NAWASA delivers Christmas hampers

TWO teams of the National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) employees journeyed around the island on December 20, 2012 bringing Christmas cheer to 32 families. The recipients were surprised
with Christmas Food Hampers, which included foodstuff, toiletries and of course, the Christmas ham.

The lucky recipients were identified by employees and fit the selection criteria of financially vulnerable, but with unwavering commitment toward the payment of their monthly water bills.

The activity is into its eighth year and according to General Manager, Christopher Husbands, “It is a gratifying and humbling experience every year for every single member of the NAWASA family. The
opportunity to be able to add even the smallest smile to anyone’s face and especially a customer, especially at this time of year, is an enormous privilege.”

Consumers were high in praise for the contribution of NAWASA and expressed their gratitude for the unexpected outreach and particularly the involvement of staff.

The Board of Directors, Management and Staff of NAWASA extend best wishes to all consumers for 2013.

Kadeem Compton is top PC gamer at iTAG LAN Party

Kadeem Compton of Carriacou is the winner of the first ever Information Technology Association of Grenada, Local Access Network (iTAG LAN) Party.

The competition, designed to give the top PC gamers in the country an opportunity to test their skills among the best, was held at the National Stadium on Saturday.

A news release from the organisers said that Compton ruled the two-game event and became the most feared gamer on the night and the man to beat at the next tournament. Kadeem walked away with a brand new Samsung P1000 Tablet compliments LIME. Runners-up were Arthur Lewis and Eric George. They both won three months of Broadband Services from LIME.

The players enjoyed a full day of gaming that was crowned by the competition later in the evening. Keen interest was shown by spectators and the persons who attended are eagerly awaiting the next event. The event organisers, iTAG, also promised that the feedback received will be taken into consideration in planning the next LAN Party. The next event is already in the planning stages and iTAG will announce the date and venue early in 2013.

The Information Technology Association of Grenada says thank you to all persons who participated and supported the event, especially the sponsors who contributed to this history-making event in Grenada – Courts Grenada Ltd., Kool Systems and LIME.

iTAG is a professional body comprising persons who are working in the ICT sector. (LS)

No VAT on coffins

THE cost of putting a deceased to his/her final resting place in a coffin is expected to be reduced as a result of Government’s decision to zero rate the Value Added Tax system on coffins.

Almost ten months after making the promise while delivering the 2012 Budget presentation and less than three months before the 2013 Budget should be presented, the Ministry of Finance has confirmed that coffins are now zero-rated under the Value Added Tax system.

A statement from the Ministry of Finance on December 31, 2012 said that after several consultations with the various funeral agents, they have come to an agreement on the removal of VAT on coffins.

“Effective January 1st, 2013, VAT on coffins will be removed. This will be done by zero rating all coffins, whether purchased locally or imported. This change only applies to coffins. It does not apply to caskets,” said the statement, which advises clients to pay attention to the charges on their invoices from
undertakers.

While delivering the 2012 Budget on March 9, Minister of Finance, Nazim Burke, said that Government recognises that the single largest expense for a funeral is often the coffin.

“After consultation with the undertakers, I am pleased to announce that Government has decided to exempt VAT on all coffins. Yes, Mr. Speaker, there will be no VAT on coffins. This means, for example, a person who has to pay $4 800 for a coffin will now save $720,” he said then. (LS)

Right direction

FROM LEFT: Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart;
CEO of LIAT, Captain Ian Brunton; Prime Minister of Antigua
and Barbuda, Baldwin Spencer; and Prime Minister of
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves
share a light moment after the press conference.

REGIONAL airline LIAT did lose money this year, but only half the amount of the losses recorded during 2011. Furthermore, rather than contracting, it continues to look for ways to expand its operations.

This disclosure came from Chairman of LIAT, Dr. Jean Holder, during a recent press conference at the Hilton Hotel in Barbados. The press conference followed a meeting of the stakeholder Governments of the regional carrier, which saw the new equity partner, the Commonwealth of Dominica, join Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the table for the first time.

