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DFID Now Seeks to be Graded On Crisis Performance

By Bennette Roach

The British Labour Government, under its leader the Honourable Tony Blair, faltered early in its handling of the volcanic crisis in Montserrat through its Secretary of State Miss Clare Short.

Conjecture puts it that she probably over-emphasised the position of Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) when she referred to Montserrat’s requests as nearly asking for "golden elephants," but that may not have done much harm to Montserrat, and may have produced an improved situation in the long run.

A Select Committee was appointed in her newly named Department for International Development (DFID). This committee filed two major reports in November 1997 and July 1998.

It is as a result of these reports that an Evaluation Study of HMG’s Response to the Montserrat Emergency has evolved, which is presently being conducted.

DFID’s Evaluation Department has commissioned the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), London, to undertake this study with Dr. Edward Clay as Team Leader and six technical specialists. These specialists have been recruited to participate on the basis of relevant subject and regional expertise, covering civil engineering, economics and financial analysis, health, nutrition, social development and volcanology.

According to the Inception Report on the study, "To ensure complete independence, none of the team has been involved previously in any aspect of the Montserrat Emergency."

The report states that the work of the team is being divided into four overlapping phases: September 21 - October 22, preparation and review of major documents; October 23 - December 11, the current period - Montserrat Visit (to take place between October 24 - November 5) followed by interviews with concerned officials and "civil society institutions" in the UK; November 9 - February 1999 - preparation of Draft Report; and February 1999 - April 1999 - Review and Finalising of main report, to take account of comments from "stakeholders."

Under the terms of reference for this study, "a final version of the report will be subsequently produced, reflecting, as far as is appropriate, comments on the draft received by the evaluation team," while "guidance on the format of the report will be provided by Evaluation Department."

In the early hearings of the Committee, the Honourable Chief Minister David Brandt addressed the Committee on several grounds as follows:

1. "The Government of Montserrat has acted in a manner inimical to the welfare of the people of Montserrat by opposing assisted packages to the UK. During the visit of then Chief Minister, Bertrand Osborne, the Government of Montserrat asked HMG to announce, while the delegation was still in London, the assisted package program. Minister Foulkes and his aides declined. Prior to this, March 1997, CM wrote to Governor for assistance for passages for needy persons; the Governor advised that he received a negative response from London.

2. "The powers, role and responsibilities of the governor were deliberately and grossly understated. The Governor is the President of the Executive Council, over which he exercises veto powers.

3. "The government of Montserrat did not agree with giving Montserratians the option of indicating their preferences. The government of Montserrat agreed to conduct a census and social survey. This was halted by DFID to focus on the evacuation and has not been restarted.

4. "The government of Montserrat announced unreasonably high figures for relocation in the Caribbean, which came as a complete surprise to DFID. Proposal for 18 months wage originated in Montserrat Aid Management Office, the local DFID agency. For Ms. Short to assert that she was taken by surprise is incomprehensible.

5. The local Aid Management Office can and has taken specific initiatives on orders from DFID London, without the concurrence of the local government. When the voluntary evacuation scheme was set up, it was done with DFID personnel, with help from officers of HMS Liverpool. Once the plan was operational, a local manager was installed.

This evaluation will come as no surprise to local government who have insisted that HMG’s response has not been as expected. When the first report of the Select Committee was published, Mr. Brandt commented on the admission of the British Government in its response to the Select Committee’s report, that it had, in fact, made mistakes and had failed in some respects to handle the situation here in Montserrat.

He was asked, "Do you think they will move with a bit more urgency on a number of projects?"

To this he responded, "It is a contradiction, because they are saying they accepted that. … It is not their failure I am interested in, it is what they do. So can one hand say that you admit that you made mistakes, and yet do nothing about the mistakes, and do things that could be perceived as increasing the difficulties? They are not consistent with each other. I am interested in action."

Mr. Brandt was also asked whether the report that they (the Select Committee) sent carries much clout?"

"I frankly would not want to say I know what they will do," he said, "having regard to what they have done in the past."

"I want them, as I’ve said over and over again, to treat Montserrat as an emergency case. Stop treating us as if life is as normal. Do not use the rules you used to use before the volcano to approve projects. Deal rapidly with the situation."

This ODI team’s study is to "review HMG’s preparations, organisation and delivery of emergency aid in response to the Montserrat crisis and identify findings and lessons learnt, particularly with general application to aid responses to prolonged natural disasters.."

Specifically, in consultation with the Government of Montserrat (GOM) DFID and the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO), the review will be taken against six key criteria: appropriateness; cost effectiveness; impact; coverage; coherence; process and connectedness.

Chief Minister Brandt says that he will repeat these and will seek to impress upon this team the shortcomings of HMG’s response to this crisis. He will stress the shortcomings which contributed to the deaths of June 25, 1997. He added that he will be giving testimony at the up-coming Inquest due to begin in a few days time in this regard.

One particularly popular feeling is that, "after 3 years the development of a support base in the safe north has hardly begun, the island has been depopulated. HMG is pursuing a policy to make provision only for those actually resident on island , and through this policy HMG is succeeding in making depopulation a permanent feature and a return to viability that much more difficult."

Coroner's Inquest to Weigh Causes in June '97

by Bennette Roach

Beginning on the 4th November, 1997, Senior magistrate, Mr. Rhys Burriss as Coroner for Montserrat will begin an inquest into the deaths which occurred on June 25, 1997.

Mr. Burriss made this announcement in October, but very little publicity other than a press release by him has been done with respect to a matter which must hold much interest for many.

In communicating with the Reporter, Mr. Burriss is again asking that "if anyone has evidence to offer as to why those who died were in the danger area they should, if they have not already done so, contact Sgt. Rueben Meade at Police Headquarters to arrange for him to take a statement "

At the time of his release the coroner had also requested persons wishing to be considered "Interest Persons" should contact him at his office. He has indicated that close relatives of the deceased would come within that category. But he suggests that "it would assist in promoting the smooth running of the Inquest if Interested Persons would instruct one or more of the lawyers practicing on island," pointing out that there is no legal requirement for them to do so.

The general format of the Coroner’s Inquest is that, as laid down by the Corners Act 1950, where the Coroner is required to hold an inquest "as to the cause and circumstances’ of the deaths.

This is according to Mr. Burriss who said that the proceedings are directed towards the jury ascertaining the truth, insofar as it can be proven , as to ‘how, where and when the deceased came by his death’.

There are many questions being asked as to the depth of evidence that the coroner will seek or allow at this Inquest, but Mr. Burriss said: "the question of what exactly is meant by ‘How…etc.’, taken with the phrase ‘cause and circumstances’ is one on which reasonable persons might disagree."

The senior magistrate said also that he has a long list of about 50 people from whom witness statements have been taken. The evidence may be repetitious and he will have to decide which of the potential witnesses to call.

There are those anxious to hear the evidence of former Governor Savage and Commissioner Hooper, both of whom Mr. Burriss said, along with the Acting Governor Dr. Fergus at the time, he has invited to give evidence at some stage.

We finally obtained a list of the names of the persons who have been missing since that day. 16 people - 10 men, including a three-month-old boy, and 6 women are known to be dead, while three others are missing and are presumed dead.

Three unidentified bodies have since been recovered and officials believe them to be the bodies of the three missing persons.

"An Honest Look at Our Crisis Will Lead Back to UK’s Door"

When the information first reached us, it suggested that an investigation was due to take place on DFID here in Montserrat. In a sense that might not be far off the mark.

In fact, the "jus wonderin" that mentioned "that a serious investigation is due to take place at one of the establishments, quite often referred to as ‘the other government,’ later this month," was obviously hinting at the current visit of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) London team presently in Montserrat.

Just how welcome the undertaking of this team might be and how hopeful that its final report will be of benefit to Montserrat will probably not be known until May next year.

