VOL. 6, NO. 12 • June 13, 2012 618 Strouds Lane, Pickering, ON L1V 4S9 • Tel: 905.831-4402 • Fax: 416.292.2943 • Email: caribbeangraphic@rogers.com

New Travel Taxes Announced

Vivian Rambihar Named Amongst Canada’s Top 25 ImmigrantsGuyanese-born Dr. Vivian Rambihar has been

named as one of Canada’s 2012 top 25 Immigrants by the Canadianimmigrant.ca website’s online poll. The website’s annual national people’s choice awards celebrate the untold and inspiring stories and achievements of newcomers to Canada.

Passionate about studying medicine the facili-ties for which were not available in his country, Guyana, at the time, Rambihar decided to come to Canada to pursue his studies. After graduating he has stayed on in the country that fulfilled his passion, and has since made great contributions through research in the field of cardiology.

Dr. Rambihar is celebrated as a pioneer in study-ing heart health issues among immigrants, particu-larly of South Asian origin. “I was faced with the challenge of addressing a newly recognized in-creased health risk in immigrants, and took it as a personal challenge to respond to all ways possi-ble,” he explains. “This opened avenues for more learning, which allowed me to achieve more for the community, for health and for change.

Rambihar remembers that he faced many other challenges as a newcomer 30 years ago, particu-larly isolation and culture shock — moving from

a multiethnic country like Guyana. “I needed to learn a new way of doing things to function in a different society, with no support groups or com-munity resources available,” he says.

“A significant challenge not often talked about is a sensitivity to the cold some immigrants have, with difficulty or inability to acclimatize,” he also observes.

“I overcame challenges by focusing on goals, learning and adapting. I worked very hard with tremendous sacrifices early on to achieve initial success, then built on this.”

His advice to fellow immigrants, especially recent newcomers, is that they should recognize there will be many challenges and look at those as an opportunity for learning and growth. “We should [also] learn from others who have succeed-ed and, if possible, be creative and innovative. We should integrate as much as possible into the wider community, while maintaining our unique individ-uality, culture and heritage.”

Being a physician, he observes that the health of immigrants declines within a decade of arrival, for various preventable reasons. “We should use this knowledge to be proactive and maintain our

health, which is an important part of achieving success.”

He spreads this message through volunteering as well. He is currently helping to develop the con-cept of “Global Heart Hour.” He is also the health co-chair of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, - Even as Carib-bean governments and tourism officials have la-mented the negative impact from of higher travel taxes and duties imposed in overseas source mar-kets, two island authorities are introducing new travel taxes. The government of Jamaica has announced that an agreement has been reached between the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Asso-ciation (JHTA) and the government on tax mea-sures to be imposed on the tourism sector under the 2012-2013 Budget. The agreement will see the introduction of a US$ 20 fee for each arriv-ing passenger, whose trip originates abroad, as of August 1, 2012. Effective September 1, 2012 an accommodation tax will be introduced for each occupied room per night of US$ 1 for properties with less than 51 rooms, US$ 2 for hotels with 51-100 rooms, and US$4 for hotels with 101 rooms and above.

This news follows on the heels of a recent an-nouncement coming out of Antigua and Barnuda that the government had presented and passed the Airport Administration Charge Act, 2012, which now takes the Antigua’s overall airport taxes to US $93.75 up from US $63.75, and will be built

into the cost of travellers’ tickets. This move was strongly condemned in March

by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which reportedly wrote a strongly worded letter to Civil Aviation and Culture Minister John Maginley stating that the new taxes would stand at a level that far exceeded the regional average and stood well beyond a viable level for airlines.

The IATA Assistant Director of Government & Infrastructure Affairs Cyriel Kronenburg, is said to have stated in the letter that: “plans for yet an-other major increase in costs to passengers will seriously damage the ability of airlines serving Antigua & Barbuda to operate in a profitable man-ner, and will surpass any revenue growth for the airport and will damage the health of Antigua & Barbuda’s economy and tourism sector.”

However, the Antigua and Barbuda government remained undeterred and following the recent passage of the act, it has mounted a strong de-fence of the move. Prime Minister Baldwin Spen-cer described the new tax measure as reasonable and fair while brushing aside suggestions that the move would bring irrevocable harm to the coun-try’s tourism industry.

The prime minister said the airport needed to be in a position where it could effectively pay for itself in the long term and the improvements to the airport terminal came at a price. Similarly, Ja-maica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, Dr Wykeham McNeill, has staunchly defended his government’s new tax measure.

President of the JHTA, Evelyn Smith, was quot-ed in the statement as saying that the levels for the new tax measures were arrived at “in a spirit of co-operation” and with the aim to arrive at an outcome that was beneficial to all parties involved

Dr. Vivian Rambihar

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 2

Faith & Hope Ministry Canada Reaches OutCommunity

Pastor Nazir and Malinda Islam

Born in Enmore, the east coast of Demarara in Guyana, Nazir Is-lam always knew that he had a higher calling on his life yet it wasn’t until a mid week house group meeting on Feb-ruary 9th, 2011 that his purpose came into fruition along with Faith & Hope Ministry Canada being birthed. That gathering of just four people was the defining moment for Nazir Islam. The dream of wanting to become a pastor now became his reality.

Pastor Nazir immigrated to Canada in December 1997 with a deep seated desire to become better than he was in Guyana. He believes that Canada is a country of many opportunities and could properly position someone who is willing to work hard and that is pre-cisely what he has done since his ar-rival. For Pastor Nazir, working hard does not necessarily mean on the job; he truly enjoys the altruistic benefits in being of service. Pastor Nazir minis-ters and supports newcomers to Can-ada from the Caribbean, refugees, as well as those with immigration issues on how to become productive members of Canadian society. At one occasion, Nazir opened his home to someone

without a roof over their head until they were able to establish themselves. “I want to show love and kindness to every single person I come in contact with. It doesn’t matter the age, nationality or

what beliefs people have. We all need to be loved.” said Nazir.

Pastor Nazir is no stranger to strug-gles. Due to the array of adversi-ties including homelessness which he has experienced in his life, they have equipped him to help those who are careworn and discouraged. “People are suffering from all sorts of prob-lems and it’s important to meet people where they’re at without judging them. I get so energized and inspired when I see someone’s life transformed for the better.” said Nazir.

Not only does Pastor Nazir maintain a careful watch for the spiritual and ba-sic needs of his congregation, he also subscribes to the doctrines that it is es-sential that all people feel appreciated and loved. “I believe the church has a significant role to play in the greater so-ciety because the church is supposed to be able to meet people even if they’re not of the same religion. We ought to spend time with those inside the church

and those outside the church and show them love.” explained Nazir.

One individual who was not a church member that was going through a high-ly tumultuous break up found Pastor Nazir helping her through the entire or-deal. For someone who was not in the church she found it quite remarkable.

Those inside and outside Faith & Hope Ministry Canada have asserted that Pastor Nazir leads by gentleness and patience. One member declared that “he’s a very humble and tolerant man and I have a lot of respect for him. He walks his talk and he’s a good ex-ample of someone who lives up to the Christian ideals. Pastor Nazir is an encourager and he never thinks twice to put the needs of others ahead of his own.”

A pastor is more than just being an ordained leader of a Christian con-gregation or putting in tireless hours to prepare sermons that will stimulate the spiritual growth of those who at-tend worship. For Nazir Islam, it’s also about being easily accessible to those society has turned away from. Ranging from the individual suffering from alcoholism to the one who pro-vides sexual services in return for pay-ment, Pastor Nazir intentionally seeks out these people to build relationships, confidence and consensus by means of sharing what he knows and what he has experienced in his life. “I’ve expe-rienced so many struggles in my life and so I believe that I could influence someone who is going through trials and troubles. Oftentimes just sitting down and talking with someone and sharing what you’ve gone through and overcame could give them hope. It’s very important for all of us, all people, to reach out to those who are in need and help out and not judge them.” ex-plained Pastor Nazir. Another caretak-ing responsibility that he freely carries out is routinely picking up people, even as far as Scarborough, to attend Faith & Hope Ministry Canada worship ser-vice in the Islington and Steeles area.

Faith & Hope Ministry Canada has initiated a neighbourhood food drive where each month Pastor Nazir and his wife Malinda distribute non perish-able food items to marginalized groups within the community. They affirm that regardless of whatever position or status we may hold; or lack thereof, it is essential to help out those who are in insufficient supply of the basics in life.

“It’s important to help the poor and those who are in need.” said Pastor Na-zir. “The food bank in our ministry is to help promote and show that we care. We simply want to help people.”

Throughout the course of events, Malinda lslam has been a great source of strength and support to her husband. Similar to Pastor Nazir, she too has a profound fondness for today’s youth and young children. She has come up with innovative ideas to build rap-port with them, in addition to assisting those in their healing process through the use of artistic methods. “I take on a mother/best friend role in the lives of the youth within the ministry and in the community. Apart from the youth, I’ve seen transformation in children who came out of abusive homes and how traumatized they were psycho-logically but through learning songs, arts and crafts, music and storytelling within the church, it’s helped them develop their psychosocial stability. Now they’re not as withdrawn as they were before or anti social.” explained Malinda.

Malinda is quite cheerful about the noticeable changes that have taken place in the lives of those who at-tend Faith and Hope Ministry Canada as well as the uniqueness about their church. “I’m happy that we’re not like the common church. What sets us apart is that we just want to love others and not judge them. We try to embrace as many people in need as we can. We had women in our ministry who were prostitutes but are not anymore.” said Malinda. “A lot of people may reject someone because they look, dress or act a certain way or maybe they have habits that may not fit in with what is ‘required’ as a Christian. We prefer to love these individuals and let them know that someone believes in them and that hope is possible and there is room for growth and transformation.”

The future initiatives of Faith and Hope Ministry Canada are impressive and promising. They will be launch-ing missionary assignments on a global scale combined with sponsoring chil-dren. Effective immediately, some of the ministry members will be travel-ling throughout high risk communities on a weekly basis to have fellowship. The ministry is steadfast in continuing to do what it is they do best; reaching out.

Christine

Reid

June 13, 2012 CARIBBEAN GRAPHIC PAGE 3

Jamaica’s Lisa Hanna Comes To Toronto Ca

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el Hon. Lisa Hanna

On June 14 Toronto will be graced by the charming and beautiful presence of Jamaica’s Minister of Youth and Culture, the Hon. Lisa Hanna, M.P. Minis-ter Hanna will be in Toronto on to address members and friends of the Jamaican Canadian Community.

The Minister will give an update on plans in Jamaica for the cele-bration of the country’s 50th Anniversary of In-dependence on August 6th, 2012. She will also report on the new Por-tia Simpson lead Gov-ernment’s vision for Jamaica, for which as Minister of Youth and Culture she has a vital role to play.

The venue for the Minister’s June 14 Address will be the Jamaican Canadian Centre. The Center is located at 995 Ar-row Road in Toronto.

The highly popular and very attractive Minister was recently chosen by the Ja-maica Star’s Online Poll as the country’s most attractive female politician. She is a former beauty pageant titleholder as Miss Jamaica, who in 1993 became the third Jamaican to be crowned as Miss World.

She has also had careers as a movie actress, in television and as a Communi-cations Consultant. In 1998, Hanna acted in How Stella Got Her Groove Back In 2003, she tried her hand in broadcasting, hosting a Jamaican talk show Our Voices and was also a guest presenter on Xtra in the United States . She returned to her country a year later and was a communi-

cations consultant for the Hilton Hotel in New Kingston.

In the 2007 general election, as a mem-ber of the People’s National Party, Hanna contested and won the seat for St. Ann South East, hence, positioning her as a Member of Parliament for that Constitu-ency. She is one of the youngest women to be elected to the Jamaican Parliament. In addition to her duties as constituency representative she served as opposition spokesperson on Information, Youth and Culture up to December 2011. In the De-cember 29, 2011 polls her party was elect-ed into power. She was subsequently ap-pointed as Minster of Youth and Culture.

She holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in communications from the University of the West Indies in 1998 and 2000 respectively

Attsha:This beauty is modeling

a costumes from the Eye of Kratos Section in the Marlon Singh led mas band Callaloo’s 2012 Toronto carnival Presentation “ The Adventures of Sinbad. The band will feature 10 Sec-tions of beautiful costumes that reflect Calallo’s estab-lished reputation as one of Toronto’s best mas bands.

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 4

Indian Arrival Day Celebrated

Tassa Band

On Saturday May 26th 2012, there was an Indian Arrival Day Variety Show at Chinguacoucy Secondary School. The show was hosted by the Hanuman Mis-sion; Scotts & Mendez United; and ZAT-TIC and was patronized by the Office of the Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago is celebrating its 50th Anniversary of Inde-pendence on August 31st 2012. This show was organized to celebrate the arrival of

the Indians to Trinidad from 1945-1912. But more importantly to celebrate the 50 years of Independence of the Indians liv-ing here in the GTA, which was also, well documented in a magazine. Co-incidental-ly enough this is South Asian Month here in Canada.

The attendees were taken back to their

ancestral roots by the displays in the foy-er at the school. Artefacts included some religious texts that the indentured labour-ers brought with them from 1845 to 1917 when they left their homeland in India . There were pottery and wooden items that were used as utensils; kitchen items for cooking like the Chula; pukni; chimta; sil and lorha. There was an interesting spice display. Actual ship documentation; and release papers from their servitude were

also on display. In the auditorium, the show opened with

an interfaith service led by Brother Ya-meen Khan; Pastor Lincoln Bissessar; Dr Balliram Chadee. All the genres of music that were brought by the Indian Ances-tors from India and kept from memory at that time were sung; there were mati-

coor and chatee skits; led by Aunty Chano; Ghazals by Parry Gosyne; Chowtal by this year’s Chowtal champions The Debe Pe-nal Chowtal group; Bhajans by Puja Ma-haraj; Rani and Devica Sinanan; Ashook Yankaran rendered some very memorable classical songs; Dances by Danilian Mo-tilal; Yogesha Harrypaul, and the graceful Amrita Gajadhar with her Bharat Natyam number; Maestro Narry Mahabir wowed the audience with his saxophone; Shanti Jacree and Polly Sookraj filled the audi-torium with their melodious tunes; The Soobram father and son team did some classical items. The Maticoor boys from Scarborough had the audience moving to the beat of the tassa. Chutney King Neil Surujdeo got the audience on their feet. Guest appearances were made by visiting Pundit Maharaj from Aranguez , Trinidad. Music for the show was provided by Bobby Armoogam; Harold Boodoo; Subhash and Surin did the sound system. The Master of Ceremonies Kaisoh Sinanan provided in-teresting details on the different genres of music as he introduced each item.

The Consul General Dr Vidya Gyan To-

ta-Maharaj presented all the artistes with certificates of Appreciation and dedication to their culture. In her feature address, she expressed her sincere appreciation to all the artistes who are doing so much to keep their culture alive, and encouraged the 2nd generation to continue to keep this rich heritage legacy alive. She reminded us of how lucky we are to be living in a country where the month of May is declared South Asian month and co-incidentally enough Trinidad in 1994 declared May 30th as Indian Arrival Day as that was the month and day of the arrival of the first ship, The Fatel Razak in 1845. The Consul General congratulated the event planner Indra Gos-ine for a job well done with the representa-tion of all the genres of Indian Music; the magazine and the displays. She then drew the door and raffle prizes and presented the winner of the first prize her winning return ticket to Trinidad donated by Caribbean Airline.

Proceeds raised from the show will be used to fund bursaries for second genera-tion children attending post secondary in-stitutions in the fall.

Chowtal Group

June 13, 2012 CARIBBEAN GRAPHIC PAGE 5

Caribbean Tourism Destinations On Show In New YorkCaribbean Perspective

Sandra Ann

Baptiste

Caribbean tourism destinations effectively used a major marketing opportunity at the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Caribbean Week in New York to showcase the diversity, attractiveness, richness and value of the re-gion’s tourism industry, including its sustain-able tourism products.

The week-long event in New York last week involving Caribbean Tourism Ministers, of-ficials and industry professionals, the U.S. travel trade, media and consumers put the Caribbean at centre stage through various events that were part of the celebrations for Caribbean-American Heritage month.

In addition, industry representatives from the CTO’s 32 mem-ber countries gained exposure to the latest marketing strategies that are being used by major companies in competing markets.

One of the significant announcements during Caribbean Week was the offer by the government of Guyana to provide land and fiscal incentives for the CTO to build and manage a Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Development Institute that would operate alongside a state of the art eco- tourism resort for practical train-ing. The offer made by Guyana’s Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Irfaan Ali, was described as “exciting” and was well received by fellow Tourism Ministers.

A CTO technical committee will examine the proposal and rec-ommend how best the organization can take advantage of what the CTO Chairman described as a “very generous offer”.

Another major new venture being pursued by the CTO is a Loyalty Rewards Card that would allow consumers who shop at specific sponsors and gain in exchange preferred rates at partner hotels and resorts, restaurants, spas and golf clubs and allow for the purchase of gift cards. The program will initially be opera-tional in Barbados, Jamaica and St. Lucia.

Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of Caribbean Week was the Caribbean Travel and Cultural Fair where 20 countries had booths at the busy Grand Central Station in Manhattan. There was a buzz all day with people mingling to view what the region’s tourism industry had to offer, which was blended with Caribbean music and dancing.

Guyana’s booth had an additional ap-peal because of the presence of Miss Guy-ana (World) Arti Cameron, who looked re-gal in her gown and crown and who served as a travel ambassador for the day.

Guyana also had a high profile because of the unexpected attendance of “celebrity guest” former Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo who addressed the CTO’s Council of Ministers, advising them of the urgen-

cy of positioning the organization to be front and centre in the climate change debate and to come up with projects to take ad-vantage of revenue streams that will become available to address climate change and mitigation efforts.

One very positive development was the positive feedback at the Invest Caribbean Now Forum from Jonathan Blue, Chairman of private equity firm Blue Equity and Jay Yeo, President and co-founder of Solamon Energy Corp, who identified the Caribbean as ripe for foreign investment. They explained why their compa-nies were bullish on the Caribbean and both made the case for “Why the Caribbean?” and “Why Now?”

Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson was honoured via video cast at the investment forum, which was organised by Guy-anese Felicia Persaud. Lisa Lake, the chief development director of the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship provided an update of projects in the region currently being financed and opportunities to upgrade entrepreneurial skills in the region.

The CTO’s marketing seminar highlighted how technology is being used to woo visitors and the need, therefore, to be on top of the latest trends and what customers need and expect.

With over a dozen Caribbean Tourism Ministers and high-level officials at the Caribbean Week Forum, there were a lot of bilat-eral discussions. In particular, Guyana’s Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali signalled that he intends to work more closely with Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

The honouring of Caribbean Week at the New York Yankees Pregame Ceremony was a public relations coup for CTO.

“CTO feels that in conjunction with the New York Yankees we can better encourage the idea of cultural unity within the New

York community while reinforcing the Yankees strong embrace of diversity within its organization,” said Sylma Brown Bramble, director of the Caribbean Tourism Organization USA, Inc. “By recognizing the vast range of Major League Baseball players from participating CTO member countries, including Puerto Rico and Venezuela, we are able to celebrate our commonalities and realize there is very little difference between our societies,” added Brown Bramble.

As expected, the diaspora meeting underscored the value to CTO and its member countries of strengthening alliances with the diaspora in the United States, who are a major informal market-ing force for the region. In a presentation at the Diaspora Forum, Barbados- based University of the West Indies (UWI) official Dr. Keith Nurse stressed that the diaspora should be targeted in a sys-tematic way. He observed that unless this is done, the diaspora of third and fourth generation Caribbean nationals could “dry up and disappear.”

This is an issue which CTO Secretary General Hugh Riley in-dicated was at the top the agenda of the organization, which is looking at what types of programs and activities would be most effective.

CTO Chairman Skerritt at the closing press conference deliv-ered some very positive and welcome news - 18 of its 32 Member countries are showing increase in arrivals for the first quarter of 2012. He rightly pointed out that while the increase in visitor ar-rivals to the Caribbean is great, the level of spending is as impor-tant to ensure meaningful growth in the industry.

With over 100 journalists at Caribbean week, the public rela-tions mileage for Caribbean tourism destinations was significant.

Although the event has a crowded agenda and requires a signif-icant financial investment to participate, the return on investment was well worth it for a region whose tourism industry has been re-covering from the effects of 9/11 and the global economic reces-sion, and is facing fierce global competition for tourists who are more than ever seeking greater value for their vacation dollars.

(Sandra Ann Baptiste is a business consultant and specialist in Caribbean Affairs).

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 6

Commentary

Who Should Head The Commonwealth?

Congrats To Caribbean Camera On Its 22 Years

Tony Mc

Sir Ronald

Sanders

Now that there has been an enor-mously successful rejoicing of the 60-year reign of Elizabeth II as Queen of the United Kingdom and her 15 other realms, it is time to tackle the question upon which there has been much specu-lation: will her successor also succeed to the headship of the 54-nation Com-monwealth?

The outpouring of affection from millions of British people, who sought every opportunity to attend the events celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, and the presence at those events of many Heads of government and other senior representatives from other Commonwealth realms, underscore the deep satisfaction with, and admira-tion, for her reign.

In Britain, the acceptance of the Royal family has been re-validated, and recognition given in abundance to the im-portant role it plays there. The monarchy will remain for some time to come. Much of this is due to Queen Elizabeth herself. But, there has been evident satisfaction too with the performance by the Queen’s children, particularly Prince Charles, and her grandsons, William and Harry. Charles has overcome reservations held in some quarters, and his sons have captured the imagination and affection of the people of many Commonwealth countries.

No useful purpose is served by not also putting to rest questions raised about the future headship of the Common-wealth. As Elizabeth seamlessly assumed the headship of the Commonwealth from her father King George VI on his passing in 1952, so should her successor adopt it from her.

The headship of the Commonwealth came about on the creation of the modern Commonwealth in 1949 when India chose to become a Republic and to remain a member of the Commonwealth. It was the suggestion of India’s Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru that India’s association with the Commonwealth would be based on acceptance by India of the status of the King as the symbol of the free association of Commonwealth countries. Thus, in their 1949 London Declaration – the founding document of the modern Com-monwealth - Heads of government of countries, that in-

cluded India, Pakistan and Ceylon (later Sri Lanka), declared “acceptance of The King as the symbol of the free associa-tion of its independent member nations” and “as such the Head of the Common-wealth”. It is on that basis that every country has joined the Commonwealth since 1949.

Like her father before her, the Queen is an ardent champion of the Common-

wealth and of the Commonwealth’s diverse peoples. She has no role in governance of the Commonwealth as a whole, even though she has a constitutional role in her 15 realms for as long as they choose to retain her. She has steadfast-ly never mixed the two duties. Her principal function for the Commonwealth of independent nations is to symbol-ize their voluntary association. In this, the Commonwealth could have no better representative.

As the senior Commonwealth Head of Government, Prime Minister Denzil Douglas of St Kitts-Nevis, said in proposing a toast to her on behalf of Commonwealth gov-ernments during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations: “You have been a source of stability in times of trouble, a re-lentless champion for freedom and, through your dedicated public service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realm and the Commonwealth, have come to epitomise grace in service, steadfastness in commitment, compassion in leadership, dignity in loyalty and devotion in duty.”

