BSJ-Aug. 3, 2011

The Broad Street Journal The Broad Street Journal i August 3, 2011

August 3, 2011 • www.bsjbarbados.com

Established 1993

the budget

For Mr. Sinckler, little room to manouvre

By Patrick Hoyos Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler is expected to present his second budget sometime in August, at a time when consumers and taxpayers are reeling from hikes in the cost of gasoline, water, electricity, food and beverages, and most recently, higher land taxes valuations.

Inflation for the first four months of the year was 6.4%, half a point higher than the 5.8% recorded for 2010.

Taxpayers will therefore be looking for some sort of easing of the heavy burdens which have been placed on them, and may be hopeful that, with tourism five percent up on last year and the economy finally expected to show some growth this year, that this might happen.

1

However, a look at the Estimates for the 2011-12 financial year, which began on April 1, suggests Mr. Sinckler does not have much “wiggle room”, as his options for reducing the deficit seem fewer than when he made his first budget speech, last November.

Then, faced with a yawning budget gap due to continuing sluggishness in the economy, which did not grow by even the 2% which See BUDGET, Page 4

Editorial

The judicial manager has reported; now it’s time to act on Clico. Page 4

News Feature

CSS will bring region closer, says OCM Network’s Vic Fernandes.

Page 3

foreign exchange

The case for diversifying our reserves

Few properties will sell “for more in today’s market than they would have sold for ... in 2008,” says Andrew Mallalieu. So why are some land tax assessments higher this year?

- Page 2

Analysis by Tony Best “Our currency value to some extent represents the stability of our country.”

Jim Flaherty, Canada’ Finance Minister, was reflecting on the strong performance of the Canadian dollar, which skyrocketed to a 3 ½ year high in late July, an astounding performance in view of the troubles facing the European Union and the euro and the financial drama next door in the United States as President Barack Obama and the Democrats on the one side and the Republicans and the Tea Party members of the House of Representatives and the Senate on the other struggled to reach an agreement on raising the U.S. debt ceiling.

It was Armageddon waiting to happen, not simply for the United States but for countries like Barbados and its Caribbean neighbors which hold their foreign reserves in U.S. dollars.

Although Flaherty, speaking in July. said he was confident the parties would reach an agreement by the August 2nd deadline and avoid a default and the global financial nightmare that could follow, the Finance Minister was quick to try to boost confidence even more in his country’s currency, saying “there are investors, obviously around the world … looking for safe haven and the Canadian dollar offers some attraction.”

Barbados should be among those who are on the look-out.

The minister who was addressing small business See RESERVES, Page 5

Executive Profile Kaymar Jordan’s journey to the top of the news.

Page 6

Family Business

How the Brandels went from vacationers to investors in Barbados.

Page 12

BSJ Insider An actual “sign of the times” at Blue Waters, Rockley, Christ Church.Photo by the BSJ.

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On-the-go guide. Page 15

2 The Broad Street Journal I August 3, 2011

News

real estate

Higher land valuations “may slow recovery”

Real estate agents say hikes seen in some assessment notices don’t reflect marketplace The real estate market in Barbados remains burdened by sluggish demand, so now is not the time to raise land tax valuations, say some executives in the sector.

In recent article, Terra Caribbean’s CEO Andrew Mallalieu observed that new land tax assessment notices were being sent out as 2011 is a valuation year.

He noted that “Based on the limited assessment notices that we have seen thus far, we have concluded that there is a trend for a revaluation of values upwards.”

Mr. Mallalieu said: “This is frankly not in keeping with market reality. There are very few properties that will sell for more in today’s market than they would have sold for at the peak of the property boom in 2008 when they were last assessed. There are strong grounds for objection in

Terra Caribbean’s Andrew Mallalieu.

Realtors’ Suzanne Davis.

Julie Dash of Hannah Properties.

“No one should be surprised that property values would have gone down” since 2008.”

“ If your neighbor’s property is valued higher than yours, maybe they will put yours up too.”

“People who bought in 2008 are now having to sell below what they purchased for.”

these cases.”

He noted that the last valuation had been done “at the height of the property price bubble,” and therefore no one should be surprised that property values would have gone down during the intervening period.

In fact, Terra Car i b b e a n’s take on the market, he said, was the selling prices for local housing as well

as local and foreign residential land had gone down by ten percent on average since 2008. “High end housing” and hotels had decreased in value by 15%, “beachfront development sites” by 20%, and “beachfront apartments” by 25%.

The only general category to have increased in value since 2008 was commercial property, which went up 5%, he said.

In advising Terra’s clients, Mr. Mallalieu said that “Many of you will have property values below what you would accept in a sale and therefore you should

accept the valuation assessment.” However, he added, “We have heard from many clients over the past three years that they felt it unfair that their property was carrying an assessment for three years at a value established in the boom year.”

A check with some other leading real estate companies painted a picture of a market in which prices had indeed dropped when persons needed to sell, but in which many listers kept their asking prices at previous levels because they were not under pressure to dispose of their properties.

All agreed, however, that it

was a buyer’s market, which meant purchasers stood to benefit.

Melanie King, a director of Altman Real Estate Ltd., said it was “Very much a buyers’ market, in my opinion. I haven’t seen residential properties increase in three years.

“If you are a vendor you have to find a price that will attract people but that you should still be able to reduce a bit, because nobody is going to pay what you ask. You will probably have to discount.”

Julie Dash, CEO of Hannah Properties Ltd., says the buyer’s market is working for her company. She said “the (local real estate) bubble burst in November 2009,” and she remembers the date because “I just noted a big shift at that time.”

“I feel the market has dropped 20 to 25 percent in the last 18 months,” she notes, but she feels the correction downwards is fairer to the average Barbadian.

“Barbadians can afford to buy again,” said Ms. Dash.

At the same time, the weaker economy is causing more property to be placed on the market, often owned by foreigners who may have been holding on to land for their children or retirement.

“The sad part is the people who bought in 2008 and ’09

at the top of the market and are now having to sell below what they purchased it for,” says the real estate broker.

Suzanne Davis, Realtors Ltd.’s manager for real estate and business development, told The Journal that although the market had been slow Realtors had still been able to sell some of its more expensive listed properties. And while there was still a “spattering of sales on the local market,” things were not like they used to be.

If the Land Tax Department was indeed putting higher valuations on some properties “it might act as a disincentive” to a market that was already slow. “People are still finding it hard to get mortgages,” she noted, and some sellers had reduced their prices by as much as 20 percent because they had to sell. But many people who are listing properties do not have to sell at any price, and this had contributed to the lethargy in the marketplace.

Ms. Davis said that she understood many property owners had received increased valuations, but not all. “Mine has gone up,” she said, adding, “I think they are probably looking at neighborhoods, so if your neighbor’s property is valued a lot higher than yours, maybe they will put yours up as well.” •

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The Broad Street Journal i August 3, 2011

News

3

broadcastING

Fernandes: CSS will bring region closer together

By Patrick Hoyos

In April 2007, sixteen months after its arrival on the scene via a merger between Caribbean Communications Network of Trinidad & Tobago and the Nation Corporation of Barbados, One Caribbean Media Inc. announced it would purchase Caribbean Communications Co. Ltd. from the American company Cumulus Media Inc. The acquisition was completed in November that year.

The stations, marketed by its former owner as The Gems Radio Network, were a motley collection strewn randomly across the region, some doing better than others.

The most successful of the group was Trinidad’s Hott 93, followed by St. Lucia’s The Wave. The other three, branded under the GEMS name and serving Montserrat, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts-Nevis and the BVI, did not sparkle as much.

The question then became: What to do with them?

At the time, OCM Chairman Sir Fred Gollop said the CCCL purchase had given the company the chance to create “the first truly pan-Caribbean network.”

The job of doing that was given to Vic Fernandes, who, as CEO of OCM’s Starcom Network Inc., was responsible for the company’s four Barbados radio stations, Voice of Barbados (VOB), Hott, Love and Gospel, as well as Grenada’s Klassic AM and Hott FM, owned by another OCM subsidiary, the Grenada Broadcasting System, and the newly-acquired CCCL. To lead the effort to bring the vision to reality, Mr. Fernandes was made the first CEO of the new OCM Network, to create a regional entity using resources from within the three subsidiaries.

In April this year, the group-wide effort led by Mr. Fernandes came to fruition as the Caribbean Superstation was launched in three island markets in the southern Caribbean along with the three GEMSbranded stations which OCM had acquired in the northern. One of the challenges facing the network remains having a different frequency for the station in each country and sometimes two, as in St. Lucia and Grenada. The spectrum ranges from 90.9FM for the BVI frequency to 105.9 for the Grenada North frequency.

The two top performers of the former Cumulus stations, Hott 93 in Trinidad and The Wave in St. Lucia, were left untouched.

