Caribbean Times 2nd Issue - Tuesday 21st February 2017
Caribbean Times 2nd Issue - Tuesday 21st February 2017
Caribbean Times 2nd Issue - Tuesday 21st February 2017
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<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> A n t i g u a a n d B a r b u d a<br />
Vol.9 No.2 $2.00<br />
MASSIAH PREPARES<br />
TO LAUNCH PARTY<br />
By Joanna Paris<br />
gressive party for some time now.<br />
Preparations are currently being made She said the official name, motto and<br />
for the launch and unveiling of the slate he colours that will be associated with the<br />
of candidates who will contest the 2019 alternative option will also form part of<br />
General Elections as part of the “new, the press launch.<br />
fresh and dynamic” party.<br />
“We are in this for this long haul, we<br />
The woman behind the move, Member<br />
of Parliament for the All Saints East because we believe that both parties have<br />
are not in this for ourselves, we are in this<br />
and St. Luke Constituency, the Hon. Joanne<br />
Massiah said that the new organi-<br />
are poised with the sincerity and patrio-<br />
failed the country and we believe that we<br />
zation will be revealed “in a matter of tism to answer the call of the people of<br />
weeks”.<br />
Antigua and Barbuda and to finally make<br />
Speaking on Against the Backdrop on the country a participatory democracy,<br />
Monday on state media, MP Massiah said where we live and embrace our motto<br />
that eh country definitely has something “Each endeavouring, all achieving”, she<br />
to look forward to.<br />
said.<br />
“It is an opportunity for me to rebirth She also advocated for the support of<br />
in a new fresh and dynamic entity”, she the public in the new initiative.<br />
expressed.<br />
“Our new, fresh and dynamic party<br />
Massiah has been the centre of a battle<br />
with the hierarchy of the United Pro-<br />
democratic franchise”, she expressed. Hon., Joanne<br />
will be depending on you to exercise your MP for All Saints East and St. Luke, the<br />
Massiah.<br />
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2 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g<br />
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Senate amends Proceeds of Crime Bill <strong>2017</strong><br />
By Joanna Paris<br />
The Upper House of<br />
Parliament last make made<br />
amendments o the Proceeds<br />
of Crime Bill <strong>2017</strong>, which<br />
was passed in the Lower<br />
House a week earlier.<br />
The Proceeds of Crime<br />
Act provides for the establishment<br />
of a Proceeds of<br />
Crime Fund into which the<br />
proceeds from a confiscation<br />
order or forfeiture order can<br />
Editor’s Note<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong> <strong>Times</strong> is printed<br />
and published at Woods<br />
Estate/Friars Hill Road.<br />
The Editor is Justin Peters.<br />
Contact: <strong>Caribbean</strong> <strong>Times</strong>,<br />
P.O. Box W2099,<br />
Woods Estate/Friars Hill<br />
Road,<br />
St. John’s,<br />
Antigua.<br />
Tel: (268) 562-8688,<br />
Fax: (268) 562-8685.<br />
Visit us online at our website:<br />
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We ask you to send:<br />
Pertinent news items to<br />
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be paid and distributed to<br />
the agencies involved in the<br />
fight of crime or for public<br />
education.<br />
While outlining the bill,<br />
the Leader of Government<br />
Business in the Senate, Lennox<br />
Weston, voiced a number<br />
of concerns as it related<br />
to the use of the balance of<br />
the fund.<br />
He expressed the view<br />
that the monies should be<br />
used wisely for the overall<br />
development of the country.<br />
“I don’t think that it<br />
makes much sense just to<br />
divide the money here and<br />
there. For such a small country<br />
as hours, you cannot just<br />
be dividing up money like<br />
that.<br />
“There is no way that I<br />
will be in the Ministry of Finance<br />
and we have millions<br />
of dollars to spend properly<br />
and I will be like Santa<br />
Clause. No body spends<br />
money that way”, he said<br />
sternly.<br />
In a rare occasion, Senate<br />
Minority Leader, Harold<br />
Lovell, echoed similar sentiments.<br />
He indicated that the<br />
Consolidate Fund was created<br />
to hold monies belonging<br />
to Central Government.<br />
He noted that the proceeds<br />
should be under the control<br />
of the Ministry of Finance.<br />
“I do not support this<br />
bill. I think it takes us in<br />
the wrong direction Madam<br />
Speaker and I have not seen<br />
one like this before”, Senator<br />
Lovell established.<br />
During the committee<br />
stage, the Senate agreed to<br />
make the amendment indicating<br />
that after the required<br />
payments from the proceeds<br />
of crime have been met, the<br />
balance should be placed in<br />
the Consolidated Fund.<br />
PM addresses CARICOM First Ladies<br />
In his first engagement of the 28th Inter-Sessional<br />
Meeting of CARICOM Heads<br />
of Government, PM Gaston Browne addressed<br />
a Forum of CARICOM First Ladies<br />
and Spouses of CARICOM Heads of Government<br />
in Georgetown, Guyana.<br />
Present at the Forum were the First Ladies/Spouses<br />
of Guyana, Belize, Jamaica,<br />
Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti who began<br />
a two-day meeting aimed at identifying and<br />
addressing issues that present particular<br />
challenges to women in the <strong>Caribbean</strong>.<br />
Speaking at the Forum, PM Browne<br />
looked at the issues at the top of the meeting’s<br />
agenda, including domestic violence,<br />
teenage pregnancy, cervical cancer, motherto-child<br />
transmission of HIV/AIDS and trafficking<br />
in persons.<br />
He commended the first Ladies/Spouses<br />
on their action, which seeks to implement<br />
the ‘Every <strong>Caribbean</strong> Woman, Every <strong>Caribbean</strong><br />
Child’ initiative.<br />
‘The women of the <strong>Caribbean</strong> have more<br />
than shown their worth, especially in the<br />
fields of small-business entrepreneurship<br />
and social responsibility,’ Mr. Browne said,<br />
‘and I consider it the duty of every Government<br />
in the <strong>Caribbean</strong> to give the ECWECC<br />
Initiative its full support.’<br />
The Prime Minister went on to outline<br />
some of the initiatives taken by his Government<br />
to support entrepreneurial activity by<br />
young women including the establishment<br />
of a venture capital fund available to young<br />
women who are in need of seed-money to<br />
establish or expand a small business.<br />
He pointed out that the UN Sustainable<br />
Development Goals Agenda 2030, to which<br />
all the CARICOM members were committed,<br />
would be impossible to implement without<br />
the full integration of women into the<br />
economy and society on an equitable basis.<br />
Also present at the Forum were a number<br />
of international organizations and agencies<br />
such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization<br />
(FAO) and the Pan-American health<br />
Organization (PAHO), examining ways in<br />
which technical and administrative support<br />
could be given to the Initiative.<br />
As the only Head of Government present,<br />
PM Browne had the responsibility to report<br />
to the plenary on the outcome of the Forum<br />
and to recommend that CARICOM provide<br />
its full support.
