The Montserrat Reporter - February 08 2013

Page 1Friday, February 08, 2013 g

Price $2.00Vol. XXVIII No. 04

Today’s Scripture

Week Ending Friday, February 08, 2013

Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. — Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NIV)

www.themontserratreporter.com

Beyond Relaxed published...pg 7Kids Korner...pg 8

Lunch N’ Learn launched...pg 11Police drug bust...pg 3

Hydroponics, hope for food shortage...pg 5

EU provides 5.13 million Euros...pg 2

Same Sex (Gay) marriage: British MP Party leaders hail vote

More cont’d. on page 3

cont’d on page 12

Geothermal energyexcitement builds with suspicions

as drill rig arrives

Headlines...

BBC News (UK Politics) Adapted

The Church's traditional doc-trine is that marriage is "between one man and one woman"

MPs have backed a bill to le-galise gay marriage in England and Wales, including by those religious organisations which want to offer it. But what is behind the proposal,

and why are Anglican churches excluded?

What has the government announced?

In its Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill - which MPs backed after its second reading in the House of Commons - the govern-ment proposes that couples who are the same sex can get married.

However, the change will not be forced on religious organisations - they will have to "opt in" to holding ceremonies if they want to hold gay weddings. The bill specifi es that the Church of England and Church in Wales would be banned in law from offering same-sex marriages.

How does same-sex marriage The Peter Ronna attempting to dock on Feb 1 unsuccessfully

Peter Ronna docked on Feb 8 and offl oading drilling rig

By Bennette Roach

It’s a new milestone in the UK Government (through DFID) support for Montserrat’s move for green energy with Geother-mal exploratory drilling set to begin towards the end of the month. Iceland Drilling Company (IDC) project director here on island, be-lieves this to begin between February 20 - 25.

As the excitement builds meanwhile, seek-ing to make ‘geothermal’ a more than familiar word to the people of Montserrat, Premier although not the fi rst to make the reference, says Geothermal could be a game changer for Montserrat.

He was speaking dur-ing a press briefi ng with the new European Union (EU) Ambassador to the Barbados and the Eastern

Caribbean, Mikael Barfod, who in turn told of the EU’s support to Montserrat’s re-covery effort since volcanic activity began in 1995, but as far as back as 1986.

The geothermal project has been clouded by a quiet chatter and accusations of a lack of transparency in the procuring of the contract to Iceland Drilling Com-pany, and related works. Last weekend however as Director of Public Works, Ron

Beardsley had announced, a ship laden with ‘drilling related materials’ arrived at port Plymouth amidst some confusion or disagreements as to Customs and Port au-thority workers’ involve-ment in the off-loading of the equipment.

Strong winds made dock-ing diffi cult, when the Iceland ship Peter Ronna arrived

Page 2 Friday, February 08, 2013

The European Union is providing Euro 5.13 million (one Euro=US$1.35 cents) to Montserrat as part of a fi nancial package to the Overseas British territory

Job VacancyCorporate Services Manager

Are you excited about the opportunity to work for the Foreign Offi ce in Montserrat? Are you interested in supporting the UK Government in its work assisting Montserrat’s development? Are you interested in applying your corporate service experience to ensure that the Governor’s Offi ce is well run, and provides a professional and effi cient image?

The Governor’s Offi ce is seeking a Corporate Service Manager to start in April 2013. The successful candidate will lead the overall management and be responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the Governor’s Offi ce. Duties include management of the Governors Offi ce’s day-to-day fi nancial arrangements, procurement, HR assistance and management of Government House.

The successful applicant will be expected to use corporate service experience to meet tight deadlines, work under pressure, and to think creatively and imaginatively on a range of challenges.Skills and experience required:

Corporate services experience, in particular accounting and fi nancial management experienceAn ability to work effectively in a small team as well as own initiative with minimal supervisionExcellent interpersonal and communication skillsStrong customer focus and an ability to work with contacts and colleagues at all levelsEffective prioritisationExperience of staff management and developmentProven computer skills (including Outlook, MS Excel and Word)

Applications for employment with the Governor’s Offi ce should be sent by e-mail. When applying, please provide a short covering letter, a completed job application form and attach your current CV. The closing date for applications is midnight Friday 1 March.Full details of the vacancy can be found at the following URL address:http://ukinmontserrat.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/working-for-us/current-vacancies/

REGISTERED LAND ACT(Section 135)

A Claim to ownership of land has been received from the following person in the Schedule below:-

Any objection to this claim must be lodged in writing to the Land Registry, Brades, Montserrat within six (6) weeks of the fi rst publication of this notice. Plans relating to the claim listed below may be inspected at the Land Registry Department during normal working hours.

SCHEDULERosetta Weekes Block 14/19 Parcel 025. Land in Dick Hill.Claim #1175 Bounded as follows: On the North East, East and South-East by Block 14/19 Parcel 023 (Ann Joseph); on the South by Block 14/19 Parcel 024 (James Weekes); and on the West and North by the Public Road.

Dated this 31st day of January, 2013

Jamiel M. GreenawayRegistrar of Lands

SAGICOR LIFE INC.

VERNETTE BUFFONG having made sworn deposition that Policy

No. S05070194 on her life has been lost, and having made application

to the Directors to grant a duplicate of the same, notice is hereby given

that unless objection is raised within two (2) weeks of the date hereof

the duplicate policy asked for will be issued.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC –

European Union Ambas-sador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Mikael Bar-fod said the overall package of Euro 15.66 million is to help boost Montserrat’s economic growth and development.

The EU support will pri-marily assist with the imple-mentation of the Sustainable Development Plan of Montser-rat as part of the country’s economic recovery.

In addition it will assist with the country’s sustainable growth with a specifi c focus on public fi nance management, public sector reform and pru-dent economic management.

An EU statement said that expected results include the improvement of property tax administration through the provision of online services;

Hon Premier Reuben T. Meade along with EU Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Mr. Mikael Barfod.

Hon. Financial Secretary, Mr. John Skerritt

strengthening of public fi-nance management through the reduction of tax arrears;

increased access to housing through construction of new homes; improved public infra-structure through reform of the energy regulatory framework and new Port and Airport Authorities merger legislation; and promotion of private sec-tor activity through a stronger alignment of the education sec-tor to labour market needs.

Barford recently paid a fi rst visit to Montserrat and met with Premier Reuben Meade as well as Governor Adrian Davis.

“He discussed aspects

of the Public Finance Man-agement reforms, the mac-roeconomic stability outlook and implementation of the Sustainable Development Plan with offi cials from the Minis-try of Finance and visited the Lookout Housing Project and the Little Bay Port, both of which are co-fi nanced by the European Union,” the state-ment said.

The EU has a long-stand-ing history of cooperation with Montserrat. It has been pro-viding support to the volcano ravaged island under various conventions since 1976.

It said that total develop-ment cooperation under the fourth and eighth European Development Fund (EDF) has been valued at Euro 32

million.The EU said that under the

ninth and 10th EDF, Montser-rat is to receive another Euro 32 million of financial as-sistance in the form of budget support.


Montserrat Police make signifi cant drug seizures, several arrests

ISLAND OF MONTSERRATA.D.2013

[PROBATE DIVISION]LEGAL NOTICE

In the Estate of MARGARET ELIZABETH SKERRITT, deceasedNOTICE is hereby given that after the expiration of 14 days from the date of this notice, an application will be fi led at the Registry, High Court of Justice for a Grant of Letters of Administration of the Estate of MARGARET ELIZABETH SKERRITT deceased, formerly of St. John’s, Montserrat and late of 15 Celandine Drive, London, E8 who died on the 7th day of May 2012 be granted to Marcelle E. M. Watts of Chambers, Old Towne, the lawful Attorney of PAUL JOSEPH SKERRITT, the son and personal representative of the deceased and one of the persons entitled share in the Estate.

ALL persons claiming to be benefi cially interested in the Estate are requested to send written particulars thereof to the undersigned within 14 days from the date of this notice.