The study being done by this team of seven, under the leadership of Dr. Edward Clay of ODI, is an evaluation of Her Majesty Government's HMG) response to the Montserrat Emergency.

It was brought about as a result of the Select Committee's two reports of November last year and this past July, which have been quite critical of the British Government's handling of the crisis and their response thereto.

There have been in-fighting and disagreements among the two departments, DFID and FCO, dealing with Montserrat, but Montserrat has been the sufferer through this. There have been admissions of errors, misunderstandings, and poor and unkind utterances. But as one local puts it in an appeal to the Select Committee, "the administrative bureaucracy is more interested in what appears to be right to the outside world than in addressing and solving problems for those on Montserrat."

This team hopes to find the answers within seven months, from mid-September this year. One of the key criteria of the study as set out in their terms of reference is the cost-effectiveness of the HMG response. They will check the effectiveness of the interventions in terms of cost, assessing the value for money and benefits in relation to costs.

Another key criterion will be the coherence of the overall policy and co-ordination between DFID, FCO, Government of Montserrat and OGDs; also the appropriateness of the overall response.

It is believed that there is much to discover in these areas as well as the others which make up the criteria of the study. Here the visit should be a welcome one, since without an actual on-the-ground study and enough time, the problems experienced from the crisis will never be truly understood. Then the "last state will be worse than the first." Of course, wouldn't a visit by Clare Short end the problems?

Montserratians will hope that this team will recognise and report that the crisis, involving the immediate dangers and risks to their people and the loss of 80 percent of the country’s assets, should have taken precedence over any and everything happening anywhere else in the world. Then they will have to convince Clare Short.

Without a genuine resolution of the conflicting perspectives or lack of co-ordination, which the team is sure to confirm, the control of the purse strings by the UK Government will remain the ultimate determinant of problems.

The team will find that relatively large sums of money have been spent, but no one has been satisfied because rather than being resolved, problems have been intensified.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Scripture for the Week

And this is my prayer; that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness. Philippians 1:9-11

Sometimes we carry around odd ideas about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. We pick up the odd idea, for example, that to be a good disciple of Christ means we must be like some great saint of ancient or modern times, and if we don't do this we are "losers" as far as God is concerned.

We are not called to be some great saint according to some abstract ideal. We are called to be our own unique self, and by doing that we will--surprise, surprise--become a saint, in God's eyes if not the eyes of the world.

We are called, in our own ordinary everyday life, to do small, ordinary things well and with love. We are called to do our work with love, to be a loving person in our family relationships, and to connect with the wider society in loving ways.

And when we do this the result will be St. Paul's harvest of righteousness," that is, a harvest of God's saving love. A bumper crop, in fact.

Mitch Finley

Official UK Report Lists Areas of Low Ash Danger

A Government House press release on October 26, 1998, came with a copy of a report on ash levels in Salem, Frith and Old Towne. It said that this was undertaken by the UK's Institute of Occupational Medicine, endorsed by Dr. Peter Baxter and Dr. Robert Maynard on behalf of the UK's Chief Medical Officer.

According to the release "the report, requested by His Excellency the Governor, subject to certain caveats, confirms that the ash levels in the areas of Salem, Frith and Old Towne no longer represent a health hazard to the community."

Clause 14 of the report states that the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) indicates that massive mud flows in the Belham Valley are unlikely. This has led to the question, if "massive mud flows" are not anticipated, why was the bridge left to be destroyed and the area widely overrun by the flows?

The report sets out its findings, along with recommendations regarding the re-occupation of these areas, general recommendations for clean-up, and developing criteria for assessing environmental conditions.

It called for the continuation of a public education campaign regarding the effects of ash on health and how these may be prevented.

According to the report, DFID carried out a study of schoolchildren in February this year, which "showed an association between worsening of asthma symptoms and residence in the last year in areas of moderate to heavy ash fall."

Still No Cooking Gas? Blame Unruly Crowds

The Cooking Gas Shortage problem is now nearly a year old, yet The Reporter had not been issued with a copy of a recent press release that only came to our knowledge last night.

Under title "Cooking Gas Shortage," the following excerpt appeared in a December issue of The Reporter:

"The current shortage of cooking gas should soon be over.

In Nevis, 200 – 100-pound cylinders and 400 – 20-pound cylinders are being filled. As soon as the filling is completed they will be shipped to Montserrat on the motor vessel "Endeavour," which was already in Nevis.

"Long term plans are being made to have a 6,000-gallon pressure vessel on wheels to be shipped to Montserrat from Nevis full of LPG so that bottles can be filled on island. In addition, a road tanker can be made available to Montserrat so that large users of gas such as bakeries, shelters and the hospital can be filled on site."

The latest press release said: "…Due to the unfortunate displays at the sales outlet on October 19^th and 20^th, the Emergency Department is forced to adjust the system of control over the 20lb cylinders. Residents desirous of purchasing 20lb cylinders of LPG are now requested to telephone the Emergency Department and register their names and present address."

At first, anyone might wonder if this was an attempt to correct the bungling of the cooking gas affair referred to by a suffering caller to The Reporter as the "continuing outrageous ineptitude in the distribution of cooking gas," while another said, "The government of Montserrat should send up weekly prayers of thanks for the incredible patience of their crisis-ridden constituents."

But there is no show of understanding in this ridiculously long saga of unconcern for the welfare of the ordinary man. People were and are obviously still expected to put up or shut up with inconvenience and expense by this department, which may well be trying to tell the Governor that this department is not the one to obtain and distribute petroleum and propane.

The government has been called upon time and time again to do something about it, and seemingly will, but then did His Excellency not hear the pleas and feel the pain of people suffering like lambs to the slaughter? Anyone seeing or knowing what took place at Little Bay on the 19^th and who didn't feel sympathy, compassion or share the pain of the folks trying to get the convenience of preparing a meal, should never be directly responsible for the welfare of people in any way.

Even now, why can't customers simply be allowed to drop off their bottles any working day rather than having to listen to the radio for instructions and name-calling?

UWI’s Local Programme Cites New Signs of Success

The University Centre, which represents the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Montserrat, is again reporting success in its long distance learning programme.

In spite of the ongoing volcanic crisis, the local university centre has been able for the most part to continue its distance learning programme which delivers university level courses to local students.

In a release yesterday the centre expressed thanks to "Cable and Wireless and the Government of Montserrat, the former for teleconference space, and the latter for financial assistance."

The release also says that as a result, and because of their disciplined commitment to their studies, a number of persons have qualified for UWI credentials.

The latest graduates are Celeste O'Garro, an employee of the Royal Bank of Canada, and Cheryl White, a former employee of the Montserrat Building Society. Both have completed requirements for the Certificate of Business Administration (CBA) and are entitled to attend the UWI graduation ceremony in Mona, Jamaica. They will, however, receive their certificates at a local ceremony organized by the School of Continuing Studies.

"Talk all you want" programme caps charges at $20

In the first promotion of its kind, Cable & Wireless will be offering its customers in the Caribbean region discounted international calls every weekend in November. Customers will be able to make International calls to any Caribbean Island where Cable & Wireless operates, and talk for an unlimited time for one low cost.

This special offer applies to direct dialed calls to Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The promotion will run from midnight Friday to midnight Sunday starting October 31^st, and will be repeated every weekend in November.

Charges will be capped at $20 or less, which means that customers can talk for an unlimited time, to anyone in these countries, and never pay more than $20. For shorter calls that cost less than the price cap, only the lower charge will be billed. Customers will soon begin noticing newspaper, television and radio advertisements promoting the price discount.

The $20 price cap promotion is the third international calling discount offered this year in the region by Cable & Wireless. In July, customers calling the U.S. were charged 50 percent less after the first 10 minutes, and in September, the same offer was repeated for calls to the United Kingdom. In addition, Cable & Wireless also introduced its Talkaway programme, which discounts calls to any three international numbers of the customer’s choice.

