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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 1/5/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Saturday 5thJanuary 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Saturday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS).

PORTVALE JOB CUTS MONDAY – The 2019 sugar cane harvest will start on a dire note, with layoffs starting on Monday and the country’s lone sugar factory not yet fit for operation. Reliable sources have informed THE NATION that the retrenchment of between 40 and 45 workers from next week could have a negative impact on the preparation process of this year’s harvest and how the Portvale factory in Blowers, St James, performs throughout the season. Scores of Barbados Agricultural Management Corporation (BAMC) employees were given option forms, offering voluntary separation, from mid-November last year. After the three to four-week Christmas break, workers who reported to work on Friday were told to go back home. (SS)

NO CASH FOR MOTHERS – A number of mothers are fuming at not being able to obtain child maintenance for the last few weeks. And Supreme Court Registrar Barbara Cooke-Alleyne has admitted that some administrative issues last month at the Holetown Court affected the payment of maintenance. A mother, speaking to THE NATION, said she went to the Holetown Magistrates’ Court twice to collect the money for her children last month, only to be turned away. “I was told to come back on Monday, after going last Friday. Prior to the Friday episode the . . . was telling the staff there not to pay out any money,” she said of her December experience. She was among several women who encountered the problem prior to, and during the Christmas season. (SS)

BUS BIND – Another strike by Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators when school re-opens next week could have a crippling effect on the country’s already unstable transportation system with a possibility that less than adequate number of state-owned Transport Board buses will be available for use. In fact, Transport Board Chairman, Gregory Nicholls told Barbados TODAY that they were grappling with an unpredictable fleet of buses, many crippled by old age. He indicated that in recent times the fleet was reduced to fewer than 75 buses, as he expressed hope that the ongoing impasse between PSV operators and the Ministry of Transport and Works could be resolved soon. PSV operators on Wednesday pulled their vehicles off the road in protest of a number of issues affecting them, the latest of which is a requirement by the Barbados Transport Authority that all PSV operators wear a new uniform bearing the authority’s logo. They have threatened that if there is no satisfactory resolution to their grievances come Monday or Tuesday, Barbados could really feel the pinch with stepped up action. Today, the Transport Board chairman said “If the PSV’s are having challenges and they pull their services off the road, the disruption would naturally affect not only operations at the transport board by putting pressure on us, but would also affect people being able to move around the country,” he said. At the beginning of the school year last August, Minister of Transport and Works, William Duguid revealed that there would be 105 buses on the road. At the time, he said 179 buses on the road was the ideal number. While noting that he did not have all the facts relating to the PSV impasse, chairman Nicholls broadly addressed it by stating a major focus of local transport stakeholders over the next two years is “the integration of a well regulated sector in transport as a national utility service. “The sector has been too unregulated, too uncoordinated and too disjointed. What we both [Transport Board and PSV’S] do is a very important service . . . a utility that we provide for the people of Barbados and without the provision of that service, a lot of business and economic activity, family life and social activity would come to a halt. “We need to have rules and regulations; we need to follow the rules and regulations, there needs to be realistic and reasonable penalties for breaches of these regulations and discipline on the road, both by the PSV’s and the Transport Board,” he said while adding that “We too will be asking our drivers to commit to a higher standard of service.” In addition, Nicholls said there was no escaping the fact that Transport Board’s fleet, with over 20-year-old buses, was struggling. “We have an aged fleet and the reliability of that fleet is not something that you can predict. It’s impossible for me to say with any degree of accuracy, how reliable this fleet would be during the course of the next three, four, five months,” said Nicholls, while adding there were a number of maintenance related rules which had not been adhered to for over a decade. “Traditionally, you are supposed to renew your mass transit fleet every ten years, either by replacing the fleet or through a massive overhaul of the coaches with new engines, new transmissions, etcetera.” While he was in no position to definitively say how many buses would be on the road come Monday, he said four of five recently refurbished buses passed inspection and were ready for the road. In addition, Nicholls said there was progress being made with a number of other buses in need of critical parts. “We have some busses in which we are having new transmissions installed. Transmissions that were imported from the US a couple months ago have just arrived and are being installed so I hope at the end of the day to be able to know, but it is a little fluid at this point,” he said while noting that the reliability of the fleet over the short and medium term was critical, before government moved forward with plans to acquire new electric buses at the end of the year. (BT)

ELECTRIC BUS PROJECT IN THE WORKS – Williams Industries will be embarking on a pilot project with the Barbados Transport Board to transform some of its redundant buses to electric. Chairman of Williams Industries, Ralph Bizzy Williams, informed Barbados TODAY that they would be taking the diesel buses with engine and transmission issues and converting them. “It is going to start with one or two and if it works we will take as many as the transport board is willing to let us have to replace the diesel engines with electric,” Williams said. Applauding the move by the Transport Board to roll out 120 to 180 electric buses within 12 to 18 months, Williams said it was “ a very wise move” by authorities. He stressed that the move to alternative energy sources would cut costs and maintenance issues for the Board which has been riddled with a declining fleet with less than 100 of 295 buses operating. “The cost of electricity to run an electric car is less than half the cost of gasoline to run a similar sized car even if you buy it directly from the [Barbados] Light and Power. So even if the electricity rates are increased slightly it will still be much cheaper to run electric cars and buses than diesel cars and buses. The maintenance is much less because there are far fewer moving parts in an electric vehicle than in a diesel powered vehicle,” Williams explained. However, he warned that as authorities rolled out the new fleet of electric vehicles bus drivers and technicians must be properly trained. “My word of caution would be that proper technicians need to be trained that know how to maintain the electric buses and the cars. There are lots of young, very bright people in Barbados who I am confident can be trained,” Williams stressed. Chairman of the Transport board, Gregory Nicholls, told Barbados TODAY the objective of the pilot project was “to see whether the bus can work” after it had been converted. He outlined that with the establishment of an electric fleet, the board was moving towards an eco-friendly economy. “The fuel costs would be significantly lower and we can put in photovoltaic and also sell back energy that would make our purchase of electricity almost down to zero. There is a lot of opportunities in moving cleaner and moving green,” Nicholls said. (BT)