FURTHER any person objecting to the issuance of a Grant of Letters of Administration to the said applicant should notify the Registrar of the High Court of Justice whose address is: Offi ce of the Registrar General, Brades, Montserrat not later than fourteen (14) days from the publication of this notice. Dated the 25th day of January 2013

Marcelle E.M. WattsAttorney at law for the Applicant

Change of leadership at Montserrat Customs & Revunue

Gay marriage... cont’d. from page 1

LEGAL NOTICEIN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

PROBATE DIVISIONIN THE ESTATE OF MIGNON BETHELEY MOSES

NOTICE is hereby given that after the expiration of fourteen (14) days from the date of this notice, an application will be made in the Registry of the High Court of Justice for an Order that Letters of Administration in the Estate of MIGNON BETHELEY MOSES who died on the 12th day of July, 2012 be granted to COLLEEN MOSES her sister and personal representative of the deceased and one of the persons entitled to share in the estate of the deceased.

ALL persons claiming to be benefi cially interested in the estate are requested to send written particulars thereof to the undersigned within 14 days from the date of this Notice.

ANY person objecting to the issuance of a Grant to the Applicant should notify the Registrar of the High Court not later than 14 days from the date of this Notice.

Dated this 22nd day of January, 2013

BRANDT & ASSOCIATESAttorneys-at-Law

GIU reports: – Frank Ferguson the Director General of the Montser-rat Customs and Revenue Service (MCRS) is standing down at the end of January.

Mr Ferguson, who took up the role in January, 2012, says he is very proud of the progress that the organi-

sation has made over the past year, especially in building better relation-ships with other departments such as the Royal Montserrat Police Service and meeting its revenue targets.

Ferguson is moving on for personal and family reasons and will be succeeded in the short term by

Peter W A White. Mr White is the Current head of Customs and is the substantive Deputy Director for Law Enforcement in the MCRS. Mr White is the former head of prison services in Montserrat and in and the Turks and Caicos Islands and he joined the MCRS 10 months ago.

differ from civil partnership?Civil partnership is a legal re-

lationship exclusively for same-sex couples, distinct from marriage.

It offers the same legal treat-ment as marriage across a range of matters, such as inheritance, pensions provision, life assurance, child maintenance, next of kin and immigration rights.

Opposite-sex couples can opt for a religious or civil marriage ceremony, whereas a same-sex partnership is an exclusively civil procedure.

Couples in civil partnerships will be able to convert their rela-

tionships into marriages if they wish - but they will be under no obligation to do so if they would rather retain their civil partner-ship.

Reaction: Meanwhile ZJB’s James

White in an exclusive with Premier Reuben Meade asked him about Montserrat’s position should the UK impose the new law. The Premier noted that there are some things that would require a change in our Constitution. “if you’re having same sex marriage in Montserrat you’ll have to change the Constitution, because it is felt

very strongly that marriage is de-fi ned as a union between man and a woman or male and female,”

He further explained, “if there are decisions which we in Montserrat do not wish to abide by then what we simply say to them, you have the power to make the legislation in the UK and hand it down to us but there are some of them which you just will not do because it isn’t part of our social fabric.”

Former Minister of Educa-tion, Health, Social Services, Ver-non (Auk) now lives in the United Kingdom where he has become

politically involved and contested in elections there.

He reacted following the above news with a post of Face-book, presented as follows:Britain has gone mad, mad, madVernon Auk Jeffers

What happened in Parliament today (The government's passage of same-sex marriage legislation) is without doubt a burning shame and would go down in history as Britain’s biggest faux pas.

David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband are three he-reditary rich men who have never

done a hard day’s work in their lives have now joined together and sold the souls of Britons to the devil.

How in God’s name can the Christian minded people of Britain could stand idly-by and allow such abomination to become the Law of the Land.

The good people of Lady-wood, Birmingham who voted for the Muslim lady, Shabana Mahmood, should march on her offi ce and demand her recall. I am also disappointed in David Lammy and Diane Abbott, two Black Mps, for participating in the encourage-

ment of legal bulling. Black folks of Tottenham Hackney North & Stoke Newington should also march on their offi ces and demand their recall.

1 Corinthians; Ephesians; Genesis; Matthew; Romans; Levit-icus and others have all stated:

“That a man who lay with another man as they would lay with a woman, both of them would have committed an abomi-nation”

If the churches continue to sit on the fence while these three nincompoops destroy the very fabric our society, then they too

cont’d. on page 12

The Disaster Manage-ment Coordination Agency (DMCA) has announced that a national emergency exer-cise is deep in the planning stages for the fi rst quarter of this year.

Director Billy Darroux said the Government of Montserrat has initiated the exercise to test the response of all national emergency

Full scale national emergency exercise planned for Montserrat

agencies including the po-lice and fi re services, health centres and the MVO; as well as non-governmental agencies, which provide support before and during disasters.

Darroux added that the Foreign and Common-wealth Office (FCO) is still developing the exer-cise scenario which will be

conducted over several days with the help of the DMCA and Richard Aspin in the Governor’s Offi ce.

“The goal is to test our national response and fi nd any gaps that need to be plugged,” the offi cial said. “Montserrat has continued to strengthen its disaster preparedness with the sup-port of regional agencies

and this is another element of that process.”

Montserrat has been in recent years have been af-forded a lead role in disaster preparedness planning in the region. According to the planners, there will be offi cials from the Caribbean

Disaster Emergency Man-agement Agency (CDEMA), the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), and from the disaster agencies on the Dutch and French Antilles along with observers from various agencies

Efforts to make resi-

dents aware of the exercise will already be in place once it has been initiated. Differ-ent players will have roles to play throughout the process to ensure realism and to provide feedback on their interactions with the relevant departments.

The Royal Montser-rat Police Service (RMPS) has expressed pride in their continuing efforts with some significant anti-smuggling drug operations and border security initiatives.

Last week the RMPS reported to the media that there have been a number of suspicious marine ac-tivities, which has resulted

in the recovery of two for-eign registered vessels and a large seizure of suspected narcotics. Several people were detained under the authority of the Immigration Act while four others have been charged with various drug offenses and remanded in custody after appearing before the Magistrate.

Deputy Commissioner

Bradley Siddell, provided a report detailing their ac-tivities over several days beginning January 24. The report said that on Thurs-day, January 24, the Marine Department intercepted a Dominican registered fi sh-ing vessel believed to be in-volved in suspicious activity. Four persons of international


Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. — Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NIV)

Recently I was driving home into a storm front. But rather than an increasingly overcast sky, I saw a line of dark clouds where the front began. It was as if God had scribbled a line across the sky to mark the beginning of the rain. As I drove toward the front, I could see blue sky stretching above the cloud line. For me this was a reminder that the blue sky wasn’t turning gray; it was just hidden from sight by the clouds.

Similarly, circumstances sometimes cloud my view of God. I see a relationship in turmoil, a series of unexpected expenses,

Blue Skies?a child’s rebellion. Habakkuk reminds me that behind these gray clouds is a God who is “my Savior” and “my strength” — one who can empower me to withstand hardship and assure me that all will be well in the end. All clouds dissipate eventually, revealing the blue sky that is always there beyond what we can see.

Source of strength, help us today to look beyond our circumstances to your faithful character. We pray in trust, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”* Amen. *Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV).

Our Scripture Verse TodayOur Scripture Verse Today

Letters/Opinion

Published by: Montserrat Printing & Publishing, Inc. - Editor: Bennette Roach - Offi ce: Davy Hill, Mailing Address: P.O. Box 306, Davy Hill, Montserrat, W.I.Typeset and Printed by Montserrat Printing & Publishing, Inc. - [email protected]. (664) 491-4715 Fax: (664) 491-2430 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] - Web Site: http://www.themontserratreporter.com

The Montserrat Reporter

E D I T O R I A L

It was rather surprising to hear from no other than one of our Parlia-mentary members, who said that people in Montserrat are more national conscious than many others would believe. In fact that senior parliamentar-ian was seriously of the opinion that this is very much the case and that will become more obvious in time to come.

