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Murder Interrupts Montserrat’s Tranquil Atmosphere

By Bennette Roach and Merrick Andrews

Murder suspect Steve Molyneaux, alias "Jungle,"

Montserrat’s normally tranquil population was shocked on Wednesday, August 7, when a gunman and reported U.S. deportee shot and killed Simeon Sealy (pictured below), the husband of MP Roslyn Cassell-Sealy.
Police suggest that this is the first such incident since the beginning of the seven year-old volcanic crisis. A teenager was acquitted three years ago in the death of another person.

The gunman shot Mr. Sealy shortly after 11:00 a.m. in his office at Trans World Travel in Davy Hill, before locking the door behind him and kidnapping Mr. Sealy’s secretary, 21-year-old Camille Gray, a Jamaican.

A man in blood-spattered clothes is said to have reported the shooting to Mrs. Cassell-Sealy.  He said that he hid under a table after he heard the first shot and fled from the building, noticing that the gunman had also fled the scene in a motor car taking with him the young woman.

The St. Lucian-born businessman was pronounced dead soon after his arrival at the St. John’s hospital.

But relief began to pitch soon after when one of Mr. Sealy’s car, which the gunman used to kidnap the secretary, was abandoned in the Judy Piece area, about 2 miles from the crime scene.

Police said that at about 5:30 p.m., the kidnapped secretary managed to escape her captor.
They have not released any details about how she escaped nor what information she has provided so far, but suggest that the suspect panicked when he heard the search helicopter circling overhead, ran and afforded they young woman an escape opportunity.

The young woman was picked up on the road by a car, police said, which took her to the St. John’s hospital for medical examination. She only received minor bruises, but she was in a state of trauma.

Miss Gray looked quite pale and shaken up when The Montserrat Reporter saw her being escorted by a sergeant at the police station, just before the start of the press conference there Thursday. She gripped her left thigh, while she limped beside the officer.
Suspect and Threats

The police have identified the suspect as 37-year-old Steve Molyneaux, alias "Jungle," who was allegedly deported from the United States on gun crimes in 1992.

Police said he is 5 ft. 8 inches tall and was last seen wearing long black trousers, a black T-shirt with the word ‘Ganja Leave’ written in green. He was also wearing a black leather cap and white tennis shoes.

Police have not established a motive for the killing. However, sources close to the dead businessman said it might have been squabbles over insurance money.

Sources said the suspect had threatened to kill Mr. Sealy and his staff several times before. But police could not immediately confirm if Mr. Sealy or his staff reported the threats to the station. Other similar threats to other staff members in the area are said to have been reported to the police.

It was also reported that the gunman had also threatened to kill at least five persons – notably including two men from Salem – for vengeance.

“I know a number of people are already saying that they know what the motivation is – and it well may be accurate – but we would like to check everybody’s viewpoints and try to establish what had actually happened,” said Superintendent of Police Paul Morris at a press conference Thursday.

Police have deployed more than a dozen heavily armed officers of Montserrat’s 70-member Royal Police Force, with the aid of the helicopter to search for the gunman.

The police told the Montserrat Reporter they were grateful for the support of Montserrat Aviation Services providing the helicopter, which was undergoing its scheduled weekly maintenance in Antigua.

Police advise the public to be on high alert as the suspect is “armed and dangerous/”
Superintendent Morris said at Thursday’s press conference that the police will maintain their vigilance “no matter how long it takes.”

“It’s going to be a slow process but having some definite information, which is why I am being quite cautious about who I name and I who I don’t name, because for court purposes we have to be very careful about what we do release,” he said “At the moment we are trying to balance the resources we have and we have to be realistic if it continues.”

Meanwhile, Antigua & Barbuda’s Minister of Public Safety Steadroy Benjamin told the Antigua Sun that he didn’t think Antigua & Barbuda would mind offering assistance to its Montserratian neighbors, but added that a request would have to come through the British government, since the island is still under that country’s jurisdiction.

“Once the request goes through the necessary channels, I am sure we will have no problem in providing the necessary assistance,” Benjamin told the Antigua Sun.
While observers site Mr. Benjamin’s comments as ill-informed because of the cooperation of combating crime that continues to grow between the islands, Supt. Morris said he would seek further assistance both locally and overseas if the situation prolongs.

Government Condemns Incident
Mrs. Cassell-Sealy (pictured left), a high blood pressure patient, was admitted at the hospital shortly after learning of her husband’s tragedy.

Leader of the National Progressive Party (NPP) Reuben T. Meade has since conveyed his condolences to Mrs. Cassell-Sealy, who is the only other person to sit on the Opposition beside him in the House of Parliament.

The Government has also expressed their condolences to the Sealy family.

Chief Minister John Osborne condemned the incident as “brutal and unnecessary” during a press conference, held at his office on Thursday.

He said: “Montserrat is a peaceful and law-abiding country and we are not accustomed to this type of demonic acts that are tarnishing the good reputation of our beloved country.”
He added: “As you are aware we have been affected by one of the people who have been deported from the United States with the reputation of a culture of violence. I would like to strongly condemn this type of behaviour and further state that it is our intention to ensure that acts of this type are rooted out of our community.”

The Chief Minister called on all Montserratians to support the work of the police by providing any information that they may have in a “timely manner” that would lead to arrest and prosecution of the perpetrator of this crime.

Salary Hikes Trigger Hot Political Debate

By Merrick Andrews

Chief Minister John Osborne on Thursday called on civil servants to prove the Opposition wrong for declaring that the government should not have increased their salaries.

“Now for those who are wondering where the money is going to come from, let me say that we had already included the amount in the budget,” Mr. Osborne said at a press conference, held at his office Thursday.

“And when I look at the amount of money we have spent so far this year, and the amount we have collected, I believe that we are doing well enough to pay the increase at this time,” he said, adding that his Party has kept its promise from the election campaign to raise salaries.

Mr. Osborne had announced in Legislative Council two Tuesdays ago that top-earning civil servants will obtain an increase of 7 percent, while those in the lower-earning scale will receive a 16-percent increase. The increases are effective at month-end and retroactive to January 2002.

He said it is important for everybody here to remember that “somebody had to stay here during the volcanic crisis to run the country” and faith in Montserrat should not be taken for granted and for these reasons “my Government believes that they deserve an increase.”
If the government doesn’t pay well, he said, many people here will leave for England or other countries. “My understanding is that many people are making preparations to leave if things do not get better,” he said. “If our policies encourage them to do this, then we will have to bring in people from outside and pay them two or three times more than we pay our own people.”

He said this would cost even more than the 10 percent (average) increase in civil servant salaries. “This is bad for the morale of our local people. It is better to pay a small increase and keep our own people here…. So while this government is looking out for everybody, we always want to make sure that the little man is well looked after”.

 ‘Government Can’t Afford Salary Increase’
Leader of the opposition National Progressive Party (NPP) Reuben Meade said the government should not pay a salary increase because they cannot afford it. “I don’t believe any increase should be made for anybody at all; other than possibly some of the people who are in the 1,000 (salary) range – the very, very lowest (earning) people. But not with respect to a large increase like that. I disagree with it at this particular point because we can’t afford it,” said Mr. Meade, a former Chief Minister.

But Mr. Osborne doesn’t share this view. He said: “In fact, I want to say to civil servants that there are certain people in this country, including the member of the opposition Mr. Reuben Meade, who are saying that we should not give you any increase. I want you all to prove them wrong.”

In order to prove them wrong, Mr. Osborne implored civil servants and everyone on Montserrat “to go out and work hard every day to make sure that Government’s policies and programmes are implemented on time.”

The Chief Minister said the government has freed up projects that had come to a standstill under the previous (David Brandt-led) government.

He said the current government “removed the bottlenecks” on the police station project, which is almost completed, and the commencement of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) building project “because we wanted to ensure your safety”.
“In fact, we remove the barriers existing on several projects so that millions of dollars could be spent in Montserrat. As a result, many Montserratians have been able to continue to feed themselves and their families.”

However, Mr. Meade said government cannot afford to pay an additional EC$2.3 million every year as the subsidy from the British Government reduces significantly over the next four years.

Bite Bullet And Make Hard Decisions

He said government sometimes has to “bite the bullet and take some hard decisions”.
“Even if Government had two dollars extra, that two dollars should actually now have been put into job creation exercises other than construction. Not only jobs for people coming back but also for school leavers to keep them in Montserrat as against them going to England,” Mr. Meade explained.

