the montserrat reporter april 12 2013

Friday, April 12, 2013 g

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Today’s Scripture

Week Ending Friday, April 12, 2013

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.- Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

www.themontserratreporter.com

Emergency Responders Workshop...pg 6

Kids Korner...pg 8

Fatal text a warning...pg 11

Man from Baker Hill...pg 3

CARICOM Dead!...pg 4

MAPS ground breaking...pg 2More

by Bennette Roach

Cooking Gas,Hurting, 38%

increaseCXC National Awards to 34 with 5 to 10 subject passes

Headlines...

The news brought serious concerns and discussions from the man on the street and otherwise with leader of the opposition Hon. Donaldson Romeo weighing in.

cont’d. on page 5cont’d. on page 7

On Tuesday, April 9, 2013, Delta Petroleum Ltd. issued a revised price for LPG (liquid propane gas)cooking gas, which reflects a significant increase, perhaps the largest ever in the cost of the commodity. The retail price for a 100lb cylinder of LPG is now $233.00, which represents a $64.00 increase from the previous price of $169.00. This means a 20lb cylinder is now $46.60 having retailed for $33.80 before this increase.

A large number of house-holds and individuals purchase mostly the 20lb cylinder. But, now paying $12.80 more,is for everyone significant and for some almost impossible, as we heard from a ZJB report when they trekked the street with their microphones.

Even after discovering that the newly revised price for the gaswas not as high as the initial price released on Monday residents sayadamantly, the increase is an added burden on them.

ZJB got reaction from a good cross section of the com-munity who said they had just purchased or about to purchase the gas, as follows:

Persons who bought gas: “I’m sorry but I think that’s

too expensive especially for the poor Montserratian people who cannot afford that much, I do live here. Yes, I think it’s ridiculous, sorry.”

“It’s very unfair to us cause we can’t afford to live right now.We’re living from hand to mouth and now the gas, so what we have to start doing now cooking our food on fire.”

“I’m talkingbout the cook-ing gas. I know eleven weeks

On February 19, this year the Hon Minister of Education, Colin Ri-ley told graduating students success-ful at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) examination, “Their accomplish-ments must be seen as part of a team building exercise.” He continued, ”your individual accom-plishments are not to supersede your willingness capabil-ity and also your interest in being on the team of

CXC Awardees

Friday, April 12, 2013

MAPS breaks ground for a new home for dogs and cats

The Montserrat Ani-mal Protection Society (MAPS) conducted a groundbreaking ceremony for a new animal shelter in Salem. Several members of the Society gathered on location to witness the turning of the soil on April 5, 2013.

The area is located above the Montserrat Community College cam-pus on the way to Duck Pond. After a site bless-ing by R.C Father George Agger, His Excellency Governor Adrian Davis performed the honours of plunging a shovel into the ground and turning the fi rst soil already graded to begin construction.

The construction is about ready to start in

two weeks and should be completed within three months, according to Ni-gel Harris, president of the society. This, he said,will be at a cost of two hundred and seventy thousand dol-lars ($270,000). Harris said the government do-nated the land to MAPS for next to nothing.

Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony on Friday His Excellency Governor Adrian Davis welcomed the new shel-ter which is he says will be purpose built to meet the needs of Montserrat. “In completing the back-breaking task of break-ing ground for the MAP shelter, I’m absolutely delighted to be here partly as patron of MAPS, partly

as the Governor and partly as a great dog lover…we left one dog in China and gained another dog here…it’s great that we have the shelter and the prospect of a new shelter,” he told a small gathering.

“This will be a much better purpose built shelter and it meets a real need in Montserrat,” he con-tinued, encouraging that the Society continues its public awareness cam-paign, “…so that people in Montserrat understand what having a dog and a cat means in terms of their friendship, their friendli-ness and for them to be as pets rather than guard dogs or duties like that…it’s a great initiative by MAPS and the committee all the donors,” he con-cluded.

In his own introduc-tory remarks, the MAPS president explained that the Society is funded mainly by donations, men-tioning Denise Lutz from Michigan, USA, that dogs and cats have a right to be cared for properly with the current shelter in Cavalla Hill being now too small.

“It is essential that dogs do have a shelter…it’s all done by charity, everyone gives their time

freely.The committee most of which are here are abso-lutely wonderful people, we give lots of time, lots of energy and making sure all the dogs are looked after, I must say thanks to them cause without them this wouldn’t actually be happening,” he said.

He explained further,

“We also rely on our do-nors and the main donor for this project is Denise Lutz from Michigan and she’s being helped by the human society up there. Another organization for Pegasus, I think they’re going to be helping us allot over the next few months when we come to actu-

ally equip the building,” he said, concluding with thanks. “We thank them very much for making this actually possible.”

The current shelter located in Cavalla Hill has become too small to accommodate the large number of dogs and cats on island.

above: Governor Davis breaks ground for new MAPS homeleft: Father George prays at the groundbreaking.below: Society executive on hand for groundbreak-


by Man from Baker Hill

Compliance - DFID’s

Buzz Word

BANK OF MONTSERRAT LIMITEDLAUNCH OF ADDITIONAL PUBLIC

OFFER OF SHARESApril 8, 2013BradesMontserrat

The Bank of Montserrat announces the launch of an Additional Public Offer (APO) of shares.

An additional public offer of 4,234,520 ordinary shares will be made available to existing shareholders and members of the public.

Existing shareholders can double their holdings in the Bank at a price of $EC5.00 and EC$6.00 per share.

Members of the public will pay EC$7.50 per share.

The minimum block of share is one hundred (100).

AVAILABILITY OF THE OFFER AND SUBSCRIPTION PERIOD The Offer will open on 9th April 2013 at 9:00 a.m. and close at 2:00 p.m. on 7th

May 2013, unless extended by BML.

The Application Forms shall be made available from the 9th April at 9.00 am and may be obtained from:

a. BML Headquarters, Brades, Montserrat, West Indiesb. The Bank’s website: www.bankofmontserrat.msc. First Citizens Investment Services Ltd - Authorized Broker/Agent

As required by law, the first offer of an APO has to be made to existing shareholders to allow them to preserve their proportionate rights in the company, if they so desire.

The rights will be made available at $5 per share to existing shareholders.

The rights which have not been subscribed will be made available to existing shareholders who have already exercised their rights, but their price will be at $6 per new share.

Existing shareholders who wish to exercise these rights at $6 must make their request known on the application form and allotments will be determined by the Bank.