It would appear however that this opinion comes from an association with people who probably would like to see this as the case than they practice. It may well have been born out of the thrust by the Premier to reopen the quest for a national song, among other national standings, he-roes, birds, fl ower, colour, etc. This coming against the fact he as chief minister of government had all but complete the legislative process which he now says is required.

There is more evidence than he seems willing to acknowledge, since it was commendably during his fi rst stint as head of government between 1991 and 1996, then serving as a minister for a short while after he was reelected in November 1996, he was involved in strong discussions to take the song forward to its conclusion as the national song his government had already sanctioned.

By merely acknowledging that the process had indeed began since 1992 but was never concluded, when one of his cabinet member in September wrote in support of a proposal to distribute the song, “in whatever way possible,” must put government in an awkward position to proceed as he is now.

“This is not only because of its acknowledged economic potential, but also because of its cultural signifi cance…” a letter posited, while noting that the Chief Minister (R Meade) was in agreement with the matter.

It was while in the Bertrand Osborne coalition government before he was dismissed, suffering the fate of one of the curses that has plagued Montserrat’s political history, that he was involved in discussions re that national song.

Few would dispute the beginning of a move to make Montserratians more national conscious, but we wait the evidence of what was noted earlier this week that people in Montserrat are more national conscious than many others would believe. This we note has been so lacking since the 70s, and has been a serious concern, with only the constraint of cer-tain circumstances that held back the thrust. When the present Premier became chief Minister in 1991, he certainly had full support to carry out his national consciousness program.

One can argue it is always the right time to carry out this program, but we caution that there are many conditions that need to be evident before the move can reach a particular stage. That the move is one of the kind of deception that is becoming so pervasive, where everything while obviously not done for the benefi t and good of most, postulates as otherwise.

Advice given to Jamaica’s Prime Minister, encouraging that she has the power to inspire the populace and therefore her instructions should be, “Gather your families, friends and foes, this will take all our efforts combined as we prepare to rebuild a nation and seek to reenergize our economy from the foundation – up,” is the kind that must resonate with our Premier and government.

When this becomes a theme and actions show no less, this call for na-tionalism will gather much enthusiasm to a new Montserrat, at least twelve years now languishing. There is so much to be done. We should begin to stop the hemorrhaging of our monies, and stop the depopulation that con-tinues ever so quietly and take more positive steps to bring people home.

Oh yes, patience but bring everyone on board and they will learn and understand. As Governor of the East Caribbean Central Bank, Sir Dwight Venner themed in his last Economic Review Presentation, Realism and Hope and let the Conversation begin.

There is much to learn from Barbados, where Avril Gollop, former cabi-net secretary and head of the civil service of the government of Barbados. She said recently that leadership is “about accepting blame and … having the capacity to listen and not be judgemental.”

Nationalism, economic growth must begin with a conversation, discussion

Long live Murphy’s, I sayF e e d b a c kI vehemently agree with Ms. Os-

borne’s article re: Murphy’s. As an individual who has also traveled to the four corners of the earth, I too relish the “off the beaten path” locales that any country has to offer. I also relish the new and upbeat thing of it all; however there is a certain je’ne se quois to be found in the former. I haven’t been to

MNI post Soufrierre eruption but look forward to some semblance of home as I once knew at such time when I return. The familiar and nos-talgic that gives so many that sense of comfort and security. Peace, Love and Blessings to all and a sincere hope that a decision (decisions) will be made for the greater good. Long live Murphy”s I say!

[email protected]

SuicidalDear Sir:I'm submitting this poem in hopes that it touches the life of someone who maybe

thinking of taking their own life. Suicide is an issue which is not often spoken about though it exists and I think it should be tackled/spoken about more to assist persons who may go through this phase.

and it shall be opened Ask and it shall be given Seek and ye shall fi nd

The ideas are fl owing

How best to end the suffering You’re contemplating Suicidal thoughts are developing You’re ready to end it No! Don’t, you’ll regret it How will you when you’ll be dead Death solves no problem Hang on, hold my hand, let’s rise to-

gether I’ll give you an earI’ll provide inspiration Motivation I’ll do all that is needed to help you Trust me you can pull through Everyone have their moments of suicidal

contemplation But trust me with God you can overcome

this painful infestation

Hold my hand, let’s rise together

Hold my hand as we approach our heav-enly father

Lord we are weak but you are strong Please hold our hands…

Suicidal

By Dillon Ollivierre

Struggling Falling Stressing Undressing You tear apart your mind trying to fi nd

a moment of happiness to hold on to But all you fi nd is negativity which

tries to conquer you You search for that moment of hap-

piness But all you fi nd is more reasons to

dwell in the darkness You’re slipping You’re sinking In that pit of darkness you are Fallen like an angel cast out of heaven

and into hellAs the pain increases you scream,

you shout You want out Life you no longer wish to live Your life you want to take Hope is gone Faith is gone The will power to survive is no more Hold on, the great book says knock


Hydroponics, Hope for the food shortage in Montserrat

Governor’s Offi ce contributes 10,000 pounds to new conserva-tion programme on MontserratHopes of a new beginning

to revitalise Agricutture

CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY SECRETARIATSTAFF VACANCIES

Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualifi ed nationals of CARIFORUM Member States to fill the following positions with assigned duty station in Guyana:

Director, Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Unit(i) Director, Development Cooperation, CARIFORUM (ii) Directorate

Full details of these positions may be obtained by accessing the following web sites-www.caricom.org; www.caribank.org; www.oecs.org; www.crnm.org and www.caribbeanjobsonline.com

Applications in English Language with full curriculum vitae details, including nationality, work experience, educational qualifi cations and/or expertise, language profi ciency, coordinates (including email addresses) of three referees (at least two of whom must be familiar with the applicant’s work), and other relevant information, should be addressed to the Executive Director, Human Resource Management, Caribbean Community Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana and sent by email to [email protected].

The deadline for the submission of applications is 21 February 2013.


PROBATE DIVISIONIn the Estate of RICHARD HENRY KIERNAN deceased

NOTICE is hereby given that after the expiration of fourteen (14) days from the date of this notice, an application will be made in the Registry of the High Court of Justice for an Order that Letters of Administration with Will annexed in the Estate of RICHARD HENRY KIERNAN who died on the 21st day of October, 1985 be granted to KATHLEEN KIRNON & SARAH ROSALIND KIRNON, the Administratrices of the estate of the deceased.


ANY person objecting to the issuance of a Grant to the Applicants should notify the Registrar of the High Court not later than 14 days from the date of this Notice.

Dated this 23rd day of January, 2013


In an environment and at a time where the Island of Montser-rat, while on the one hand is talking and touting its moves to-wards development and economic growth, Agriculture is sinking further on the decline, almost nonexistent, as it must depend on the ‘food boat’ from Dominica and elsewhere, two French men have embarked on the development of hydroponics.

These two young men have incorporated a company called Montserrat Hydroponics Ltd. un-

der which, they will operate with the aim high quality vegetables using the latest hi-tech farming technologies.

Marc de Dinechin and Nicolas Tirard inform that they will, “use Nutrient Film Technique (NFT).” It consists of the use of channels in which water and nutrients recir-culate, thus reducing water con-sumption and sewage release.

Marc is a French Agronomist Engineer (M.Eng), defending a Ph.D in Genetics at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

Nicolas is also a is a French Agronomist Engineer (M.Eng) both having graduated from EcoleNa-tionaleSuperieureAgronomique de Montpelier (France). Both have worked in neighbouring island Gua-deloupe in various areas including teaching Biology.

They plan a fi rst production unit consisting of a 2,000 soft greenhouse to produce differ-ent varieties of lettuce, spinach, herbs, and other various leaf vegetables.

Governor’s Offi ce contrib-utes 10,000 pounds to new conservation programme on Montserrat

The Coral Cay Conservation (CCC) project which is to come on stream here in May this year is receiving a con-tributing 10,000 pounds from His Excellency the Governor Adrian Davis offi ce.