He said Government will have to find additional tax revenue to help cover the increases. Mr. Meade noted that they may not raise taxes “but they must collect more taxes.”
“The people in the north – their tax liability will be increased through the re-evaluation exercise which is currently ongoing,” he notes.

He added: “It’s not a matter of the economy. The government is not utilizing its resources in terms of what the country needs at this particular point in time. If we were to look at Dominica and Dominica’s problems, it’s the same basic thing – we are heading towards. Its government have problems paying their own workers. They have to be getting money from elsewhere. What we need are things which will create work for people.”

NPLM Keeps Promise

Mr. Osborne, however said to be able to maintain this level of salary, the airport project, among others, must be completed and negotiated quickly to boost tourism and other businesses. He said also the government has been negotiating to establish “one or more offshore medical schools in Montserrat.”

He noted that more housing should be provided so that the population could be increased and create a larger market for business on Montserrat.  “I believe that people who work should be rewarded. These government workers not only worked diligently – some may not have worked so hard but that is a matter for the appraisal system – but also over the last three years have faced increases in the cost of living.
“Further, many of them have moved to the north and are paying rent and mortgage for homes they cannot live in; many of the civil servants' incomes are so small that they cannot qualify for mortgages at the bank. We cannot build an economy by making it difficult for people to live on Montserrat,” he said.

EDITORIAL

"Now More than Ever, Leaders Must Think Before They Enact"

For some years, the East Caribbean islands making up CARICOM and the Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS) have been grappling with the idea of integration to include not least the free movement of people and skills among them.

In theory there exists some agreement on the latter with respect to media workers and University graduates. But this has seen its share of bending over the years, though not in any enormous measure, just that when it happens everyone hears about it.

We in Montserrat hear of the various protocols that Montserrat has not signed on to, and the excuse in some instances is that the British Government has not given its blessings required by Montserrat to participate. The excuse was in some way refuted recently by Baroness Amos in replying to one of the questions posed to HMG by Lord Morris in the British House of Lords.

Last week in Legislative Council an amendment to our laws was passed somewhat strangely, for when one listened to the Financial Secretary whose duty it was to propose the bill, it was clear that he didn’t think it was timely for the bill to be passed. The Opposition in the house strongly opposed the bill and argued that it will be "taking away bread" from accountants and accounting practitioners on the island, who are not fully certified accountants. It seemed there was no need to rush the passage of the bill, after the debate.

The Opposition leader had cited instances where bills were passed recently by this government which proved very quickly to be embarrassing and amendments had to be sought. What this shows is that some are not doing properly the work they are being paid to do, that is to study, discuss, share, get the necessary technical advice to pass laws that are beneficial to this country.

Coming up very soon will be a bill that affects the freedom of movement of Caribbean nationals in and out of Montserrat, and research suggests the government is prepared to go headlong into passing more laws which may not be conducive to the circumstances that face Montserrat today.

One may recall that not long after PLM under our current Chief Minister John Osborne took over the reigns of government in 1978, he exposed the fact that government was often forced to accept and pass legislation in exchange for reasons of support and aid from outside agencies. At the time people and the Montserrat Christian Council had seriously opposed their intention to pass abortion laws.

The question of free movement of skills and labour has been around for some time. Minister Lazelle Howes in the Reuben Meade government in the early 90s openly supported the local immigration authorities who became vigilant in carrying out the work permit regulations of Montserrat in the face of requests from other governments for relaxation of the laws in the region.

The fact is that Montserrat now faces circumstances that cannot be treated like business as usual. Everyone agrees to this fact, but very few act that way. This is in no way an effort to support any argument against free movement of people into and out of Montserrat. It is just a warning that we must take time, since nothing can be treated as ‘business as usual’ in Montserrat for the time being, and seek whatever derogations we may be allowed in signing protocols, treaties and passing into law situations that can adversely affect how we rebuild and move into the future.

The Aiport Issue

Getting fixed-wing aircraft facilities in Montserrat is practicing and taking the ‘business as usual’ route. This is the reason we call on the government to cease encouraging and limiting the argument over the airport  "safety," when there is also the argument of the bread and butter future development of the island at stake. They must afford the Montserrat public and Montserratians on the whole the opportunity to also look at the many options and proposals that have been placed before them, for a viable helicopter service for Montserrat, similar to what exists so profitably in other parts of the world. Discuss something with the British that is familiar to them.

Besides we need to take away the stranglehold we have of financing both the ferry and the helicopter service. Government should show us how it is not economically prudent to go down that obviously cheaper route, which could be implemented very quickly and avoid the continuous burden we face of waiting for something that is considered unsafe and developmentally backward.

We understand that little or no improvement will be needed at the present Geralds helipad and we would not have to wait till 2004. So what are the fallouts? Halcrow and who else would lose their bite into EC$50 million?

By assisting us with $18 million HMG would have kept its promise to give Montserrat an airport and maintain their tradition of not really helping their colonies develop economically. We need to take some initiative and do something that finally shows that we recognize we are in the 21^st century and ready to make decisions that we are prepared to live with and not just accept what seems simple and trusted upon us, constraints and all.

That would leave us the option to return to W.H. Bramble and in five years time or so develop an airport somewhere that would be much more efficient and futuristic than any airport at Geralds, which we are told by the experts has no developmental future. It would leave Geralds immediately ready for development into the sporting complex Montserrat so badly needs and the property owners there have been dreaming about.

Except for the editorial, opinion articles expressed in these pages are not necessarily those of the Montserrat Reporter editors, employees or advisers.  Readers are encouraged to submit commentary articles.  All viewpoints, unless libelous, in poor taste, or anonymous, are welcome.  Send your contributions to The Editor, P.O. Box 306, Olveston, Montserrat, W. I., e-mail: editor@montserratreporter.org or monrep@candw.ag.  Manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by a return stamped envelope.  The Montserrat Reporter is a privately owned independent newspaper.

Jus Wonderin items may be called in at telephone 491-4715 or Fax 491-2430 

SCRIPTURE VERSE THIS WEEK

A FORGIVING SPIRIT

READ:

Act 16:25-34 

Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

-Matthew 5:44 

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Hosea 12-14

Revelation 4 

During the war in Kosovo in 1999, three Americans were captured and held hostage for more than a month.  After intense negotiations, a breakthrough occurred and the prisoners were allowed to go free.

Roy Lloyd was part of the delegation that secured their release.  He reported,  "Each of the three young soldiers was very religious.  One of them, Christopher Stone, would not leave until he was allowed to go back to the soldier who served as is guard and pray for him."

Here was a young man who knew something about the principles of Jesus.  He could gave resented his circumstances and hated his captors.  He could have developed a bitter, vengeful spirit.  He could have carried a burning rage out of that difficulty.  But following the command of Jesus (Matthew 5:44) and the example of Paul and Silas in Philippi (Acts 16:25-34), he forgave his captor and ministered to him.

In a world where retaliation is common, believers are called to be different.  We are to pray for our persecutors, forgive them, and minister to them.

Jesus' principles for His followers are challenging, but with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us we can choose to have a forgiving spirit.  -DCE

FOR FURTHER STUDY

Why should we forgive?  (Matthew 6:14-15).

Whom should we forgive?  (Luke 17:3-4).

How can we forgive?  (Galatians 5:22-25).

WE ARE NEVER MORE CHRIST LIKE

THAN WHEN WE CHOOSE TO FORGIVE. 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Laughter

Marriage would be pretty dull without a cross word.

Here's an example:

She: "I'll admit I'm wrong if you'll admit I'm right."

He: "O.K. You go first."

She: "I'm wrong."

He: "You're right."

A man found the angels, the music, and the food in Heaven to be quite dull, so he arranged for a week’s visit to Hell.

He had a swinging time there, with good food, great music, and uninhibited ladies. At the end of his visit he asked St. Peter for a permanent transfer.

Upon returning to Hell, the man found no available ladies, awful food, and sickening music. When he complained, the Devil explained: “Last week you were a tourist. Now you’re a local.”

A dinner guest remarked on the friendliness of his host’s dog. “He’s wagging his tail at me and sitting up all the time!”

“I’m not surprised,” the host cooly replied. “You’re eating off his plate.”

