Moontown

Sisters Oya (left) and Misha Thompson giving their induction remarks.

By Mike King

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart says the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has a stellar record that can compare with that of any Caribbean political institution.

And, according to Stuart, his Government has so many plans in place to advance this country, it will require four terms in office.

Stuart made these disclosures at an induction ceremony for party members before a standing room audience at its George Street headquarters in Belleville, Wednesday night.

This country’s seventh Prime Minister told the more than 500 inductees that the DLP intended to remain in power to complete its objectives.

“In fact, our dreams are so big that we need about four terms to do it and we have the manpower and the womanpower to realize the objectives which we have set for ourselves.

“You are not joining the DLP tonight [Wednesday], as it were, to jump on any bandwagon. There is hard work to do,” he said.

Misha and Oya, two of the three daughters of late Prime Minister David Thompson, were among the inductees.

“Like our father, the former leader of this party, we intend to fully participate in the political process with all our energy,” Misha said.

“We want to give the assurance that as young people we will continue to hold the name of the Democratic Labour Party in high esteem as proud new members,” Oya said.

The party’s activities continue today at George Street with a lunchtime lecture by founding member Sir Frederick Smith. (Nation News)

Opposition leader Owen Arthur feels that Barbadians are being mislead by the Government. (FP)

By Yvette Best

Opposition leader Owen Arthur said yesterday there was a “mission of propaganda” to make Barbadians feel good about the economy which had declined and not grown.

Speaking to hundreds of Barbados Labour Party members and supporters at the annual Heroes Day picnic on the Ermy Bourne Highway, Arthur said he had information of emergency meetings held in “recent weeks” with the Central Bank, the Department of Statistics and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

“The Department of Statistics now has information that will show that rather than there having been growth in Barbados in 2010. . .  that the economy has declined . . . ,” Arthur said.

Arthur said Barbadians were being fed a diet of misinformation “causing you to feel that all is well and the economy is growing”.

He said the meetings were taking place, and that the Statistical Department was in fact telling the Government that the economy has declined, and that it was a serious matter “because the Government was beginning to believe its own propaganda”.

Arthur said he needed to hear when the Government would put things right with the people who had invested in CLICO.

Referring to the contributions made by the ten National Heroes, Arthur described Prime Minister Freundel Stuart as an “anti-hero”.

“I’m sure that all of you [who] heard Freundel Stuart speak would have had to come to the conclusion that it might have been better had he not spoken and left you to continue to wonder why he is silent, than to speak and to leave you to have no doubts as to what kind of person that he is,” Arthur said to loud approval from his supporters.

Arthur said Stuart was seemingly unable to speak on certain issues, and because heroes Sir Frank Walcott,  Sir Grantley Adams and Sir Hugh Springer were part of the labour movement, he had to raise certain issues on their behalf.

He said the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) must be the heroes of the times by talking about the wrongs. (Nation News)

Denis Kellman is ready for any post the Prime Minister has for him. (FP)

By Mike King | Fri, April 29, 2011 - 9:30 AM

Denis Kellman, who has been described by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart as a highly valued member of his team, says he is willing to accept any Cabinet post that will benefit the country.

Kellman said he was delighted the Prime Minister had a lot of confidence in him.

“We [the country] have to reverse a lot of things and we have to do it within a short time. So whatever [the Prime Minister] thinks I can help him propel and I can enhance him, I am quite prepared to do.”

In a nationally televised interview on Tuesday night, the Prime Minister said Kellman was a loyal member who had to be accommodated in the Cabinet, adding that those “details were being worked out at the moment”. Stuart said Kellman, just 36 when he became Member of Parliament for St Lucy in 1994, had been there through “thick and thin” and would not be returning to the back bench.

On January 4, Kellman was sworn in as Minister of the Environment, Water Resources, and Drainage, after the incumbent minister Denis Lowe was hospitalized.

Kellman said Stuart was fully aware of his loyalty to the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP).

“The Prime Minister knows that I am committed to the party and the country. He would see that as important . . . . ,” he said.

Kellman said he was excited about the challenge that his current ministerial responsibility brought, especially in relation to the environment.