On her 21st birthday in 1947, the then Princess Elizabeth gave an historic public undertaking: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of the Common-wealth to which we all belong.” She has never faltered in delivering on that commitment.

Her children and grandchildren have also demonstrated their inherited commitment to the Commonwealth and Com-monwealth causes. Without being intrusive in the work of governments, the Prince’s Trust, set up by Prince Charles, and the William and Harry Foundation have reached out to help worthy causes in Commonwealth countries. They are, therefore, trained and prepared for Commonwealth duty.

Significantly, even while the Queen plays no part in the governance of the Commonwealth as a whole, the costs as-sociated with her headship of the Commonwealth are not met by Commonwealth governments. The Commonwealth nations as a group benefit from her stature and standing, given voluntarily and plentifully, as it will be from her suc-cessor.

To change from this system that has worked flawlessly for the Commonwealth for 63 years, Heads of government would have to agree on a new method for selecting the Head of the Commonwealth. That task would be as problematic as it is unnecessary. Even if agreement could be reached on some distinguished Commonwealth citizen to take over the headship, issues such as who would finance the office, and its salary, travel and entertainment expenses would prove to be a basic difficulty, as would the tenure of the office, and issues of geographical representation. The notion that the post could be rotated among Heads of Commonwealth countries is also fraught with severe challenges. What hap-pens if domestic conditions demand that the Head of State remain at home when a Commonwealth event requires his or her presence? And would the Head’s embroilment in lo-cal politics compromise the Commonwealth as a whole? In any event, on the basis of rotation, the present Queen (or her successors) would be entitled to 16 terms as Head of state of 16 of the 54 Commonwealth countries.

Beyond all this remains the huge challenge of changing the binding basis by which countries have joined the Com-monwealth since 1949 - acceptance of the crown as the symbol of their voluntary association and “as such” Head of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth makes decisions by consensus. If a number of governments argue for the retention of the present system there would be no change.

The present system of the headship of the Commonwealth works for all. It isn’t broken; there’s no need to fix it.

(The writer is a consultant and former Caribbean diplo-mat) Responses and previous commentaries:

www.sirronaldsanders.com

Caribbean Camera just recently celebrated its 22nd an-niversary as a Canadian Caribbean community newspaper. That by itself is an achievement that is most deserving of the heartiest congratulations.

For many of those twenty two years, I have had a per-sonal involvement with Caribbean Camera. Having begun as Camera’s Cricket Columnist, that involvement has pro-gressed over the years to also include stints as both a major advertising supporter and competitor.

By my own count I have been directly/or indirectly involved with Caribbean Camera for over fifteen of the twenty-two year years it has been in existence. As such I feel as qualified as any to lend my voice to those that have bestowed kudos on the paper and its principals. Not only for its admirable longevity, but also the indisputably out-standing contributions it has made to the development of our beloved Canadian Caribbean community.

Now entrenched in its Scarborough office location at 55 Nugget Avenue, Caribbean Camera actually had its begin-nings in SHARE’s Eglinton Avenue offices back in 1989. Having worked for few months as a reporter for SHARE, Camera’s Editor Raynier Maharaj had seen enough to con-vince him of the need to start his own paper. Camera was subsequently launched the following year, with the highly admirable objective of being representative of the entire Canadian Caribbean community and more inclusive of all its ethnicities and nationalities.

At the time, I myself was working at SHARE as its Mar-keting Manager and empathized fully with Raynier’s con-victions and objectives. Several years later I joined Team Caribbean Camera as a cricket columnist. My “ McAttack”

columns afforded me the opportunity to cover Canadian and West Indies cricket locally, through parts of the US, at every major cricketing venue in the Caribbean and even much further afield. My on-site coverage for Camera of cricket’s participation of the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia will always be a much treasure experience.

In subsequent years, as part of my Canadian marketing responsibilities for both Western Union and MoneyGram International, I was also a major advertising supporter of Caribbean Camera. That was an expression of my belief back then that Camera’s readership was sufficiently repre-sentative of the entire community, to warrant its use as an advertising vehicle for those companies’ services.

Interestingly enough, the five years I spent with Western Union and the three subsequently with its major competi-tor MoneyGram International, were punctuated by four years as a competitor, in my role as Publisher of the initial Caribbean Graphic. The fact that I went from being a ma-jor supporter of Camera with Western Union, to somewhat of a “thorn in its behind” as a competitor with Caribbean Graphic, then back again to being a major advertiser with MoneyGram, should speak volumes about the vagaries of my own personal relationship with the paper.

Obviously the fact that I am now back in the business of publishing a community newspaper as its competitor, is an indication of some level of dissatisfaction with Caribbean Camera and a belief in my own abilities to provide a su-perior alternative. The expression of my sentiments in that regard is however a discussion best left for another day.

On this occasion my only desire is to express the senti-ment that as a community we should be proud of Camera’s

many outstanding accomplishments over the past twenty-two years. Foremost amongst these is the courage its Edi-tor Raynier Maharaj’s has often demonstrated in express-ing the paper’s “opinion” on the many challenging issues that have at times confronted our community. As Camera’s Editor, Raynier’s expressed opinions on such issues have always been highly logical and most eloquently written.

When at its best Caribbean Camera has easily achieved the accepted objective of any self respecting newspaper, that of providing content that is informative, education-al and entertaining. Herman Silochan and the late Colin Rickards are amongst its writers whose columns have al-ways been a worthy read. So too were the writings of my longtime associate Oscar Wailloo. His inimitable style al-ways made his columns, whether they were on cricket or any of the many other topics he covered, most enjoyable, oftentimes amusing reading.

Whatever its real or perceived shortcomings may be, Caribbean Camera therefore fully deserves to be acknowl-edged and applauded for its longevity, as well as the indis-putably noteworthy contribution it has made to our com-munity’s continuing development. In addition to providing outstanding coverage of the community’s affairs, it has also been blessed to have attracted many gifted writers and more than its fair share of advertisers. Kudos Caribbean Camera, heartiest congratulations on the laudable success of your twenty-two years, of which I am very proud to have been a most humble part.

Cheers

Publisher/Editor: Tony McWattEditorial Consultant : Malcolm CliffeContributors: Sandra Ann Baptiste, Beverly Brown, Akua Hinds, Christine Reid, Sir Ronald Sanders,Legal: Oumarally and BaboolalGraphic Design: AM Creative

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June 13, 2012 CARIBBEAN GRAPHIC PAGE 7

Caribbean Destinations

Martinique C’est MagnifiqueMartinique is an island in the Lesser Antilles in the east-

ern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of 1,128 km2 (436 sq mi). Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France consisting of a single overseas department .

Its eastern coastline borders the Atlantic Ocean while its western coast is flanked by the Caribbean Sea. The is-land is 4 350 miles away from France, 1 950 miles from New York and 275 miles from the closest South Ameri-can coastline. To the northwest lies Dominica to the south St Lucia and to the southeast Barbados As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is one of the twenty-seven regions of France(being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic. The first European to en-counter the island was Christopher Columbus in 1502.

As part of France, Martinique is part of the European Union, and its currency is the Euro. Its official language is French, although many of its inhabitants also speak Antil-lean Creole (Créole Martiniquais).

The north of the island is mountainous and lushly for-ested. It features four ensembles of pitons (volcanoes) and mornes (mountains): the Piton Conil on the extreme North, which dominates the Dominica Channel The high-est of the island’s many mountains, at 1,397 metres (4,583 ft), is the famous volcano Mount Pelée . Its volcanic ash has created gray and black sand beaches in the north (in particular between Anse Ceron and Anse des Gallets), contrasting markedly from the white sands of Les Salines

in the south.The south is more easily traversed, though it still fea-

tures some impressive geographic features. Because it is easier to travel and because of the many beaches and food facilities throughout this region, the south receives the bulk of the tourist traffic. The beaches from Pointe de Bout, through Diamant (which features right off the coast of Roche de Diamant), St. Luce, the department of St. Anne and down to Les Salines are popular.

Martinique has a fairly mild climate and the heat is never excessive. Thanks to the average temperature of 79°, Martinique is the island of the “never-ending sum-mer.” The trade winds from the east and northeast provide a steady breeze that constantly refreshes the air.

Due to the tropical climate conditions in Martinique, the island is lush with vegetation: lavish tropical forests, groves, savannas, countless species of trees, fruits, plants and flowers, not to mention the mangrove forests. All in all, the island is an extraordinary garden. The wildlife mainly consists of birds, fish and shellfish, as well as small lizards called “mabouyas” and “anolis”, iguanas and trigo-nocephalus snakes that are only found in Martinique.

Martinique has a multiethnic population. This diversity stems from the cultural mixing of the island’s successive inhabitants: Amerindians, Europeans, Africans, Indians, Levantines and Asians. Approximately one quarter of the population resides in the administrative capital, Fort de France.

Nestled between the sea and sun, Martinique is a trea-sure-trove that is unique among the Caribbean islands: an exceptional natural setting with running water, mountains, gardens and forests. Thanks to the island’s surface area

of only 425 square miles, ev-erything is easily accessible.

Visitors can discover the diversity of Martinique’s landscapes, its cultural heri-tage, its French touch, and the quality of its modern in-frastructure. It is a very safe island, where ethical tourism is the norm.

Martinique is a genuine Caribbean jewel with much to offer...

Saint-Pierre was the capi-tal of Martinique before its destruction during the 1902 Mount Pelée eruption. To-day, the town is the sous-préfecture (district capital) of the Caribbean North district and has been officially rec-ognized as a city of Art and History.

Forte De France is the business center and administrative capital of the island with many tourist attractions. Most of these attractions are grouped together around the city’s haven of greenery

named La Savane (Sa-vanna).

The airport, hippo-drome horse racing course and industrial zones based Lamentin are three of the regional Department’s main centers of activity. The fields of sugar cane stretch out across the La-mentin plain all the way to the horizon

Martinique waters of-fer warm temperatures (80 to 86°F), whatever the depth is an array of col-ors, exceptional visibility and calm conditions. The variety of colors comes from the corals, sponges, gorgona, anemone and the numerous small Caribbe-an fish. They all twirl all around the diver, giving

him/her an explosive show of color!Water lovers can explore the little Pompeii of the Carib-

bean, near Saint Pierre, classified city of Art and History. Go for a dive “through time”, and discover the shipwrecks of ships sunk by the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelee in 1902….

Martinique is rich with entertainment. Night-life takes on many forms including nightclubs, piano bars, lounges, hotel events/parties and casinos. The island offers a range of party atmospheres for all moods and tastes.

The majority of clubs and bars are located in Fort-de-France, but visi-tors can also enjoy them-selves in “hip” venues located in smaller towns where the setting can be a charming hotel bar or a beachfront restaurant with live music and dancing. A variety of music styles can be found including Zouk, Reggae, Jazz, Hip Hop, French Pop and Interna-tional Techno.

Casinos are a lively alternative in Martinique’s nightlife scene. They feature slot machines and gaming tables, per-

fect for vacationers who love to gambThere are also many cultural celebrations throughout

the year in Martinique. Particularly popular are the patron-saint celebrations, which are held in every Martinique town over the course of the year. These are occasions for games, performances, events, tradition and folklore

In addition, Martinique has a state-of-the-art cultural center that offers annual thematic programming featuring classical music, world music, jazz, poetry, and dance per-formances. Contemporary art exhibits and animations are also featured.

Many Caribbean islands are synonymous with “magic,” but the kind of magic found in Martinique is, quite sim-ply, culinary. On Martinique cooking is an art practiced by wizardly chefs who can take something very ordinary, like spiny sea urchins, do secret things to them, and -- with just a whisper of “open sesame” to the oven door -- bring forth a soufflé that is positively spellbinding. Food sets Mar-tinique apart from the other Caribbean islands. Chefs are seasoned sorcerers; elsewhere, they are just apprentices.