LOCAL and REGIONAL NEWS

MCCI Says Montserrat's Size No Bar to Economic Viability

By Merrick Andrews

Motivated by his five-day visit to Gibraltar with four other local officials, Mr. Kenny Cassell, president of the Montserrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) said Montserratians “have no excuse anymore” for assuming that the island is too small to have a viable economy.
 “I think for us as a small island we don’t need 4,800 people and 15 square miles of land, because we always thought that we are too small to be [economically] viable,” he said.
“Now in terms of physical space clearly we are not too small because Gibraltar is just 2½ square miles and indeed they have almost 30,000 people, so we have no excuse anymore for saying that we are too small to have a viable economic base – we are not.”
The MCCI president made the comments at a recent press conference, held to report on a July 7-11 trip to Gibraltar with Assistant Commissioner of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) Cynthia Farrell; Director of Tourism Ernestine Cassell; Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Chief Minister Sarita Francis and Chairman of the FSC. John Lawrence, who was absent from the press conference.
Mr. Cassell, who along with Miss Farrell represented financial services, said Montserrat should copy Gibraltar’s common multi-unit, multi-storey housing structure to achieve a similar level of population. “I know culturally and traditionally we like our bungalows with a lot of yard space,” he said. “[But] we are going to have to think differently if we have to develop a population … in order to make Montserrat economically viable. So that was the first thing that impressed us, that you can do a lot of things with a small area of land.”
However, Assistant Commissioner Farrell said it is not a matter of comparison between the sizes of both British colonies because “the resources of Gibraltar are far different and far more available than the resources of Montserrat.”
She added: “What would be sufficient to survive or to make a good living in the industry in Montserrat is different to that of Gibraltar.”
The five-person delegation visited under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding and/or an assistance package to Montserrat signed last March, which followed upon discussions between former Chief Minister David Brandt and Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana.
The delegation had extensive visits and meetings with Gibraltar Government ministers, officials and private sector organisations involved in the areas of financial services and tourism development.
As a result of this visit the Government of Gibraltar have identified the specific assistance it can provide the Government of Montserrat under the scope of the Memorandum.

Financial Services

The delegation said they were also impressed by Gibraltar’s financial services, which  Mr. Cassell described as “well organised, equipped with well-trained and experienced human resources and the possession of up-to-date technology to facilitate the process of monitoring, regulating and promoting the industry”.
He said: “The Chief Minister (John Osborne) came to the Chamber and we have accepted the mandate to promote inward investment in general and offshore businesses in particular. Well I had a rude awakening – we can’t do it with what we have because in the Chamber we are just voluntary people. We don’t have the areas of expertise that are necessary to operate the industry. It means that we have got to equip the Chamber to deal with the promotion aspects of financial services.”
He noted that Montserrat could learn some lessons from Gibraltar, which has a fully equipped promotional unit financed by the government.
Bordering the Strait of Gibraltar, which links the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, Gibraltar benefits from an extensive shipping trade, offshore banking, and its position as an international conference centre.
The Montserrat FSC has identified some areas, which it is asking the Gibraltar Government to provide assistance in developing.  Some of these areas are:

• In Bank offsite supervision  - FSC Gibraltar has created a Bank Reporting Analysis And Information Network System (BRAIN) used to assist with the supervisory and tracking functions of the Commission. Montserrat has asked for technical assistance to install the BRAIN software to provide training in using the programme.

• To assist with printing literature.

• To assist with setting up a website and linking it to their own (both for financial services and tourism).

• To assist with new legislation, although Gibraltar's legislations most often include EU provisions, which Montserrat does not need.  That was identified as a niche for Montserrat, in that some customers of Gibraltar's service providers do not need an EU environment and therefore can be channeled, private sector to private sector, to Montserrat.

• To follow up with a Montserrat service providers’ seminar in Gibraltar or a visit by Gibraltar service providers to Montserrat.

• Some training: Use of the Gibraltar office in London for both tourism and financial services.

Government Urges Islanders To Spend More Locally

The government is urging locals to spend more money locally than overseas to help boost the economy.

Chief Minister John Osborne said Thursday that people “who decide to spend the extra money rather than save it, should spend it on Montserrat”.

“By doing this you not only help the local business but also you help other Montserratians who are employed in these businesses,” he said at a press conference at his office Thursday, about the increase in civil servants’ salaries.

“I want to make this point more forcefully,” he said, “I recommend that all of us make an effort to spend our money to support local businesses rather than going overseas to shop.”
This, he said, would ensure that the benefits would remain on island. “It would provide benefits for the local private sector so that they too would be able to pay their workers some level of increase,” he added. 

Meeting of MVO Board Commences Sept. 6

The Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) Board of Directors will have their sixth meeting on Friday, September 6, according to information from the Governor’s Office.
The Board, which is co-chaired by the Governor and Chief Minister, will have a wide ranging agenda before them including proposals for a new management contract and a progress report on the MVO building at Flemings.

Prior to the Board meeting the scientific experts of the Risk Assessment Panel will get together to examine and report on the latest threats posed by the volcano. This will be the Panel’s 10^th meeting since the volcanic eruptions began.

Amongst those senior scientists expected on-island are Prof. Steve Sparks and Prof. Willy Aspinall. 

POWA Presented With Cheque

The Old People’s Welfare Association (OPWA) were recently presented with a cheque for $1,829 by Governor Anthony Longrigg.

The cheque represented monies raised during a recent yard sale at the Emergency Department compound of surplus materials and furniture from Government House and the Governor’s Office. 

ECCB Monetary Council Hears of Economic Upturn

The 45th meeting of the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Bank in St George’s, Grenada, on 26 and 27 July saw the chairmanship assumed by Anthony Boatswain, Minister of Finance of Grenada.

He succeeded Pierre Charles, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Dominica.

Council received the Governor’s Report on monetary and credit conditions in member countries, as well as a report from the Representatives from Dominica on the current economic situation in that country and the status of the IMF stabilisation programme.

On the basis of that report, Council agreed to support Dominica by the extension of a $5-million loan from the Fiscal Reserve, Tranche II Fund at the Central Bank.

The Governor's Report found economic recovery in the major industrial countries following the global economic slowdown and the consequences of the September 11 events came much earlier and was much stronger than expected.  In the first quarter of 2002 economic activity in the United States expanded quite rapidly at an estimated annual rate of 6.1 percent, while in Canada growth in real GDP was estimated at an annual rate of 4.5 percent.  In the United Kingdom, economic activity although flat in the first quarter, has shown some growth during the second quarter.  The euro area as a group experienced moderate output growth, however, there were significant differences in performance between the major European economies.

Economic activity in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) was preliminarily estimated to have contracted by 0.8 percent during the period January to March 2002 reflecting fall offs in the main foreign exchange earning sectors of tourism, agriculture, and manufacturing by 7.9 percent, 2.1 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.  Activity in the construction sector is estimated to have declined by 0.6 percent reflecting the winding down of major private and public sector projects in some member countries.  Additionally, activity is estimated to have contracted in the wholesale and retail, banking and insurance, and transportation sectors.  However, the other service sectors in particular electricity and water, communications, real estate and housing, and government services all recorded growth.

The rate of price inflation for the currency union remained moderate in the first quarter of 2002 at 1.4 percent as against 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2001.

The fiscal performance of the member governments of the ECCU weakened during the first quarter of 2002.  At the level of the currency union, revenue from both tax and non-tax sources declined. 

The balance of payments of the ECCU improved in the first quarter of 2002 despite the contraction in the economies. 

Monetary and credit conditions during the first quarter of 2002 were characterised by moderate growth in monetary liabilities, a contraction in net domestic credit and consequently increased liquidity.  The movements in the monetary aggregates reflected the general weakness in consumer and business spending and the poor performance of the export sector. 

Preliminary projections of real GDP for the currency union put growth at between 1 and 1.5 percent for 2002.  This is based on a projected modest recovery in tourism activity and a somewhat improved performance in the agricultural sector. 

Arson Cripples Radio, TV Outlets in Antigua

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua -- The Management of ZDK Radio and CTV told the public this week that arson attacks completely destroyed ZDK’s AM transmitters at McKinnon’s on Sunday morning, and that a number of CTV’s transmitters were set ablaze around mid-day Tuesday..

They condemned the acts as an attack on press freedom and placed the blame "squarely on the shoulders of those who have been inciting anarchy by calling for the removal of the government by any means necessary."

The statement said:

"While there is no link between ZDK and CTV and the government that would warrant these wanton acts of arson, we call for the perpetrators to be brought to justice swiftly. Despite these wicked attempts to muzzle the legitimate voice of a radio station that has served this country for over 30 years and a TV station that does nothing more than relay channels from all over the world, including CNN and the BBC, the management of the two stations are determined to continue to uphold the rights of the people of Antigua and Barbuda, to receive information that is not tainted by the biased views of certain sections of society.”