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g 3<br />
CIBC First<strong>Caribbean</strong> assists start-up entrepreneurs<br />
A number of start-up companies<br />
and young people with<br />
great business ideas will soon<br />
get an additional avenue to<br />
bring their plans to fruition.<br />
Ten Habitat, a non-profit<br />
organisation which focuses<br />
on developing investor-ready<br />
start-up <strong>Caribbean</strong> entrepreneurs<br />
and regional bank CIBC<br />
First<strong>Caribbean</strong> have partnered<br />
in a venture to support local<br />
and regional start-ups.<br />
Gary Brown, Chief Executive<br />
Officer of CIBC First-<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong> and Chairman of<br />
CIBC First<strong>Caribbean</strong>’s charitable<br />
foundation, and Selwyn<br />
Cambridge, Founder of<br />
Ten Habitat, recently signed a<br />
Memorandum of Understanding<br />
at the bank’s Warrens, St.<br />
Michael offices which will<br />
see the bank supporting the<br />
work of Ten Habitat with a<br />
yearly grant of USD$15 000<br />
for the next three years.<br />
“At CIBC First<strong>Caribbean</strong>,<br />
we recognise the need for<br />
young entrepreneurs to get<br />
that grounding in starting their<br />
businesses and so we support<br />
the work of Ten Habitat and<br />
organisations like it that will<br />
hold the hands of young startups<br />
to guide them on the way<br />
to successful businesses,”<br />
Mr. Brown said following the<br />
signing.<br />
Ten Habitat will work<br />
with young entrepreneurs,<br />
by exposing them to a range<br />
of hands-on support that will<br />
assist them in building their<br />
businesses. The organisation<br />
boasts a global network of<br />
experts, mentors and coaches<br />
who help the start-ups move<br />
their ideas from concept to<br />
reality and then further facilitate<br />
them by mobilising the<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong> Diaspora to invest<br />
in those businesses.<br />
CIBC First<strong>Caribbean</strong> is<br />
one of the first corporate entities<br />
to support Ten Habitat in<br />
their quest to assist the young<br />
entrepreneurs as part of a programme<br />
which will be rolled<br />
out in Barbados first and then<br />
to the rest of the <strong>Caribbean</strong>.<br />
Ten Habitat supplies mentorship,<br />
guidance, funding<br />
and a co-working space for<br />
the businesses and stages a<br />
number of key events annually<br />
aimed at strengthening their<br />
various skills.<br />
Gary Brown, CEO of CIBC First<strong>Caribbean</strong> International Barbados<br />
and Selwyn Cambridge, Founder of Ten Habitat, sign the agreement<br />
signifying the partnership between the two organisations.<br />
Witnessing the signing is Debra King, CIBC First<strong>Caribbean</strong>’s Director<br />
of Corporate Communications and a Director of the bank’s<br />
ComTrust Foundation.<br />
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4 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g<br />
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Senator Weston urges US-based<br />
businesses and citizens to pay their taxes<br />
SALE!<br />
By Joanna Paris<br />
The Foreign Accounts<br />
Tax Compliance Act<br />
United States of America<br />
implementation and<br />
enforcement of the Inter-governmental<br />
agreement<br />
Bill <strong>2017</strong> was given<br />
the approval of the Upper<br />
House of Parliament last<br />
week.<br />
There was no debate<br />
on the bill, indicating<br />
that the senators were in<br />
agreement with the contents<br />
of the bill.<br />
Leader of Government<br />
Business, Senator<br />
Lennox Weston, indicated<br />
that the tax obligations<br />
of persons who have US<br />
based businesses or are<br />
in the possession of a US<br />
passport or Permanent<br />
Residence Card will have<br />
to be met with the passage<br />
of the bill.<br />
He added that it will<br />
also increase the cost of<br />
compliance for financial<br />
institutions.<br />
He noted that the Inland<br />
Revenue Department<br />
(IRD) will have a<br />
SALE!<br />
SALE!<br />
State Insurance Corporation announces the sale of<br />
damaged vehicles. Contact us at 481-7818/17/12 to<br />
make an appointment to view vehicles. Then submit<br />
sealed bid including name address and telephone number<br />
of bidder, bid value and make and model of vehicle.<br />
Address bids to Salvage Sales and drop off at our<br />
office on Redcliffe St. Our representative will contact<br />
you.<br />
critical part to play in the<br />
process.<br />
“The Inland Revenue<br />
Commissioner is now the<br />
official person and we<br />
will need to hire persons<br />
to ensure that we are in<br />
fact complying.<br />
“If we do not comply,<br />
then the lucrative<br />
offshore sector that we<br />
are looking to invest in<br />
will come under the hammer”,<br />
Senator Weston<br />
emphasized.<br />
Senator Lennox Weston.<br />
Massiah pleased<br />
with gender parity<br />
in the Senate<br />
By Joanna Paris<br />
Female politician and Member of Parliament for the All<br />
Saints East and St. Luke Constituency, the Hon. Joanne<br />
Massiah has expressed happiness with the fact that gender<br />
parity has been achieved in the Senate with the appointment<br />
of Senator Aziza Lake.<br />
Senator Lake, who sits on the government’s bench, made<br />
her maiden presentation last week Thursday, where she<br />
highlighted the concerns of youth, women and men among<br />
other areas of social development.<br />
MP Massiah said that she was “very pleased and excited<br />
about the news of the appointed of Senator Lake” and has<br />
offered the young, female Senator congratulatory words.<br />
She indicated that Senator Lake is a true advocate, who<br />
not only speaks on behalf of women and girls but also the<br />
youth.<br />
“She must never be afraid to speak to the issues because<br />
we are in this together and she has my full support”, MP<br />
Massiah declared.<br />
MP Massiah was a guest on ABS’s Against the Backdrop<br />
on Monday.
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g 5<br />
The American blockade of Cuba: Its<br />
economic impact<br />
By Everton Barnes<br />
For many Antiguans and<br />
Barbudans the United States<br />
economic blockade of Cuba<br />
is something that may have<br />
been taught in the schools or<br />
what they may have heard in<br />
the media.<br />
What has life been like<br />
living in the shadow of<br />
this unprecedented and<br />
far-reaching blockade and<br />
how has it impacted on the<br />
country as a whole?<br />
That was the gist of a discussion<br />
held with Professor<br />
Marlen Sanchez, who made<br />
a stop-over visit to Antigua<br />
on her way to attend a<br />
University of the West Indies-sponsored<br />
symposium<br />
on the life of the late Cuban<br />
leader, Fidel Castro. The<br />
symposium is being organized<br />
as a tribute to Castro,<br />
and Prof. Sanchez will speak<br />
on the social achievements<br />
in Cuba and the Fidel Castro<br />
Legacy. Prof. Sanchez heads<br />
of the <strong>Caribbean</strong> Studies<br />
Masters programme in the<br />
Department of International<br />
and Economic Research at<br />
the University of Havana.<br />
She told <strong>Caribbean</strong><br />
<strong>Times</strong> that to understand the<br />
full impact of the economic<br />
and financial blockade of<br />
Cuba one has to understand<br />
the scope of the U.S initiative.<br />
“Firstly, it is important<br />
to understand that the blockade<br />
is not merely a problem<br />
between the U.S and Cuba;<br />
it is an extra-territorial matter<br />
as it affects not just people<br />
in Cuba and the U.S, but<br />
also people and institutions<br />
in other countries who may<br />
wish to invest in Cuba,” she<br />
explained.<br />
Prof. Sanchez said Cuba<br />
was cut off from the world<br />
financial institutions and<br />
forbidden to trade in the U.S<br />
dollar, the lifeblood of the<br />
world’s financial system.<br />
“For example, if Cuba had<br />
any US currency in any bank<br />
to do a particular transaction<br />
then that money is frozen.<br />
Additionally, banks may be<br />
forced to pay huge amounts<br />
in fines for violating the<br />
law,” she noted.<br />
Because of this, she said<br />
Cuba has been forced to<br />
pay commissions to agents<br />
and others to provide ‘middle-men’<br />
roles to enable the<br />
island to trade even for necessities.<br />
“Cuba has to develop<br />
alternate routes to get<br />
around the U.S barriers. It’s<br />
Associate of Prof. Sanchez, Sen. Mary Clare Hurst, Prof. Marlen<br />
Sanchez and Cuban Ambassador, Gustavo Veliz Olivares.<br />
difficult for some to understand,<br />
but that is our reality,”<br />
Prof. Sanchez stated.<br />
Another way that the<br />
Americans have sought to<br />
cripple the Spanish-island is<br />
with its exercise of its enormous<br />
influence to bar Cuba<br />
from becoming members of<br />
the International Monetary<br />
Fund (IMF) the World Bank<br />
and the Inter-American Development<br />
Bank.<br />
“The U.S has threatened<br />
to withhold funding for these<br />
institutions should they give<br />
the green-light to Cuban<br />
membership. The U.S said<br />
it would without its subvention<br />
if the institutions do not<br />
comply,” she declared.<br />
According to the visiting<br />
professor, there have<br />
been some slacking of the<br />
grip as the U.S has allowed<br />
some trade in medicine<br />
and agricultural products.<br />
However, she noted that the<br />
goods have to be paid for in<br />
advance in cash. “Nobody<br />
pays for anything in advance<br />
in cash! Payments are usually<br />
arranged through lines of<br />
credit; that how the international<br />
trade takes place,” she<br />
declared.<br />
Prof. Sanchez said other<br />
benefits from what she<br />
termed ‘the beginning of the<br />
process of normalisation’,<br />
has been the removal of limits<br />
placed on remittances to<br />
Cuba. She described this as<br />
a major step as remittances<br />
are an important source of<br />
income for many Cubans.<br />
Despite the nearly six decades<br />
of the blockade, Prof.<br />
Sanchez said Cuba has been<br />
able to survive because of<br />
the resilience, strength and<br />
nationalism of the Cuban<br />
people.<br />
She added that Cubans<br />
have been forced to innovate,<br />
create and invent as<br />
part of its strategy to maintain<br />
its independence.