Managing Director of Cable & Wireless (West Indies) Ltd., Mr Nick Koumarianos, said this special promotion will give the people of the region the opportunity to relax and talk to family and friends for as long as they want without worrying about what it will cost. The other promotions have been very successful and customers have used the opportunity to make international calls at special rates.

Mr Koumarianos added, " Our customers want lower international rates and this is what we will be offering them every weekend in November".

Cable & Wireless, which has about 700,000 phone lines in the region, plans to offer one International promotion per quarter, with the next scheduled for February 1999.

Cable & Wireless is one of the world’s leading providers of International Telecommunications Services. Its businesses provide 17 million customers in 70 countries with a complete range of international, domestic and mobile communications. Cable & Wireless is the world’s fourth largest carrier in international traffic, provides mobile communications in more than 30 countries, and operates the world’s largest, most advanced cableship fleet. 

Barbados, OECS Talk About Membership

St Lucia, CANA - Plans for Barbados to become a member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) before year end will be taken one step further when economic ministers meet today and tomorrow. The ministers will pay attention to implications of Barbados' membership on common market issues. OECS Director General Swinburne Lestrade said that the ministers will also examine the issue of currency and central banking.

Barbados Government Hampered on Executions

Barbados, CANA - The Barbados government is still determined to carry out the death penalty, but the process is hampered by laws of the land.

Attorney-General David Simmons said yesterday that several cases of murder in the country had been reduced to manslaughter, either by the verdict of a jury or by reason of a judicial error in directions.

"It should be remembered when the call is made for the attorney general to hang that the attorney general cannot and must not do anything to undermine the Rule of Law," he said.

Dominica Draws Plans For Volcanic Activity

Roseau, Dominica, CANA - Dominica's cabinet now has contingency plans to deal with the possibility of volcanic activity. Assistant Disaster Preparedness Coordinator Cecil Shillingford, said a Task Force worked throughout the weekend on the plan, which includes evacuation. Residents of Pointe Michel, Loubiere, and Castle Comfort have been the most affected by earth tremors, which scientists say are of volcanic origin, but a volcanic eruption is not imminent.

Powerful Hurricane Mitch Savages Central America

An Information Bulletin on Tropical Storm Mitch cites it as the strongest storm of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, rising to a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of more than 170 mph.

The hurricane has been a disaster for the Central Americas and Mexico, causing severe damage to Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Belize.

As of this morning, at least 36 people had died and officials had no word at all from hundreds of small communities cut off by the storms in Honduras and neighboring Nicaragua. Honduran officials said at least 15,000 houses had been destroyed along the Atlantic coast. More than 150,000 people had fled homes or hotels in the region.

Mitch, which on Tuesday ranked among the century's most powerful storms, weakened as it moved slightly inland of the Honduran coastline Thursday and lost much of its punch. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that maximum sustained winds were near 50 mph, down from 180 mph early Tuesday.

An Antigua-registered Fantome, a 240-foot sailing yacht with 31 people aboard, was still missing, said the U.S. Coast Guard, which sent a C-130 transport plane to search for it.

The Fantome, which is owned by Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, was on a six-day cruise through Belize and Honduras' Bay Islands when the storm hit, said Windjammer spokesman James Canty.

Although the weakening storm seemed to be anchored off Honduras, more than 20,000 tourists

had abandoned Cancun and nearby resort areas, leaving hotels at about 20 percent of capacity.

Driving Rains Damage Homes in St. Vincent

St Vincent, CANA - A number of homes at Gibson Corner, on the outskirts of the St Vincent and the Grenadines capital, Kingstown, are being severely damaged from land slippage caused by continuous rains that began last week Wednesday. Seven families have stood by almost helplessly, watching their homes crack up as the land shifts. Even the road leading to the housing settlement was itself breaking apart, and homeowners say cracks that began appearing on buildings Friday worsened as the rains failed to let up.

St Lucia Senator Charged with Assault

St Lucia, CANA - St Lucian opposition Senator Marius Wilson appears in court today on assault charges after allegedly holding his wife and her family at gunpoint. Police said Tuesday that Wilson faces four charges, including threatening to kill. Police allege that after an altercation with his wife Saturday, Wilson followed her to a family home, where he threatened to kill them.

GOOD LEADERSHIP

By Man from Baker Hill

An invaluable ingredient of good leadership consists of knowing when to accept something new or when to resist something new. But above all, the essence of good leadership is knowing when to choose between accepting and resisting change.

To avoid misunderstandings, let me make this point very clear. Good leadership is expected from all of us, merchants, teachers, preachers, builders, architects, engineers, managers, and, of course, politicians.

I can list a number of changes which have been forced on us by the volcanic activities. But for the purpose of this article, I will consider changes that affected two basic needs. First, the need to survive, that is, to obtain food at reasonable cost and with reasonable hardship. Second, the need for shelter, that is to obtain reasonable housing at affordable cost.

In our effort to survive, we must not accept ridiculous changes in the cost of living. We must not accept the rising prices on everything. We should never pay $8.00 for an avocado that can be bought in Dominica or St Vincent for less than $1.00. We should not have to pay $4.00 or $5.00 a pound for greens and vegetables, if we pay less than $2.00 a pound for rice, corn, flour and sugar products that have to go through many manufacturing processes before they arrive at our shores. The merchants buy vegetables and greens that are reaped less than one mile from the shops yet are costing us up to $6.00 a pound.

We must also resist certain changes. We must not accept or tolerate unnecessary hardships to obtain cooking gas. This change is unreasonable and unbearable. We look silly and awkward -- even to the point of looking stupid – when we accept this level of hardship.

During the early days of volcanic activities, everyone was forced to adjust to unreasonable housing arrangements. Today, we must resist inadequate and unaffordable housing arrangements.

Above everything else, we must resist our builders, contractors and architects in their devious desire to take affordable housing beyond the reach of Montserratians. We must ask why a (600-square-foot) house should cost $200,000.

Today the British may be paying for the houses, but tomorrow Montserratians will have to pay even higher prices for smaller houses. Are our contractors penalising Montserratians who want to build an affordable house? Why should a civil servant pay an eight-hours wage for two hours’ work? Why should a contractor demand 40-percent profit on the real cost of a house?

Recently, Radio Montserrat broadcast that the local contractors were able to convince DFID that they can build the new houses in 90 days. The real issues are the price to build each house, the cost of idle time and the profit element. The issue is not the time it takes to deliver the houses.

How did we get to this ''here, and going nowhere" level of non-leadership? We must wake up and examine the changes which are choking us. Then we must practice good leadership ourselves, and demand it from others too. We must lead ourselves away from the "road of self-destruct."

Good leadership is expected from merchants and vendors, contractors and workers. But for the purpose of this article I will single out the preachers and challenge them to lead in the struggle to accept or resist changes.

Men of the cloth, give us a jump start.. Preach about manmade unacceptable changes in the quality of our lives. Preach about self-leadership -- how to lead with faith and love. Preach how to lead with commitment and not greed. Preach about the power of small deeds and kindness. Preach about resisting manmade hardships and the gas situation. Preach about the rising cost of living (food prices at the supermarket).

Preach that good leadership has nothing to do with being a "set on," inciting followers to curse the British. Preach that leadership has nothing to do with making noise, and even less to do with complaining. Preach, so that in the struggle to obtain food, cooking gas, reasonable houses, or just to maintain a good quality of life, we will be able to choose between accepting and resisting changes in the struggle to obtain food, cooking gas, reasonable housing, or just to maintain a good quality of life,

Preach that good leadership is also to lead followers to ultimately lead themselves.

Mudflows brought about by the recent heavy rains are finishing off the work that the volcano began last year - the destruction of Plymouth. In an interview on ZJB Radio with information co-ordinator Richard Aspin, Senior Scientist Dr Keith Rowley explained that mud flows have been inundating Plymouth, gradually covering up some buildings and undermining others.