Any remaining rights that have not been taken up will be made available to non-shareholders at a price of $7.50 per share.

If existing shareholders desire to purchase shares in excess of their rights, they will have to subscribe at $7.50. Any surplus of monies paid for shares which have not been allotted shall be refunded.

PROCEDURE FOR PURCHASE OF ORDINARY SHARES

Investors residing in Montserrat should complete the subscription form and submit applications by the stipulated deadline to the Corporate Secretary at BML headquarters. Investors outside of Montserrat can purchase by submitting applications to the authorized broker/dealer – First Citizens Investment Services Limited, 9 Brazil Street, Castries, St Lucia.

SUBSCRIPTION TERMS AND CONDITIONS All subscriptions become irrevocable after submission, and when received by

any of the authorized agents.A maximum of three joint applicants is allowed for each subscription, except in

the case of existing joint shareholders exercising their pre-emption rights. In such cases a primary shareholder should be identifi ed.

Additional details are available in the Prospectus which is available Free of Charge at the Bank's headquarters in Brades and on the website: www.bankofmontserrat.ms

The Bank's opening hours are MON-THUR : 8:00AM - 2:00PM FRI : 8:00AM - 3:00PM

REQUIREMENTS FOR PURCHASING SHARES: Application Form, ID, Manager's Cheque

The Bank of Montserrat Limited, YOUR BANK, YOUR FUTURE.

Almost every press release or communica-tion given by DFID con-tains the word ‘COMPLI-ANCE’. What is the rea-son for this? The compli-ance word seems to be in every announcement made by politicians too. What is the connotation of compli-ance or non-compliance? The majority of Montser-ratians comply with every regulation or law, so what is the issue?

For example, here is the case of two strug-gling civil servants, one is a career fi re offi cer and the other is a police ser-geant. Both of them have a spouse and two children. Their salary is about $3400 a month; and each month income tax is deducted by the government, their em-ployer. One owns a house at Look Out # 2 valued at over $200,000. And each year he pays about $200 in property tax. They both comply. No matter what regulations are in place on Montserrat, they comply.

Again, they struggle to survive, yet each employee pays the direct income tax imposed on his govern-ment paid salary. In ad-dition, they pay indirect taxes on every item of mer-chandise they purchase. They repay the merchant the customs duty paid on the rice, the sugar, the macaroni, the chicken and the can sodas. And when you examine the transac-tions involved in buying and selling, each consumer pay to the merchant, in ad-vance, the very income tax that the merchant should pay to the government.

So there is no doubt that the average consumer complies; whether he or

she purchases gas for cook-ing or for his or her motor vehicle. Yes, we all repay DELTA for all custom duty and tax paid to the govern-ment. Even the bartender pays, in advance, to the merchant, not only every cent of customs duty but every dollar the merchant is supposed to pay to the government for income tax. That’s compliance!

But here is another twist to the compliance issue. These days every-where you turn on Montser-rat, there is talk that the government paid the Look Out land owner over $9 million for land. And there is also talk that the gov-ernment never deducted one dollar in tax from the payment. Is this fair? That land owner made millions in profi ts. He should have paid income tax on that profi t. I wonder whether DFID is unaware that no tax was deducted from the transaction.

However, the issue over that transaction is much more than com-pliance; and I hope that DFID is not mistaking this hole in the tax law as non-compliance. It is this; should any trader receive that sum of money with-out being charged income tax? If so, Montserrat must revisit its income tax laws to cover this type of trade and matters such as capital gains.

And there is more, during the recent budget debate, on one hand it was bragged that govern-ment, with the assistance of DFID, paid over nine (9) million tax free dollars to a wealthy land owner; and on the other hand it was forcefully shouted (as

if to please DFID) that the government will take the struggling petty contractor to court for a few thousand dollars in tax arrears. Now, is this double standard or politicians entering into the realm of the deliberate confusion in the name of compliance?

Let us look at another form of compliance; each year every petty contractor pays thousands of dollars in indirect tax to maintain the roads leading to Look Out, Olveston and Belham. That is compliance.

Now, consider this scenario, each year the sand miners with their big trucks destroy the roads; they sell Montserrat natu-ral resource making mil-lions of dollars. Do they pay a fair share of their sales in royalties or taxes to the government so that the struggling consumer can pay less for imported goods? Are there adequate tax collecting regulations in place so that these sand miners can comply and make more contributions to the islands revenue?

The issue as far as the Montserrat Reporter Limited is concerned is this; it is not enough for DFID to grumble about non-compliance, and then sweetheart with the politi-cians. That is confusing!

By the way you heard it for yourself. The Premier said election is just 15 months away. Well, just in case you are wonder-ing about the role of The Montserrat Reporter in the next election, remember this. We are neither politi-cian nor opposition; we try to be part of the solution; and we believe in compli-ance.


Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. - Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

Every morning I write down a verse of scripture to remember as a motto for the day. One day my exhortation had to do with not slandering. I know that spreading rumors with the intention of harming someone is wrong.

But it occurred to me later that there is a form of speech as insidious as untruth: speaking of another’s faults to a third person — even though the faults may be real. We are prone to tell others about the wrong someone has

Only the Gooddone or about a particular weakness someone struggles with. Even though no lies are told, such talk can cause prejudice or suspicion. Relationships can be negatively affected.

That day as I was reflecting on my motto from scripture, a man called to tell me a story that I was confident was not true. My first reaction was: I will tell my colleagues about this! But doing so would have harmed the reputation of the person he was calling me about. Then I remembered the verse that I had read that morning and by the grace of God, I said nothing. Now I make it a practice to ask the Lord to watch over the door of my lips. (See Ps. 141:3.)

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

Prior to writing our editorial of last issue, we had learned the reason why the feedback fl owing to us after the budget and the ensuing Legislative As-sembly debate, was somewhat low-key and questionable.

We had known that something was not all right, but could not confi rm until after the budget debate that DFID had not agreed on the level of budgetary aid that Montserrat would enjoy for 2013/14 and that to satisfy legislation, the Minister of Finance, Premier Meade would have to do something. That did not have to be the one he chose which was to pretend or mislead his people that he was presenting an honest to goodness budget, that would have to undergo modifi cations throughout the year.

No one would tell us exactly what the Premier’s plans or thoughts were, maybe no one knows, since that seems to be a kind of pattern, as he does continue in many ways his one-manism. What we do know is that DFID had issued what they call an ‘Aid Memoire’ which set out the reason why they had obviously, not up to near budget day conveyed to the government anything different to what they said. “The DFID team left Montserrat unable to provide GoM with conclusive fi ndings or an indication of the budget aid settlement for 2013/14.”