This announcement was

made on Monday, January 14, at Government House in Woodlands that the contribu-tion was linked to the UK and the Montserrat governments focus to bring Montserrat back to pre-Hugo and vol-canic fi nancial stability. “…recall the strategic growth program is about Montser-rat’s development, so it’s the specific packaging invest-ments of both the UK gov-ernment and the government

wards financial indepen-dence which was of course enjoyed in 1980’s and the 70’s before Hugo and then the volcano…”

Governor Davis speaking to a gathering of more than 100 residents, said conservation does not trump growth and the two things can come together for the benefit of Montserrat.

He was at the time hosting two repre-sentatives of the Coral Cay Con-servation, which is a charity es-tablished in 1986 to help protect the world’s coral reefs . Al is ta i r Cole, Chief Exec-utive Offi cer and Tristan Brown, Head of Opera-tions spoke to the

A l i s t a i r Cole, Chief E x e c u t i v e Officer and T r i s t a n B r o w n , H e a d o f Operations

Gathering of more than 100 residents came out to support the conservation programme

of Montserrat hope will lead to the ul t i -mate objec-tive of getting Montserrat out of budgetary a id and to-


cont’d. on page 6


MSS gets table tennis board from Rotary Club

Hydroponics...cont’d from page 5CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) invites suitably qualifi ed CARICOM citizens to apply for the following position:

JUDICIAL RESEARCH ASSISTANT – 2 PositionsFixed Term Contract – 2 Years

Option to Renew for a further period of 1 Year

The Judicial Research Assistant reports to the Registrar and provides support to the President, Judges and staff of the Court through research and the preparation of legal opinions pertaining to matters before the Court and matters affecting the administrative structure of the Court.

Minimum Experience and Training:Training as evidenced by the possession of a Bachelor of Laws Honours degree from a recognised University and admission to practice in any Court within the CARICOM region.

For further information and application forms please visit the Court’s website at www.caribbeancourtofjustice.org and click on ‘Careers’. Applications may be accompanied by a curriculum vitae and other information which the candidate may consider necessary and must be submitted on or before Monday 25th February 2013, no later than 4:00 p.m. (Trinidad and Tobago time)

For further information, please contact the HR Unit via email to [email protected] or via telephone number (868) 623 2225 (ext 2221)

REGISTERED LAND ACT

SECTION 34

LOST LAND CERTIFICATES

It is notifi ed for general information thatLand Certifi cate in respect of the following person has been reported lost:-

NAME REG. SECTION/REFERENCE DATE ISSUED

Alvin Allen St. John’s 14/18/054 Dec. 15 2006

Unless any objections are received within fourteen (14) days from the date of publication of this notice,a replacement certifi cate will be issued.

Dated this 7thday of February, 2013.

Sgd. Jamiel M. Greenaway (Miss)Registrar of Lands

The Rotary Club of Montserrat on Tuesday, Jan-uary 29, 2013 handed over the donation of a table tennis board to the Montserrat Sec-ondary School (MSS), at an Assembly session attended by all the children, teachers, print press and visiting and offi ciating Rotarians.

Fr. George Agger after

The venture they say, comes on the background that, “volca-nic activity destroyed most of Montserrat/s arable lands over the past 17 years,” adding that, “the supply of fresh vegetables became a real challenge for the inhabitants of Montserrat.”

The observation is made that fresh vegetables shortage are mostly covered by importation

from Dominica and elsewhere, of-ten of poor quality and expensive. Also noted is that the loss of cur-rency for the Montserrat economy makes food security one of the top priorities of the island.

We visited their site where, as can be seen in photos here the day work began in preparing the lands for the hydroponics systems. There according to Mark and Nico-

las, Montserrat Hydroponics Ltd. plans to use modern agricultural technologies to provide high qual-ity vegetables on a regular basis, leading to tomatoes and peppers. They expect also to have enough to export and hope to fi nd markets in Antigua. “There are lots of hotels, restaurants and tourists in Antigua where we can sell our produce,” Marc pointed out.

the assembly was called to order by principal Mrs. Cher-lyn Hogan led the children in prayers and gave a brief spiri-tual talk to them engaging them into an interaction, by asking how many were on, or rather not on Facebook. A small number of hands of the near 200 children present went up.

He engaged them, “So I kind of suspect that both of us of our generation knows either about face book or twitter or YouTube, or tex-ting, I think everybody texts; right?”

‘Do you text during class?Don’t answer that!”

The R C priest told the students he had a very short message, inviting them to repeat after him, “I can, make a, difference,” which they did reaching a crescendo after the third attempt.

He told them they can make a difference if they turn to God: “so if you’re a Chris-tian in God you connect to Jesus to God, and if you be-long to another religion you connect with your God,” he said, as he invited them,“to three simple ways that you can do it.”

“One Speak to God in prayer, just like you’re talk-ing to your friend, twitter them, and face book them text them, speak to God in prayer…Second listen, listen to God in his gospel, listen to God in his scripture, and listen to God In your Holy books…third, look for Him in those in need.”

“That’s the challenges that each one of us has, and cont’d. on page 9

MSS children at Assembly -They need a proper School


“Beyond Relaxed” - Montserrat, and precious times

“Fearless Compassion” - A Tribute to Winston Derrick


PROBATE DIVISIONIn the Estate of ELEANOR KIRNON, deceased

NOTICE is hereby given that after the expiration of fourteen (14) days from the date of this notice, an application will be made in the Registry of the High Court of Justice for an Order that Letters of Administration in the Estate of ELEANOR KIRNON who died on the 18th day of March, 1933 be granted to KATHLEEN KIRNON, the Administrator of the estate of the deceased.


ANY person objecting to the issuance of a Grant to the Applicant should notify the Registrar of the High Court not later than 14 days from the date of this Notice.

Dated this 23rd day of January, 2013


A new book capturing va-cation moments on Montserrat has been published, titled, “Be-yond Relaxed: Precious Time in Montserrat”. Angie Dawson and husband, Derek Jensenco-authored the book, the result of what began with their first visit to Montserrat in 2008, and over four later visitswhen theycompiled all photographs and information. Beyond Re-laxed is their first book - one they say,“was inspired by the island itself.”

The trip began out of the authors’ desire after “…the next step for us toward a bet-ter, more authentic vacation seemed to be renting an island vil la.” That led to a search, which ended up with Derek asking, “How would you like to go to a little island in the Carib-bean called Montserrat?” That information is capturedmore in the Introduction to the book in some detail.

The publication captures the vacation on Montserrat in over 200 island photographs and descriptions, which in their own description of the book they found, “a ntural, un-commer-cialized tropical island, quietly inspiring as you learn about the effects of the famous and the

still active, Sourfriere Hills Vol-cano, and the power of nature that caused the unstoppable destruction of….the island’s capital city.”

The writers’ desire is that residents and Montserratians in particular, “will enjoy seeing the familiar people and places within the pages.”

They feel pr iv i leged to have, “come and know Montser-rat,” hoping also that they have been able to show Montserrat in a “positive way.”

The book which also fea-tures Montserrat’s connection to Sir George Martin producer of the Beetles, is released at a time when Sir George had not long released a book, a copy of which,was donated to the cause of an initiative by Governor Adrian Davis’ wife Sujue, on behalf of the Montserrat Red Cross branch. The book on "the History of Abbey Road Studios", is an illustrated book depicting artists from Von Karajan to Paul McCartney, who is mentioned in the book ‘Beyond Relaxed’.

Readers of “… Precious Time in Montserrat”, will get an opportunity to learn about Montserrat, an important place in music history and see the risk of some of the most popular

artists and albums documented in the recordings of Air studios Montserrat.

A copy of this book will providethose who like to,“fully relax on vacation and decompress

from the pressure of living in a fast pace consumer culture.” It further describesMontserratas“a peaceful, safe, luring Caribbean island of interesting people, his-tory and places.”

The two give a hint at more books as theysay they are cur-rently travel-working and taking lots of photographs along the way, reminding that their favor-ite Montserrat song is, Beloved Montserrat, by Rick Tyson.

The book will be available on Island at regular book stores, and otherwise, people can find the e-book vers ion and the softcover online by searching the book title. It is being carried by several online retailers such as Google, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, etc. The soft-cover is SRP $31.99 and the e-book is SRP $7.99.

