By Kaymar Jordan

LEGENDARY CRICKETER Sir Garfield Sobers should not be referred to as National Hero.

This is the view of retired jurist Sir Frederick Smith who, in a SUNDAY SUN exclusive following Thursday’s commemoration of National Heroes Day, argued that the island’s highest honour should be reserved for people after they have died.“

Suppose a maid writes and says that [Sir Garry] didn’t pay her her wages and puts [him] in court or somebody out of spite did, it wouldn’t look good for a National Hero,” Sir Frederick explained.“I mean he [Sir Garry] might win the case but the point is that the idea that somebody, while he is alive, can accuse him, wrongly or rightly of some offence would bring the whole question into disrepute,” he added.

In the same vein, he questioned the late Sir Frank Walcott’s inclusion in the official list of ten National Heroes on the basis that he was named while he was alive.

Sir Frederick also said he was in a quandary over the naming of Sir Frank Worrell, whose image is replicated on the $5 note, since, in his estimation, no clear distinction had been made between “distinguished Barbadians” and “heroes who had advanced Barbados from being a village to an independent country”.

Despite the inclusion of Sarah Ann Gill, Sir Frederick also argued that nothing had been done to honour the contribution of white Barbadians.

“We haven’t got a white hero at all. You mean for all these 300-odd years we have been in existence, some white man didn’t do something prior to the riots in 1937?” he asked.

The other heroes are Sir Grantley Adams, Errol Walton Barrow, Bussa, Charles Duncan Oneal, Clement Payne, Samuel Jackman Prescod and Sir Hugh Springer.

Sir Frederick said while National Heroes Day was a nice idea, it was wrongly conceived for political purposes. He said going forward the people should have a greater say in the process.

The former Court of Appeal judge also said it was “complete foolishness” to have two public holidays for heroes as he called for the national celebration of the birthdays of Errol Barrow and Sir Grantley Adams to be meshed into one.

“Don’t put it [National Heroes Day] on either birthday if it is going to offend any party or anybody,” he suggested. “My view is that one holiday for everybody would be good. Even though that Barrow was the leader of the DLP [Democratic Labour Party], I feel that one holiday is enough.

“Our productivity is dropping and we need less holidays than we have, but we have two holidays for two sets of heroes – Barrow and Heroes Day. It’s complete foolishness,” Sir Frederick said. (Nation News)

By Maria Bradshaw

UNION BOSS Sir Roy Trotman says he is not prepared to side with either the Opposition or Government on the issue of the economy, but believes the present performance is quite clear.

In response to last Thursday’s statement by Opposition Leader Owen Arthur that the economy had not shown any growth last year, Sir Roy told the SUNDAY SUN: “I am not going to get involved in what is a purely political bit of fighting about who is telling the truth and who is not telling the truth.

“[But] the evidence is there for anybody to see,” he said.

“I think we only have to remind that we also can see, we also can read for ourselves and we have the benefit of all kinds of television news and radio news from across the world.”

Arthur said the Statistical Department now had information which would show that rather than there having been growth in Barbados in 2010, the economy in fact declined.

Government officials are yet to formally respond to his statements, even though there are off-the-record suggestions they are sticking to their guns that the economy registered growth last year, but are unwilling to get into a technical and possibly lengthy debate with Arthur right now.

Sir Roy also sought to steer clear of the debate but in light of the recent global recession he said: “We have to keep the effort going to work together. We have overcome the worse part of it, I think.”In this regard, he also welcomed the signing of a new Social Partnership agreement tomorrow.

Sir Roy told the SUNDAY SUN that while there would be no extraordinary changes to Protocol VI between Government, trade unions and the private sector, he was pleased about the reinforcement of values.“We have committed to an appreciation of and respect for  the Decent Work Agenda. We have reinforced the commitment to health and safety standards, according to the International Labour Office, and we will be looking at the question of social protection,”  he explained.

Sir Roy, who handed over the leadership of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados to veteran trade unionist Cedric Murrell last year, noted it would be the first protocol to be signed by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart since he assumed office.