They left Montserrat very early February and while we have not been able to date the Aid Memoire, it was believed to have been generated by late February and it was conveyed to the Premier, who did not share with top stakeholders, other leaders of government. DFID in that document did state, “This is likely to result in GoM putting a temporary budget before the Legislative Assembly to ensure funds remain available to Ministries when the new fi nancial year starts.”

We know and DFID has confi rmed they DO NOT tell the Montserrat elected Government what to do. That will not be admitted on one side or the other. We understand that there are some issues and matters that ought not to be shared world-wide but call that the above dishonest, at the least not transparent. There are just some things that should be shared with the people, since it would help the management of the country, which that Aid document shows to be wanting.

This is not to say there is no management or no leadership It is simply that what is being said with the lips and the actions much of the time is not in keeping with what most will say is for the genuine good of the country, but rather for what is called to be kind, ‘special interests’.

It is diffi cult to adhere to ‘certain’ pressures, when you have to depend on more than 50% as is required to balance the recurrent budget. But the truth of the matter is, when that pressure is because you do not keep your side of agreements and responsibilities, it is not diffi cult to fi nd “it only gets worse”. One thing that we will fi nd is that DFID will always lean back and admit as they have done before, that it sometimes take too much time to get some things done. Others are simply unavoidable and we have heard our Premier accede to that.

However, when we learn that Montserrat, for many years have not ac-cessed offers of assistance to improve our capacity with technical help, fi ll-ing key posts, is it not more than likely that we will not be able to provide as DFID says we have not, “all of the information and documents required to allow the review team to fully assess budget and revenue performance in 2012/13 and GoM’s forecasts for 2013/14 and beyond”?

The answer that is needed, especially when considers that this has been going on for years, why is this allowed to continue? If you ask this of DFID reps and the Governor, as we have, you hear of the of the reasons and excuses of the ‘reality’ why these situations ‘continue’ to exist. The question we must ask, why would these appear as issues in an Aide Memoire as observations or complaints of Montserrat’s non-cooperation, refusal, or just the government’s desire to do something their own way or simply do not agree?

One government offi cial while not responding to the fact that the budget was somewhat of a ‘farce’ said that Government was concentrating on the capital budget which gives them ability to put the private sector to work and do something towards improving the economy. Sounds good, if however that really is so, and it is not only going to serve special interests, and the insider trading that is so popular. But, who is going to manage the capital budget and make it a success, if we do not access much more than 30% of the technical assistance, both short term and long term, as well as fi ll the key posts in the public sector?

Much more need and can be said and expansion, so let’s keep sounding. What is the game and who are playing? What are the stakes, or who?

There must be a game, but who is playing, the accuser or the accused?

Commentary:CARICOM is dead!

cont’d. on page 9

By Dr Isaac NewtonIt is time to grieve, mourn,

and bravely accept the rigor mor-tis of the Caribbean Community’s death.

The signs of our grave are in regional conferences, declara-tions, and summits. These are rarely backed by evidence-based deliverables. We cover up strate-gic blunders in gut feelings and anecdotes. With too shallow a notion of integration, we copy international models that work admirably in other regions of the world, but fail to bring structural changes at home.

The more chilling pronounce-ments fl ow from one treaty to the next, the stiffer regional

By Dr Purnima J. ShahaniST GEORGE’S, Grenada --

Today, I rode the "Number 1 bus" in Grenada, from Grand Anse to St George’s. This is what we Trinida-dians call a public "maxi" and my ride to "town" and back was the fi rst ever in such transport in my life, having arduously avoided them all my days in Trinidad.

What an experience! It was like another world entirely, not without its own unique charm, much to my surprise. There is a driver and a conductor, who is literally called "Conductor", which people sing out softly when they are approaching their stop, to catch his attention and nudge their ES$2.50 toward him.

By the way, "maxi protocol" demands that one makes a not-too-

institutions become. Even worse, the more hopeless conscientious ‘Caribbeaners’ feel about our single market and economy, the more we decompose.

Viable freedoms to live anywhere in the Caribbean, to cultivate a regional serenity, and to have a Caribbean Court of fi nal appeal are lifeless aspirations.

CARICOM’s death is func-tional. It is locked in place by Caribbean people losing their honour. Nothing stops us from un-dermining our unity or suffocating our interdependent identity.

This is not death in sym-bol. This is death of soul and system.

Eloquence in political sur-

vival has killed us. The results: Caribbean people are caught in a rush to squeeze each other out of small domestic markets. There is a flamboyancy to get close to developed nations with little regard for regional consequences. There’s ruthless zealotry at play. When personality cult and immi-gration persecution of each other makes us inhumane, regionalism is pulled from life support.

Although we can’t stop CARICOM’s death, we can use it as a cycle of new beginnings.

To forge a regional life that produces innovative solutions, we must replace existing think-ing and behaviourswith more

Riding the Number One bus in Grenada

loud, not-too-soft, not-too-long, not-too-quick drumming on whatever metallic part if the van is at hand to indicate that Driver should stop just ahead. Conductor bangs louder if the sound came from the back of the van, so driver is certain to be alerted. Perfect division of labour...Driver makes sure he goes as fast as possible, so passengers have only a near-death experience in-stead of a complete one (but if they did die, believe you me, they would actually be early for their own fu-neral, since Driver would get them there sooner than invitees travelling by any other, non-maxi means) and Conductor does the rest.... balanc-ing and the ins and outs, the stops and pickups, the taking of fare, the making of change, the packing in like sardines of the innards of his

orchestra (the womb of the maxi), a gentle fl ick of his wrist indicating to the "newbies" (only us today!) how we should move and shift and squeeze as other wayfarers come and go.

There was no thought of disobeying his instructions, de-spite several occasions where the internal move caused a foreign thigh, a bony shoulder, a sticky schoolchild's armpit or the occa-sional hip to be rather too intimately affi liated with one's own vulner-able anatomy! A rich and colourful new thread in my life's tapestry, and for the bargain price of only EC$5 (per person, round trip)!The shell-shocked, deer-in-headlights look in Husband's eyes by the end of our adventuresome journeys....Priceless!