Instead, new licences were sought in several countries for the new network, and to date have been received for St. Lucia and Grenada. At press time the company was

Celebrating CSS’ launch in Barbados at Oistins, Ch. Ch. in April were (from left) the station’s GM Richard Purcell, OCM’s Regional Head of Advertising Veoma Ali, OCM’s CEO Vic Fernandes, CSS Freelance Announcer Denneza Oliviere, and CSS Morning Show Co-Host Jason ‘Jus Jase’ Alleyne. Photo courtesy the Caribbean SuperStation. still hoping to get licences for Jamaica, Guyana and Antigua.

However, not hearing back from the Barbados regulatory authorities, the company merged its Gospel station with VOB to make way for CSS, while in Trinidad, as the government had announced it would not be awarding any more licences in an already congested market of around three dozen stations, the company was looking to acquire an existing station to reformat as the CSS. In an exclusive interview with The Broad Street Journal, Mr. Fernandes spoke about the vision, the content and the marketing proposition of the new Caribbean Superstation.

First, the vision. “All of my work over the years in CBU (the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, of which he is current president) led me to the view that to bring the region closer together you need electronic media.

It’s probably the best vehicle to use to create a sense of ‘one-ness’ for region,” said the veteran broadcaster.

A single station across the region would also allow the company to offer a “value proposal” to advertisers who did not want the problem of dealing with multiple media outlets in several countries.

So from the business perspective, the Caribbean Superstation offers a “one-stop, turn-key solution for advertisers wanting to reach multiple countries at an affordable cost,” says Mr. Fernandes. And this means the opposite also applies, he says, noting that “if your market is primarily local in your home country, the CSS is not for you.

It is for regional and international brands which are trying to market Caribbeanwide or would like the opportunity to do so.”

As for the news and current affairs content, Mr. Fernandes said there were many similar issues in the news that all of the countries in the region had to deal with, including immigration, human trafficking, drug interdiction, HIV-AIDs, crime, climate change and trade issues.

In addition, he noted, the Caribbean Superstation could begin to break down some of the “myths” that Caribbean people have about each other. “We never really deal with the issue of how we feel about each other,” he says. “So I feel there’s a strong opportunity there.”

However, the station’s format will rely mainly on music aimed at a 25-50 year-old audience with radio ‘personalities’ driving the programming. “For a 24/7 radio service, it is unrealistic to think of news as the driver,” says Mr. Fernandes, as it is “too ex-

pensive to produce.” Apart from the news, all of the programming comes out of Trinidad, the morning show hosted by Nicky Crosby and Jason Alleyne (“JusJase”), the mid-morning show by Stacey Lyons, and the afternoon show by John Mark Piper (“JGP”).

The station’s news, produced by Starcom Network in Barbados, comprises short onthe-hour bulletins throughout the day as the OCM Network News. A Sunday talk show, “Checkpoint Caribbean,” has been started, and other news features are also in the works, including business reports, said Mr. Fernandes.

The news operation is headed by David Ellis, CSS’ regional head of news and public affairs. He and the rest of the CSS operations management all came from Starcom, and remain Barbados-based: Veoma Ali is regional head of advertising, John Rollins is the CSS’s technology head, and Mr. Fernandes provides the overview.

With music dominating the CSS airwaves, Mr. Fernandes says the key marketing strategy is to be at every major festival taking place in the region. “If it is taking place in the Caribbean, we are going to be there, because we are about the Caribbean,” he says.

• Visit the Caribbean SuperStation online at http://yourcss.ocmnet.net

4 The Broad Street Journal I August 3, 2011

Op-Ed Editorials

Action on Clico Judicial Manager Deloitte Consulting having filed its 90-day report in the High Court, presumably with its recommendations prioritised, the outsourcing of professional opinion on how to handle the Clico mess has been completed.

The Supreme Court bled assets” has had a fairly should now act with des- sizeable injection of cash patch, communicatng its due to new investment from own decision on how to deal both existing shareholders with the failed insurance and the International Ficompany’s assets and liabili- nancial Corporation. ties. In Barbados, those liMost people and governabilities were estimated last ments in the region would year at just over Bds$800 probably breathe a sigh of million and the assets at relief if Clico’s assets and just over $500 million by liabilities were to be taken the then Chairman of the over by Sagicor, but reports Oversight Committee, Wil- suggest the latter may want liam Layne. Policy-and an- only the ones most likely nuity holders in Clico have to produce reliable returns the right to be given an up- to its bottom line. No-one date on these estimates and, could blame the company indeed, the whole financial for that, but some lawsuits picture pertaining to Clico, filed in Trinidad recently by which failed thanks in large policyholders argue the polipart to weak government cies can’t be separated from regulation. the annuities by a prospecMeanwhile, Sagicor Fi- tive purchaser. nancial Corporation, which As we move on to the next was reported to have been chapter of the Clico debacle, discussing purchasing at kudos to Deloitte for getting least some of Clico’s “trou- their reports in on time.•

LOUD and clear Despite the economic hardships we are all undergoing, the public has resounded “loud” and clear to the staging of the concert by Barbadian superstar Rihanna.

However, while we too Over Festival could be exwant to lend our support to tended further into August the clearly brilliant idea of than it currently goes, and bringing Rihanna home for if additional forms of muher first-ever concert in her sic could be showcased afnative land, we expect the ter Kadooment Day. If we BTA to be upfront in re- had such an event, perhaps porting all of the costs and music producers and talent reasonable estimations of scouts could be encouraged revenue associated with the to come in and therefore event. A start was made last make Barbados the place to week but firmer figures are go to hear great music and needed if it and the govern- performers all summer long.

Meantime, we congratument wish to gain the support of the public and the late the government and business community for fu- BTA for taking this initiative, and look forward to ture similar initiatives.

Certainly, we would all their early financial report benefit if the summer tour- card on the Rihanna conism stimulated by the Crop cert. •

Comments? Email us at bsj@caribsurf.com

debt & deficits

The Caribbean’s ticking time bomb The gaping hole between spending and revenue is imperiling any robust U.S. economic recovery, which is bad news for Caribbean nation, writes Tony Best “Dealing with our nation’s deficit is going to hurt.”

Christina D. Romer, Chairwoman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, was warning Americans and the world about the weak state of her country’s economy and the prospects for the future but she could have been directing her remarks to Barbadians, Jamaicans, Trinidadians and the rest of the Caribbean.

For in much the same way that the gaping hole between spending and revenue is imperiling any robust U.S. economic recovery, which is bad news for Caribbean nation.

Indeed, the deficit and its related problems have already cost Barbados its once stellar 2006 Wall Street investment grade credit rating of A- minus but which has fallen to BBB-minus, according to Standard & Poor’s and Baa3 in the eyes of Moody’s Investors Service, a notch above junk.

The essential question Dr. Romer was asking about narrowing the deficit gap was: “what would hurt more, raising taxes or reducing spending”?

All across the Caribbean governments are searching for answers to that question. Two key Caribbean economists, Charlie Skeete, for years a senior economic adviser at the Inter-American Development Bank, and Sir Courtney Blackman, the first Governor of Barbados’ Central Bank, argue that a mix of sharp reductions in spending and tax increases would be an effective solution.

At least, that’s what they have proposed for Barbados.

To that list, Sir Courtney has added a third: increased efficiency in the operations of state enterprises that have proliferated in the past dozen years.

In the U.S, the Republicans believe the deficit should be tackled by cutting spending while the Democrats who now control the Senate in Washington but are the minority party in the House of Representatives want revenue enhancement.

President Obama has taken a position that’s more in line with Skeete and Blackman, insisting in negotiations with the Republicans on a deficit reduction package that tax increases and spending reductions are the answer.

Prof. Romer agrees, putting more emphasis on raising taxes than drastically reducing spending.

“The economic evidence doesn’t support the anti-tax view,” she said. “Both tax increases and spending cuts will tend to slow the recovery in the near term, but spending cuts will likely slow it more. Over the longer term, sensible tax increases will probably do less damage to economic growth and productivity than cuts in government investment.”

Barbados and Jamaica have already used a mix of both with a slight measure of success. For instance, in Barbados a temporary increase in the value-added tax to 17.5%, elimination of tax free allowances for travel and entertain-

The Broad Street Journal Established 1993

Editor: Patrick R. Hoyos Published 12 times per year by Hoyos Publishing Inc. Address: No. 20 Peronne Village, Worthing, Ch. Ch., Barbados Tel: 230-5687 or 435-4227 Email: bsj@caribsurf.com © 2011 Hoyos Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.

ment, a jump in gasoline prices and increases in fees and duties plus restraint in capital spending have helped to reduce the deficit from 7% in 2009 to 5.6% last year, according to Standard & Poor’s. But that’s not nearly enough.

The government must trim its expenditure even more and the most effective way to achieve that goal is imposing a public sector wage freeze, but that’s unlikely to pass muster with a general election due in 2013.

