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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 26/11/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Tueday, November 26th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

PAC GRILLS EX-MANAGER – The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had lots of questions for former quality assurance manager at the Transport Board, Sylvan Codrington, yesterday, but for chairman Bishop Joseph Atherley his answers were mainly “vague”. However, Codrington, who worked at the state-owned agency for 45 years, 13 as quality assurance manager, was definitive about the thousands of dollars shelled out by the board for parts for buses that continued to break down after they were serviced and fitted with parts. He also expressed his past frustration at being unable to take some actions he considered within his purview. For example, he spoke of a $1.7 million bill for transmissions for 14 buses, and yet those same buses encountered repeated breakdowns. (DN)

CONSULTANTS HIRING AT TRANSPORT BOARD QUESTIONED – Shocked! That’s how the former Quality Assurance Manager at the Transport Board Sylvan Codrington said he felt after learning that Trinidadian David Bartholomew had been hired as a consultant at the state-owned enterprise. Speaking before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Parliament this afternoon, Codrington said he was surprised Bartholomew was given the job as he had served in a different capacity while working in Trinidad. He made the admission after PAC chairman Reverend Joseph Atherley asked him whether he believed it was an error to engage Bartholomew’s services as a consultant. The Trinidadian was hired by the Transport Board in March 2016 on an initial six-month contract, to undertake the repair of 200 defective buses.. Codrington revealed that his duty as Quality Assurance Manager was to oversee all the engineering aspects for the Transport Board. “When he came to Barbados as the consultant I was taken aback because when I visited the Trinidadian Bus Company he was deputy engineer with that company. Then months after I heard he was a consultant with us, so I was shocked,” replied Codrington, who was QA manager from 2005 to 2018 . When further questioned by Atherley about his perception of Bartholomew’s effectiveness in the role, Codrington said, “It wasn’t coming over to me very clear as to what he was seeing because he was in one capacity and then he went into another capacity and operating as a consultant.” Despite those views, Codrington said he worked closely with Bartholomew. He said there was a spirit of cooperation between them even though from time to time “they had their differences with the engineering aspects of things”. However, Codrington took issue with certain notes which Bartholomew made in respect of the operations of the Quality Assurance Department. In a report handed over to the management of the Transport Board, Bartholomew claimed that personnel from the Transport Board’s Quality Assurance team had not visited service providers for an extended period and that there appeared to be a casual approach to the repair and return of buses. “That is incorrect,” Codrington emphatically stated. Bartholomew also suggested that the QA department lacked “the managerial and administrative skills needed to effectively monitor and manage the units at the external service providers…” But in rebuttal, Codrington said while he had a staff of 30 persons working in that department, only five were sufficiently trained. He said there was also a need for more staff. Codrington, who worked with the Transport Board for 46 years before retiring on December 31, 2018, denied that the QA department, which he managed, circumvented operating procedures at any time during his tenure. “We did not circumvent any operating procedures. Not to my knowledge,” he contended. In fact, Codrington said he considered his time in charge of the QA department a success noting that there over 100 buses in service, a far cry from the less than 70 in operation now. “It was a success. Based on my knowledge and when I left office I had something looking like 115 or so buses on the road and now that I am out of office I was made to understand that there 50 and 70 [buses] and they aren’t making it into the hundreds at all,” Codrington said. (BT)

