CARIBBEAN STOCK REPORT 28 November to2 December 2011

Compiled by the Department of Management Studies, UWI Cave Hill - Click image to read in PDF

Barbados Should Tell T&T To ‘Go To Hell’ Too!

Each country is entitled to the ‘exclusive’ rights within their 200 mile EXCLUSIVE economic zone. Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and most other regional states are party to the Law of the Sea Treaties that provide for those rights. Barbados has no right to give the impression that Barbadian fishermen have any right AT ALL to venture into that exclusive zone without penalty. In the EEZ, the coastal state has the sole right of exploitation of the resources contained therein under international law of the sea treaties to which we are all party.

So when fishermen do so, let it be clear that they do so at their own peril. I don’t agree that anyone should be defending it. Unless and until CARICOM has the political will to come up with a Common Fisheries Regime and countries agree on the shared use of common resources (like the sea) Barbadian fishermen need to respect other peoples space.

Flying fish are a migratory fish species and while they spawn in the waters off Barbados, they migrate to the warmer waters off Tobago as they get older. Barbadian fishermen understand that and follow the fish to their habitats, but that happens to be the coastal space of another state and they have no right under any law to do so. They can and will be arrested and noone can fault the Trinis for it except for sensationalism purposes because we have allowed for too many years, the notion to prevail that we went to the Arbitral Tribunal over fishing boundaries when in actual fact that was little more than a secondary issue. More importantly the finding of the tribunal re the fishing issue was that the two countries should come to some common agreement on the matter. So there exists no framework to allow Bajan fishermen into Trinidadian waters.

Lisa R. Elcock

Flying fish - Wikipedia

It was not too long ago when what appeared to be all of Jamaica dropped like a ton of bricks on Barbados.  Not to be left out, Guyana, St. Vincent and other neighbours had a lot say when Barbados sought to enforced its sovereign right to protect its borders.

The recent arrest of Barbadian fisherman by T&T authorities serves to remind us that Barbados finds itself in a very lonely place in Caricom. To present the blunt argument that the Barbadian fishermen perpetrated an illegal act is to be dishonest in the argument. This longstanding T&T/Barbados fishing agreement straddles both BLP and DLP governments and leads one to the conclusion that there is no desire on the part of T&T to close an agreement. There are much bigger fish to fry in a pan which is full of oil.

Pierhead Marina Project Generating More Questions Than Answers – SMI Unable To Source Funding

Imagine the pleasant surprise by many Barbadians when leader of the Opposition Owen Arthur announced he was calling the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to order a few weeks ago, to investigate among other things, alleged shenanigans which surrounds the proposed Pierhead Marina Project. Unless BU missed the outcome of that meeting the opposition leader has flattered to deceive.

It does not take much to stoke the rising number of Barbadians who have become cynical about the actions of politicians. Yes opposition leader Owen Arthur raised the alleged malfeasance with the marina project at  a political meeting in Heroes Square before he replaced Mia Mottley. However given the serious of the charge it is mindboggling the opposition leader has remained silent on this matter.

Against the foregoing it is disturbing to read the following comment posted on BU: “I am reliably informed that SMI has been unable to source the funding required to carry the Pierhead Marina project, maybe this needs a little public ventilation. I guess this was one of the risks of awarding a contract to a non-bidder who was not experienced or qualified in marina construction.”

Here is another case where the lack of information by government has generated more questions than answers.

Guyana President Donald Ramotar Called On To Denounce Police Barbarity

Submitted by Lincoln Lewis, General Secretary, Guyana Trades Union Congress

Attorney James Bond shows the injuries he sustained - stabroeknews.com

December 6, 2011 is another dark day in the history of this country and coming less than a week after Mr. Donald Ramotar promised this nation “peace and unity.”  Peace and unity are premised on justice and injustice anywhere poses a threat to peace and unity every where. The police shooting of persons engaged in peaceful social action is not where the people of this country desire to go or should be going. This action is a reminiscent of the May 1999 shooting of unarmed striking public servants in front of John Fernandes wharf.

There is an inhumane, naked intolerance for dissent and the rights of citizens of this country.  Guyana is not moving forward but sits in the abyss of socio-economic and political decay caused by human greed, repressive management and an outdated political system unsuited to our need for peaceful co-existence and development.

The United Nations Secretary-General noted in his 2003 Report on strengthening the role of the United Nations in promoting free and fair elections that, “experience has also shown that, just as the price of exclusion is often violence, the benefit of political inclusion is a much better prospect of stability.” This nation desires stability which can only be achieved through political justice since politics is about people, their well-being, and their development.

Power Politics And The Price Of Oil

Report: Gasoline Set to Hit $5 a Gallon by March

The national average for gasoline is $3.40 a gallon right now. But according to Dr. Kent Moors, the “oil constriction” he – and he alone – sees coming could slam Americans at any time. And we could have $5 gas by as early as March. Here’s his official warning. As you’ll see, this is also a massive profit opportunity, especially for those who “get in” before the rest of the world even knows what an “oil constriction” is.