The Police are investigating both arson attacks. 

Members of the Monetary Council at the 45^th Meeting of the Council in Grenada, 26-27 July 2002

From left to right:

Hon Dr Ralph Gonsalves, St Vincent and The Grenadines (Member); Hon Dr Kenny Anthony, St Lucia (Member); Mr Whitfield Harris Jr., Antigua and Barbuda (Alternate); Mr Wendell Lawrence, St Kitts and Nevis (Alternate); Hon Margaret Annie Dyer-Howe, Montserrat (Member); Hon Anthony Boatswain, Grenada (Member); Hon Pierre Charles, Dominica (Member) & Hon Victor Banks, Anguilla (Member).

Laid off DBS staffer: “They treated us like animals”

(Dominica Sun) - Layoffs at the state-owned Dominica Broadcasting Corporation (DBS Radio) have left a bitter taste among some of the employees who have criticised the manner in which the layoff plan was executed.

“They treated me like a criminal,” one of the employees told The Sun. “They treated (us) like animals.”

Faced with a financial burden, mounting debt and increasing difficulty in paying staff at the end of each month, the board of directors of DBS decided to layoff some of its workers.

On Friday July 5, four members of staff were called in by the General Manager, Marriett Warrington, advised that they would be laid off for six weeks, given letters confirming the layoffs and of one week’s pay in lieu of notice.

And Board chairman Ian Munro warned that more cutbacks were on the way.

Some staff who were sent home earlier complained to The Sun that soon after receiving the letters, workers who were being laid off were forced to leave compound “almost immediately.”

“I was wondering if the police was waiting for me outside,” one worker stated, explaining that she was hurried out of the compound.

But Warrington denied handling the issue in an inhumane manner, telling The Sun that several meetings were held with staff and their union, and that they were aware that the layoffs were pending.

“That’s a very wicked statement,” Warrington said of the complaint that employees were treated like criminals.

“They were not asked to leave the compound immediately. That’s a very wicked statement,” she repeated, adding that one member who received her letter on Friday, returned to work the following day.

The station bosses have also refused to disclose the station’s wage bill or how much money they are expected to save as a result of the cutbacks. All Warrington was prepared to say was that DBS had reduced its wage bill by 15 percent by laying off the four employees and that the goal was to reduce it by a further 10 percent.

Bermuda Prison Fears Use of Tainted Drugs

The Royal Gazette

BERMUDA - Fears have been raised that the illegal drugs being used by prison inmates may have been mixed with contaminating substances after four prisoners were taken to hospital suffering from chest pains last week, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Meanwhile, police have launched an investigation into the death of convicted bank robber Rupert Elroy Archibald, adding fuel to suspicions that the former Westgate Correctional Facility inmate's apparent heart attack last month was drug related.

Home Affairs and Public Safety Permanent Secretary Robert Horton said three prisoners from Westgate and one from the Prison Farm were treated at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital after they complained of chest pains last week.

He said he had no knowledge of the incidents being related to drug use.

Police Media Relations spokesman Dwayne Caines confirmed that Police had been conducting an investigation into Mr. Archibald's death on July 15 after an autopsy was completed.

Mr. Archibald, 41, was serving a 30-year prison sentence for a 1997 armed robbery at the Somerset branch of the Bank of Bermuda. 

New Firm Chosen To Manage Airport Project

BVI Beacon

Executive Council last week chose UK-based McArdle Contracts, Ltd. to oversee remaining work on the runway at Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport.

 The choice disregarded the recommendation of the Airport Development Unit – a team of consultants and engineers hired to manage the project – as well as concerns of some officials and lawmakers that McArdle might not be able to effectively manag a project of this scale.

The decision is still subject to approval by the Caribbean Development Bank, which has in large part funded the project. McArdle was up against two other contractors in the tender – another UK-based firm, Lagan, which was reportedly the favorite of Airport Development Engineer Stuart Logan, and Trinidad Contractors.

Chief Minister Ralph O’Neal dismissed critics of the choice at a press conference Monday. “If (McArdle) was allowed to bid for the job, I assume they were pre-qualified from the beginning,” he said. “And they did do some work at the airport.”

The firm was hired in 2000 to build access roads and parking lots for the facility. If approved by the CDB, McArdle will pick up where defunct contractor Philip Holzman left off after filing for bankruptcy in April.

The first hurdle will be to complete the long-stalled dredging of fill for the1,400 foot runway extension.

Tourist Bureau Initiates Cruise Passenger Survey

The Daily Herald

PHILIPSBURG -- The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau initiated its Cruise Passenger Survey yesterday, using high school students to carry it out.

 The information collected by the students and from cruise passengers will help the bureau better plan and develop the island's cruise passenger facilities and St. Maarten's general tourism product.

The survey is being carried out in co-operation with the St. Maarten Ports Authority and Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). It consists of 20 multi-part questions, and a space for the cruise visitor to indicate any other random issues not addressed in the survey.

Included are questions about the importance of varied activities to the visitor such as tours, shopping and visiting the beaches. Also included is a question about which place interested them to visit, what medium was used to help them decide to visit St. Maarten, how much they spent and on what, how they rate shopping, entertainment, cleanliness, etc. on both sides of the island, assessing the aspects of the cruise facilities as well as their overall visit and if they would like to come back to St. Maarten for a longer visit.

Head of the Tourist Bureau Regina Labega described the survey, associated with the CTO, as a measuring stick that would help the island address its competitive positioning in the region. When completed it will be sent back to the CTO for compilation and then forwarded to St. Maarten.

Commissioner of Tourism Theo Heyliger said last week that the intention is to conduct the survey every quarter. "That way we could see if certain negative trends are unique to certain seasons or if they are constant. We can then come up with some creative solutions," he said.

Russian Kids Get Sent To Boot Camp

(BBC) – It was an experimental military unit set up at the height of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. To reverse mounting casualties among inexperienced conscripts, Russian generals set up "Kaskad".

In the woods near Moscow, the soldiers learnt survival skills, shooting, hand-to-hand-combat and "the art of destroying the enemy".

The difference was that some of these troops were just 10 years old.

That was in 1982. Twenty years later, Russian troops have long since left Afghanistan, but the kids of Kaskad are still training.

These days the cadets, aged 10 to 16, don't necessarily go on to join the army, but those who do, are far better prepared for conscripts' life than those who don't.

Russia's army is notorious for its brutal bullying and under funding. Many of today's soldiers face the real prospect of active duty in war zones like Chechnya.

The members of Kaskad all say they want to become soldiers in Russia's spetznaz, or special forces, units.

Misha Tsybulevsky, 14, has been attending the military courses for four years. When we met him at Kaskad's summer camp he had just crawled out of a swamp on his belly, clutching his model Kalashnikov, while his instructors fired volleys of blank shots and let off smoke grenades.

For Misha, Kaskad's spetznaz training provides the best preparation if you're going to be called up.

"You earn courage. The people who join the spetznaz are the best," he said, "not like people who smoke and drink on the street. Those people don't make it. The kind of people who make it are those you can rely on, who won't let you down later on."

The organisers of Kaskad stress the social role of the group. They claim the month-long summer camp in the forest outside Moscow keeps many children from deprived backgrounds off the streets.

But it's hard to escape the military thread running through everything the children do.
As Andrei Samotoin, himself a former spetznaz soldier and now one of the Kaskad leaders, points out, the army is very happy to have a supply of well-prepared youngsters to conscript.

"There's already a tradition that kids from our unit will go on to serve in various spetznaz units," he says. "Some of them go on to serve in Chechnya. They have a good reputation among officers and men."

 It's no surprise, says Andrei that for the second year running the army has supplied officer cadets from across Russia to work as instructors for these boy soldiers. Certainly they see themselves as a replacement for the network of now defunct Soviet youth organisations.

"We used to have the Komsomol and the pioneers. Now the kids do what they want. But we make patriots out of the kids who come here," says Vadim Volkov, one of the instructors.

Queuing up for his mess tin of porridge at the camp's field kitchen is Vanya Gladchenko. He's only eight years old, but in Kaskad terms, he's already a veteran with four years' service under his belt.

The patriotic side of his education at Kaskad has already left its mark.