However, the deficit isn’t the only challenge Caribbean governments are facing. Like the United States and many European states, they have mounting debt burdens on their hands. As a matter of fact, rising government and individual debt in the U.S. is preventing a more robust American and European recovery which in turn is hamstringing recovering in the Caribbean.

But to slash debt requires a strong dose of medicine, especially cuts in spending, a rise in taxes and a sharp eye on inflation.

That may be easier than it sounds. For debt reduction plans take time and Caribbean countries don’t have much of that at this time.

“The issue with debt is you can’t get rid of it quickly and you can’t get rid of it nicely,” said Carmen Reinhart, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International economics.

She estimates it can take about seven years to unwind debt, with debt-to-gross domestic product ratios remaining stubbornly high for three years after a financial crisis.

As if to add to the dim prospects for a robust economy, she said that seven of the 15 financial crises since the Second World War involved a double-dip back into recession.

The outlook on the debt-to-GDP ratio isn’t helping matters, and that’s particularly true of the U.S. where it will hit 100 per cent this year. Europe is slightly better but it has worries of its own. Germany’s debt-to-GDP ratio should top 80% this year while France’s can skyrocket to 88%, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Some Caribbean nations, Jamaica, Barbados and St. Kitts-Nevis have either surpassed the 100% threshold or are on the brink of doing so. With the servicing of debt becoming increasingly expensive, meaning a rising share of revenue to pay off debt, the forecast for relief isn’t bright.

If anything the outlook is grim. After all, there isn’t a favorable expectation for a strong economic turn-around in the near-term.

“We really don’t know when there is going to be a vigorous and sustainable recovery in the U.S. and Europe,” said Sir Courtney.

For Caribbean states which depend on North America and Europe for tourists and to boost foreign direct investment, the uncertainty heightens the pains. It also underscores the region’s inextricable link to its rich trading partners. •

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The Broad Street Journal i August 3, 2011

Op-Ed

5

health

RESERVES, from Page 1

Will the UN help us fight NCDs?

executives and entrepreneurs gathered in Burlington, Ontario, was right on the money, if you will. For, as he argued, the strength of the currency was “evidence of Canada’s fiscal prudence and strong commodity prices for its exports.” At one stage in late July, the Canadian dollar had climbed to (C) $0.94 to the U.S. dollar, the highest point it had reached since November 2007.

But there’s more to the Canadian economic and financial story. Its strong banking regulation enabled it to avoid the financial debacle that occurred in the United States. Barbados certainly benefitted from the vigorous Canadian regulatory system. The presence of major Canadian banks in the country gave the Caribbean a considerable measure of banking stability, so much so that while American banks were falling by the wayside, there weren’t bank failures in the region. Barbados’ remained strong and confidence in them didn’t waver.

Chances are Dr. Delisle Worrell, Governor of Barbados’ Central Bank and his colleagues around the Caribbean ---Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, the Bahamas and the OECS member-states – aren’t ignoring the strength of the Canadian dollar and the impasse in the United States, for obvious reasons. After all, Canada is a valuable major source of tourists to the island-destinations and in the case of Barbados, Canadian financial institutions and trading corporations are key pillars of its offshore financial services sector.

series of infomercials on better health. The GIS’s excellent half hour video production devoted entirely to the special concerns of heart diseases among women and the role of the HSFB have recently been broadcast. The programme Most of the world’s leadhas been so popular that it has been repeated. ers, including CARICOM We are now at a stage where all the interested parties are Prime Ministers, will be gearing up for the big day in September. Hopefully they making their way to the will produce a global agenda. Will this be enough? Will United Nations in Sepgovernments secure a clear commitment from the UN? tember to tackle one of the What is the programme?

And will there be sufficient funds most difficult challenges our to drive the project?

All these and other burning issues world faces: how to save the will need answers.

In the past we have seen, especially in lives of 52 million people times of natural disasters, great public sympathy and promwho are expected, by 2030, ises of generous financial help.

Occasionally the resources to die each year of nonrequired failed to materialise.

The current economic recescommunicable diseases. sion will make this task even more testing.

High on the list are diseases of the heart and strokes, canSo what should we do? My suggestion is simple. The stakecer, diabetes, and lung disease. holders should begin to identify specific actions and research The historical evidence is indisputable. In 2008 alone needs at an early stage that will help to resolve the health care more than 36 million died of such diseases according to a issues.

As the president of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of UN Report circulated last Monday. The disturbing trend is Barbados, my wish list would be: national actions to reduce that the majority were from developing countries and were factors that lead to chronic diseases, especially heart disease, below the age of 60. stroke, high blood pressure, obesity; more affordable mediIn our region non-communicable diseases account for cines, and better health care in the Caribbean. more than 50% of all deaths and, of these, 30% are due to My second wish is that the financial and other support heart disease. arising from the UN Summit be apportioned across differThis human tragedy also comes with a heavy financial ent developing countries, including Barbados. The practice cost. The World Economic Forum concluded that last of automatically selecting the industrialised countries is now year’s global bill was in the order of US$ 400 billion. For harder to justify than ever before. This latter consideration is Barbados an earlier study by St Augustine Campus of Uni- important particularly for the Caribbean; we have the techniversity of the West Indies indicated that this figure was cal skills, we are likely to be the beneficiaries of any research, Bds$145 million and still rising. and research in the Caribbean often is associated with signifiGiven the magnitude of the issue and the implications cant cost savings, and yet we are often overlooked. on all our lives, it is very reassuring to know that Prime My final wish, which might be a little more difficult, is to enMinister Stuart, Health Minister Donville Inniss and his sure that implementation of outcomes from the UN summit, team of advisers, including Prof. Hassell from the National including research, should not be tied to the donor countries’ Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases Commission, have contributions where institutions in these countries are given taken the initiative to embrace many NGOs’ resources to the preference to implement major actions and research. They help find a solution quickly. They will all also be at the UN should be open to our universities, medical establishments and hospitals that meet the requirements of the tendering process. meeting.

We have an opportunity to save lives and reduce the cost of Already the Ministry of Health has begun national dishealth.

The next time we look at the figures, let’s hope we see a cussion aimed at stopping the marketing of unhealthy food steep decline in deaths and in the cost of providing healthcare products to children. for all.

The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados (HSFB), • Humphrey Metzgen President of the Heart & Stroke Foundain collaboration with CBC television, will be mounting a

By Humphrey Metzgen

tion of Barbados

That’s why it wouldn’t come as a surprise if Dr. Worrell and other central bankers are beginning to take the prudent step of diversifying the foreign reserves they are managing. The Canadian dollar, to use Flaherty’s words would be a “safe-haven” for some, not all of Barbados’ reserves. Indeed, in view of what’s happening in Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Portugal as the weaknesses in their economies are being fully exposed to the glare of the international media, questions are being raised about the Euro, thus eliminating that currency as an attractive alternative to the U.S. dollar for Barbados and others.

The idea of diversifying the reserves is not new. But it has taken on a sense of urgency now that the Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington seem more interested in playing politics with the world economy than maintaining a sense of fiscal responsibility at home. Before Obama moved into the White House, raising the debt ceiling was a routine matter. It was done at least 25 times in the past 30 years, most of them occurring during Republican Administrations. The reckless behavior of Republicans as seen in their ideology of simplicity when it comes to the issue of the debt ceiling and possible U.S. default should be a wake-up call for developing countries, especially those in the Western Hemisphere, which hold their reserves in U.S. dollars.

That brings us back to the Canada’s Finance Minister.

“What we want to void, and it is fundamental now, is any shock, any more shocks, in the world economy,” Flaherty said.

His concern should be shared by Dr. Worrell, Chris Sinckler, Barbados’ Finance Minister, and Owen Arthur, the former Prime Minister and now Leader of the Opposition. •

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6 The Broad Street Journal I August 3, 2011

Analysis

the economy

Little room to manouvre raised some key taxes, including the following (note that figures are from the governhad been expected but by less than half a ment’s Estimates, not the Central Bank’s point by the end of the year, Mr. Sinckler latest economic review, where the figures are not always those same as in the Estimates): RESERVES, from Page 1

13%

16% 9%

18%

7% 5% 34% THE BIG SIX REVENUE EARNERS Estimates 2011-12 Corporation Taxes

$319.9

Land Tax

$112.2

Excise

$175.1

Income Taxes

$435.7

VAT

13% 5%

$840.5

Import

34%

7%

$216.6

All Other Revenue

18%

9%

$389.3

16%

$2,489.3

100.0%

9% 26%

9% 15%

12%

7% 23% THE BIG SIX SPENDERS Estimates 2011-12

$895.1

26%

Transfers to Instit. & Indiv.

$787.2

23%

Retiring Benefits & Allow.

