Black Immigrant Daily News

Trade Unionist and Former Senator Caswell Franklyn says that November 30 will always be Independence Day to him regardless, but he called on Barbadians to stand up and let their voices be heard on this Barbados National Day issue.

He said, “If the people do not stand up we will find ourselves as second and third-class citizens in our own country.”

We must be able to trust their word

Franklyn reminded that his voice was the lone one in the wilderness giving a warning that this day may come if not guarded against when he was still in Senate in 2021. He said that people are today quoting the prime minister’s words that things would not change when Barbados transitioned to Republic status, forgetting that that was in response to him. He said that the way things were going it appeared as though Barrow’s legacy was being washed away and he was told no, nothing would. He said all of Barbados was told nothing would change.

Now, two fortnights away from the first Independence Day since the transition to a Republic, Barbadians are being told that Independence Day will now be called Barbados National Day.

it don’t even have to be two bank holidays

Franklyn said, “We must be able to trust the government in place. We must be able to trust their word.”

He contended that it is the way of politicians to try to erase the work of those who went before them, “discrediting them”, but this is not their Barbados he asserted. “This government wants to nullify everything everybody else did.”

And he assured he is not for one party and not the next. He said in 2017 the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) changed the Holidays with Pay Act so that it would carry their name instead of Grantley Adams. He said they made no major changes but they did that to have their name on it now. And in the same way that this administration has its name on the Republic status, it now wants to do its own thing with the Barbados National Day.

Stressing that he is not partisan, Franklyn said, “the DLP was wrong then and the BLP are wrong now”.

He further added that in other islands like Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, there are two days, Independence Day and Republic Day, “so why can’t Barbados have the same?” He said he sees no problem with having two days, “and it don’t even have to be two bank holidays.”

Franklyn said that on this occasion Bajans should not be swayed or persuaded by someone who “talks pretty”.

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The Government is commending the steps that were taken by officials at the Health and Wellness Ministry and its Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, in cauterising the bacterial outbreak at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) which resulted in the death of 12 babies.

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with responsibility for information, Robert Morgan, who was speaking at Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, said the management of the situation was of importance to the Government.

“… There is this conversation of, should the minister had said it in January or should he have said it in February (for example), but what is most important for us as a Government is the management of the issue,” declared Morgan.

“Immediately, as there was a recognition, the administrators, the head of Victoria Jubilee (Hospital), the nurses, the doctors, worked really hard to solve the problem,” he added.

The information minister also commended Tufton and the team at VJH for acting quickly to manage the outbreak.

“I think what is commendable about this situation is how the Ministry of Health and its staff managed the situation.

“If you compare it with previous (incidents), you would have seen an escalating of the incidents regarding babies not making it. What has happened here (in this current situation) is that immediately as it was found out that there was a challenge, there was a cauterisation,” Morgan stated.

Dr Christopher Tufton.

He elaborated that, “So, in the first month, we had about seven (deaths), in the second one (month), they had about two (deaths), then one (death), and then you saw a tapering off of the incidents, and I think that is something that the country should be proud of, that our healthcare workers and the administration of the hospital, led by the minister, were able to quickly deal with what was a very challenging situation.”

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has been calling for the resignation of Tufton over his nondisclosure of the deaths, among other issues.

However, Tufton has repeatedly insisted that the decision not to disclose the outbreak and subsequent deaths was taken in a bid to not create public hysteria or alarm.

Further, he said the situation was quickly brought under control.

In responding to further questions relative to the Government’s position on Tufton’s handling of the issues at VJH, Morgan insisted that the relevant protocols established by the Health Ministry were followed.

“Not every issue rises to the level where the minister will be immediately advised about it.

“In this case, the minister had a team who we put in charge in the public service, whose job it is to manage these problems, and if it rises to a particular level, then that is where… there is an alert,” Morgan shared.

“In this case, it was discovered in one month that there was… the deaths of babies due to what is called klebsiella.

“The protocol worked; they called in the Pan American Health Authority (Organisation), and they assisted the Government and assisted the health sector in fixing the problem,” stated the information minister.