"I want to defend my motherland so that nobody insults it and to protect the Russian people," says Vanya. "For me, being a spetznaz is my life. I have a dream of becoming a commander and destroying all Russia's enemies."

Since 1982 more than 8,000 children have passed through the ranks of Kaskad. According to the commanders, in the last 10 years former cadets have fought in all the wars that have flared up across the territory of the former USSR.

And, they say, not one of them has been killed.

With more than 4,000 dead in the last two years of war in Chechnya, that's no mean feat.

September 11 ceremony unveiled

The names of all 2,800 people killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11 last year will be read out during a ceremony in New York to mark the year anniversary.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and State Governor George Pataki announced details of the ceremony on Tuesday, saying 4,500 people had made ''remarkable and thoughtful'' contributions on a public hotline.

The ceremony will begin at 08:46 at Ground Zero, exactly one year since the north World Trade Center tower was hit by American Airlines Flight 11.

The names of the dead will then be read aloud, some by the former mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, and others by relatives of the victims.

Family members will be allowed onto the World Trade Center site for the first time. Many of them regard it as a burial ground.

Each of the families will put a rose in a vase for an arrangement that will later form part of the permanent memorial.

The ceremony is set to last for 102 minutes, the exact length of time between the impact of the first plane and the collapse of the second tower.

The day will start with a bagpipe procession from each of the five boroughs that will honour the rescue workers killed.

Sombre and highly symbolic, the Ground Zero ceremony will also include readings from the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, the founding texts of American democracy.

Places of worship will be encouraged to toll their bells and to open their doors to people who need them.

President George W Bush will visit New York later in the day and visiting heads of state will observe the lighting of an eternal flame.

But as Mr Bloomberg announced, it will be a working day for schools and businesses, a sign that the city has triumphed even as it is thinking of those it has lost.

‘High Priest’ Jailed After Cannabis Appeal Turned Down

By Stephen Breen
The Royal Gazette

 BERMUDA - Cannabis campaigner Gershwyn Smith, who walked free from court despite possessing a huge stash of the drug, has been jailed for four years after the Court of Appeal ruled a judge was wrong to treat him differently from other users just because of his beliefs.

Smith was found with 2,173 grams of cannabis and 545 cannabis plants at his home in Spanish View Road, Smith's, in January 2001, and was fined $30,000 in February when he pleaded guilty to possession and cultivating the drug.

Smith, who is also known as High Priest Mohatma Shiloh Mhadi, told the court in February that cannabis was part of his religion and that he used it for medicinal purposes, food and sacrament.

Fining the six-time parliamentary candidate, Puisne Judge Archibald Warner said he did not want make Smith a "martyr" by locking him up.

But the Court of Appeal has ruled Smith should be jailed for four years for cultivation and two years for possession, running concurrently, on the grounds that "the sentences imposed by the judge were wrong in principle and they are manifestly inadequate".

"No convincing reason has been shown why the Respondent (Smith) should be treated differently from anyone else," wrote Appeal Court President Sir James Astwood in his ruling.

"Because the Respondent holds the opinions which he has expressed in his mitigation speech, this is not sufficient reason why he should be given preferential treatment."
The Crown, which accepted the cannabis had been for Smith's use and was not for supply, appealed against the fine, and urged the Court of Appeal to jail Smith for between 18 months and three years. At trial, the Crown had asked for a sentence of five to seven years.

The Crown had also argued that not jailing Smith would send a message to Bermudians that cultivation of cannabis is not taken seriously.

Dog show raises $$ for Humane Society

BVI Beacon

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS - The 27th Annual BVI Humane Society Dog Show drew its biggest crowd in at least 12 years, and featured almost twice as many competitors as last year, according to animal shelter director Tessa Gunter.

"It went really well, because we had more dogs than usual. We had 62 dogs, and last year we had about 34 dogs É It was really great support," Ms. Gunter said. Best in Show honours, meanwhile, went to Kieron O’Rourke and Joshua, his American Bulldog, according to Humane Society Membership Secretary Janet Parsons.

Besides 11 competing classes, which included categories like working dogs, island dogs, and hounds, the event featured the sale of donated clothes, books, and baked goods. All proceeds from the dog show, held Sunday at Peg Leg Landing, will be used to support the Humane Society, said Ms. Gunter.

"We had a pretty good bake sale," she added. "We found the whole day very enjoyable. The dog was too hot sometimes, but there was a lot of shade, and a good breeze," said Christian Esser, whose Burmese Mountain German Shepherd, Hamlet, took second in the large mixed breed class.

Sandra Jett and Rita Kallmay brought their dogs, Fluke and Pinkerton, who were rescued from a dump yard on Virgin Gorda, to compete in Sunday’s event. But that wasn’t the only incentive for the two, who operate Virgin Gorda Animal Rescue and Control, a programme that rescues and neuters stray dogs.

"We want to have a dog show on Virgin Gorda, and we came here to check it out and see how to do it," said Ms. Kallmay. 

Dominican On The Front Lines In Afghanistan

By Thomson Fontaine
Dominica Sun

DOMINICA - When the screaming eagles of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky took over from the marines in Kandahar on the front lines of the search for Bin Laden, leading the charge was a high ranking Dominican in the US military.

Meet Command Sergeant Major Ralph Alcendor from Grand Bay and currently second in command of Camp Talon, the US army airfield in Kandahar, arguably the most dangerous place in the world.

CSM Alcendor is no stranger to danger having participated in some of the US military’s largest campaigns in recent history. In 1991, he was on the front lines in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in 1993, and Operation Provide Comfort in Haiti in 1994.

In his latest deployment in Operation Enduring Freedom, he serves as the Aviation Task Force Command Sergeant Major, a high-ranking noncommissioned officer in the army.

While CSM Alcendor could not reveal to the Dominican his current operational role in Kandahar, it is clear that his contingent is currently leading the search for Al Qeada, and Taliban operatives in Afghanistan. He and his group have come under hostile fire several times presumably from Al Qeada elements and have had to deal with the ever-present land mines in the area.

Born in Grand Bay, CSM Alcendor attended the St. Mary’s Academy. His grand father was one of the many Dominican policemen who traveled to Nevis in the 1920s to serve on the Leeward Islands Police Force. His father Ralph Ralphord was born in Nevis, but later travelled to Dominica.

The decorated career army officer joined the US army in 1978 in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, underwent basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and has never looked back. His son Roger is also in the US military. CSM Alcendor’s military education includes the 8th ID Noncommissioned Officer’s Academy, the First Sergeant’s Course, and the Sergeants Major Academy. 

FBI Guns And Laptops Go Missing

By Steve Kingstone
BBC

An embarrassed US Justice Department is reviewing its security procedures after admitting that more than 700 weapons and over 400 laptop computers had gone missing in the past three years.

Most of the laptops belonged to the FBI - many containing classified information.
Two of the guns were subsequently used in armed robberies; a third apparently became a murder weapon after being stolen from the home of an FBI agent in New Orleans.
Officials say the problem is the result of faulty paperwork.

Some of the guns were apparently loaned out to other government departments and were not returned.

According to the Washington Post, the Justice Department Inspector General's Office's audit found that FBI records were so incomplete, officials could not say what information was contained on some of the missing computers.

The FBI is promising a prompt and robust review of its security procedures.
Amid a national debate about the bureau's future direction, this is one investigation it could have done without.

In July last year, the FBI carried out an exhaustive inventory of equipment and found 184 computers was missing, including 13 that were believed to have been stolen.
An inventory of pistols, handguns, rifles, shotguns and sub-machine guns found 184 had been stolen and 265 lost.

Indian Woman Dies On Husband's Pyre

(BBC) - Police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh say a 65-year-old woman was burned to death on her husband's funeral pyre committing the outlawed practice of Sati.

The incident took place on Tuesday at a village in Panna district in accordance with the outlawed custom, which requires a woman to immolate herself after her husband's death. Two policemen were blocked from stopping the ceremony by some 4,000 villagers who had gathered to witness the event.

"Our men tried to stop them but could not because they were pelted with stones," a policeman in Panna district told the French news agency AFP.

Extra police have been deployed in the area to prevent any glorification of the incident although local villagers insist they want to worship the woman as their new Goddess or Sati Mata.

Reports said the woman, Kuttu Bai, decided to kill herself on her husband Mallu Nai's pyre after he died from a prolonged illness.

Local journalists say her two grown-up sons did not try to stop their mother.

