THE BARBADOS MANUFACTURERS EXHIBITION (BMEX) was officially opened last night at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre with a record 182 booths with 193 exhibitors.The annual exhibition of products and services is expected to attract thousands of Barbadians and visitors over the next four days.BMEX offers from food and drinks to plants, clothing and textiles and other locally manufactured items.Yesterday morning hundreds of primary and secondary school children were given a chance to see what BMEX has to offer.The public will be able to tour BMEX each day between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. until Monday. (KB)
Willing to die for ‘Dudus’
KINGSTON – Christopher “Dudus” Coke’s influence on West Kingston was put on show yesterday as hundreds of mostly women from Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town poured into the streets to show support for the man wanted by the United States, and to vent their anger at a police claim that Tivoli Gardens residents were being held hostage by thugs.In what appeared to be a highly organised but peaceful protest, the demonstrators, the majority dressed in white, told the authorities to “leave ‘Dudus’ alone” with some boldly declaring that they were prepared to die for him.“No hostage, no hostage, we are free; is lie them telling,” shouted the women.“We are not being held hostage in our community and no one not taking away our phones,” said one woman, in reference to a police report Wednesday that thugs were also seizing residents’ cellphones.Under the steely gaze of a large contingent of police, the demonstrators gathered outside the Denham Town Police Station on Spanish Town Road, waving placards with their messages of support for Coke, whom the United States government has accused of trafficking in guns and drugs.The Americans had submitted an extradition request for Coke last August, but the Jamaica government had refused to sign it, arguing that the evidence presented by Washington was gathered in breach of Jamaican law.The stalemate damaged relations between both countries which is just now being rebuilt after Prime Minister Bruce Golding – under increasing pressure to resign – announced in a national broadcast on Monday night that his attorney general would sign the request giving the authority for the warrant to be processed.But before Golding’s broadcast, word of the government’s decision started circulating on the streets, triggering panic in Kingston, the Jamaican capital; and in Spanish Town, the old capital, which is plagued by intermittent bouts of gang violence.On Tuesday, residents of Tivoli Gardens, a community that is fiercely loyal to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, and which serves as Coke’s power base, started mounting blockades at all its entrances, using old motor vehicles, old refrigerators, large tyres, vendors’ stalls and other heavy debris.By Wednesday, the barricades were fortified with more debris, including propane gas cylinders and barbed wires which the police said were attached to Jamaica Public Service high voltage power lines.The intention, the authorities said, was to keep the security forces out of the community, which has been the scene of deadly gunbattles between gunmen and law enforcers in the past and which, ironically, is in Golding’s constituency.On Thursday, the police, who now have an arrest warrant for Coke, said they had received information that thugs in the community were stocking up on petrol. The cops also said that their surveillance had shown that among the massive arsenal in Tivoli was the powerful 50 calibre Grizzly Big Boar rifle. “Its powerful .50 calibre BMG round blows its targets to pieces while its careful design absorbs most of the recoil,’ the website on the gun said.Yesterday, the police said they intended to exhaust all peaceful means to arrest Coke and had already written to the attorneys who were named as being on his defence team.Police Commissioner Owen Ellington, in a message to members of the constabulary, expressed “gratitude and satisfaction with the professional and dignified way” in which they had responded to the Coke extradition issue.He added that the main effort at executing the arrest warrant would be directed from the high command. (Jamaica Observer)
Canteen robbed
A daring daylight robbery yesterday left canteen staff, students and teachers of the Parkinson School in a state of shock.Reports from sources at the school indicate that it was just about 12:55 p.m. when two masked men burst open the canteen door and made off with the money from the day’s sales.Workers said one shot was fired. The incident occurred shortly after students had finished lunch and returned to their classrooms.One shaken canteen worker recounted the event to friends who tried to console her, as she watched the Island Care ambulance taking away the canteen’s owner Nancy Lynch. Lynch, with a breathing apparatus on her face, was whisked from the scene for medical attention.“We was there cleaning up, when I heard the door burst open, and when I looked around I saw two masked men. I start to run and scream murder, murder, and then everybody was scrambling,” the worker said.Another canteen worker fell as she tried to run away and bruised her elbows. She said another woman had a gun placed in her chest, while the men took the money from the till before fleeing the scene.Education ministry officials and nearly a dozen police officers converged at the school which has a roll of 850 students.When the SATURDAY SUN team arrived, policemen were searching for a spent gunshot shell and clues.Concerned principal of the school, Orson Alleyne, deemed it a “brazen act in broad daylight.”“It is frightening to think that in this society we can come to the point where people can think they can come onto a school compound and perform such acts, and in broad daylight,” he stated. Alleyne complimented the police officers for their quick response.Acting Chief Education officer Laurie King, who was also on the scene said the incident was indeed scary.“It is a most unfortunate incident, one that you would not expect to hear of on a daily basis, but the fact that it happened on the compound in broad daylight is great concern for us, taking into consideration there were so many students on the compound,” he stated.Station Sargeant Victor Brewster of the District “A” Police Station, confirmed that the “day’s takings” had been stolen and that the owner of the canteen had been in shock and had to seek medical attention. He said it was also reported that a shot had been fired.