Magic aside, Martinique also happens to be French and shows its Frenchness very noticeably through its love af-fair with good food. Many shops close from noon to 2:30 for the sacrosanct tradition of a copious and leisurely lunch and dinner often is a gastronomic adventure last-ing all evening. Since local people dine out as a matter of course, visitors to Martinique have one of the widest choices of restaurants in the Caribbean -- more than 150.

Many dining rooms offer both French cuisine and Cre-ole dishes, a wondrous mix of African, Indian, European and Caribbean flavors. Others serve recipes that combine the best from both kitchen traditions. To classic French dishes, for example, might be added such exotic local fruits and vegetables as guava, sour sop, cassava, christo-

phine, breadfruit, okra and plantain.Martinique, c’est magnifique!

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 8

Hurricane Season Forecast Upped

Hold A Plane

No Bad Habits

RedJet Flies Out

Poor Financial Literacy

Common Entrance Results In

BRIDGETOWN, – While still predicting a below average hurricane season, Colorado State University researchers have raised their forecast for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane sea-son to 13 tropical storms, with five hurricanes and two major hurricanes. In April they fore-cast 10 tropical storms, with four strengthen-ing into hurricanes and two becoming major hurricanes with winds of at least 111 miles per hour during the six-month season that be-gan on June 1.

The revised numbers would still be slight-ly below average for hurricanes in the region that includes the Atlantic Ocean, the Carib-bean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the pio-neering forecast team said.

An average season brings about 12 tropical storms, with six hurricanes and three major hurricanes ranking at Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale.

The CSU forecast includes the two At-lantic tropical storms that sprang up in May before the official start of the season. Tropi-cal Storm Alberto formed and then fizzled off the South Carolina coast, while Tropical

Storm Beryl came ashore near Jacksonville Beach, Florida, on Monday.

However, famed hurricane expert Wil-liam Gray, who founded the Colorado State University forecasting team almost three de-cades ago, has said that two early storms are nothing to be alarmed about. “Historically, pre-1 June activity has very little bearing on the rest of the hurricane season,” he said

Gray’s protégé and lead author of the fore-casts, Phil Klotzbach, has said the revised forecast accounts for the El Nino factor. “We have increased our numbers slightly from our early April forecast, due largely to our uncer-tainty as to whether an El Nino will develop later this summer as well as somewhat mar-ginal Atlantic basin conditions,” he said,.

The El Nino weather pattern, marked by a warming of the tropical Pacific, tends to bring shearing winds that deter hurricane formation in the Atlantic. Several forecast groups have predicted El Nino would form by late summer, when the Atlantic hurricane season moves into its busiest period.

BRIDGETOWN, - Seize one of RED-jet’s planes! This is the call made by angry ticket-holders who met recently at the Bay Street Esplanade to discuss how to recover money from the airline which has now filed for bankruptcy. Spearheading the meeting attended by just over 20 people was Chris-tine Eli, who last week said she planned to

mount a protest to get refunded for a ticket to St Maarten, which she was not able to use because of the sudden suspension of REDjet flights on March 16.

The airline’s filing for bankruptcy on June 5 blocks any legal proceedings by its credi-tors.

BRIDGETOWN, - The Ministry of Agri-culture will be stamping out the sale of al-cohol, gambling, fighting and other illegal activities which are presently taking place at the compound of the Fairchild Street Public Market. Stating that he had received com-plaints about these activities from the police, the ministry’s Manager of Markets Hender-son Greaves told vendors that such practices would not be tolerated.

This also held true for the temporary re-location of the Fairchild Street operations to nearby Golden Square, Probyn Street, he said. He told vendors that the lease agreement on the rental of the land at Golden Square from Bethel Methodist Church specifically stated that no alcohol was to be sold there.

“A major concern for the area has to do with the sale of alcohol and other illegal activities,” he said as he advised Fairchild Street vendors to form an association in order to address such problems.

Greaves and other members of his team met with the vendors at Fairchild Street yes-terday afternoon to update them on the relo-cation to Golden Square. He showed the ven-dors a map of the proposed layout for Golden Square and advised them to remove their possessions from the stalls at Fairchild Street before Friday to make way for the removal of the asbestos roof. He also urged them to go to Golden Square between Monday and Tuesday to select their positions.

Greaves explained that only after an as-

sessment of the area by officials from the En-vironmental Protection Department as well as environmental officers would they be al-lowed to return to Fairchild Street. While he expected this would be only a few days, he stressed that the all-clear would have to be given by the officials.

In response to questions from the vendors, Greaves pointed out that the reason why they could not be fully accommodated at Golden Square was Government did not have the money to make the area ready for them as yet. He said as soon as those funds became available, lighting, water and sanitary ser-vices would be put in place.

In relation to the new market, expected to be constructed soon, Greaves said it would accommodate between 300 and 350 people.He said the new market would be semi-en-closed but easily accessible.

BRIDGETOWN, REDJet’s last plane left Barbados on June 11 hours after the court gave the company the all-clear to fly its air-craft to the United States where they will be sold to help repay creditors. The insolvent airline got the green light from High Court judge Randall Worrell who overturned the injunction that had been granted over the weekend to Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) Inc., which is owed hun-dreds of thousands of dollars.

He upheld the challenge filed by attorney-

at-law Anthony Audain, who was acting on behalf of the trustee appointed when REDjet filed for insolvency on June 5.

“The judge agreed that Section 41 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, under which REDjet filed for protection, provides a statu-tory stay so that no creditor has any remedy to commence any action,” Audain, accom-panied by Supervisor of Insolvency Dianna Greenidge and REDjet’s chief executive of-ficer Captain Geoffrey O’Byrne White, told the DAILY NATION after a brief hearing.

BRIDGETOWN, - Poor money manage-ment among Caribbean residents is being blamed on the education system in the re-gion. Furthermore, Cherryl Hanson Simpson, managing director of Financially SMART Services, said lacking education on the sub-ject was one of the reasons more people were not able to better multiply and protect their finances.

“The challenge is that people are not being taught financial literacy in schools. So how is it that we are to know how to invest, how to save and how to budget and how not to get in trouble with credit card debt when nobody teaches us?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, our school system doesn’t really teach us life skills that are important for survival . . . . It is very sad because that life, where there were all these jobs and big industries that were waiting for all these graduates to leave, that does not exist any-more.

“So our school system is teaching us to get a job in a world where the jobs are decreas-ing. It is a major problem,” argued Hanson Simpson, who admittedly was an advocate of entrepreneurship.

She was delivering a public lecture at

Frank Collymore Hall last Wednesday night on the topic Secure Your Nest Egg With Fi-nancially Smart Planning And Money Man-agement. The lecture was put on by the Na-tional Insurance Scheme (NIS) of Barbados as part of its 45th anniversary celebrations. Sharing some of her life experiences with the audience, the Jamaican said prior to starting her business she realized that many people had trouble with money.

“The problem was that nobody was teach-ing financial literacy skills. Then it became my passion to go out and teach others what I have learnt,” she said, and the more people knew about money, the more they were likely to gain financial wealth.

NIS board chairman Dr Justin Robinson shared similar views, saying that a lot of entrepreneurs, despite having “top degrees” and starting their own businesses, were “fi-nancially ignorant”.

“They didn’t quite understand money and bank accounts. That seems to be a flaw or hole in our system of education, which is world-class in a number of ways, but [peo-ple] seem to come out of our system not be-ing able to balance a chequebook or under-stand the basics of money,” he said

BRIDGETOWN - The long-awaited re-sults of this year’s Common Entrance Exam are in. Minister of Education Ronald Jones revealed the names of the top students at a June 11 Press conference.

The top boy is Kai Alleyne, a student of Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary School. Aa-liyah Johnson and Rihanna Ruck, both stu-dents of St Stephen’s Primary, tied for top marks among the girls. All three students had scores of 99 in maths and 100 in English.

Barbados Beat

June 13, 2012 CARIBBEAN GRAPHIC PAGE 9

Bishop’s Body Location Still Unknown

Fire At LIAT Hangar

IMF Funds For St Kitts

ST GEORGE’S, – The location of the mor-tal remains of slain Grenada Prime Minister Maurice Bishop seems destined to remain a mystery following exhumations by forensic experts in an area of a public cemetery pin-pointed as the most likely last resting place of Bishop and seven of his colleagues. Bones unearthed at the site were not the remains of those killed in the 1983 coup, according to the Grenadian ecumenical organisation lead-ing the search.

“The group found remains, they found bones, but they were easily identified as not belonging to those who were shot on the fort that day,” said Father Seon Doggett, spokesman for the Grenada Conference of Churches (GCC) which is leading the project to determine what happened to the bodies of Bishop and an unknown number of civilians who were executed at the army’s headquar-ters Fort Rupert, subsequently renamed Fort George.

Over a two-week period a team of foren-sic anthropologists exhumed remains from a part of the St George’s Cemetery that was identified by witness testimony as the prob-able location of the bodies.

“It is possible that they might be just out-side of that location that was searched. A fu-ture search may yield more positive results, but would involve resources well beyond the scope of the Conference,” Father Doggett stated.

He went on to say that the experts are cer-tain the remains are not those of Bishop and the slain seven but took the bones for further testing.

The ecumenical group has been trying to bring closure to the events of October 19, 1983 when Prime Minister Bishop and senior members of his People’s Revolutionary Gov-ernment were executed at the fort after being deposed in a power struggle.

The GCC, the umbrella organisation for Grenada’s religious community, in collabo-ration with the Grenada government and St. George’s University, enlisted the services of a nine-member team of forensic anthropolo-gists to conduct a search for the remains of the murdered men and women.

Father Doggett said experts with extensive experience in anthropological research and international crime scene investigations con-ducted a search on the edge of St George’s Cemetery closest to the National Stadium. The area had been pinpointed by the coun-try’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and from other testimony as the most likely location of the remains.

“These testimonies include persons who worked with the undertaker at the time of the tragic events,” Doggett said.

Dr Marcella Sorg, leader of the team that conducted the search, will prepare a com-

prehensive report which will be a permanent record of the history of Grenada, according to Doggett.

The GCC spokesman added that that the GCC is currently in discussions with the vic-tims’ relatives to ascertain their interest in exploring “other possibilities”.

“These possibilities might include some form of memorial, a national event, and/or a monument of some kind that will help to bring closure to this painful period of Gre-nada’s history,” he said.

The People’s Revolutionary Government, which had deposed Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy in March 1979, had become divided by late 1982.

As factions loyal to Bishop struggled with those of his deputy Bernard Coard, Bishop was placed under house arrest on October 13, 1983. On October 19, a large crowd released him and marched to the army compound at Fort Rupert.

Troops under the command of General Hudson Austin shot an unknown number of protesters then captured and executed Bishop and seven loyalists, including his education minister Jacqueline Creft, foreign minister Unison Whiteman and housing minister Nor-ris Bain.

Six days later, on the request of Barbados and neighbouring Eastern Caribbean lead-ers, the United States invaded Grenada and together with regional police and troops re-stored the country to civilian rule.

Coard, Austin and other civil, political and military figures, who were among 17 people convicted for the killings, were released in 2010 after their death sentences had been commuted to life imprisonment. The “Gre-nada 17” claimed they gave no orders for the executions and could not be held responsible for the deaths. They also denied knowledge of where the bodies of Bishop and his min-isters and several others were located, sug-gesting they were buried by invading Ameri-can troops. Only Austin has remained silent about his role in the slaughter.

ST. JOHN’S, - LIAT is expecting losses from the June 10 fire in Antigua to run into millions of dollars with its hangar, a plane, two office buildings and important docu-ments destroyed, and plans for summer flights jeopardized. But flights operated normally the following day as manage-ment strategized to keep services on track and police, fire officials and the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (EC-CAA) continued investigations into the cause of the blaze.

