Black Immigrant Daily News

Minute Car Rentals wants to add 60 cars to its fleet by December under its newest venture, Minute RentCars, which it hopes will see individuals signing up to allow the company to use their vehicles for hire.

The expansion push comes on the heels of a franchise acquisition that has “opened up our reservation board tremendously,” CEO and Founder, Ferone Bryan told Loop News.

The company, which began operating in 2018, currently has a fleet of 40 cars split between itself and 30 long-term affiliates.

“We started this mission as the very first company to offer hourly rental in addition to our daily rental. As we continue to evolve, we are always looking at how best we can add value to the market that we serve, expand our target audience and scale our company beyond its current operational capacity,” Bryan said in a media release.’

The company hopes to attract new affiliates under its Minute RentCars Programme, thereby expanding its reach islandwide.

As for how the programme works: “You would sign up. We invite you for an inspection. Once your car is ok, we assign you an affiliate number and with that, you will be open to our reservation board which is monitored through WhatsApp,” Bryan said.

The company has found favour with individuals who were operating as informal car rental entities as well as private car owners who want to make money on the side, Bryan said.

“Before we had an affiliates programme, we catered to a lot of individuals who were overseas who didn’t have use for their cars…but that was on a longer-term relationship. With the launch of this initiative, we have moved into the part-time arrangements where people can now drive their cars and [still] rent it with us,” he said.

“We also have a lot of individuals who drive their cars to work and then may want it to earn some money to pay their car note, so it’s a mix of both,” he said

Minute Car Rentals started as an hourly car rental company with two small Suzuki Altos. But “we are giving people the option now to rent their cars for six hours or more,” Bryan said.

The company provides insurance coverage, to an extent, to ensure the safety of drivers, customers and assets.

“The moment I get access to your car, anything that happens goes on my insurance coverage, not yours. We also have internal liability coverage that covers you up to $150,000 for bumps and scratches,” he said.

There is also the option of paying a daily sum for insurance coverage for the rental period.

“Say, for example, you have accepted a 10-day booking, we generate a cover note for those 10 days and the insurance is paid per day by the affiliate.

All vehicles are also tracked and monitored.

Minute Car Rentals is also set to open its second location in Montego Bay shortly and has plans to be the first car rental company to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

“…We want to achieve this within the next three years. As a fast-rising MSME, our company’s vision has always been centred on a multi-dimensional outlook that seeks to enhance economic growth, provide income and create the highest value and convenience for our customers,” Bryan said.

Minute RentCars kicked off on November 1.

By Tameka Gordon

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC®) will host its second annual Ministerial Summit on Friday 11 November 2022 from 9:30 AM AST in St. George’s, Grenada. The event will also be live streamed via CXC® TV, www.cxc.org/cxctv.

The event will be held under the theme Flexible Learning, Credentialing and Assessment and will engage education policymakers, from across the region, in high-level dialogue. The second Ministerial Summit will consider flexible learning and assessment in a new paradigm of educational credentialling within the region’s education system. Key emphasis of the Summit is the exploration of CXC’s new qualifications management framework and flexible learning and assessment strategies at the secondary and post-secondary education level.

The agenda includes keynote addresses and two fora on discussions surrounding topical credentialing and curriculum policy issues, and educational transformation. The Honourable Dickon A.T. Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada will deliver the Keynote Address. Remarks will be delivered by Senator the Honourable David Andrew, Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, Grenada. Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Chairman of CXC® and Dr Wayne Wesley, Registrar and CEO, CXC® will both address the Summit on behalf of CXC®, while Mr Elvis Morain, Permanent Secretary with Responsibility for Education, Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, Grenada will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the Opening Ceremony.

The event will receive pre-recorded remarks from The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, Secretary General of The Commonwealth Secretariat. She will be followed by Dr Sanjaya Mishra, Director: Education, of The Commonwealth of Learning, who will share insights on the topic Flexible Credentialling in a Digital Age. In the first of two Plenary sessions, Dr Eduardo Ali, Pro-Registrar and Deputy Chief Executive Officer, CXC® and Dr Margaret Niles, Manager, Educational Research and Innovation, CXC® will explore CXC’s approach to the Learning Crisis Post-Pandemic. Secondly, Dr Nicole Manning, Director of Operations, CXC® will speak to Digital Transformation through Partnership for Quality Education.

Regional Ministers of Education and Ministry officials will provide key inputs during the second session focused on Educational Transformation: Policy, Financial Sustainability and Practice. In the first forum, Dr the Honourable Fayval Williams, Minister of Education and Youth, Jamaica; Dr the Honourable Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Minister of Education, Trinidad and Tobago and The Honourable Kay McConney, Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Barbados will share key presentations related to policies for educational transformation.

In the second forum, Dr Eduardo Ali and Mrs Sheree Deslandes, Director of Corporate Services will set the stage for a discussion around the topic: Financing Sustainable Educational Transformation in the CXC® context especially in the area of technical cooperation with development partners. The Honourable Daryll Matthew, Minister of Education, Sports and Creative Industries, Antigua andBarbuda and Dr Laurette Bristol, Programme Manager for Human Resource Development, CARICOM Secretariat will join Senior Economists of the World Bank, Dr Diego Angel-Urdinola (Human Capital Development) and Dr Victoria Levin (Global Education Practice) and Dr Martin Baptiste, Division Chief, Social Sector Division, Caribbean Development Bank in sharing perspectives on the theme Financing Sustainable Educational Transformation.