In one scoop of sadness and a profound sense of my own fragility, a combination of winter freezing sensation, bitter sadness, and raw shock hurled me between tears and recollection. Immediately, my mind raced back to the last one-on-one lunch meeting that we had together when Winston Derrick said to me: “Chelston, it’s not about the money or else I would have already closed

Observer down. It’s about educating and lifting up the people of Antigua and Barbuda and defending my country.” Then I quickly shifted to my fi rst day on the job at Observer Radio. He was my new “Boss” and I was his News Director.

I relocated to Antigua because of Julian Rogers and Winston Derrick. And little did I know that I was leaving Montserrat and going to Antigua to

work with family members. Because that’s what working at the Observer Media Group was like; working with your brothers and sisters. And the father figure “Winston’’ had an outer tough disposition burning with fearlessness, but there was an inner core of caring compassion in the man, that wouldn’t disappoint.

Between an uncanny rest and an unwavering restlessness, Winston would go to war in the name of the hopeless, the wounded, and the left out. Hear his baritone voice with a stint of tenor, saturated with village pride exclaim: "I am just a fooley bwoy from Ovals." And if cultural wisdom, obscure facts, plain-clothes truth and enriching insights were far from the caller’s lips, he did not hesitate to tell the technician: “Just cut he off."

As Head of Observer’s News-room, Winston never held back in

Winston Derrick

Co-authors Angie and Derek

Beyond Relaxede cover

Beautiful people of Montserrat Boy at Rendevouz



Kids time - In your own korner

Mango season was upon us and mango trees everywhere were laden with sweet, rosy, deli-cious mangoes. The envy of the neighbour-hood was old Mr. Peter. He had a huge starch mango tree in his yard. Every mango lover would agree that starch mango was the best. Mr. Peter hardly ever shared his mangoes.

Every day he would fill a bag of tasty, ripe, starch mangoes and take it down to the mar-ket and sell it. This seemed to bother every little boy and girl on the street. Mum did not seem fazed by it at all; she said

it was his livelihood. He sold the fruits and vegetables which he grew to earn money to support himself. I still felt he needed a bet-ter reason than that not to share. I lived one house away from Mr. Peter and night after night I would hear those juicy starch mangoes falling braps, braps, hitting Mr. Peter’s roof. It was torment, a form of torture. Why did Mr. Peter own the only starch mango tree in the neighbourhood? Why? “Sonny Boy, you looking like you have some-

thing up your sleeve. Come nah; let me hear the plan you hatching.” Sonny Boy was my cousin. His father was my mother’s brother and they lived next door to us. Poor Sonny Boy, he actually lived closer to Mr. Peter than I. I’m sure that was torture times two. “Pollo why you think I’m always up to some-

thing. Can’t a man just sit and think,” Sonny Boy responded to my taunts. Yes … my nick-name was Pollo. My whole family called me Pollo, it meant chicken in Spanish and yes, they called me Pollo because I loved chicken. I didn’t mind, I think it is better than being called Starch Mango. “Of course a man can think but two eleven

year old boys during mango season have one thing on their mind.”“Starch mango,” we chorused.“Sonny is your daddy at home?” asked my

mother as she shouted over the fence to Sonny Boy.“No Auntie but he said he’ll be back in five

minutes.” “Sonny and Pollo come here.” I was already

by the gate, Sonny Boy came over to find out what Mum wanted. “Fellas, I am going to the market to pick up a few things. I will be

Hello everyone – It is kid’s time with Auntie Lyka “In Your Own Korner”. I hope you are doing your studies and home-work. let’s read....Education is most important thing in life. School is a part of life... Education is the key to success.

Pre-School CornerHello to you my preschool friends. This week we will look at COLOURING ALPHBET PICTURES. I hope you enjoy Letter T

back in half an hour, please stay out of trouble.” Mum bent the

corner and was out of sight. I looked across at Sonny Boy and saw him point-ing. It was the nic-est set of mangoes I had ever seen. There were about five or six yellow mangoes clustered

closely together. My mouth began watering. “If only,” I said muttering softly to myself.“If only what. Boy Daddy gone, Auntie gone

and Mr. Peter left for the market already so those mangoes are as good as ours,” insisted Sonny Boy.“You don’t find it strange that Mr. Peter

hasn’t picked those mangoes. It is right there plain as day,” I observed.“I see nothing strange about it. He probably

had enough and just didn’t bother with these. So I say pick them now because he might pick them to sell tomorrow.”“Sonny Boy, you heard what Mum said.”“Pollo, your name suits you. You are really

acting like a chicken.”“Well then I prefer to be a live chicken than a

dead one if someone catches me.”“Ha Ha the chicken has jokes. Boy jus’ come

on nah, I will climb and you could stay on the bottom and catch the mangoes. I will climb back down and we will lock back the gate as though nothing ever happened. We will sit in the back of the house and eat our mangoes and after we’ll throw the skins and seeds where no one will see them,” dictated Sonny Boy. I began to make steps towards Mr. Peter’s

gate. Sonny Boy was in front of me. He opened the gate and headed up the mango tree. Sonny Boy got to the beautiful man-goes he wanted and stretched out his hand

to pick the first one. He felt it before he saw it. I heard uncontrollable screaming and then there was a thunderous thump.I didn’t want to get into any trouble so I had

returned home and let Sonny boy continue on his quest alone. The last time we tried some-thing like that we couldn’t sit for a week. I had no intentions of reliving the experience or the week-long pain again. When I heard his screams I peered over into

Mr. Peter’s yard, only to see Sonny boy fran-tically waving his hands in front of his face, slipping off of the mango tree branch and crashing to the ground. I flew over in Mr. Pe-ter’s yard to see if Sonny Boy was dead.Apparently, there was a wasps’ nest be-

hind the juicy mangoes. When Sonny Boy stretched his hand he bumped the mangoes which bumped the nest and the wasps began to tear into him. In trying to fight them off he lost his balance and fell off the tree. Sonny Boy’s arms and face were bumpy and red and he was holding his left arm as tears ran down his face. Before I could even bend to pick him up I

heard, “What are you all doing in there? As though things weren’t bad enough, Uncle Reggie had returned home. “Just get out of Mr. Peter’s yard.”“Uncle, I think Sonny might have broken his

arm,” I said hoping for some sympathy.“Only his arm is broken wait until I am finished with him,” responded Uncle Reggie. Clearly I failed in my attempt to gain sympa-thy. Uncle Reggie took Sonny Boy to the hospi-

tal. He did indeed have a broken arm. Uncle Reggie calmed down and felt that the broken arm was enough punishment for Sonny Boy’s wrongs. Sonny confirmed that I had deserted him and wasn’t even present when he took his fall, so I was spared. As predicted, Mr. Peter picked the mangoes

the next day to sell knowing only that Sonny Boy broke his arm he offered him two man-goes. Sonny Boy was feeling so guilty; espe-cially after the look Uncle Reggie gave him, he couldn’t eat the mangoes. So he gave them to me. “Ah yes! Two, lovely, starch mangoes!”

Mangoes, Mangoesby Indira Sammy

Word PlayLook at the clues below and fill all the numbers you can into the grid. Then start again and use your answers to help solve the other clues.

