Black Immigrant Daily News

Past student of the former St John Bosco Boys’ Home in Manchester, Damian Simpson, left many guests teary-eyed following his riveting testimonial about his six-year stay at the home, which is now a vocational training centre.

Speaking at the official opening of the St John Bosco Vocational Training Centre in Hatfield, Manchester, on September 7, Simpson said the experience had taught him love, respect and humility.

He heaped praises on Area Administrator, Sister Susan Frazer, for “lifting me up” when his parents had forsaken him.

“I have learnt the values taught to me then and I am applying them now,” he said, noting that he did not see the things in himself that she saw in him.

Now the Regional Supervisor for the western region of the Progressive Grocers Group’s meat department, Simpson also does training and upliftment with his team members, skills learnt at St John Bosco.

“When I was trained at the butcher shop, I did not know the value of the skill being taught to me, but now I can use it to add value to people’s lives. I have been happily married for the past 18 years; we have three girls and one boy – all under one roof. I have been a homeowner for the past eight years, and I do a little farming because as a man you have to know how to balance things,” Simpson said to loud cheers.

He said being a family man requires responsibility and he was taught by Sister Susan how to be responsible and firm, adding that she always told us: “It’s your ambition that changes your condition.”

Simpson told the current students that they might arrive at the institution in a bad condition, but “… do not let your past determine your future because when you leave here, you will be a product of change, positivity and humility”.

He advised them to love and believe in themselves and they would be the best they could be.

The new St John Bosco Vocational Training Centre and Sister Susan Frazer Educational Complex, located in Hatfield, Manchester. It was officially opened on September 7. (JIS)

Meanwhile, Sister Susan Frazer, the Area Administrator for the Sisters of Mercy in Jamaica, who has been running the institution for 45 years, expressed her satisfaction with the new developments.

She noted that there are four phases to the ongoing developments at the institution and with the first phase now complete, US$650,000 has already been committed for the second phase.

“I have felt the support of rural communities in Jamaica over the years contributing to our success; there are eight members of staff who are past boys, two of whom run two of the major departments of the school – the butcher shop and the catering department,” she said.

She pointed out that although it is no longer a residential facility, some 50 beds have been saved in one dormitory if they should be needed in the future.

“Being a rural girl and having worked in a residential children’s home for almost 50 years, residential children are the centre of my heart,” Sister Susan said.

She added that there are lots of boys in homes and they need an excellent education, so they can leave with their heads held high.

Meanwhile, Jean Lowrie-Chin, Chairman of Digicel Foundation, which financed the project, said it is the mission of St John Bosco to give young people every chance to be equipped to gain employment or launch out on their entrepreneurial journey.

She said the Foundation was happy to participate in the upgrading work at the institution, which includes administrative offices, classrooms, training labs, a new entrance, driveway, outdoor meeting space and parking spaces, at a cost of $40 million.

The institution is a registered independent school operated by the Sisters of Mercy of Jamaica. It has provided training and apprenticeship to rural youth since 2007, in partnership with HEART/NSTA Trust and City and Guilds. Originally a boys-only boarding institution, there are currently 120 students on roll, including girls.

They offer nationally certified programmes from Levels II to III Diplomas in Food Preparation and Culinary Arts, Culinary Arts and Supervision, Barbering, IT and Office Application, Contact Centre Services and Customer Service.

JIS News

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The President of the Imperial Ethiopian World Federation Peter ‘Ras Ipa’ Isaac says Barbados Cultural Ambassador Anthony ‘Gabby’ Carter deserves applause over a controversial poem about the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The poem circulated on social media after the Queen’s death on September 8.

Among other things, it referred to the late monarch as ‘a quiet wicked woman’ who inherited millions of pounds from the gains of slavery yet allowed each colony to wallow in poverty. 

Entitled ‘Good Riddance To Rubbish’ the work has become the subject of controversy.

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Former Barbados High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Guy Hewitt strongly condemned it.

According to Barbados Today, Hewitt said it was in poor taste and had brought ‘dishonour’ to Barbados.

The publication also quoted the former diplomat as saying that the poem displayed Gabby’s ignorance of the role of a constitutional monarchy, the history of the Commonwealth of Nations, and the late Queen’s role in it.

But Saint Lucia’s Peter ‘Ras Ipa’ Isaac has a different view.

“I must agree that Gabby is on point as a Barbados Cultural Ambassador,” Isaac told St Lucia Times.

He declared that the Royal family had benefitted from the African slave trade and had not given up the wealth gained as a result of the suffering of Africans.

According to Isaac, Gabby deserves loud applause for the stand he took in his poem.

“I feel proud of persons like Gabby,” he declared, adding that the Barbadian Calypsonian had exposed the wickedness of slavery and colonialism.

“(The Queen)directly enjoyed the fruits of our labour, the wealth of Africa that she inherited, and the riches of our ancestors,” Isaac declared, adding that there has been no formal apology forthcoming.

And he described the region’s mourning over her death as ‘an extreme form of hypocrisy.’