The last reported incident of Sati took place in Rajasthan several years ago with the death of 18-year-old Roop Kanwar.

The case sparked national and international outrage.

Police charged Roop Kanwar's father-in-law and brother-in-law with forcing her to sit on the pyre with her husband's body, but an Indian court acquitted the two men in October 1996.

But the widespread media attention surrounding the case led India to enact legislation calling for the death penalty for anyone abetting Sati.

Sati is believed to have originated some 700 years ago among the ruling class or Rajputs in India.

The Rajput women burnt themselves after their men were defeated in battles to avoid being taken by the victors. But it came to be seen as a measure of wifely devotion in later years.

The custom was outlawed by India's British rulers in 1829 following demands by Indian reformers. 

Jamaica On Alert For Pink Mealybug

Jamaica Gleaner

Jamaica - The pink hibiscus mealybug, which attacks many plants, trees and shrubs, has been found in South Florida in the United States triggering action by Jamaica's Ministry of Agriculture to safeguard against the entry of this dangerous pest into the island.
The Ministry said it will be restricting the importation of plants from Florida. The Ministry will also require all persons importing plants and cut flowers from the United States, including those who already have valid permits, to inform the Plant Quarantine Unit of the name and address of their suppliers.
The Ministry is also requesting that holders of valid import permits for plants from the U.S. to return these permits to the Unit for verification.
The pink hibiscus mealybugs form colonies on the host plant and, if left undisturbed, the colonies will grow into large masses of white waxy coverings on branches, leaves and even whole plants.
The mature female lays eggs in an egg sack within the white wax, which changes from orange to pink on reaching maturity. The wax sticks to each egg and facilitates the transfer of the pest by humans and animals. As it feeds, the pink mealybug injects into the plant a toxic saliva that results in malformed leaf and shoot growth, stunting and occasional death.
The pest, which is currently posing a very serious threat to Caribbean agriculture, has a wide range of hundreds of unrelated plant hosts and the list is growing, as the pest spreads into a new geographical area. So far, the pest has been found on 215 genera of plants. Its wide host range favour rapid spread and complicates effective control.

Rastas Call On CM To End Discrimination

BVI Beacon

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS - About 60 Rastafarians and their supporters marched in opposition to the so-called "Rasta Law" on Tuesday.
As protestors chanted outside, a small delegation met with Chief Minister Ralph O'Neal. He assured them Executive Council would revisit the law, which prohibits persons with dreadlocks or long, unruly hair from entering the territory.
But afterward, most were skeptical whether Mr. O'Neal would ever repeal the law that he himself put before Legislative Council in 1980, to control a supposed increase in petty crime.
While the Civilisation March, as it was named, started at the Sunday Morning Well at 3 p.m., the outcome was orchestrated Monday in a meeting between Mr. O'Neal and the Rastafari Turtle Dove Alliance, represented by Bertrand Lettsome, Bernard Green and others. At that time, it was agreed that Mr. O'Neal would make a public statement on the matter the next day, the birthday of Haile Selassie, former emperor of Ethiopia, who Rastafarians revere as a prophet of God.
Following the march Tuesday, the delegation met with the chief minister again  -- this time before the media -- and presented him with a petition containing hundreds of signatures to repeal the discriminatory law, as well as a proposal for a Rastafarian agricultural programme, intended to revitalise farming here. 

Siamese Twins Separated

(BBC) - Surgeons at a Los Angeles hospital have separated twin girls who were joined by the top of their heads.
But just five hours after the operation one of the twins, Maria Teresa was rushed back into surgery to treat a haematoma or bleeding on the brain, doctors said.
A hospital spokesman said it was not an unexpected complication and that the outlook for both girls was still positive.
The other girl, Maria de Jesus remains in critical but stable condition.
The skulls of the one-year-old girls, originally from Guatemala, were fused with their faces tilted in opposite directions. They could hold hands, but not see each other face to face.
Speaking after the procedure Dr. Houman Hemmatti told an American television network that the 20-hour operation was considered a success.
"Everyone has goose bumps at the end of the procedure," he told NBC. "People were cheering, people were clapping, people were crying."
Dr. Hemmatti said the medical team was "more than optimistic" and added: "We can't wait until we see these kids playing, laughing, crying like normal baby children."
"There was absolutely no major trouble that was unforeseen in this procedure," he added.

Kissed goodbye
The girls, Maria de Jesus and Maria Teresa Quiej, came to Los Angeles with their parents two months ago after a non-profit group raised the money for their treatment in California.
Before the operation the girls were reportedly in good spirits.
"The girls were smiling a lot and were very playful," hospital spokeswoman Roxanne Moster said.
Their parents, Wenceslao Quiej-Lopez and Alba Leticia Quiej-Alvarez, kissed them goodbye before preparations for the operation got under way.
Doctors at the Mattel Children's Hospital at the University of California had already performed surgery on the twins to stretch their skin.
Doctors planted tiny expandable balloons under each baby's scalp so there would be enough skin tissue to cover their heads once they were separated.
Although their brains functioned independently before the operation - lessening fears of their intellectual growth being stunted - some of their veins were joined.
Doctors had to preserve and re-route those veins or both twins risked suffering a fatal stroke.
The medical team rehearsed the operation using life-size models, which not only replicated the babies' blood vessels, but also showed their veins.
"It's risky, but we feel pretty confident," said craniofacial surgeon Henry Kawamoto ahead of the operation.
Conjoined twins occur roughly once in every 200,000 live births.
Mortality rates are often high even if there is the possibility of separation, but doctors said the girls stood a better chance of survival if surgery was performed. 

ECTEL Policy Training Workshop

The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) Secretariat hosted a two-day Policy Training Workshop, from 7-8 August, 2002 at the Indies Conference Centre at  Rodney Bay in St. Lucia from 9:00am.
This Workshop was directed at Ministers responsible for Telecommunications, Permanent Secretaries of Health, Tourism, Education, Trade, Chairpersons of the National Telecommunications  Regulatory Commissions (NTRCs), Directors and Bureau of Standards of the ECTEL States. 

The Workshop conducted by the CARANA Group of Consultants had as its main objectives:

a) enhance participants' understanding of telecommunications concepts and terms
b) promote the understanding of the Issues and Opportunities provided by technologies within the new liberalised telecommunications environment.
c) consider how the issues and technologies can impact the economies of the region.
d) promote the understanding of the Proposed Manual of rules, regulations and administrative procedures as they pertain to the Telecommunications Act. 

Cherie Blair suffers miscarriage

(BBC) - Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair has been treated in hospital following a miscarriage.
Mrs Blair, 47, was admitted to hospital after being taken ill in Downing Street on Monday night and was discharged on Tuesday morning following an operation.
The Prime Minister was with his wife and the couple has delayed their departure for a holiday in France, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
Mrs Blair gave birth to the couple's fourth child Leo in May 2000. He was the first baby born to a British prime minister for more than a century.
Leo is understood to be with the older children, Euan, Nicky and Kathryn, in France with Cherie's mother Gale.
Downing Street said the couple wanted to thank staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, where the operation took place under general anaesthetic, for their support and care.
Mrs Blair came through the operation successfully and is resting and will join the rest of the family later in France for what they hope will be a quiet holiday, then spokesman said.
Downing Street added that, while they understood the inevitable interest, they hoped the media would allow the Prime Minister and his family to enjoy as normal a family holiday as possible.

Canada's Multi-Million $ Caribbean Investment

The Caribbean Programme for Economic Competitiveness (CPEC) funded by the Government of Canada through CIDA is currently financing  41 projects in the Caribbean Community to the tune of more than Cdn.$5 million.
According to figures released by CIDA/CPEC's St. Lucia-based office, up to the end of March this year, the organization was involved in projects in Jamaica, Guyana and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
Four other projects were regional in scope.
Of the total CIDA/CPEC commitment to these projects of Cdn.$5,099,131 more than Cdn.$2 million had been disbursed up to the end of March.
In the OECS countries, CIDA/CPEC is involved in four projects in the agricultural sector, seven in tourism, three in financial services and six in construction. The organization is helping finance nine projects in tourism and agro-processing in Jamaica and eight in manufacturing, forestry and wood products, tourism and agro processing in Guyana.
The regional projects are in the areas of agriculture and agro industry, tourism and financial services.
The OECS projects involve total investment of Cdn.$6.5 million with CIDA/CPEC
putting up Cdn. $2.9 million or 44 percent. By the end of March more than Cdn.$1.1 million of the CIDA/CPEC contribution had been disbursed and one of the
20 sub regional projects completed. The others are still in progress.
In the nine Jamaica projects that require a total investment of Cdn.$2.5 million, CIDA/CPEC is contributing Cdn.$1.4 million or 55 percent of the total
cost. By the end of March CIDA/CPEC had already pumped in Cdn.$499,355 and one of the nine projects had been completed.
The eight Guyana projects are being undertaken at a total cost of Cdn.$1.3 million with Cdn. $882,711 or 66 percent coming from CIDA/CPEC. All the projects in the South American Cooperative Republic were still in progress at the end of March.
CIDA/CPEC is funding 48 percent or Cdn.$885,221 of the total cost of the four regional projects which involve an investment of Cdn.$1.8 million.
CPEC, is a regional development program whose goal is to strengthen the capacity of the Caribbean region to compete in the global economy through human resource and institutional development.
It is intended to improve the base of skills needed for increased competitiveness by private sector firms and the public sector enabling environment through human resource development, while providing capacity development of selected Caribbean academic institutions and coordinating bodies. 