$237.5

7%

Interest Expense Amortisation

$507.9

15%

All Other Spending

$327.0 $299.8

9%

Personal Emoluments

Goods & Services

$433.0

$3,487.5

12%

9%

100.0%

REVENUE

Actual 2009-10

Revised Est. 2010-11

Estimates 2011-12

Corporation Taxes

$388.0

$309.0

$319.9

Income Taxes

$355.4

$397.2

$435.7

Land Tax

$125.9

$103.1

$112.2

Direct Big 3 Total

$869.3

$809.3

$867.8

VAT

$725.0

$764.2

$840.5

Excise

$147.1

$156.1

$175.1

$178.0 $208.4 $216.6 VAT from 15% to 17.5%, from Dec. 1, Import 2011 -The actual increase for the 2010-11 $1,050.1 $1,128.7 $1,232.2 fiscal year over the previous year was $39.2 Indirect Big 3 Total million ($764.2 million up from $725 mil- TOTAL BIG SIX $1,919.4 $1,938.0 $2,100.0 lion). The Estimates show a further increase $434.3 $416.7 $389.3 of around $76 million in VAT for the cur- All Other Revenue rent year, for a total of $840 million.) $2,353.7 $2,354.7 $2,489.3 Excise Taxes on gasoline by 50% from TOTAL REV. (Estimates) Dec. 1, 2011 -The actual increase for the 81.5% 82.3% 84.4% BIG SIX % TOTAL 2010-11 fiscal year which ended `March 2011 over the previous year was $11 million ($156.1 million compared to $147.1 milActual Revised Est. Estimates lion). The Estimates show an increased take EXPENDITURE 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 of around $19 million in this tax for the Current: current year, for a total of $175.1 million.)

Elimination of Allowances for travel$833.7 $806.5 $895.1 • Personal Emoluments ling and entertainment for employees, ef$426.4 $382.7 $433.0 fective Jan.1, 2011. Here is KPMG’s com- • Goods & Services ment – “Employees will now only be able $908.5 $882.0 $787.2 • Transfers to Instit. & Indiv. to claim for actual expenditures laid out to earn assessable income. This measure • Retiring Benefits & Allow. $235.9 $240.4 $237.5 strikes directly at individuals employed in $66.8 $62.0 $71.7 the private sector and already in the tax net • Other and who may have made financial com- Total current $2,471.3 $2,373.6 $2,424.5 mitments this year. Maximum additional taxes per employee $5,250 (15,000 x 35%).”

Debt Service: - KPMG Tax Newsflash, published Nov. 22, $430.3 $463.2 $507.9 • Interest Expense 2010.

The actual increase in Income Tax revenue for the 2010-11 fiscal year over the pre- Capital Expenditure: vious year was around $42 million ($397.2 $338.9 $714.6 $327.0 million up from $355.4 million). The Esti- • Amortisation mates show an increased take of around $38 • Fixed Assets $147.0 $161.6 $185.2 million in this tax for the current year, for a $129.4 $127.1 $42.9 • Other total of $435.7 million.)

• At the same time, the Environmental TOTAL EXP. (Estimates) $3,516.9 $3,840.1 $3,487.5 Levy was abolished from Dec1, 2010 - Ex$3,173.7 $3,489.4 $3,187.7 pected loss $42 million (The actual shortfall TOTAL BIG SIX for the Dec. 2011 to March 2011 period 90.2% 90.9% 91.4% BIG SIX % TOTAL was just under $14 million. The Estimates show a shortfall of around $42 million in ride, effective January 1st, 2011 – Expected three indirect - VAT Excise and Import Levies for the current year.) revenue $8.4 million.

- are expected to account for 84% of total Other measures that were intended to net revenue received by the Treasury this finananother $32 million for the Treasury over With such draconian increases, it might cial year. That’s $2.1 billion of close to $2.5 a 12-month period included the following: come as a shock to note that, according to billion in total revenue. the Estimates, the increase in revenue into On the spending side, the big six account • Elimination of tax free allowances for the Treasury for the financial year which for just over 91 percent of all spending and credit union savings, effective income year ended on March 31, 2011 was only $100 include are Personal Emoluments (govern2011 – Expected revenue $9 million. million more than for the previous year ment wages & salaries), Goods and ServicIncrease in fees charged for services by (2009-11). See Estimates, Table 8, page 34. es, Transfers to Individuals and Institutions, the immigration department, from Dec 1st, And the government’s economic planners Retiring benefits and Allowances (govern2010 – Expected revenue $4 million. are only anticipating an increase over 2011 ment pensions), Interest Expense (on the • Increase in dispensing fee for prescripof around $135 million for the current fis- national debt), and Amortisation (paying tions filled in private pharmacies, effective cal year. down the debt). These account for almost April 1st, 2011 – Expected revenue $11 The six taxes, three of which are direct - $3.2 billion of the $3.5 billion in estimate million; and Corporation, Income, Land, and the other expenditure for the year. • An increase in bus fares by $0.50 per

By Patrick Hoyos From the time she was a teenager, there seemed to be a soundtrack playing in Kaymar Jordan’s head. It was not a song, but a newscast, and she tried to put it on tape, making up what she now describes with a laugh as “my pretend news,” which, for some unknown reason, was always datelined “Antigua” and began with the words “Prime Minister Lester Bird ...”

That “soundtrack” must have stayed in Kaymar Jordan’s subsconscious, for although she entered the journalism profession on the print side, the rhythms and cadence of the spoken word continued to interest her, causing her to spend lunch hours and even time after work in the radio studios of her employer, trying to assimilate the emotion, authority and sometimes drama of the professional news broadcast.

It did not come naturally to her, and she had to keep trying to improve. But it was that unending drive for self-improvement, along with a passion for the news business, that propelled Kaymar Jordan to become a multi-skilled reporter at a time when walls of tradition existed between the three sectors of journalism.

Over the years, her drive would make hers one of the most recognised voices, faces and names in the Caribbean.

On September 1, 2010, Ms. Jordan, formerly the News & Current Affairs Director with the Caribbean Media Corporation, took up the post of Editor-in-Chief of the Nation Publishing Co. Ltd., with the responsibility for an editorial staff of over 100 people and for retaining the market dominance of the country’s leading daily newspaper and most visited local news website.

Eight months after taking up her new job, Ms. Jordan says she is “still excited every day” about going to work.

The most direct impact of the job on her as a journalist is that she can’t go out and get as many stories herself as she had done in the past. ‘It’s difficult to report directly now,” she says, as “media, especially a newspaper, is a team effort.”

To lead that team, Kaymar Jordan can draw on nearly two decades of experience in print and broadcast journalism, from teenage recruit to seasoned professional.

Early adventures. Ms. Jordan’s willingness to learn both print and radio skills at the same time led her to be chosen to cover the Food & Agriculture Organisation’s conference in Rome, when she was still not past the age of 20. CANA realised they didn’t have to send two people to cover the event.

When she was told she would be heading to Rome, she said “sure” immediately. “That was my attitude from the start. I used to say, ‘When I come in, they could tell me to go

JOURNALISM

InBusiness

The Broad Street Journal i August 3, 2011

7

Journey to the top of the news The Nation Publishing Co. Ltd.’s editor-in-chief, Kaymar Jordan, recalls some of the events and experiences that shaped her skills and approach to her profession.

Executive Profile

Media Corporation, shut down operations for a period after running into what she described as “serious financial trouble.” The merger had not gone “according to plan,” she says, and “we kind of went belly-up.”

After a short stint on, ironically, the Nation’s Business Desk, Ms. Jordan was invited to rejoin the CMC, as the agency’s wire service was being restarted with only two full-time editors - herself on news and Lance Whittaker on sports. “Those were the difficult years,” she recalls, “and what we did then was try to build back the service, calling on some traditional stringers in the field and bringing in some new ones.”

By May 2001 a limited print service was restarted. The TV service was also restarted with one person, and although neither editor felt television was their ‘thing’, she says, “We would go across and read the news.” They worked out of a room downstairs at the old CANA building on Beckles Road, St. Michael, with General Manager Gary Allen and two accounting staffers upstairs. In addition to less than a dozen regular stringers, there were a few others in the smaller islands ready to report if a big news story broke, so “it was really a skeleton staff,” she recalled.

Ms. Jordan and Mr. Whittaker also did a lot more of their own reporting, because “by then I had my own string of contacts - prime ministers, business leaders, etc. We generated a lot of the content and edited all of it.” Working late was a regular part of the job.

As the market’s confidence in CMC’s services began to be restored, the small staff was able to grow and also expand its prodEditor-in-Chief of the Nation Publishing Co. Ltd., Kaymar Jordan. Photo by uct offerings, including a television news Randy Phillips show. Ms. Jordan’s confidence as a TV news personality was also growing, and it would and skip ropes from the time I’m there to can conquer the world. He instilled that in make her a formidable presence on air, both when I leave. I never watched the clock and me from early.” in presenting the news and in her direct, I never said ‘It can’t happen.’ I was excited straight-to-the-point interviews with the about this industry from the start.”