Dr. Rowley said that the heavy rain has dislodged loose material on the mountainside, and has also cut several deep channels through the hot material in Plymouth, These channels, which run through the town down to the sea, can be six feet deep with vertical sides, and intersect the town, making passage impossible, he said.

Dr. Rowley described the Groves Road as being blocked with huge boulders, which had been brought down from the flanks of the volcano, and left in place while the lighter material was washed further down. Some of these boulders, he said, had also filled up the basements of buildings in Plymouth.

There is also the danger of collapsing buildings, he said, as the mudflows undermine and destabilise the buildings. Generally, he said, the "ground" level is up to at least first floor level, and you can now touch the hands of the War Memorial clock.

Dr. Rowley stressed that there is also an increased risk of further pyroclastic flows, making it extremely dangerous now to enter Plymouth. "I know that we haven’t had many eruptions in the recent past," he said, "but we must not forget that we are in the vicinity of an active volcano, albeit that the activity is at a relatively low level."

He explained that although there’s no new magma coming up into the volcano, the existing dome is very hot, and parts of it will continue to collapse without notice in the form of pyroclastic flows from time to time. "The dome is not growing, but is disintegrating," he said, "and that disintegration, in the form of collapses, will generate pyroclastic flows." These flows, he said, can still be very hot, at around 600 to 700 degrees Celsius, and with the extremely difficult terrain now in Plymouth escape would be impossible.

There’s a lot of hot material piled up on the Gages side above Plymouth, he explained, making collapse on that side most likely at present. This, in fact, happened October 20, when the flows were described as reaching Parsons and Amersham, although only impacting areas that had already been covered previously. Residents heard rumblings, thunder and lightning, which accompanied this event. The collapse, however, was quite small in terms of the amount of material dislodged, Dr. Rowley said, so there’s lots more material still there to come down.

Tips for using the computer

By Jan Nordgreen

Question 1:

I have just bought a computer and I realise I have a lot to learn before I can use it effectively. A friend of mine asked me if I use passwords. I said "No." She insisted that I have to use passwords, but I don’t see why. I use my computer for my personal use only and don’t have too many secrets. What is the point with passwords?

Answer:

There are three reasons why you may consider using passwords on your computer. Let’s take them in turn.

Do you want people to mess up your computer? If the answer is no, continue reading. When the machine is turned on, you are invited to press a function key (often F2 or F10) to enter Setup. You can set two different passwords in Setup. One for entering Setup itself and one for starting to use the computer. You should definitely set a password for entering Setup. If not, anyone can make undesired changes in Setup, changes that may stop your computer from working altogether.

Do you want other people to use your computer? If the answer is no, you should set a password for starting to use the computer. As explained above, you set this password in Setup. To prevent other people from using your machine after you have turned it on, you can use a screen saver with a password.

Do you want other people to read your documents? If the answer is no, put a password on your documents when you save them. That way, only you can view your documents.

Question 2:

I have put a password on my computer so only I can use it. The question is, how can I detect if my co-worker, husband, daughter, son has detected the password and used the computer without me knowing it? I use Windows 95.

It's a Question of Commitment

Why does she think she's the only one with needs? I like attention too, you know!

She Doesn't Exactly 'Get it,' Either

Men want women to understand us the same way women want us to understand them. "Women want to be wanted, chased, and adored," says a 40-year-old Army sergeant in our Men's Health survey. But they forget that some of us men like to be treated in the same fashion." Other survey respondents make the same basic point: Women say they want to be touched and caressed more. Well, men like to be touched and caressed, too. Why don't women give what they want to get?

They like surprises like flowers and cards? So do men! Well? The image of the two genders standing far apart, demanding the same things of each other, amuses one 40-year-old antique shop owner to no end. "We're all such hypocrites when it comes to sex," he says.

Some of our respondents complained that women can be clumsy lovers, too. They said women have no idea how to treat a penis. ("It ain't no stick shift!") They complain that women don't reciprocate in the oral sex department.

And women don't realize how much our sexuality brings changes with the years. "I used to have a perpetual erection, or could get one just looking at a woman, says a 39-year-old insurance adjuster. "But now I find that a woman's reassurance, expressed appreciation, and playful teasing all help. It is perhaps close to the same thing that women have been saying they need. The lovemaking starts at the beginning of the day with words, touches, and attitudes and continues throughout the day. Not just at the moment when the clothes come off." Seems like our advice comes right back at us. Speak up, gentlemen.

Why does he lie to me?

She Can Read Between the Lies

Like anyone, men lie to avoid punishment. We also lie to gain an advantage. Part of this is what is called "duping delight." This comes from the pure thrill of getting away with something. The greatest control a person can have over someone else in this age is to have the information edge.

What are the most common lies men tell? It depends on our age. As we age, our lies progress from sexual conquests, to our employment and position, to our material possessions. Throughout our lives we may also lie about how much we know about any topic.

We think some white lies are okay.

They're the lies of everyday life. They're tactful. The stakes are low. If you tell her you had to work late when actually you were shopping for her birthday, she will -- or should -- forgive that lie.

But as far as we're concerned, omission of some facts is lying. This is where a lot of couples get into trouble. In relationships, we have certain obligations and expectations. In intimate relationships, telling the whole truth is generally expected. The problem is, most couples never specifically delineate those expectations.

And, of course, affairs are a poor solution to real problems in a relationship. To avoid creating an atmosphere conducive to cheating, be honest about your feelings. Ask for what you need, and consider your partner's needs, as well.

Simple Secrets of The Power of Confidence

By Sam Horn, Action Seminars

Confidence is an essential quality in determining our degree of success.

Confidence helps us approach the people we want to meet...and need to meet...and helps us ask for what we need and for what we deserve.

Confidence is not the same as self-esteem, although the two are related. Self-esteem is an inner attitude--it refers to the way we regard ourselves.

Confidence is the ability to project this positive self-regard when in public situations. It comes across as poise --even when we are feeling under pressure. Though confidence may seem like something you're born with, it can be acquired. Shy people can acquire it, too. Simple strategies for projecting confidence:

• Always focus on the other person. It's hard to seem poised when you're worrying about how you look or whether you are saying the right thing. In order to lose this debilitating self-consciousness, focus your attention on others instead of on yourself.

To accomplish this quickly, use the four-L technique:

• Look at the other person with interest.
• Lean forward slightly, as though to catch every word.
• Lift your eyebrows.
• Level or equalize your conversation style. Talk at the same level as the other person. If the person you're talking to is sitting, then sit down next to him/her. If he is standing, then stand up so that you are making eye contact at the same level.

These simple physical acts generate the appearance and feeling of interest in others--which then attracts people to you.

Try it You'll find it's impossible to be lethargic, distracted or preoccupied with yourself when your body language shows animation and interest in others.

• Smile broadly. I know some people believe smiling makes them look naive or not in control. But a smile draws people to you involuntarily.

Whether you're at a party, a conference or a job interview, it's very hard to resist a genuine smile.

That word genuine is important. Many people think they're smiling when their face is actually set in a grim mask of anxiety.

If you remain concentrated on your fears--such as "I hate talking in front of a large group" -- those fears will show up on your face, even when you try to smile.

So change what you tell yourself. Try, "What I'm saying will help people to do their jobs more efficiently" – and you will appear open, receptive and confident.

• Become an instant insider. People commonly feel ill at ease walking into a conference, networking event or other occasion where they don't know many people.

To get over this fear and build instant connections, ask for help -- or offer your help to others.

Because our culture prizes self-sufficiency, asking for help may not sound like a good way to create confidence. Yet people love to feel needed -- we're all yearning to make a difference in the world.

When you ask for help or offer help, you're empowering both yourself and the person you're asking help from or assisting. You’ll come across as someone who is friendly and outgoing, which translates into confidence.

• Take the initiative. People love when you walk up and introduce yourself. It means they don't have to look for someone to talk to.