Figure It

Across2. 121 doubled4. Minutes in an hour5. Eight times eleven7. Number of weeks in a year8. 1234 re-arranged10. A dozen12. Nine times nine13. Half of 530815. 17 down plus sixteen16. A third of 20417. 15 down minus 2 down18. Half of 1388

Down1. Hours in a day2. 19 down minus15 across3. 8524 re-arranged4. A third of 1866. Half of 1647. 18 across minus 1729. 4 across times three11. 793 doubled14. Six times eleven15. 17 across plus 2 down17. Three times eighteen19. Half of 9 down

1.Complete the chain of words by changing just one letter at a time.Example: CAT, COT, DOT, DOG.Can you find the missing words?WARM, ___, WORD,___, WOOL, COOL.2.Look at the clues and see if you can make new words by changing just oneletter in each of these words:a). Change RIVER into a jockeyb). Change SHORT into something to playc). Change RUMBLE into a fall.3.Put a different letter in front of ONE each time to make words with the followingmeanings:a). A dog might like oneb). Finishedc). Not there anymore4.Can you rearrange the jumbled letters into an 11-letter word for an insect?GOPHER SPARS5.Can you also use some of the letters to find three 5-letter words?a). An animalb). Footwearc). A fruitCan you find part of a plant in the words below?THE TRUMPET ALERTED THEM

See you next week right here

In Your Own Korner. Where we will have funKids write your stories, tell us about your-selves. Email or post - Write to Aunty Lyka, at P.O. Box 306, Davy Hill, or send email to: [email protected]


table tennis donationNOTICE OF INTENTION OF BRITISH-AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY LIMTED (IN JUDICIAL MANAGEMENT) TO TRANSFER PART OF ITS INSURANCE BUSINESS TO SAGICOR LIFE, INC PURSUANT TO SECTION 56 OF THE INSURANCE ACT CHAPTER 11.20 OF THE LAWS OF MONTSERRAT

Notice is hereby given that a request was presented to the Supervisor of Insurance under Section 56 of the Insurance Act Chapter 11.20 of the laws of Montserrat for an Order confi rm-ing a scheme for the transfer of insurance business (the “Scheme”) between British-American Insurance Company Limited (In Judicial Management) (“BAICO”) and Sagicor Life, Inc. (“Sagicor”). Be further advised that the Supervisor of Insurance has ordered that the said request shall be heard on 25 February 2013 at 5pm at The Credit Union House, Brades.

Under the Scheme, BAICO intends to transfer certain of its traditional life insurance business issued in Montserrat to Sagicor under the terms of a Sale and Purchase Agreement entered into with Sagicor on 29th day of June, 2012 (the “Sale and Purchase Agreement”). Pursuant to the Sale and Purchase Agreement, certain in-force traditional life insurance policies issued by BAICO in Montserrat or with respect to which BAICO otherwise has continuing liability (collectively, the “Policies”), will be transferred to Sagicor, and Sagicor will assume the liabilities associated with the Policies (the “Transfer”).

The types of policies that will transfer to Sagicor are listed below. Any person wishing to confi rm the type of policy they have, and whether their policy is intended to be included in this transfer, should refer to the Schedule of Benefi ts section in their policy, refer to their local branches or telephone the helpline for assistance.

Home ServiceOrdinary LifeUniversal LifeGroup Pension Plan

The terms of the proposed Scheme are described in more detail in the legal scheme of transfer request made to the Supervisor of Insurance (the “Scheme Document”). It is proposed that the Transfer be completed on a date agreed to by the parties (the “Effective Date”), subject to the satisfaction by the parties of certain closing conditions and the receipt by the parties of all required regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Supervisor of Insurance. Until the Effective Date, BAICO remains responsible for all of its insurance liabilities in Montserrat.

The Transfer is part of a larger transaction whereby Sagicor will acquire the majority of BAICO’s in-force traditional life insurance policies across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (see above list for the types of policies affected). Once the Scheme is implemented on the Effective Date, Sagicor will be responsible for all liabilities under the Policies. Sagicor has advised that there will be no impact on the terms of existing Policies or the guarantees contained therein. Specifi cally, Sagicor has confi rmed that the transaction will not impact the following:

policy rates, terms and conditions;coverage and benefi ts; andservice and administration of the Policies .

Sagicor is a highly respected insurance provider operating across 19 countries in the Caribbean as well as in the UK and US. Sagicor’s parent, Sagicor Financial Corporation Limited, is a listed entity in both Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, Sagicor has a fi nancial strength rating of A- (Excellent) from A.M. Best. Sagicor is already a regulated entity in all of the ECCU countries involved in the transaction.

Sagicor has demonstrated its commitment to the ECCU region by:Agreeing to set up an ECCU Consultative Committee, whose role will be to play an oversight role (including compliance, anti-money laundering, capital adequacy and corporate governance) in relation to the performance of the business;Placing its ECCU business into a separate ECCU-based entity within 12 months of completion of the sale; andCommitting to listing at least 25% of the shares of the ECCU Entity on the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange within two years of its commencement of operations.

It is advised that policyholders should contact a professional for advice on this transaction, if necessary. Any person who believes that he would be adversely affected by the carrying out of the Scheme shall be entitled to be heard at the hearing of the application for the Scheme to be convened by the Supervisor of Insurance.

The said Scheme will be subject to the approval of the Supervisor of Insurance.

If you have any queries regarding the Transfer, you may call the BAICO branch at 1-664-491-2361 or the Judicial Manager at 1-784-456-2669, or email the Judicial Manager at [email protected] or send inquiries to BAICO at its offi ces in Montserrat at PO Box 71, St Peters.

Copies of the Scheme Document, the related actuarial report and other related documents will be made available for inspection by any affected policyholder at BAICO’s offi ce at PO Box 71, St Peters, Montserrat for a period of fi fteen (15) days after publication of this notice and on BAICO’s website (www.baico-intl.com).

DATED this 8th day of February, 2013.

BEFORE THE SUPERVISOR OF INSURANCE

you can make a difference,” he said.“You can reach out to those who are in need,”reminding them to then re-member, “ f ive words I asked you to say today, ‘I can make a differ-ence.’”

Dr. Briamah-Kassim, president of the Rotary Club here, thanked the school for having them, and told the children, “We are here to make a dif-ference this morn-ing and it’s on be-half of the Rotary Club of Montser-rat and in keeping with the Motto of

the Rotary Club which is “Service above self…with the aim that is actually to give back to the community in which we live…what we’re doing today.”

The president told the children that the aim of do-nating the table tennis board, “to try and engage the youths in this country and we try to make sure that instead of be-ing on the streets, you should get into some sort of sporting activity…”

His Excellency the Gov-ernor Adrian Davis, present in his capacity as a Rotarian and one of the drivers behind the project throughthe mas-termind of Julian Romeo, told the children that the game of table tennis is an energetic one which he learnt and played during his seven years in China, before he came to Montserrat. “…your

teacher Mr. Morris will be in charge of managing it, do take the opportunity to play, get good at it,” he challenged, ending with promise, “so take advantage of the table, I hope you use it, we’ll come back in about six months’ time and we’ll have a tourna-ment here…”.

Principal Hogan, Mrs. Hogan gave the thank you. “…So thank you very much for the donation of the board…quite a num-ber of students will be on it,” promising that“between Mr. Morris and our PE teacher,MsBuffonge, we will have a task, managing the students.We may get to good that we may need sec-ond, so thank you very much for that.”

The children showed their own appreciation with a loud applause.

Winston PondDFID is hiding a document that is show-

ing Diesel power will be used every day with Montserrat geothermal power

How could Montserrat geothermal power be a game changer when DFID want 65% of the net profi t for their private inves-tors?

How could Montserrat geothermal power be a game changer when the govern-ment 35% will be going towards paying back the loan to The Caribbean Development Bank for the Diesel power station?

How could Montserrat geothermal power be a game changer when Diesel power will be used everyday at peak load?

How could Montserrat geothermal power be a game changer when the consum-ers will still have a fuel surcharge on their electric bill?

How could Montserrat geothermal power be a game changer and the government will still have to pay for street lights and other electricity they consume

We know the problemsWe know there is a problem that geo-

thermal turbines must not vary between base load and peak load so for DFID to be install-ing geothermal power for the base load and use diesel power for peak load is not good, it can be done without using Diesel power for peak load

The solutionIf they are using the steam driven

geothermal system the solution is to install

Comment: “No help to decrease the price of petrol, diesel and cooking gas:

F e e d b a c k

more geothermal power than we need and install a governing device to induce an electric load on the turbine so the turbine will have the required load switched manually or auto-matically between the consumer load and the governing load and still maintain the required load on the turbine.