PAYBACK FOR POWER OUTAGES STILL POSSIBLE – The utility regulator is giving the assurance that investigations are being carried out regarding the recent power outages, and “an appropriate action” will then be taken regarding compensation. This comes amidst increasing calls from residents and business operators for the Barbados Light & Power Company (BL&P) to pay consumers for two consecutive days of power blackouts last week. Information Specialist with the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) Nekaelia Hutchinson-Holder was not in a position to say if customers would definitely be credited for the break in service, or when. However, she pointed out that there was a process that affected customers had to go through. “Investigations are still ongoing as to the circumstances surrounding the electricity outages,” said Hutchinson-Holder. “As a result, appropriate action with regard to claims will be determined following an examination of the nature and cause of the outages,” she said. On Monday morning November 18 around 7:29, the BL&P’s approximately 130,000 customers were left without electricity for most of the day. While about 50 per cent of the power had been restored around 3 p.m. many remained with electrical power up until 11 p.m. when the full restoration was completed. The following day, the power went off and due to load sharing, customers then witnessed intermittent outages, which were compounded by water outages. The BL&P blamed contaminated fuel and aging generators for the disruption in service, which took individuals and businesses by surprise. The board of the electric utility company was asked to meet on the matter of compensation, but officials promised to speak to customers on that issue at a later date. In a brief statement, Hutchinson-Holder told Barbados TODAY the claims process for the BL&P included the completion of the Guaranteed Standards of Service Claim form on the BL&P website. “The form should be completed and returned to the BL&P’s customer service office at Garrison Hill, St Michael within three months of the date of the event giving rise to the claim,” she said. “The utility must then be given 14 business days to address the claim. If the customer is not satisfied with the outcome, they may contact the Fair Trading Commission for assistance. The Standards of Service, which outline each standard and the corresponding compensation when the standard is breached, may be accessed at the Utility Regulation link at www.ftc.gov.bb. Compensation is generally given in the form of a credit on the customer’s account,” she added. She also pointed out that in the case where an outage arises due to circumstances outside of the utility’s control, the utility company would be exempt from the Standards of Service requirements. (BT)

REVERSE TAX CREDIT COMING – Lower income Barbadians will soon be on the receiving end of a Government policy intended to offset some of the burden being borne by citizens under the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT), according to a top economic advisor to Government. Chief Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment Ambassador Dr Clyde Mascoll, while addressing the congregation at St Luke’s Anglican Church over the weekend revealed the reverse tax credit promised in the PM’s March 2019 budget speech would be honoured next month. The tax credits amount to $1300 for Barbadians earning less than $25,000 a year and according to Mascoll, have been made possible because of Government’s ability to stabilise the economy in a short time. This, he argued allowed Government to “re-engineer a few things”, allowing those at the bottom of the “economic barrel” to benefit from “unprecedented tax relief” since July this year. The economic advisor however indicated that the reverse tax credit could not be distributed monthly, hence why it is being disbursed as a $1300 lump sum payment. “It can’t be given monthly, so you may not have seen the immediate effects, but starting this month, Barbadians earning less than $25,000 a year will all receive a reverse tax credit to the tune of $1300, but that could not have been granted immediately,” Mascoll said during the service at which the officials of the Barbados Trust Loan Fund were the special guests. He added: “What is also happening that people are not realising is that we do other transfers to help the poor. The reason why we decided to pay university fees for Barbadians is because only the poor would be affected. So when you start to repay university fees you again start giving opportunities to the poor.” Amid the benefits being given to low income citizens, Mascoll stressed workers were not the burden-bearers of Government’s intensive austerity programme. Instead, he claimed commercial banks, insurance companies and large bond investors were making the greatest sacrifices. He added that the country has been able to stay above the line in interest payments to external creditors totalling $500 million a year. In addition to the cash being given during the yuletide season, Mascoll promised that other social services would be improved, including garbage collection and public transportation. “We also decided apart from education we had to rectify the social sectors because we were experiencing some difficulties in terms of garbage collection. But I am here to tell you that will soon be solved, because the trucks have been purchased. Last year at this same time we only had 12 garbage trucks and we now have 22 working,” said the economic advisor. (BT)

WOMEN’S CHOICE FOR MORE CHILDREN – Women have the power of choice to determine if they want children or not. Executive director of the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA), Anderson Langdon, said that in the 21st century, women should not be pressured into having children merely to prop up national insurance coverage and retirement funds. He was speaking against the background of statements made by Minister of Home Affairs last week when 64 people were inducted as citizens of Barbados. Hinkson said then the National Insurance Scheme and Pension Scheme were on the verge of collapsing due to the island’s low birth rate. (DN)