He explained that Stuart had signed an extension of Protocol V last year while he was Acting Prime Minister. Murrell will also be signing for the first time, while Ben Arindell is expected to sign on behalf of the Barbados Private Sector Agency.

Sir Roy pointed out that while over the years there had been breaches of the protocols on all sides, the Social Partnership had done “extremely well in Barbados”.

He said: “I am sufficiently open-minded to say that I would not excuse the worker in that area and suggest that we are always, at every stage, honouring it, but I would say that we are not the major offender, not by any stretch of the imagination.”

He stressed: “The drive for riches, for profit, must be tempered with social responsibility and a commitment to social responsibility, and to building a society rather than only to building a profit.

“Whenever we reach that stage,” Sir Roy added, “I think the number of breaches will be reduced considerably.” (Nation News)

Changes are coming to the legal profession, says President of the Barbados Bar Association, Andrew Pilgrim.

“We are trying to make some changes to the Legal Profession Act that would allow us to have our members policed [better]… Right now people are not happy with how it’s being done and while the police and the Fraud Squad do their work in respect of certain things, we need to police our members and seem to police our members in a more prompt and expeditious manner. That’s one of the main things we’re looking at,” he told Barbados TODAY.

“We’re also looking at putting some pressure on the system in terms of forcing the courts and the Registry to work, forcing lawyers who are not pushing through their work, to work more quickly so that people can feel that the court is a place where they’ll have remedies. That’s the main thing.

“We want the people to feel that we as lawyers, are working for you and we want to be able to give you remedies quickly, whether you’re in a criminal position or a civil position,” Pilgrim said.

He also noted that the seven-member Disciplinary Committee was facing some challenges, one of which was staffing, which he explained was “very difficult” to do because members were not always available.

“When I last checked the committee had not held a sitting since November and we are almost into May, and every day people have complaints… You’re asking fellas to volunteer to deal with members of their own profession and they’re not remunerated for it, so obviously that’s going to break down.,” Pilgrim said. donnasealy@barbadostoday.bb; latoyaburnham@barbadostoday.bb† (Barbados Today)

President Colin Jordan made the disclosure this morning at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the organisation, the National Initiative for Service Excellence and the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, for the Hospitality Assured certification programme.

“We are looking at all the services we provide to our membership. Just to give an example, around 2007 when the recession really began to bite, the board of directors almost had an 180 degree change in focus. We spent most of our time looking at marketing initiatives. Before that, we didn’t spend as much time dealing with marketing,” he said at the signing, held at the BHTA’s Belleville, St. Michael headquarters.

“What also happened in 2008 is that the BTA relinquished responsibility for product clubs, and these were the groups that really focussed on … the niches within the market and the BHTA took that on. As a result of this change, in terms of dynamic and where our focus was, we recognised that we had to change to respond … and if we were going to be fulfilling our mandate, and the mandate for our members, we had to adjust…

“[So] we thought we would not do it in an ad hoc kind of way, but in a planned, systematic, well-thought through and executed way, and that’s what we are in the process of doing.”

He said he believed the BHTA secretariat should be at the helm of private sector initiatives to improve the tourism sector, adding: “We are very aware that often people who are asked to serve other people or work with other people because they do not have the tools and the systems within the organisations or at the level that will facilitate the people actually doing the job…”

Earlier in the press conference, Jordan stated that once the restructure was over, the BHTA would also undergo the Hospitality Assured certification. (LW)† (Barbados Today)

By Carlos Atwell

WESLEY HALL JUNIOR SCHOOL is ready for next week’s Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination.

Principal Maureen Reid declared this yesterday, saying the students had completed two simulation examinations and done a lot of practice papers, so she thought they were ready.

“We are hoping to best last year’s results. We had a fair average but we are hoping to improve,” she said.

Reid, was speaking after a visit by Member of Parliament for the City Patrick Todd. He was there to give the students a pep talk in preparation for the exam.

“You are the adults of tomorrow so do not engage in criminal behavior or Barbados will be doomed,” he told the children, adding the examination was nothing to be anxious about.