Lucky man gives away fortune
PETRINJA, Croatia – A music teacher, Frano Selak, who was dubbed the world’s luckiest man after cheating death seven times before winning the lottery, has now decided to give away his fortune.The 81-year-old won £600 000 (BDS$1 683 650) five years ago in the lottery in Croatia to celebrate his fifth marriage, after earlier surviving plane and train crashes.He also survived other disasters including landing on a haystack after falling out a plane door that had blown open.Now the pensioner has decided that “money cannot buy happiness” and has decided to live a frugal life.He has sold his luxury home on a private island, given away his fortune to family and friends and moved back to his modest home in Petrinja, which is south of Zagreb, in the centre of the country.He kept the last bit of his winnings for a hip replacement operation so he could enjoy life with his wife, and also so he could build a shrine to the Virgin Mary to give thanks for his luck.Selak said he has never been happier.“All I need at my age is my Katarina. Money would not change anything,” he said. “When she arrived, I knew then that I really did have a charmed, blessed life.“I never thought I was lucky to survive all my brushes with death. I thought I was unlucky to be in them in the first place,” he said.Selak had his first escape in 1962 when a train he was travelling on from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik jumped the rails and plunged into an icy river. Seventeen people drowned and he barely made it to the riverbank after suffering from hypothermia, shock, bruises and a broken arm.A year later, he was thrown out of a plane on his first and only flight when a door flew open. This time 19 people died, but he was thrown clear of the crash and landed in a haystack.Then in 1966, a bus he was on skidded into a river, drowning four. He swam to safety with just cuts and bruises.Accident number four came four years later in 1970 when his car caught fire as he drove along a motorway. He fled with seconds to spare before the fuel tank exploded.Three years later, he lost most of his hair when a faulty fuel pump spewed petrol over the hot engine of his car and blew flames through the air vents.Then in 1995 came his sixth accident when he was knocked down by a bus in Zagreb but walked away with minor injuries.The following year, he was driving in the mountains when he turned a corner to see a United Nations truck coming straight for him.His Skoda careened through a crash barrier and over the 300 foot precipice. But he leapt clear at the last minute and sat in a tree as he watched his car hit the bottom and explode.He then won £600 000 with his first ever lottery ticket and celebrated his fifth marriage saying: “I guess all the earlier marriages were disasters too.” (Daily Telegraph)
Korean war clouds
SEOUL – South Korea’s president said yesterday his country was caught in a “perfect military ambush” when a North Korean torpedo sank a naval warship, but called for a cautious response to the disaster that left 46 sailors dead.President Lee Myung-bak made the comments at an emergency national security meeting convened one day after an official report concluded that North Korea was responsible for the deadly sinking of the South Korean patrol ship Cheonan. North Korea has denied involvement and vowed “all-out war” in case of any moves to retaliate over the sinking.An international team of civilian and military investigators declared on Thursday that a North Korean submarine fired a homing torpedo on March 26, ripping the 1 200-ton ship in two. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued, but 46 died – South Korea’s worst military disaster since the Korean War.“We were caught in a perfect military ambush by North Korea while our people were resting in the late hours,” Lee said at the start of the meeting, according to a statement by his office.Lee called the sinking a “military provocation” and said it violated the United Nations (UN) Charter as well as the truce that ended the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War.“Because this is a serious and important issue, I believe there must not be a single mistake in all of our responsive measures, and that we must be highly prudent,” he said.Discussion at the meeting focused on international cooperation, military readiness, inter-Korean relations and preparedness against unconventional threats from North Korea, including cyberterrorism, spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said in the statement.Lee had vowed on Thursday to take “resolute countermeasures” against the North over the sinking. He was expected to give an address to the nation on Monday or Tuesday.Military retaliation, however, is seen as too dangerous and not a serious option given the vulnerability of South Korea’s capital, Seoul, and its ten million residents to North Korean artillery located just across the border.Separately yesterday, North Korea spoke of war for a second straight day, while United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was on her way to Asia, with tensions on the Korean peninsula expected to dominate her agenda.Pyongyang, which has denied any role in the sinking, said “a war may break out right now” and that it “will regard the present situation as the phase of a war and decisively handle all matters arising in inter-Korean relations to cope with it”. (AP)
Girl ‘smothered in bed’
TOLUCA, Mexico – Federal investigators say a four-year-old girl whose body was found in her bed nine days after her parents launched a wide-scale search, was smothered accidentally and was there the whole time police and family were hunting for her.The improbable finding, announced yesterday, came after an autopsy and interviews with dozens of experts, said Mexico state Attorney General Alberto Bazbaz.“The records and experts agree that the death of this child was an accident,” he said. “Having not found a bit of evidence to the contrary, we are closing the investigation without pursuing criminal charges.” (AP)
$5 house spot project in works