GREAT HOPE FOR GHANAIAN NURSES – Nurses coming from Ghana to work at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and other public health care facilities are experienced and highly certified in specialty areas. This assurance came from the Executive Chairman of the QEH Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland who said that the nurses being recruited to start work from January 2020 were equipped with post basic qualifications. The hospital chief and a team of local health authorities recently returned from Ghana where they interviewed over 100 Ghanaian nurses. “We are really pleased with the quality of nurses that we saw in Ghana. They are solid nurses and I think they would be a complement to the nursing team that we have here. “We are going to get the opportunity to bring nurses in with specialist skills. And what is wonderful, is because it is a government-to-government programme they are coming to work with us, they are going to be having the same salaries and conditions of work as Barbadian nurses. “I understand that people have said that they are going to be paid different and better, that is not the case, that would be an industrial relations nightmare. There is a scale for nursing and it would be based on your years of experience and qualification,” she said. Speaking to members of the media following the hospital’s 55th Anniversary Service, held at QEH’s Chapel, this morning, Bynoe-Sutherland also indicated that Ghanaian nurses would receive a gratuity instead of a pension. “But as you have heard from the nursing fraternity, we need hundreds of nurses, so we don’t have enough of a throughput of local nurses. We are going to have to continue to supplement until we are able to get our basic and post basic programming up to provide the numbers that we require,” Bynoe-Sutherland added. Last Friday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Jerome Walcott signed an agreement for the recruitment of 120 nurses from Ghana. The agreement was signed when Prime Minister Mia Mottley paid a courtesy call on President Nana Akufo-Addo in Ghana. (BT)

REPUBLIC MEETING FALLS THROUGH – The latest meeting to resolve the dispute involving staff at Republic Bank did not come off yesterday. Management and staff of the bank had converged at the Labour Department in Warrens, St Michael, along with deputy general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), Dwaine Paul, before 10 a.m. Both parties remained tight-lipped before the meeting was scheduled to begin, with Republic’s managing director Anthony Clerk declining comment and Paul saying he preferred to speak after the meeting. However, the meeting never took place as it was reported that Minister of Labour Colin Jordan was unavailable. (DN)

PSVS GIVE NOD TO TWO-MONTH TRIAL – The Association of Public Transport Operators (APTO) is not opposed to the recent decision by the Transport Authority to enforce the controversial five-minute rule for a trial period of two months. The body’s chairman Kenneth Kenny Best told Barbados TODAY while the decision had been accepted by its members, he was hoping that once the 60-day trial was over the authority would uphold its promise to share the information with permit holders of public service vehicles (PSVs). Just over a week ago, the Transport Authority informed PSV owners whose vehicles utilize the Constitution River Terminal (CRT) that they would be limited to using the loading bays five minutes in peak hours and ten minutes during off-peak hours. In a letter circulated to owners, the authority gave the assurance that data would be collected during that period and a report would be prepared and made available to PSV permit holders on its findings and recommendations. Best said he was satisfied that the authority had listened to some of APTO’s suggestions. “We put forward some proposals and after the meeting with APTO and AOPT [Alliance Owners of Public Transport], everyone came up with similar ideas for the improvement of the sector. “Some of our suggestions were taken into consideration because at one point it was a blanket five-minute rule and then we were able to get them to change it to peak and off-peak periods,” Best said.

“I would hope that the information and the data would be shared, so I am looking for that day to come so we would know where we’re at going forward.” Back in September, upset and irate PSV operators staged a protest following the authority’s decision to restrict their loading times in the CRT’s bays to just five minutes. A few days later the authority’s chairman Ian Estwick said following discussions, a decision had been taken to extend the loading time to ten minutes during off-peak hours ((5 a.m. to 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.) He pointed out that the five-minute rule during peak hours (6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) would remain. Surprisingly though, Best said APTO members had accepted the authority’s most recent decision without much fuss. “We have had no complaints thus far. I don’t know if the other association had complaints but I haven’t had any complaints at all,” he said. Efforts to reach public relations officer for AOPT Mark Haynes proved unsuccessful. (BT)

