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)
Women believe they can
by EZRA STUARTin St LuciaTHE BRIDESMAIDS of West Indies cricket will come to the forefront at the Beausejour Cricket Ground today.Following the inglorious exit of Chris Gayle and his men, the West Indies women now seek to restore Caribbean cricket pride when they face New Zealand in the second semi-final of the Women’s World Twenty20 Championship.The Sherwin Campbell-coached side have been like “outside women”, but with the men receiving their divorce papers on Tuesday night, it is now their turn to begin a marriage with regional fans.After defying the odds to reach the semi-finals with victory over South Africa and England in the preliminaries in St Kitts, more history beckons for the West Indian women cricketers as they hunt a first global final appearance.It will be the first time for the Windies women playing in a day-night match, as the semi-final bowls off at 4 p.m., following the second men’s semi-final between Australia and Pakistan.But Campbell, a former Test cricketer, said the girls won’t let this stop them from achieving their goal of capturing the title.“I am very confident. The players have that self-belief. It is just to go out there now and execute what we have done over the last couple of weeks and put it into the game plan, and hopefully, we will come out on top once we execute those skills well,” Campbell asserted.Having played all three of their preliminaries in St Kitts, where they also had a pre-tournament camp and warm-up matches, Campbell said he did not expect any different conditions in St Lucia.“I think all the pitches in the Caribbean are quite the same – good for batting, and may help the spinners a bit – but I don’t think it [conditions] will be difficult,” he observed.Despite defeating the White Ferns in the pre-tournament tune-up matches, Campbell said the Windies women won’t be complacent.New Zealand narrowly defeated India by ten runs; thrashed Sri Lanka by 47 runs, and humbled Pakistan by six wickets to top Group B.“New Zealand [have] a fairly good side. They have powerful players just like us. The players hit the ball pretty hard, they’ve got strong arms.“They have a very decent bowling attack, they can bowl very aggressive at times and they are a good fielding side, so New Zealand is a really very tough side,” he said.Campbell also has some advice for history-making 18-year-old Barbadian all-rounder Deandra Dottin, who was brought back down to earth with golden “ducks” after scoring the first T20 International century by a woman and fastest ever off a mere 38 balls, against South Africa.“Just like any attacking player, she had a special innings and scored a hundred; that was her day. She just needs to refocus again now and look at how she got those runs,” Campbell said.“She must learn that she has to start from scratch now and build a innings again and get the good result that she wants,” he suggested.Campbell added that even though a few players were carrying niggling injuries, they were prepared to play through a little pain.
Call for elevation in nursing level
by Lisa KingNURSES IN BARBADOS should be elevated to the level of “nurse practitioner”, which would allow them to do a number of things they cannot do at this time. President of the Barbados Nurses Association (BNA), Paulette Drakes, explained that a nurse practitioner could prescribe medication, make diagnosis and treat patients in a manner similar to that of a medical practitioner. If her suggestion is instituted, it would limit the amount of time patients spend waiting for care in the Accident and Emergency Department and minimise the number of patients who walk away without receiving appropriate medical care.Drakes speaking to the WEEKEND NATION lamented that at present mid-wives were the only nurses allowed to operate in a similar way to a nurse practitioner as they could deliver babies and tend to mother and child without a doctor present.The post, which is common in Europe and the United States of America, is not common in the Caribbean, but Drakes explained that it exists in rural parts of Jamaica where people cannot get to doctors. If the post is established, nurses would have to undergo additional training, which would entail an understanding of anatomy, the structure of medicines and how they work.She said the position is deemed necessary as registered nurses are faced daily with situations that merit critical attention and place them in a position where they may have to overstep their boundaries and face legal consequences. Drakes also called for a salary evaluation for registered nurses who she said are not paid at a level that is commensurate with their qualifications or workload. Though she does not want a reduction in the pay of nurses’ assistants, she would like higher pay for registered nurses. “The registered nurses are paid just a little more than the nurses assistants, who have only studied for one year, while registered nurses have to study for three or more years and have a heavier workload as nurses’ assistants cannot perform certain tasks,” Drakes said. THE BNA president noted that while there was no nursing shortage at this time, if Government continued with its plans to expand the A & E Department, Intensive Care Unit and other high-dependency units, then there may eventually be a shortage of trained nurses. She contended that in some cases nurses could be overwhelmed by their workload, especially when some situations forced patients who required serious care to be placed in the general patients’ area.“This can be overwhelming when there is only one registered nurse working the ward along with a nurse assistant, who cannot perform some of the necessary tasks due to lack of training,” she said.