He said Tufton was informed after the initial seven deaths of the babies in July, which was confirmed by the health minister during an update on the situation in Parliament on Tuesday.

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Woodland residents were led by the South Oropouche Riverine Action Group leader Edward Moodie and the Woodland flood action group. Photo by Lincoln Holder

SOUTH Oropouche Riverine Flood Action Group president Edward Moodie, Penal/Debe Regional Corporation chairman Dr Allen Sammy and Oropouche West MP Davendranath Tancoo have called on Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan to urgently address the flooding concerns of residents of South Oropouche and environs.

They did so when they took part in a protest outside of the offices of the ministry’s drainage division in Penal on Wednesday.

Moodie said flooding has been bad in the area in recent times because rivers have not been dredged and riverbanks have not been cleared.

“We are asking for the ministry to come in and do justice.”

He said some of the ministry’s equipment on some riverbanks is damaging those banks.

“We need (river)banks to be properly built.”

Referring to two water pumps in Tulsa Trace and another in Woodland, Moodie said there are problems keeping one of the pumps at Tulsa Trace active on a regular basis.

“If you have a pump, make sure that you have the manpower and the diesel and the electricity so that pump will work.”

Moodie described the pump as a derelict piece of metal and said it has not worked for the last three years. He called for a properly working pump to be installed in Woodland.

“Without that pump, Woodland would be in a (flooding) demise for years to come.”

Moodie recalled that under previous PNM and UNC governments, there were always water pumps in Woodland.

The protest was staged outside the Penal office of the Ministry of Works and Transport on Wednesday to highlight the ongoing flooding in the area. Photo by Lincoln Holder

“We are asking for maintenance of the rivers. We are asking for that pump in Woodland (to be operational). We are asking for justice for our people because we have had enough.”

Sammy said, “We have suffered for too long. The resources of the state, clearly are being mismanaged.”

He added that the authorities appear clueless about how to manage flooding in the area.

Sammy said in 2018, he submitted a plan to address flooding in the Penal/Debe area and on a national level to Sinanan.

“Yet they have ignored every single proposal that we have made.”

Sammy said the relevant authorities must work with communities in different parts of the country to tackle flooding.

“Why are we neglecting our communities? Why are we neglecting our people?”

Asked if Sinanan should take a hands-on approach to tackling flooding in the area, Moodie replied, “Taking a hands-on approach, but with consultation.”

He said his group has a better idea of causes of flooding on the ground and can provide the ministry with that information.

Oropouche West MP Dave Tancoo stands with Woodland residents. Photo by Lincoln Holder

Reiterating his view that people in South Oropouche and environs have been been disrespected over their concerns about flooding, Moodie said, “Let us meet. Let us shake hands. Let us work together to resolve the issue of flooding.”

Sammy said the corporation stands ready to co-operate with any group to tackle flooding in the area.

Tancoo agreed with Moodie and Sammy’s views.

“The Minister of Works is very familiar with what the problems are and what the solutions are.”

Tancoo also said at Mosquito Creek, some of the old infrastructure from a 36-inch water transmission line which collapsed into the nearby Godineau River on October 18 is still in the river. The line and its supporting infrastructure were repaired on October 21.

He said, “What we noticed today is that there are a lot of waterlilies that are backed up behind that structure, right in the mouth of the river.”

Tancoo said this means there is less run-off at the mouth of the river and the water could back up inland.

“It may be one of the reasons why we still have flooding for four and five days in Woodland and surrounding areas.”

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Donald “Jackie” Hinkson’s mural on a wall outside the Bon Accord Government Primary School in Bon Accord, Tobago. Photo by David Reid

It is the dream of 80-year-old Donald “Jackie” Hinkson that Tobago will soon establish a home for artwork to be displayed.

In an interview with Newsday on Wednesday, Hinkson, an award-winning creative painter with a gift for capturing the light and life of the Caribbean, said there is a vacuum that needs to be filled.

Hinkson’s art was on display for revellers during the inaugural Tobago carnival from October 28-30.