FUND PUTS FINANCING BEHIND ENERGY SECTOR – The Enterprise Growth Fund Limited (EGFL) has pumped close to $16 million into energy projects through its Energy Smart Fund. In addition, it has also started a Landlord Metering System pilot through which it collects remittances from the sale of electricity to the national grid. Reporting substantial progress in helping to expand the renewable energy sector in Barbados, the fund’s Chief Executive Officer Timothy Simmons said he was especially pleased since the lending facility had disbursed $15.9 million under its energy fund for various related projects and started the metering project over a year ago. Under the latter, the EGFL funds the renewable energy project for a company and assumes the role of landlord so that it collects the monies from the sale of the electricity to the grid, and uses those funds as amortization for the loan. “That is a way of mitigating a lot of the risk because we don’t have co-mingling of the funds that naturally flow from the sale of the renewable energy with the funds of the company. That should allow us to rapidly roll out a renewable energy solution with a number of companies and entities that hitherto, would have had challenges providing us with adequate security to collateralize our loan,” he explained. Once the loan is repaid, remittances for the sale of the electricity that is produced from the renewable energy source to the national grid, then goes directly to the company. “That is an exciting project. We are looking to aggressively roll it out across Barbados,” he said, pointing out that another loan has recently been approved for a second company to join the project with a 150 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system. He said the interest in renewable energy among companies in Barbados remained high and he was hoping that this year the EGFL could help in the introduction and expansion of “some fairly exciting initiatives” within the sector. “We are in tough economic times but there are some green shoots. We have had a lot of interest in the renewable energy sector. As a matter of fact, that is where we have most of our action across the various sectors,” said Simmons. The EGFL, which is celebrating its 21st anniversary this year, disbursed a total of $214 million in loans to approximately 331 SMEs over the years, with $108.4 million going to the tourism sector; $39.2 million to agriculture; $19.1 million to manufacturing; $31.4 million to other service businesses and $15.9 million to the renewable energy. “Our funding interventions have assisted in creating or maintaining approximately 3,000 jobs. It is noted that our funding in the tourism sector has supported the expansion and modernization of approximately 1,200 hotel rooms,” said Simmons, as he reported on the EGF’s performance over the past 21 years. The EGFL has approximately $122 million in its finance portfolio. It offers loans from as low as $100,000 to as high as $4.5 million. Simmons said the delinquency rate was currently about 30 per cent on average. He explained that while the figure may seem high it is a rate that the fund can sustain since most of the capital is really capital injected as equity. “So we have not borrowed to on-lend,” he added. The EGFL has assets of approximately $28 million and 12 staff members, after starting with a capital base of just $3.5 million and two staff members. The fund also now owns its Barbarees Hill, St Michael building, constructed to the tune of $3.3 million. For its celebrations this year the EGFL will be hosting a church service at the St Leonards Anglican Church on January 6 and a public lecture at the Grand Salle on Wednesday, January 9. (BT)

AGRI-RESCUE - There is expected to be an increased number of players in the agricultural sector in 2019, especially in light of recent layoffs in the public sector. This from Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Indar Weir, who told Barbados TODAY that there is space for all in the sector. Weir explained that his ministry was treating the possible influx as an opportunity to reshape the way Barbados views agriculture. “We will start a programme where many of the people who have been laid off, would get an opportunity to transition into agriculture. They will be properly trained in contemporary agriculture and management of a contemporary farm,” he said, while noting that with today’s advancements in technology, a farm could be as big as a 40-foot container. He argued that gone are the days when persons needed large expanses of land to make a decent living from agriculture. With mechanics behind emerging technologies such as aquaponics requiring specialized training, Weir revealed that Government was ready to make the initial investment on the people’s behalf. “This is the direction we are going in now. Of course I recognize the need still for open field farming and that will also continue. But we are definitely using this as an opportunity to shape the new generation of employment and entrepreneurship,” the minister said. One such opportunity for training is in a new Government initiative called Farmers Empowerment and Enfranchisement Drive (FEED), which is going to be managed by the Barbados Agricultural Development & Marketing Corporation (BADMC). The agriculture minister explained that while the programme was still awaiting Cabinet approval, its impact was expected to be far reaching. In addition to employment, the minister is confident that the new approach to agriculture will contribute significantly to Barbados’ food security as well as to lowering the country’s hefty food import bill, the cost of which is second only to the importation of oil. He also contended that given the substantially smaller space required for these new high-yield farm techniques, the vexing concerns of praedial larceny could be finally brought under control. “I’ve already started a process where I’m engaging people through the use of temperature control units for agriculture farms. I’ve also started the process of also engaging suppliers for community greenhouses, so that we then start to address the issues of praedial larceny,” he explained. Weir also pointed out that given the Caribbean’s vulnerability to hurricanes and other natural disasters, it was about time that Barbados paid more attention to self-sufficiency in food. “Our big mission really is to treat to food security. If you start to think of what happened to Dominica and our other brothers and sisters of the Caribbean region, whenever we get a climate event, you start to understand the challenge that we face in terms of getting food shipped into the Caribbean region, and certainly Barbados is no exception,” he stressed. (BT)

