Moontown

By Akile Simon

ROMAN CATHOLIC priest, Fr Reginald Hezekiah, has lashed out at Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s plan to carry out the death penalty.

The contentious issue of returning to the hangman was first raised by Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner. The issue was supported by members of the public, several of Warner’s colleagues and most recently Justice Minister Herbert Volney, who last week called for the hangings to be done in public.

Speaking during mass at the St Charles’ RC Church in Tunapuna on Sunday evening, however, Hezekiah said it was morally incorrect for Persad-Bissessar’s Government to decide to hang convicted murderers.

He said previously, Persad-Bissessar quoted scriptures from the Old and New Testaments to support the death penalty, but it appeared she was now in need of a copy of the Bible and someone to read it for her.

Not all the laws of the land are in keeping with God’s will and commandments, Hezekiah told the congregation.

“We hearing all kinds of arguments. ‘Break their necks, they kill people, pop their necks. Why we spending all this set of money keeping them (murderers) in jail and they would never change’. Our Prime Minister saying, the Old Testament says ‘an-eye-for-an-eye and a-tooth-for-a-tooth’. Then she continues … the New Testament says, ‘forgive… It’s our choice’. It’s not our choice! We need to teach her the Bible, okay. We need to send her a Bible, because that’s not what the Bible says,” Hezekiah told the congregation.

“Jesus said, in the Old Testament in the former times, he said, that ‘an-eye-for-an-eye and a-tooth-for-a tooth’, but he says, ‘I say to you, love your enemies. Love one another as I have loved you.’ This is what he said. ‘I give you a new commandment’.”

During Government’s retreat in Tobago last week, Persad-Bissessar added her voice to the ongoing issue by saying the death penalty by hanging is the law of the land and the People’s Partnership Government will abide by that law.

“Should we resume hangings? Should we not resume hangings? It is the law of the land. For the time being, that is the law of the land, as far as we can we will abide by the rule of law and implement the law of Trinidad and Tobago,” the Prime Minister said.

Also in Tobago, Persad-Bissessar said she was unhappy that her ministers were discussing the issue in public. Yesterday, her mandate seemed to have been followed as Warner refused to answers questions on hanging during the unveiling of four new water taxis.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s statement, he said he would concede to her wish for no more public debating on it, but that his stance remained the same.

On Sunday, Hezekiah said several laws of the land were not in accordance with God’s teachings and when the time comes, those responsible for such breaches will have to answer.

“Because something is the law of the land doesn’t mean it’s morally correct. We need to understand that. Very often, history would tell us that we have to go against laws that were passed by governments,” Hezekiah said. (Trinidad Express)

Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley is not buying Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s statement that neither she nor the People’s Partnership manifesto ever promised to reduce the pensionable age to 60 years.

“What the Prime Minister is trying to do is revise the election campaign,” Rowley said yesterday.

“The Prime Minister is taking the population for fools, because we all took part in the election campaign or followed the campaign. I don’t know why they think they could fool us on this issue.

“What they said, what was recorded, what was offered, was quite clear. What the Prime Minister is saying now is quite different, and is untruthful and disappointing. And it is an attempt to get away from a commitment that they made and one that they now feel that they have to back away from. Nothing will change that.”

Noting that Persad-Bissessar was saying “it wasn’t me” (who made the pension promise), Rowley said that statement simply said that what she was saying as an individual, was different from what the party said.

“The Prime Minister is not separate and apart from her party or her Government. According to her line of reasoning, since we can deal with what she said as against what the party said, we can now expect 29 different positions from the People’s Partnership members of Parliament, because they each can speak about what they said individually.

“And that is the kind of foolishness that is being offered as governance. We don’t accept it and we would hold them to the commitment they made.”

Rowley said he was disappointed that the Prime Minister could “so openly and nakedly” associate herself with statements made by her press secretary Garvin Nicholas. And they are both saying the same thing which can be easily refuted”.

He said there was no difficulty or confusion arising out of the People’s Partnership election advertisement which appeared making this very pledge the Prime Minister is now trying to disassociate herself from.

“There was no confusion. It was a clearly understood position, accepted and committed and understood. It is crystal clear what it was all about. They are trying to revise the election campaign,” he said.

Stating that the promise to reduce the pensionable age to 60 was not made “en passant”, he asked: “How do they expect to escape from that?”

“It all boils down now to ‘can we trust these people’ and the answer is no,” he said, adding that it was time that Government owned up to what they had offered to the electorate, but failed to honour. (Trinidad Express)

Rowley, economists puzzled by Kamla’s ‘no new taxes’

By Ria Taitt

People should not prepare themselves for lower land and building taxes.

“You mark my words. The same thing that happen with the pension will happen with the property tax,” a highly sceptical Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley said yesterday.

“But I will await the budget (tomorrow) to see what it says,” he added.

He was asked to comment on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s announcement that the land and building tax would be reduced and there would be a moratorium on the payment of these taxes for this fiscal year (2010).