“That is moving in the right direction; that is some good news. Other people have been meeting to close down, we have been meeting to say we are on a new track which involves our expanding this carrier; trying to provide a far more professional and efficient service; and looking in fact at this time at what new markets, what new worlds we can and must conquer,” he said.

Holder made that disclosure as he also spoke to the decision taken by the regional company to re-fleet. He maintained that the decision to re-fleet at this time is not an option, but a necessity, as they cannot continue to provide service to the existing network of 21 destinations unless there is refreshed aircraft.

To that end, he said that with a new fleet they can expect to cut costs in terms of maintenance and fuel considerably.

“Therefore, our targets for turning around the finances of this airline, they are not mythical. They are realistic, they are practical and we are willing to identify and set targets which we think we can meet. While we are looking to improve the finances of LIAT, we are looking to improve the services, which to some extent are a function of an ageing fleet and the fact that we have a lot of mechanical issues to address, which obviously impact upon customer service,” he said.  

Meanwhile, making reference to the new planes the airline would be procuring, Chief Executive Officer Captain Ian Brunton told the media that without new revenue the airline would stumble.

He said that the intention is to have 12 new airplanes by the end of 2014, but they will secure four between May and June of 2013 – a mixture of 48-seater and 68-seater aircraft to satisfy their existing network and the expansion they need to help sustain the airline.

The CEO indicated that they expect to at least break even or make a EC$7 million profit next year. They then anticipate progression to a profit margin of nine per cent.

Brunton also told the media that they will purchase five new planes immediately at a cost of US$23.1 million – to be financed through funds from the stakeholder governments – with the remainder of the money to be made possible by a commercial loan, which he said will have favourable terms. (JRT)

Aviation committee calls for region-wide meeting

IT HAS been recommended that within the first few weeks of the New Year a meeting between airline and airport operators be held and that a region-wide meeting of transportation ministers and commissioners take place during the first quarter.

These are just two of the many recommendations made by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) Aviation Committee, coming out of the inaugural meeting of the CTO Aviation Task Force, which took place recently at the regional tourism development agency’s headquarters.

It was at that time the recently appointed CTO Chairman, the USVI Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty, reported a successful inaugural meeting which discussed the cost of intra-regional travel, the economic impact of the declines in travel, improving the ease of passenger movement, and launching actions to improve the efficiency of Caribbean aviation.

“We had an excellent first meeting and we are confident that CTO’s leadership in this area will be critical to reviving growth in intra-regional travel, which has declined seriously in recent years,” the CTO chairman said.

Another key item addressed was American Eagle’s possible departure from the San Juan hub in 2013 and both the opportunities and challenges this presents, especially for destinations in the Eastern Caribbean which depend on this commuter service.

The Aviation Committee discussed the San Juan Accord – a memorandum on the regional air transport sector that was agreed by CTO members in 2007 – as well as other important issues such as minimum revenue guarantees, communication among regional carriers, “open skies” agreements, government taxes and fees, fuel costs, visa restrictions, passenger security-screening arrangements, airlift capacity and the dependency of local hotels on the intra-regional market.

The composition of the Committee reflects technical, regulatory and policy-making experience and has public/private sector representation from tourism professionals, accommodations, airlines, airports and aviation consultants.

It was also revealed during the meeting that the CTO will lead a mission in the New Year to meet with top ministerial officials and technical personnel in its member countries to seek their assistance in the advancement of better intra-regional air links to help boost tourism in the region.

The meeting was jointly chaired by Commissioner Nicholson-Doty and CTO past Chairman Ricky Skerritt, Minister of Tourism and International Transport of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Leaders needed in every sphere

There is a critical shortage of good leaders within the region.

This is the view of Barbados’s Representative to CARICOM, Robert “Bobby” Morris, who delivered remarks at the press conference to launch the Barbados Youth Leadership Retreat 2012 at the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development recently.