MARKET ‘CHAOS’ – Vendors at two public markets today complained to Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir of chaos and poor security ruining business for them. As the minister toured the Six Roads and Eagle Hall markets, vendors painted a picture of a “free for all” at the state-owned markets where anything goes – from homeless men using them as sleeping facilities to drug abuse. At Six Roads, one vendor told Barbados TODAY that alcohol and marijuana abuse were rampant on the premises, leading to further misuse of the market’s facilities. “People come across here and roll their spliffs in the open. Then people come from all over and drink alcohol and when they get drunk they lose their aim and ‘pee’ all over the bathroom. You have people parking where and how they feel like. You have to bring back discipline in this place or things going to soon get out of control,” said the vendor, who did not want to be identified, saying that those who complained in the past were threatened. Vendors who ply their trade at Eagle Hall told a similar story of poor supervision of the premises. Vendors complained that their concerns were by no means new, blaming successive administrations for failing to tackle issues at the market on the outskirts of the capital. Two years ago, a middle-aged, homeless St Michael man was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service for defecating in the market while in the nude. The man was asleep on a box when the caretaker at the market spotted him on his morning rounds. The caretaker left to report the matter to the police, returning to find the man had gone, leaving behind faeces and urine where he had been sleeping. This morning the vendors told Barbados TODAY that nothing had changed and that the market continued to be thoroughfare for the homeless. Vendor Sheila Greene said: “Everyday you come you find people sleeping in the market and leaving the things they ate and slept in in the market. They leave all of the containers leaving the place in a mess. So there is definitely a need for security.” She also complained that the market had no storage area for vendors’ items at the end of the workday. A fellow vendor, who referred to herself only as Margaret, also said nearby residents were dumping their garbage in bins designated for market use. “Young fellas sleep in here and when you come you see the garbage and they even empty the garbage from the cans all over the place. At night we definitely need a watchman. When people come they say the place smell awful because people from all up the gap come and dump their garbage in the bins outside or wherever they want to put it,” she said. Following the tour, Weir pledged to address the vendors’ concerns, especially the issue of security. “We have to look at security within the markets and some of the things that have been raised with me,” the agriculture minister said. “The one that stands out is security, to make sure that people can come to the markets in a very safe environment. People must feel comfortable and don’t feel as though the markets, especially given the current conditions on crime, are a risky place to come to.” (BT)

PLEA TO FOCUS ON MANUFACTURING – Long-time businessman Randolph Sandiford believes that the manufacturing sector in Barbados has been neglected by successive governments. Sandiford, the managing director of Furniture Alliance and Matrix Marketing, told Barbados TODAY that while all the attention was being paid to international business and tourism, small and medium enterprises were being put on the back burner. He said his business, which uses raw materials such as elephant grass and corn to produce stylish, unique and long-lasting furniture had the potential to generate valuable foreign exchange. He disclosed that while he had a current staff complement of 19, at one point he employed 52 persons. However, Sandiford said there had been a switch away from ‘blue collar’ jobs to ‘white collar’ jobs. “When I was a little boy Grazettes Industrial Estate used to be a hive of activity, making umbrellas, clothes, furniture, and I can’t believe that we gave up all of those blue collar jobs with a hope of getting white collar jobs in informatics, international business and tourism. I can’t believe that we did that.” Sandiford, whose business Matrix Marketing placed second in the National Innovation Award in 2010, pointed out that when Barbados’ economy was thriving, its manufacturing sector was at the forefront. Having worked at the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce, Sandiford said he also had experience in policy advocacy. He recounted that back in 1990, he helped to set up a small company which employed 152 people in the space of just 18 months. That company, EDI, went on to win the award for Exporter of the Year two years later. Sandiford maintained that small and medium enterprises had the capacity to contribute both socially and economically. “Small and medium-sized companies in the manufacturing and food processing sectors have the ability and the capacity to make a contribution both socially and economically to the current situation as we need to produce our way out of the dilemma, rather than just talk. “And whereas we may focus seemingly as a default on overall fiscal and other policies, production by way of the small and medium enterprises is a sure way to boost the country’s economy,” Sandiford said. The businessman, who has been involved in manufacturing from the 1990s, said those enterprises, in particular, created numerous job opportunities for Barbadians. In fact, Sandiford said that sector catered mostly to young persons who found it difficult accessing jobs. “Socially we provide a lot of jobs for the blue collar, that hardcore group between the ages of 18 and 30, predominantly male, who are unable to find employment in some of the other subsectors, because that will be one of the challenges as we go forward under the structural adjustment programme; finding jobs for those who are unable to be absorbed into the international business or tourism sectors,” he said. (BT)

