested, the four teams will advance to the respective finals based on net run rate, meaning T&T (+1.869) and arch-rivals Barbados will play in the final, and the consolation final will bring together Guyana and Jamaica (+0.318).

The matches will be replayed (restarted) on Sunday should there be no play in the respective finals tomorrow. (Jamaica Gleaner)

The Jamaican economy created J$121 billion of value in the January to March period, but the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) is reporting that tourism and transport were stars among the sectors that shed value as a group.

The economy contracted in real terms by one per cent relative to the March 2009 quarter, and by 0.5 per cent since December.

The Planning Institute of Jamaica previously estimated the Q1 contraction at a more pessimistic 1.4 per cent, but Statin is the final arbiter of GDP performance.

Services as a group was relatively unchanged, despite a seven per cent advance by hotels and restaurants, but the output from the goods-producing segment shrunk by four per cent.

Jamaica’s real gross domestic product peaked at J$510.7 billion in 2007 but has been falling since, hitting J$490.7 billion last year. Jamaica expects to exit the recession later this year, with projected growth of half-a-point.

Within the past decade, Jamaica’s best quarterly GDP outcome of J$128.8 billion was recorded in June 2007; while the best first quarter with output valued at J$127.6 billion was in March 2007. (Jamaica Gleaner)

business@gleanerjm.com

The savings were relatively small at less than five per cent, but in the first calendar quarter Jamaica’s reduced demand for imports cut its spending bill on foreign goods by US$59.5 million, Statin has reported.

Jamaica bought fewer chemicals and capital equipment and a lot less food from overseas in the March quarter, but some of those savings were offset by a bigger energy bill that rose 29 per cent relative to the March 2009 quarter.

The current account as reported on by the Bank of Jamaica emerged from a deficit in February to post a surplus of US$37 million, on the back of recovered remittances that rose above US$155 million that month, as well as a positive US$98 million balance in service trade.

Under Statin’s quarterly estimate of total imports, excluding free zone activity, dropped 4.86 per cent to US$1.166 billion from US$1.225 billion in the three-month period. When free zone activity, estimated at US$42 million, is added, the import bill rises to US$1.177 billion.

Consumer goods imports, including motor vehicles, fell by 7.8 per cent, but still accounted for just above a third of all imports.

Auto dealers brought in US$24.9 million worth of vehicles, a one-sixth decline from the 2009 quarter’s US$29.7 million - evidence that the auto market is still struggling to regain business under a recession that has entered its third year.

Riding the market

Companies like Issa Transport Group have retreated, but others such as ATL Automotives and Stewart’s Auto Sales have been expanding to ride the market when economic circumstances change.

The food bill, which amounted to one-sixth of total spend in the quarter, cost US$181.5 million - a saving of US$44 million compared to the 2009 period as the agriculture ministry enforced new policy on food security, underpinned by a ‘eat what you grow’ strategy.

Concomitantly, food exports were down in the quarter to US$7 million, from US$39 million in Q1 2009.

Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton aims, eventually, to cut 80 per cent off the food import bill which has an annual US$800-million price tag.

Jamaica is yet to see similar movements on energy security.

Oil, at US$393 million, was not only up nominally by US$88 million in the quarter, but proportionately the bill rose from 25 per cent of total imports in the 2009 period to 34 per cent - marked by a return to volatility in world prices that, in the past few weeks, have swung between US$71 and US$78 per barrel.

Jamaica’s exports, after a promising two years of solid growth, slipped 50 per cent from US$2.6 billion in calendar 2008 to US$1.3 billion in 2009.

Imports triple exports

This year’s first quarter began with a modest 5.9 per cent increase in exports to US$352 million, but not enough to set the stage for a recovery to the 2008 high.

Additionally, the spend on foreign-made goods continues to outpace the trade done by Jamaican companies overseas by a factor of more than three to one.

The trade gap for the quarter amounted to US$813.2 million.

The leading exports were bauxite and alumina, J$10 billion; mineral fuels, J$8 billion; and ethanol, rum and other alcoholic beverages, and sugar which were more than J$2 billion each.

More than half of first-quarter exports, 56.4 per cent, landed in the United States, Jamaica’s main trading partner; while just under 39 per cent of all imports originated from there. Imports from CARICOM were one-third the US’ at 13.8 per cent of the three-month period a three-point decline year on year.

Total exports to the region for the January to March 2010 period was down by 9.6 per cent or US$1.5 million to US$13.8 million.

Jamaica ran a trade deficit of US$147.6 million with its CARICOM partners in the March quarter, an improvement of 2.7 per cent on the US$151.7-million goods gap in the 2009 period. (Jamaica Gleaner)

lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com