Don't worry about a clever opener. Just smile warmly, introduce yourself and add a line about what you do or where you live.

Taking the initiative works especially well at luncheon meetings, where groups of eight or 10 near-strangers are seated around a table.

Example: People are invariably grateful when someone says, "We've got about 20 minutes before the program starts, and we haven't had a chance to meet each other. Why don't we go around the table and introduce ourselves?"

This initiative won't be perceived as overly aggressive or inappropriate, because you're not grabbing the conversational ball for yourself. People wind up exchanging useful information, sharing ideas and showcasing their expertise -- thanks to your act of confidence.

Sell yourself with a sound bite. When people ask, "What do you do?" have an answer that you have prepared in advance that makes them want to know more about you.

Example: "I'm a loan officer at a bank" is flat when compared with "I meet with small business owners and help finance their growth."

Easy conversation starter: Asking other people, "What's your favorite thing to do when you're not working?" is a great way to get a lively discussion going. It puts both you and others at ease right away and makes you appear confident.

• Make good mistakes. Someone once said that the only "bad" mistake is one from which you don't learn.

Confident people take thoughtful risks -- but don't beat themselves up when things fail to turn out as they had hoped. They see mistakes as lessons, not failures. They're self-coaches, not self-critics. And they focus on the future, not the past.

Are you sleep deprived? Click here to take our quiz.

Feeling tired? You're not alone. Women complain of insomnia more often than men - and for good reason according to a new study of women and sleep. The culprit: our biological clocks. (Pam Veenstra/ABScreenCNEWS.com)

By Jenifer Joseph ABCNEWS.com

Women, wonder why you’re feeling so tired these days? It may not just be the changing seasons.

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) wanted to find out why, for example, nearly twice as many women as men claim to have insomnia.

In fact, previous sleep research has consistently found that women are more sleep-deprived than men.

To learn more about why this is true, the NSF surveyed more than 1,000 women around the country about their sleeping habits and general health.

The biggest sleep disturbers, it found, have to do with biological events unique to women: the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause.

"There was a general prejudice that increased insomnia in women was a product of an emotional disturbance, like depression," says Dr. Thomas Roth, chief of sleep medicine at Henry Ford Hospital.

"But our study argues that that’s not the case at all. These are biological processes that happen to rob women of sleep."

A Little Help From the Pill Bottle. Among moms-to-be, for instance, 79 percent say their sleep is more disturbed during pregnancy than at other times.

• Don't sleep in late on weekends
• Don't drink alcohol after 6 p.m.
• Avoid caffeine after 4 p.m.
• Avoid exercising within four hours of bedtime

Half of all menstruating women say bloating disturbs their sleep. And 36 percent of menopausal and post-menopausal women report that their sleep is interrupted by hot flashes.

Surprisingly, nearly a third of the women surveyed say they use caffeine or over-the-counter drugs like Nodoze to help them stay awake during the day, and another third say they rely on over-the-counter or prescription drugs to help them sleep.

In general, Roth and his colleagues found, women are not getting enough sleep -- and it’s affecting their daily routines. Take our quiz to find out whether you too are sleep-deprived.

Check ABCNEWS.com’s Health & Living section and Good Morning America.

every Thursday for another edition of Healthy Woman, a regular feature of

Linda Gassenheimer Solves Very Tricky Cooking Problems

When people find out what I do for a living, they often ask me for ways to solve their tricky cooking problems. Here are some of the biggest problems:

Problem. Rice that comes out pasty or undercooked. Best way to cook rice: Boil rice in a pot large enough to let the grains roll freely in the water. Simply add rice in a steady, slow stream to the rapidly boiling water so that the water continues to boil. Boil uncovered for about 10 minutes, and then drain.

Problem: Homemade tomato sauce that comes out too watery. Solution: Simmer uncovered until the sauce reduces and thickens with rich flavor. Generally, two pounds of fresh tomatoes or four cups of canned tomatoes take 30 minutes. If you think your tomatoes are not at their best quality or not in season, add a few teaspoons of canned tomato puree or tomato paste to the sauce.

Problem: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts that dry out when cooking. Solution: Heat two tablespoons of olive oil on a high flame in a nonstick skillet until smoking. Add the chicken breasts, and sear about two minutes on each side. They should be golden brown. With the heat at medium, cover with a lid. Cook another four minutes -- for an average-size chicken breast. Remove from pan immediately.

Problem. Cake that sticks to the bottom of the baking pan. Solution: Before cooking, cut a piece of parchment paper or foil to fit the bottom of the pan. Spray the pan with oil spray, place the paper in the pan and smooth it out Then spray the paper. Next, lightly dust the pan with flour, shaking out any excess.

To turn the cake out of the pan, loosen the sides with a spatula and tip the cake upside down onto a rack. The paper will come out with the cake. Carefully peel the paper off the bottom.

Linda Gassenheimer is executive director of Gardner's Market, a chain of gourmet supermarkets in Miami. She is author of "Dinner in Minutes: Memorable Meals for Busy Cooks" / $14.95

Update on LPG Situation

The Government of Montserrat this week took several measures which it hopes will resolve the problems concerning the availability and distribution of cooking gas on island.

Under emergency powers, it took a decision to remove three LPG tanks from the Delta facility at Lovers Lane in Plymouth.

During the joint exercise on Sunday, the Emergency Department, the Department of Public Works, the Royal Montserrat Police Force, along with Eddies, Cox and Greenaway trucking companies, removed the tanks.

The tanks, which hold a combined 37,500 gallons of LPG, will be mounted on concrete bases at the fuel depot at Carrs Bay, with assistance from the engineering firm DAMOS Ltd of Trinidad and Tobago.

Once the tanks are connected to pipelines from the sea and the filling station, they will greatly improve the storage capacity for LPG, and go a long way towards increasing the availability of cooking gas on the island.

The Emergency Department has also announced new procedures for the distribution of 20lb and 100lb cylinders of cooking gas. It is hoped that the actions taken by the government will bring an end to the difficulties faced by the public over the past several months.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Economic and Financial Review on Montserrat - 1997

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has given the economic performance of Montserrat as part of its economic and financial review for 1997.

However, in its overview, the ECCB said that complete data on the economy of Montserrat were not available for the second quarter, as the data collection and reporting process, which was disrupted due to the volcanic activity, has not been fully restored.

The Bank said the available information suggested that economic activity, while still low, may have improved during the quarter compared with the level in the second quarter of 1997, fueled largely by developments in the construction sector.

The ECCB said the fiscal deficit widened marginally during the quarter relative to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Liquidity in the commercial banking system was said to have improved during the quarter, but interest rates remained virtually unchanged.

The ECCB review stated that for the period January to June, economic activity was also driven by the construction sector.

According to the review, performance in the manufacturing sector was weak compared with the first half of 1997, due to the closure of the rice milling factory and an electronics component enterprise in the second half of 1997. Following is the full text of the Bank’s review.

OUTPUT AND PRICES

During the second quarter of 1998, developments in the economy were led by the construction sector as the government continued to improved the infrastructure in the northern section of the island and provide housing for those residents who were still occupying emergency shelters. Private sector residential construction was also strong as work commenced on a number of new buildings.

There were signs of a modest revival in the tourism industry as the number of excursionists to Montserrat increased during the quarter.

This was a result of the introduction of day tours out of Antigua and Barbuda. Activity in the agricultural sector was low, limited by the acreage of land available for agricultural purposes and the lack of irrigation facilities. Farmers were allotted plots in the safe zone and produced vegetable crops for domestic consumption.

Manufacturing activity declined during the quarter under review as a result of the closure of two relatively large manufacturing enterprises in 1997.

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT FISCAL OPERATIONS

During the quarter under review, the fiscal position of the central government remained relatively stable compared with the corresponding period of 1997. A current account deficit of $8.8 million was recorded marginally above the deficit of $8.5 million in the second quarter of 1997.