6 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g<br />
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
GARD Center celebrates 27<br />
years of technical, vocational<br />
and entrepreneurship training<br />
GARD Center celebrates its 27th year as a technical<br />
vocational and entrepreneurship training institution for<br />
at-risk youth.<br />
As a grassroots nongovernment organization under<br />
the auspices of the Methodist Church in the <strong>Caribbean</strong><br />
and the Americas, plans are well underway for the next<br />
3rd Annual Farm to Table Benefit Luncheon to raise<br />
funds for the important work of the Center. Saturday,<br />
April 22, <strong>2017</strong> from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. is that<br />
special date to put on your calendars.<br />
Farm to Table is a movement to educate the consumer<br />
about the linkages amongst agricultural producers,<br />
the farming communities and the value of local natural<br />
food that we eat.<br />
The Center is pleased to once again celebrate our<br />
producers and the chefs who will be creating some<br />
unique and delicious recipes for all to enjoy.<br />
Here’s an example of one of the dishes that was<br />
served at last year’s Farm to Table.<br />
Spiced Plantain &<br />
Peppers Stuffed<br />
Chicken w/ a hint of<br />
mint<br />
Presented by Chef Mario<br />
Colindres of Goddard<br />
Catering<br />
Yield: 10 chicken breasts (4<br />
Oz each)<br />
Ingredients:<br />
Chicken Breast 4 oz<br />
Plantain<br />
Cream cheese<br />
Qty.<br />
UOM<br />
1290 grams<br />
1344 grams<br />
300 grams<br />
50 grams<br />
Nutmeg<br />
2 grams<br />
Pickled ginger<br />
20 grams<br />
Onions<br />
50 grams<br />
Garlic<br />
20 grams<br />
Salt<br />
1 gram<br />
White Pepper<br />
1 gram<br />
Vegetable Oil<br />
2 grams<br />
Lime Juice<br />
100 grams<br />
Fresh Parsley<br />
30 grams<br />
Thyme<br />
20 grams<br />
Diced Sweet Peppers<br />
20 grams<br />
Coconut Milk<br />
14 Oz.<br />
mint<br />
20 grams<br />
Method:<br />
Marinate chicken in lime, salt,<br />
pepper, parsley and thyme.<br />
Cook plantain, crush with nutmeg and chopped<br />
mint and set aside. In sauce pan sauté onions,<br />
diced sweet peppers, ginger, garlic. Now add the<br />
crushed plantain, cream cheese, coconut milk and<br />
adjust seasonings to taste.<br />
Stuff chicken breast 40g of stuffing. Place on<br />
cross grill and finish in oven until chicken is<br />
cooked.<br />
Chef Mario studied at the ITCA Culinary Institute<br />
in Central America and graduated in Production Administration<br />
from M&M University in Texas. He also<br />
trained and worked with chefs from France, Germany,<br />
Switzerland, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Asia<br />
to get a rounded experience.<br />
Born in El Salvador and has worked in several<br />
restaurants, hotels, airline and industrial catering in El<br />
Salvador, Venezuela, Guatemala, St. Maarten, Barbados<br />
and St. Lucia.
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g 7<br />
Cable & Wireless reports preliminary results<br />
for the period ending December 2016<br />
MIAMI, FL – Cable & Wireless<br />
Communications Limited (“CWC”) is<br />
the leading telecommunications operator<br />
in substantially all of its consumer<br />
markets, which are predominantly<br />
located in the <strong>Caribbean</strong> and Latin<br />
America, providing entertainment, information<br />
and communication services<br />
to 3.5 million mobile, 0.4 million television,<br />
0.6 million internet and 0.8 million<br />
fixed-line telephony subscribers. In<br />
addition, CWC delivers B2B services<br />
and provides wholesale services over<br />
its sub-sea and terrestrial networks that<br />
connect over 30 markets across the region.<br />
On May 16, 2016, a subsidiary of<br />
Liberty Global plc (“Liberty Global”)<br />
acquired CWC (the “Liberty Global<br />
Transaction”). Revenue, Adjusted Segment<br />
EBITDA and subscriber statistics<br />
have been presented herein using Liberty<br />
Global’s definitions for all periods<br />
presented unless otherwise noted.<br />
Further adjustments to these metrics<br />
are possible as the integration process<br />
continues. The results for the three and<br />
nine months ended December 31, 2016<br />
(“QTD” and “YTD”, respectively) have<br />
also been aligned to Liberty Global’s<br />
IASB-IFRS 2 accounting policies and estimates.<br />
Significant policy adjustments<br />
have been considered in our calculation<br />
of rebased growth rates for revenue and<br />
Adjusted Segment EBITDA. For additional<br />
information on Liberty Global’s<br />
definition of Adjusted Segment EBIT-<br />
DA and rebased growth rates, see footnotes<br />
1 and 3, respectively. A reconciliation<br />
of net earnings (loss) to Adjusted<br />
Segment EBITDA is included in the<br />
Financial Results, Adjusted Segment<br />
EBITDA Reconciliation & Property,<br />
Equipment and Intangible Asset Additions<br />
section below. In addition, effective<br />
for the 2016 fiscal year, CWC has<br />
changed its fiscal year end from March<br />
31 to December 31 to conform with<br />
Liberty Global.<br />
Operating highlights:<br />
Organic increase (decrease) in<br />
RGUs of 2,000 YTD and (20,000) QTD<br />
were impacted by an adjustment that<br />
we recorded in Q4 to eliminate 30,000<br />
non-paying subscribers from our subscriber<br />
counts<br />
Internet and telephony subscribers<br />
were up 7,000 and 2,000, respectively,<br />
YTD on an organic basis, as we<br />
increased penetration across our high<br />
speed networks and sold more bundled<br />
packages, particularly in Jamaica and<br />
Trinidad<br />
At December 31, 2016, 11% of our<br />
customers subscribed to a triple-play<br />
product, 33% to a double-play product,<br />
and 56% took only one product from us.<br />
While continuing to improve, our bundling<br />
ratio of 1.54 RGUs per customer<br />
remains relatively low, which provides<br />
ample runway for continued RGU<br />
growth as we seek to sell additional<br />
products to our customers<br />
Mobile subscribers grew by 11,000<br />
on an organic basis YTD, and by 50,000<br />
QTD as promotions drove increased<br />
sales during the holiday period, particularly<br />
in Jamaica and the Bahamas<br />
Highlights across our largest markets<br />
were as follows:<br />
In Panama, enhanced video subscriber<br />
growth accelerated QTD following<br />
the launch of our new “Mast3r” bundles<br />
during September 2016, and we added<br />
14,000 video subscribers on an organic<br />
basis YTD. Of the customers taking our<br />
Mast3r products in December, 62% and<br />
13% subscribed to a double-play or triple-play<br />
bundle, respectively. Telephony<br />
and internet subscribers fell due to<br />
continued fixed to mobile substitution<br />
as well as churn from our copper network.<br />
Our postpaid mobile subscriber<br />
base continued to grow, driven by the<br />
strength of our network and service<br />
quality, but was more than offset by prepaid<br />
subscriber losses due to the continued<br />
competitive intensity<br />
Jamaica continued its mobile subscriber<br />
momentum with particularly<br />
strong growth QTD as mobile subscribers<br />
rose by 56,000, moving above<br />
900,000 in total for the first time. We<br />
posted 21,000 organic RGU additions<br />
with growth across our internet and telephony<br />
services driven by improved<br />
bundling propositions<br />
In the Bahamas we grew subscribers<br />
across mobile, video and internet<br />
products YTD. Momentum is steadily<br />
building in our video RGU base through<br />
penetration of our newly constructed<br />
Fiber-to-the-Home (FttH) network.<br />
Despite the entrance into the market of<br />
our first mobile competitor in November<br />
2016, we were able to grow our<br />
subscriber base by 6,000 QTD through<br />
increased data-led promotional activity<br />
Barbados mobile subscribers were<br />
broadly stable YTD with an improving<br />
