Black Immigrant Daily News

Chief executive officer of the Barbados Agriculture Society (BAS) James Paul is advocating for the discontinuation of imported chicken to Barbados.

During the BAS Annual General Assembly at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Saturday, October 29, Paul revealed that Barbados is well on its way to producing 10 million birds by year-end – this a clear indicator that the industry has enough to supply the local market.

there is absolutely no need to import chicken wings to supplement the local requirement of poultry

“In the case of the poultry industry this year, we basically have produced so far 7.3 million birds this year. We are hoping that by the end of the normal calendar year, we are hoping to have 10 million birds and I think we should be able to get that done.”

“It demonstrates that the industry has the capacity to adequately supply the local market. And I want to say this, there is absolutely no need to import chicken wings to supplement the local requirement of poultry.”

He argued that years ago, Barbados did not import any chicken wings, and high levels of production were recording during this period.

“However, it seems that the importers are able to convince our policy makers into believing that the importation of chicken wings is necessary. What has not been pointed out is the fact that Barbados at a point in time did not import chicken wings and no one missed it! There had a period where over years where we did not import any chicken wings in this country! Nobody missed it!”

He further argued: “And in those periods the industry saw record levels of production and even went to the 11 million bird mark. We think we can do it again if we get co-operation.”

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilians were still voting late Sunday afternoon in a polarizing presidential runoff election that pits an incumbent vowing to safeguard conservative Christian values against a former president promising to return the country to a more prosperous past.

The runoff shaped up as a close contest between President Jair Bolsonaro and his political nemesis, former President Luiz In?cio Lula da Silva. Both are well-known, divisive political figures who stir passion as much as loathing.

The vote will determine if the world’s fourth-largest democracy stays the same course of far-right politics or returns a leftist to the top job — and, in the latter case, whether Bolsonaro will accept defeat. There were multiple reports of what critics said appeared attempts to suppress turnout of likely da Silva voters.

Voting stations in the capital, Brasilia, were already crowded by morning and, at one of them, retired government worker Luiz Carlos Gomes said he would vote for da Silva.

“He’s the best for the poor, especially in the countryside,” said Gomes, 65, who hails from Maranhao state in the poor northeast region. “We were always starving before him.”

Because the vote is conducted electronically, the final result is usually available within hours after voting stations close in late afternoon. Most opinion polls gave a lead to da Silva, universally known as Lula, though political analysts agreed the race grew increasingly tight in recent weeks.

For months, it appeared that da Silva was headed for easy victory as he kindled nostalgia for his 2003-2010 presidency, when Brazil’s economy was booming and welfare helped tens of millions join the middle class.

But while da Silva topped the Oct. 2 first-round elections with 48% of the vote, Bolsonaro was a strong second at 43%, showing opinion polls significantly underestimated his popularity. Many Brazilians support Bolsonaro’s defense of conservative social values and he has shored up support with vast government spending.

Candidates in Brazil who top the first round tend to win the runoff. But political scientist Rodrigo Prando said this campaign is so atypical that a Bolsonaro win could not be ruled out. The president secured endorsements from governors of the three most populous states and his allies scored big wins in congressional races.

“Politically, Bolsonaro is stronger than had been imagined,” said Prando, a professor at Mackenzie Presbyterian University in Sao Paulo.

More than 150 million Brazilians are eligible to vote, yet about 20% of the electorate abstained in the first round. Both da Silva and Bolsonaro have focused efforts on driving turnout. The electoral authority prohibited any federal highway police operations from affecting voters’ passage on public transport.

Still, there were multiple reports of checkpoints and traffic stops. Newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that highway police stopped more than 500 buses as of 12:35 p.m. local time, citing documents and internal data, marking a 70% increase from the first-round vote. Television network Globo reported half the stops were in the northeast region, a Workers’ Party stronghold. The party filed a request for the arrest of the highway police’s director, and demanded the region’s polls remain open later.

Human Rights Watch, an international non-profit, said in a statement it was “very concerned” about the reports.

Speaking to reporters in Brasilia, the electoral authority’s president Alexandre de Moraes said the police force’s director had provided clarification that no stop lasted over 15 minutes, turnout wasn’t affected and polls would close at 5 p.m. local time, as scheduled.