He had two large murals outside the TT Electricity Commission (TTEC) on Wilson Road, Scarborough and along the wall of the Bon Accord Government Primary School. They are expected to be removed on Thursday.

Although grateful for the opportunity to display his work, Hinkson said the environment was not conducive to the longevity of the paintings.

“They are works on canvas with paint. The sun is going to damage them, rain is going to damage them, so they should not be here. Because I have these things stacked up in my garage, and because a very important thing for me is for people to see the work, then I take the chance of seizing the opportunity to put out whenever I can, knowing fully well I should not.”

He added, “I hope that someday they would find a permanent home, but it’s not up to me.”

He said he has had conversations about putting his painting at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, but there has been no favourable response to date.

“This one in Bon Accord was done 15 years ago; the one in Scarborough was done over the last three years, and is ongoing.”

He said both works of art were inspired by his perception of what was happening in society and in the world.

Donald “Jackie” Hinkson

“The one in Bon Accord begins with almost a historical depiction of early Carnival. Within that are allusions to social situations: it begins with an image of Columbus’s ships’ sails but the people are wearing robber hats, so right away there is a suggestion that there was an element of robbery in that era.

“Then I go on to depict some of the architecture of the time of early Carnival – the 1940s, when I was a child, and the movement from tamboo bamboo to steelband, with humble architecture in the background.”

He said thereafter the celebratory depiction of Carnival changed, so he alluded to certain current situations. That story, he said, ended there but led him to start the mural at Scarborough.

“In my mind I felt totally besieged by fights, conflicts, arguments, political situations, debates, anger, crime – every day you feel assaulted by all these issues and opinions around them and commentaries. I said, ‘This feels to me as some kind of mas, some kind of Carnival.’ So I picked up from the first mural and started that second one, where I would capture my mainly emotional reactions to all of that frenzy that is happening around me, but depict it through the symbolism of Carnival imagery.”

Asked how he became involved in the creative sector, he said “I have no idea.

“In school everybody doing little drawing and so on – everybody except you stopped doing it.

“For me to explain why I continued, I have no idea. Is it genetics, is it a combination of genes and social environments, is it what people vaguely call a gift?

“I have no idea, but that is how it started.”

Born in Port of Spain, Hinkson trained at the Academie Julien in Paris (1963-1964) and the University of Alberta, Canada (1965-1970).

He added: “We all in our lives have experiences – privately, publicly, domestically, socially, in our work environment. We all in our lives see things happening around us locally in our local environment, internationally, and we all respond emotionally to a large degree and intellectually to all those events and how they affect us.”

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Recently, the Caribbean Examinations Council granted conditional approval for the implementation of the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) in secondary schools across Guyana.

This approval follows a pre-readiness audit conducted last August in which Guyana obtained an overall compliance rating of 75 per cent. While this indicates a strong level of compliance with most of the requirements, it is five per cent below the minimum compliance level rate of 80 per cent for full approval to be granted.

Assistant Chief Education Officer -Technical, Ms Marcia Paddy has assured that the required corrective actions are being done to achieve full compliance.

She noted that the implementation of CVQ in secondary schools is in keeping with the Ministry of Education’s commitment to ensuring that all students are offered a secondary-level education that will make them academically and economically viable.

Ms Paddy said that having completed a pilot of CVQ, it has become evident that the expansion of the programme is the next step.

Meanwhile, the Council for Technical Vocational Education and Training extended congratulations to the unit for its achievement and pledged to collaborate on the areas to be addressed.

The assessment focused on evaluating the readiness of the institutions to deliver the regional occupational standards and to implement the CXC quality assurance criteria in training candidates pursuing programs for CVQ certification.

In 2021, when the CVQ certification was originally introduced in eight secondary schools in Guyana, approximately 119 students registered in four areas: commercial food preparation, furniture making, fabric decoration and crop production.

The Ministry then expanded it to 34 more schools with the aim to eventually have CVQ programs offered in every secondary school across Guyana. This will enable each child to exit secondary school with both a CXC certificate and a CVQ certificate.

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