CXC Awards Ceremony...cont’d. from page 1

LEGAL NOTICEIN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

PROBATE DIVISION n the Estate of PETER WILLIAM MOLYNEAUX, deceasedNOTICE 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 Probate of the Will in the Estate of PETER WILLIAM MOLYNEAUX late of Davy Hill Montserrat, who died at the Glendon Hospital, St.Johns, Montserrat, be granted to WILLIAM KEITH THOMAS of Olveston Montserrat the Executor named in the Will of the deceased.

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

FURTHER any person objecting to the issuance of a grant to the Applicant should notify the Registrar of the High Court of Justice not later than (14) days from the date of this Notice.

Dated this 11thday of April, 2013.

BRANDT & ASSOCIATESAttorneys-at-Law

Montserrat.”The evenings ceremony be-

gan with an invocation led by MSS Student Allen Mullingsfollowed by a Welcome &Introduction by Ministry of Education Executive Officer Miss Meridith Lynch of the Chairperson, Mr. Gregory Ju-lius, Principal the Brades Primary School.

Chairperson Julius, noted in opening remarks as he addressed the students. “I’m sure you’ll agree with that, as you stand on the brink of moving into a life beyond your achievement at CXC, change will be inevitable , it is inevitable and indeed gratifying to see that our awarding class have matured and become skill associ-

ate, profi cient ready to tackle and further their lifelong education, it is inevitable that structures and processes and relationships will change in your day to day lives…” he told them.

Thirty-four (34) students from the 2012 CXC examinations satisfi ed the criteria for the follow-ing awards ranging from fi ve to ten passes. The criteria for the awards covered 5 to 8 or more subject passes; as well as Most Outstand-ing Performance in Humanities, Most Outstanding Performance in Technical & Vocational Subjects, Most outstanding Performance in the Sciences, Most Outstanding Performance in Business Educa-tion Subjects, Overall Outstanding CCSLC Students, Overall Outstand-ing CSEC Student and Overall Outstanding CAPE Student.

Eight students gained 5 CXC passes; eleven gained 6, three gained 7; seven gained 8; two gained nine, and three gained 10 subjects. The three were Joseph Cassell who obtained 7 grade ones; Michaela Greer who achieved 7 grade ones, and the star of the awardees Tiffannie Skerritt who obtained 10 grade ones.

Under the CAPE awardsThe OVERALLOUTSTANDING student in the 2012 CXC CAPE examina-

tions was Miss Kadine Cabey. Miss Tiffannie Skerritt, with

the 2012 national CXC CSEC Over-all Outstanding Student Award was easily the student of the moment with her achievements, making his-tory in the Emerald Isle at the 2012 May/June CSEC Examination. The young woman is the fi rst to make all grade one passes for the island in 10 subject areas.

She gave the Awardee’s Re-fl ection on Achievement student speech in which she told her fellow students, that along the lines of the Montserrat Community College motto, she encourages the class of 2012, “to continue to aspire to continue to apply and to continue to achieve…”

She noted that they were ‘volcano babies’ born in 1995 and 96. “There is so much potential within our year,” she said, as she closed, “I wish you all the best, wishing you a happy year, and hope that ten years from now when we meet up someplace we will be able to refl ect on these great memories that we have.”

The Hon Minister of Educa-tion, Youth Affairs & Sports, Colin Riley was the honoured speaker at the event, delivering the feature ad-dress in which he told the audience.

“This graduating class of 2012, I believe is doing much better than we did 30-33 years ago - so believe in yourselves, as he at the same opined, “I always believe however that school children do not do as well as they can,” ädding, “I believe that our future must be defi ned by us making smart choices.”

He shared the thought, that smart choices require a few uncom-promising things the fi rst of which, he said:“is open discussion. You must begin or continue the process of discussion, debate, analysis and conclusion.Ssecond, is the commitment to high and minimum standards. Our minimum standards for managing all our institutions that matter must be high, and you this emerging generation must de-mand that for example at MSS and

MCC and at the University of the West Indies open and on campus, that all the standards are pitched at a very high level. The third thing I want to remind us to think about is that a decision for benchmarking our results and this will get us in the habit of knowing where we are in a competitive world we must begin, we must never accept being left behind, never.

. Each deserving student received their award along with the special awards as described above for most outstanding per-formances.

The Presentation of Tokens followed by a Vote of Thanks by MissYasmin White, Education Offi -cer and Local Registar brought the business of the evening to an end, followed by light refreshments.

Miss Kadine Cabey receiving th Most Overall Outstanding student CXC CAPE Award from Hon. Colin Riley

Top CCSLC Student

Audience at CXC Awards Ceremony

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Montserrat now has Emergency Responders, trained and certifi ed

Everyone including the doctors through one spokes-person of the Police, Fire, Nurses, Doctors,Red Cross,

and representative from Over-seas, Anguilla, thanked the organisers and sponsor, the Governor’s Office, praised

facilitators and lecturers. RMFS Chief Mr. Andre West who was presented as the person who persisted to

stage the course in Montserrat made special mention of Miss Milykhia McKenzie of The Montserrat Reporter, though representing the Red Cross, was the only private sector representative.

She gave a review in an almost daily run down of the different courses, from a telephone call to pick up the books which required two days of homework preparation and daily homework, fi rst for the first course advancing after tests/exams to the EMR, ITLS and related pediatric.

23 participants from various emergency agencies graduated with 100% pass. 17 received certifi cate of compe-tency in Emergency Medical Response EMR, while 15 in ITLS and 10 ITLS pediatric.The participants with a high

ters Training room in Brades.

Fire Offi cer Vachel Murrain, chaired the proceedings with par-ticipant Yvette Halley delivering an opening prayer.

Newly appoint-ed Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Andre West gave brief remarks in which he informed the 23 graduants of the work-shop, “your journey has just begun. It is now time to put what you

success rate in the EMR course moved on to take the Interna-tional Trauma Life Support (ITLS) and the ITLS Paedi-atrics’ course, similarly fi ve participants following with a brief Instructor’s course taking the training workshop down to April 5.

The occasion was a clos-ing ceremony of a training workshop on Emergency Medical Responders (EMR) and International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) Training, con-ducted at the Police Headquar-

have learnt and experienced over the period 19th March to today 5th April into practice,” reminding them of a quote: “ Remember “if you don’t use it you will surely lose it.”

Besides the graduants there were a small number of guests which included the me-dia as well as representatives from the Governor’s Office who was the main sponsor of the workshop.