It happen before, people were told to leave the lights on in their home when they go to work so it can keep the load on the turbine

The load problem can be solved in many ways for example the binary system can be piston or turbine driven and the load problem can not affect the piston type binary system so by using one piston type module with the other turbines would solve the problem

We have lots of internal combustion engines that we can convert for the binary geothermal system that the high and low load would not affect the piston type geothermal system.

We already have pipes in the geothermal hot water that the Hotel was using and we have Montserratians that could put together a geothermal system that we can give poor people free electricity

The Caribbean Development Bank can not throw good money after bad money and expect the next government to pay the loan for the new diesel power station because the amount of geothermal power Montserrat will be using to rebuild the economy would require geothermal power to back up geothermal power, not Diesel

cont’d. from page 6


2012 Eastern Caribbean Currency Union Economic Review Presented by the Honourable Sir K Dwight Venner, Governor, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank - 29 January 2013

The countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union have endured four years of negative

economic growth as a result of the impact of the global

As we enter the year 2013 it has become clear that we have reached a tipping point which will require our sustained and collective efforts to get our economies on the path to growth and

of this presentation is: "Realism and Hope". The reality is that we are constrained by factors,

both external and domestic, some of which are within

For example, one reality which stares us in the face is the resources, both human and natural, that we have

now live in a globalised world and are geographically located in the western hemisphere and in close proximity to the United States of America, the most advanced economy in the world, our expectations are very high but our resources are inadequate to provide

because we have competitive multiparty political systems, tremendous pressures are put on those systems to deliver public goods and services which are beyond the current capabilities of our economic

expect them to, we will need to deliberately make the necessary adjustments to ensure that the practical steps are taken to achieve the successful resolution of

like to address in this presentation: Our current realities; Our hopes and aspirations, that is the vision for

the future of our countries; What has been done so far; and What needs to be done at this time

The external environment has been conditioned

Five years later, there still has not been a full recovery and the USA and Europe, our main trading partners,

The negative impact on our economies has been and continues to be felt through the tourism industry, the manufacturing sector, foreign direct investment,

are being left behind in a very competitive world in which countries, both advanced and developing, are having

Preliminary data indicate that economic activity in the ECCU contracted for a fourth consecutive year in 2012, although the pace of contraction slowed relative to the average for the previous three

sectors such as, construction, transport, storage and communications, and sluggish growth in the tourism

a lower rate of increase was recorded in 2012 compared with the performance in the previous

was partly due to reduced demand, attributable to higher airfares for regional travel combined with reduced airlift out of the USA, to at least one territory

was also challenged by increased competition from other destinations, resulting in a reduction in passenger arrivals, consistent with the fall in the number of calls, as some member countries were

The current realities at the domestic level are conditioned by the structural features of Caribbean economies, that is, they are small,

sociological impediments to development arising

Physical land size also has implications for the cost of government in the ECCU, which is high given

services, there is a certain minimum amount which

better cope with the challenges which it now faces, it is

Looking forward to the year 2027, which is 15 years ahead and three electoral cycles hence, the following are being suggested:

The ECCU to be an area of peace and tranquillity with very low crime rates and social and political stability in which day-to-day activities can be undertaken with ease;

The environment should be clean and pristine with an aggressive approach to maintaining

Public, commercial and residential buildings must be well-maintained and architecturally designed to preserve our heritage and

Our cities, towns and villages should have a welcoming ambience and provide excellent facilities for residents and visitors;

The services provided in both the public and private sectors should be of the highest order,

citizens so that when visitors come to our shores we do not have to make an extra effort, as it would

There should be increased opportunities for our people in politics, public administration,

Our economies should be transformed to generate high levels of growth which is reasonably

well distributed and able to meet the goals and

These things are possible and, like other countries before us, we will have to make the

the culture to that of collective responsibility

The overriding question then becomes: As a collective, are we honestly and objectively prepared to move to a new and higher level which will ensure prosperity for our people at home and respect for our countries abroad

The major instruments which have been established to respond to the crisis and address our medium term restructuring programme have been:

established an Economic Union in the OECS;

The ECCU Eight Point Stabilisation and Growth Programme; and

A template for work programme coordination within the OECS and with regional

assistance has been provided by Canada, the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China,

provided has been critical in driving public sector investments in our small island economies and has

and social consensus at both the national and

needs to be built around the following: A short term stimulus package using external

funds and geared to providing useful

A big push in the lead transformational sector,

will require considerable public and private

The third element would be critical investments in the following areas:Transportation, Energy, The

Fourthly, the active involvement of the populace in the development effort is critical in the years

reached a turning point in the OECS and the currency union which requires a collective effort involving political and social consensus, technical expertise

A commitment to a programme of adjustment and change at the governmental, business and individual levels will help to

For the full text and audio and video versions of the presentation, please check our website:

http://www.eccb-centralbank.org

“Realism and Hope”


emphasizing to me repeatedly, the importance of meeting deadlines. “Organize the information to help people and add social interest that will satisfy our listeners, but be as accurate as you can, and remember don’t leave out the politics,” he would say. But in the same breath he remarked, “But you are the news expert, so let me back off and give you room to do your job.” Right then and there I knew he was giving me the freedom to be myself and to soar and perform with excellence, giving the daily news gravitas and delivering breaking news with style and appealing savvy.

“The Boss” possessed the acu-men and personality that expanded the reach of my craft. He was a prompter of higher pursuits. While he entrusted the entire news op-erations of the radio station into my hands, he remained deaf to moving

his sense of compassion and justice away from the “voice of the people.” Forceful you say? No! Determined and absolute in his resolute! Winston knows what it’s like to drown oneself in a sacrifi cial vision. Caught in a metaphorical predicament, where not everyone shared his enthusiasm for press freedom, especially the keepers of offi cialdom, Winston kept going like the energizer bunny even when the lights were dim. With no media experience and zero support from the political directorate, Winston made the tedious journey from a faxed newsletter, to a Daily Observer newspaper, then onwards to the UK Privy Council. It then morphed into a media group compromising the online “antiguaobserver.com” Website, the Observer Printery, Observer Radio 91.1 FM and Hitz 91.9 FM.

Don’t irritate “the Boss” with trivialities; you may get some crude

syllables released with immense emotions. He had a laughter that was catching. We all consumed it. There were days of incomprehensible silence and others of peering into the gloom. I recall moments we shared brimming with excitement. He was sometimes defensive and other times angry. But from an unknown infi nite place, he would step into a mode of benevolence. “How's your grandmother in Montserrat doing?” he would ask. “Do you need time to go see her?” I would then say “Boss, I don’t have any more vacation time.“ He would quickly reply: “Don't worry about that man....if you need to go......just go….I will tell HR that I gave you the time.”

Beyond Antigua and Barbuda, Winston was a Caribbean maverick. Whether you are an ordinary person on the street, a curious student, a hard-working professional or a kind

parent, you simply cannot measure the contribution of Winston and his brother Samuel “Fergie” Derrick to the Caribbean landscape. In fact, one of his unfi nished dreams was to establish Observer

Those of us left here to honor his life’s labor; I challenge us to erect the “WINSTON DERRICK JOURNAL-ISM FOUNDATION” that epitomizes social advocacy, press freedom and mentorship of young journalists. In this single act, we may capture anew his eagle soul. Let Winston become our media icon, shining with the crown jewel of global value. May the “BIG ISSUES” evoke freedom, interdependency, investigative and courageous thriving.

In whatever form we choose to celebrate the legacy of Winston Derrick, I do not want his soul to rest in peace. I would prefer his spirit to agitate us, inspire us and probe us

to “HAVE YOUR SAY.” And even more, to dance to the mandate of justice, the power of truth, and the scope of love.

To the Derrick family, espe-cially his wife Kim and his children, and to my dear brothers and sisters at the Observer Media Group family, I pray that the radius of Winston’s infl uence continue to penetrate your lives with confi dence and faith. Take my deepest condolences and roll them up in a ball of inspiration! Let the Daily Observer light shine ever brighter and may Winston Derrick continue to speak into the microphone of our souls through the "VOICE OF THE PEOPLE."