Current revenue fell by 22.8 per cent to $5.8 million during the second quarter of 1998 relative to the total in the corresponding quarter of 1997, partly reflecting the low level of economic activity. Roughly 94.0 per cent of total revenue was obtained from tax sources.

The yield from taxes on international trade and transactions, which accounted for the largest share of current revenue, fell by 34.7 per cent to $2.6 million during the quarter under review, attributed to lower receipts from all components of this tax category. The yield from taxes on income and profits declined by 8.9 per cent to $1.9 million, as an increase in revenue from personal income taxes was more than offset by a fall in receipts from company tax.

Revenue from taxes on property fell by 80.0 per cent ($0.2 m), partly due to a decline in the number of buildings as a result of destruction of these by the volcanic activity. The yield from taxes on domestic goods and services increased by 25.3 per cent ($0.2 m).

During the quarter under review, current expenditure was 8.8 per cent ($1.4 m) below the total in the corresponding quarter of 1997. The contraction in expenditure reflected declines in outlays on personal emoluments (7.6 per cent) and goods and services (15.4 per cent).

Expenditure on transfers and subsidies rose by 65.7 per cent ($0.7m).

For the first half of the year, current revenue fell by 28.1 per cent to $10.7 million compared with the total for the first six months of 1997, while current expenditure declined by 10.4 per cent to $24.6 million.

These movements resulted in a current account deficit of $13.9 million compared with one of $12.6 million in the first half of 1997.

MONEY AND CREDIT

The total monetary liabilities of the commercial banking system contracted by 4.5 per cent to $100.1million, compared with a decline of 0.6 percent in the corresponding period of 1997. Quasi money grew by 3.2 per cent, in contrast to a 1.0 per cent fall over the second quarter of 1997, as savings and private sector foreign currency deposits grew by 4.9 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively, while time deposits fell by 19.2 per cent. The narrow money supply (MI) contracted by 19.6 per cent to $28.7 million, reflecting a decline in currency with the public (14.4 per cent) and demand deposits (23.8 per cent).

In the corresponding quarter of 1997, currency with the public increased by 13.5 per cent, while demand deposits fell by 8.7 per cent.

Domestic credit outstanding continued to trend downwards during the quarter under review. At the end of the quarter, domestic credit stood at negative $11.5 million, compared with $15.4 million at the beginning of the quarter. Outstanding credit to the private sector contracted by 10.3 per cent to $42.4 million, compared with a 0.6 per cent fall in the second quarter of 1997, as the commercial banks were cautious in extending new credit in light of the volcanic activity.

The public sector continued to be a net depositor in the banking system. During the second quarter, the net deposits of the central government with the banking system increased by 32.6 per cent to $29.0 million, associated with inflows of grants. In the case of the

non-financial public enterprises, their net deposits with the commercial banks increased by 60.8 per cent to $12.6 million.

The net foreign assets of the banking system increased by 18.9 per cent to $132.2 million during the quarter under review, as against a 5.1 per cent contraction in the second quarter of 1997. The rise in net foreign assets was attributed to a 76.3 per cent ($30.3 million increase in Montserrat’s imputed share of the reserves of the Central Bank.

The net foreign assets of the commercial banks contracted by 12.9 per cent to $62.3 million, as assets held with banks and other institutions in the rest of the ECCB area were reduced by 13.7 per cent to $52.7 million, while liabilities more than doubled to $6.3 million.

During the second quarter of 1998, the commercial banks continued to maintain a high level of liquidity. This was indicated by a 9.2 percentage point decline in the loans and advances to deposits ratio to 27.7 per cent, as loans and advances contracted by 14.4 per cent, while deposits rose by 14.1 per cent. The ratio of liquid assets to deposits rose to 76.5 per cent during the quarter from 70.5 per cent at the end of March.

In addition, the cash reserves ratio rose to 34.5 per cent as cash reserves held by the commercial banks more than doubled to $55.8 million. Interest rates at commercial banks remained unchanged during the quarter under review. The prime lending rate ranged from 9.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent.

Savings deposits earned 0.4 per cent interest, while three-and six-month time deposits attracted rates ranging from 1.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent. The maximum rate offered on time deposits held for twelve months and over was 4.0 per cent.

PROSPECTS

During the remainder of 1998, the construction sector is expected to continue to be the major source of economic activity. The sector is likely to be buoyed largely by ongoing work on a number of public sector projects, which focus on the development of the northern section (safe zone) of the island.

Output in the agricultural sector is expected to be minimal. Some improvement in the performance of the tourism industry is likely, depending on the success of the recent introduction of the day tours out of Antigua and Barbuda. In addition, a number of bed and breakfast units were established to accommodate a limited number of stay-over visitors.

In the manufacturing sector, activity is likely to remain low. The government has constructed a new factory shell which is not fully occupied. There is the likelihood of some small manufacturing enterprises re-establishing in Montserrat in the latter part of the year, provided the volcanic activity subsides.

The fiscal position of the central government is likely to remain weak as current revenue continues its downward trend, due to the granting of tax relief and other measures which were introduced to stimulate economic activity and encourage savings.

Current expenditure is expected to be fairly rigid, despite the anticipated decline in expenditure on goods and services, as the government is likely to incur costs associated with benefits payments to those leaving the civil service.

The inflow of relief funds is expected to be the main factor influencing the growth of monetary liabilities in the banking system, and this is likely to lead to an expansion in the net foreign assets of the banking system.

As a result of these developments, liquidity in the banking system is expected to remain high, but this is unlikely to have an impact on the existing level of interest rates.

Government Encourages Foreign Investment

As the people of Montserrat try to recover from a three-year volcanic crisis, the Government is attempting to stimulate economic activity by attracting foreign investment.

Montserrat, which had a niche in the world tourism market and enjoyed privileged access to the European Market for its manufactured goods, now faces the challenge of opening new markets in a competitive and sometimes turbulent world economic environment.

This effort is being spearheaded by the Economic and Development Unit, which has spearheaded the Sustainable Development Plan.

Recognizing that local investment must be matched and even surpassed by foreign investment, the Government is inviting foreign investors.

Following are excerpts of the Investment and Living Guide published recently by the Development Unit.

Trade Agreements

Montserrat is a member of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and the Caribbean and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). In addition, Montserrat is a beneficiary under both the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) and CARIBCAN agreements, providing preferential access to the United States and Canadian markets. As a British Overseas Territory and a member of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT), Montserrat enjoys privileged access to European Union countries.

Free Trade Zones

There are no free zones in Montserrat.

Industrial Estate Programmes

Ongoing volcanic activity has forced the closure of the island’s only industrial estate, located on the outskirts of the now destroyed capital, Plymouth. At present, the Government is assisting in the re-generation of industrial activity by facilitating the development of a new industrial area in the northern safe zone.

The Fiscal Incentives Ordinance

This ordinance classifies five types of enterprises which qualify for tax holidays. The length of the first three depends on the amount of the value added in Montserrat. The fourth, an enclave industry, produces exclusively for export outside the CARICOM region. Capital intensive industry where capital investment is not less than US$9.25 million is the fifth classification.

Generally tax holidays are granted for periods of up to five to ten years, although longer periods of up to a fifteen-year maximum may be negotiated,depending on the nature of the investment. The performance of the investor is reviewed after incentives have been granted. The first review is conducted three years after the commencement date and the subsequent reviews take place at two-year intervals until the expiration of the of the tax holiday.

Government’s fiscal policy is integrated into the broader economic policy of recreating an environment to enable and encourage new private sector in the north of the island.

Income Tax

Both foreign residents and nationals of Montserrat are subject to the following tax schedule:

0% nil to $15,000.00

20% $15,000.00 to $17,000.00

25% $17,501.00 to $23,501.00

30% $23,501.00 and over

Company Tax

Offshore companies and other investment companies are taxed at a rate of 20%; other trading companies pay an effective rate of 30%. Companies may qualify for tax incentives under the Fiscal Incentives Ordinance, as well as other Government incentives.