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Persad-Bissessar stated that Government was reverting to land and building taxes, and that Cabinet had decided to lower the land and building taxes because the former People’s National Movement administration had revalued lands and the prices were increased.

“So even going back to the old land and building taxes, people will be paying more. So what we decided to do is we’ll lower the rates. So we are lowering the land and building taxes… (And) for 2010 there will be no (land and building) taxes, we are not going retroactive… we will begin from 2011, so you have a moratorium for 2010 in a sense,” she said.

However, the statement has puzzled Rowley. Yesterday, he noted that three months after assuming office, the Government still had not repealed the Property Tax Act, which it had promised to do. “The lower rate of land and building taxes (to which the Prime Minister is referring) is to lower to what?” he asked.

He said her statement did not say whether the valuations (done under the PNM) would be altered. He called on the Prime Minister to explain whether it would be a lower rate on a higher (valuation) figure.

On the moratorium, he said the question had to be asked why, in a budget in which Government was stating that it was hard-pressed to find money, it would give away a $100 million in revenues forgone from this year “on a tax that everybody is accustomed to paying”—land and building taxes.

“So the more they try to become smart, the more they are playing the fool, with foolishness and all because they would not speak the truth. So don’t be surprised if they come with another argument saying we didn’t promise so and so… on the property tax. They are just not to be trusted,” he said.

“Given the position that the Prime Minister has taken and is taking with respect to the commitment on old age pension, where truth and commitment seem to be in short supply, I will wait to see exactly what is put in the budget (with regard to the property tax).

“I would not be surprised if they take the same approach to property tax as they took with the old age pension—which is to attempt to hoodwink the population outside of an election campaign. It is only from that understanding that one can appreciate what the Prime Minister said about the pension and what this very confusing statement about the property tax (means).”

An economist yesterday said with Government very hard-pressed to earn revenues next year, with oil revenues down and VAT down, he was very surprised that in spite of this, it was talking about leaving a potential source of revenue untapped and of reducing that revenue.

“All I can say is that they are probably confident that they would put a more efficient tax administration in place. If that happens, non-oil taxes could double and this could be an answer to the revenue problem they are facing,” the economist, who requested anonymity, said, adding that this was one of the goals of the Revenue Authority.

Contacted yesterday as well, former finance minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira said she had no idea what the Prime Minister was talking about. She said the PNM government had already reduced the rate of the taxes on property to three per cent across the board. (The updated valuation, however, raised the quantum of the tax).

“Is the Prime Minister saying that the rate would be lower than three per cent?” Nunez-Tesheira asked.

She said the Government was playing smart with foolishness and trying to bamboozle people. Nunez-Tesheira, who recalled that she was consistently referred to as “tax-sheira’, said she always knew that Government would not remove taxes on property. She said whether one called it “land and building tax” or “property tax”, a “rose by any other name, was still a rose”.

“Whether they call it land, building or property tax, it is a tax on property and there is a relationship between the tax and the valuation of the property… They must think the people are so gullible… This is an indication that they did not understand the responsibility of governance,” she said.

She said after taking a policy position against the property tax, Government has spent months “hemming and hawing”, rather than “abolishing” it.

The property tax, which was passed under the last government, saw a proposed increase in revenue from land taxes as a consequence of the revaluation of properties. The measure, which was highly unpopular, was one of the major contributors that led to the defeat of the last administration. The People’s Partnership promised to rescind the tax.(Trinidad Express)

TOURIST ARRIVALS to Barbados for the first half of this year rose 9.9 per cent higher than in the same period in 2009.

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TOURIST ARRIVALS to Barbados for the first half of this year rose 9.9 per cent higher than in the same period in 2009.

According to figures from the Barbados Statistical Service, a provisional 289 967 visitors came to the island between January and June this year, compared to 263 849 last year.

The greatest increase in arrivals came from Canada, which produced 62 607 tourists. This compares to 37 570 visitors in 2009 and represents a 66.6 per cent increase.

Arrivals from the United States moved up by 22.6 per cent, from 56 945 in 2009 to 69 793 this year.

Meanwhile, 5.5 per cent more visitors from Trinidad and Tobago arrived during the six-month period.

The figures show that while 12 064 came in 2009, 12 727 chose Barbados this year.

However, arrivals from other CARICOM countries declined by 5.4 per cent, from 29 685 for the first half of 2009 to 28 090 during the comparable period this year.

There was a 12.2 per cent decline in the number of tourists from the United Kingdom, with 88 443 arriving for the period under review this year as opposed to 100 704 in 2009.

Declines were also evident in the number of visitors from Germany and other European countries, which saw declines of 6.7 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively.

In addition, cruise passenger arrivals (those who did not permanently disembark in Barbados) amounted to 368 327 in 2010 compared to 347 255 last year – an increase of 6.1 per cent.

However, the number of landed passengers (those who permanently disembarked in Barbados, including direct-transit or transfer passengers, tourists and Barbadian residents) declined by 25.4 per cent. (NB) (Nation News)

HANSCHELL INNISS GENERAL MANAGER Gareth Narinesigh recently revealed that the company was “forced” to drop its prices in order to keep up with the competition.