These robust discussions from regional stakeholders and policy experts should provide greater insights into the requirements of a digitally transformed Post-Pandemic Caribbean education framework.

For further information, kindly contact us at +1 (246) 227-1700 or email [email protected] (Barbados), or for queries in Jamaica at + 1 (876) 630-5200 or email: [email protected]

About CXC®:

The Caribbean Examinations Council® (CXC®) was established in 1972 under Agreement by the Participating Governments in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). CXC® assures the global human resource competitiveness of the Caribbean through the provision of syllabuses of the highest quality; valid and reliable examinations and certificates of international repute for students of all ages, abilities and interests; services to educational institutions in the development of syllabuses, examinations and examinations’ administration, in the most cost-effective way.

CXC® comprises 16 Participating Countries: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Islands.

The first examinations for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate® (CSEC®) were offered in 1979 in five subjects. Subsequent to CSEC®, CXC® has introduced a comprehensive suite of qualifications to meet the needs of the region: Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA), Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence® (CCSLC®), *Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ), Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination® (CAPE®) and the CXC® Associate Degree (CXC®-AD). The organisation also collaborates with countries in the Dutch Caribbean – Curaçao, Saba, St Eustatius and St. Maarten, as well as Suriname.

Additional information about the Caribbean Examinations Council® can be found at www.cxc.org

*Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) is the trademark of the Caribbean Association of National Training Authorities. CXC® is one of the National Training Agencies in the Caribbean which awards CVQs.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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The Canaries police station has launched a cricket competition to foster community inclusion and forestall crime in the community that the officers serve.

The brainchild of officers David Henry and Ishmael Narcisse, with the support of various sponsors, the tournament features two matches every Sunday in November from 5:00 pm.

Henry described Canaries as one of the safest communities in Saint Lucia.

And officers want to keep it that way.

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Henry explained that the role of the police was not only to enforce the law but to assist the community as well.

Eight teams are involved in the knockout competition, which started last week Sunday.

The organisers jokingly declared that the CPL ‘has nothing on us’.

They explained during an appearance on the Choice Television programme – Police Insight on Thursday that the community has warmly welcomed the cricket tournament.

“People could not stop talking about those cricket games on Sunday,” David Henry recalled.

He explained that people that others look down on come forward to register for the tournament.

And Henry recounted that an individual in the village who is very troublesome when he consumes alcohol is the captain of one of the teams.

He said on match days, the captain abstains from alcohol.

“He does not drink at all – it’s a miracle,” Henry declared.

“As a matter of fact, on game days the bar owner closes the bar and she comes to support her team,” Henry disclosed.

He told Police Insight that on afternoons young men leave an area dubbed ‘the Ghetto’ to come on the field to train.

The initiative also allows people in the community to generate income, as the organisers permit them to sell food and drinks at the games.

There are even plans for the police to challenge the Canaries community cricket tournament winner.

In addition, the Canaries police station is planning to build on the success of the cricket initiative by organising other similar sporting events.

Headline photo: (L to R) Henry & Narcisse

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Police are investigating the unnatural death of an elderly man.

He is Simion Carlisle Legall, 72 years, of Spring Farm, St Thomas.

On Thursday, November 10, around 6:30 pm, the deceased was discovered at his St Thomas residence, by a family member, lying motionless on his bed.

The Barbados Police Service is appealing to anyone who can provide any information pertaining to this incident to kindly call the Criminal Investigation Department (Northern Division) at 419-1737 or 419-1730, Police Emergency 211, Crime Stoppers at 1800-TIPS (8477) or the nearest Police Station.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The profit at GraceKennedy Limited (GK) declined by 25 per cent to $1.7 billion in its September 2022 quarter, even though revenue ticked higher.

CEO Don Wehby said that the group continues to operate in an increasingly challenging macroeconomic environment characterised by rising inflation globally, an inconsistent supply chain, increasing interest rates and distribution costs.

“In addition, ongoing global geopolitical tensions and conflicts continue to impact food prices and our supply channels. These challenges have led to margins being compressed,” said Wehby.

He cited high global inflation, the disposable income of remittance customers in the sending markets as factors that impacted its remittance business.

The group focused on its nine-month results, which are down at a lesser amount or 8.1 per cent totalling $5.2 billion.

Wehby said the group recorded “strong top-line growth”, realising revenues of $107.4 billion, an increase of 12.2 per cent or $11.7 billion a year earlier.

Operating profit across the business segments was mixed, with overall profit before other income down 9.4 per cent decline compared to the prior year.

Profit before tax (PBT) was also down 9.4 per cent.

In response, GK said it has redoubled its cost containment efforts and implemented strategies to grow revenues and profits sustainably. Notwithstanding the headwinds, GraceKennedy said it remains cautiously optimistic about the future and expects to end the year with a positive fourth quarter.

The GraceKennedy Financial Group also delivered a mixed performance. GK’s banking and investment segment performed well, while GraceKennedy Money Services reported a decline in revenues and gross profit, primarily due to current trends in Jamaica’s remittance market.

GK’s Insurance segment showed robust revenue growth; however, profits declined marginally due to lower-than-projected returns on investment income and higher-than-anticipated claims costs related to inflation.

“We have implemented initiatives to stimulate growth in remittances, which we are confident will produce a positive outcome. The advancement of our digital transformation agenda is critical in this regard, so I am happy to report that our GK ONE mobile app now offers customers the ability to receive remittances as well as pay bills,” Wehby said.

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