“Today we have success-fully achieved another essential cont’d. on page 9


Gas increase a burdencont’d. from page 1

ago in that order, it came down now it’s gone back up.But what are the reasons?Is it the reason is increase in government taxes, or is it increase from Delta Petroleum?It is not an increase on global scale in terms of gas production that is not valid I know that from being in the stock market, just tell us why, then we can make a proper comment.”

“When the gas go to these type of price what must we do burn coal? Murphy is the only person that burn coal regularly and he nar sell.”

“I think this is ridiculous they need to carry back down this gas form one something to two hundred and something no way, we have to march in this

nificant. Diesel now sells at $15.93 up from $14.11 for a 13% increase, while petrol is up $1.01 from $15.12 to $16.13.

The comments from the various persons encompass much of the diff iculty and reflect the feelings over the huge increase in already high cost of living in Montserrat, which according to DFID show an inflation of 25% from 2006, commenting that from a recent survey, neither public sector pay nor social welfare has increased

since 2006. I t i s we l l known also t h a t t h e employees a l l r o u n d a r e a l s o complaining they have not received increase in salary and wages for s e v e r a l years, some not count-i n g o n a guaranteed salary.

Leader of the opposition, Donaldson Romeo, commented from Antigua. He says the price for lpg in Antigua for a 100lb cylinder is $158.00. He said, “I understand it is subsidised by the Antiguan government and the people of Antigua are fussing over $158.00, and are shocked to learn that Montser-rat is now paying $233 over a previous $169.”

“This is just too much for people to bear, and I think something needs to be done to help the people of Montser-

rat.We have been under allot of strain for a long time,” he concluded.

Romeo had only recently questioned the Premier and Minister of Finance about the possibility of reducing the duty or subsidise the cost of petrol and cooking gas to the con-sumer. A reduction in the cost of diesel will impact the cost of electricity. He had heard the response of NO one more time from the Premier.

Meanwhile Manager of local Delta according to ZJB re-ports, says the prices for Diesel, gasoline, and LPG are calculated by government trade depart-ment. She further stated, that there has been an established understanding between Delta and the government of Montser-rat about how the selling prices for all petroleum products are determined”

According to ZJB, she fur-ther explained that every time a new shipment comes to the island the price of the product is determined by the prevailing invoice price to Montserrat as well as the volumes, which, she says, may result in variation in prices from time to time.

...country.”“I think that we’re being

taken for a ride, the government is not looking after the older

people them. Gas prices gone up, passport gone up, birth paper gone up, and we aren’t doing nothing about it and we need to do something about it we need to protest and stand up for our rights because this is overkill and if cooking gas gone up as well how awe a go survive.”

“If me buy the gas me can’t buy food.”

Meanwhile there has been an increases at the pump in both diesel and petrol prices while not as high, yet sig-

Long ago photo of Delta LPG depot at Carrs Bay


You don’t have to spend a lot of money on jewelry. Make beautiful beads with old newspapers.YOU WILL NEED• Old newspapers• White glue• Varnish• Craft paint• Drill• Ribbon or string• Sandpaper HERE’S HOW1. Round up a few newspapers.2. Tear the paper into small pieces.3. Place the pieces of newspaper in a large pot.4. With the help of an adult, cover paper with boiling water.5. Allow newspaper and water to sit for an hour, stirring occasionally to break the pieces up.6. Drain the water out.7. Add glue to the paper.8. Roll the paper into round balls.9. Let them dry for a few days.10. Smooth each bead down with a bit of sandpaper. It helps when applying paint.11. With the help of an adult, drill a hole in each bead.12. Paint them.13. Coat beads with varnish.14. After varnish dries, string a ribbon through the beads.

Kids time - In your own korner

Davy had just moved to England. His uncle died and his father decided that he and Davy would go to England to take care of the farm. His uncle had sheep, goats, cows, pigs, chick-ens, ducks, geese and an ox. Davy’s father loved animals and wanted to take care of them.

Davy had heard that a ghost was haunting the barnyard and wanted to see it. Because of that the animals were confused. The horses were mooing and the cows were neighing. The chickens were quacking and the ducks were clucking. The goats were oinking and the pigs were bleating. The town’s folk were afraid to come near the barn and so the farm was not making enough money.

Davy decided to try to see the ghost. One night he was very lucky. He heard the faint sound of the barn door opening. Davy could not believe what he saw. Right in front of him was a pale white figure with a pitch fork in its hands. The ghost kept looking around the barn as if it was looking for something. Davy hid behind the haystack afraid the ghost would hurt him. When the ghost passed, Davy ran into his bedroom.

“I never want to see a ghost again!” said Davy.

The next morning Davy told his father everything that had happened. His father

wanted proof. He and Davy went to the barn that night. Suddenly the air turned cold and there was a high pitched scream. A familiar pale white face was looking through the window.

Hello everyone – It is kid’s time with Auntie Lyka “In Your Own Korner”. For some of you the new school term has al-ready started and for others the term will begin on Monday. I wish all of you the best for this new term. Put your best in and you will reap good rewards. read a book as you travell this journey.

Pre-School CornerHello to you my preschool friends. This week we will look at NUMBERS. I hope you enjoy. Write the correct number for each train.

“This is the end of the world!” thought Davy.Davy’s father looked at Davy helplessly.The ghost spoke and said, “Do not be afraid

for I have only come for something.”“What?” Davy asked. “Well, I must milk a cow. If I do not, I cannot rest in peace,” he replied. “Why?” asked Davy’s father.

The Ghost in the Barnyardby Andrew Mitchell, 10 years old

“Because I must finish what I did not in or-der to rest in peace,” the ghost explained, “I was milking a cow when it kicked me and I died.”

Davy asked the ghost, “Is that why all the cows are neighing and all the horses mooing?”

“Yes,” said the ghost, “Because I am here, dead but still alive.”

“Okay, I will help you,” Davy replied.Davy’s father and the ghost went into the

barn. Davy got the milk bucket. The ghost got to work. It took half an hour before the bucket was full.

When it was full, the ghost turned to Davy and said, “Good bye, Davy,” and he disappeared into thin air.

Since that day, Davy and his father have never seen the ghost. All of the animals went back to normal and people started coming to buy at the farm again.

About the author...Andrew Mitchell is originally from St. Kitts

and now lives in Ghana. He is ten years old and attends Ghana International School. Andrew likes mystery and action books and books by Roald Dahl. Right now he is

reading Artemious Fowl. He also enjoyed Harry Potter, the Percy Jackson series, Beast Quest, The Magician’s Elephant and the

Caribbean Adventure Series.