AOL gets new boss

AOL Time Warner has found a new boss for its internet division.
The company has confirmed that Jon Miller, a top executive from USA Interactive, will start immediately as chairman and chief executive of AOL.

He replaces Robert Pittman, the parent company's chief operating officer, who resigned from his position at the top of AOL - one of the world's biggest internet service providers - in July.
In recent months, several senior executives have left the company as it has come under great pressure to justify the benefits of the merger to shareholders as share prices have plunged.
The internet division has faced its own particular bag of problems.
Mr Miller's challenge will be to steer the internet company to continued profit through a sea of declining advertisement revenues.
At the same time, AOL faces an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into its accounting practices.
His appointment - unusual in that is he an outsider - has led to speculation he may instigate management change at the company.
"I think it is a smart choice, but I don't know how much a CEO can do, given the troubles at AOL," Paul Kim, analyst at Kaufman Bros. said.
"It is a better turn of events given the arrogance we saw at AOL. There is a return to the roots of AOL, the basic service with marketing and some add-ons."
Mr Miller's background includes stints at Viacom, the National Basketball Association and PBS as well as his time as a senior executive at USA Interactive. 

SPORTS

Eight Teams Begin Softball Competition

Softball competition is alive again in Montserrat.
Eight teams are presently participating in the Montserrat Softball Tournament, which began on Sunday, August 4.
The eight teams are Fire, Police, Female Cricketer (the sole female team), Salem, L&M Construction, Cudjoe Head, St. John’s and Lookout.
In the first set of matches last weekend Cudjoe Head defeated Female Cricketers and Lookout beat Fire.
The matches for this weekend are:
Saturday, August 10 – L&M vs. Cudjoe Head at Salem; Female Cricketers vs. Fire at Little Bay.

Sunday, August 11 – Police vs. St. John’s at Little Bay; Lookout vs. Salem at Salem.
Matches begin at 1:30 p.m.

Gregory Willock

The games are played in a limited overs format of 30 overs per game. The team with the most points at the end of the season (about September) will win the main prize – a trophy. Two points are given for a victory and one point given in the case of a [rare] draw or if any match end prematurely for various circumstances including weather conditions.
Organizers of the tournament are Gregory Willock and Philip Chambers.
The organizers say one of the main aims of the competition here is to develop the sport of softball and cricket.

Caribbean pocket 31 medals

MANCHESTER, England: Victory by Jamaica's netballers over England in the bronze medal game gave the region its 31st medal of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Jamaica's netballers upset England 55-53 in a nail-biting clash as the 2002 Games ended on Monday.
The effort gave Jamaica their 17th medal at the games - only 10 countries won more - and closed their haul at four gold, six silver and seven bronze medals. Australia topped the table with 206 medals, 82 gold, 62 silver, and 62 bronze, ahead of England 165 (54-51-60).
Over 10,000 partisan fans crammed into the MEN Arena in Manchester expecting to see the home nation repeat their bronze medal winning performance in the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games. But Jamaica, ranked fourth in both the Commonwealth and the world, stunned the sell-out crowd by triumphing in the final seconds of an absorbing match.
Earlier at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, Caribbean swimmers failed to get beyond the preliminaries in the butterfly, breaststroke and individual medley events.
The Cayman Islands' Heather Roffey (2:19.48) and Kaitlyn Ephinstone (2:26.88) were eliminated in the women's 200 metres butterfly.
Roffey (5:20.04) also fell short in the women's 400 metres individual medley, as did Bermuda's Graham Smith (2:32.84) in the men's 200 metres breaststroke.
The Caribbean gathered 31 medals in all, 10 gold, seven silver and 14 bronze - the 10 champions being Kittitian Kim Collins (100 metres), Bahamian Debbie Ferguson (100 and 200 metres), Jamaicans Michael Blackwood (400 metres), Claston Bernard (decathlon), Elva Goulbourne (long jump) and Lacena Golding-Clark (100m hurdles), Guyana's Alian Pompey (400 metres) Lavern Eve (javelin) of the Bahamas, whose women's sprint relay team, with Ferguson, also copped gold.
Jamaica officially placed 13th in the medal standings, and the Bahamas (4-0-4) 15th, while Guyana (1-0-0) and St. Kitts and Nevis (1-0-0) shared 25th spot with Bangladesh and Mozambique, Trinidad and Tobago (0-1-0) got 32nd and Barbados (0-0-1) 33rd with the Cayman Islands and St. Lucia, who also came away with a single bronze medal.

A WOMAN OF CLASS

by Peter Adrien

Venus was the classiest among an exclusive collection of women of class in the 2002 Acura Classic.  The calm, artistic and crafty tennis player was a cut above the rest.

               Venus Williams stamped her superiority and her family dominance on the Acura Classic on Sunday, August 3, 2002. As the incredible week of women's professional tennis came to a close at the La Costa Resort and Spa in California, the second seeded female athlete established her dominance among the women tennis players, and among women in athletics.

               The exhibition was so captivating and entertaining that some commentators thought “the eyes of the tennis world focused on the La Costa Resort and Spa for an entire weekend.”

The tournament began with tennis legend Martina Navratilova trying to qualify for the doubles maindraw. Her attempt fell short, but the fans that were privilege to witness the display were thoroughly entertained.

The fans and fanatics at the Stadium Court gave former Acura Classic doubles champion, Corina Morariu a warm and boisterous welcome. She gave a good performance, not having played since diagnosed with leukemia in May 2001.

               Morariu lost a first-round doubles match with fellow American, Kimberly Po-Messerli. Despite the loss, Morariu, who is now in full remission, was touched by the rousing ovation she received.

Unseeded Anna Kournikova created quite a buzz around the tournament as she lost only a single game in her first round match and made an impressive run to the semifinals. It seemed only a matter of time before she establishes herself in the professional league.

               Yugoslavia's Jelena Dokic made her mark at the Acura Classic. In just her second appearance here, the 19-year-old looked at home as she reached the finals. Dokic is ranked number five in the world. She gave notice that she is destined to greater things. Watch Venus and Serena Williams!

               Lindsay Davenport, who won the title here in 1998, made her second tournament appearance of the year after undergoing knee surgery in January. She was almost perfect in her quarterfinal victory over Ai Sugiyama. Despite losing to Williams in the semifinals, she demonstrated to the fans that she is ready to compete for the top spot in the rankings again.

               Venus Williams got off to a quick start and rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over third-seeded Lindsay Davenport to advance to the finals. She needed only 59 minutes to advance to her fourth consecutive final at the La Costa Resort and Spa. She could forget her loss in the 1999 tournament final when she fell to Martina Hingis, 6-4, 6-0. Moreover, since then, Williams has won 13 consecutive matches.

               Venus confessed: “That was definitely a great match for me. ... For me right now, the most important thing is this Acura Classic. I’ve arrived in the finals and I don’t want to stop there.” This is the determination (the drive) that makes her adrenaline flow, that makes her muscle move and that makes her heart beat.

               And when she was down in the Saturday night’s semifinal, a set and two breaks (Davenport held serve to make the score 4-1), she fought off a break point in the next game and took a 5-1 lead as she slammed an ace on game point. She fought like a she-lion, and then broke Davenport for the sixth time to win the match.

               What more can be said about Venus Williams. For the last three years, she has been unbeatable at the Acura Classic. Her only hiccup in the tournament was a second-set loss to Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the quarterfinals.