Rising in the ranks: During her long career region’s political and business leaders.

Her mother had nightmares about her with the regional news agency, Ms. Jordan young daughter heading off so far from left and returned not once, but twice. The Academic advancement: Along with her the home fires of Castle, St. Peter, but Ms. first time was in 2000, when CANA, rise in the ranks of the news business, Ms. Jordan says she took her father’s attitude to shortly after merging with the Caribbean Jordan was determined to upgrade her acait. “He was a go-getter and he believed you Broadcasting Union to form the Caribbean See JOURNEY, next page

8 The Broad Street Journal I August 3, 2011

InBusiness

JOURNEY, from previous page

demic qualifications. In the late nineties she had begun studying part-time for a B.Sc. degree in management at the UWI Cave Hill campus, and graduated in 2001. However, she was determined to get a master’s degree as she felt it would complement her transition to a more supervisory role at CMC. Shortly after the Barbados’ general elections of 2003, Ms. Jordan was accepted by City University in London to do a master’s degree in communications policy studies.

She handed in her resignation, but CMC management said they would be interested in offering her a job on her return. When she did get back the following year, she learned her post had not been filled and that she was being offered the job of news director, a step up from news co-ordinator, to reflect her new academic qualifications.

A boom, then a bust. “I came back very excited, to be honest, about expanding the newsroom and its products,” Ms. Jordan recalled. The launch of Caribvision, CMC’s new satellite television channel, was seen as the way to reach Caribbean people not only within the region but in the U.S. and Canada through their cable service providers. Hopes ran high that the new channel would usher in an era of financial success for the CMC. However, despite its popularity in the region, where it was seen in nearly two dozen countries, as well as in the diaspora, Caribvision was unable to get the amount of advertising revenue needed to sustain its journalistic component, and its flagship news show, PrimeTime Caribbean, the channel’s late night news and sports broadcast, was first cut back from one hour to a half-hour and then cancelled after a few years, and Caribvision continued without it.

The ensuing budget cutbacks made 2008 a very difficult year, said Ms. Jordan. “That was when major staff cuts came, and in one hour, everything that you had worked on between 2004 and 2008, four years, just went ‘whoosh!’”

That fateful hour came just a few days after a scenario to make budget cuts had been worked out. “I had to think on the spot. I sat in the meeting and tears came to my eyes, because I had to go out and speak to my staff, whom I had told 24 hours before, ‘You all don’t have very much to worry about, we’re going to be OK, we just have to tighten up.’ But I had to push the tears back and go out there and say to them what was the precise case,” Ms. Jordan said.

Decisions had to be made almost instantly that would allow the agency to operate the next day under a limited budget and still deliver the wire service. “In a sense, that continued to be my fight even to the point of leaving to come to the Nation,” she noted.

In 2009 Ms. Jordan faced the greatest loss

Above left: Ms. Jordan on the set of PrimeTime Caribbean. Right: Reporting for CMC from Haiti, January 2010. Far right:A moment with her late father.

Photos courtesy Jordan family. in her personal life when her father, with whom she shared a close relationship, died of cancer at the age of 76.

“It was the biggest loss of my life, the most life-changing event, the single most impacting thing that’s happened to me in my life,” she says.

New challenges. As editor-in-chief of the Nation, Ms. Jordan chairs the editors’ meeting every day to keep abreast of the major news stories coming in the next day’s edition.

Is there more political pressure in her new job compared to working for regional media organisation? Yes, she says, pointing out that “I really try to led by journalistic judgement but the society itself is very much defined along political lines.” Inevitably, she has already been accused of belonging to both major political parties, while efforts to improve the paper editorially have also been judged by some along those lines.

“If you don’t have a sense of humour or are thin-skinned you would die!” she laughs, adding “I’ve never received so many legal letters in all of my life! Perhaps people are testing the waters, not knowing that I am

one who is not very timid. I try to be fair, but I’m not timid at all.”

She says the Nation has a good structure for dealing with such correspondence, but it can be time consuming. “In the majority of cases, just to satisfy our legal team, we may have to supply supporting documents as well, so it does take up a lot of time.”

Ms. Jordan says that she is trying to put her “unusual job” on a more normal schedule, as it is easy to be at work from “nine in the morning to midnight. That becomes the norm without you even noticing it.”

Since her arrival the newspaper has undergone a changeover in the computer publishing system, a shifting of some personnel to different areas, and has had to cover major national events like the death of a prime minister and the subsequent by-election.

With newspapers dependent on advertising for revenue, Ms. Jordan says that some of the toughest decisions she has had to make as editor-in-chief relate to “letting advertisers have their say in the paper, but realising that the editorial content is what is critical to the survival of this institution.”

She agrees that it’s a balancing act “but there are a number of principled positions

you have to take in the interest of the public and the paper’s own sustainability and survival.”

Trying to refresh the look and feel of the Nation’s editions is also a priority, she says.

While the Nation is not going to depart from the things that have worked for it in the past, says Ms. Jordan, “the management and the editorial team think that the time has come for a refreshing of the look of the newspaper, and we’re a trying to make some changes with a view to international standards as well.”

That is why, she notes, the editorial team is also making “a big thrust” in the paper’s online presence. For while it is not yet a big revenue earner, “we believe we have to stay in the game while not killing the goose that lays the golden egg, which for us is still the newspaper.”

“I think the message is getting out that the question we are always asking is ‘What is the truth here?’ It is what I ask my editors every day. I think the newsroom looks to me for that, and that is what I try to project.” •

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9

InBusiness

Above (from left) Henrik Brandel, Sales and Marketing Manager,and Leif Brandel, Founder & CEO of Palm Beach Group. Right: Poolside at Amaryllis Beach Resort. Photos courtesy Palm Beach Hotel Group.

tourism

The Swedish connection In its hands-on investment in Barbados, the Brandel family took the Frostian route

By Patrick Hoyos I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

- From “The Road Not Taken”

by Robert Frost (1920)

Family Business a new culture. We have grown to love this place.”

Henrik’s father Leif Brandel was the CEO for a listed Swedish finance company and “moonlighted in property deals on the side,” he recalls. While vacationing on the island in the late 1980s, recounts Henrik, his father was introduced to the then owners of the Asta Beach Hotel and, on visiting the property, “fell in love with the place, although he was not staying there.” Soon afterwards, he, along with three other investors, bought the hotel known as the Asta. It was 1989.

Many families come to Barbados for vacation, but not that many happen to be from Sweden, and few actually invest in the country. This is the story of how one such family, the Brandels, did just that. And according to the eldest son, it has indeed changed their lives.

Did his family do the right thing twenty years ago to invest in a Barbados hotel? “Absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt,” says Henrik Brandel. “Not “It was certainly a surprise, and not what only financially, but its been extremely he had in mind to do,” says Henrik, who rewarding to meet and be welcomed by was then in his mid-teens.

Poolside at Amaryllis Beach Resort. Photo courtesy Palm Beach Hotel Group.

“It was an adventure more than anything else at the time,” notes Henrik. But in 1994, when the other investors got cold feet due to the recession, Leif bought them out.

Over the next five years, the footprint of the hotel, renamed Amaryllis Beach Resort, expanded to the east and north. Early in 1997, a small property next door, Golden Beach Hotel, was purchased from a Mrs. Charles, and in 2003 the small shopping complex called Chattel Plaza, located between the hotel and Highway Seven, was also purchased. The hotel also acquired a small adjacent property, Wren’s Court, through a land swap with the government.

In 2002, Leif Brandel added to his portfolio by purchasing a small hotel owned by Robin Walcott and located opposite the Hastings Plaza shopping mall about two miles up the road, renaming it Allamanda Beach Hotel.

“It was a small hotel, offering lower rates to people wanting to stay longer, or to younger people on budget, as the rates were about a third lower,” recalls Henrik. The

two hotels comprise what is today known as Palm Beach Hotel Group.

Henrik came to regard Barbados as his second home and got married on Amaryllis’ beach in 1997. He always felt that one day he would get involved in the family’s Barbados hotel business, but at the start, his career path seemed destined for cyberspace.

Henrik studied at the Stockholm School of Economics and was headhunted by an IT firm in the city, where he had interned to do research for his master’s thesis.

The subject was how the Internet would change business, especially large retail chains. “At the time very few people knew anything about the internet so a keen interest was enough to make progress,” he says modestly. “We built large-scale websites for corporate clients including banks and railways, and a stock trading site for emerging markets.”