Chairman Jean Holder said the fire, which began around 10:15 p.m. and was only brought under control several hours later, presented a “major challenge” for the

Antigua-based regional airline. In addition to destroying the Dash 8-300 plane, the fire also ruined a few engines, spare parts and tools and affected quality assurance and technical records.

There were no reports of injury or loss of life.

According to Caribbean Media Corpo-ration (CMC)reports, residents in the area heard several explosions shortly before 10.30 pm and saw smoke billowing from the facility, located at the airport’s eastern edge. Explosions were said to have con-tinued to go off throughout the effort by firefighters and tenders from the airport and stations around the island to battle the

BASSETERRE, – St Kitts and Nevis have now benefited from over US $56 mil-lion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through its Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) with the Washington-based institu-tion.

The Executive Board of the IMF re-cently completed its second review of St Kitts and Nevis’ economic performance under a program supported by a 36-month SBA. According to a media release from the monetary authority, this then paved the way for an immediate disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 3.161 mil-lion (about US $4.83 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 36.781 million (about US $56.21 million).

According to the release, the Executive Board also approved a request for waivers of applicability for three end-March 2012 performance criteria. These waivers were necessary because the Executive Board meeting was scheduled to take place after end-March but before the data for the over-all balance of the central government, the

central government budget expenditure ar-rears, and the stock of short-term external debt becomes available.

The SBA was approved on July 27, 2011, for an amount equivalent to SDR 52.51 million (about US $80.25 million), or 590 percent of St. Kitts and Nevis’ IMF quota.

Naoyuki Shinohara, deputy IMF manag-ing director and acting chair of the execu-tive board commended the federal admin-istration for its “strong implementation of [its] home-grown [IMF] supported pro-gram”.

“Notwithstanding an adverse global set-ting, the fiscal target was met by a comfort-able margin, and the authorities’ structural reforms progressed as planned. Following three consecutive years of decline, the do-mestic economic outlook is positive, sup-ported by FDI related construction and an improvement in tourism activities, al-though the global environment continues to present downside risks,” Shinohara state following the Executive Board’s discus-sion.

huge blaze. According to reports, the destroyed

plane, registration V2-LGH, was just over 21-years-old; the oldest of three Dash-8s still in LIAT’s fleet, and it was undergoing a routine maintenance check at the time.

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 10

June 13, 2012 CARIBBEAN GRAPHIC PAGE 11

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 12

Exploration Condemned

Tower Dismantled

Destination Campaign To Be Launched Soon

Epileptic Dies By Drowning

GEORGETOWN, An offshore oil ex-ploration concession granted by Guyana’s government to Exxon Mobil Corp. is stir-ring controversy in neighbouring Venezu-ela. Guyana’s government reacted with surprise yesterday after Venezuela’s op-position coalition condemned such oil concessions and demanded a response by President Hugo Chavez’s government.

Natural Resources Minister Robert Per-saud said Guyana officials believe the Ven-ezuelan opposition’s stance is largely po-litical posturing ahead of the neighbouring country’s October presidential election.

“There is not a single rig or piece of equipment in the concession now,” Per-saud said.

Venezuela and Guyana have a longstand-ing territorial dispute over the mineral-rich Essequibo region, as well as offshore ar-eas where there are thought to be deposits of oil and natural gas. Officials in Guyana say that Exxon Mobil has a 17 million acre (6.9 million hectare) concession where it’s conducting seismic work.

Venezuela’s opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Table, expressed con-cern in a statement on Wednesday, reject-ing “all the concessions granted by the gov-ernment of Guyana in areas corresponding to the Atlantic coast of Venezuela.” In par-ticular, it mentioned oil exploration work by Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell PLC in the area.

“President Hugo Chavez’s government

should state its position,” the opposition said in the statement, which came after a report in a Venezuelan newspaper that oil exploration work had been reactivated in an offshore area known as the Stabroek block.

Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on the matter.

“Exxon Mobil and Shell have had an ac-tive exploration licence offshore Guyana for several years,” Exxon Mobil spokes-man Patrick McGinn said in an e-mailed statement. “Exploration is a process that takes many years and has multiple phases. Currently, we are evaluating next steps in the Stabroek Block’s exploration.”

Other companies exploring for oil off Guyana’s coast include Spain’s Repsol, Britain-based Tullow Oil and CGX Energy Inc. of Canada.

Last year, Venezuela’s government ex-pressed concerns after Guyana filed a claim with the United Nations for a larger share of the continental shelf to take in off-shore areas thought to hold oil and natural gas deposits.

Venezuela has maintained a longstanding claim to the vast Essequibo region, which is rich in gold, bauxite and other minerals. Venezuela argues that it was cheated out of the area when the border was drawn in 1899. In recent years, though, Venezuela and Guyana have maintained cordial rela-tions despite the dispute

NEW AMSTERDAM. - The dilapidated New Amsterdam Town Hall Tower was dis-mantled just after midday on June 10. The demolition began early in the day and a large crane lifted off the main section of the land-mark later in the day. The structure was a landmark in the history of the town and was certainly one of the tallest structures in New Amsterdam. But it deteriorated over time and had posed a risk to the many persons who commute in the New Amsterdam Market and the busy Pitt Street and Strand areas in the town.

A committee, which comprises the New Amsterdam Chambers of Commerce, the N/A Town Council, the Region 6 Adminis-tration and several private sector organisa-tions, is now tasked to rebuild a new town hall tower. One of the committee members has said that “work is going to commence to rebuild within a short time frame”. They will advertise and award the contract, the member added.

“We have some funds to make a start and are therefore calling for the public and

private sectors to give support in any form whether cash or materials”.

The new town hall tower will be similar in design to the old one “and maybe some slight changes and the intention is to go back to the same height”.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana is set to launch a massive destination campaign out of Trini-dad and Tobago shortly, as efforts continue to expand the tourism sector. Acting Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Irfaan Ali met recently with representatives from Ad-vantage Advertising, a Trinidad company, on the island to discuss the launch of the cam-paign.

According to the minister, this is aimed at encouraging more persons out of the twin is-land republic to vacation in Guyana.

“Representatives from the company will also be travelling to Guyana later this month, to meet with tourism industry stakeholders and to deliver a presentation on the potential of the Trinidad and Tobago market,” he ex-plained.

In addition, the Tourism Ministry also will be looking to host a familiarization trip for Trinidad and Tobago tour operators, as well as media practitioners, in an effort to sell Destination Guyana, Ali added.

As to the intended outcome of the engage-ments, Minister Ali said, “Guyana is set to launch an aggressive campaign to capture the Trinidad and Tobago market; we have recog-nized that this is a very lucrative area and we are going to do our best to take advantage of

this opportunity.”Minister Ali and team from Guyana, in-

cluding the Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Indranauth Haralsingh, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Cheddi Ja-gan International Airport Mr. Ramesh Ghir, also met with Trinidad’s Minister of Trans-port Devant Maharaj and other Trinidadian officials last week.

Among the issues discussed was the pos-sibility of Caribbean Airlines establishing an in-transit lounge for Guyanese at the Piarco International Airport.

While on the island, the team also met with dozens of yachters from across the world, moored in Trinidad, at the Lure Restaurant in Chaguramas, to present Guyana as a sailing destination.

During the two hour presentation, called ‘Sail Guyana’, the gathering was told of all the magnificent reasons to choose Guyana as their yachting destination, particularly along the Essequibo River.

Following the presentations, there were expressions of interest from several individ-uals, not only in the destination, but in op-portunities to invest in the promotion of the yachting industry in Guyana.Oil

GEORGETOWN, - A 38-year epilep-tic man, Harry Doobay, of Lima Housing Scheme on the Essequibo Coast, was dis-covered on June 9 around 11:00 hrs in two feet of flood waters in his yard. A neighbour of the deceased, Mr. Frank Stoby, said his wife, was doing some work on her curtains and windows when she noticed something like clothes floating in the flood waters in her neighbour Doobay’s yard.

According to Stoby, his wife quickly got his attention and he rushed over to check on the floating clothes. He said he was shocked when he discovered it was Harry submerged under some two feet of water in a helpless condition, with only his jersey showing. Sto-by said he quickly called for help and lifted the lifeless man out of the water and placed his body on a bench. The man was said to be dead already.

Reports said the man, who was not mar-ried, was home alone and probably fell into the floodwaters after suffering an attack of epilepsy while going to the wash room down-stairs. Mother of the man, Parbattie Doobay, known as Seera, said she was at her brother’s house when she received a telephone call saying her son fell down and was sick. The mother said she hurried home only to see several neibhbours and wanted to know what had happened to her son. She said, with tears, that she saw her son covered under a sheet and was told that he drowned in the flood waters. The grieving mother said she left her son in good spirits, and he was not sick. But he suffered from epilepsy. The woman said Harry was her second son and will be missed dearly. The woman said her first son died by accident some 13 years ago. She also lost her husband several years ago.

June 13, 2012 CARIBBEAN GRAPHIC PAGE 13

Suzanne Saunders

Bolt Was SoberDigicel Taps Suzanne Saunders To Provide Leadership

Education Ministry To Renergise Uniformed Groups

Body Found

KINGSTON, - A breathalyzer test per-formed by the police on sprint superstar Usain Bolt following a minor motor vehi-cle accident on the morning of June 10 has indicated that the athlete was not driving under the influence of alcohol. Radcliffe Lewis, senior superintendent in charge of the Police Traffic Division, told reporters that Bolt had been subjected to a hand-held breathalyser tester.

Lewis said that since the incident his department has come under pressure from members of the public alleging that prefer-ence is being given to Bolt because of his celebrity status. Bolt’s publicist, Carole Beckford, said the accident occurred while Bolt was on his way from a party. The ath-lete crashed his BMW motorcar into guard rails in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew.

Lewis said if Bolt is found culpable he could be charged for careless driving and failure to drive with due care and attention. Under the Road Traffic Act, if any person drives a motor vehicle on a road without due care and attention or without reason-able consideration for other persons using

the road, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a pen-alty not exceeding $5,000.

“A statement was collected from Bolt, but the information is sketchy and a phone number is there but we are trying to get in touch with him without success. We need to have more dialogue with him about how the accident happened,” Lewis said yester-day.

Lewis said the police are investigating the accident to determine whether charges will be brought against the athlete.

“Not because he is a world celebrity we are going to compromise our position, but we have discretion and if it is to be applied it will be, so we need for him to come so that we can have dialogue,” Lewis said.

He added: “He is a youngster and he will do what youngsters do to enjoy them-selves, but not to that extreme. I am not here to ridicule youngsters but here to guide them and a warning is one way to guide a youngster and so discretion will be used,” he said.

KINGSTON, - DIGICEL Jamaica has tapped Suzanne Saunders to provide strategic leadership for its portfolio of business solutions, one of the fastest growing areas of the company’s operation. Saun-ders, a former LIME execu-tive, joined the commercial team at Digicel Jamaica in February as Head Business Solutions. This critical area includes the business sales, service delivery and customer support teams, the company said on June 8

“Digicel is making a major shift, inter-nally and externally. We are moving from being just a mobile entity to a full service provider of mobile services and business solutions. To that end, our Business Solu-tions team has been restructured to bring together the right skill sets and talents to build a division that will support our cus-tomer’s needs within the corporate solu-tions space,” said Saunders.

“Our customers expect that we are able to look after them; they’re looking for a highly efficient team that can offer then solutions, connectivity and continuity. We have aligned our business to meet the needs of these customer segments and ver-ticals,” she added.

Saunders identified the hospitality in-dustry as one of the customer segments that her team will partner with.