trend QTD whereby our base grew<br />
by 3,000 following successful data-led<br />
promotions during the holiday period.<br />
Fixed-line telephony RGUs fell YTD<br />
due to a heightened competitive environment<br />
combined with customer experience<br />
challenges during our ongoing<br />
program to upgrade customers from our<br />
legacy copper to nationwide fiber based<br />
network<br />
Trinidad RGUs were broadly flat<br />
YTD on an organic basis as a video<br />
decline of 12,000 resulting from increased<br />
competition was largely offset<br />
by growth in telephony and broadband
8 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g<br />
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
The Future of Financial Services in the<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong>: International Tax Competition,<br />
Globalization and Fiscal Sovereignty<br />
A presentation by Sir Ronald<br />
Sanders On Friday 17 <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
At a Conference organised by Goethals<br />
Consulting Corp In Panama On<br />
“Widening the Pathways to Open Societies”<br />
Continued from yesterday’s issue<br />
CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES<br />
COMPLY WITH RULES<br />
All <strong>Caribbean</strong> countries have had<br />
to make themselves compliant with<br />
the demands of the countries of the<br />
OECD as a group and individually.<br />
In this regard, every <strong>Caribbean</strong><br />
country is compliant with the rules<br />
of the Financial Action Task Force<br />
(FATF) on money laundering and<br />
counter terrorism financing.<br />
They are also subject to regular reviews.<br />
In fact, they are more compliant<br />
than the US, which the FATF found to<br />
be non-compliant with ‘entity transparency’<br />
and ‘gatekeeper rules’ in<br />
2006, and which the FATF has chosen<br />
not to evaluate since.<br />
And, as far as the OECD Global<br />
Forum rules on Transparency and<br />
Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes<br />
are concerned, the majority of<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong> countries are on their way<br />
to full compliance.<br />
Notably, my own small country,<br />
Antigua and Barbuda, is fully compliant<br />
with the requirement for Common<br />
Reporting Standards (CRS), while the<br />
US has not signed-up to it.<br />
And the US has been the beneficiary<br />
as Trust structures move there to<br />
avoid disclosure.<br />
States in the United States, such<br />
as Delaware, South Dakota, Wisconsin,<br />
Colorado and Arizona, disregard<br />
OECD rules – and are practical tax<br />
havens, demonstrating why the US<br />
has not signed-up to the CRS.<br />
But, it is clear that the doctrine of<br />
‘might is right’ continues; the principle<br />
of transparency applies only to the<br />
weak; and the notion of a level playing<br />
field for competition is a myth.<br />
US NOT ENFORCING TIEA’s<br />
IN THE US<br />
Incidentally, it is worth pointing<br />
out that, in 2015, a number of individual<br />
States of the US adopted legislation<br />
naming <strong>Caribbean</strong> countries,<br />
including my own, as ‘tax havens’.<br />
When, as Ambassador of my<br />
country to the US, I pointed out to<br />
the Commissioner of the US Inland<br />
Revenue Service that under the Tax<br />
Information Exchange Agreement<br />
(TIEA) which my country signed with<br />
the US in 2000, the US – and all its<br />
States – had access to automatic tax<br />
information and, therefore, the legislation<br />
adopted by Maine, Montana,<br />
Oregon and the District of Columbia<br />
was ill-informed and wrong, and that<br />
he should so advise them, the reply I<br />
received in writing was that “the IRS<br />
plays no role in the legislative process”<br />
of these States.<br />
Nothing was done.<br />
It makes one wonder what is the<br />
point of a TIEA with the Federal<br />
Government of the US, and whether,<br />
instead, we should have negotiated<br />
individually with all 50 States of the<br />
United States.<br />
What is clear is that, though the<br />
IRS won’t enforce the terms of the<br />
TIEA with its own States, it demands<br />
By Sir Ronald Sanders<br />
enforcement, upon pain of penalties,<br />
by <strong>Caribbean</strong> countries.<br />
Added to all this, over the last two<br />
years, <strong>Caribbean</strong> countries have been<br />
facing a huge new threat not only to<br />
their financial services, but to their<br />
sustainable development and their<br />
ability to participate in the global financial<br />
and trading system.<br />
THE NEW THREAT – WITH-<br />
DRAWL OF CBR’s<br />
This new threat comes from a decision<br />
by banks in the US and the UK<br />
to withdraw correspondent banking<br />
relations from respondent banks in<br />
the <strong>Caribbean</strong>.<br />
As Christine Lagarde, the Managing<br />
Director of the IMF, points out:<br />
“Correspondent banking is like the<br />
blood that delivers nutrients to different<br />
parts of the body. It is core to<br />
the business of over 3,700 banking<br />
groups in 200 countries”.<br />
Without correspondent banking<br />
relations, <strong>Caribbean</strong> countries cannot<br />
cont’d on pg 9
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g 9<br />
cont’d from pg 8<br />
pay for the goods and services that<br />
they buy from the US and the UK,<br />
including medical and education services.<br />
They also cannot receive payments<br />
for tourism or remittances from their<br />
diaspora that sustain the well-being<br />
of the poorest and most vulnerable in<br />
their societies.<br />
The consequences of this should<br />
be obvious, since the US and the UK<br />
are the <strong>Caribbean</strong>’s biggest trading<br />
partners.<br />
As I speak, the majority of banks<br />
across the <strong>Caribbean</strong> have lost their<br />
correspondent banking relations with<br />
US and UK banks.<br />
They have had to find expensive<br />
alternatives that have pushed up the<br />
price of bank transactions and the cost<br />
of doing business.<br />
Already heavily-burdened, open<br />
economies in the <strong>Caribbean</strong> are now<br />
faced with additional costs to import<br />
goods and services from the US and<br />
UK, and to receive payments for their<br />
own goods and services.<br />
It is not clear how long these alternative<br />
arrangements will last before<br />
US and UK banks shut them down<br />
under the present dispensation.<br />
And what is the present dispensation?<br />
Frightened by the huge fines and<br />
forfeitures with which they are threatened,<br />
particularly by regulators in the<br />
US, and conscious of the branding<br />
of the <strong>Caribbean</strong> as a ‘high risk area’<br />
for financial services, banks that have<br />
done business and made profits in the<br />
region for over a century, are taking<br />
the view that the risk is not worth the<br />
rewards of the business.<br />
But what is the risk?<br />
No bank or other financial institution<br />
in the <strong>Caribbean</strong> has been a party<br />
in any of the cases of money laundering<br />
or tax evasion prosecuted in the<br />
US or the UK.<br />
It should be patently clear that the<br />
withdrawal of correspondent banking<br />
relations from the <strong>Caribbean</strong> is not<br />
due to any lack of compliance with<br />
the anti-money laundering, counter<br />
terrorism financing or tax evasion<br />
rules of the OECD countries, including<br />
the US.<br />
One is left to speculate, therefore,<br />
as to the real reason.<br />
An incongruous side note to this is<br />
that the World Bank has warned that<br />
around 50% of adults in the world’s<br />
poorest households are unbanked – in<br />
other words, they have no access to<br />
financial institutions.<br />
The World Bank says that it is<br />
“scaling up support to reach an additional<br />
billion people”.<br />
But, while it is doing that, 15 million<br />
people in the <strong>Caribbean</strong> are at risk<br />
