Former Chief Minister the Honourable John Osborne is reported to be in a critical, but stable condition at a hospital in the United States.

A statement issued by his family states that Mr. Osborne has been hospitalized for the past weeks.

He has undergone testing and treatment for an illness for which he had received preliminary care at the Glendon Hospital in Montserrat.

According to the family, over the past weeks the former Chief Minister has undergone surgeries of varying levels of seriousness and has baffled and astounded physicians on several occasions with his ability to recover. (Caribbean Daily News)

CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (September 02, 2010)– Minister responsible for Renewable Energy and the Environment in Nevis Hon. Carlisle Powell , said the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) was pleased to support the efforts of WindWatt who brought the Maddens Wind Farm to life in 2010. He made the comment on Friday, at the official launch of the first ever wind farm commissioned in the Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS).

Mr. Powell said the project would provide jobs for Nevisians, a reliable supply of wind energy, cheaper electricity and a reduction in fuel surcharge and the use of imported oils.

“We are celebrating today because WindWatt has successfully installed and commissioned these eight turbines and have been producing electricity and sending it to the grid since July 21, 2010.

“While the world is focussing on ways to reduce the carbon footprint and increasing our energy production through the use of alternative energy, we in Nevis will not be left behind,” he said.

Madden’s wind farm

Mr. Powell explained that America and Europe encouraged the expansion of Alternative Energy from geothermal, wind, solar, clean coal technology, hydro and ocean currents. However, in the Caribbean many years had been spent in discussion about sustainable energy production but very little action had been realised.

He said in Nevis, there was proven geothermal resource, the sun and wind. According to the Minister, wind was used 300 years ago to provide energy to power machines on sugar estates which manufacture sugar and wondered why it has taken that long to tap into that particular renewable resource.

“Today marks the day when we open this Wind Farm at Maddens and Nevis again leads the way,” he said.

The Minister noted that when the idea of the wind farm was conceived in 2007, it did not take much to convince him that wind energy was an idea which he was happy to welcome to Nevis.

He said it then became his duty to convince Premier of Nevis Hon. Joseph Parry and his Cabinet colleagues, that wind energy was feasible in Nevis and it was possible to negotiate an agreement in which all the cost would be borne by the owners and the Nevis Electricity Company Ltd. would only have to purchase at a fixed cost.

“I am happy to say to you that our presence here today is blessed assurance that the government saw the wisdom of supporting the wind farm and gave it its blessing to move on the way.

“Even as the turbines begin to spin, I say that many persons told us that a wind farm was risky…people questioned why this government was taking the chance of public ridicule if the project failed but I remind you that this government is and never was afraid to explore new areas, that is why we supported the wind farm,” he said.

Mr. Powell said because the NIA was not fearful of exploring new areas, it become fully involved in the Geothermal Project which will bring benefits to the island and people of Nevis. Also they contracted BEAD to drill for water where it was thought there was no water and was rewarded with over 1million gallons of new water per day from new sources.

He said all of those projects were undertaken because the NIA was interested in the quality of life of the people of Nevis, which would provide for greater peace, progress and prosperity.

The Minister also used the opportunity to recognise the efforts of Hon. Patrice Nisbett the then Legal Advisor to the NIA and had since been elevated to the position of Attorney General of St. Kitts and Nevis, for his outstanding role in guiding discussions on the Contract and Power Purchase Agreements. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Renewable Energy and the Environment on Nevis Mr. Ernie Stapleton was also publicly commended for his outstanding professional services and devotion to duty. (St. Kitts Daily news)

Government is concerned about the increased price of wheat on the international market but is hopeful that the local milling company will benefit from favourable contractual agreements with its parent company, says President Bharrat Jagdeo.

Questioned about raising wheat prices on Monday at the International Convention Centre, Jagdeo acknowledged that the price has skyrocketed by 70 percent over the last two months, and said the administration was concerned about this.

The President said that since the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) sources its wheat from its parent company, he was hoping that the long term contractual agreements would result in favourable prices. “I am hoping that they have procured…at a locked-in price for extended periods, so hopefully when the prices drop, because there is anticipation that the prices will come down again in the near future, that it will even out the situation,” Jagdeo said.

There has been a sharp rise in international wheat prices following drought in Russia, a huge producer and exporter of wheat.

Some 10 million hectares, or a quarter of arable land has been reportedly destroyed in Russia this year as the country experienced its worse drought in its history.

Recently, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin created a stir by announcing that from August 15 it would ban grain exports to keep prices down at home and ensure there was enough feed grain for its cattle herd.