“The hospitality industry requires very skilled individuals who know the hotel industry and, in our case, able to support these customers in helping them through cyclical revenues. Cost reduction is fore-most in everyone’s mind, and our products, services and technology, have to be able to help address the main points for these busi-nesses. Our business has been structured around our customers, and is focused on making the process of doing business with us a productive experience,” she said.

Speaking on key projects, Saunders was very passionate about the importance of disaster recovery in the Jamaican environ-ment.

“I cannot stress the critical importance of disaster recovery and protection of vital business data. Businesses are already op-erating with tight budgets these days, so imagine the financial damage that even one hour of downtime can do to your business, let alone 24 hours,” she said, noting “So one of my main focuses, along with my team, is to build greater awareness around our world class data centre and ultimately help all businesses see how disaster recov-ery through our data centre can help them to eliminate the cost of having to restore lost data, plus lost business.”

Opened in 2009, Digicel’s Data Centre is the only Tier III-certified facility of its kind in the Caribbean. This certification means that every component of Digicel’s infra-structure has the resilience and redundancy necessary to keep its facility fully opera-tional in the event there is a major power system failure, or if the systems need to be taken out of production for planned main-tenance activities.

The ICT Business Solutions head also mentioned that based on current discus-sions, she is confident that some of the key companies in Jamaica will become clients of Digicel’s Data Centre over the coming months, in addition to its existing local and regional client base.

Prior to joining Digicel, Suzanne served in several senior commercial roles across a myriad of industries. Among her former roles was Regional Head — Corporate Customer Segment for LIME, where she had responsibility for strategic planning and implementation for their corporate channel.

“I believe that I bring a strong interna-tional sales and marketing background to Digicel, having worked within large cor-porate entities in Jamaica and within the Caribbean region. I have had the experi-ence of working through two major busi-ness transformations,” Saunders said.

“My experience, in successfully navi-gating these companies’ sales and service teams through these transformations, will be integral to Digicel. It is about making this shift, while still building our revenues, and our business,” she added. “My tele-communications background, having been with LIME for six and a half years, brings knowledge of the industry, being with a company that is over 120 years old and a full service provider, to going to a compa-ny that is 11 years old, determined, vibrant and passionate about its market share in Jamaica.”

Prior to LIME, Saunders served with the GraceKennedy Group at Grace Foods In-ternational where she managed the market-ing portfolio for 13 countries in the South-ern Caribbean.

KINGSTON, Two former high-school principals will be joining the Ministry of Education in September to promote uni-formed groups in schools in Jamaica, in a move to enhance discipline and socially accepted behaviours in the nation’s institu-tions and the wider society. This has been disclosed by Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, who has indicated that the names of the former principals will be revealed in another month or two.

Thwaites was speaking at a June 10 In-ternational Day of Prayer for the Girls’ Bri-gade and the launching of the Vesta White Foundation, named after an honorary citi-zen of Manchester, at the Ebenezer United Church. Explaining the importance of this move, Thwaites said, “Every study that we know in Jamaica and elsewhere tells us that involvement in uniformed groups for good purposes makes for better learners,

for more profitable citizens, and that the outcome of those who are so engaged, in fact, keeps them away from disorder and from crime and antisocial behaviour later in life. As the twig is bent, so the branch will grow.”

Thwaites added: “I don’t know how we let that (promoting uniformed groups in schools) slip in previous years, but I hope we can resurrect and re-energise it now.”

The education minister said the idea is to instil order, discipline and useful skills among students, adding that he hopes it will receive good support from various communities who can help. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, for example, men from the reserve of the Jamaica Defence (Force), who are in every community around Ja-maica, would help with that kind of new movement?” Thwaites asked.

KINGSTON, - A BODY believed to be that of Michelle Coudray-Greaves, a Trini-dad and Tobago native who went miss-ing on the island, was found on June 11 in a cane field in Montego Bay, St James. Deputy Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds told reporters that “A body was found suspected to be that of a woman.”We cannot say it is her yet because there is no positive identification,” Hinds added.

The police found the body in a burnt-out section of the cane field just after 4 p.m. and alerted her close friends. The body was reportedly burnt beyond recognition.

Sources say dental braces and bracelet believed to be those worn by Coudray-Greaves were found on the body. Hinds said a post-mortem is being contemplated to determine the cause of death.

“That will lead investigators as to what lines of enquiries they should pursue.”

Senior Superintendent of Police Devon Watkiss, commanding officer for the Area One Police, which includes the parish of St James, said the police will be doing several examinations to determine the identity of the body.

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 14

Ego And Money Hurting TNTBanks Subpoenaed

Cinema Prices Up

Abdulah Unfazed

TNT Gets High Ranking UN Post

$127 Million Lost

PORT-OF-SPAIN, - Ego and money have gotten in the way of this country ex-periencing a much needed change in po-litical leadership, Roman Catholic priest Fr Clyde Harvey has said.

“We are in a situation where we need a different kind of political leadership that has the moral authority to say certain things to people while at the same time looking at the long-term solutions (to the problems in the country),” Harvey said.

Harvey said the chance to witness such a change was created in 2010 with the re-sults of the May 24 general election, but that opportunity, like many others over the years, has been wasted.

“I think on May 24, 2010 we had an op-portunity (for a different kind of political

leadership) but as so many instances in the last 50 years opportunities are lost because ego and money get in the way,” he said.

The Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led Peo-ple’s Partnership coalition government defeated the People’s National Movement 29-12 in the May 24, 2010 general elec-tion.

Harvey made the statements as he spoke to reporters during a June 10 family day organised by the Catholic Church, which was held at the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Harvey is Vicar for Clergy and parish priest of Holy Rosary and St Martin de Porres, Gonzales, Port of Spain. He was awarded the Hummingbird Medal (Gold) at the National Awards ceremony last year.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, - TWO of this country’s commercial banks have been issued subpoe-nas as an attempt is being made to piece to-gether a paper trail in order to determine ex-actly how millions of dollars were withdrawn from accounts of the Hindu Credit Union.

Legal representatives for Scotiabank Trini-dad and Tobago Limited and Intercommer-cial Bank Limited yesterday appeared at the Commission of Enquiry into the collapse of CL Financial and the Hindu Credit Union to respond to the subpoenas.

Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes yester-day appeared on behalf of Scotiabank.

Mendes said he held a 10 a.m. meeting yesterday with the executives from the bank in order to assist the enquiry. Mendes, how-ever, said two other bank officers who were also involved in the transaction have since left the bank.

A statement from the Scotiabank officer is expected to be filed at the enquiry today,

Mendes said. Attorney Richard Jagai, of the law firm

Girwar and Deonarine who represents In-tercommercial Bank, however, was unable to provide much assistance to the enquiry as he had not met with representatives from the commercial bank.

Jagai said Intercommercial retained the law firm over the weekend.

Queen’s Counsel Edwin Glasgow, the lead counsel to the enquiry, described that situation as “wholly untenable” because In-tercommercial Bank had been subpoenaed over two weeks ago. Sir Anthony Colman, the lone commissioner to the enquiry or-dered that either the documents related to the transactions in question be submitted to the enquiry by tomorrow or the company’s Chief Executive Officer Krishna Boodhai or Deputy Chief Executive Officer Gary Awai appear in person to explain the situation

PORT-OF-SPAIN, - Local cineplex Movi-eTowne has raised its movie ticket prices by $5.

The price increase took effect on June 1. The operator of the multi-screen cinema complex said it was the first increase in five years, and only applied to regular films, not 3D movies.

The cost of an adult 2D ticket is now $50, and a child’s ticket is $40.

“I think it’s a reasonable increase. We have to deal with rising operating costs, including increased wages. Land rent from the Port Au-thority has also risen by 175 per cent,” chair-man of Multicinemas Ltd (owners of Movi-eTowne) Derek Chin has said.

“We have not passed on (some of our costs) to the customer yet,” he added.

MovieTowne operates cinema screens in Port of Spain, Chaguanas and Tobago. It re-cently expanded to Guyana and has plans to open in south Trinidad.

Several customers have complained about the price increase but Chin said he did not really hear anything negative.

“The cost of running a business has gone up. ... We’ve been careful and responsible about our price increases. It’s only been 11 per cent when it should really be more,” he said by phone.

Chin said he wanted the Port Authority to reconsider the rent hike.

“They might feel MovieTowne is a money tower but we are having queries over it be-cause it is very tough for what we had to pay to what we have to pay now,” he added.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, He has been described as the Tommy Joseph of politics but Move-ment for Social Justice (MSJ) political lead-er, senator David Abdulah, says he will not be distracted from the party’s focus on seri-ous issues. Speaking with the media at the party’s June 10 seminar on Governance and Economics at the OWTU’s Paramount Build-ing, Circular Road in San Fernando, Abdulah said he had no comments on remarks made by Works and Infrastructure Minister Jack Warner that he (Abdulah) was the Tommy Joseph (comedian) of politics.

“I am really not responding to comments like that. What the MSJ is about is serious business, discussions on major issues affect-

ing people in this country. We are serious and our politics is serious,” he said.

He said the MSJ is focusing on governance which was a fundamental issue that they have put on the national agenda.

“We are going to have a serious discussion on governance and the economy being dis-cussed and that is what our focus is—the key issues that affect people and everything else becomes distractions,” Abdulah said.

Abdulah said he had no idea if the MSJ would be asked to resubmit nominations to-ward State board appointments in light of the upcoming Cabinet reconfiguration.

“You will have to ask the Prime Minister (Kamla Persad-Bissessar) that,” he said

PORT OF SPAIN, - Trinidad and Tobago has become one of three countries elected from the Group of Latin American and Ca-ribbean States to adopt a high level position with the United Nations (UN). At a June 8 meeting of member states of the United Na-tions’ General Assembly, Trinidad and To-bago was formally elected to serve as a vice-president of the 67th Session of the General Assembly for the period September 2012 to August 2013.

Vice-presidents assist the president of the General Assembly by chairing plenary meetings of various UN-related bodies and are normally represented by the Permanent Representative of elected countries. Candi-dates from each of the five regional groups

in the UN are elected annually to ensure as wide as possible geographic representation of vice- presidents in the work of the Gen-eral Assembly. This is the first occasion in recent times that Trinidad and Tobago has been elected to serve as a vice-president of a General Assembly. Other nationals elected to UN-related bodies over the past year are: Justice Anthony Lucky to the International Tribunal to the Law of the Sea; Justice An-thony Carmona to the International Criminal Court; and Kishan Kumarsingh as co-chair for the years 2013 and 2014 of the Ad Hoc Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

PORT-OF-SPAIN, - More than $127 mil-lion of taxpayers’ money has been lost following the sale of four water taxis that were purchased under the People’s National Movement (PNM) ad-ministration—includ-ing the controversial MV Su that was never used. Documents ob-tained bylocal media show that some $55 million was spent to buy and repair the MV Su which has been sold for $548,800 for scrap iron.

The MV Su was purchased for $25 mil-lion while the HC Katia, the HC Olivia and the HC Milancia were purchased in 2008 for use as water taxis at $12 million each.

The MV Su never sailed a day since it was bought. Twenty seven million more was spent on repairs alone after it was bought and, according to Transport Min-ister Devant Maharaj, it would have sunk had it made a short voyage from Chaguara-

mas to Port of Spain. For four years the MV Su was berthed at

the Inter Isle Construction Co Ltd. dock-yard, Chaguaramas, costing thousands of dollars which escalated to some $76,000 a month. The other vessels were kept at the Coast Guard compound at Hart’s Cut, Cha-guaramas. Advertisements were placed for the sale of the MV Su in March this year. A US$12 million loan was secured through Scotiabank in Trinidad and Tobago to pur-chase all four vessels.

June 13, 2012 CARIBBEAN GRAPHIC PAGE 15

Home Affairs

LiensWhat is a Lien?

You may be inter-ested to know the answer to this ques-tion especially if you are involved or engaged in the re-pair and storage of automobiles.