Youth leaders drawn from public and private secondary schools
across the island in attendance at the press conference.

The CARICOM Ambassador stated that unfortunately, in the region when one thinks of leaders, they tend to focus solely on political leaders, failing to see that leadership is not always based solely on status, but also on the influence that potential leaders can have on a nation.

“Unfortunately, within the Caribbean context, leadership relates mainly to the political sphere and we do not give enough attention to cultural, social, religious, business, artistic and other leaders. Again, we concentrate on what may be called maximum leaders, without recognising that leadership is not always associated with status, power or authority, but more with influence.”

Therefore, the region must develop good leaders within the region in a variety of sectors such as agriculture, which is important to the progress of the CARICOM region.

“The development of cadres of leaders is of the highest priority as they have a tremendous role to play in the advancement of our countries and of our Caribbean civilisation as a whole,” said Morris.
He added that a lot of time has been invested on developing different types of leaders who would have the capacity to function in a wide cross-section of the regional developmental agenda.

“Much time and intellectual effort has been spent on examining leadership on all of its various dimensions. There used to be a focus on the characteristics which good leaders should have – issues like honesty, integrity, dedication, to mention a few. The emphasis has then changed to leadership styles: charismatic, autocratic, laissez-faire and then to situational leadership, which is related to environmental consensus and currently, there is some discussion about transformational leadership – those who bring significant change.”

He explained that charismatic leaders are the ones who display certain attributes and a personality that attracts people to them; democratic leaders, who allow people to have freedom of choice; autocratic leaders, who tell you what to do and when to do it; laissez-faire leaders, who give the least amount of direction to their subordinates while at the same time trying to maintain control through less obvious methods; situational leaders, who demonstrate their leadership skills based on the situation that they are placed in; and transformational leaders, who transform what they do, make it different and change things for the better. (PT)

CARICOM Day planned

PLANS are under way for countries in CARICOM to participate in an event to educate persons from different islands on the culture and people of their neighbours.

This is coming from Barbados’ Representative to CARICOM, Robert “Bobby” Morris, who delivered remarks at the press conference to launch the Barbados Youth Leadership Retreat 2012 recently at the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development.

He said that the event, which they have scheduled to take place in 2013 on CARICOM Day which is July 4, would involve the different islands coming to Barbados where they would set up booths to talk about their country. It is an initiative that is aimed at promoting more effective partnerships between the members of CARICOM.

Morris said that some countries have already started planning for the event and he is confident that when the event does take place next year, it would provide an avenue for both organisations and individuals to form pro-fessional and personal relationships with their neighbouring islands. This event and its outcomes are expected to add to the already strong foundational linkages which currently exist, he stated.

“The reality is that almost every CARICOM member state provides a home, or place of work, a place of study, or a place for holidaying and relaxation for members of other Caribbean states. Our families are becoming more mixed as our sons and daughters find their spouses from neighbouring countries.”

The Ambassador said that as a result of this, each island must make an effort to capitalise on these linkages without being led astray by our differences.

“CARICOM is a lived experience and we must not be distracted about the relatively minor areas of disagreements, which are sometimes blown out of proportion. We must not be led astray by the idealists who see the glass as half-empty, but we must be able to assume the optic of the realist who sees the glass as half-full and to acknowledge that there is room for both perspectives.”

Morris said that both he and the Youth Commissioner would be working to ensure that the young people are educated about CARICOM and the development of our most vital resources – human resources, both of which are important for progress.

These linkages are developed through the CSME Unit, which also handles issues like managed migration and the sharing of expertise between the islands.

There is also the Caribbean Development Fund, which ensures that resources are provided to those islands that are in need as they have been negatively impacted by issues related to geography and history, among others.

CARICOM is also important for the region to form partnerships with metropolitan nations, such as the USA, Canada and Europe. These partnerships are developed by professionals at the Office of Trade Negotiations. (PT)