DO MORE TO FIGHT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, CARIBBEAN URGED – Caribbean countries are being urged to do more to deal with the issue of violence against women as the region Monday joins the global community in observing International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In a statement, the UN Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) Caribbean Representative Alison McLean said research conducted in the Caribbean in the past two years reinforced that violence against women and girls (VAWG) including rape is so entrenched and normalised that both men and women have a high tolerance for its manifestations. She said notwithstanding women’s well-known and often-touted gains in public life and the introduction of laws, policies and initiatives to promote women’s equality, prevailing socio-cultural attitudes that perpetuate unequal and hierarchical power relations reinforcing notions of female subordination and male domination, mitigate against these gains and in turn fuel VAWG. The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign is focusing on rape as a specific form of harm committed against women and girls, in times of peace or war. The UN System’s 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls activities is taking place under the global theme Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands Against Rape. McLean said that the UN Women-supported research, which is available for four Caribbean countries to date, shows non-partner sexual violence (NPSV) which includes rape, attempted rape, unwanted sexual touching, and sexual harassment, is reported at significantly higher rates than intimate partner sexual violence and a significant risk factor is being young. In Guyana, most women reporting sexual IPV reported being forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to and nearly as many women reported having sexual intercourse with their partner because they were afraid to refuse. On the other hand, one in every five women in Guyana reported non-partner sexual abuse in their lifetime; with a significant number experiencing this abuse before the age of 18. One-fifth of Jamaican women reported being sexually abused before reaching 18 years of age. Further one in seven women reported that their first sexual experience was before the age of 15 years. Under Jamaican law, the age of consent is 16 years old; any sexual intercourse under that age is statutory rape. The Suriname GBV prevalence survey revealed that the prevalence of NPSV among all women is almost double that of sexual IPV/intimate partner violence. In Trinidad and Tobago, the prevalence of NPSV is almost four times higher than that of sexual IPV. McLean said that without reliable and relevant data, it is not possible to adequately treat, reduce and prevent violence against women and girls. “UN Women has invested significantly in supporting member states in strengthening capacities to fill the data gaps on violence against women and girls. Working with regional partners, the Caribbean Development Bank and CARICOM, we developed the CARICOM Prevalence Survey Model. “The CARICOM Model is based on the long-tested global World Health Organization (WHO) model which is considered internationally to be the best practice for national, population-based studies on prevalence data on GBV.” She said this CARICOM model also “allows us to capture information on the consequences of GBV for women, their children and families, women’s help-seeking behaviours and risk and protective factors for violence. It allows in a real way for the voices of women and girls to be heard.” She said national-level efforts should seek to de-stigmatize the experience of intimate partner violence and to shift gender norms and roles in order to create a society in which violence against women is openly rejected and firmly addressed. Information on where women seek help and where they do not, should inform how services to support victims should be designed and located. Data on women’s and girls’ vulnerabilities, partner characteristics and other socio-demographic factors should guide how to prevent and respond to this violence,” she said. The MCO Caribbean Representative said UN Women, along with other UN agencies will be using the data gathered from these surveys to support national efforts to prevent intimate partner violence through school-based and community-based initiatives; including working with men and boys through Batterer Intervention and Prevention programmes and private sector initiatives that prevent work-related spillovers of family violence to create safe spaces at work. (BT)