A Lien is defined by Black’s Law Dictionary as:

A change or security or encumbrance upon property to secure payment of a debt or performance of an obligation.

When would you be able to put a lien on someone’s personal property? Well if you affected repairs to someone’s car, boat, truck or other personal prop-erty and was not paid? You can register a Lien against the property in question. In Ontario the procedure to follow is governed by the Repair and Storage Liens Act, R.S.O., 1990. This Act pro-vides the guidelines to follow in order to register the lien, sell the property or retain the property in satisfaction of the debt owing. It is important to note that the lien can be affected for storage charges as well as repairs. Part IV of the Act provides specific guidelines for dispute resolutions.

Generally, if you are not paid for repairs or storage of some personal property, you can register a lien and this registration creates a claim over

the property which takes precedence over the owner of the property.

Over the past couple of years in practice, I have met quite a few

individuals who have been duped into carrying out repairs on vehicles and then being stiffed by the owner. In some cases, the vehicles had been re-moved from the repair shop and that person did not have possession of the vehicle, The Repair and Storage Lien Act provides a remedy even where the repairer no longer has possession of the vehicle. In such cases, the repairer can register a lien and move to repossess the vehicle or property.

It is worth noting that this Act is quite specific and there are procedures that must be followed before the repairer or storer can sell or keep the property in question.

Selwyn R. Baboolal in a partner at Oumarally Baboolal practicing in the area of litigation for the past 18 years.

This is intended for information pur-poses only and you should consult a lawyer if you need legal representata-tion or a legal opinion.

Selwyn R.

Baboolal

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 16

Good Food Plus Great Service Equals Excellent ValueThe Courtyard1755 Pickering Parkway, Unit 20, Pickering OntarioHwy 401/Brock Rd. S416-286-9283

Ratings:Ambiance ***** Service *****Portions *****Food Quality *****Price *****

Having been invited by its Sri Lankan born co-owner Suren Sanmugara-jah to “experience the difference” in dining that’s provided by the Courtyard in Pickering, I decided to do just that. Accompanied by Caribbean Graphic’s newly appointed Advertising Director Lyn Balram, it was a delightful expo-sure to some of the tastiest South Asian food I have ever enjoyed.

Conveniently located in the Pickering Parkway Plaza, off Brock Rd, just south of Hwy 401, the Courtyard’s occupation of a corner lot makes it very spacious. At the time of our visit the weather was unfortunately not conducive to the use of its relatively spacious patio, so we remained inside for the entire two and half hours that we were there.

The first impression one gets upon entering the Courtyard, is that of the warm welcoming atmosphere of a favorite English pub. The huge well stocked, circular bar is a major attention grabber. So much so that it takes awhile for one to appreciate the impressive number of tables nestled along the walls and amongst the remaining floor space.

In terms of floor space, the Courtyard has so much available that there’s a private side room with diner seating capacity for sixty. Owner Suren proudly boasts that in the seven months that the location has been open, under the own-ership of himself and his two partners, the side room has already proven itself to be a major favorite. Filled to capacity as it has been on many a weekend.

Lyn and I both agreed instantly that the Courtyard’s ambiance was deserv-

ing of the highest possible marking of five stars. Notwithstanding my initial inclination to be as tough as a Russian in my judging.

Having been so impressed by the Courtyard’s very warm, comfortable and most wel-coming ambiance, our next judging criteria was the service. Here again, the standard ex-hibited was of the very highest. Within the first ten to fifteen minutes of us being seated, our station server Karyn had already appeared three times with repeated requests for our drink orders.

From that very impressive start she never slacked off, always appearing almost magi-

cally on cue. Just at the precise moment that we were finished with one course and ready for the next. The intervals between the presentations of the many dishes we sampled were also impressively brief. Suren and his partners seemed to have a system, from the receipt of an order to the presentation of the dish, that functions with Swiss like precision. Score another five for service excellence.

The appealing ambiance and admirable service provided a perfect foundation for the gastronomical delights that were to follow. First up from the Courtyard’s impressive nineteen item appetizers menu was Coconut Shrimp.

“Succulent shrimp seasoned and breaded with a sweet coconut coating. Served with a chili Thai sauce” was the Menu description. Very aptly so, but with one glaring omission. There was no mention of the impressively large size of the actual shrimp. In taste, the blend of the coconut and Chili Thai sauce gives this dish a very nice sweet undertone. The four on my plate vanished just as quickly as they had been presented by the ever ef-ficient Karyn.

Next up was a Caesar Salad, supposedly served “in the traditional way.” The Caesar had a delightful and mysteriously unusual taste to it that was initially baffling to decipher. Suren eventually put an end to the increasing frustration that my inability to discern the taste was causing, by indicating that it was the very subtle sprinkling of bacon bits that was the source. Tradition my foot!

From the mystery of an untraditional Caesar, the delightful culinary journey continued to its next stop, a most generous serving of Teriyaki Salmon. “Fresh Atlantic Salmon grilled with a sweet teriyaki glaze. Served on a bed of rice and vegetables.”

My initial thought on receiving the dish was that finally there was something to be less than complimentary about. Glazed salmon, basmati rice and vegetables suggested a combination that would be far too dry and desperately in need of some sort of gravy. Not so, the teriyaki glaze was of optimal quantity and much to my own surprise there wasn’t a single grain of rice left on my plate. As tasty as this dish was, even more impressive was the portion size, a very generous serving that is outstanding value for its $14.99 pricing.

Our penultimate sampling was one of the Courtyard’s signature dishes: Chicken and potato mixed in curry sauce over a bed of rice. It’s served with papadom, which for the uninitiated, is like a huge light wafer.

According to Suren the serving we had was the Courtyard’s “regular” curry sauce. Trust me; there was nothing regular about its heat intensity. I was sweating all in my head. That didn’t stop me however from the delightful consumption of not only mine but the majority of Lyn’s chicken as well, which she had almost instantly avoided as being far too hot.

Suren also provided us with a sampling of The Courtyard’s very tasty 59 cents wings by way of soothing our scorched palates. That was quickly followed by a Courtyard signature dessert: A Mars Attack. The combination of a waffle batter coated Mars bar, sided by whipped cream and vanilla ice-cream can best be described by two words: sheer decadence. It was way too sweet for me and proved to be the only item served that I couldn’t quite finish.

The “fives” Lyn and I both willingly recorded for portions, quality and pricing gave the Courtyard perfect scores across the board. Added to these are the many attractive food and drink specials the restaurant customarily provides. The Courtyard does indeed very easily justify its claim to be a different dining experience, the good food and great service of which equals excellent value.

Cariblicious Restaurant Review

June 13, 2012 CARIBBEAN GRAPHIC PAGE 17

Planning a June wedding? Every bride wants to look their best, but when the wed-ding count down speeds up, it can be hard not to panic.

You’ve stressed over the seating plan, argued over the guest list and nearly had a break down over the budget - and now you’re supposed to look gorgeous? Ha.

You may have dark circles, prickly legs, frazzled hair and nerves shot to pieces, but there is a way to transform yourself from washed out wedding planner to beautiful bride - in only a matter of weeks!

If you’ve only got one month to go, don’t fret - beauty experts provide their quick fix bridal beauty tips . These bridal beauty tips will have you looking your beautiful best on your big day.

SkinAnti aging expert Nicky Hambleton

Jones suggests eating and drinking well in the weeks leading up to your wedding.

She says: “Feeding your skin from the inside will give your complexion a boost. Pack in as many ‘super foods’ as pos-sible throughout your day - have a hand-ful of blueberries on your cereal as they’re packed with anti-oxidants, fantastic at pre-venting fine lines.”

Make up artist Natasha Lakic says: “You should start preparing your skin as early as possible, so get plenty of sleep and drink lots of water. Any new beauty treatments should be tried one month before rather than a day before the wedding.”

Find a skincare range that works well for you and keep your skincare simple. Liz Earle says cleansing, toning and moistur-izing are the cornerstone of any skincare regime, so find a skincare line you like and stick to it.

NailsYour wedding day is the day your hands

change forever - with your wedding ring. Not surprisingly you are going to want your hands looking as pristine as possible, espe-cially for all those close up photographs. Nail and trend expert Lizzie Benton at Nubar says: “It is important to start to prep the nails at least a month before the big day to ensure they are looking their best.

“Moisturise your hands daily with a good quality hand cream that is packed with vitamins and minerals to solve any problem dryness and ensure hands are silky smooth.”

“Use a good cuticle oil to moisturize and nourish the cuticle base and help promote strong healthy nails. If you suffer from weak nails use a Nail Strengthener, it is a great base coat that will strengthener and help nails grow long and healthy.

“With weeks to go before the big day remember not to use your nails as tools, something we are all prone to, prizing open a box with our lovely long nails and then feeling the utter dismay as they break off! “

If the worst happens there’s always fals-ies.

Weight LossLosing weight for your wedding dress

is perhaps one of the most stressful parts of being a bride. When you have all eyes on you all day, you want to feel confident in your own skin. Although a healthy diet and regular exercise are the best way to lose weight safely, there are some supple-ments and weight loss aids that can give you a little boost in the run up to your big day.

Weight management aid that contain naturally sourced fibres, which have been clinically proven to bind to dietary fats and cholesterol passing through the digestive tract, can reduce the calories your body ab-sorbs, helping to reduce excess weight, in time your wedding.

The Perfect SmileOn your wedding day you should be

smiling all day long. The last thing you want is to feel self conscious about your teeth, so whiten them up a few weeks be-fore the big day. There are plenty of choic-es when it comes to teeth whitening Some Whitening Strips really work and are af-fordable too.

A 14-day kit can be stretched across four weeks if your teeth are sensitive, so you can have the perfect white smile in just in time. Simply place strips on your top and bottom teeth and leave for 25 minutes to work their magic. Your teeth will be much whiter and brighter and you can start to no-tice results after 3 or 4 days.

Make UpBefore your wedding you should prac-

tice your make up at home. “Don’t be tempted to try anything new on the day,” says Melissa Evans, Bridal make-up artist, “you won’t feel comfortable and the groom might not recognise you!”

Natasha Lakic, make up artist to super-models, says that which ever make up look you go for: “you should test the make up in natural light and on camera before the big day. And remember that your make up has to be timeless, you really don’t want to look at the photos in 15 years time and cringe.”

Heavenly HairRenowned hair dresser, Richard Ward

has a hair countdown checklist for brides to be.

One month before the wedding…. “This is the time to consider your new

look cut that will work with the overall look on the day. It will give you time to get used to the style and you should be getting your stylist to show you some easy to rec-reate styles for the honeymoon too.”

Two weeks before…. “Fine tune your colour and style. Roots

need to be re-touched, or maybe have a gloss treatment to get that extra shine.”

The day before….

“If you’re wearing your hair up, then wash and blow-dry your hair the evening before. This will enable more grip and hold for the hair up style.”

On the day…. “If you’re wearing your hair down, wash

and style it on the morning of your wed-ding. To get shiny, healthy hair use prod-ucts like shine sprays to give that glisten to the finished look.”

Banish BlemishesSpots and break outs are not allowed at

weddings. No one ever invites them, but somehow they can still find their way onto your face in the days leading up to your special day.

As if getting married wasn’t stressful enough without a bridal breakout threat-ening to steal all the attention. Prevention is better than cure, so in the month before

your wedding, get into a regular skincare routine with gentle products that will keep blemishes at bay.

GroomingGetting gorgeous in time for your wed-

ding is all about the detail. Mini pampering treatments and massages can help rest your body and spirits, and keep you calm at a stressful, but exciting time.

“One point to remember is your eye-brows - if they are overplucked then leave them to grow and have them done one day before the wedding.” says make up artist Natasha Lakic, who has worked with the likes of Lily Donaldson and Natalia Vodi-anova .