of being unbanked by the withdrawal<br />
of correspondent banking relations.<br />
And, the response of the pre-Donald<br />
Trump administration to what<br />
should be an obvious wrong was that<br />
the <strong>Caribbean</strong> – already more compliant<br />
than the US with FATF and<br />
OECD rules – must strengthen their<br />
anti-money laundering and counter<br />
terrorism financing regimes.<br />
That response demonstrates that<br />
the playing field is anything but level,<br />
and redress for injustice is not a matter<br />
of morality; it is a matter of might.<br />
LOOKING TO TRUMP<br />
It would be helpful if, committed<br />
as it says it is to less regulation, the<br />
Donald Trump government will be<br />
more open to the <strong>Caribbean</strong>’s argument<br />
that US regulators and correspondent<br />
banks should mitigate rather<br />
than avoid risk, and that, therefore,<br />
US banks should only terminate correspondent<br />
banking relations where<br />
money laundering and terrorism financing<br />
risks cannot be mitigated.<br />
But that is a mere hope; it is not an<br />
expectation.<br />
Nonetheless, it is a proposition<br />
that <strong>Caribbean</strong> countries collectively<br />
should explore with the Trump administration<br />
as soon as they are able<br />
to do so at all levels.<br />
So, what the future holds for correspondent<br />
banking relations for the<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong> is very uncertain.<br />
What is clear is that if the present<br />
trends continue, the region will be in<br />
danger of losing even more sovereignty<br />
over its fiscal and banking affairs.<br />
If the indigenous onshore banks<br />
and offshore banks of the <strong>Caribbean</strong><br />
are all deprived of correspondent<br />
banking relations, the region will<br />
be left with only the foreign-owned<br />
banks (mainly Canadian) that may be<br />
prepared to remain because they have<br />
their own headquarters correspondent<br />
relations.<br />
A NEW COLONIALISM<br />
But those banks can then form<br />
cartels that control the means of exchange<br />
in the <strong>Caribbean</strong> and determine<br />
interest rates, lending policies,<br />
and sectoral investment.<br />
The region will be gripped by a<br />
new form of colonialism and control<br />
– this time by foreign banks.<br />
A responsible international community<br />
should help the <strong>Caribbean</strong> to<br />
resist this growing cancer; other developing<br />
countries should be in the<br />
forefront of support, for the cancer<br />
can spread to them, as it has already<br />
started in Central America, including<br />
Panama, and Africa.<br />
Incidentally, nothing that I have<br />
said here should imply or suggest<br />
that <strong>Caribbean</strong> countries ought not to<br />
comply with the rules against money<br />
laundering, counter terrorism financing<br />
and tax evasion that are being set<br />
– albeit not by globally-represented<br />
bodies.<br />
They have to do so, and are doing<br />
cont’d on pg 10
10 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g<br />
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
cont’d from pg 9<br />
so, at very high cost.<br />
For instance, in my own<br />
country, here is a list of the<br />
obligations that we have to<br />
finance:<br />
• The FATF’s rules<br />
on anti-money laundering<br />
and counter terrorism financing;<br />
• The OECD’s common<br />
reporting standards;<br />
• The US FATCA<br />
• Operation of Tax<br />
Information Exchange<br />
Agreements with over 25<br />
countries;<br />
• Operation of Mutual<br />
Legal Assistance Treaties<br />
with almost 90 countries.<br />
In the case of the US<br />
FATCA, small countries in<br />
the <strong>Caribbean</strong> are paying<br />
for the dubious privilege of<br />
being policemen for the US<br />
Inland Revenue Service.<br />
And, incidentally, the<br />
US has only promised to<br />
provide reciprocal information;<br />
it has not done so and<br />
shows no sign of doing so.<br />
But <strong>Caribbean</strong> nations –<br />
and all other affected countries<br />
– should strengthen<br />
their advocacy worldwide,<br />
enhance such representation<br />
as they have in the<br />
OECD Global Forum and<br />
at the FATF, and demand<br />
that every OECD country<br />
implements the same rules<br />
they impose on others.<br />
SUMMARY<br />
So, to summarise the<br />
themes of this presentation.<br />
In relation to Globalisation,<br />
the only global rules<br />
are those set by powerful<br />
countries in their own interest.<br />
Fiscal sovereignty as a<br />
right of individual States is<br />
largely ignored and up-ended<br />
by the doctrine of might<br />
is right.<br />
Tax competition has<br />
survived in part so far; but<br />
the OECD countries are unrelenting<br />
in their efforts to<br />
coerce other nations into<br />
mirroring the areas of their<br />
taxation, even though the<br />
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economic imperatives of<br />
nations are vastly different.<br />
WHAT SHOULD CA-<br />
RIBBEAN NATIONS<br />
DO?<br />
What then for the future<br />
of Financial Services in the<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong>?<br />
The prospects would be<br />
best served by the formation<br />
of alliances in every<br />
global forum to wrest control<br />
of financial services<br />
matters from the OECD<br />
which represents only a<br />
handful of nations in the<br />
world community.<br />
In the late 1990s, it was<br />
an alliance of <strong>Caribbean</strong><br />
nations with Austria, Switzerland,<br />
Luxembourg, the<br />
Isle of Man and Jersey, that<br />
held back the OECD over<br />
its so-called ‘harmful tax<br />
competition initiative’; and<br />
it was the decisive intervention<br />
of the new Republican<br />
government of George W<br />
Bush, before 9/11 and the<br />
Patriot Act, that eventually<br />
pushed back the OECD.<br />
But, since then, the European<br />
jurisdictions retreated<br />
into the fold of the<br />
OECD, and the Obama<br />
administration in the US<br />
strengthened the heavyhand<br />
of regulation and extra-territorial<br />
laws such as<br />
FATCA.<br />
The <strong>Caribbean</strong> should<br />
now look elsewhere – to<br />
the countries of South and<br />
Central America, including<br />
Panama, and to Africa and<br />
the Pacific where nations<br />
are also subject to coercion,<br />
erosion of fiscal sovereignty<br />
and loss of competitiveness<br />
- to build alliances to<br />
counter the domination of<br />
global rules on tax matters<br />
by a few self-serving nations.<br />
A TRULY REPRE-<br />
SENTATIVE WORLD<br />
BODY NEEDED<br />
The Ecuadorian government<br />
is right - a UN body<br />
is needed.<br />
But not to chase after<br />
imaginary windmills of<br />
falsely-labelled tax havens.<br />
It is needed to create<br />
standards created by representatives<br />
of the entire<br />
world and not by a handful<br />
of elite countries; it is needed<br />
to establish rules that tax<br />
competition, like all other<br />
competition, is good for<br />
global growth; it is needed<br />
to enshrine the principle<br />
that setting levels of taxation<br />
is the sovereign right<br />
of each nation in the context<br />
of its own economic<br />
and fiscal imperatives.<br />
Alliances should also be<br />
sought with groups within<br />
OECD countries that recognise<br />
that high taxation and<br />
coercion of other nations do<br />
not make for a prosperous<br />
world or a peaceful one.<br />
That, to paraphrase<br />
Abraham Lincoln, the<br />
world will not survive halffree,<br />
and half-enslaved.<br />
There would be good<br />
reason for other developing<br />
nations and groups within<br />
OECD countries to join the<br />
<strong>Caribbean</strong> in such an undertaking.<br />
For, the small are<br />
the bully’s first victim; they<br />
are seldom the last.<br />
Thank you.