MONEY NO PROBLEM FOR QUALITY DATA – Lawmakers were today warned not to allow the state of the economy to jeopardize the country’s chances of having quality and up-to-date information so better decisions can be made at all levels. Francisco Javier Urra, the Inter-American Development Bank’s Chief of Operations for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean suggested that the hemispheric bank would provide the funds to help nations gather reliable data. Urra was speaking at the opening of the Caribbean thematic conference: Managing a Statistical Organization in Times of Change at UN House on Monday. Acknowledging that Barbados was currently undergoing an International Monetary Fund-backed (IMF) programme, Urra said it was now common for the IDB, which is also providing support, to have regular discussions with Government about making “strategic choices about budget allocation”. He declared: “We at the IDB, we believe that undermining the capacity of a country to have solid and accessible data would be a terrible mistake.” Stressing the importance of timely statistics for “good decision-making”, the IDB official said poverty and other issues facing the region were becoming more complex, required “good data” in order to find solutions. Urea said: “This is why for policymakers, for high-level officials, for those who try to enable policies that are cross-cutting, having that ground it is almost like a beacon in this time of austerity and this time of information and fake news. “So the role of having strong statistical offices is more relevant than ever.” Over the last two decades, the bank had provided $60 million (US$30 million) in the form of loans and technical assistance for the region’s statistical development. Barbados is in line for an $80 million (US$40 million) IDB loan to help modernize the public sector, including the upgrading of the Barbados Statistical Service (BSS). Praising Government for its modernization efforts, Urra disclosed that the loan should be approved by Wednesday. But he pointed out that while Barbados and other Caribbean countries performed “relatively well” in a number of areas of development when compared to Latin America and other countries, there was a lack of quality data, which he described as a “complicated situation”. Declaring that adequate data “goes beyond the walls” of the national statistical departments in the region, Urra said the IDB was willing to work closer with those agencies so they could help to strengthen the data collecting capacity of ministries and other agencies. Pointing to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) as an example of an institution that was lacking critical data, Urra pointed out that without critical statistics it would be difficult for the island’s main medical institution to get technical assistance from some development partners. While the digitisation of the BSS has started, the agency’s work has been set back by a lack of money and manpower. BSS director Aubrey Browne said the last modernization exercise ended two years ago with recommendations for a change in the agency’s organizational structure so that several units would produce statistics to be fed into a national digital database which would then be available to the public. Browne said: “One of the things we really have to work on now is developing a release calendar for the release of statistics. “We still have a way to go in terms of that development and the main challenge is [not] having the available resources to support the statistical organizations. “As you would be aware we are still operating under an IMF programme so we are having challenges in allocating resources. That is the main challenge we are facing at this time. “So right now we are operating at less than optimal situation.” Browne give an assurance that Government was moving with alacrity to sort out the BSS’s issues. Statistician with the CDB Dindial Ramrattan warned that demands from residents were constantly increasing, and if officials were not ready to deliver timely and adequate data they would have to contend with “fake news” and incorrect use of available information. Adding that the increased data demand was also driving increased scrutiny, and that technology was changing the way information was being shared, he said national data collecting agencies should operate in a timely and efficient manner by being “proactive, reactive and responsive”. The CDB official also urged Caribbean countries to learn from each other, development partners and the rest of the world, as he called for a change in mindset “where we are more social in how we deal with our matters, recognizing that social media, while our best friend with free marketing and free publicity, is also our biggest critic that is not always with accurate facts”. (BT)

FOUR MAIN REASONS WHY YOUTH CAUGHT IN CRIME WEB – With more than six out of ten ex-convicts caught in a criminal justice revolving door, the Government’s top crime researcher and a panel of experts worry that an “unforgiving society”, childhood trauma, drug abuse and mental health issues work to keep young people trapped in a life of crime and violence. Director of the Criminal Justice Planning and Research Unit, Cheryl Willoughby, expressing concern at the rate at which people who had been jailed end up back behind bars also noted that many employers appear to punish ex-cons after they’ve paid their debt to society – by refusing to hire them. She said: “The recidivism rate is now over 65%, and in our research, we found that substance abuse problems were among the factors contributing to this, along with mental health issues that they were being treated for in prison but they stopped after they were released. “Another matter that concerns us is when we look at unemployment of ex-offenders, 70 per cent of employers said they never employed anyone who went to prison, and 50 per cent said they would not employ anyone who had gone to prison.” Willoughby was among experts appearing in a Barbados Society of Psychologists’ panel discussion on Preventing Youth Violence at the Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union’s Harcourt Lewis Centre. Principal Consultant at the Potter Centre, Toney Olton blamed a lack of job opportunities for ex-prisoners on an “unforgiving society”. He added: “A lot of places are asking for Police Certificates of Character as well, and if the Certificate of Character does not expose the person’s past, someone in the community will call and let the employer know the person has a criminal record, which jeopardises them in the job.” But the experts agreed there was little attempt to get to the real root of youth violence and crime or seek to understand the psychological issues behind the rising tide of homicides and assaults. Olton said: “All learning has an emotional basis. In today’s society, the busyness of parents and guardians means that they are spending less time with their children, and have replaced affection and guidance with material things. “Many of our children also experience abuse and neglect fuelled by frustrated and emotionally unintelligent parents and the fragmentation of the family unit.” In comparing the violence to a volcano, Olton declared: “Once the lava is spitting, there is a lot going on under the surface; and in this case, the lava we are not seeing are feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, feelings of abandonment, unresourcefulness, sadness, depression, resentment and anger.” Primary Coordinator at the Substance Abuse Foundation, Allison Gotip, said while the majority of her clients were between the ages of 18 and 35, two children aged 13 and 15 are now on her list. Childhood trauma, such as abuse in all its forms, tended to lead to addiction, violent behaviour or even suicide, she said, expressing concern that children were not allowed to express their emotions freely and there was still too much of a stigma attached to mental health issues in Barbados. Gotip said: “We must allow our children to have a voice, to start listening to them and have meaningful conversations with them. “We have also found that when people come into our facilities in the throes of addiction, they have a lot of undiagnosed mental illnesses because there is a stigma to having mental illnesses over here. “So with all that suppression, along with domestic violence, divorce and separation, a lot of children deal with these, and statistics show that those who have experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences are more likely to commit suicide or suffer with depression.” Dr Sherri-Ann Catwell, the Senior Registrar at Ward C4 of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said most of her patients had experienced a traumatic situation in their home. She told the audience: “A lot of these people came from families with a lot of interpersonal conflict, had bad relationships with peers, were exposed to abuse or drugs, and there was an association between suicide attempts and violent behaviour when exposed to drugs early.” Some of the solutions the panel identified entailed getting parents and grandparents involved in discussions on why their charges were acting out, since the behaviour was often fuelled by what they experienced in the home, or unresolved trauma the parents or grandparents themselves had never addressed. Olton also suggested a greater emphasis on emotional intelligence, that is, helping people to understand what influenced their behaviour and showing them more appropriate ways to deal with the challenges they faced. (BT)