Rising wheat prices caused the biggest monthly spike in food prices in August since November 2009, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said yesterday. (Stabroek News)

Retirement does not look so good anymore for Allen James (not his real name).  As a senior executive at a major business entity, he had been carefully planning for his post-retirement years, building a solid platform to take care of himself and family. However, this plan fell apart last February with the collapse of Clico (Guyana), putting the millions of dollars he invested with the company at risk.

Allen had two policies with the company, which when totalled would be valued at over $16 million. Following his official retirement a few years ago, he was urged by a Clico agent to invest the money he earned then into a special retirement plan. He said that the plan ensured that he received $200,000 to $300,000 a month, which would have ensured that he was able to keep up the sort of life to which he had become accustomed.  His future definitely seemed secure.

Even after CL Financial’s economic woes became public last year January in Trinidad, Allen was shown documentation indicating that only subsidiaries in that country would be affected. However, he was later to realize that this prediction was false, as Clico (Guyana) was subsequently placed under judicial management last February after financial woes.

Since then it has been a frustrating period for James, because he has faced stiff economic challenges in recent months.  “For the first time in my working life, I’ve have trouble meeting my bills,” he said. “I have found myself borrowing money from persons to do many things that I would have normally done on my own,“ he explained.

Allen is also upset at the lack of information being fed to affected clients. According to him both parties involved in the legal battle have a responsibility to inform the clients what is happening.“If they tell me by March I will get my money, I can live with that but not with it being indefinite,” he said.

“There must be some interim measures that can be taken to reduce the pain,” he said. If you can’t get all now, at least you can give some, he said referring to the US$15 million government has received from the Petroleum Fund to cover the monies of all Clico (Guy) depositors, “Persons are becoming desperate,” he said, adding that when people become desperate they often resort to desperate measures.

Consequently, Allen feels that the best way to push the matter is for there to be an orchestrated effort at advocacy, by all affected clients. “Isolation”, he said, would not work.  As a result, he said he fully supports an initiative by some to form a delegation to lobby for the quick reimbursement of all affected customers.

Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Ramesh Dookhoo said that a number of persons have approached the Commission explaining their sufferings to them. He said that subsequently the Finance and Economics Committee of the PSC has put the matter on their agenda.

“People are suffering…many of them silently,” he said.  The court matter, he said, stymies a quick solution to the matter. According to him, while it pretends to take care of the employees, it really does not take into consideration how people are suffering, especially those elderly persons who would have lost their pensions. He noted that it is particularly difficult for persons 65 and over to find employment in a country like Guyana.  He noted too that many senior businesses and executive members of business bodies have themselves been affected by the Clico fallout.

Dookhoo said that the only option available to the PSC is to advocate for a speedy end to the legal wrangling.  He said that if a ruling on the matter was made, it would at least present some clarity to the situation.

Another senior member of the PSC, who requested anonymity, said that the court action by the directors was frivolous.  According to the member, the directors have moved to the court arguing that parts of the operations of Clico are still viable, but he said that it was unrealistic for the directors to expect that the persons will still invest in the insurance company after all they have been through.  Meanwhile, Terry Holder, a senior member of the Guyana Manufacturers and Services Association (GMSA), said that the matter has engaged the intention of his body. He noted that the pensions of many workers of companies that the GMSA represents have been tied up in Clico (Guyana) and that this was of tremendous concern to the body.

Efforts to solicit a comment from the directors on the whole issue have been unsuccessful. However, previously a source close to the directors told this newspaper that the legal battle is a complicated matter with many sides which persons do not understand. The source said too that the move to challenge the winding up of Clico was done in the best interest of the clients and was not a malicious act.  It was said too that while the government gave a guarantee to the company’s clients, it has not outlined how this will be done. This is a matter of concern to the directors, this newspaper was told.

This newspaper was also told that the “propriety of the proceedings that led to the winding up order” needed to be scrutinized since it was not done according to the laws of Guyana.

Clico (Guyana) invested $6.9 billion (US$34 million) in Clico (Bahamas) which represented 53 per cent of the local company’s assets. Although these investments were liquid on paper, subsequent investigations revealed that this sum was tied up in real estate investments that Clico (Bahamas) had in Florida through subsidiaries. When Clico (Bahamas) was ordered liquidated on February 24 last year, the local company was subsequently placed under judicial management.  After a review of the company’s affairs, the judicial manager, Maria van Beek, then recommended that the company be wound up. (Stabroek News)

Fresh speculation has emerged in the United States that prosecutors there are preparing extradition requests for more Jamaicans linked to reputed drug kingpin Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

For the second time since Coke was arrested and extradited to the US, prosecutors have placed sealed documents related to the case in the vault of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The latest filing took place on Monday and, as usual, prosecutors gave no explanation as to what is contained in the sealed document. A similar sealed document had been placed in the vault in mid-July.