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g 11<br />
Monday’s Sudoku Solution<br />
S U D O K U<br />
CROSSWORD<br />
Across<br />
1. Roof support<br />
5. Entertain<br />
10. Love god<br />
14. Boundary<br />
15. Buffalo<br />
16. Negative reply<br />
17. Young adult<br />
18. Not condensed<br />
20. Moderately slow, in music<br />
22. Guarantee<br />
23. Cooking fuel<br />
24. Endorse<br />
26. Pitcher handle<br />
27. Internet access device<br />
30. Distressed<br />
31. Worship<br />
32. Scottish loch<br />
33. Group of players<br />
37. Compact<br />
38. ____ de toilette<br />
39. Taunt<br />
40. Sycamore or oak<br />
41. Concern<br />
42. Blacksmith’s block<br />
43. Stationed<br />
44. Work dough<br />
45. Chef’s unit (abbr.)<br />
48. Previously owned<br />
49. Goodness!<br />
50. Makes into law<br />
52. Nervous strain<br />
56. Perceived character<br />
59. Flatfish<br />
60. Trickle<br />
61. Courage<br />
62. Lambs’ moms<br />
63. Messes up<br />
64. Leg joint<br />
65. Toward the sunrise<br />
Down<br />
1. Phi ____ Kappa<br />
2. Eve’s home<br />
3. Ripened<br />
4. Zoo<br />
5. Borders on<br />
6. Coal source<br />
7. Neighbor of Mex.<br />
8. Cry loudly<br />
9. Angers<br />
10. Concludes<br />
11. Scoundrel<br />
12. “Phantom of the ____”<br />
13. Passover meal<br />
19. Contradictive contraction<br />
21. Appointed<br />
24. Harpooned<br />
25. Published<br />
27. Sail support<br />
28. Aroma<br />
29. Mete (out)<br />
30. Discomfort<br />
33. Nashville’s state<br />
34. Icicle’s spot<br />
35. China’s continent<br />
36. Join together<br />
39. Captured<br />
41. Tapioca source<br />
43. Cigar stub<br />
45. Concise<br />
46. Scornful expression<br />
47. Document<br />
49. Category<br />
51. Drinking vessels<br />
52. Hammer or screwdriver<br />
53. Dubuque’s locale<br />
54. Bullring cries<br />
55. Treetop abode<br />
57. Hosiery shade<br />
58. Sort
12 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g<br />
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
HOROSCOPE<br />
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20).<br />
It’s too easy to pass the blame,<br />
and also it takes too long. It<br />
doesn’t matter that it’s not<br />
your fault. Soon after you take<br />
charge and fix it, miraculous<br />
good luck will befall you.<br />
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).<br />
Today’s happening is something<br />
akin to going to a party<br />
and after a long while finally<br />
stumbling upon the most interesting<br />
person in the room,<br />
the unassuming one standing<br />
in the corner for most of the<br />
time.<br />
Today’s weather forecast<br />
Antigua and Barbuda<br />
Overcast with rain showers at<br />
times.<br />
High - 77ºF<br />
Low - 70ºF<br />
Wind: West South West 11 mph<br />
Sunrise 6.29 am; Sunset 6.11 pm<br />
Monday’s Crossword Solution<br />
ARIES (March 21-April 19).<br />
You’ll be reminded that everything<br />
in life is a trade-off.<br />
Nothing comes from nothing.<br />
Each result has origins. Assuming<br />
that you won’t be able<br />
to have it all, what will you<br />
trade for the result you want?<br />
TAURUS (April 20-May 20).<br />
Healthy habits help you find<br />
balance so you can do your<br />
best and be your best. But<br />
when you’re trying to establish<br />
those habits, improvement<br />
may feel very far away. A Pisces<br />
will help you have faith.<br />
GEMINI (May 21-June 21).<br />
Today life is a maintenance<br />
project. To invite future good<br />
fortune, get the oil change,<br />
buy a new air filter for the<br />
home or give some flowers to<br />
your beloved.<br />
CANCER (June 22-July 22).<br />
You will be entranced by<br />
someone’s quirks today. Like<br />
Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen’s<br />
“Pride and Prejudice,”<br />
you’ll find that “intricate characters<br />
are the most amusing.”<br />
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). It’s<br />
the recurring theme of the<br />
week: Patience is power. You<br />
want it now, but it’s going to<br />
happen later — and only if<br />
you commit to doing something<br />
each day toward the goal<br />
(and then keep that commitment).<br />
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).<br />
Living life in the moment can<br />
lead to being joyous. However,<br />
you’ll often find this<br />
much easier when the moment<br />
is something you projected,<br />
planned and endeavored to<br />
make happen.<br />
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).<br />
The thing you forgot about<br />
will soon catch up with you.<br />
Therefore, don’t worry about<br />
racking your brain to remember<br />
everything you’re supposed<br />
to do. When it’s really<br />
important, it will show itself.<br />
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-<br />
Dec. 21). Move forward. Go<br />
with enthusiasm. If it feels<br />
fake, keep acting it out until<br />
you can wear it more comfortably.<br />
Today the excellent attitude<br />
is required. If you don’t<br />
bring it, you might as well stay<br />
home.<br />
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.<br />
19). Friction polishes the gem.<br />
Even so, you’ve had enough<br />
friction lately. You’re ready<br />
to step back from it for a moment;<br />
you’re ready to temper<br />
these character-building trials<br />
with a little perspective and<br />
self-care.<br />
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.<br />
18). In order to be totally effective,<br />
you need more facts<br />
and you need more truth. In<br />
other words, don’t let lies and<br />
misinformation keep you from<br />
achieving all the success you<br />
desire.