EDEN LODGE PRIMARY DEFACED – Students of the Eden Lodge Primary School had to be temporarily relocated this morning after offensive graffiti was discovered on several walls of the school. The Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) was called in and the school given a security sweep, while students were housed at a nearby church. After conducting investigations, members of the RBPF gave the all clear for students to re-enter the school around 10:43 a.m. Officials from the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training have covered the graffiti temporarily. The Ministry plans to have the walls repainted this weekend. (BGIS)

ST PHILIP MAN SLAIN IN SHOOTING INCIDENT IN ‘VIETNAM’ – Barbados TODAY now understands the residence is that of his two-year-old son and the child’s mother, 41-year-old Nichole Alleyne which he visited from time to time. Efforts to speak with Alleyne were unsuccessful as she was finally resting after enduring a sleepless night. A close relative and neighbour informed Barbados TODAY the incident occurred during the night, when most people were sleeping. The source however was awakened by what sounded like someone “killing a centipede with a shoe”. Residents later found out it was the sound of numerous bullets being fired. At the end of the gunshots, Scarboro was left dead at the residence where a four-year-old girl, a 21-year-old woman and their mother also lived. “The youngest child wasn’t able to see what occurred, but the girl that is four saw everything, and even when the officers came they said she would need counselling,” the source recalled, while indicating it was extremely difficult to get them to sleep after the commotion. Residents however indicated they knew very little about the dead father, who they saw in the area sometimes. At his Farm Road home in the same parish, a male middle-aged male answered the door. While declining to identify himself, he indicated that none of Scarboro’s family members were at home and he did not know the young man well. Next door, one woman said she did not know the young man well but was shocked to hear of his passing. (BT)

ACCUSED MUST ALLOW FINGERPRINTING – Allegations that a 42-year-old man robbed another at gunpoint while on Glendairy Road have resulted in remand time at Dodds prison. Matthew Mortimer Phillips, of Lennox Avenue, Goodland, Black Road, St Michael is accused of robbing Rommell Nanton of $15,000 in jewelry on October 18. The jewelry comprised a chain and pendant as well as a ring. The unemployed man was not required to plead to the indictable charge before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant today. He is also charged with using a firearm on the same date in commission of the crime. Before he was remanded, the magistrate imposed an order that Phillips allows lawmen to fingerprint him. Phillips will reappear before the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on December 23. (BT)