King George brings laughter on his birthday
Barbados’ latest centenarian is Eric Blenman, who is proud to be called King George as he often boasts that he was born on May 13, 1910, the same date that King George ascended the throne of England.On Friday morning, Blenman was visited at the Geriatric Hospital by the Governor General Sir Clifford Husbands and they chatted at length.The former cane cutter and bread vendor, who used a donkey cart to sell bread in various districts, was born in Melrose, St Thomas, where he spent most of his life before moving to Grazettes in St Michael. Blenman moved to the Geriatric Hospital in 2005.Blenman never fathered any children, but he and his first wife adopted two children. Blenman also outlived his second wife, who had brought two children into their marriage.The visit from Sir Clifford gave Blenman the chance to reminisce about some of his early days at Holy Innocents, where he and his schoolfriends would cut bamboos for a Mr Jones, who would enter the class with a smile that signalled lashes were coming.When quizzed by the Governor General as to when last he had seen a bamboo and as to whether the nurses should be given a bamboo, Blenman created tremendous laughter in the B4 Ward by stating: “They wouldn’t know what to do with it.”Nurse has been a good friend to Blenman for over 30 years, and he, along with the other members of the James Street Methodist Church, has adopted the jovial centenarian, who describes life as “in and out”. (KB)
Coast Guard officer on bail
AFTER ALMOST THREE months on remand, a Coast Guard officer accused of stealing a gun from the armoury was released on bail when he appeared in the Bridgetown Traffic Court yesterday.Tyrell Burke, 21, is now on a dusk to dawn curfew, a weekend-long curfew and must report to Black Rock Police Station as part of his bail.The sailor of Fairfield Road, Black Rock, St Michael, was not required to plead to stealing an M-16 automatic rifle belonging to the Crown.His attorney Angella Mitchell-Gittens, who made an impassioned plea for bail, said it was a theft charge “on the face of it” and the subject matter was immaterial.She further argued Burke had spent “an inordinate amount of time” on remand “for an allegation” when “he is a fit and proper candidate for bail”.“It would appear he might be serving a sentence on remand for an allegation,” she charged.“He has no previous convictions; there is no fear he will interfere with witnesses and he is a young boy. The fact that the complainant happens to be the Crown is not sufficient.“An accused who is charged with theft of two firearms from the Barbados Police Force is on bail; people charged with manslaughter, where a life has been lost, are on bail; people who have been charged with stealing a million dollars from the Central Bank are on bail,” Mitchell-Gittens stressed.In the end, Magistrate Christopher Birch released Burke with a surety of $4 000. He returns to court on August 4.
CROP-OVER VIBES
CROP-OVER is here!With more than 70 songs already on the airwaves and the first Crop-Over lime on the official calendar for the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) kicking off today at McEnearney Quality, Wildey, the sights and sounds of Crop-Over are filling the air.Admiral Nelson of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) told the WEEKEND NATION that in addition to the Soca Dons And Divas compilation from Blood, there was a lot of the music coming to the station from new artistes on the circuit.While he noted that there was a lot of “horrible music” in that mix, he explained that it was not unusual to have music of inferior quality at the “embryonic” stage of the festival.The volume of music was not as high at the Starcom studios on River Road. Ronnie Clarke said there were only a few other tracks outside of Blood’s album. Clarke commended Blood for the start he had made to the season.He said Starcom was encouraging “top quality” producers to submit songs earlier, since they were desirous of rotating better songs more often. If that system were to obtain, it would redound to the good of all concerned, Clarke said. He figured it would encourage other producers to improve and seek to network with people of known high standards.The popular call-in programmes for the season that fuel tempers and discussion will be back this year.Admiral said the a new-look Festival Stage would kick off at monthend. Unlike previous years, the night-time presentation will be highlights of the daily shows, which will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.Among new initiatives is a more educational and developmental Festival Stage this year. Rather than just critiquing an artiste or song, he said he would bring in knowledgeable people to point out improvements.Starcom’s show Fireworks will get under way in June with usual host Dennis Johnson.Both companies will switch to 100 per cent Crop-Over on July 1. In the case of CBC, 100.7 is the official Crop-Over station, and 98.1 The One will be 100 per cent local at certain intervals.The music on the various stations will be largely from the 12 tents that are registered this Crop-Over. The Barbados Association of Tent Managers (BATMAN) tents are expected to open their doors from as early as the end of the month, while the tents under The Alliance will be opening from early June.The six tents under The Alliance are working as a collective this time around. A spokesman said they were approaching some sponsors as a body, so members could benefit more and these very sponsors could gain wider exposure of their products or services.Members were also exploring the idea of having joint shows and the possibility of a season pass that would allow patrons access to all member tents.Crop-Over officially kicks off on July 3 with the BNB Crop-Over Festival Opening Gala and concludes on August 2 with Grand Kadooment.