UNITED FRONT – After instances of open division on key issues in 2018, trade unions will present a more united front in 2019. This assurance comes from the president of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), Akanni McDowall, who stressed that the stakes were too high in both private and public sectors for anything less. “I believe that all of the unions understand at this time what is at stake and we are committed to working together towards a common goal in 2019 and beyond,” McDowall told Barbados TODAY yesterday morning. Last January, the NUPW’s call for a national shutdown over the fight with the Freundel Stuart administration over salary increases for public servants, did not gain the support of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTSUSAB). The island’s oldest trade union, the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), also refused to participate in the action. Since the wage fight began in 2017, the BWU had maintained calls for a 15 per cent increase while the NUPW at the time held out for 23 per cent. However, McDowall made it clear that while the unions would maintain their autonomy on impending negotiations, he expected labour rights advocates to be singing from the same proverbial hymn sheet. “It is a partnership and we sit together literally. So, I have never had an experience in recent times where any of the unions would have differed significantly in opinion from one another. I believe all of us are on the same page. We meet often at the level of the Social Partnership and I hear in the voices of each representative that we are together in this fight,” said McDowall, who had earlier warned that things could get tough this year. The NUPW president also defended the trade union movement’s less confrontational approach to negotiations with the seven-month-old Mia Mottley-led Government, which has been noticeably different from the regular threats of industrial action faced by the previous administration. McDowall contended that what some may see as cozying up to the new administration, was merely the product of better communication between the Mottley administration and labour representatives. “I think one must remember that the major problem that unions had previously was the problem of consultation. I believe that every time the unions decided to take industrial action it was based on the premise of consultation. So far with this administration, the unions have been given the opportunity to have a consultative process,” he pointed out while admonishing his colleagues to pay no attention to naysayers. “Tell them bring the evidence, I have always made the point that we base our arguments on facts. This is something that I don’t know that unions should pay too much attention to. What we need to do is focus on the job that we are supposed to do, which is to make sure that we represent our members to the best of our ability,” he stressed. (BT)

ECLAC: BARBADOS STILL ‘SICK MAN OF THE CARIBBEAN’ – The Barbadian economy is expected to crawl dead last among Caribbean economies this year, shrinking by a disappointing -0.5 per cent last year, the second lowest growth rate region-wide, according to the United Nations economic watchdog for the area. Barbados is expected to have the lowest growth of just 0.5 per cent in 2019, said the latest report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). When lined up against the other 32 nations in Latin America, South America and the Caribbean, Barbados’ decline of -0.5 per cent for this year places it as the economy with the fifth lowest growth rate. Growth this year is expected to be led by Antigua and Barbuda at 5.3 per cent; Grenada, 5.2 per cent; Guyana, 3.4 per cent; and St Vincent and the Grenadines at 3.2 per cent, it said Dominica is expected to record a dismal -4.4 per cent decline, while other economies in the region are expected to record between 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent growth. But for next year, ECLAC is forecasting that Dominica’s economy will lead the region’s growth by a massive 9 per cent expansion. Barbados, on the other hand, is likely to see a meagre 0.5 per cent growth. Other regional economies are to experience growth rates between 1.5 per cent and 4.7 per cent. ECLAC said the overall growth for the Caribbean this year will be 1.9 per cent and 2.1 per cent in 2019. In the three regions, Venezuela will have the lowest growth this year with a decline of -15 per cent. Also recording declines this year will be Nicaragua at -4.1 per cent and Argentina at -2.6 per cent. Nicaragua, Argentina and Venezuela are also expected to record declines next year, according to ECLAC. Next year “looks to be a period in which global economic uncertainties, far from waning, will intensify and will arise from different fronts”, said the United Nations regional organisation. “This will have an impact on the growth of the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, which, on average, are seen expanding 1.7 per cent,” it added Unveiling the Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2018 report in the Chilean capital, Santiago, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena said “public policies are needed to strengthen sources of growth and cope with the scenario of uncertainty at a global level”. The report pointed out that countries in the Caribbean and Latin America would confront a complex global economic scenario in the coming years, in which “less dynamic growth is expected, both for developed countries as well as emerging economies, along with increased volatility of international financial markets”. On top of this, it said, there was a structural weakening of international trade, aggravated by trade tensions between the United States and China. The economic growth projection of 1.7 per cent for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2019 is slightly below what ECLAC released last October, which was 1.8 per cent. This year’s estimate for Latin America and the Caribbean was also trimmed, from the 1.3 per cent forecast in October, to the current 1.2 per cent. The ECLAC document said “The greatest risk to the region’s economic performance in the run-up to 2019 continues to be an abrupt deterioration in the financial conditions for emerging economies” “The active role of fiscal policy in the region in terms of revenue and spending must be bolstered. In this sense, it is essential to reduce tax avoidance and evasion and illicit financial flows. At the same time, direct taxes and also health-related and green taxes must be strengthened,” said Bárcena. On the region’s spending patterns, the senior UN official said in order to stabilise and invigorate growth, public investment must be focus on projects that have an impact on sustainable development, with emphasis on public-private partnerships and on productive re-conversion, new technologies and green investment. “All of this while protecting social spending, above all in periods of economic deceleration, so that it is not affected by cutbacks,” added Bárcena, who also warned that public debt profiles must be taken care of in light of the uncertainty that could increase their cost and levels. Economic growth in the Caribbean was led especially by tourism and construction. The report said that the Caribbean continued its “fiscal efforts”, leading to higher primary surplusess and a downward trend in public debt. The report recommended that regional economies come up with public policies to strengthen the sources of growth and to face the situation of uncertainty. It also called for a strategic view to grow and face external vulnerabilities, while pointing to the need for greater use of technology, “reinventing regional integration beyond infrastructure and trade”, and changing the export structure through productive transformation and diversity. In launching the Preliminary Overview of the Caribbean 2018, Coordinator of Economic Development Unit of ECLAC, Port of Spain Sheldon McLean said energy independence and diversifying of economy were critical to the region’s sustainability. “Over the years, countries such as Jamaica and Barbados have made significant strides towards increasing their renewable energy production. However, there is room for these efforts to be strengthened in other countries,” he said. Though making no mention of the ongoing Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, which Prime Minister Mia Mottley reported recently has yielded significant economic progress, the preliminary overview document pointed out that Barbados had taken “remedial action” by finalizing a four-year extended fund facility arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October. (BT)