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HANSCHELL INNISS GENERAL MANAGER Gareth Narinesigh recently revealed that the company was “forced” to drop its prices in order to keep up with the competition.
However, Narinesigh said he expected that the price of some imported products could rise between now and Christmas.
In an interview with BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY during a recently held trade show at the Savannah Hotel – Hanschell and Langston Roach Industries Expo – Narinesigh said: “We have been forced to drop some of our margins to try to fight with our competitors and they have to do the same thing to fight with us . . . to try and get that business from out there which has shrunk.
“We have not compromised quality but we also have to see if there are substitutes from selected brands, and we try them.
“In some cases we even have to negotiate for a better price to help us and to help some of the distributors in the market,” he said.
He noted the company was trying its best to provide the best quality at affordable prices through “prudent” sourcing of products. He said, however, there had been an increase in the price of certain products over the last 18 months or so.
“Up until the middle of this year we found that our average retail prices have actually gone down.
“What we do is that every time we go to purchase, we try to get at least two or three quotes. . . . We have been very prudent to source our products from the most economical producer.
“What we have seen happen in the past six weeks or so is that the prices of some products have been going up . . . we are anticipating, unfortunately between now and Christmas, some price increases – not across the board, but in certain items such as imported meat.
“I don’t think it would affect the local products right now,” said the general manager of the 120-year-old company. (MM) (Nation News)

BARBADOS’ reputation as a safe tourist destination is being compromised, says the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).

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By: GERALYN EDWARD

BARBADOS’ reputation as a safe tourist destination is being compromised, says the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).

And last Friday night’s robbery and arson in Tudor Street, Bridgetown, that killed six young women has been described by BCCI president Anthony Armstrong as a wake-up call.

“One of the key factors for the tourism industry in Barbados is safety,” he said yesterday.

“We pride ourselves on being a safe society and we sell this idea to our visitors. While one incident, however terrible, does not destroy this state, there are other worrying signs that we are not as safe a country as we once were. We cannot afford to be complacent.”

The businessman said that while people were aware that gruesome killings happened in other countries, most Barbadians “would have felt that it couldn’t happen here. Sadly, we now know that it can”.

Armstrong said the BCCI had started efforts to revive Bridgetown as a centre for cultural, sporting, culinary and commercial activities during the day and at night.

However, safety and cleanliness of The City were identified as critical issues that required urgent attention, if the plan to have increased activity in Bridgetown were to succeed.

Noting that the BCCI’s Revitalisation of Bridgetown Project, started two years ago, had been a slow process, Armstrong said all stakeholders had to be “aligned” on the issue.

He said it continued to push the process, and the first two projects were increased street lighting and the installation of closed-circuit television cameras on several streets.

However, Armstrong noted that several “procedures” had to be followed before the CCTVs could be installed.

“On the issue of lighting, we are confident that funds can be accessed to improve this and we will be working closely with the relevant Government departments to ensure that this happens in a short time frame.”

Armstrong also joined the call for the urgent implementation of a building code and urged businesses to review their emergency arrangements. (Nation News)

As Barbados’ police detectives search for the killers responsible for the deadly firebombing of a Bridgetown store, New York’s top cop is offering to help with the investigation.

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By: TONY BEST

As Barbados’ police detectives search for the killers responsible for the deadly firebombing of a Bridgetown store, New York’s top cop is offering to help with the investigation.

Raymond Kelly, Police Commissioner for almost a decade, told the Daily Nation that his experts would be prepared to meet with Bajan investigators.

“We certainly would be willing to meet with [Barbados law enforcement personnel], and talk about some of the tactics and strategies that have proved helpful to us here,” Kelly said in Brooklyn.

With serious crimes, including homicides, now at a 20-year low across the city, the Police Commissioner said that the crime wave now sweeping Caribbean islands and coastal states was a source of worry for the city because of its impact on the five boroughs.

“We do see violence in certain Caribbean countries and sometimes it spreads here in New York City,” he said. “I don’t think we necessarily have the answers to the Caribbean (problem). We are always struggling with crime here. Crime is down here to record lows, but one crime is one crime too many, particularly when it comes to the victims.”

As for assistance to the wider Caribbean, Barbados included, Kelly said that senior officials of the NYPD often met with representatives of Caribbean police departments to discuss what “we are doing . . . .”

Kelly cautioned authorities and others against declaring victory when crime statistics fall because “crime is a constant issue, not something you can take your eye off.”

Meanwhile New York City Police detective Leroy Hutchinson, a former president of the Barbados Ex-Police Association, said that the killing of women in the Tudor Street incident was a clear indication of the shifting nature of crime in Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean and urged a frontal and systematic assault on it before it got worse.

“The killings in Bridgetown were shocking, unheard of in a country like Barbados,” said the Bajan. “We were horrified when we first heard about it because we would never have believed that something as horrible as that could have occurred in Barbados.” (Nation News)