The experience completely formed the management style he brings to the hotel business, in which management is seen as See BRANDEL, next page

10 The Broad Street Journal I August 3, 2011

InBusiness

BRANDEL,from previous page

a resource to help get things done. “It’s very close to the Scandinavian style,” he says, in which you “don’t defer upwards: it’s very flat.” He admits it has been a challenge to implement it in the Barbados workplace, where he found that “you need to hold hands a little more to empower people.”

Over time, he says, he has noticed that members of staff are becoming more willing to share their ideas with less fear of being ridiculed by their fellow employees. He says he himself has earned respect gradually and is not afraid to move chairs or bags of sand when there is a project at the hotel.

After living full time in Barbados for six years, from 2002-08, Henrik and his grow ing family moved back to Sweden three years ago. “Because I have an American wife, it was the last chance for my daughter (who was then five) to learn Swedish,” he says, but she still considers the island her home. “In Sweden you start school at six, not four.”

Henrik comes back around four times a year, including Christmas and summer with the family. In his job as sales and marketing manager for the Palm Beach Group, Henrik finds living in Europe a plus because there is no five- to six-hour time difference and most of the work is done by email and telephone. From Europe, the American market is a few hours behind so he can communicate with people as soon as they come to work.

It also makes it easier to attend the numerous travel trade events required by the job, as he also does his own trips to meet people in the trade.

How has it been for the son to work with the father?

“Working with family is not unproblematic, by definition,” he says. Originally Leif and Henrik didn’t work together, thinking it might be an issue, so Henrik was originally given full autonomy at Allamanda and reported to someone else on day-to-day operations.

But as time went by and with experience gained, Henrik says he felt more comfortable working more closely with his dad. Bouncing ideas off each other became the norm.

“We help each other in our respective areas. He is obviously still more senior and I take his advice very seriously.”

As the hotel group has grown, “the pie is no longer the size of one person’s work,” so that Leif, still fully engaged in the business, deals with finance and Henrik with sales and marketing. They share the responsibility of coming down to the island to help the hotel managers improve efficiency.

He says he has adopted the “kaizen” style of management, referring to processes that focus on continuous improvement. “Or in English terms,” he says, “evolution vs. revolution. We try to improve one thing at a time.”

He says the family has no plans to sell townhouses or condos, “because once the sale is done you are out of it.

And although land values might encourage you to give that direction some thought, our family doesn’t want to exit the hotel business. What’s the fun in that?” he queries.

Looking back on the “curious” way his family came to Barbados on holiday only to end up being hands-on owners and operators of a hotel group, Henrik says “it is Robert Frost’s the road less travelled. But it has been worthwhile.

Barbados has been extremely accommodating to us as foreigners, which may not have been the case in other places.” •

Visit the Broad Street Journal online at www.bsjbarbados.com

A view from the sea: Allamanda Beach Hotel at Hastings, Ch. Ch. Photo courtesy Palm Beach Hotel Group.

Organisations

THE SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP

John Williams is new chairman of BPSA The Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) recently the elected John M. Williams chairman of its board of directors. Prior to his appointment which tooks effect July 1, Mr. Williams served as a director of the BPSA board.

He succeeds Ben Arrindell, who has retired as chairman after five years of service.

Mr. Williams, who is gress of Trade Unions and CEO of Cave Shepherd & Staff Associations of BarCo. Ltd., has had over 25 bados (CTUSAB) and the years experience in financial BPSA. The membership of the and general management in BPSA comprises the Barthe manufacturing and serbados Agricultural Society vices sectors in Barbados.

(BAS), the Barbados BankHe has also chaired the ers’ Association, the Barbaboards of directors of the dos Chamber of Commerce Barbados Investment & and Industry (BCCI), the Development Corporation Barbados Employers’ Con(BIDC) and the Barbados federation (BEC); the BarInstitute of Management bados Hotel and Tourism and Productivity (BIMAP). Association (BHTA); the The executive is a former president of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a former deputy president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados. The BPSA is the the private sector voice in the tripartite mechanism, the “Social Partnership,” which is comprised of the Government of Barbados, the Con-

Barbados International Business Association (BIBA); the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association (BMA) the Shipping Association of Barbados (SAB) and the Small Business Association (SBA). In addition, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados (ICAB) has recently been accorded associate member status. •

NON-PROFITS

Metzgen new president of Heart & Stroke Foundation At its recent AGM, the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados elected Humphrey Metzgen president. Mr, Metzgen, previously HSFB’s senior vice president, has a wide international and regional business experience and is a former CEO of several leading UK and Caribbean companies.

While resident in the UK, he was a senior corporate executive with the Times and Sunday Times newspapers.

In the Caribbean he served as president of the Advocate newspaper group and head of the Caribbean Media Corporation before retiring.

Mr. Metzgen is a director of the Barbados Museum and the co-author of Caribbean Wars Untold: A Salute to the British West Indies, which was published by Uni-

Humphrey Metzgen

versity of the West Indies Press and won a UWI award for Best General Interest Book in 2010.

The HSFB has also elected Adrian Randall its next senior vice president. Mr Randall was the CEO of the foundation before retiring two years ago. Dru Symmonds was re-elected senior vice president of financial services. •

The Broad Street Journal i August 3, 2011

11

The Social Partnership Mr. Williams (at left)with Minister of Labour and Social Security Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo, representing the government; and Cedric Murrell, head of the Coalition of Trade Unions & Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB), representing labour. Photo by the BSJ.

12 The Broad Street Journal I August 3, 2011

Organisations service clubs

Brenda Pope takes helm at Rotary Club of Barbados “I am living proof that the advent of women into Rotary has served to strengthen and widen the pool of both service and leader potential,” said Brenda Pope, giving the Incoming President’s Address to the Rotary Club of Barbados, on July 9.

It was just seven years ago that this club, the first Rotary Club to be established on the island, voted to extend membership to women, over a quarter of a century after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 “in a 7-to-0 decision that states may outlaw such discrimination by Rotary Clubs (in the USA),” according to The New York Times (May 5, 1987).

Ms. Pope, who is Partner, Risk Advisory Services with KPMG Barbados, has the distinction of not only becoming the first female president of this formerly all-male bastion of community service, but also itsfiftieth president.

Recalling her experience in Rotary up the present, Ms. Pope said that the way all three clubs in Barbados had mobilised to get relief out to Grenada after Hurricane Ivan in 2005, made her eager about joining Rotary, whose meetings she had attended as a guest a few times earlier.

“There is no doubt in

my mind that the galvanising catalyst to join was the incredible, coordinated exercise mounted by the combined three clubs in Barbados,” she told her audience.

She added that seeing how “in three short days Rotarians mobilised the many persons from different backgrounds, occupations and talents, in coming together to use unselfishly their contacts, skills, and know-how behind a single purpose, made me say passionately ‘I WANT to be a member of an organisation that can make a difference so quickly and so comprehensively.’”

Ms. Pope said she wanted to harness “this feeling of passion and energy” to revitalise the club and attract new members.

Ms. Pope noted that the special projects planned for the club’s 50th anniversary would be announced later, but she gave some details of “a special initiative for this year.”

She noted that breast cancer remained “the most common cause of death from cancer among Barbadian women,” with an average of four new cases diagnosed and one death occurring per week.

However, she said, the “good news” was that the

mortality rate from breast cancer was not increasing, largely due to early detection. State-of-the-art facilities, including digital mammography - the first in the Caribbean - were now in place in the breast screening programme of the Barbados Cancer Society, and to date over 42,000 mammograms had been carried out over a period of eight years.

Ms. Pope’s special ini-

tiative for her Rotary club this year would be to improve early detection using ultrasound elastographic machines which use digital imaging, “thus avoiding the need to send patients for biopsies,” she said.

Making such a machine available wouldhelp in the effort to make Barbados a centre for early breast cancer detection, and would be a “truly a worthy endeavour

for our club to spearhead in this, its 50th year,” said Ms. Pope.

She added that the club would be “partnering with corporate Barbados, twinning with other Rotary Clubs overseas and seeking matching grants to raise the approximately $260,000 President of the Rotary Club required to obtain this ma- of Barbados, Brenda Pope. chine for the breast screen- Photo courtesy KPMG. ing clinic.” •

We are now

CIBC FirstCaribbean

Beginning this week, you’ll notice some changes. We’ve adopted a new name and brand to reflect our position as a world class bank.

A sign of strength

banking & fINANCE

It’s now CIBC FirstCaribbean

The best of both

A lasting commitment

Our new identity is the ideal blending of the unique heritage of the Caribbean and the strength of CIBC – the world’s fourth strongest* bank. It also represents the combination of everything you’ve come to expect from your bank, and all the new opportunities opening up.

CIBC has made a long-term commitment to the Caribbean, our employees and our clients. The name CIBC FirstCaribbean says it all.

FirstCaribbean International Bank recently rebranded under the CIBC banner, changing its name to CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank.

Parent company CIBC, is one of Canada’s largest banks with offices in major financial centres around the world.