SURETY TO FORFEIT BAIL MONEY – Not only did a woman who absconded from court lose her freedom for the next few weeks but her surety now has one month to pay half of the bail amount or she too will find herself behind bars. “Ms Marshall has been missing from the court for a long time. It took a new charge sheet to get her back here,” Station Sergeant Cameron Gibbons told the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court today about the accused Kesha Melissa Fiona Marshall. The 33-year-old, of Dunscombe, St Thomas had been before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant on two offences allegedly committed on April 25, 2017 – refusing to leave the premises of Savings Plus Supermarket when told to do so by a person in authority and assaulting Selvin Lovell causing him bodily harm. She had been on $3,000 bail since her first appearance after denying the charges. The accused however, appeared in the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on November 22 on a theft charge to which she entered a not guilty plea. She was again granted $3,000 bail but it was revealed that warrants had been issued for her for failing to attend court on the pending matters. “When I came to court last Friday and they said I missed court . . . but I was in prison until last year May,” Marshall told the magistrate. However, a check of the court’s records showed that she had not been before court since July 2018. “You were given the date of July 20, 2018. You were not in prison then,” Cuffy-Sargeant said even as the accused’s surety said that she would like to say something. The surety explained that she had only come to court today because she had been informed that Marshall had missed a March date last year. But the magistrate pointed out that it was now November 25 and “You are coming here . . . for a date in March 2018? She is your responsibility as a surety. She has been MIA (missing in action) since July 20, 2018. The bail sum is $3,000 you have to pay half of that.” The magistrate then gave the surety a month to pay the court $1,500 or spend three months in prison. The accused Marshall meantime was remanded to Dodds to reappear before Cuffy-Sargeant on December 20. (BT)

PATIENT STEALS DOC’S PHONE – Sticky-fingered glaucoma patient Paul Devon Francis has been placed on a bond for the next 12 months for stealing a cellular phone belonging to a health care official at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. If the convicted No. 12 George Street, Belleville, St Michael resident breaches the order imposed on him today by Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant, he will spend six months in prison. The complainant Kristen Da Silva had completed an examination on Francis when she left the patient room for talks with the doctor. On return to the room she noticed Francis closing his bag near to the area where she had left her $3, 260 cellular phone. Thinking nothing of his actions at the time, she gave him his six months appointment, and continued performing her duties. It wasn’t until sometime later that Da Silva realised that her electronic device was missing. The matter was reported after she was unable to locate it despite checks. “She is the doctor that check my eye cause I have glaucoma. I ain’t no tief. I ain’t know why I get in that deh. I should have never taken it. She had leniency on me, so I don’t know how you can deal with it. I suppose to have another appointment at the hospital to check my glaucoma. I won’t let it happen again because it ain’t me,” the convicted man said. The police report said that Francis admitted that he had sold the device and purchased a pair of slippers and a phone with the money. The stolen phone was recovered. “At least I feel good that she get back her phone,” Francis said prompting the magistrate to tell him that he was missing the point. “No ma’am I should not have taken up it”. (BT)

ARCHER SUBJECTED TO RACIAL ABUSE – New Zealand Cricket says it will apologise to Jofra Archer after the fast bowler received “racial insults” from a member of the crowd following his dismissal during the first Test against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui. Archer made 30 from 50 balls on the final afternoon of the match, but was unable to prevent New Zealand from sealing an innings-and-65-run win to go 1-0 up in the two-match series. However, that achievement was overshadowed shortly after the finish, when Archer tweeted about the treatment he had received as he left the field at the end of his innings. He said: “A bit disturbing hearing racial insults today whilst battling to help save my team, the crowd was been amazing this week except for that one guy, @TheBarmyArmy was good as usual also.” In a statement, NZC said that the perpetrator had not been located, but that the board would be in touch with Archer to apologise. “New Zealand Cricket will be contacting, and apologising to English fast bowler Jofra Archer, who was racially abused by a spectator as he left the field at the conclusion of the first Test at Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui,” read the statement. “Although security providers at the venue were unable to locate the perpetrator, NZC will be examining CCTV footage and making further inquiries tomorrow in an endeavour to identify the man responsible. “NZC has zero tolerance towards abusive or offensive language at any of its venues and will refer any developments in the case to police. “It will contact Mr Archer tomorrow to apologise for the unacceptable experience, and to promise increased vigilance in the matter when the teams next meet in Hamilton.” Archer later confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the abuser had been a solitary New Zealand spectator, making comments “about the colour of my skin”. He also claimed that the same person appeared to have contacted him via Instagram with further insults. “I don’t think it would happen in England,” Archer said. It was a tough match for England, but particularly Archer, who was required to bowl a marathon spell of 42 overs in New Zealand’s solitary innings, and came in for criticism for an at-times lethargic display. He picked up a solitary wicket, that of BJ Watling who top-scored with 205, but also served a reminder of his menacing attributes when he struck Henry Nicholls a heavy blow to the helmet on the second evening. The ECB later confirmed that an investigation into the incident was ongoing, in conjunction with NZC, “NZC and ECB ensure that clear guidelines are in place at every venue so that watching a cricket match is safe and enjoyable for everyone,” said the ECB in a statement. “Whilst this is a relatively isolated incident there is absolutely no place for anti-social or racist behaviour within the game and it is vitally important that all spectators feel able to come forward to report such behaviour and feel safe in doing so.” (BT)