Craft timeNewspaper Beads

Maths Cross Puzzle

Colouring Time

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]


cont’d. from page 6

cont’d. from page 4

Emergency Responders workshop

CARICOM dead

CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY SECRETARIATSTAFF VACANCIES

Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualifi ed nationals of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States and Associate Members of the Caribbean Community to fi ll the following positions with assigned duty station in Guyana:

Director, Strategic Management(i) Director, Economic Policy and Development(ii) Senior Project Offi cer, Monitoring and Evaluation(iii) Communications Offi cer, Communications Unit(iv)

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].

Applicants must complete the Profi le Summary Form included with the website notices.

The deadline for the submission of applications is 28 April 2013.

milestone of providing profes-sional training in Emergency Medical response and Inter-national trauma Life support for adults and pediatric,” West explained in his brief remarks. He added that they were ex-pected, “to respond effi ciently and effectively to emergencies of that nature. Thus improving the service we provide to the people of Montserrat for the purpose of saving lives, mini-mizing the effect of injuries

ment of chronic conditions and community help monitoring. EMS will remain the Public Emergency Medicals safety network.”

The facilitator explained that the participants did for the last two-three weeks,“formed that network. We have brought them together cause here now we have - what police, EMS, Red cross all on the same page.”

“So when you get up there you all know the vision,. “ she advised.“What the mission and what we all need to be doing, that way, we save time and we save more lives.” She concluded.

Each named body through a representative gave their impression of the workshop. Each one refl ected on the depth and the strenuous nature of what they studied, but talked to the benefi ts they believe they gained from the course, from which there was not a single dropout from any the courses.

sophisticated systems aimed at profi table outcomes.

There are enough experts and extraordinary island people who are willing to invest their time, talents and energies to of-fer new solutions to our current crises. Some are ready to improve quality life for all.

Others prefer to spearhead a chain of events that leads to the economic and social transforma-tion of our people. Very few are willing to risk conspired malice, targeted spite and vengeance-mindedness that attack ‘objective doers’ who speak powerful truth and truth to power.

Upon smelling the stench of CARICOM’s death, you will have a repulsive reaction. You simply can’t continue to appreciate island love, people, food, friends, family, carnival and cricket only to reject regional productivity. In all areas of common challenges and shared differences, you must

feel a certain transgression -- that purposeful clarity of leav-ing behind backwardness and bad-mindedness to apply our indigenous intelligence.

Escaping the bowels of self-hatred requires fresh eyes to explore the internal value we have to offer the international community. We need to identify the benchmarks of success to capitalize on unlimited resources at home. This will help us resist defeatism.

An acute emphasis on deeds over polite talks will turn the human side of regionalism away from historical fantasy, post-colonial musings, and futuristic hysteria.

We’l l have to f ind the strength to tone down internal insecurities. We’ll have to move ahead of the present, not be retarded by the past. The answer is simple, but the task is diffi cult. We must relate to each other with full blown trust, heartfelt

acceptance, and blooming com-passion!

Not just our leaders, but we-the-people must become more intimately involved in CARICOM’s resurrection. There is no room to be neutral. Subjugating our sover-eignty to our collective preserva-tion is the only way to resuscitate CARICOM, and restore its rightful place in the psyches and souls of Caribbean people.

Progressive governments won’t fall out of coconut trees. Island builders won’t be imported from foreign shores. Political thinkers that align CARICOM’s needs with global trends won’t all come from the University of West Indies.

Perhaps our revolutionaries are in our very midst, next door if you please; grassroots if you search. The qualities that could make us so much more success-ful will never shoot our functional capacity.

But to recoup the driving

substance inherent in our collec-tive ideals, we need an ethical cru-sade. It will manifest its potency in the rebirth of CARICOM at the Secretariat and communal levels. It will nurse good people and put them to work on a common goal. It will help us select leaders that won’t keep our best minds in the cold to horde political power.

We-the-people will screen all public servants for a mindset of failure. They will be expected to tackle cronyism and dethrone private ordeals in exchange for executing with excellence.

Can we break this ethical blockage? Can we promote moral responsibility in earnest? If we do, our inalienable rights will free us to participate in good governance with dignity and pride. In acting for regional betterment, we must be sensitive to temptations of narrow financial interests, en-trenched party politics that kills the progressive spirit, and ex-clusive familiarity with all things foreign that disregard homegrown capital.

If this ethical crusade spreads to wide-scale concrete and intangible success, big things could happen! Power to the

people could be restored, govern-ments could defend the wider interests of the Caribbean Com-munity, and we-the-people could harness capitalism and democracy to support a thriving livelihood for all Caribbean people.

A breakthrough pathway to regional development is within reach. It is premise on creating a self-sufficient, fully compre-hensive green energy haven. This must be coherently tied to a world class education that competes globally and win. Mea-suring victory on deeper terms is critical. It begins by putting our best talent to work together at home and abroad. It continues by making social justice, respect for the elderly, the protection of our children, gender equity, and our overall wellbeing our greatest concern.

There are many sides to death. CARICOM must die to inac-tivity, procrastination, and medi-ocrity. Institutionally, the organs of the Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana must be felt in each island state with penetrating relevance and enforceable bite. In pursing new opportunities and managing regional needs with global priori-

ties, the Secretariat must become more fl exible, transparent, stra-tegic and effective at integrating partner interactions with internal processes that deliver practical results.

Now tell me. What is so unrealistic about breathing new life into CARICOM from the inside out, and the outside in?

We’ve got to stop dying from the poison of our own lethal injections!

It will take equal access to resources to erase long-term pov-erty. It will take entrepreneurial coaching and self-love to truly develop every family, village and community, and it will take a radiant embodiment of the Golden Rule for CARICOM to live again!

and promoting recovery.”West also emphasized

that the value of the training that was delivered over the past few weeks, ‘way’ out weights the actual cost. He added, “I am confi dent that the participants can share the same testimony.”

The chief instructor was instructor was Jeffrey Gilliard, President and CEO of Emer-gency Education and Tech-nology Systems (EMETS) in Rockledge, Florida. In brief

closing remarks, he reviewed briefl y, the training course and all of the areas covered.