Chelston Lee is a Strategic PR & Political Communications Consul-tant and Media Relations Adviser. Mr. Lee has a Masters Degree from the University of North London and has worked as a Communications

Consultant for the United Nations, a reporter for the BBC in London, PR consultant to the World Bank in Washington DC and manager of sev-eral radio and television newsrooms across the region. He is a member of the US National Association of Black Journalists, the Public Relations Soci-ety of New York and the Association of Caribbean Media Workers.

A Tribute to Winston Derrick...cont’d. from page 7

Conservation programme

Ministry of Health launches Lunch N’ Learn

Antigua focuses on reading during ‘Education Week 2013’

gathering about the pro-gramme, which will run for three years.

Cole explained that Coral Cay is self-funding and has been able to maintain its projects around the world through a successful ‘citizen science’ approach by using international volunteers to help collect the scientific data needed to develop and implement effective grass-

roots conservation solu-tions.

The volunteers pay to work for the organisation for between two weeks to six months on expeditions, which in turn allows for CCC to offer scholarships to local residents to learn about coral reef conservation.

“We are committed to in-volving local stakeholders so that the communities we work with can benefit

directly from our conserva-tion efforts. We rely on a ‘bottom-up’ approach to con-servation, with the belief that the only way to successfully preserve endangered eco-systems is by involving the local custodians throughout the process,” Cole said.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) which has been working in Montserrat for many years will be partnering on the

cont’d. from page 5 Governor Adrian Davis

Montserrat joined the rest of the world and cel-ebrated World Cancer Day this year 2013 on February 4 when the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it would promote, that “World Cancer Day is a chance to raise our collective voices in the name of improving general knowledge around cancer and dismissing mis-conceptions about the dis-ease.”

WHO recommended that the focus on the day will be on Target Five of the World Cancer Declaration: Dispel damaging myths and misconceptions about can-cer, under the tagline “Can-cer - Did you know?”.

Here in Montserrat the Health Unit of the the Min-istry of Health & Social Ser-vices, joined the observance and launched what it called Lunch ‘N Learn sessions

for government employees, inviting the general public to attend.

Hon. Minister Colin Riley told the gathering that the “topic today at this gathering to commemorate World Cancer Day 2013 is one that is of interest to me and fellow Montserrati-ans.By now I believe every Montserratian family has had to deal with cancer in some form or fashion,” what Ag. Chief Medical Officer Dr. KrishnamurphyGopal in a report earlier this year spoke about cancer as it related to Montserrat.

Dr. Gopalsaid: “It is a significant disease that Montserrat should more aware about.”

Minister Riley followed upcalled on residents, to take responsibility with their own health, he said raising the awareness level would no

doubt encourage prevention, detection and treatment of the dreaded disease. “With that level of seriousness I its important for us to approach this disease which comes in many forms with a level of consistency which comes with looking after ourselves

better.”Dr Owen, Chief Medi-

cal Offi cer at the said launch confirms, “We get about fi fty deaths a year here in Montserrat, of which I think probably between about ten to fi fteen are cancer related,” noting that “breast cancer,

prostate cancer are rather more common,” as against colon cancer which is a relatively small among the numbers, but, “it is a major cause of both death and ill-ness.”

The CMO however noted that there has been

an increasing focus on non-communicable disease be-cause there is a recognition that,“non-communicable disease primarily hyperten-sion and diabetes are the things that we really do need to pay attention”

Our neighbor who have made overtures to Montserrat to join in certain activities towards better collaboration between the two islands, celebrated Education Week 2013 activities during this week, under the theme, ' Every Learner Achieves'

On Tuesday, February 5 with a focus on reading, they conducted “The National Read-ing Day” which is an annual event to encourage reading by children. It was celebrated in schools all across Antigua and Barbuda. According to a release from the Education Ministry there,

it says, “This literacy event is designed to help students develop or strengthen their lit-eracy foundation and encourage them to not only become lifelong readers but also life long learners.”

The Montserrat Reporteris issuing a call to the Montserrat Ministry of Education to move with haste and have similar events, as this is very badly needed on the island,

not just for children but also for everyone.

On reading day the release says, “In his demonstration of support for the special focus on reading, the Acting Minister of Education, Senator Hon. Winston Williams Jr., paid a special visit to the Potters Primary School where he spent time reading with the Kindergarten class…”

In related news, Senator Williams also paid a courtesy call on the Executive Secretary, Board of Education, Ms. D. Giselle Isaac. In addition to expressing his appre-ciation for the work of the Board,

the Acting Minister of Education also received an update on the status of the new Public Library

Project which is expected to be completed by the last quarter of this year.

Reading Day in Antigua


cont’d from page 3

Geothermal excitement & suspicionscont’d. from front page

www.themontserratreporter.com

Police carry out drug seizures, boat seizures, arrests

Above: One of the large bundles of packages recovered in the exclusion zone - suspected of being cocaine - courtesy RMPS. (left) TMR photos of the seised boat

reportedly from Iceland on the morning of Friday, Feb. 4. The docking eventually took place when local exper-tise sprang into action and offl oading took place over the next two days.

Early today, Friday, Feb. 11 the ship returned from Dominica, this time laden reportedly with the drilling rig from Dominica that Pre-mier Meade in December, 2011 had said that drilling operations should be timed, “so that at the back end of the Dominica drill operations that we can get that drill rig into Montserrat.”

The latest question be-ing asked about drilling operations comes over the suspicions over the tender document and the contract signed by IDC for US$6.3 million which claims are

being made that the sum has had to be increased to over US$8 million. Members of the seeming defunct Energy Committee who claim to have been side-lined since the approval of the funds to-talling eight and a half (8.5) million pounds, are seeking to have access to the docu-ments involved.

Two drilling rig plat-forms only yards apart have been completed in the Exclu-sion Zone at lower Weekes next to the Cork Hill main road ín preparation for the exploration and drilling the production wells. Follow-ing this, PWD and private workers have been engaged in leveling and compacting the sites around the wells and platform as well as si-multaneously erecting the parameter fencing for secu-rity purposes. Over 62 containers of drilling rig equipment offl oaded Feb 8``

origin were apprehended under the authority of the Immigration Act. The fol-lowing days, an extensive joint RMPS Criminal Inves-tigation Department, RMPS Marine Department, RMPS Financial Crimes Unit, and Customs & Revenue Ser-vice (MCRS) coordinated enforcement action which included a ground and sea search of the shoreline south

of the Volcano in exclusion zone V, plus Foxes Bay, Old Road Bay, and Isles bay.

On January 30, the RMPS completed the ‘op-eration insertion’ into the exclusion zone resulting in the recovery of two separate burial sites which yielded the seizure of approximately 65 kilos of cocaine, having an estimated approximate street value of over three million dollars. The suspected nar-

cotics were transferred out of Montserrat immediately for safe storage and forensic examination.

The Unites States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) arrived on Island last week to assist with the post-in-vestigation logistics and international intelligence coordination. Security at the Police Headquarters has been heightened. Derrick

Nicholas, Elroy Gussie, Ackmel St. Jean of Dominica, and Juan Vasquez of Venezuela were subsequently charged with the drug pos-session and importation. The accused persons appeared in Court on Friday, February 1, and remanded into further custody.

Since then, the police on February 1, in the late evening, responded to a vessel that had run aground near Bottomless Ghaut. Three persons from Antigua were held in custody. Although the circumstances of the vessel’s arrival to Montserrat appeared suspicious, they were not found to have contravened any laws, and arrangements were made to assist with their departure back to Antigua.

The following day, in the early morn-ing, the RMPS received a report of a ves-sel in distress approximately 4 miles off the coast of Montserrat. The Police Vessel Shamrock responded, other vessels arrived to assist, but the vessel in distress marked with the name “God”, was towed to Port due to engine failure…”

The Deputy Commissioner while praising the Service says they are continu-ing their efforts to limit the incidence of crime and especially drug operations in and around the island. To this end the RMPS is beefi ng up their call for security measures to be improved.

Documents

The Montserrat Reporter - February 08 2013