WALES, ELLERTON WINS SET UP FINAL DATE – Weymouth Wales emphatically booked their spot in next Sunday’s Capelli Super Cup final after a pulsating 3-1 win over arch-rivals Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP) in their semi-final clash on Sunday night at the Wildey Turf. Wales have had the longest and arguably most difficult route to the final, but saved their best performance to date for the clash with the BDFSP, with goals from Romario Harewood, Shaquille Boyce and Walton Burrowes settling the matter for the Carrington Village side. In the other semi-final, Crane and Equipment Ellerton prevailed over difficult playing conditions and earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the University of the West Indies (UWI) Blackbirds. (DN)

KOLIJ SWEEP THE POOL – The Kolij Lions didn’t seem to miss top swimmers Danielle Titus and Nkosi Dunwoody. Without the two who are now competing under the SMS Cougars banner after helping the Lions to several triumphs in the pool, Harrison College secured the girls’ and boys’ titles during the finals of the Secondary Inter-School Swimming Championships at the Aquatic Centre yesterday. They took the girls title with 273 points and were followed by Christ Church Foundation and The St Michael School with 176 and 165 points, respectively. The boys reigned supreme with 540 points, Queen’s College placed second with 327 and St Michael finished third with 311 points. (DN)

SLUICE GATE OPENING: BEACH TO BE CLOSED – The sluice gate at the Graeme Hall Swamp, Christ Church, will be opened on Tuesday. The Ministry of Environment and National Beautification says this is necessary to reduce the high water levels and to re-balance the swamp. As a result, Worthing Beach will be closed to the public from 6 p.m. tomorrow, until noon Wednesday. Red flags, which indicate no swimming, will be in place along the beach, and bathers are asked to adhere to the flags and any other signs erected by the National Conservation Commission. (BGIS)

UBER LOSES LICENCE TO OPERATE IN LONDON- Uber will not be granted a new licence to operate in London after repeated safety failures, Transport for London (TfL) has said. The regulator said the taxi app was not "fit and proper" as a licence holder, despite having made a number of positive changes to its operations. Uber initially lost its licence in 2017 but was granted two extensions, the most recent of which expires on Monday. The firm will appeal and can continue to operate during that process. London is one of Uber's top five markets globally and it has about 45,000 drivers in the city. Overall, there are 126,000 licensed private hire and black cabs in the capital. If its appeal is unsuccessful, some think Uber drivers would move over to rival ride-sharing firms such as Bolt and Kapten."There would be competition that would fill that void quite quickly," Fiona Cincotta, a market analyst at City Index told the BBC. TfL said it had identified a "pattern of failures" in London that placed passenger safety at risk. These included a change to Uber's systems which allowed unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other Uber driver accounts. It meant there were at least 14,000 fraudulent trips in London in late 2018 and early 2019, TfL said. The regulator also found dismissed or suspended drivers had been able to create Uber accounts and carry passengers. In one example, a driver was able to continue working for Uber, despite the fact his private hire licence had been revoked after he was cautioned for distributing indecent images of children. Helen Chapman, director of licensing at TfL, said: "While we recognise Uber has made improvements, it is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured." London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "I know this decision may be unpopular with Uber users, but their safety is the paramount concern. Regulations are there to keep Londoners safe." (BBC)

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