“The Ministry of Environment is one of the most important ministries within the Government. One has to recognize that garbage is not garbage anymore; it is now regarded as a resource and the environment of the country is very important when one considers that we are now in the service industry . . . .

“Not only that, the Ministry of Environment has synergies with the Ministry of Agriculture; it has synergies with the Ministry of Housing, Tourism, Transport and Finance. It is a very integral ministry,” he said (Nation News)

Minister Donville Inniss is calling for action to be taken agains PSV owners. (FP)

By Carlos Atwell

Member of Parliament for St James South Donville Inniss wants Public Service Vehicle (PSV) owners to be penalized for the actions of their drivers.

Inniss, speaking during his constituency’s Easter Monday celebrations on Wanstead pasture, St Michael, said he had many concerns brought to him from his constituents about PSVs so it was time to “hit them where it hurts most”.

“I am very concerned about the lawlessness of PSV’s and if left to me, many of the owners and drivers would be locked up,” he said.

Inniss said there was no excuse for the “recklessness” nor the “carnage” on the roads some PSV drivers were responsible for which he said cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars as well as loss of life and turmoil to families.

Inniss, also the Minister of Health, told the WEEKEND NATION that while the Queen Elizabeth Hospital would continue to treat those injured in accidents on the roads, he believed it was time insurance companies paid something back to the state.

“If someone gets into a serious accident they can spend six weeks in the hospital to the tune of a quarter million dollars. Our duty is to get the patient well not to focus on the cost or the circumstance, but it is my view that when these individuals claim for damages the QEH should also claim,” he declared.

Inniss said he was not penalizing insurance companies but it had to be recognized that the hospital also needed to get its fair share.

He said he blamed the public service system for not having the necessary mechanism for such action, adding he had instructed the QEH to improve its systems to accommodate it.

In addition, Inniss said he was concerned over the number of times medical insurers were cancelling policies and the number of policies with fixed maximum amounts.

People needed to be more aware of the fine print, he added. (Nation News)

Audley Shaw, Minister of Finance. - File

Finance minister to outline revenue measures today

Portia wants GCT rollback

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner WriterThe public glare is expected to beam down on Finance Minister Audley Shaw today as he outlines to the nation how the Bruce Golding administration plans to finance the $544.7-billion Budget.

Members of the public are expected to have their ears and eyed fixed to Shaw’s opening Budget presentation to find out if workers who have been subjected to wage freeze over the past two years would be asked to fork out more for additional taxes.

However, most financial analysts believe there will be no new taxes.

“The revenue for the past fiscal year was roughly $350 million and it does not take much to move to $375-$380 million, so I don’t see a problem as long as we maintain a hold on the expenditure side,” declared financial analyst John Jackson at a recent Gleaner Editors’ Forum, as he argued it would be unlikely Shaw would impose new taxes.

Shaw has already served notice that he is determined to keep a disciplined eye on the coffers and if this is done, the financing could be a walk in the park.

But already the Opposition, which staged a walkout of the Standing Finance Committee after a row with the Government, is making its voice heard on the Budget.

In a pre-emptive strike, Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller yesterday called on the Government to roll back general consumption tax (GCT) on consumer goods.

She also said appropriate measures are to be undertaken to protect the poor, working, businesses and middle classes.

The opposition leader argued that a GCT rollback on consumer goods would be a way of alleviating the burden faced by businesses and consumers.

“The Opposition notes that Jamaica is currently going through one of its most difficult economic periods, with 14 consecutive quarters of negative growth, the loss of over 100,000 jobs and the imposition of a wage freeze for public-sector workers,” said Simpson Miller, in a media release.

“This has taken place within the context of rising petrol and electricity costs,” she added.

Simpson Miller said the Opposition would be watching the finance minister’s presentation closely and vowed to continue to be the advocate for the businesses, consumers and the less fortunate in our society.

But even without the strident tones of the Opposition ringing, there are some major issues with which the Government will inevitably have to contend.

With fuel prices soaring and the Bruce Golding administration pressured to trim the ad valorem tax on the commodity, it is expected that Shaw will be steering clear of any fuel tax this year.