“Regardless of which school you are assigned, all of the secondary schools in Barbados have similarly well qualified teachers so have high self-esteem because there will be no failures come Tuesday,” Todd said. (Nation News )

While child abuse figures for the 2010-2011 period may be down when compared to the year before, Minister of Family Stephen Lashley said the numbers were still cause for concern.

It was a situation, he contended, that concerned not only his ministry, but the Child Care Board’s officials as well since there were 737 reported incidents of child abuse between April 1, 2010 and February 28, 2011, involving 1,061 children.

“Of this number 199 were referred for physical abuse, 151 for sexual abuse, 612 for neglect, 97 for emotional abuse and two children were abandoned.”

In relation to the cases of emotional abuse, he said the number only referred to reported cases, adding that all forms of abuse should be denounced.

When compared to the year before, director Joan Crawford noted that there was a slight decrease in the numbers.

“Last year, which was 2009 to 2010 we had a total of 1,251 reported cases. So we had a slight decline because our total for this year is 1,186. So there is a slight decline in the number of cases that are reported to us,” she stated.

The minister added: “The amount of child abuse cases is what is of concern, whether or not there is a comparative decline, the large amount is of grave concern to us at the … board because there really shouldn’t be any.”

Stating that there also needed to be some examination of the underlying reasons for child abuse, Lashley said: “We recognise of course at the Child Care Board that it must go beyond that; that we have to find creative ways of tackling the occurrence of child abuse.

“This is a problem that has to be confronted in a very multifaceted way. We do have the Division of Family within the ministry and of course we have mounted consistent programmes in relation to parenting,” said Lashley.

But, he noted, the issue needed more and last year they had convened a workshop on parenting along with a national protocol on child abuse.

One of the targets this year was to conclude the protocol to have an arrangement where there was a systemised method of reporting.

“This protocol I expect will be worked on and the … board has reported that it is one of the key priorities … and I would like to signal to Barbadians that this issue is one that must be addressed,” the minister noted. (LB) (Barbados Today)

NEW YORK (AP) — Prince William and Kate Middleton may have had a traditional wedding, but the Internet traffic that accompanied the ceremony was something very new for the Royal family.

Millions followed the affair in live streams on their computers, all the while commenting on social media sites. Among the many outlets webcasting the event was the Royal family itself, whose YouTube page offered live video and tweets from the prince’s official residence.

Akamai Technologies Inc., which delivers about 20 percent of the world’s Internet traffic, said that global page views peaked at nearly 5.4 million per minute this morning. That was good enough for the sixth largest amount of traffic ever, but well shy of the record of 10.4 million page views per minute set during the World Cup last year. (Jamaica Gleaner)

In this image taken from video, Britain’s Prince William, left, and his wife, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, walk down the aisle together at Westminster Abbey for the Royal Wedding in London on Friday, April, 29, 2011. (AP Photo/APTN)

LONDON (AP) — Tina Lannin, a professional lipreader who was born deaf, caught the private whispers during the royal wedding that television microphones couldn’t capture.

Lannin, who has worked for seven years as a forensic lipreader for police forces and media outlets with O’Malley Communications, picked out comments from Prince William, his bride and Queen Elizabeth II in a partial transcript. Her assessment couldn’t be verified.

10:20 a.m. — Prince William: “Looking forward to it.” To Harry, “shall we go in then?

Prince Harry: “Sure, everyone has arrived.”

William (to Bishop): “Make sure everything’s alright. It’s beautiful the way it is.”

10:25 a.m. — William to lady in congregation: “You look very pretty, very pretty.”

10:55 a.m. — Michael Middleton to Kate Middleton as they left hotel: “You okay?”

11:00 a.m. — Pippa Middleton to sister Kate: “You look amazing.”

Michael Middleton to Kate Middleton as they entered Westminster Abbey: “You okay?”

Kate Middleton to her father: “Yeah.”

11:05 a.m. — Kate to Bishop before walking down the aisle: “Yes I suppose so … I expect I’ll be worn out today. Thank you.”