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g 13<br />
All members of the Executive of the Antigua and Barbuda<br />
Ex-Servicemen Association are reminded of the monthly meeting,<br />
to be held on <strong>Tuesday</strong> 21 <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> at 5 pm, at the<br />
Association`s Headquarters "Leah House" on Prime Minister`s<br />
Drive. Please be on time or notify the Chairman on 720-0058,<br />
PRO on 721-1970 or the Secretary on 723-3452.<br />
Bring along your picnic blankets and folding chairs and enjoy<br />
a relaxing evening on the lawn watching a movie or just<br />
mingling with a bowl of delicious hot soup at the South Zone<br />
Planning Committee of the Anglican Church's Pre-Lenten<br />
Water Night and Movie on Friday, <strong>February</strong> 24, <strong>2017</strong> from<br />
6 pm to 9 pm at All Saints Anglican Rectory Grounds, Matthews<br />
Road, All Saints. The contribution is only $10. Patrons<br />
will have a choice of various types of soups. There will<br />
be Hot Dogs, Cupcakes, Popcorn and a bounce castle. Beverages<br />
will also be on sale. Tickets are available from Parish<br />
Priests and members of South Zone Planning Committee.<br />
All registered members of the Antigua Barbuda Amateur<br />
Bodybuilding & Weightlifting Federation please take note<br />
that Election for the post of Vice President will be held on<br />
4th March, <strong>2017</strong> at the ABI Financial Building, <strong>2nd</strong> Floor,<br />
Redcliffe Street, St John's, Antigua at 6:00 p.m. sharp.<br />
TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE ANTIGUA AND BARBU-<br />
DA SCOUT ASSOCIATION Notice is hereby given, in<br />
accordance with Section IV(4)(b) of the Constitution, that<br />
the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the Antigua and<br />
Barbuda Branch of the Scout Association will be held at<br />
Government House (located on Independence Avenue) on<br />
Thursday 23rd <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> at 5:00 p.m. All Members are<br />
invited to attend and to be punctual. Members are reminded<br />
that subscriptions for <strong>2017</strong> are now due and payable.<br />
All Saints Anglican Church Mothers Unions invites everyone<br />
to its annual Shrove <strong>Tuesday</strong> Pancake Sale on <strong>February</strong><br />
28, <strong>2017</strong> from 3-6pm at the parish hall of All Saints Anglican<br />
Church at the All Saints. The variety of pancakes includes<br />
Dumps Pancakes, Sweet Potato Fritters, Vegetable<br />
Pancakes, Pumpkin Fritters, Plantain Fritters and Sweet Potatoes<br />
& Carrot Fritters. Pancake diiners will also be on sale.<br />
Please be informed that the Sons & Daughters of Willikies, Inc.<br />
will be having a general meeting on <strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong>,<br />
<strong>2017</strong> at 7:30 p.m. at the St Barts Centre. All Sons & Daughters<br />
of Willikies are invited to attend. Do come and participate in the<br />
<strong>2017</strong> Reunion discussions.<br />
Do you want to improve your posing techniques? The ABA-<br />
BWF invites all athletes & prospective athletes to a posing<br />
workshop on Saturday 25th <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> from 12-4pm at the<br />
Xtreme Health & Fitness Gym. For more details contact us at<br />
268 7640102/7285909.<br />
Event: Breakfast Forum<br />
Date: Thursday 26th January, <strong>2017</strong><br />
Time: 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.<br />
Venue: Grand Royal Antigua<br />
Speaker: Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General of OECS<br />
Topic: “The Survival of the OCES and Developing<br />
Countries in a Global Economy” to include: 1The effects of<br />
Cuba on the OCES, and 2The de-risking of correspondent<br />
banking services in the OECS and the wider <strong>Caribbean</strong> by<br />
U.S. Correspondent Banks.<br />
Price: E$150.00<br />
Please contact the Federation’s Secretariat at (268) 462-0247<br />
to register.<br />
Specially invited guest: The Hon. Prime Minister of Antigua<br />
& Barbuda or his Designate from the Ministry of Finance.
14 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g<br />
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Under 20 Benna Boys to bounce<br />
back in CONCAF Championships<br />
By Marver Woodley<br />
The Antigua and Barbuda<br />
Under 20 Boys will be<br />
looking to bounce back in<br />
the CONCACAF Under 20<br />
Championships after a dismal<br />
start.<br />
The young Benna Boys<br />
who had a rough start with a<br />
3-nil loss to Group A defending<br />
Champions, Mexico on<br />
Friday will look to regroup<br />
and start a fresh.<br />
The squad, fully assembled<br />
only Sunday 12th <strong>February</strong>,<br />
look a keen bunch and<br />
have been responding well<br />
to the Coaches instructions,<br />
according to the reports and<br />
are eager to make that historic<br />
first eleven to represent<br />
Antigua and Barbuda at this<br />
level.<br />
Technical Director<br />
Rolston ‘Debu’ Williams,<br />
who leads the Coaching staff,<br />
also continues to emphasize<br />
the focus and discipline required<br />
to produce positive<br />
results in this tournament.<br />
They had another opportunity<br />
to show their worth<br />
yesterday afternoon when<br />
they played against Honduras,<br />
with their next match<br />
up slated for Thursday 23rd<br />
against Canada.<br />
The list of players who<br />
will be taking to the field<br />
once again will be Christian<br />
Suttie-Corbett, Kahendi<br />
Jackson, Kenduka Challenger,<br />
Leroy Graham, Denie<br />
Henry, Matthew Hall,<br />
Shalon Knight, Vashami Allen,<br />
Benedict Bowers, Mohammad<br />
Hakeem, Jarmarlie<br />
Stevens, Javorn “Bozo” Stevens,<br />
Luther Wilden, and Jacob<br />
Blackstock.<br />
Along with some new<br />
faces to include DJ Buffonge<br />
of Manchester United/<br />
England, Elliot Webber of<br />
Leicester City/ England, Kalis<br />
Gore of Leicester County/<br />
England and Elijah Jarvis of<br />
Rochester University/USA,<br />
as oversees representatives<br />
while Andre Brown is the<br />
lone national player from<br />
Old Road FC, along with<br />
Minister Max Fernandez’s<br />
son Christian Fernandez of<br />
Oklahoma Wesleyan University/USA<br />
to round off the<br />
roster.<br />
Other members of the<br />
travling team are Rolston<br />
Debu Williams as Technical<br />
Director, George Kajawawa<br />
Warner as Head Coach,<br />
Vorne Pop T James as Assistant<br />
Coach, Malcolm Challenger<br />
and Courtney Francis<br />
as Equipment Managers, Julio<br />
Gonzalez as Physiotherapist,<br />
William Richards as<br />
Trainer, along Cedric Joseph<br />
as Team Manage.<br />
Hoppers prepare for CFU<br />
Club Championships<br />
By Marver Woodley<br />
Green Bay Hoppers will look to continue their efforts of<br />
progression when they begin their <strong>2017</strong> campaign in the <strong>Caribbean</strong><br />
Football Union Club Championships<br />
The newly crowned second place winners in the Antigua<br />
and Barbuda Premier Division will be competing in Group A<br />
starting this Wednesday at the Antigua Recreation Grounds.<br />
Hoppers who were Premier Division champions last season<br />
are set to gain some assistance form Cuban coach Dorian<br />
Diaz who has been working along with the Five Islands<br />
Football club along with coach Rolston Felix.<br />
Hoppers will play against Bequia United of St Vincent<br />
and the Grenadines, Racing FC of Haiti and a team from Suriname<br />
form the 2<strong>2nd</strong> to the 26th, with their first encounter<br />
against Bequia United starting at 7:00 p.m.<br />
While in the opener Suriname will face Haiti at 5:00 p.m.<br />
Admissions for the tournament is $10 for adults and $5<br />
for children under the age of 12.