“A massage prior to a wedding is perfect preparation,”says hair and beauty expert Paul Edmonds. “A massage will manipu-late the skin and body, as well as activate circulation, giving a glow back to the body so you will look for the big day.”

Women’s World - BeautyJune Is The Month For Brides

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 18

Sports BeatBledman Clocks 9.93 Dussard Eyeing Teammate Edwards

Guyana To Face Bermuda in Rugby World Cup Qualifier

Delaney To Join TNT Team For Golf Championships

Keston Bledman dived un-der 10 seconds for the third time in as many meets, the Trinidad and Tobago sprinter clocking 9.93 seconds to fin-ish second in the men’s 100 metres dash, at the June 10 Adidas Grand Prix Samsung Diamond League meet, in New York, USA. Reigning world champion Yohan Blake secured gold in 9.90, while bronze went to American Mike Rodgers (9.99). Another T&T athlete, Richard “Torpedo” Thomp-son was fourth in 10.09.

On May 26, at the Golden South Classic, in Florida, Bledman won his qualifying heat in a personal best 9.89 seconds, and then skipped the final. One week later, at the National Training Center (NTC) Last Chance meet, in Florida, the 24-year-old won in a wind-assisted 9.85.

Aaron Armstrong copped fourth spot in yesterday’s men’s 100m “B” race. Run-ning into a 1.5 metres per second head-wind, the T&T sprinter got to the line in 10.46 seconds.

In his first competitive outing in almost a year, American Tyson Gay made a pre-Olympic statement with victory in 10 seconds flat. Kemar Bailey-Cole finished a distant second, while third spot was copped by Jason Young, both Jamaicans clocking 10.30.

T&T quartermiler Renny Quow clocked

46.15 seconds to finish fourth in the men’s 400m “B” race. American Jordan Boase topped the field in 45.73, finishing ahead of Jamaica’s Ricardo Chambers (45.82) and another American, David Neville (45.99).

T&T’s Cleopatra Borel produced an 18.19 metres throw to cop fourth spot in the women’s shot put. New Zealand’s Val-erie Vili dominated her rivals with a big 20.60m effort, almost a full metre better than second-placed Jillian Camarena-Williams (19.62m), of the United States. Another US thrower, Michelle Carter (19.32m) finished third.

T&T sprint star Kelly-Ann Baptiste got home in 11.07 seconds for fifth spot in the women’s 100m dash. Jamaican Olym-pic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce grabbed gold in 10.92, beating Americans Tianna Madison (10.97), Carmelita Jeter (11.05) and Allyson Felix (11.07) into sec-ond, third and fourth, respectively.

Nicholas Dussard will be watching his combined mar-tial arts team member Ken-neth Edwards’ every move when the Jamaican takes the mat at the London Olympic Games. Edwards is Jamaica’s first ever Olympic repre-sentative in taekwondo and Dussard is determined to fol-low the footsteps of his coun-tryman.

At 22, Dussard, a Universi-ty of Technology (UTech) stu-dent, has numerous accolades to his name including being recently appointed vice-cap-tain for the Jamaica combined team’s 2012 season, making him the youngest in the unit’s 10-year history. In celebration of his appointment and his team’s quest to attain 50 con-secutive unbeaten matches, in honour of Jamaica’s 50th year of Independence, Dussard has pledged to win all four of his International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) bouts in the United States this season.

So far, he has ticked off three victories, the Connecti-cut Taekwondo Champs in March, the Philadelphia Open and the June 9 CanAm Open, also in Philadelphia.

Winner of the 2010 UTech Sportsman of the Year Award and the first Jamaican to win gold at the ITF Pan Am Games, Dussard is also poised to be the youngest captain of the team at the United States Open in July. He follows decorated fight-ers such as Arthur Barrows and Kenneth Edwards as vice-captain to veteran Jason McKay. Dussard’s ascendancy could also see him at the helm of the team later this year in what it hopes will be its 50th con-secutive unbeaten match.

A winner of the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence in Sports in 2005, Dussard, along with Edwards and Alrick Wanliss, numbers among Jamaica’s most successful martial artists in individual and team events.

Last year, the Wolmer’s Boys’ School graduate got the biggest international me-dia exposure afforded a local martial artiste when he fought live on ESPN and defeated Argentina’s Estanislao Serrano at the In-ternational Sports Karate Association’s ‘Night of Champions’ at the US Open in Orlando, Florida. He was crowned world lightweight continuous sparring champion on the tournament’s biggest stage which was beamed live to a worldwide audience.

The Jamaica combined martial arts team star had previously won US Open titles throughout his career but reached the pinnacle at the tournament by being se-lected for the Night of Champions battle. Groomed by the combined martial arts team since he was 12 years old, Dussard has also won four consecutive world titles in team fighting.

Southern Zone champions Guyana will have to travel to Bermuda to take on the hosts after they defeated the Bahamas 16-8 on June 10, in the Northern Zone fi-nal in the Bahamas. Guyana, who defeated Trinidad and Tobago one week ago at the National Stadium in Georgetown in the

Southern Zone final of the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association (NA-CRA) Regional Qualifiers for the 2015 Rugby World Cup will take on the Ber-mudians on June 23 in Bermuda in what is a repeat of last year’s final here the host defeated the Guyanese.

Jake Delaney will join Trinidad and To-bago’s Hoerman Cup team this year as the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships (CAGC) title-holders seek to win the elu-sive Men’s trophy. Delaney, the former T&T youth captain, impressed selectors at recent national trials and will join Alderray Downes, Shane Costelloe and Talin Rajen-dranath from last year’s squad for the 2012 CAGC in St Kitts in August, while Deryck Gonsalves is the fifth member of the Hoer-man Cup team.

Trinidad and Tobago hosted the annual tournament at Millennium Lakes Golf and Country Club in Trincity last year, finish-ing third in Hoerman Cup play, but won

the overall title after taking the Ladies, Mid Amateur and Seniors titles. For T&T, the in-form Brittany Marquez will team up with last year’s CAGC Ladies’ standout Monifa Sealy and Kelsey Lou Hing to de-fend their title.

Last year Sealy pulled off a ladies’ course record round of four-under-par 67 on the third day to lead Trinidad and To-bago to the George Teale Trophy. Dave Rajkumar and Clint Alfred are T&T’s Mid Amateur (35 and over) golfers, while Car-los “Sexy” Baynes will partner Michael Commissiong in the Seniors Division. Su-per Seniors Fabien Lee Foon and Arjoon Samlal complete T&T’s 14 man squad.

Keston Bledman

Nicholas Dussard

June 13, 2012 CARIBBEAN GRAPHIC PAGE 19

Ramdin Fined

Doctrove Calls It Quits

Adrian Griffith Joins ICC Operations Staff

BRIDGETOWN, – A day after being on top of the world after making his second century and marking the highest tailend stand with Barbadian Tino Best, Trinida-dian cricketer Denesh Ramdin has been brought crashing down to earth. The West Indies’ cricketer has been fined 20 per cent of his match fee after being found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the third Test between England and the West Indies, which ended in a draw on Monday at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Ramdin was charged this morning (June 11) with a Level 1 offence, contrary to clause 2.1.8 (a), which relates to “con-duct contrary to the spirit of the game”. Ramdin pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction so there was no need for a formal hearing.

This fine follows Ramdin’s decision to address past criticisms against him by

veteran cricketing great Sir Vivian Rich-ards with a note that read: “Yea Viv talk nah”, which he pulled from his pocket and held high on the field for all to see dur-ing yesterday’s match. The incident took place during the West Indies innings in the 121st over while Ramdin was celebrating his second Test century.

Roshan Mahanama of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, ex-plaining his decision, said: “It is impor-tant that we do not allow a precedent to be set with such a premeditated celebra-tion by Mr Ramdin. We all understand the importance of celebrating a milestone, however, one should not use that time as an opportunity to hit out at one’s critic or send messages to the world.

“I hope Mr Ramdin has learnt his lesson from this incident and that we will not see such behaviour by him or any player in the

future when celebrating an achievement within a game of international cricket.”

The charge was laid by on-field um-pires Tony Hill and Kumar Dharmasena and third umpire Aleem Dar, all from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, as well as fourth official David Millns. All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum pen-alty of an official reprimand and a maxi-mum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee.

Billy Doctrove, a member of the ICC’s Elite panel of umpires, has announced his retirement from international cricket. Doctrove, who served as an international umpire for 14 years, will not be seeking a renewal of his contract after it expires at the end of this month.

Doctrove was due to officiate in the ODI and Test series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan but had to withdraw and return home to Dominica due to a family be-reavement. The second Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Hamilton in March this year was his last international assignment.

“After much consideration I have in-formed the selectors of my decision to retire,” Doctrove said. “It has been an in-credible 14 years for me as an international umpire and I have enjoyed every moment of it.

“It has been a dream journey and to su-pervise international matches which were played by many great players at iconic venues.

“I am also honoured and privileged to have been part of the transformation pro-cess in cricket with the introduction of technology which is now considered as an integral component of international cricket and the introduction of the revolutionary twenty20 format which has taken cricket to a completely new level.”

Doctrove made his international um-piring debut in 1998, in an ODI between West Indies and England in St Vincent, and stood in his first Test two years later when West Indies took on Pakistan in An-tigua. He went on to stand in 38 Tests, 112 ODIs and 17 T20 internationals, including the final of the ICC World Twenty20 be-tween England and Australia in Barbados in 2010. He became part of the ICC’s In-ternational Panel of Umpires in 2004 and was promoted to the Elite Panel in 2006.

“It was a highlight to umpire in the ICC World Twenty20 final in Barbados,” he said. “That was a special and an unforget-table occasion. I am extremely thankful to my family and friends worldwide, for their support and encouragement that they af-forded to me during my career.

“I would also like to thank the WICB and the ICC for the many opportunities they provided me to serve this wonderful game.”

Doctrove umpired in the controversial Oval Test of 2006 between England and Pakistan. His on-field partner then was Darrell Hair, who was at the centre of the controversy. Accusations of ball-tamper-ing prompted the Pakistan team to refuse to take the field after tea on the fourth day and England were declared victors - the re-sult was changed to a draw in 2008 before being reversed again to an England win in 2009.

Doctrove was also Dominica’s first FIFA referee and between 1995 and 1997 he of-ficiated in a number of internationals in the Caribbean, including a World Cup quali-fier between Guyana and Grenada in 1996. He quit football in 1997.

Vince van der Bijl, the ICC umpires and referees manager, said: “Billy has been an excellent servant of the game and we thank him on behalf of the entire cricket frater-nity for his outstanding contribution as an international umpire for 14 years.

“To have remained as one of the game’s top officials for that length of time has required Billy to be self-motivated, confi-dent and well respected.

“Billy is a very special man, with strong values, firm beliefs yet with an underlying gentleness and humour, and a great family man - a wonderful blend.”

Former West Indies opener Adrian Griffith has taken over the role of umpires and referees administration manager at the ICC. He has joined the the ICC’s op-erations department, currently headed by Dave Richardson, who is the governing body’s general manager of cricket. The de-partment also includes Vince van der Bilj, a former Natal and Middlesex fast bowler.

Griffth played 14 Tests and nine ODIs between 1996 and 2000. He’s also an ex-perienced administrator. He was cricket operations manager during the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, and has also been

on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) match referees’ panel. As the ICC’s re-gional referee, he was involved in several development events such as the World Cricket League Division One and the World Twenty20 Qualifier.

“It is indeed a great honour for me to be working with the International Cricket Council in the role of Umpires and Ref-erees Administration Manager,” Griffith said. “I am hoping that my experience, both as a player and match official, will come in handy during my stint.”

Billy Doctrove

Denesh Ramdin

June 13, 2012CARIBBEAN GRAPHICPAGE 20