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Region bridging the religious gap
After the highly contentious church battle over homosexuality that threatened to split the worldwide Anglican Communion, a spirit of compromise may be setting in.And if the lowering of voices prevents the Episcopalians in the United States on the one hand and the Anglicans in Barbados, Jamaica, Ghana, the Bahamas, Britain, Australia, South Africa, Canada and elsewhere on the other from going their separate ways, then the West Indies Province of the Church can take some credit for being a “bridge,” beginning with former Archbishop Drexel Gomez and continuing with his successor the Most Reverend John Holder, who is also Bishop of Barbados.“One of the valuable contributions we can make in the Caribbean, in our Province is to be bridge-builder,” said Archbishop Holder in New York City recently.“Archbishop Gomez was there as well. He was the one who pushed and worked very, very hard on the Covenant Document, which is a bridge. I support the Covenant 100 per cent because I think it is the type of bridge we need to hold the factions together that they can begin to speak to each other in a creative and positive way.”At the opposing sides of the “bridge” are the Episcopalians, the Americans whose leadership believes human sexuality, love and marriage shouldn’t have barriers erected by gender.The upshot, a male Episcopal Bishop has married his male partner and the two are living openly together. In parishes in New York and other parts of the country, male priests are following suit, all with the blessing of Episcopal Church leaders.But, as Archbishop Holder said in Brooklyn during his recent visit to the City as the guest of St Mark’s Episcopal Church, the Anglicans in the Caribbean don’t accept that lifestyle. “The traditional position of the (Anglican) Church for a very long time, and we can go back to the 1998 Lambeth Conference which said ‘this church accepts all human beings, regardless of their orientation, class or creed.’ But it stops short in saying it will bless or accept active homosexuals in leadership positions,” Holder explained. “I don’t think I am at the stage where I can say that I support that (gay) lifestyle to the extent that I will bless or encourage or whatever persons involved in that as prominent leaders” of the church.As a matter of fact, he strongly opposes any such ordination or marriage.How then can the West Indies and its Archbishop act as a bridge between the opposing factions when like the African primates, they believe in the same thing?The difference between them is that the West Indians are talking with the American Episcopalians while African leaders believe the time for talking is over.Archbishop Holder thinks time is a great healer.“I think part of the problem in this world and the church especially, is that we are running out of time to do certain things,” he argued. “We all want things to be done within our lifetime or within our time of being in charge. I don’t think that way. I think if there is a problem, if there is a challenge we have to work on it. And it will take longer than my lifetime.“I can’t say there will not be a time in the church when we will be thinking in a way that it will happen,” he said.Some Anglicans in and out of Barbados would obviously prefer a much stronger statement in opposition to homosexuality in the clergy. But they should remember there was a time when the Anglican Church in Barbados, for instance, supported slavery from the pulpit and owned slaves. As a matter of fact some of the most brutal act against slaves took place on church owned plantations on the island.All of that is behind the church.In more recent times, the ordination of women almost split Anglicans between those who didn’t believe that women should be in the pulpit as priests and supporters of the ordination of females. Today, we accept it as a normal fact of life and the change has occurred in our lifetime, so much so that the Archbishop has predicted that sooner or later the Province would elect a female bishop, not simply because she is a woman but due to her capabilities as a religious minister. That’s how it should be.Clearly, the church has come a long way since slavery and the quarrels over the ordination of women. Eventually the Anglican Communion and the West Indies Province may accept the “gay” policy of the Episcopalians in America.