At that time, legal sources in the US dismissed claims that the sealed document could be any plea deal involving Coke, who is facing a lengthy prison sentence if convicted of charges of conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs and trafficking in firearms.

Possible indictments

According to the legal sources, the sealed documents could be indictments of those individuals who assisted Coke during the 10 months that the Jamaican Government delayed his extradition from Jamaica.

“It could also be a product of the Department of Justice investigation into the Manatt FARA filings,” a US-based attorney said.

The Jamaican Government had spent months haggling with its American counterpart over issues related to the extradition request.

During that time, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), sanctioned by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, reportedly contracted the US law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips to engage the Americans to “settle a treaty dispute” related to the request.

Coke, who was extradited to the US in June, returns to court on September 7 for a pretrial conference. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer

The head of the body representing rank-and-file police personnel across the island has accused the Government of “blatant corruption” and support of criminals at the expense of those tasked with enforcing the law.

Addressing the Police Federation’s 67th annual joint central conference at the Sunset Jamaica Grande in St Ann yesterday, Sergeant Raymond Wilson told delegates that the Bruce Golding administration had shown scant regard for the welfare of the organisation’s members and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) on a whole.

“We are forced to contend with an employer, the Government of Jamaica, whose motive seems hell-bent on destroying the police force in an effort to steer away the nation’s attention from their blatant political corruption and clear support for (a) criminal terrorist under the cloak of party support rather than they being the Government,” Wilson, the chairman of the federation, declared yesterday to a supportive audience.

He was reacting to the ongoing controversy surrounding the extradition of ousted Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke and the accompanying revelations about the governing Jamaica Labour Party’s engagement of a US law firm to lobby on his behalf.

Not political

“This might sound like a political speech but I guarantee you that it is not,” Wilson declared. “We are police officers who are alerted one way or another to wrongdoing wherever it is and so, to hear the employer of the police through the voice of the prime minister of Jamaica declare that a certain support for fugitive ‘Dudus’ Coke was party support and not government support, it can only be concluded that the Government, or might I say, a political party, has openly declared that they offer support to the creation of mayhem and years of bloodshed; the snuffing out of over 1,000 lives each year over the last couple of years.”

The federation chairman, who was in a militant mood, questioned whether it was by chance that the police were underpaid, deprived of the most modern technologies, kept in pigsty facilities, and worked beyond normal working hours as stipulated by International Labour Organization conventions. He also argued that the Government had “blatantly refused to enact legislation that attack power and financial bases” that lend support to criminality in Jamaica.

“We are police officers and, upon hearing the prime minister declaring that it was the party and not the Government who provided support to this (alleged) fugitive, we were simply alerted to some wrongdoing. This declaration has answered the question; it is not by chance,” he said.

In the meantime, addressing outstanding wage and fringe benefits due to police, Wilson said the island’s lawmen must be paid and the federation would not be daunted in its effort to ensure this was done.

Wilson said Government should address the salary issue for the police with the same attention it paid to the Coke matter.

In his address, National Security Minister Dwight Nelson, who was not present for Wilson’s comments on the Government’s relationship with Coke, gave those in attendance the assurance that he was determined to find a way to achieve a final result in the salary issue.

Nelson said he recognised the demonstration of fortitude and professionalism exhibited by JCF members who, despite grave and severe concerns, continue to work hard and be examples of dedication and sacrifice.

“I submit that solutions have to be found to your concerns. I assure you that my voice will not remain silent on behalf of you,” he said. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Emergency personnel rush a young girl, who was rescued from the roof of the Kingston Public Hospital, downtown Kingston, into the facility’s accident and emergency unit yesterday. - photos by Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer

The girl is restrained in the fire truck bucket.

Bystanders look on as firefighters and the police lower the teen to the ground.

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Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

One of the more positive traits of humanity glimmered at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) yesterday when a troubled teen, teetering on the edge of death, was saved by the swift action of a group of young policemen.

The lawmen, high-powered weapons in tow, rushed to the top of the institution and secured the 13-year-old who stood precariously on the roof, seemingly ready to jump.

A weeping female security guard told The Gleaner that the child fled to the slanted roof after being harassed by another patient.

It was the security guard’s colleague who would be one of the first on the roof to save the traumatised teen.

Professionalism and care were on full display as the girl was subdued by the trio of constables, Greg Joseph, Dameon Burrell and Kevin Dilworth, who waited with her until an ambulance arrived on the scene.

Yesterday’s incident once again brought into sharp focus the need for security rails to be constructed at the facility.

At least five persons have attempted to jump from the building over the past three years, not including wounded prisoners hoping to escape the long arm of the law.