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December 5, 2011
Power Politics and the Price of Oil
by Dr. Kent Moors

Dear Oil & Energy Investor,

Over the past three days, two events at different ends of the globe have reminded us that political developments can directly influence global oil prices.

First, on December 2, just as I was departing theUnited States, the Senate gave notice that it was prepared to tighten sanctions againstIranover its nuclear program.

And yesterday, the parliamentary elections here inMoscowdidn’t quite provide the results Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party had expected.

The catalysts of each event were quite distinct, and each event was not directly the result of energy policy or related costs. However, both events will likely influence the international oil market in similar ways.
Both will likely restrict the flow of oil. And this constriction should be a sign to investors that crude prices will be going up.

Barbados Recruits Elms Partnership To Develop Sports Tourism Strategy

Andy Preece, Elms Partnership director

The breaking news that “Barbados has commissioned a specialist consultancy to develop a sports tourism strategy for the Caribbean island – Elms Partnership, an international sport and leisure consultancy, has been appointed by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Barbados Ministry of Tourism to design the strategy by undertaking an eight-month study.” – triggers mixed feelings. One does not know if to laugh or cry at the news. It seems like a good idea but why has it taken so long? How is it positioned in an overall strategy for tourism i.e. Tourism Master Plan.

Of interest is the fact check which reveals that Elms Partnership is listed as follows on Company Check website:

Company Information

Registration Date: 10/02/2010
Registration Number: 07153478
Type: Private Limited with share capital

Should The Enactment Of Transparency Legislation Be A Priority?

Owen Arthur, Leader of the opposition (l) Fruendel Stuart, Prime Minister (r)

To the independents who voted for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) last election, it is evident that it has retreated from its promise to make enactment of transparency legislation a priority. Of equal concern to BU has been the reluctance by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) to pressure the government to honour its promise. Civil society should be concerned that the BLP – the government in waiting – is committed to following through on proclaiming transparency legislation. There will be the obvious argument that the 2011 perception index released by Transparency International, Barbados achieved the highest ranking in the region of 7.8 out of 10.  Perhaps the two political parties might suggest in light of the #16 ranking out of 183 countries, anti corruption legislation is not a priority. Such responses can be dismissed by asking – why did both political parties see the need to include it as a deliverable in their last manifestos?

Listed on the Corruption Index for 2011  are the USA at 7.1 and India 3.1. Although at opposite ends of the index these two countries are regarded as economic power houses on the global stage. More interestingly, the two are regarded as the two biggest democracies in the world. To acquire government approval in India for the most mundane request one must overcome an institutionalized system of corruption. Last week two angry Indian farmers acted out their frustration by dumping two dozen snakes in a government tax office. It is interesting that in India the fight against corruption in government has tossed up Anna Hazare. His charismatic leadership has attracted millions of Indians to the movement which has forced the government to prioritized its anti-corruption policymaking agenda. It seems India deserves its rating of 3.1.

Notes From a Native Son – Independence Speech: London November 29, 2011

Hal Austin

Mr Deputy High Commissioner, distinguished guests, fellow Barbadians, friends, ladies and gentlemen. Happy Independence to all of you.

Our country is in a dire state, make no bones about it. We are on the precipice of an historic decline the like of which we have never experienced in our history. This warning is not just sabre rattling, or shouting fire in a crowded cinema. This is real. We have failed, since independence, to develop a long-term economic anchor, choosing to depend – in fact over-depending – on the tourism industry, developed by the late Ronald Tree and his friend on the West Coast in the early 1960s. We have also failed to develop a binding collective operational objective, one that crosses generations and social boundaries, a national mission statement, if you like, by which we as Barbadians can define ourselves.I know a number of distinguished Barbadians are already aware of this and many of them are doing some outstanding work.

At the risk of embarrassing people, apart from my colleagues at this table, there are people, many of them bright young lawyers, scientists, economists and social scientists, even world experts in their fields. There are others such as Jeffrey Emtage, the inventor who discovered an internet search engine before Google, and who had no support from a government which talks about enterprise and innovation. Others are working in biomedicine, in Canada and the United States, and I am sure there must be one or two here in London.

Occupy Four Seasons In The Offing

Submitted by John Dillinger

Tony Marshall, Chairman of the NIS Board

I have followed your blogs [BU] with regards to the Four Seasons and Professor Persaud’s decision to ask the NIS to invest in the project as opposed to bring in international investors like the late PM David Thompson mandated him so to do. Was not the Professor to use his international connections to bring in the investment needed to restart the project? If so should we take it that he has failed to get the interest of the international investment community..the hedge funds, venture capitalists etc. to invest in Four Seasons? If so, then why?

Moreover based on two recent articles in the Nation Newspaper, one on November 24th quoting Minister Chris Sinckler as saying he expects the NIS to make a decision by the end of this week (coming after the now famous extraordinary Cabinet meeting of November 15th to “discuss” the Four Seasons project) and that the Minister of Labour and Social Security was “working closely” with the NIS on the matter. Does all of this smell like a hint of political interference in the NIS decision process with regards to the project at all, especially when it was reported that the NIS had been advised not to invest in the project?

School Children Having Fun You Think?

Captured from Facebook