With her victory here this year, Williams now pulls within one title of Steffi Graf's mark of four championships. Since its inception of the Women Classic in 1984, Steffi Graf has won the tournament four times (1990. 1994, 1989 and 1993) under different sponsorships. Since the advent of Acura in 2000, Venus Williams has dominated the ladies tournament. 

               What an encouraging story of young black woman’s dominance! What a success story of a model African-American family! It was only on Saturday July 6, 2002, a few weeks ago, that she surrendered to her little sister, another “tuff” black champion of the new generation of black athletes. Concerning the two sisters dominance and sibling rivalry (in tennis), this is how she summed up the emotional battle in a post match interview: “It is really a win/win situation.”

Of course it is a win/win situation, both in the sense of the joy that each winner brings to the family and in terms of the wealth that is accumulated by the black model family in each contest.

Venus, an Afro-American young woman, reminds of many Afro-Caribbean model female athletes and other successful women in other spheres of social and economic life.

There are few young successful female athletes, but we can call to mind, Janil Williams of Antigua and Barbuda. She is a tiny middle and long-distance runner. Janil has had exceptional performances in the local, regional and international arena. At the CARIFTA Games she won the open 3,000 metres and became the youngest female to win a gold medal in the games. She then broke the 800 metres record at the Leeward Islands Youth Championship held in Anguilla. And in Antigua, Williams broke yet another record....the Under-15 1,500 metres at a national championship. She duplicated this in Guadeloupe and then went to the Trinidad where she shattered yet another record in the Nesfit Women on the Move 5 kilometre Classic.

Congratulations to Venus Williams, a woman of class. Congratulations to a champion black family! Who says that the black family has no more models to emulate?

Peter Adrien is a Central Banker, an author, a syndicated sports commentator, and a freelance photographer. He may be contacted at www.adriensenterprises.com or at e-mail: info@adriensenterprises.com

PHOTO CAPTION: (Insert a photo of Venus Williams) 

FEATURES

Tourism Highlights

Jadine – New Product Development Officer

Mrs. Jadine Glitzenhirn joined the Montserrat Tourist Board, on 1^st August 2002 as Product Development Officer.

She brings with her over 30 years of experience, including manager of hotel establishments in Germany, Antigua, Montserrat and St Lucia. 
Mrs. Glitzenhirn was the founder and owner of the Jus Looking establishment, which included, day tours and a modeling agency. She is also a former Director of the Montserrat Tourist Board.

Jadine returned to University as a mature student, where she was awarded the Rosenbowl award, for student with the best academic performance in her third year. 
She graduated from the Thames Valley University in West London, with an Upper Second Class Degree in Tourism Management.

She will be working closely with all tourism stakeholders, the Montserrat National Trust and community groups to preserve, maintain and develop tourism products. 

TOURISM AND THE CSME – Part II

By Rachel Collis

Continued from last week

Although we have a strong representation of other CARICOM nationals among us, their numbers would be further enhanced if there were fewer restrictions on their entry and continued residence on the island. In terms of tourism, a strong feature would be the benefits from intra-regional travel.  This form of tourism presently account for 77 percent of travel by CARICOM nationals. Freedom to move in and out of the island would lead to less isolation of Montserrat, and greater opportunities for the rest of the region to learn more about the current volcanic situation.

Some new and interesting ideas have been floating around the region with regard to how tourism can improve with the proposed resurgence of regional nationalism under the CSME. Some of these have implications for the growth of tourism, which will redound to the benefit of all states. One is that CARICOM should want to reach out to all Caribbean states, including Cuba, Haiti, Surinam and the Dominican Republic. In fact, we should be reaching out to the entire Central American region.  Cuba, with an anticipated growth rate of about 9% per year, has begun to siphon off a significant portion of our tourism trade. The Dominican Republic is already up and away. This ‘reaching out’ would create a new and exciting product, one that has gone undiscovered for too long, and would supplement the now fluctuating North American market, which is showing a wariness for our so-called over-priced product.

Another is the encouragement of locally owned accommodation throughout the region. Not only would this put more money in the hands of locals for the creation of jobs and further enhancement of the product, but it would allow for greater experimentation with the infusion of folk culture and local art in the plan and design of these establishments, thus relieving us from the monotony of the culture of foreign-owned chains which are foisted upon us mainly because they are  globally popular and less costly to operate.

Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister of the Bahamas, and host of the 22^nd Annual CARICOM Summit, has urged his fellow heads of government to speed up efforts to promote the Caribbean as a single destination. It is Ingraham’s contention that, “for the purposes of Caribbean tourism, we need to think of the Caribbean region as a single nation”. In this way, all destinations, including Montserrat, would win, since the CSME single-destination marketing would allow the free movement of tourists from one destination to the other, without the encumbrances they presently encounter. Vacationers would now have the opportunity to travel to and explore all the Caribbean destinations on one trip, if so desired.

In the days of  the West Indies Federation of 1958 Jamaicans were very reluctant  to federate with the smaller islands like Montserrat. They saw the people as small islanders with whom federation would not be to their advantage. There is a famous joke that they referred to this island as “Monster Rat”, and a possible trip which would take them here as going “amongst the rats”.  Fortunately, those days are long past, and Jamaicans have come to recognize that their survival as a tourism destination is very dependent on the alliances which they form with all the other Caribbean states.

The CSME must be successful if tourism in the region is to survive.

Let’s look at some of the reasons for saying this. The present tourism industry is floundering following the September attack; in 2005 the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) which was set up to enhance market access for all countries involved in it, including our competitors, comes into being; in 2006 a proposed tariff-only system, which could replace the preferential agreements for the sale of Caribbean bananas on the international market could come to an abrupt end; the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is busy imposing sanctions and penalties on Caribbean offshore financial service jurisdictions that do not tow its line. These and other pressures are pushing us to falling back on what we have that is totally ours – the beauty, serenity and tranquility of our islands.

Once sugar, bananas and tourism did it for us. Now all we are left with, all that could be viable, is tourism. It is now a case of safeguarding and improving on what we have, or perish. We can choose the CSME and strive to make it (and not just the Cricket Team), work, or we can go the way of bananas.

Rachel Collis holds a Master’s Degree in Tourism Management and Administration. 

VOLCANO LIMERICKS

Any Inconvenience etc.

Why do so few of you frown

To learn that Earl 'Hustler' Brown,

The calypso monarch

Kept so long in the dark,

At last has received his real crown?

Rules of the Road

Once more the authorities claim

Highway safety is their sole aim;

One wonders as they proceed

With radar to limit speed,

Will they treat all us drivers the same? 

JUS WONDERIN

Jus wonderin if the civil servants are happy with the salary increase.

Jus wonderin what would happen if pay didn’t increase.

Jus wonderin if people will decide to pack and leave.

Jus wonderin if Montserrat will end up in a financial crisis later.

Jus wonderin if people at Gerald’s comfortable with airport construction.

Jus wonderin if Gov. get enough views from locals about airport.

Jus wonderin if de people at Gerald’s got adequate instructions as to relocation.

Jus wonderin if evil is overriding good.

Jus wonderin if the murder will have any negative impact on our youths in today society.

Jus wonderin how children enjoying their summer.

Jus wonderin how many Montserratian came home for summer.

Jus wonderin how this will affect our tourism industry.

Jus wonderin why more people can't find something positive to wonder about.

Jus wonderin the reopening of school is being looked forward to.

Jus wonderin what true friends are.

Jus wonderin who can you trust nowadays.

Jus wonderin if everyone is becoming a backbiter.

Jus wonderin if it’s Ministers alone have two face.

Jus wonderin which civil worker is openly criticized for not carrying out job right.

Jus wonderin if he deaf or dumb.

Jus wonderin who fasting in somebody love life.

Jus wonderin if its right to decide love for somebody.

Jus wonderin which country people crave rice so.

Jus wonderin if white rice is delicious.

Jus wonderin if bake chicken is the national Sunday dish.

Jus wonderin who going around telling people he have lot a girl friends.

Jus wonderin if he don’t know that he really have none.

Jus wonderin why old men love prey young girls.

Jus wonderin if de don’t know that they are attempting to blight a human being future – and maybe there’s.

Jus wonderin when the uneven roads going to smooth.

Jus wonderin if every road really need resurfacing.

Jus wonderin if too much people laid back on Montserrat – in whatever they do.

Jus wonderin who don’t know a trap set for him trying to steal somebody’s woman.

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