NEW OPENING HOURS AT REGISTRATION UNIT – Effective February 1, the Registration Unit in the Ministry of Health and Wellness will introduce new opening hours. The unit, located on the 3rd Floor, Frank Walcott Building, Culloden Road, St Michael, will be opened to the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and from 1:30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. The Registration Unit comprises the Medical, Dental, Nursing, Pharmacy and Paramedical Councils (BGIS)

BCIDA PBX OUT OF SERVICE – The Barbados Cultural Industries Development Authority (BCIDA) has advised that its PBX number is not in service. Members of the public are therefore asked to call the Authority at 535-7775 to 535-7777, 535-7779 or 535-7772. (BGIS)

‘SCRAP DIVISIVE 11-PLUS’, SAYS LASHLEY – Former Member of Parliament for St Michael South East, Hamilton Lashley, has linked social segregation in the island to the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination and says it should be scrapped. Speaking to Barbados TODAY, the former Minister of Social Transformation said the examination familiarly referred to as the 11-plus has led to division among young children who passed for older secondary schools and those enrolled in the newer secondary institutions. “I am one of those persons who believe that the 11-plus examination should be scrapped. I do not understand why in a modern era when we have so many different models of primary education that we cannot find the right model. What has me puzzled is why do we continue with an examination that determines the success of a child based on two subjects English and Maths. It lends a sort of inferiority complex to some of those children who fail the 11+ exam,” Lashley told Barbados TODAY. He added: “I believe in addition to that it is clear in my mind that the segregation has a very serious impact on these children’s lives particularly if they fail the 11-plus. I believe alternatively each child has his or her own unique ability and that child’s ability should be spotted whether it is in sports, the arts or another subject – technical or computer, rather than having a segregated educational system,” he said, adding that in his opinion the 11-plus exam was one of the most divisive aspects of Barbados’ educational system. “It is one of the most segregated and backward modern educational systems. It could be the core problem of some of the problems we are seeing among our youth. You are telling me in order for me to be a success I have to pass the 11-plus exam and if you say no then why you still have it?” he questioned. Lashley said authorities needed to sit down and seriously reexamine the educational system and make it far more relevant to today’s society. “The government has to go away from making political decisions only and make decisions that are relevant to today’s world and make decisions that would boost our economy and our socio-economically fragile society as it is. All of the ills that we are looking at in our society are as a result of a much-needed reformation programme in education across Barbados and the Caribbean where there are still 11-plus examinations in place,” he said. Lashley told Barbados TODAY that even at the ministerial level there was segregation with Members of Parliament based on what secondary school they attended. To this end, he said that the 11-plus exam had a psychological impact on young children in Barbados. “It has a psychological impact on children’s minds and it is even more so in the newspapers where the success of all the children who did well is highlighted whereas the children who fail the 11-plus examination are made to feel badly,” he told Barbados TODAY. (BT)

LASHLEY WANTS GLENDAIRY PRISON TO BECOME A REHABILITATION CENTER – A former member of Parliament is charging that the defunct Glendairy Prison could be transformed into a rehabilitation center for first offenders in the criminal system. Hamilton Lashley who was the representative for St Michael South East from 1994-2008 told Barbados TODAYthat the prison which burned in a riot by inmates on March 29, 2015, would be ideal for a rehabilitation programme supervised by the Barbados Prison Service. “The former Glendairy Prison should now be a center where our young people can be rehabilitated, particularly, first-time offenders. Because, we have to curb this high rate of recidivism,” he said, adding that the rehabilitation center would be managed by members of the Barbados Prison Service. The oldest penal institution in Barbados was officially decommissioned on October 25, 2016, when all prison-related activity at the site of the prison officially stopped. However, Lashley told Barbados TODAY that once the prison is made into a rehabilitation center it will be a ‘one stop shop for first offenders.” “It should be a center where you teach them skills, give them a newness of life. It should be a one-stop shopping agency for social rehabilitative services for the young people of Barbados with special emphasis on first offenders and their reintegration into the society,” he said, adding that the rehabilitation center could be a tourist attraction as persons could come and enjoy the architectural design of the former facility which housed 1,000 male and female inmates. “Tourists can come in and view the historical architecture and learn the history of the place. But, of course, when they come they will have an opportunity to interact with those first-time offenders and see how they’re rehabilitated and can make a contribution,” Lashley said, adding that he believed this project would be one in which philanthropists would invest in. “There are a bunch of philanthropists who would contribute to this type of programme,” he told Barbados TODAY. (BT)