The transition to the new CIBC FirstCaribbean identity will be gradual over the coming months across the Caribbean region. Over this time the claret (red) and gold of the CIBC brand will be phased in as branch signage, employee uniforms, and marketing materials are updated.

CIBC FirstCaribbean will continue to operate as a Caribbean-managed business. •

For more information visit www.cibcfcib.com

*As ranked by Bloomberg Markets Magazine, 2011.

The CIBC logo is a registered trademark of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, used by FirstCaribbean International Bank under license.

The Broad Street Journal i August 3, 2011

Marketplace

13

banking & fINANCE

RBC launches Visa Platinum card In June, RBC Royal Bank launched a new RBTT branches. For more information go RBC Rewards Visa Platinum credit card, a to www.rbcroyalbank.com/caribbean-plat- RBC/RBTT’s guests enjoying the ambience of the Concorde Experience Museum, where the launch event was held. Photo courtesy RBC. premier travel and rewards card for personal inumbusiness. • and business banking clients.

According to the bank, the RBC Rewards credit card has the most flexible travel rewards program in Barbados, with zero blackout periods and the freedom to choose any airline, hotel or car rental agency. In addition to travel, RBC Rewards points can be redeemed for gift cards at popular merchants, as well as for cash-back credit to the card.

“RBC is the first bank in Barbados to offer a card with this level of choice, flexibility and rewards,” said Horace Cobham, president & country head, RBC/RBTT Barbados. He added that RBC was first to market in Latin America and the Caribbean to offer the prestige of Visa Platinum to its business clients.

“The introduction of this card ushers in a new era of innovation for RBC,” said Catherine Adams, RBC’s head of products and marketing strategy for RBC/RBTT’s the Caribbean. “With Barbados president, RBC’s 100-year hisHorace Cobham. tory in Barbados, we have chosen to launch this card here first as a visible demonstration of our commitment to Barbados and to giving our clients leading products and services that support their lifestyles.”

The RBC Rewards Visa Platinum card comes with additional benefits including worldwide concierge service, emergency medical protection, travel assistance, travel accident insurance, auto rental insurance and exclusive offers. There is no ceiling on points earned and cardholders can pool points with other family members with this card to earn and redeem points even faster.

“Visa offers a flexible credit platform that enables issuers to tailor products in order SAMPLE PRICES to attract and retain customers with the Studio units Bds$221,500 - $226,500 safety, reliability and security synonymous One BR unit (ground floor) Bds$270,000 - $299,000 with the Visa brand,” said Lorna Atiles, One BR unit (first floor) Bds$285,000 - $306,000 executive manager for Visa Inc. in the Caribbean. “RBC is a premier bank, and the Two BR unit (ground floor) Bds$418,000 - $445,000 RBC Platinum Rewards Visa card offers Two BR unit (first floor) Bds$442,000 to $450,000 the prestige and flexibility that today’s affluent cardholders look for.”

Mr. Cobham added: “We look forward to For more information, please visit our website offering this card to individuals and business owners who want a credit card backed

by Visa, with a level of features you won’t find anywhere else.”

The card will be offered by RBC branches and applications are also available at

Luxury you can truly afford.

Boarded Hall Green is a new eco-friendly designed, gated condominium community overlooking the St. George Valley.

14 The Broad Street Journal I August 3, 2011

Marketplace banking & Finance

First Citizens’ moves to historic Warrens Great House First Citizens Investment Services celebrated the official opening of their new offices at the historic Warrens Great House in early July. Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler, Minister of Finance was the keynote speaker and officiated over the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

After selecting the property as the new location for its Barbados corporate office, First Citizens restored and adapted it in keeping with the guidelines for a National Trust property. Country Manager Elizabeth Morgan noted that the move to the Warrens Great House was “an indication of the financial investment and commitment that our parent First Citizens Bank has made to this market as well as our commitment and desire to provide the highest level of service and comfort to our clients.”

Sharon Christopher, deputy CEO of First Citizens’ pointed out that almost all of the consultants, designers, contractors, artists commissioned and other service provid- In the photo, Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler cuts the ribbon with a little help from members of First Citizens ers who worked on the building were Barbadian.

Investment Services management, (left to right), Regional Manager Carole Eleuthere Jn-Marie, Deputy CEO Larry Naft, Over 300 guests were in attendance at the event, includ- Country Manager Elizabeth Morgan, and Chairperson Nyree Alphonso. Photo courtesy First Citizens’. ing government officials, business executives and clients.

First Citizens Investment Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Citizens Bank Ltd., the highest-ranked indigenous bank in the Caribbean with offices throughout the region. •

who’sWho in Barbados Business

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Your On-the-Go Guide

Food & Dining

Insider

The Broad Street Journal i August 3, 2011

15

Your on-the-go guide to Barbados’ best places to eat, drink, shop and visit.

Bars & Lounges Lexy’s Piano Bar: There’s always a singalong on at Lexy’s, hosted by owner and former Broadway star Alex Santoriello.

Visiting pianists also play your favourites.

Open Tues-Sun, D; www.lexypianobar. com; 2nd. Ave., Holetown, St. James; Tel: 432-5399.

Asian/Japanese

Apsara: At Apsara Indian and Thai cuisine is served in a verandah/garden setting. Open Mon-Sat, D; www. apsarabarbados.com; Worthing, Ch. Ch; Tel: 435-5454.

Coffee/Tea Shops

Rituals Coffeehouse: Coffees, chai teas and smoothies, as well as freshly baked pastries, wraps and sandwiches make Rituals popular. Mon-Sat, B, L & D; Satjay Mall, Victoria St., B’town; Tel: 436-1835.

ing the south coast boardwalk; Open Tues.-Sat., D; www.narubarbados.com; Shak Shak Complex, Hastings, Ch. Ch. Tel: 434-3838.

Nishi: East meets West with traditional Bajan food downstairs and a sushi dining room upstairs. Open daily, D; Fri-Sat, late.

2nd. Avenue, Holetown, St. James. Tel: 432-8287.

Sassafras: This upscale eatery blends island ingredients and dishes with panAsian sensibilities with an extensive wine list in a clubhouse setting with west coast views. Open Tues-Sun, L; Wed-Fri, D; www.sassafras246.com; Sugar Hill, Mt. Standfast, St. James.

International/Eclectic

Champers: Set in a traditional Bajan building, Champers offers fine dining on two floors with beach views. Mon-Sat, L & D; Sun, D; www.champersbarbados. com; Skeete’s hill, Rockley, Ch. Ch.; Tel: 434-3463.

Mangos By The Sea: Located upstairs one of Speightstown’s historic buildings, this restaurant offers international cuiThe Coffee Bean: Gourmet coffee, fresh sine and live entertainment every other salads and wraps, a comfortable atmo- At your service: HD Cafe’s Shop Manager Juliette Jones (right) with some of her staff (from left ) Chenita Maynard, Kevin weekend. Open Mon-Sat, D; www.mansphere and sushi on Fridays make this Bynoe, Annashime Springer and Jaime King. The Lanterns Mall store offers 25 flavours of Haagen Dazs super premium gosbythesea.ifp3.com; Tel: 422-0704. bistro a favourite. Open Mon-Sat, B & L; ice cream and sorbets.Photo by the BSJ. Tel: 426-1094.

Paulo’s Churrasco do Brasil: This Bralunch; Shak Shak Complex, Hastings, Ch. morning breakfast buffet, and a fullyzilian Steakhouse specializes in open fire Ch.; Tel: 426-7214.

NovelTeas: Ths tea shop’s selection Spago: This eatery serves authentic Italstocked bar.

Open daily, L & D; www. cooking while Passadors treat patrons Deli Food & Sandwiches includes chai, bubble, white, green and ian cuisine with live music on weekends. bubbassportsbar.net; Rockley, Ch. Ch.; to a continuous parade of roasted meat.

Apropos: This deli features Bajan food herbal, complemented by Indian food Open daily, D. A la carte menu only, L. Open daily, D; 2nd St., Holetown; Tel: Tel: 435-6217 as well as wraps, sandwiches, salads, International/Eclectic and sushi. Open Mon-Sat, B & L; Cnr. www.paulos.bb; St Lawrence Gap, Ch.

smoothies and desserts. Mon-Sat, B, L & Elbow Room: Do it your way at this 432-7394.

Harts Gap & Hastings Main Rd., Ch. Ch. ; Ch. Bump ‘N Wine Café: A favourite with restaurant where your entrée is served D; Trident House, Broad St., B’town; Tel: the artists on the island, Bump ‘N Wine is Tel: 228-8327 Tel: 421-6767 marinated and then cooked by you at Mini-Marts & C-Stores 426-8464. your table on a lava stone heated to iMart: This C-store offers all the items the venue of choice for open mic nights, Tapas: Tapas, named after the Spanish you just ran out of, and more. Open Mon- poetry readings and competitions. Tues- Deli Food & Sandwiches Mama Mia: This cozy, family-run eatery 700°F; open Mon-Sat, D; Tel: 432-1927.