“They went over EMS (Emergency Medical Sys-tems) work force safety and wellness, medical, legal and ethical issues, communications and documentations, anatomy and physiology, the entire human body, airway manage-ment. Also, American Heart Association CPR or basic life support, for which they receive a certification card. Patient

assessment, medical emergen-cies, poisoning and substance abuse, behavioral emergen-cies, environmental emergen-cies, bleeding, shock and soft issues injuries. Injuries to the muscle and bone, child birth, pediatric emergencies, geri-atric emergencies, lifting and moving patients with a total core content hour of 75 hours,” he explained.

“Additionally,” he said there was, “EMS education to include the ITLS programs

of another 16 hours,” making a total hours of 91 hours. For this accomplishment he of-fered congratulations to the participants.

Gilliard’s assistant for the duration of the course was Jac-queline Greenidge-Paynewho hailed from St. Croix, USVI. She is a paramedic, working with the Fire Service. Mrs. Greenidge Payne says the training allowed the emergen-cy organizations here to form a network that will result in them working cohesively.

She gave background to service of medical respond-ers. “Right now all emergency medical service organization nationwide in the United States came together and decided we want to a have the same agenda - the same scope - ev-eryone is doing the same thing throughout the United States,” she said.

She read what that global vision is,“so that you can see that your start is part of our global vision.

“Emergency medical services of the future will be community based health man-agement that is fully integrated with the overall health care system. It will have the ability to identify, modify, illnesses and injury risk, provide acute illness and injury care and fol-low up and contribute to treat-

Dr Isaac Newton is an interna-tional leadership and change management consultant and po-litical adviser who specialises in government and business rela-tions, and sustainable develop-ment projects. Dr Newton works extensively in West Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, and is a graduate of Oakwood College, Harvard, Princeton and Columbia. He has published several books on personal development and writ-ten many articles on economics, leadership, political, social, and faith-based issues


REGIONAL JUDICIAL AND LEGAL SERVICES COMMISSION

POSITION OF DEPUTY REGISTRAR AND DEPUTY MARSHAL OF THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE

The Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission invites applications for the post of Deputy Registrar and Deputy Marshal. The Deputy Registrar and Deputy Marshal reports to the Registrar and assists the Court, the President and Judges in the discharge of their judicial functions. The Deputy Registrar may, subject to the direction of the Registrar, exercise and perform all or any of the powers and duties of the Registrar.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: Assists the Registrar in the supervision of the legal and quasi-judicial work of the Court Registry. • Accepts, transmits and takes custody of documents related to court matters. • Performs the functions of taxing master. Effects service as provided for under the Rules of Court. • Prepares, signs and Issues Court orders. • Exercises the powers and jurisdiction as are from time to time prescribed by the Rules of Court. • Assists the Registrar with the training of staff. Keeps an electronic record of cases before the Court and updates the status of same. • Makes arrangements for such interpretations or verifi cation of translations into the Court’s offi cial language as the Court may require in connection with • proceedings before the Court. Publishes Court judgments, advisory opinions and such other documents as may be required to be published under the Rules of Court. • Gives direction in matters before the Court as prescribed by the Rules of Court. • Provides a high level of support to the Bench in preparation for and during Court sittings. • Responds to queries concerning the Court and its work. • Assists the Registrar in implementing such special assignments and instructions as directed by the President. • Assists the Registrar in performing the functions of Secretary to the Commission. • Assists the Registrar in liaising with the regional deputy registrars where necessary. • Performs the duties of the Registrar in her absence.•

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: Sound knowledge of Court Registry operations, practices, procedures and protocols. • Track record in administration and management practices. • Knowledgeable about the Caribbean Court of Justice Rules of Court (Original and Appellate Jurisdictions).• Knowledgeable about the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice. • Sound knowledge of international, regional and local courts and organisations. • Familiarity with International Law. • Familiarity with Casefl ow Management principles. • Knowledge of research methods, techniques and sources of electronic databases. • Strong analytical skills and ability to make sound judgments. • Resourceful and able to develop creative solutions to a myriad of problems. • High level of energy and drive and adaptability to a fast-paced changing environment. • Ability to build trust, credibility and effective working relationships with all levels of staff within the organization and with external stakeholders. • Ability to work well in a team. Excellent interpersonal, communications (oral and written) and presentation skills. • Ability to multi-task and prioritize with ease. • Profi ciency in the Microsoft Offi ce Suite of programmes.•

Developing Competency:Regional Outlook

Minimum Experience and Training: An attorney-at-law of a minimum of eight (8) years standing, with extensive knowledge of the workings of a Court as would have been gained in a similar court

system in a senior capacity such as Registrar, Deputy Registrar/Assistant Registrar, or Chief Magistrate.

CompensationSalary Band 4: US$4,000.00 – US$5,300 (free of tax)

Applicants are asked to note the following:

Application forms can be accessed:

1.Via the Court’s website at www.caribbeancourtofjustice.org (click on “Careers: Deputy Registrar and Deputy Marshal”);2.Upon request via electronic mail, fax or contacting (868) 623 8376; or3.By hand from the offi ce of the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission at 134 Henry Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Applications may be submitted with a Curriculum Vitae:1.Electronically to [email protected] Fax to (868) 625 40043.By Hand/Post to the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission at 134 Henry Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Only applications submitted electronically will be acknowledged.

Deadline: Friday 26th April 2013 at 4:00 p.m.Atlantic Standard Time (Trinidad & Tobago)


ORGANISATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES Consultancy Services

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking to procure consultancy services for the

“Development of Promotional Print and Broadcast Material for Radio and Television”

The Secretariat thus wishes to invite suitable individuals or fi rms to indicate their interest in providing the required services. Interested applicants are directed to obtain further details from the OECS website www.oecs.org or the following URL address: www.caricom.org ; www.eccaa.aero

This April 3, 2013 pho-to provided by the Greeley Police shows the text mes-sage University of Northern Colorado student Alexan-der Heit was typing to an unidentified person when police say he lost control of his car and ran off the road. He was taken to North Colorado Medical Center where he later died. Now his parents are hoping to convince others not to text and drive. The name of the message's recipient was redacted by the Greeley Police to protect the recipi-

Constitutional reform to be debat-ed in St. Lucia Parliament soon

New cruise port under consideration for Grenada

Parents hope photo of fatal text serves as warning

ent's identity. (AP Photo/Greeley Police)

DENVER (AP) — Al-exander Heit's fi nal text cut off in mid-sentence. Before he could send it, police say the 22-year-old University of Northern Colorado stu-dent drifted into oncoming traffi c, jerked the steering wheel and went off the road, rolling his car.