SICK AND 'TYRED' – Member of Parliament for St Thomas, Cynthia Forde, is sick and tired of the parish where she was born and bred being used as a dumping ground. This afternoon, as she took Barbados TODAY on a tour in areas of the parish where dumping is a major cause for concern, Forde lamented that it was time for perpetrators to feel the full force of the law. In fact, Forde gave the assurance that she would be going after the individual responsible for dumping almost 100 used tyres beside the road at Bucks in the same parish. Forde said she would be handing over to authorities information she received from a concerned citizen, who witnessed the tyres being taken off a vehicle and thrown onto the side of the road, causing vehicles to have to slow down as they passed. She suggested that any person found guilty of carrying out the unlawful act, should be made to clean up all the tyres, and also other garbage dumped in the area. “Unless you shoot a general, nothing is going to happen. Pay a fine, clean up the gully, and make sure you follow on the straight and narrow. St Thomas is not a dumping ground,” Forde said. “I am sick and tired of this. Can you imagine that somebody would stop and dump these tyres here, so close to the Mangrove Landfill? This is ridiculous. “People driving alongside the road are hitting the tyres, and as we can see, this is dangerous for road users, because it can cause accidents, people to get injuries, or to lose their lives,” Forde said. She was especially upset about the indiscriminate dumping situation since the tipping fee, which was introduced in May 2015 at a cost of BDS$25 per tonne, was abolished on December 3, 2018, by the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP). The MP stressed that householders, and waste haulers, have no excuse not to take their dump to the landfill. “When we got to Bucks on both sides of the road where the bridges are, that is another dumping section. Anybody could build two apartments and furnish them with the kind of furniture that was in there if it were not furniture that had to be disposed of. Cupboards, stoves, fridges and even trophies, some person just throw behind a bridge. The odours from dead animals, I would hope and pray that it would not be a human being or human beings in that case. But really, something is wrong with the psyche of some of my people,” she said. Forde added that she was feeling particularly distressed because her Government has been putting measures in place to protect and preserve the environment, but people were still dumping indiscriminately. She admitted the country was experiencing a garbage pile up due to a shortage of disposal trucks. However, at the same time, the Member of Parliament praised the fact that two trucks arrived on the island this week, with others on the way. “But in the meantime, why are we going to litter our streets to create problems for others, and to create illnesses. This is why I am feeling extremely distressed to see that too many of our citizens are just not conforming to the law. “I would recommend that anybody who is caught must be punished and that when reports are sent to the law enforcement agencies, that they are followed up,” she said. A resident from the Bucks area told Barbados TODAY that another resident witnessed the tyres being dumped in broad daylight by a man last weekend. According to the aggrieved resident who said he was tired of the dumping problem, relevant information had been passed on to the police and Ministry of Health. “But nobody ain’t come and move the tyres yet. This is absolute foolishness. We need to make somebody an example in the courts,” the resident said. Over past years, a number of persons have created environmental problems by illegal dumping but have not always been prosecuted. In most instances when caught they have been made to clean up their waste by health and environmental officials. (BT)

DAD WILL NOT FORGIVE SON’S ATTACKER – Family members of the 22-year-old man captured in a viral social media video being struck in the head with a piece of wood at Fitts Village in St James are feeling his pain. At the home of victim Ramar Nurse at 4th Avenue, Pickwick Gap, St Michael, his father Ronald Nurse told Barbados TODAY he had little knowledge of the details leading up to the attack on his son, which has left the young man in hospital, nursing injuries to his head and ear. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know the man [perpetrator], I don’t know who he was with, nothing like that. The police are dealing with it,” said Nurse who described his son as a man who “just likes to look pretty”. Regardless of the circumstances, Ronald said, “All of us [family members] feel one another’s pain, while revealing that Ramar is the second of three siblings, a brother and a sister, who all live in the family home with both parents. “I wouldn’t even want to tell you how I felt when I saw the video and I don’t want to tell you how I feel now,” he said of the brutal attack. “I will never forgive that. Even if the Almighty God came down and tell me to forgive him for that, there is no way. I am just a man and I would never forgive that.” His father is adamant that the unemployed, former Alexandra School student is no troublemaker. “The neighbors would tell you he is unemployed but he is from his house, to his car and from his car to his girl. He doesn’t go by any corner and lime or anything like that. So for some person who is just about their own business, I don’t see why he should be involved in that,” he said. While refusing to disclose his son’s condition, Ronald said, “I ain’t really want to state how he’s doing right now . . . I understand that there are people out there saying that he is dead, so I would leave it at that.” Given that the full details of the incident have not yet come to light, given the incident’s wide circulation on social media, Ronald is appealing to Barbadians to stop jumping to conclusions. “It is a fact that people are walking around saying ‘why did he get out of the car?’ and I agree that he should not have gotten out of the car . . . . Maybe he could have just driven along. But that does not give the man the right to hit him with a piece of wood. Perhaps he had gotten out of the car to explain himself better. That is the choice that he made. “The public looks at a picture or a video and decides the whole story, just from looking at a picture. A lot of things that are being said are untrue. They don’t have a clue and people should keep their mouths quiet and look and observe. That is how they would learn,” the father said. (BT)

MOTORCYCLIST TAKEN TO HOSPITAL FOLLOWING ACCIDENT – A motorcyclist was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital this afternoon following an accident at Bay Street, near the entrance of Habour Lights, the Royal Barbados Police Force has reported. Acting Police Public Relations Officer Sergeant Michael Blackman said the accident occurred about 4:10p.m on Friday. It involved the motorcycle, driven by Mario Peters of Bayville, St Michael and a motor van belonging to Charles May of Eden Lodge, St Michael. The sergeant also reported that Peters was “listed as unresponsive” when a check was made at 7p.m. Police investigations are continuing. (BT)

POLICE IDENTIFY SHOOTING VICTIM – Around 7:25 p.m. tonight police responded to a report of a shooting at Niles Road, Waterfall Land, St Michael. On arrival police discovered that 25-year-old Chad Gittens of Jubilee Gap Eagle Hall, St Michael received a gunshot wound to his upper thigh. He was transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by private vehicle. Investigations are continuing. (SS)