Montserrat Upgrades Maritime Legal and Administrative Regimes

The Government of Montserrat is moving to upgrade its Maritime Legal and Administrative Regimes.

This move is in support of the setting up of a Regional System of Port State Control in the Caribbean.

Caricom Regional Maritime Safety Adviser Curtis Roach is on island looking at the existing legislation, with a view to making recommendations for improvement.

He says the draft ordinance in Montserrat, like the other Eastern Caribbean territories, is obsolete and there is need for harmonized legislation in keeping with International Standards.

Mr. Roach says his visit at this time is primarily to gather information for this purpose.

Working under specific terms of reference, the Regional Maritime Safety Adviser is required to provide assistance to Montserrat and other Caribbean islands on maritime-related matters.

Related areas include ports and port activities, marine pollution, maritime safety, search and rescue, maritime training and technical advice on the content, accession to and implementation of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and other relevant conventions.

With respect to Maritime Safety, Mr. Roach is required to undertake complete studies and reviews of existing national maritime safety organisations and operations in Montserrat, and prepare reports including detailed recommendations on the updating, structuring, organizing, strengthening and operating of the maritime safety administrations.

The Regional Maritime Safety Adviser will be required to provide technical advice for the preparation of national legislation for Montserrat, assist in the development of and promote the adoption and implementation of initiatives, aimed at the accession by states to the various conventions related to maritime safety.

These include the International Convention on Load Lines 1996, the International Convention for the Safety of Life At Sea 1974 and the International Convention of Standards of training, certification and Watch-keeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended in 1995.

The Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea 1972 and the Merchant Shipping (minimum standards) Convention 1976 (ILO Convention no.147) are also included.

In the context of the terms of reference, Mr. Roach will be required to coordinate the various activities of this project in Montserrat and liaise with relevant technical assistance projects in the region, in order to prevent duplication, promote harmonization and ensure optimization of resource usage.

Healthy Population - A Government Priority

The Honourable Adelina Tuitt has kept her promise to transform the Ministry of Health and associated departments into an efficient and effective force.

To achieve this, Mrs. Tuitt, who assumed office in November 1996, has made training a top priority.

The Honourable Minister says since taking office she has "developed a strategy…a key part of (which) is the training of staff."

To demonstrate her commitment the Ministry of Health recently launched a series of workshops for its staff, members of other government ministries/departments and members of the public. These included seminars on solid waste management, tuberculosis, and Pap smear and breast examination.

The past several months have also seen the return of personnel from training overseas who have taken up positions in key departments such as radiology, laboratory and nursing.

In 1997 Mrs. Tuitt successfully negotiated with the governments of St. Kitts and Dominica for several nurses to train in the field of midwifery at reduced costs. The return of the first batch of nurses from these programmes has signaled the success of the programme so far.

Mrs. Tuitt is of the view that a fully trained and efficient staff equals a sound and healthy community.

To support this the Minister has taken a keen interest in community health.

As Minister for Health she has taken great satisfaction in the removal of the dump site from the Little Bay.

After several months of planning, with assistance from the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute, the solid waste dump is being moved to New Windward.

Once all preparations are complete, New Windward will become the refuse disposal point for all domestic, commercial and construction waste.

Ever conscious of the health needs of the public, Minister Tuitt says she is "happy for the people at Davy Hill and the public in general, who had to put up with this eyesore and health risk for two and a-half years"

Also noting that the temporary site has become a national issue, Mrs. Tuitt says she is very pleased to finally announce the removal of the garbage dumpsite from the once scenic Little Bay.

She says the area will be restored to its original state, which will be more eye pleasing to visitors who enter at the island’s main point of entry.

More Health Department News

Montserrat a Model for Breast and Cervical Cancer

Montserrat has successfully completed a project on breast and cervical cancers that could be a model for the rest of the Caribbean.

The project was designed during a two-day Resource Mobilization Workshop for Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening, organized by the Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Participants were drawn from members of the medical profession -- including doctors and nurses -- religious organizations, media, youth and community groups. Following are speeches made at the opening ceremony.

Trevor Howe - Acting Manager Health Services

The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization host yet another workshop. This workshop - Resource Mobilization for Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening in Montserrat is timely and appropriate, as mortality rates for cervical and breast cancer have not declined in the past 30 years in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although intervention programmes directed at prevention and detection have been initiated, the fact remains that a significant number of women continue to suffer and die from these diseases. Even more tragic, we know that both cervical and breast cancer are preventable.

Dr. Ronnie Cooper - Acting Director Health Services

The delivery of Health Care to any nation is a very challenging one. This is so because there are so many different areas of health to focus on.

Following the volcanic crisis we were concerned with emergency management, that is things like re-organizing the clinics, setting up a hospital and operating theater in the north, and learning all about disaster preparedness. While all those things are still relevant, we had to move on to solid and liquid waste management, delivery of safe drinking water, shelter management and proper housing. We recently focused on a communicable disease, that is tuberculosis, and its management. At this point, I must congratulate our health staff for their vigilance and the public for responding to theadvice given by us, hence keeping communicable diseases at a minimum so far in this ongoing volcanic crisis.

There is still a lot of work to be done and this workshop is just another phase in our commitment at the ministry to deliver the best health care possible to the people of Montserrat within our limited resources.

Most countries in the world are trying to strengthen their prevention and health promotion programmes because the costs of curative medicines are spiraling out of control. We are concentrating at this workshop on non-communicable diseases, that is breast cancer and cervical cancer. These diseases specifically affect women who form the backbone of the Caribbean society. When a woman is sick it impacts not only on her but on the families in which she is caregiver and frequently bread winner as well. We must keep our women healthy and if we are going to have a healthy Caribbean we must make every effort to do so.

Breast and cervical cancer come next to cardiovascular diseases in terms of causes of death, according to the CAREC figures. Testing for breast and cervical cancer is relatively simple, but it can save lives. For us to get the true figure then we must try and screen as many people as possible. With our population of just over 4,000 we have about 1,000 women in the 15 to 65 age group and all of these are in our target for this campaign.

The success of this campaign hinges on partnerships. Partners here today are the PAHO who are our resource persons. We have the media, we have youth organizations, we have religious organizations, we have NGO’s, to mention a few. We will come up with a programme second to none in the Caribbean and make Montserrat a model in terms of prevention.

Dr. Beverly Barnett - Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion Advisor

The Ministry of Health in Montserrat, as the two previous speakers have stated, recognizes that life goes on despite Mother Nature’s periodic fury, and they have requested technical cooperation from PAHO to develop national strategies aimed at persuading women to train for Pap Smear screening in Montserrat.

As we all know, cervical cancer is a preventable disease. It is now known to be a sexually transmitted disease, should be thought of as a sexually transmitted disease, and it is preventable. It is one of the few cancers that can actually be prevented. That is because of an effective screening test; the Pap Smear that picks up pre-malignant changes and those changes can be successfully treated.

In the Caribbean cervical cancer is the second most commonly occurring cancer among women, breast cancer being the first. In some individual countries cervical cancer still occurs more frequently than breast cancer. Breast cancer is the main cause of death from cancer among women in the Caribbean and cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women.

This activity will actually build on the Cervical Cancer Control Project which some of you might be aware of. It was a sub-regional project. It involved the 10 Eastern Caribbean countries, Barbados and nine other Easter Caribbean countries, which ran from 1990 to 1996, and Montserrat was a participant in that project. Unfortunately, before Montserrat was able to reap the benefits of the output of that project, the volcano intervened.