OUR CARIBBEAN: Caricom’s UN historic event on diseases
YESTERDAY’S SCHEDULED meeting of the United Nations General Assembly was a history-making event for the governments and people of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM).It was a “red-letter” occasion for this subregion because, for the first time, the General Assembly would have endorsed a resolution, initiated by CARICOM, urging special attention by the international community focused on battling, collectively, non-communicable diseases (NDCs) plaguing the lives of too many citizens, globally.CARICOM’s initiative against NCDs, arose out of wide-ranging recommendations in a 2005 report by a “blue-ribbon” 11-member Caribbean Commission on Health and Development that was headed by Sir George Alleyne, a former director of the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and current chancellor of the University of the West Indies.The endorsment by the General Assembly on the epidemic of non-communicable diseases that are major contributors to deaths across this region and beyond, supports a proposal for a high-level meeting on NCDs, with participation of heads of state and governments, in September 2011.That occasion will benefit from extensive work by experts drawn from among the 192 member countries of the UN, and climaxes a series of intiatives, regionally and internationally, by CARICOM focused on systematic efforts to significantly curb non-communicable diseases.In contrast, for example, to HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) – non-communicable diseases are viewed as major contributors to overall mortality in the Caribbean region with cardiovascular disease (like hypertension, coronary artery disease and stroke); diabetes; mental illness and cancer accounting for at least 51 per cent of the deaths towards the close of the 1990s.The risk factors for this cluster of diseases, according to the report by the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development, have high on the list obesity (currently a primary health challenge for adults and children); hypertension, diabetes and tobacco smoking. Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana and Barbados are considered to have high rates of non-communicable diseases that add to their social and economic development challenges, with budgetary expenditures running into many millions of dollars annually.Two of the CARICOM Prime Ministers who have been actively involved with the Community Secretariat in aggressively promoting international support to battle NCDs, that resulted in yesterday’s historic endorsement at the UN, have been St Kitts and Nevis’ Dr Denzil Douglas and Trinidad and Tobago’s Patrick Manning.As recalled by Dr Karen Sealy, PAHO/WHO Special Adviser at the United Nations, Prime Minister Manning was a prime mover for the special CARICOM Summit on NCDs in 2007, and subsequently also, in internationalising the issue when he hosted the 2009 Commonwealth Summit of Heads of Government.CARICOM’s foreign ministers were to ensure specific action arrangements that eventually resulted in yesterday’s endorsement of the UN General Assembly. Now the social and economic problems flowing from the epidemic of NCDs will be the substantive issue at the proposed High-Level Meeting of world leaders at the UN in September 2011.• Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist.
GUEST COLUMN: T&T recollections
My column on Basdeo Panday which was recently published seems to have stirred up some interest, particularly when I revealed that the election result of 1986 was called by the team I headed.As was the 1991 election and a number of following elections except in one case, our predictions turned out to be accurate.Since the column on Panday it has been suggested I stay on the theme and devote this week’s column to sharing a number of thoughts with you as it relates to Trinidad and Tobago, including election campaigns I have been following there.The significant political defeat of the PNM in ’86 left that party with just three seats in parliament but provided an opportunity for a number of people, including Lenny Saith, who perhaps is at the level where he should be considered an icon of the PNM, to focus on a younger Patrick Manning who among his other claims to fame, is a grandson of proud Barbadians. (I believe from the parish of St Thomas.)And, taking advantage of the factions which appeared in the NAR government as early as 1987, Patrick Manning emerged as the leader and won the elections in 1991 as was predicted.I remember understandably that within a day or two of the results being out, I was summonsed to meet with the new Prime Minister and did. The location we met at in Port of Spain was, I believe, the historic headquarters of the PNM and the invitation to meet was in sufficient time for me to make Piarco Airport to return to Barbados for the Christmas period. Of course, the newly elected prime minister, who was saying thank you to his constituents in the South of Trinidad arrived for the meeting later than scheduled. We met and I was very pleased with his clearly articulated views about the relationship between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.When I said goodbye there was an issue whether I could make it to Piarco for my flight. On the PM’s instruction we had two motorcycle escorts on the special highway to the airport.For reasons I don’t understand today we arrived at the airport on time and left the police escort behind us.I was very pleased with the relationship between the Manning government and Barbados.Let us go back in the past and recognise icons like Eric Williams and Errol Barrow who were among a small cadre of leaders who saw the Caribbean as one family, a viewpoint that I share.We have a lot in common but what I have observed over the years is that each Caribbean country has its own unique personality, its own rhythm.Trinidad and Tobago of all the Caribbean countries has its own way of life and in this connection, the way they deal with their elections is a good opportunity to see the uniqueness of that country – they will compete right down to the wire and within 24 hours afterwards they return to that rhythm of life. I am confident that this spirit will be maintained.This general election is going to create challenges that both political groups must face.At the end of the day, all groups must work to end the ethnic divide and recognise that the uniqueness of our countries suggests that we must always remain brothers and sisters.I am giving serious consideration to attempting to predict the outcome of the upcoming General Election but I haven’t made up my mind yet.• Frank da Silva is a member of the Democratic Labour party and a former high commissioner.