The National Housing Corporation (NHC) will soon unveil additional programmes for low-income earners looking for houses and land.Minister of Housing and Lands, Michael Lashley made the disclosure yesterday while launching a training programme for NHC and ministry staff.He said the programmes would benefit “people who cannot afford a mortgage” or to purchase land at the current high market prices.The programmes will lend diversity to a portfolio that includes provision of $5 house spots and a low rent programme, according to Lashley.The minister made the comments at the start of a workshop at the NHC’s Country Road, St Michael headquarters focusing on the “incremental home construction programme”.That programme is an element of the housing and neighbourhood upgrade project that will transform the face of low-income districts Allen View, St Thomas, as well as Cats Castle, Greenfields and Garden Land in St Michael.Lashley said there had been a flood of inquiries from the public about the upgrade project, which would provide hundreds of subsidies for home improvement.According to the minister, the plan is to provide a maximum subsidy of $10 000 for low-income families to carry out repairs.The money goes directly to companies providing building materials and a list of these companies was now being drawn up, Lashley said.He also said Government was now dealing with the legal vesting of some plots with a view to offering prospective low income home-owners plots at between $15 000 and $17 000. (TY)
Coke stand
A TENSE STAND-OFF in a section of Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, seems set to continue, following the postponement yesterday of a court hearing involving reputed dope dealer and gunrunner Christopher “Dudus” Coke.The hearing for an application for a judicial review filed by attorneys representing Coke was postponed to May 31 because Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn – who is a defendant in the matter – was served a summons just minutes before the hearing was set to begin.On Wednesday lawyers for Coke filed a motion for the review of the justice minister’s decision to authorise proceedings for the extradition of Coke, wanted in the United States on firearm and dope charges.Meanwhile, Jamaican security forces still have the authority to arrest Coke on sight as a warrant for his arrest is still in force.Since Tuesday, residents of Tivoli Gardens where Coke is based have been mounting barricades at all entrances, in anticipation of moves to arrest him.According to Jamaican police, gas cylinders have been inserted into some barricades and others have been reinforced by barbed wires attached to high voltage electricity lines and attached to metal objects within the barricades.The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JFC) reported that some Tivoli residents were stockpiling high-powered weapons, including sniper rifles.The JCF also reported that residents of the community were being held hostage by gunmen and had had their cellphones confiscated.On Wednesday, a Jamaica Defence Force team which went into the community to clear roadblocks was attacked when their tanker was fired upon by gunmen. On Thursday, hundreds of Dudus’ supporters, many dressed in white, protested in a march which went through downtown Kingston.They marched in front of Jamaica’s parliament, Gordon House. Chanting ‘No Dudus, No Jamaica’, many of the protestors said they were ready to die for the alleged strongman.After months of objections to extradition, during which United States-Jamaica relations soured, Prime Minister Bruce Golding relented, announcing on Monday night that the Justice Minister would sign the extradition request.Coke is a resident of Golding’s West Kingston constituency, which is a stronghold for the governing Jamaica Labour Party. (Jamaica Observer/AL-F)
School canteen robbed in broad daylight
A daring daylight robbery at the Parkinson Memorial Secondary School this afternoon left canteen staff, students and teachers traumatised and seeking medical attention.Reports from sources at the school indicate that it was just about 12:55 p.m. when two masked men shoved open the canteen door demanding money, sending workers scampering for cover.The incident occurred shortly after students had finished lunch and returned to their respective classrooms.Canteen owner Nancy Lynch was taken for medical attention by private ambulance.In the aftermath of the incident which occurred just after the end of lunch time, education ministry officials and nearly a dozen police officers to converge on the scene.Principal of the school Orson Alleyne deemed it a “brazen act in broad daylight” and expressed his concerns over the incident.“It is frightening to think that in this society we can come to the point where persons can think they can come onto a school compound and perform such acts, and in broad daylight” he stated. Station Sargeant Victor Brewster of the District A Police Station, confirmed they reported to a call at the school which turned out to be a robbery.He confirmed that all the “day’s taking” had been stolen and that the owner of the canteen had been in shock and had to seek medical attention. (CT)For more details on this story, please read tomorrow’s SATURDAY SUN.
‘Cable’-less TV is here
BARBADIANS CAN NOW WATCH any television channel they want to – without need of cable or satellite dish, thanks to the “micro-computer”. The Net2Vu, which allows users to access digital television, social networking sites and live radio service through the Internet, was launched yesterday. And, according to Net2Vu’s chief executive officer Scott Weatherhead, 700 plus consumers have already signed up.Weatherhead told the media launch at Net2Vu’s offices at Sheraton Mall in Christ Church, that subscribers would be able to access over 150 premium live channels, and even rent movies. The CEO explained that subscribers had a number of packages, ranging from basic to VIP, to choose from.“[The service] doesn’t require anyone to run cable, install a satellite dish or an antenna,” Weatherhead said. “Customers can purchase [the micro-computer kit] at any retail outlet.” Net2Vu’s head office is in Barbados because the brand is Barbadian, he added. The ceo, who “completely designed” the product, said it “has its genesis in Barbados”. Weatherhead said the multimillion-dollar service was being marketed locally, regionally and internationally to a number of networking companies that had viewed Net2Vu as having “incredible potential”. (AH)