Meanwhile, major cigarette manufacturer, the Carreras Group, has been howling over the last four years that it has been targeted.

Liquor producers have not been exactly silent on mounting taxes with the price tag on all alcoholic drink rising late 2010.

election budget

The Budget is already being dubbed by some detractors as an election Budget, allegations that have been dismissed by the governing Jamaica Labour Party.

The $544.7 billion to be spent this year is $47.1 billion more than the final figure of $497.6 billion for the 2010-2011 financial year.

Broken down, Shaw will be spending $352 billion for housekeeping expenses, up from the $338.7 billion he spent last year.

The finance minister plans to spend $193 billion on buildings, roads, machinery and other capital projects, reflecting a 21 per cent hike over last year’s capital projects.

Today, Shaw is also expected to tell impatient civil servants and other public-sector workers just how the outstanding amount owed to them would be treated. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Elton Elombe Mottley being congratulated by his niece Mia Mottley. (Umoja Rock)

By John Sealy

Culturalist Elton Elombe Mottley was awarded the Clement Payne National Hero Award 2011 in a ceremony at the Clement Payne Cultural Centre Crumpton Street, St. Michael Wednesday.

The award is presented on an annual basis by the Cultural Payne Movement “to outstanding citizens of Barbados and the Caribbean whose lives and careers exemplify the spirit and mission” of Clement Payne who is one of Barbados’ national heroes.

Organisers said Mottley was given the “award  because of his ground breaking and revolutionary contribution to the cultural, artistic, social and psychological development of the Barbadian and Caribbean people over the past four and a half decades”. (Nation News)

Authorities are depending on a resurgence in local agriculture to help drive the price of “basic foods” down.Various government ministries, including the portfolios of Finance, Commerce and Agriculture are engaged in a comprehensive plan to ensure any ease Barbadians can get from high prices is made available to them.

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said this even in light of the fact that much of the high food prices paid here were due to occurrences overseas.

One solution which he said was being worked on involved expanding the basket of basic goods available to the public at lower costs, but beyond that eating and buying what was produced here would be a major focus.

“It is not a problem in respect of which we can afford to rest and the country can be assured that it is receiving the Government’s attention, the object being to keep basic foods within easy reach of the average consumer,” he said last night during a television interview.

“The Ministry of Agriculture is committed to re-establishing that very firm link between agriculture and food security. So that an eat local/buy local campaign deriving from the emphasis of the Ministry of Agriculture on encouraging people to get involved in more backyard farming and so on is going to be very much a part of the national strategy.”

“The Minister of Agriculture is committed to the pursuit of that strategy … and he has the Government’s full support. Obviously everybody who is faced with the acuteness of this problem doesn’t have the facilities at their disposal to practice backyard farming, but the more of this we can get across, given the good neighbourliness that exists between Barbadians historically and traditionally I think we can wrestle the problem to the ground,” he added.

If one thing was certain, Stuart noted, it was that Government would not be idle while consumers felt the pain of high prices.

“There exists a basket of basic food items put in place to deal with the issues of the cost of living. We inherited that basket and of course it is being looked at with a view of expanding it. Some items in the basket of course we noted are still subject to VAT. The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance are discussing those items that are subject to VAT and … we are trying to sensitise the population to decipher between wants and needs,” he stated.

“The cost of living is a very critical problem, especially where it relates to food, for example, and I think people are more concerned with food prices when they discuss the cost of living than with anything else. Of course the cost of living moves far beyond the cost of food, but this is where the debate normally takes place and one has to concede that globally there has been horrible rises in the commodity prices.” (SC) (Barbados Today)

(Picture by Maria Bradshaw.)

Hundreds of Barbadians lined up outside the Inland Revenue Department yesterday in a last-minute rush to file their taxes before the April 30 deadline.

The department had announced this year that all filing wouldl be done online, but yesterday security personnel were busy handing out tax forms to Barbadians.

Many people complained that they had no access to computers or that they could not remember their passwords, while others were there seeking assistance in filing.

As today is a bank holiday, many others are expected to descend on the department again on Friday, the last business day before the deadline. (Nation News)