THE LOWDOWN: We want to know
You’ve seen those TV shows where they separate couples and ask questions to find out how well they know each other? Well I figured I knew my wife backwards and would come out tops. Like, say:Q. What does your wife do first thing on mornings?A. She sweeps the house and leaves the dust in little random piles so that when I step in one, she can quarrel with me.Q. What does she do on reaching home?A. Makes a beeline to inspect the stove for molecules of spattered grease. She then acts like it’s the Lousiana oil spill, only worse, and quarrels with me.Q. What about if she visits anywhere?A. She says how wonderful everything is compared to our shabby surroundings. And quarrels with me.This is true. Earlier this week she went up to St Nicholas and was bowled over: “Everything is so beautiful and perfect. Of course, when you marry a real man like Larry Warren . . .” she sneered in my direction.“Larry Warren has a pony tail,” I hit back feebly. Larry and Anna are two of my favourite people but this is war.“On you it would be a pony tail,” she scoffed, “on him it’s a stallion’s mane!”Getting quarreled with is more or less my role in this relationship. I keep asking, if there’s so much wrong with me, why did she marry me? Only last week I got the answer:“That first time we met in Harrison’s, when was it?” she wanted to know.“Remembrance Day, 1969, I think. I was wearing a poppy”.“Exactly! When I saw that damn poppy in the distance, I thought you were a red dot special. And you know I can’t resist one of those”.Anyway, I figured I had my wife down pat, especially in the matter of finances. She doesn’t waste. Heaven forbid I should use a new piece of dental floss when she’s left hers on the sink for me! Then up came the tractor tyre incident and knocked all my knowing for six.We needed a new tractor tyre. A firm in town had them for about $100 less than a firm in the country. I couldn’t see her spending that extra cash. Yet, unbelievably that’s what she wanted; insisted I buy the more expensive tyre to “avoid the heavy traffic”.However, it turned out I had to go to the town outlet. And the only unsettling traffic I encountered was a young lady passing back and forth. Ms Lashley (if that’s her name) had probably looked into the mirror that morning and the mirror cooed: “Y’know, babe, you’re one heck of a gorgeous woman!”I don’t know. We Christians can’t covet. Suffice it to say by the time Ms Lashley walked by a second time it suddenly hit me that the other tractor tyre also needed changing, the sooner the better. And Ms Lashley’s was the best buy around.Okay, so here’s the deal. I sleep with a woman on and off for over 30 years, yet can’t predict her on imdcportant decisions. How can we trust political leaders we know nothing about? Hitler, Stalin, Burnham, Pol Pot (whose regime killed off 2.5 million or 21 per cent of his people in three years) were welcomed with open arms.Owen was one of our best. Did you suspect he would catch CARICOMania and flood the place with foreigners? Thompy pleased our hearts by staunching the influx and keeping out those Jamaican artistes. Now he’s talking casinos which to me spells ‘Russian mafia’.And what about Mia? Would she move Nelson, declare a republic, kowtow to white alien agendas by legalising buggers, abolishing the death penalty? We have a right to know.Is it not utterly disgraceful, bordering on high treason in my opinion, for AG Freundel Stuart to admit that the 2000 BLP government, without consulting us, signed on to some Inter-American Court nonsense which contravenes the Barbados Constitution’s position on the death penalty? And to add insult to injury, instead of un-signing the agreement, he is talking about amending our constitution to please the foreigners! So help me, if the parliament in Britain can be hung, maybe we should do likewise with ours.