Heit died shortly after the April 3 crash, but his parents and police are hop-ing the photo of the mun-dane text on his iPhone will serve as a stark reminder to

drivers.The photo, published

Wednesday in The Greeley Tribune, shows Heit was responding to a friend by typing "Sounds good my man, seeya soon, ill tw" before he crashed.

Witnesses told police that Heit appeared to have his head down when he be-gan drifting into the oncom-ing lane in the outskirts of Greeley, where the Univer-sity of Northern Colorado is located. According to police, an oncoming driver slowed and moved over just

before Heit looked up and jerked the steering wheel.

Police say Heit, a Colo-rado native who loved hik-ing and snowboarding, had a spotless driving record and wasn't speeding.

In a statement released through police, Heit's moth-er said she doesn't want anyone else to lose someone to texting while driving.

"In a split second you could ruin your future, in-jure or kill others, and tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you," Sharon Heit said.

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Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Kenny Anthony of Grenada

St Lucia -- The fi nal report of the Saint Lucia Constitutional Reform Commission has been tabled in Parliament by Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony.

When the House of As-sembly met on Tuesday April 2, 2013, the document was laid by the prime minister and copies were made available to each member of the House of Assembly for perusal.

The Constitutional Reform Commission was launched in November 2005 by the former Labour administration. At the time, Anthony explained that, after several years of indepen-dence, the constitution needed to be evaluated to determine whether it had served the coun-try well.

He felt too that it was necessary to encourage effec-

ST GEORGE'S, Grena-da -- The New National Party (NNP) government of Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell is again considering the pos-sibility of the construction of a state of the art cruise ship facility in the north of Grenada in St Patrick.

The idea was touted in 2006/ 2007, while Mitchell was in charge.

The project is again making the rounds after Mitchell won a landslide victory at the February 19 general elections, which returned him and his NNP administration to offi ce.

The Grenada leader raised the hopes of parish-ioners as he addressed the launch of the 2013 St Pat-

rick's Festival two weeks ago.

He said that the develop-ment of the cruise ship facil-ity is part of his government's thrust to decentralize and spread development across

the country.Mitchell be-

lieves that the new project will trans-form the parish. He is confident that tourism can take off in the par-ish.

" W o r k i n g with the St Pat-rick's Organiza-tion, I believe we will be able to attract more and more people to

this part of the country," he told the gathering.

Such a project, Mitch-ell said, will provide much needed jobs and lift the stan-dard of life in the parish.

tive governance, ensure that the institutions of the state remain strong and responsive, and that the rights and freedoms guaranteed to all persons are respected.

The Commiss i on was headed by retired high court judge, Madame Justice Suzie d’Auvergne.

The report will be placed on the government of Saint Lucia website and citizens are encour-aged to read the report and submit feedback to the Offi ce of the Prime Minister.

The report will be debated by the House of Assembly some-time in the next session of Parliament.


Geothermal drilling progressingwww.themontserratreporter.com

JUS WONDERINJus wonderin how an officer in the

police or fi re service after 14 years, top the interview, top the exams, act in the position for a top post be cast aside for a colleague with only half the years of service.

Jus wonderin if a report of ‘aggressive’ behaviour, unsupported by events, can derail that process of appointment.

Jus wonderin which authority will risk court action on facts such as these. Jus won-derinwhamek de Premier never did say dat de budget me wan temporary wan becarse DFID no sure demgoin give more money till dem collect de taxes outstanding fan de big wigs an stap plan to gi-way tax and duty money to cigarette factory and sand minas.

Jus wonderin if de country no suffer twice dat way.

Jus wonderin why de Minister for Fi-nance did not reveal that the budget 2013/14

was a temporary budget or incomplete one.Jus wonderin if DFID me agree the pre-

sentation of the budget.Jus wonderin if is correct that the works

going on at the proposed site at Carrs Bay even tho d Premier say say the design plan no done is only so they can tell EU dem a spend de money to get more in July.

Jus wonderin if dat EU money was not for budgetary support rather than port.

Jus wonderin if the Indian supermarkets don’t have any toilets yet.

Jus wonderin whether the police launch ever found the Montserratian who disappeared some long while ago in a small boat at Little Bay because he was not a wanted man.

Jus wonderin wha mek people are still leaving Montserrat.

Jus wonderin if nuf baby a born to replace dem wey a leave.

The overseeing ex-perts at the geothermal drill rig site in the Cork Hill/Weekes’ area are reporting progress in Montserrat’s quest to fi nd geothermal energy that is hoped will be the ‘gold’ that will give the is-land the trust to get it out of the pits of economic disasters.

With drilling past the 1100 meters, “It’s start-ing to look like a geo-thermal well; it’s starting to heat up little bit just like we want,” said one of the fi rm Capuano En-gineering personnel with oversight of the drilling operations on behalf of Montserrat.

The two men on site said, ‘we didn’t want to see the heat until this stage here.Now we want to see it, we’ll see what it has,’ they both con-curred.

He confirms that they have progressed more than half-way to the depth they think they should go by which time should hit the “mother-lode”.

“Yeah everything is good, that’s what I’m aiming for, it’s the moth-er lode,” he said cheer-fully.

They reported that they have advised the PWD who enquired from the Premier how they were progressing, to tell the premier,“we’d be on to something maybe by this weekend to middle of the week, that’s what

we’re hoping for,” they offered.

At the time of our visit, they pointed out that no drilling going on at the time, as test-ing was ongoing. “Yeah we haven’t started the drilling yet, we’re just waiting on them to fi nish up their testing and then we’ll go back to drilling,” explaining that every time you run this pipe go the stages you got to cement them back and put those cement bond on, so we have to clean up the cement bond and then…continue.

They noted that they had dropped in all the casings along with an-

to a set of what looked like huge steel screwdrivers, explainingthat these were stabilizers.“They keep the hole form bending and twisting so you don’t have a hole like this, (pointing in a slant) . The rig must to be able to pull more of a straight hole,” not-ing that “the hole will not end up going somewhere else…we’re trying to keep it straight.”

It’s the stabilizer they keep the whole form bend-ing and twisting so you don’t have a whole like this...rig to be able to pull more of a straight hole, I mean it may do this but once it’s not this big or going way up somewhere else, we’re trying to keep it straight.

Geothermal drilling siteabove: Casings are all used upbelow: stabilizers piled and stacked, ready for use again.

other set since we saw the last set. They referred

the montserrat reporter april 12 2013

Documents