MONICA WALCOTT  says her son Mark  is no child molester.“The only thing my son is guilty of is loving women and trusting them. He is  a decent, respectful person who never sees the bad  in anyone,” she stated.She was reacting to the situation in which Mark Walcott, 41, is presently on remand at Her Majesty’s Prisons Dodds awaiting extradition to the United States. He is expected  to serve a 51-month sentence imposed on him by a Florida court seven years ago on a charge involving a 14-year-old girl. Instead of serving the time, he left Florida and returned to Barbados. But his freedom came  to an end last month  when he was arrested  by local authorities.He was accused in Florida, that sometime between July 1, 2001, and February 28, 2008, he intentionally touched the breasts, genitals, genital area or buttocks of a child less than 16 years, or the clothes covering them in a lewd or lascivious manner  or that he forced or enticed the girl to touch him.But Monica said that her son’s actions towards the girl in question were not intentional but that he was in a situation where he was being physically attacked and he retaliated.  But she stated that  a complaint was made against her son only after he ended the relationship with the girl’s mother.  She added that she was convinced of her son’s innocence because she intercepted a telephone conversation where  money was being demanded from him.Monica said after several court appearances her son was “ill advised” by his public defender to plead “no contest”. “Mark was confused.  He thought that by pleading no contest he wasn’t saying that he was guilty or not guilty. But this is misleading because after spending time in jail, he would have been deported,” she said.She stated when her son realised what he had done, he decided to leave the United States and return to Barbados. He had been living there since age 12.Walcott, who emigrated to the United States 39 years ago taking her four children with her, said until that unfortunate incident, her son had never been involved with the law in the United States.“I lived in some very tough places in the United States, but I brought up my children not to get involved in anything around them. All Mark ever did was fall in love with the wrong women. He came back  to Barbados, and he  found a job and kept out  of trouble.”Monica said she was hoping that the United States would not proceed with the extradition because the charge was  not a federal one.

Increase public bus fares to $2! The Association of Public Transport Operators (APTO) made  this call to   Government yesterday.APTO president  Morris Lee told a Press conference in the Cheapside, St Michael minibus terminal that raising bus fares was one way of helping the owners of public service vehicles (PSVs) to keep their heads above water against the backdrop of increased operating costs.“Given the fact that bus fare has been $1.50 for the last 20 years and all of the goods and services relevant to the industry have increased, what we are saying is that we believe Government should relax the legislation as it relates to the collection of bus fares to allow the operators  to at least get $2 per passenger,” Lee said.He added: “At least  it would help offset some of the costs that we  are burdened with  at this time.”Lee said insurance, spare parts, vehicle, transport and other costs impacting the industry had increased over the last ten years while bus fares remained the same.Lee said that Government had the option of including or excluding the Transport Board from the fare increase, given the fact that taxpayers subsidised the Board’s operations.He argued that the PSV operators were not  in the same position as  –the Transport Board, which received “$5 per passenger” when the taxpayers’ subsidising” was taken  into consideration.“We are calling for a PSV increase,” he said. “If Government feels  to do it by way of  a general increase,  it’s not a problem.“What it will do is probably reduce . . . the subsidy of the Transport Board, but essentially the operators right now are finding it extremely difficult to survive.”Lee charged that Government used taxation to penalise PSV operators. “The taxes that we pay  are determined, in my opinion, as sanctions; they’re punitive,” he complained. “The taxes don’t bear any relevance  to the operations that  we carry on.“When you consider that a Transport Board bus pays $800 for a licence fee and we pay $7 250 to do the same chore, when you consider that a Transport Board bus driver pays $80 to renew his licence and the mini-bus driver or the route taxi pays $230, you  see the disparity there.”Lee said the situation was compounded by the fact that PSV operators did not get duty-free concessions on their vehicles and paid insurance on the vehicles’ higher value.

Walter Rodney, killed in an explosion in June 1981 in his homeland, Guyana, has been described as a great revolutionary Caribbean intellectual.Professor Emeritus at the University of Guyana, Winston McGowan, delivering the 26th Elsa Goveia Memorial Lecture at the Cave Hill Campus on Wednesday night, traced Rodney’s roots from birth to tertiary level education and the contribution he made to Guyana and the region through his writings. The lecture was sponsored by the Nation Publishing Co Ltd and hosted by the Deparment of History and Philosophy of the University of the West Indies.The audience heard how Rodney was denied work in his homeland, went to an African state and was asked to write the country’s history but was killed before he could start the assignment.It could be said that between 1963 and 1966, during his post graduate career in London that he developed fully into being a Marxist, McGowan said. “This significant development was due in large measure to his participation in the Marxist studies in London consisting mainly of young West Indians who met regularly under the guidance of the well known Trinidadian Marxist lecturer, CLR James and his wife Selma,” said McGowan, a contemporary of Rodney.He added that his foray into Marxism had a tremendous impact on his life and academic work.“Embracing Marxism also served to shape Rodney’s anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, (and) anti-neocolonialist approach to the world.“He strongly opposed the doctrine of capitalism as an economic system . . . . and instead he advocated socialism where workers’ interests would dominate, a system which he believed in the long run would lay a foundation for effective economic equality and genuine democratic opportunity for all.”McGowan has served  as secretary treasurer of the Association of Caribbean Historians and as editor of the Guyana Historical Journal. He is the recipient of the Arrow of Achievement, a national honour conferred by the Government of Guyana  for service to sports  and education.He was awarded the University of Guyana’s 40th anniversary Distinguished Service Medal. (PW)

Fifteen people were injured when a Transport Board bus collided with a car at the intersection of Charles Rowe Bridge and Salters Link Road, St George this morning.It is reported that the accident which occurred around 9:20 am, involved a Transport Board bus driven by Rodney Alleyne and a green Hyundai Sanatra being steered by Jeffery Edwards.The Hyundai was being towed by a red jeep driven by Malvin Williams traveling from Salters Link Road. Williams managed to escape the impact but Edwards’ vehicle was hit.However, all three drivers were unharmed.According to a police official, 15 passengers on the bus were injured, two seriously but not life threatening. They were taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for further assessment.The mass casualty situation saw personnel from the Royal Barbados Police Force, Barbados Defense Force, the Ambulance services, Department of Emergency Management and the Fire services department responding. (MM)