Gabby has been quoted as saying that he would give up his cultural ambassador designation before he apologises for the poem about Queen Elizabeth II.

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Barbados’ most recent sporting superstars were all smiles under the spotlight with a motorcade today.

With one of the four guests, Amber Joseph arriving last week and Shane Brathwaite unable to make it home at this time, just Sada Williams and Jonathan Jones were received by officials including the Sports Minister on the tarmac today. Joseph then joined the pair to loud cheers of congratulations at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) this afternoon by the few locals present.

Medalists Williams, Joseph, and Jones were warmly welcomed by the diehard sports enthusiasts and numerous media personnel that gathered to see them at the start of the motorcade that travelled from the GAIA to Garfield Sobers Gymnasium.

Speaking to Loop News, golden girl, Williams said the reception was “a little bit overwhelming”. The national record holder secured the gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and bronze at the 2022 World Games, making history on both occasions.

Meanwhile, Barbadian cyclist and PanAm triple medalist Joseph, said she felt “fussy” and “special”. Joseph struck gold and won two silver at the Pan American Cycling Championships in August.

Jones, 800 M national record holder, was elated to witness the festivities but expressed he was eager to see his grandmother and give her a good hug as soon as the dust settles.

There were varying reactions from locals on the ground at GAIA to today’s motorcade, with emotions ranging from disappointment to anger. Several locals were disgruntled with the promotion of the national athletes, arguing that today’s event was lacklustre in comparison to when Brathwaite returned home after copping Barbados’ first ever Commonwealth Games medal. On that occasion, it was reported that he was greeted by hundreds when he exited the Arrivals hall. One taxi person said not even the officer conducting traffic at GAIA seemed to be abreast of the festivities as there were some issues with the trailer truck for the motorcade being asked to move and to turn down its music.

Despite the hiccups, seated in three separate Range Rovers, the athletes did still enjoy the thrill of their welcome and all the attention as the motorcade got underway just after 2 pm.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Julio R. RomneyPolitical Analyst

With one-third (5 out of 15) Members of Parliament having declared themselves as “Independent Members of Parliament”, this clearly undermines the fabric of our statutory Election System of Proportional Representation and endangered the application of proportional representation. It presents a danger for several reasons.

Chapter 4 of the Constitution clearly states that the composition of Parliament shall be based on proportional representation within the limits to be laid down by national ordinance. This means that the make-up of Parliament is required to reflect or “represent the entire populace of Sint Maarten”, elected by proportional representation.

By National Ordinance / Election Ordinance, this proportional representation is to be achieved through “the division of the total number of votes cast by the electorate by the number of available seats in Parliament”, referred to as “the election quota”. Thereafter, seats are assigned to the election participating political parties as many times as the election quota is included in the number of votes that the political party received. Based on these calculations every participating political party is assigned a number of seats in Parliament in proportion to the number of votes cast for that particular political party. “In other words, a party that wins 10% of votes in the election will also hold 10% of seats.” (Election Ordinance, Explanatory Memorandum, Article 47: Election of Members of Parliament)

Permitting Members of Parliament to declare themselves as “Independent Members of Parliament”, does not appear to have any basis in the Constitution, and allowing them to maintain seats in Parliament does great danger to the constitutionally mandated proportional representation of Parliament. Not only would these seats most likely be occupied by persons who have not received votes equal to or more than the election quota but would be a serious breach of the statutory order allowing for only registered political parties to participate in the election to fill Parliamentary seats.

The rules are clear, our election system is “a system of lists (political parties), not a system of persons (candidates). Candidates are nominated (to fill Parliamentary seats) via the lists that are drawn up by the political parties taking part in an election.” (Election Ordinance, Explanatory Memorandum, Section 2 paragraph 1)

Equally important, the composition and assignment of seats in Parliament are enacted by ministerial regulation on the notification of the Central Voting Bureau. Contradictory, there appears to be no ministerial regulation enacting the present observed change in the composition and assignment of seats in Parliament. The process adopted now simply seems for Members of Parliament to declare themselves as Independent Member of Parliament on the floor of Parliament and thereafter officially notifying Parliament and the Central Voting Bureau of this decision. Such an act is clearly inconsistent with the Constitution and the Election Ordinance.

The Central Voting Bureau needs to provide some explanation and justification for these apparent constitutional inconsistencies. Knowing that it was established by Government as an independent body “to ensure the application of proportional representation as mandated by the Constitution” and to further “execute the voting and election procedures as stipulated and regulated in the Election Ordinance, the Central Voting Bureau has a responsibility here.

The Bureau is to stipulate the legal basis upon which Members of Parliament can declare themselves as Independent Members and maintain a seat in Parliament, a practice that is evidently inconsistent with the principles of proportional representation. Likewise, specify which statutory order or regulation, explicitly or implicitly, affords Parliament the authority to accept the notion of Members of Parliament declaring themselves as an Independent Member effectively ascending them as a new political party faction in Parliament.

In addressing this election system of proportional representation danger, electoral reform is needed now more than ever.

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