KNIFE EARNS MAN $750 FINE – A 49-year-old general worker has one month to pay a $750 fine to the Bridgetown Court if he wants to avoid spending three months in prison. The amount was imposed on Henderson O’Brian Lorde of Church Hill, Christ Church today after he pleaded guilty to having an offensive weapon in his possession – namely a flick knife – while at a public place. The facts revealed that police were on patrol on Bush Hill, St Michael on January 3 when they came across Lorde brandishing a wooden-handled knife while involved in an altercation with another man. The police intervened, detained him and asked him to account for the weapon to which he responded: “That man attack me first so I pull the knife on he.” From the docks today Lorde maintained that position telling Magistrate Douglas Frederick that the other man was “trailing” him and “bound pun” him. “I draw my knife and the police came the same time and the man ran in the bush,” he told the court. Lorde who revealed that he carried the weapon for his protection also declared that the unknown man should have been the one before the court and not him. (BT)

DRUG ADDICT TO BE ASSESSED – A 39-year-old man was transferred from Dodds to the Psychiatric Hospital today after asking for help with his drug addiction. Devon Mario Sampson, of no fixed place of abode, recently pleaded guilty to having apparatus in his possession on December 7 that was fit for the misuse of cocaine. He has been on remand at the St Philip institution awaiting his sentence. When he reappeared before Magistrate Douglas Fredrick today he was sent to the Black Rock mental health institution where doctors will assess him and present a report to the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on his suitability for a drug rehabilitation programme. According to the facts police were on patrol along Marshall Street, New Orleans, St Michael about at 8:55 p.m. on the date in question when they saw Sampson holding a suspicious-looking metal object in his hand. “It’s my scrappers,” he allegedly told police when asked to account. He then tried to conceal it but a search of the backpack he was carrying revealed a bottle with a burnt wire mesh at the bottom with white residue suspected to be cocaine. “That is my . . . pipe, I does smoke my little thing wid,” he allegedly told lawmen at the time. Today he explained to the magistrate that he had a drug problem. “Jail is a hard place. I think I learn a lesson up there,” he told the magistrate before asking for an opportunity to attend Verdun House. Sampson reappears in court on January 25. (BT)

WATERMAN KEPT UNTIL JANUARY 31 – A 26-year-old general worker will remain on remand at HMP Dodds despite a bail application from his attorney-at-law in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court yesterday. Jerome Omar Waterman, of 2nd Avenue, Parris Gap, Westbury Road, St Michael, is charged with a number of offences including cocaine possession and fraud. When he appeared in the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court yesterday his attorney Shadia Simpson urged the court to grant him bail at this time as he had been on remand for the past six months which had put a serious strain on his family, especially his son. Simpson said her client had appeared before the court on four charges, two of which had been dismissed and he maintained his innocence on the remaining offences most of them for fraud. “I am appealing with the court to consider his family and grant him bail. He is willing to submit to any conditions imposed,” Simpson said adding that the offences before the court did not involve violence. Despite this, the prosecution said they were still maintaining their objections to Waterman’s bail at this time as they hoped to soon have his file, which is at an advanced stage. After considering the arguments the Magistrate Douglas Frederick ruled in favour of the prosecution and remanded Waterman to Dodds until January 31. (BT)

KNIGHT NABBED – There’s been a video circulating on social media for the last few weeks showing a man filling a bag with items at a beauty store in The City before walking out and looking up at the surveillance camera. Today 51-year-old O’Brian Fernando Knight, of Lovell Road, Massiah Street, St John, appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court charged in connection with that incident. However, Knight told Magistrate Douglas Frederick he was not guilty of stealing 36 bottles of Palmers Cocoa Butter products worth $768 from #1 Beauty Supplies on December 17, 2018. The accused was also not required to plead to charges of possession, possession with intent to supply, possession with intent to traffic and cultivation of 20 marijuana plants on January 3. He will appear in the District ‘C’ Magistrates’ Court on January 10 to answer those charges. The prosecutor objected to bail on the grounds that the accused had a propensity to commit such offences given his criminal record and was already on bail. The prosecutor also feared Knight would re-offend if released on bail at this time. In his bail application the accused explained that his antecedents were committed years ago when he was “involved with cocaine” and that the last time he was in Glendairy was in 2003”. He was however informed that he had been before the courts in 2012 and 2013. Despite this he went on to explain that the cannabis in question were small trees. His bail application was denied. It was at this point that he gave the magistrate a hard stare when he was told that he would return to the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on February 1 having been remanded to HMP Dodds. “Why dem don’t pick up de men that shooting up de place,” Knight stated before he left the docks. (BT)

JAGUARS DIM PRIDE’S STARS – Barbados Pride’s batch of big-name players gave a below-par bowling display as left-handed opener Chandrapaul Hemraj led a Guyana Jaguars’ ball-beating blitz with a maiden first-class centuryat Kensington Oval on Friday. Powered by Hemraj’s authoritative and audacious career-best 144, the four-time defending champions took early control in their top-of-the-table third-round clash. They raced to 319 for five off 90 overs at stumps on the opening day, which saw a whopping 47 fours and six sixes being struck after the Jaguars were sent in to bat on a placid pitch. The 25-year-old Hemraj hammered the toothless bowling in the first two sessions as he stroked 20 fours and four sixes off 172 balls in an eye-catching four-hour knock. (SS)