Harry to William: “Right, here she is now.”

William to Middleton at the altar: “You look lovely …(unclear)… You look beautiful.”

William joking to Michael Middleton: “We’re supposed to have just a small family affair.”

12:00 a.m. — Queen Elizabeth II to Prince Philip: “It was excellent.”

Prince Philip: “Yes?”

12:15 a.m. — William to Kate Middleton: “Alright?”

Kate Middleton: “Yes.”

William: “Wish I was out.”

Kate Middleton: “I’m beginning to find (unclear).”

William: “Yeah, alright.” Hands bouquet to Kate after they climb aboard their carriage, “here you are.”

Kate Middleton: “Thank you.”

Kate Middleton: “Now, are you happy?”

William: “Yes … (unclear conversation) … wave to everybody.”

Outside abbey — queen: “I wanted them to take the smaller carriage.”

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: “It all went very well.”

Queen: “Very well.”

In wedding carriage — William: “I don’t think you should bow quite yet. I think you should just bow your head, okay?”

Kate Middleton: “Okay.”

William: “I hope I remember … It’s mad, it’s mad! Oh my goodness it … really loudly here (unclear) these people are clapping.”

Kate Middleton: “Did they?”

William: “I think so. I went out here the first (unclear).”

In separate carriage — Prince Charles: “Yeah it looked nice.”

Camilla: “Yes, but you have to know how to do it.”

In wedding carriage — Kate Middleton to William: “You look happy.”

1:30 p.m — On Buckingham Palace balcony, Kate Middleton: “Oh wow.”

William: “Alright? You’ll be okay?”

Kate Middleton: “Oh I’m fine, thank you.”

William: “Yeah! Yeah! There’s a lot of people down here.” To pageboys, “I know but look up there as well.” To his bride: “Okay? Look at me, let’s kiss, okay.”

William, shouting balcony: “Harry! Your go!”

Kate Middleton: “What’s next?”

William: “They want more time I think.”

William shouting across balcony, possibly to Camilla: “You could have brought up (unclear) as well.”

Camilla: “Oh, very heavy.”

William: “Just do a bit of everything. Do you like the balloons (unclear) they go up in the air.”

Kate Middleton: “Look at these people.”

William: “I want to see the plane, I think I’m (unclear).”

William to Harry: “Okay.”

William to pageboys: “…to stop them coming in here, to stop them coming in this side, I mean it’s hard.”

William to Kate Middleton: “One more.” The couple they kiss for a second time. “That’s it, come on!”(Jamaica Gleaner)

By Kenton X. Chance

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Dr Ralph Gonsalves of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) says he does not need permission from anyone to collaborate with his predecessor, Sir James Mitchell of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP).

Gonsalves and Mitchell recently discussed cocoa cultivation in SVG. Mitchell had, on behalf of the NDP, proposed cocoa cultivation during the campaign for the general elections last December.

The gentlemen have also “exchanged letters” about the Interaction Council’s work on a Declaration on Human Responsibilities to be dealt with at the United Nations.

NDP president and leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace said that Mitchell had not informed him or the NDP — which Sir James founded in 1975 — of his discussions with Gonsalves.

Eustace, however, said that he welcomes any benefit to SVG that comes from the collaboration between Gonsalves and Mitchell.

Gonsalves noted to Vincentians in Taiwan that together he and Mitchell have been prime minster of SVG for 26 years since it gained independence in 1979.

Gonsalves, who came to office in 2001, said that only he and Mitchell know what it is truly like to be prime minister.

Eustace was prime minister for five months before his party lost the March 2001 general elections after almost 17 years in office.

“I tell you, you do not understand the office of prime minister if you are prime minister for five months,” Gonsalves said last week.

“I don’t understand where this kind of vanity comes from. I certainly don’t require permission from anybody to talk to Sir James and I don’t think he requires permission from anybody to talk to me. I call up Mr. Eustace and talk to him. He is leader of the opposition. I don’t need permission from anyone,” Gonsalves added.