Even nurses, who were ’sick’ and scarce at the hospital yesterday, cast aside their financial cares to lend a helping hand on an evening when the crowd stood mute. This was in stark contrast to two years ago when a man of unsound mind was urged to jump from the high-rise structure by a mob.

Different mood

Yesterday’s event was a far cry from those days, and a scene that inspired hope, as it was not only those tasked with aiding the sick and wounded who immediately jumped to help.

It was a porter who first reached the roof and hovered over the girl.

As an alarm rang out, Ricardo Anderson, a security guard, rushed to assist the patient porter.

The police then arrived and carefully handcuffed the girl to make sure she could not jump.

They all stayed on the roof until fire truck arrived.

With the ever-growing crowd standing by, their eyes fixed on the scene, firemen raised the bucket on the truck, wrapped the child and gently lowered her to the ground as applause rang out.

A long suspense-filled moment passed before the child was released from the fire truck, and whisked into the accident and emergency unit, as the curious crowd descended with their cellphone cameras working overtime. (Jamaica Gleaner)

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday there was no kickback in the award of an $83 million contract to HP for the provision of 24,000 laptops to students entering secondary school this month.

“I can assure you there has been no kickback to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, or to anyone in Trinidad and Tobago. That I can give you the assurance on. So whatever is happening there, I’m sure there will be investigations according to law,” Persad-Bissessar said at the Crown Point Airport, after she arrived for her Government’s four-day workshop.

She made the comment in response to a report yesterday that Hewlett-Packard, who Government awarded an $83 million contract to supply Trinidad and Tobago with 24,000 fully loaded laptops for distribution to SEA students, recently had to fork over US$55 million (TT$350m) to settle charges that it paid kickbacks to companies that recommend its products to the United States government.

Persad-Bissessar also said statements being made about the award of the contract had worried her.

“I have been very concerned about this laptop issue and we will be putting out further information to explain why HP was chosen. I see people sending out things that we can buy an HP for $300, and we are paying $400 or $500. We are not just buying an HP we are buying a package that will give a guarantee for damage, loss or repair. Secondly the firewalls that will go up and thirdly the software that will go into the HP.

“So it’s not just you buying a flat HP with the normal windows, it’s far more than that and my Minister of Education will be taking some time to explain why it cost more than if you walked into the United States and bought one.”

The Prime Minister continued, “You have to ship it here first of all, secondly we have to load it to make it ready for our students here in Trinidad and Tobago. For my Government here, I can guarantee you there has been no pay off, no kickback and if there is, let the law take its course.” (Trinidad Express)

Volney:

By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com

Criminals who are faced with the death penalty should be hanged in Woodford Square, says Minister of Justice Herbert Volney.

Volney was speaking to the Express yesterday, after arriving in Tobago for the People’s Partnership’s four-day workshop.

Volney said he is back to work and “ready to kick ball” after undergoing heart bypass surgery in June.

Questioned on the death penalty and whether he supported it, Volney said, “I am not opposed in principle to hanging persons, but it has to be in respect to brutal and heinous crimes.”

He said sometimes there are crimes of passion and he does not believe a person should be hanged for this. Persons who kill a child, an elderly person, a police officer or prison officer, he said, should be hanged.

Works and Transport Minister Jack warner was the first Government Minister to start lobbying for the resumption of hangings. In fact, Warner has been able to get Attorney General Anand Ramlogan to set up a committee to look into the issue of resuming hangings.

However, not all party members are in favour. Most recently, Minister of trade and Industry Stephen Cadiz said he was not in favour of returning to the hangman. Before him, social activist Verna St Rose Greaves also said she would consider leaving the party if her Government resumed the practice.

Yesterday, Volney was very vocal about hangings, saying they should be a public affair.

“Persons should be hanged in Woodford Square, 6 or 7 a.m. in the morning. The people should see the hangings take place, they need to feel the fear of God and have fear for the law,” he said.

Volney, a former High Court Judge, said the process in the Court of Appeal is too slow and it is not producing as fast as it should. He said this is another aspect the Ministry of Justice will be working on.

The Ministry of Justice is a new ministry created by the People’s Partnership Government. Yesterday, Volney admitted his ministry was not full operational yet.

“We haven’t moved to our headquarters yet. We’re having some difficulty as there is no UDeCOTT board in place yet, but we have a core group of lawyers working in the ministry performing the task of transforming the criminal justice system. We are working and I am well advanced in dealing with the probe into the Uff report,” he said.

Questioned on his expectation for the national budget, he said, “I expect it will be a people’s budget. I want to make sure Tobago has an efficient and swift criminal justice system.” (Trinidad Express)