“(Stops) were made in accordance with traffic laws and that stalled some voters, but all arrived to their voting places. No bus returned to its point of origin,” said de Moraes, adding that all traffic stops have since been suspended.

“If there was an abuse of power, that is an electoral crime. And we will look into that,” de Moraes said.

Bolsonaro was first in line to cast his vote at a military complex in Rio de Janeiro. He sported the green and yellow colours of the Brazilian flag that always feature at his rallies.

“I’m expecting our victory, for the good of Brazil,” he told reporters afterward. “God willing, we will be victorious this afternoon. Actually, Brazil will be victorious.”

Da Silva voted Sunday morning in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a city outside Sao Paulo, where he lived for decades and started his political career as a union leader. He wore white, as he often has during the campaign, rather than his party’s traditional red.

“Today we are choosing the kind of Brazil we want, how we want our society to organize. People will decide what kind of life they want,” da Silva told reporters. “That’s why this is the most important day of my life. I am convinced that Brazilians will vote for a plan under which democracy wins.”

The candidates presented few proposals for the country’s future beyond affirming they will continue a big welfare program for the poor, despite very limited fiscal room going forward. They railed against one another and launched online smear campaigns — with considerably more attacks coming from Bolsonaro’s camp.

On the eve of the election, Bolsonaro shared video on Twitter of former U.S. President Donald Trump endorsing him, saying that he has secured Brazil’s universal respect on the world stage. Da Silva has specifically criticized Bolsonaro for the nation’s fallen stature abroad, highlighting the dearth of state visits and bilateral meetings.

“Don’t lose him, don’t let that happen,” Trump said in the video. “It would not be good for your country. I love your country, but it would not be good. So get out and vote for President Bolsonaro. He’s doing the job like few people could.”

His four years in office have been marked by proclaimed conservatism and defense of traditional Christian values. He claimed that his rival’s return to power would usher in communism, legalized drugs, abortion and the persecution of churches — things that didn’t happen during da Silva’s earlier eight years in office.

On Sunday, Livia Correia and her husband, Pedro, brought her two young kids to a voting station in Rio’s Copacabana neighborhood, where Bolsonaro supporters regularly rally. They all wore green-and-yellow shirts. Livia, 36, said she voted for Bolsonaro because he defends the things she holds dear: “family values, God and freedom of expression.”

Da Silva has homed in on Bolsonaro’s widely criticized handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and said the president failed to care for society’s neediest members. And he painted Bolsonaro as an opponent of the Amazon rainforest, given that he defanged environmental authorities and presided over a surge in deforestation.

But for many, the record of da Silva’s Workers’ Party is equally off-putting. A sprawling investigation revealed the party’s involvement in vast corruption scandals that ensnared top politicians and executives.

Da Silva himself was imprisoned for 19 months for corruption and money laundering. The Supreme Court annulled his convictions in 2019, on the grounds that the judge was biased and colluded with prosecutors. That did not stop Bolsonaro from reminding voters of the convictions.

The president’s tremendous digital mobilization was on display in recent days as his campaign introduced fresh — and unproven — claims of possible electoral manipulation. That revived fears that Bolsonaro could challenge election results should he lose — much like Trump, whom he admires.

For months, he claimed that the nation’s electronic voting machines are prone to fraud, though he never presented evidence, even after the electoral authority set a deadline for him to do so.

More recently, allegations focused on airtime for political ads. Bolsonaro’s campaign claimed that radio stations may have hurt their candidate by failing to air more than 150,000 electoral spots.

“If da Silva wins, we’re going to have a problem,” said Pedro Correia, 40, who joined his wife and two children in Copacabana.

“It’s impossible that he wins,” he said.

___

By DIANE JEANTET and CARLA BRIDI, Associated Press

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Photo courtesy the Met Office’s Instagram page

TRINIDAD and Tobago is once again under a yellow-level riverine flood alert.

The Met office said it will end on Tuesday at 10am.

It said river levels across major and small rivers across the country were spilling or close to doing so.

“Runoff from heavy rainfall earlier today is still causing levels to slowly rise and periods of rainfall are still likely over the next 24 – 48 hours.”

There is moderate risk to public safety, it added.