“The word prime before minister means something you know. … I am not being arrogant … but, as a leader, I must have room, some scope to manoeuvre and to talk to people I want to talk to. That’s why you are called leader,” he further said.

Gonsalves said that, while Mitchell, an agronomist, had raised the issue of cocoa during the elections, the NDP did not include the proposal in its manifesto.

“It came as an afterthought because Sir James raised it on the platform and it sounded interested and they caught on to it,” he said.

Gonsalves said that he had discussed cocoa production with Hotel Chocolate 18 months ago but the company was interested first “in dealing with St Lucia”.

After the elections Mitchell’s daughter spoke to Gonsalves and organised a meeting with Amajaro, a cocoa company with which Gonsalves was scheduled to meet during a trip to London this week.

“Amajaro has its own arrangements and how it does its work and so forth. But, we have to organise our matters in relations to cocoa properly – a cocoa association and all the rest of it,” Gonsalves said.

“Now, it says something about the fragility of the NDP leadership and their own sense of their own weakness that Sir James and I having conversations about matters that make them very skittish,” Gonsalves said, adding that he was not interested in the party’s “internal problems”.

He said he was willing to work together with Mitchell to the benefit of SVG, adding, “I don’t know what is going to happen on the cocoa project because we don’t know what the feasibility study will bring.”

The ULP thinks that cocoa could attract several hundred farmers but will not transform agriculture in the way the way that banana did.

“[C]ocoa is one of a number of commodities which they need to look at and have been looking at for the purposes of broadening the base of a diversified agriculture,” Gonsalves said. (Caribbean News Now) ]]> http://blog.moontownbarbados.com/2011/04/29/st-vincent-pm-defends-talks-with-predecessor/feed/ http://blog.moontownbarbados.com/2011/04/29/jamaican-government-ready-to-discuss-public-sector-wage-freeze/ http://blog.moontownbarbados.com/2011/04/29/jamaican-government-ready-to-discuss-public-sector-wage-freeze/#comments Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:36:00 +0000 admin http://blog.moontownbarbados.com/2011/04/29/jamaican-government-ready-to-discuss-public-sector-wage-freeze/     Email To Friend    Print Version

By Douglas McIntosh

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Jamaican government says it is now in a position to fully engage public sector leaders on issues relating to the outstanding seven percent salary increase owed to civil servants.

Opening the 2011/12 budget debate on Thursday, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, said this decision follows consultations between government officials and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the matter

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw

He stated that in recent discussions with public sector leaders, it was intimated to them that the government would consult with the IMF, with a view to reducing the length of the wage freeze and how to treat the arrears.

“The Financial Secretary recently held these consultations and reported to Cabinet on Tuesday of this week. Accordingly, the government is now in a position to fully engage the public sector leaders, as to precisely how the wage issue can be resolved,” he said.

Shaw pointed out that the government was cognizant of the “difficult times” which public sector workers have faced consequent on the institution of the freeze on April 1, 2009.

“It is well known that (the) wage freeze was…scheduled to last for three financial years, to March 31, 2012. We must point out, however, that even while we have had a wage freeze in the public sector, it is not an absolute freeze, as the usual increments, averaging 2.5 per cent of the wage bill, have been honoured over the past two years,” he explained. He noted that these increases amounted to $3 billion.

The finance minister pointed out, however, that any solution must be affordable and “not undermine the hard-won gains” made in stabilizing the economy.

He added that it must also take into account the provision in both the IMF agreement, and the government’s fiscal responsibility framework, to reduce the public sector wage bill/GDP ratio.

He said that discussions will be scheduled with public sector leaders, immediately after the close of the budget debate.

“I must stress, however, that the country is not out of the woods yet, and there needs to be a spirit of goodwill and compromise of give and take, as we enter, in earnest, into those discussions,” Shaw emphasised. (Caribbean News Now) ]]> http://blog.moontownbarbados.com/2011/04/29/jamaican-government-ready-to-discuss-public-sector-wage-freeze/feed/