The project developed public education materials, and research was done among women in the target groups. The project also provided equipment and people were trained to take Pap Smears. Now, since the project ended resources are not available as they were. The regular budget would not allow us to do the things that are necessary in Montserrat to mount an effective campaign, given the changed circumstances that always have to be a factor. When designing a project you must deal with the circumstances as they are and as you project them to be. We are therefore here to design a project that can be submitted to donors for funding. The ministry and PAHO might be able to make some technical and monetary contribution but the bulk of the resources will have to be mobilized through the project that we are going to design over the next two days.

Although the activity was originally to address Pap Smear screening, Dr. Cooper suggested that screening for breast cancer be included, and that is a very good suggestion because the target population that we are looking at are basically the same. Although screening does not prevent breast cancer from occurring, it can certainly prevent death from the disease by detecting it early and enabling successful treatment, especially in women over age 50. What we need to do is to design a project which targets the population most at risk, which makes best use of resources available on Montserrat and the region, which is practical and which will be effective for the population in Montserrat and the conditions prevailing in the country.

The following is a speech made by Chief Minister the Honourable David Brandt at the 10^th annual Sunshine Awards in New York on Saturday, 25^th October, 1998

"No bad wind ever blow," is part of the collective wisdom of Caribbean People. But as you know, over the past three years, we in Montserrat have had great difficulty in getting consolation from these words. If the winds that have swept over our Island are not bad winds, then for sure we have had too much of a good thing. And living on top of a volcano, it has been just "hot hot hot."

But every now and then, there’s a cool refreshing breeze that relieves the heat, and blows away the sweat, and lifts the spirit. Like tonight, when you here remind us that in our struggle we are neither forgotten nor alone.

Artists have been the source of great comfort, spiritually as well as materially, and I want you all to know that we are strengthened by your hands, sustained by your prayers, and inspired by your words. We in Montserrat perhaps more than in most other places appreciate and honour the work of artists. We are in the process of rebuilding Montserrat and next year hope to start erecting a modern well-equipped center for the arts. I look forward to welcoming artists to work there and especially to join in the effort to promote Caribbean Arts and Culture throughout the world. I promise that Montserrat will be in the front line of that effort.

On behalf of all Montserratians and friends of Montserrat everywhere, I thank the producers of the Sunshine Awards for understanding the deep significance of events like this. We will always remember your song for Montserrat. I thank the United Nations Singers for performing the song tonight and the UN for continuing support to Montserrat.

Thank you all very, very much for being so thoughtful and kind.

Plans For Festival ’98 Picking Up Pace

The Montserrat Festival Committee has released a tentative programme for the 1998 Christmas Festival. Following are the tentative scheduled events:

December 23

• Food Fair
• Horticultural Society display

December 25

• Carol Singing

December 26

• Street Jam
• Junior Calypso Show

December 27

• Talent Show

December 28

• St. Johns Day

December 30

• Calypso Finals

December 31

• Festival Day

January 1

• New Year’s Day Street Jam

A number of individuals are assisting in the staging of the Festival. They are:

Anne-Marie Dewar - Carol Singing; Alric Taylor and Fiona Meade - Talent Show; Herman "Cupid" Francis - Junior Calypso Show; Tony Malony and Black Gold – Senior Calypso Show; St. Clair Wade - St. Johns Day; Ernestine Cassell - Festival Day.

Persons who would like to assist are invited to contact the Community Services Department at Geralds. Telephone Number 491-3895.

Government to Waive Fees for Volcano Victims

The Government of Montserrat is taking another step to help persons most affected by the volcanic crisis.

Chief Minister the Honourable David Brandt, who is also the minister for finance and economic development, says the government will soon waive import duties and consumption tax on the importation of furniture and other household items by persons who have evacuated from the south of the island.

The matter will be discussed at the next meeting of the Executive Council set for next week.

Import duties and consumption tax will also be waived on household goods brought back by Montserratians who had relocated overseas.

In making the announcement, Mr. Brandt says "People have suffered and have lost so much and the Government of Montserrat would like to do all in its power to relieve the hardship."

The Chief Minister says the move is another demonstration that his government is a caring government.

He says by waiving import duties and consumption tax on household items the government is easing the pressure off an already overburdened group who have lost their personal possessions due to the crisis.

LPG Etiquette

You people just can’t rant and rave,

Despite every promise we gave.

Although it sounds cruel,

You’ll get no cooking fuel

Until you learn how to behave.

Been There, Done That

Frankie Michael was sent overseas

Because Dominica said, "please."

After stating his views

On their cooking gas queues,

He upgraded their bureaucratese.

 JUS' WONDERIN'

Jus wonderin who is the hottest meals on wheels.

Jus wonderin if anyone will represent the relatives of the deceased at the up-coming Coroner's Inquest next week

Jus wonderin if the Government will be humanitarian enough to provide legal representation for the relatives of those who died on of June 25, 1997 in the fatal volcanic activities.

Jus wonderin why some people are afraid to come forward to give information at the Inquest.

Jus wonderin what kind of journalists keep sending false information about our volcano overseas.

Jus wonderin how soon we will see the construction of the new MVO headquarters and a Visitor's Centre.

Jus wonderin if an Inquest will be held for those who lost their lives in the Plymouth pyroclastic flows in August last year.

Jus wonderin if the Chief will stick to his tune of 10 months ago when he speaks to the ODI team.

Jus wonderin if everyone will realise the importance of speaking accurately and honestly to the team especially dem civil servants.

Jus wonderin if Clare Short will respect the findings of the team.

Jus wonderin why the Caricom Village housing is being reduced to only 15 from 35.

Jus wonderin when the CM is going to equip his office with its full complement of staff.

Jus wonderin why they stop picking up the ash from the side of the road now that people begin to move back to occupy their homes in the Salem and Old Towne areas.

Jus wonderin why de truth jus hurt so!

Jus wonderin who figured the mistake on the Editorial page last week.

VACANCY - Social Worker

A Social Worker is required to work with a Special Project targeting Montserratian Evacuees.

The position is tenable at the Antigua Programme Centre of Caribbean Conference of Churches.

Applicants should possess the following:

A first degree and /or at least five years experience as a Social Worker

Willingness to travel throughout the islands

Good understanding of the social dynamic of Montserratian and Caribbean people

Ability to work with a dynamic

Applications with curriculum vitae and two letters of reference should be sent to:

Closing date for receipt of applications Friday, 6th November, 1998

SALE OF PLANT & EQUIPMENT MONTSERRAT QUARRY PRODUCTS LTD

Tenders are invited to purchase the following Plant & Equipment from the Montserrat Quarry Products Ltd.

The Tender Documents will be available for collection from the Director of Public Works office at Public Works Department at Woodlands, from 2nd November 1998, to 9th November 1998, during normal working hours.

Tenders must be returned to:

to arrive not later than 12:00 noon on the 23rd November 1998.

Dump trucks may be inspected at the Brades Hot Mix Plant Yard. Please contact Mr. Lawrence Charles at the Hot Mix Plant for assistance with inspection. Other items may be seen at New Windward Road on the New North Road, anytime throughout the Tender period. For further information, please Mrs. Shirley Ryner at the number 491-2783.

UNITED INSURANCE COMPANY LTD

UNITED INSURANCE COMPANY LTD has begun to offer Insurance coverage for ALL CLASSES of business - Property, Motor, Travel and Liability Insurance.

96% of claims presented have been paid and the few which remain outstanding are in the hands of our Adjuster and will be concluded shortly.

Our record has been excellent for settling claims with speed and efficiency and to the satisfaction of our customers, and we have tried to maintain this record even with this long and drawn out volcano.

Our office is located in Woodlands and our numbers are:

Tel: 664 491 2055 and 664 491 4931

Fax: 664 491 3257

For further details please contact the Assistant Manager, Bank of Montserrat Ltd, P.O. Box 10, Plymouth, Montserrat. Tel. 491-3843 Fax 491-3163

Forward all Questions, Comments and Suggestions to: roachb@candw.ag

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