WALES IN CONCACAF TOURNEY – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) recently announced that Curacao will host the 2019 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield. The competition for amateur Caribbean clubs is scheduled to take place April 5-15 at the Ergilio Hato Stadium and Dr. Antoine Maduro Stadium, in Willemstad, Curacao. The tournament, which was announced last year and is part of the expanded CONCACAF Club Competition Platform, will feature the participation of clubs from 13 different Caribbean Associations, all of whom are working with CONCACAF towards a long-term vision to professionalize the club game across the region. “We are thrilled to celebrate the second edition of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, a tournament which plays a crucial role in the continued growth of our expanded Club Competition Platform,” said CONCACAF general secretary Philippe Moggio. “This tournament, along with the Flow CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship embodies the best of club football in this region and provides Caribbean Associations a direct pathway to the Confederation’s top regional club championships.” The participating clubs for the 2019 Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield are (in alphabetical order by Association): Hoppers FC (Antigua & Barbuda) Dakota FC (Aruba) Weymouth Wales (Barbados) SV Real Rincon (Bonaire) Scholars International Sports Club (Cayman Islands) Santiago de Cuba (Cuba) Jong Holland (Curacao) Fruta Conquerors Football (Guyana) Club Sportif Moulien (Guadeloupe) Club Franciscain (Martinique) Platinum Football Club (Saint Lucia) Rams Village Superstars (Saint Kitts & Nevis) SV Robinhood (Suriname) An official draw to sort the participating teams into four groups will take place next Friday at Concacaf Headquarters in Miami. Fans will be able to follow all the action through Concacaf GO. The winner of the 2019 Concacaf Caribbean Shield, provided it fulfills the Concacaf Regional Club Licensing criteria, will have the opportunity to face the fourth-place finisher of the 2019 Flow Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship in a playoff match to determine the fourth Caribbean representative in the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf League. In the inaugural edition of the Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield, Club Franciscain of Martinique was crowned champion with a 2-1 victory over Suriname’s Inter Moengotapoe. The Martinique club continued its outstanding 2018 international season by edging Trinidad and Tobago’s Central FC 2-1 in the playoff to secure a spot in its first-ever Scotiabank Concacaf League, where it eventually fell to Nicaraguan side Walter Ferretti in penalties. (BT)

ART, MUSIC & PORK FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR – The fifth annual Fish and Dragon festival which celebrates the start of the Chinese New Year will be bigger and better this year. Speaking to the media at the headquarters of the Chinese Embassy, Xi Zou said the celebrations marking the start of the Chinese New Year -The Year of the Pig – will be held in conjunction with the Central Bank of Barbados, The Confucius Institute at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and AJA Productions. The event shall be a thoroughly entertaining one with performances from an art troupe from Beijing. “In the evening of 22nd January, a gala performance by an art troupe consisting of more than 40 performers from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province will be held at the Frank Collymore Hall for local dignitaries… The Chinese art troupe will present wonderful acrobatic martial arts and traditional Chinese music performances together with local Barbados artists. I believe it will be a fantastic show,” Zou said, adding that the troupe’s visit will showcase Chinese culture and be part of worldwide celebrations for the start of the Chinese New Year. “Every year, a troupe, instead of staying with their families, comes a long way from China to Barbados to bring Chinese culture and talents to Barbadian people. Thanks to their devotion, more Barbadian people start to know and fall in love with Chinese culture,” he said. Chief, Corporate Communications at the Central Bank of Barbados Novaline Brewster said that the Bank’s partnership with The Chinese Embassy, the Confucius Institute, as well as AJA Productions, has resulted in Barbadians wanting to learn about Chinese language and culture. “The Bank has enabled Barbados to join 399 other nations in celebrating the Chinese New Year. The attendance and the participation in the festival have grown, the interest in Chinese culture ignited, enrollment in Mandarin classes solidified and the 40-year plus diplomatic relationship between Barbados and China strengthened,” she said. Treasurer of the Chinese Association of Barbados Philomena Lee said that this year the Association will showcase how Chinese utilize pork in their delicacies. “The pig is very popular both in Barbados and in China so this year we will have the opportunity to use this and see what can be done. We all use the same common ingredients. However, we just cook it to a different taste. Bearing in mind that it is the Year of the Pig, the association is prepared to show various ways that the Chinese prepare pork at the festival,” Lee said. The event will be held on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2018 at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium at 5 pm and will showcase vocalist Kelly Cadogan and reigning Pic-O-De-Crop King Mr Blood. There will also be a language and video centre for children to learn Mandarin. (BT)

NEW YEAR, NEW SOLO VIBE FOR LEADPIPE – It’s a new year and a new vibe for Leadpipe. Not only is the “liquor animal” sporting a trendy new look, but he is ready to embrace all that music has to offer, go wherever it takes him as a solo artist and release an EP later this year. “My main objective is not only to be representing Barbados in regional countries. I want to represent Barbados internationally. If I can put out music that can be filtered into movies, video games, a soundtrack on Netflix. If I can get my music marketed, it falls right back to Barbados,” he said via telephone. Before delving into the direction of his music, Leadpipe, or Porgie as he is also known, spoke about the new look. “I thought it was time for a new look and I decided to go back to a low haircut, which took off a bit of the age,” he said chuckling. He will be celebrating his 28th birthday on January 15. Along with debuting his new look in October, he also announced his solo career. “We – myself and Saddis/Murda – have decided to explore more avenues because we have different styles that play well together, but as individuals we can stand out. He can handle his own and I can handle my own. Basically, it was us saying we’re going to try something different instead of every year we’re coming back as Leadpipe & Saddis,” he said. (SS)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 360 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

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