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Michelle Bruce, mother of Ruben Subar, one of the two men shot dead at the carpark of a bar in St Helena on Sunday morning, speaks to Newsday through a window of her shop in Oropune Village, Piarco, on Sunday. – SUREASH CHOLAI

Michelle Bruce says, while she is not surprised by the murder of her son Ruben Subar, she insists he did not deserve to die the way that he did, and is calling on other parents to pray for their children while being honest about their flaws.

Subar, 27 and his friend Akil Nesbit, 36, were shot dead near a bar on the Caroni South Bank Road early on Sunday morning.

Caroni police were on patrol in the area at around 4.10 am when they heard gunshots and saw people running.

The officers went to the car park of a nearby bar and saw Nesbit’s body in the driver’s seat of a white Toyota Corolla and Subar’s body on the ground outside the car.

A third man was found bleeding in the back seat of the car. He was later taken to hospital where he is currently undergoing treatment.

Crime scene investigators found 20 spent shells at the scene.

Newsday visited the family’s Oropune Village, Piarco, home on Sunday and spoke with his mother who said her son could be difficult.

Two men were killed and a third injured at a shooting in the carpark of this St Helena bar on Sunday morning. – SUREASH CHOLAI

She said despite repeated warnings from herself and other family members, Subar continued to be troublesome.

“I’m not saying my child is a good child, because at the end of the day I’m coming out plain, he does cuss me.

“He used to tell me to mind my business, he’s a big man.

“I have ten children and I talk to all of them and he’s the only child that didn’t listen.

“I’m not like some mothers who would lie and say ‘My son is a good boy,’ I’m not doing that.

“I know what my son did and I tell all of my children: if you do wrong, you all have to pay the price.

“My children might vex I’m saying it but I’m being honest with myself.”

Bruce said it was important for parents to continue to work with their children and guide them, despite their problems, and urged families to do their best.

She also said, while parents had a responsibility to help their children, they should not try to hide their wrongdoings.

“I can tell them to continue praying for your children, but when your children are doing wrong don’t lie; be truthful and honest because God doesn’t like liars.

“I’m not hiding my children and, as a mother, you shouldn’t hide your children’s ways because God knows and sees everything.”

Recalling her last interaction with Subar on Saturday evening, Bruce said her last words to him were “Go with God.”

She also said that while she was upset over the murders, she left retribution in God’s hands and was confident he would ensure justice was done.

Acknowledging that the murder toll for the year had already crossed 500, Bruce said she was disappointed in the spate of violence and hoped people would live better with each other.

Newsday visited the bar where the shooting happened on the Caroni South Bank Road but it remained closed.

Another bar owner in the area said he was shaken by the murders and felt it was an example that crime could happen anywhere without warning.

He said he knew the owner of the bar where the shooting happened and felt bad for him.

“I wish I could close down my business now but I don’t have a choice I’m owing the bank.

“Between you and I, it (the crime) sickening.

“I am sorry for what happened by him, because yesterday was for him, who knows, the next day it might be by me.”

The man said he had been living in the community for over 20 years and said it was not known to have a lot of crime in the past.

He said there were concerns that an upsurge in crime could lead to a decline in business for bars and restaurants.

“We’re in the same business and when something like that happens, it’s a bad image for the business.

“Now people won’t want to come out now at night because they’re afraid and that is where the trouble will start so as the saying goes what you don’t like for yourself don’t wish it for anyone else.”

Police have not yet established a motive for Subar and Nesbit’s murder.

Officers from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region III are continuing enquiries.

This story was originally published with the title “Two dead, one wounded after Caroni bar shooting” and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Police are probing the murders of two men and the wounding of another at a bar in Caroni early on Sunday morning.

Police said officers of the Caroni police station were on patrol on the Caroni South Bank Road, at around 4.10 am when they heard gunshots and saw people running.

The officers went to the car park of a nearby bar where they saw the bodies of Akil Nesbit, 36, in the driver’s seat of a white Toyota Corolla and Ruben Sabarbruce, 27, on the ground outside the car.

Police also found a man bleeding in the back seat of the car.

Officers took Sabarbruce and the wounded man to the Mt Hope Hospital where Sabarbruce was declared dead at around 4.26 am.

The wounded man remained warded up to 11 am on Sunday.

A district medical officer visited the scene and declared Nesbit dead.

Crime scene investigators found 20 spent shells.

Police have not established any motive for the murders.

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