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong> c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g 15<br />
Beach Benna Boys begin their<br />
CONCACAF beach soccer campaign<br />
By Marver Woodley<br />
As the local football season coming<br />
to a close the Antigua and Barbuda<br />
team participating in the CONCAF<br />
Beach Soccer Championships will<br />
look to give it their all as the games<br />
begin.<br />
The team arrived in Bahamas over<br />
West Indies allrounder<br />
Marlon Samuels has been<br />
cleared to resume bowling in<br />
international cricket by the<br />
ICC. Samuels was banned<br />
from bowling at the international<br />
level for 12 months in<br />
December 2015, after his action<br />
was found to be illegal for<br />
a second time in 24 months.<br />
The offspinner’s action<br />
could be reassessed by the<br />
ICC only after the 12-month<br />
period ended, and Samuels<br />
underwent tests on January 29<br />
at the ICC-accredited testing<br />
centre in Loughborough. According<br />
to an ICC release, the<br />
tests revealed the elbow flex<br />
for his offspin deliveries was<br />
within the permitted 15-degree<br />
limit.<br />
If the umpires find issues<br />
with his action going forward,<br />
they can report him again, and<br />
then he will require further<br />
analysis of his action by the<br />
ICC. Umpires will be provided<br />
with images and video<br />
footage of his reworked bowling<br />
action, the ICC said, to<br />
help them judge his action in<br />
games.<br />
Samuels was reported<br />
the weekend following a five-day<br />
camp in Miami to hone their skills<br />
ahead of the games which began yesterday,<br />
following a losing streak in<br />
Barbados at the Barbados Invitational<br />
Beach Soccer Tournament.<br />
The competition which started last<br />
night gave the players an opportunity<br />
ENGLAND - Ben Stokes and Tymal<br />
Mills both believe that their lives have been<br />
changed overnight, after being signed for<br />
record-breaking fees by Rising Pune Supergiants<br />
and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively<br />
during a dramatic day’s bidding at<br />
the IPL auction.<br />
Mills, who feared his career was over two<br />
years ago when he was diagnosed with a congenital<br />
back condition, has instead been catapulted<br />
to T20 stardom after attracting a bid<br />
of INR 12 crore (USD 1.8 million), the most<br />
ever paid to a specialist bowler, and a remarkable<br />
24 times his base price of USD 74,000.<br />
Stokes, meanwhile, sent the franchises<br />
into a more anticipated frenzy, having been<br />
earmarked as one of the marquee players in<br />
this year’s auction. Nevertheless, his eventual<br />
fee was still a eye-popping 14.5 crore (USD<br />
during the Galle Test against<br />
Sri Lanka in October 2015,<br />
and subsequent tests revealed<br />
he was breaching the 15-degree<br />
limit. That was the third<br />
time Samuels’ action had been<br />
reported; the first instance was<br />
in 2008, when he was called<br />
for a suspect faster ball after<br />
the third Test against South<br />
Africa in Durban. He was later<br />
suspended from bowling<br />
in international cricket but<br />
after remedial work on his action,<br />
was permitted to bowl in<br />
September 2011. Then, once<br />
again, he was reported during<br />
the Mumbai Test against India<br />
in November 2013. Following<br />
tests, he was allowed to bowl<br />
the offbreak delivery but not<br />
his quicker ball.<br />
to begin their campaign on a winning<br />
noted as when they faced Trinidad and<br />
Tobago at the Malcom Beach Soccer<br />
Facility in Nassau Bahamas<br />
The traveling team is currently in<br />
Group C where they will face Trinidad<br />
and Tobago, Guyana and USA in the<br />
competition.<br />
Samuels cleared to bowl in internationals<br />
Samuels last played for<br />
West Indies against Pakistan<br />
on the tour of the UAE in<br />
September-November 2016.<br />
He was left out of the squad<br />
for the tri-series in Zimbabwe<br />
that followed. West Indies’<br />
next assignment is the home<br />
ODI series against England,<br />
starting from March 3. (ES-<br />
PNcricinfo)<br />
Stokes and Mills in shock after<br />
‘life-changing’ IPL auction<br />
2.16 million), the most ever paid to an overseas<br />
signing. It completed an eventful few<br />
days for the Durham allrounder, who was last<br />
week named as vice-captain to Joe Root in<br />
England’s Test side.<br />
“It’s been a pretty incredible week and,<br />
considering you normally have your most<br />
exciting times when you’re playing, it’s been<br />
an amazing and interesting few days,” Stokes<br />
said.<br />
“I set my alarm for 3.30am, got up and<br />
waited about 40 minutes for my turn in the<br />
auction. I was anxious, not really knowing<br />
what would happen.<br />
“I was following it on Twitter, I didn’t<br />
actually see it live. I kept on refreshing my<br />
notifications, I saw people were tweeting and<br />
then I realised that Pune had got me.” (ES-<br />
PNcricinfo)
16 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g<br />
<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>21st</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
New horse steals Post-Valentine’s Day Meet<br />
By Marver Woodley filled with joy and excitement<br />
Scrum Pum had been as they proved that other competitors<br />
have what it takes to<br />
dubbed “the new face” following<br />
the recently held post defeat the show stopper Chief<br />
Valentine’s day Meet at the of Staff who has been on a<br />
Cassada Garden Race Track. losing streak recently.<br />
The horse was on magnificent<br />
display stealing the were the First Lady who won<br />
The other show stoppers<br />
crowd following its capture the Norma Prudhom Filly<br />
of the main race of the day Classic with Clair Wilkins<br />
over 5.5 fur longs in a time of in the saddle with a time of<br />
1:05:00 with veteran Jeff Jacobs<br />
in the saddle.<br />
In the other winners were<br />
1:40:58.<br />
With a great turn, out on Ouch who won the 4-furlong<br />
Sunday the newly imported race in a time of 52:33, Boobe<br />
Ally in the F1 and Lower<br />
tall breed dashed across the<br />
distance in all its glory to win 6 furlongs’ category in a time<br />
the A1 and Lower event leaving<br />
Chief of Staff and Mova-<br />
Believe It in the A3 and Low-<br />
of 1:20:85, U Better Better<br />
do in his dust.<br />
er 6.5 furlongs’ category in a<br />
Representatives from time of 1:18:52.<br />
God’s Grace Stable who The next Meet is slated for<br />
Scrum Pum represents was the Easter Monday.<br />
Hoppers secure runners up as ABFA<br />
Premier Division 2016/<strong>2017</strong> season ends<br />
By Marver Woodley<br />
Cool & Smooth-AC Delco Glenn’s<br />
Pet Paradise Green Bay Hoppers made<br />
good on their attempts to cinch the<br />
second top spot in the Antigua and<br />
Barbuda Football Association Premier<br />
Division.<br />
Hoppers made the successful journey<br />
following stiff competition from<br />
Sandals INET IMOBILE Grenades<br />
in the last round of Premier Division<br />
matches on Sunday at the Antigua<br />
Recreation Grounds.<br />
Last season’s champions did so by<br />
defeating current title holders Asot’s<br />
Arcade Parham 2-1 at the end of the<br />
allotted 90 playing minutes. With successful<br />
attacks coming from Novelle<br />
Francis Jr. in the 40th minute and<br />
teammate Janiel Marquez in the 7<strong>2nd</strong><br />
minute.<br />
The win helped propel Hoppers<br />
just one point ahead of Grenades in order<br />
to secure the runners up position.<br />
The lone goal for Parham was from<br />
Hakeem Joseph in first half of the<br />
game at the 24th minute mark.<br />
The Green Bay men ended their<br />
campaign just seven points below<br />
champions Parham with 44 points and<br />
just a point ahead of their nearest rivals<br />
Grenades with 36.<br />
The match up was the final game of<br />
the season to bring the curtains down<br />
on the Associations top local competition<br />
The day begun hours earlier with a<br />
match up against with Tryum and SAP<br />
playing down to the wire to both avoid<br />
the play offs, sadly both teams played<br />
to a nil all draw.<br />
As a result, SAP’s season, has been<br />
extended while Tryum stayed afloat in<br />
the 7th position with 19 points just a<br />
point and a position ahead of SAP.<br />
In the other game of the day, Old<br />
Road defeated Empire 3-2 with successful<br />
double attacks from Stefan<br />
Smith and a single shot from Steve<br />
Broderick the other two goals for Empire<br />
where compliments of Kadeem<br />
Lewis.