Sun, L & D; Cavan’s Lane, Bridgetown; Tel: tradition of eating snacks to accomFri from 7am; Sat-Sun, mid-morning.

Opa!: This bistro offers authentic Greek features authentic Italian pasta, salads food including Chicken Souvlaki, gy- pany alcohol,offers a tapas-only menu and pizzas, and gourmet items. Hast- Mews, The: European cuisine with some Closes daily at 10pm. Lanterns Mall, 228-4289 ros and Moussaka. Open daily, L & D; by day, and a full menu at night. Open ings Main Rd., Ch. Ch; 429-3354; open Asian influence is offered at Holetown Hastings, Ch. Ch. Tel: 271-0345 eatery; live music on the weekends.

MonAmerican Limegrove Centre, Holetown, St. James daily, L & D; www.tapasbarbados.com; Mon-Sat, B, L & D (Also at Wildey, St. M., Sat, D; Fri-Sat., late night; Holetown, St. Posh Nosh: This full scale gourmet deli TGI Friday’s: This pop culture version of (also Quayside Centre, Rockley, Ch. Ch; Keswick Centre, Hastings, Ch. Ch.; Tel: Mon-Fri, B & L. 228-0704.

James; Tel: 423-1122. has everything the modern foodie could the all-American diner features burgers, Tel:624-9767. want for picnics, cookouts, dinner and ribs and Southwest fare.

Open daily, L Ice Cream/Treats Flying Rabbit, The: At Kendal Sporting more, including sushi, sandwiches, sea- & D; The Pavilion, Hastings, Ch. Ch. Tel: Fast Food Chilly Moos: Select your combination Italian Club in the heart of the island, the Flying 436-8443 food, and even gourmet baby and kids’ Daphne’s: This eatery offers modern KFC: This leading fast food restaurant of ice cream flavours, add toppings and foods.

Mon-Sat 10am 7pm www.poshoffers the Colonel’s famous chicken, with Rabbit offers a fully-stocked bar, table sauces, then see it ‘cut’ together on a Italian cuisine in a comfortable, setting nosh246.com; Sunset Blvd., Sunset Crest, Bajan and Caribbean Cuisine dining indoors or outdoors next to the tennis, darts, and pool with waterfall for frozen granite block. Open daily, 10am on Barbados’ West Coast. Open Tues-Sun, St. James; Tel: 432-5865 D; www.daphnesbarbados.com ; Jus’ Grillin’: Nothing fried here, only south coast boardwalk. Open daily, B, L & the whole family. Open Tues-Sun, L; Fri to late. Quayside Centre, Rockley; Tel: and alt. Thurs, D; www.kendalPayne’s Bay, St. James; Tel: 432-2731. grilled fish, chicken to burgers, along D. Hastings, Ch. Ch; Tel: 435-8185 435-1877. sportingclaysbarbados.com; Carrington, Pub Food with their popular grilled potato wedges St.Philip; Tel: 437 5591.

HD Café: Featuring 25 Haagen-Daz fla- Il Tempio: This beachfronter is known McBride’s Pub: The only authentic Irish and veggies. Mon-Sat, L & D; Sun, D; Subway: The popular American franvours as well as cookies, the first HD Cafe for its Italian fare and walk-up lunch ser- cookhouse and pub on the island, Mc- www.justgrillinbarbados.com; Quayside chise offers made-to-order submarine Bride’s is a long-standing favourite with Ctr., Rockley, Ch. Ch; Tel: 435-6469 sandwiches with bread baked on the Mexican to open in Barbados also allows you to vice. www.iltempiobarbados.com; locals and visitors alike. Open Monpremises. Open Mon-Fri, B, L & D; Sat- Cafe Sol: Known for its Mexican food create your own dessert combo. Open Open Sun-Sat, L & D; Tel: 417-0057 Sat: D & late night; St. Lawrence Gap, Ch. Sun, L & D; Lanterns Mall, Hastngs, Ch. and cocktails. Open daily, D; www.cafedaily, 12 noon to late. Lanterns Mall, Coffee/Tea Shops solbarbados.com; St. Lawrence Main Rd., Luigi’s: For almost half a century, this Ch; Tel 420-7646.

Hastings, Ch. Ch.; Tel: 271-0404 Italia Coffee House: Folks enjoy the Ch; Tel. 271-0356.

Ch. Ch. ; Tel: 420-7655 cosy bistro has been serving Italian cuilattés and other coffee beverages along sine in a family-friendly environment.

Bubba’s: Very popular for sports, also Pastry Box: Italian ice cream is served with a variety of snacks. Open daily, B, L Indian/Asian/Japanese in delicious waffle cones, alongside cof- Open Mon-Sat, D; www.luigisbarbados. offering standard pub-grub, such as & D; Quayside Ctr., Rockley, Ch. Ch.; Tel: Naru: Caribbean food with an Asian burgers, fries, wings, and steak, a Sunday 435-8165; fee, crepes and pastries. Open daily after com, Dover Woods, Ch. Ch.; 428-9218 flare in a contemporary setting overlook-

If you would like your establishment to be listed for free in this section, please email us at bsj@caribsurf.com

Insider

16 The Broad Street Journal I August 3, 2011

Your On-the-Go Guide

Shopping Accessories & Jewelry

Diamonds International: Specialises in diamond jewellery, fine Italian gems and gold, watches, fine leather pieces, loose diamonds and wedding band sets.

Open Mon-Sat www.diamondsbarbados. com. Lwr. Broad St., B’town. Tel: 4302400.

Colombian Emeralds International: Along with emeralds mined in Colombia, this store also offers gemstone jewellery, as well as popular brands of watches, bracelets and charms. Open Mon-Sat; www.colombianemeralds.com; 24 Broad St., Barbados; Tel:227-1310

Harrison’s: A great choice for duty free luxury goods, leather bags and shoes, fragrances, make-up and accessories, crystal and china.

Open Mon-Sat; www.dutyfreecaribbean.com; Nicholas House, Broad Street, B’town;Tel:431-5500

Insider

retailer for fine crystal, watches, leather good, and gold diamond and precious Health & Beauty stone jewellery. Open Mon-Sat. Dacos- Jenn Health and Beauty: This health tas Mall, Broad St., B’town. Tel: 431-0031. and beauty store stocks vitamins, herbs, supplements, handmade organic bath and beauty products, and features fresh Art Galleries On The Wall Gallery: All original pieces vegetarian food. Open Mon-Sat. Lwr.

by Caribbean artists such as Boscoe Broad Street, B’town Holder, Ann Dodson, Heath Dawn-scott Tel: 426-1276 and more. Hand-crafted jewellery, accessories and pottery also available. Open GetSet Makeup Boutique: Specialdaily. www.onthewallartgallery.com. At izing in popular English E.L.F. Products, Champers Restaurant, Rockley, Ch. Ch. GetSet offers make-up and body care products at reasonable prices. Open Tel: 234 9145.

Mon-Sat; Peronne Village, Ch. Ch.; Tel: 431-5440.

Arts & Crafts Gifts & Things: This artsy retailer offers sterling silver jewellery, scented candles, MAC Cosmetics: Due to the quality of it unique home decor items, glass and products and trained make-up artists in wood sculptures, and ornaments. Open every store, Mac has become a standard Mon-Sat. Sheraton Mall, Ch. Ch; Tel: 437- in the world of make-up. www.maccosmetics.com; Cave Shepherd, Broad 1196.

Street, B’town; Tel: 227-2130.

Sweet Creations: This quaint gourmet gift shop specializes in chocolates, gift Home & Garden novelties and unique gift baskets, what Discoveries: Discoveries offers unique they call the ‘art of tasteful giving’. Open fittings and accessories for a fashionable Mon-Sat. www.sweetcreationsbb.com. home, as well as gifts and baskets, decoQuayside Ctr., Rockley, Ch. Ch; Tel: 228- rations and gift registries. Open Mon-Sat. 2182.

Canewood, St. Thomas; Tel: 421-6412.

Jeweler’s Warehouse: JW offers quality jewellery at wholesale prices, with a 50% off sale happening every day: charms, birthstone jewellery, wedding sets and more. Open Mon-Sat; "Norman Children’s Wear & Toys Lilliplum: Top brands, accessories and Ctr., Broad St., B’town; Tel: 430-1326 latest trends for expectant moms, newThe Royal Shop: Offering diamonds and borns, babies and toddlers. Indoor and other precious stone jewellery, as well as outdoor toys, furniture, and room decor, fine Italian figurines and gemstone cre- Gift registry, online shopping available. ations, The Royal Shop is a family-owned Open daily; Canewood, St. Thomas". Tel: and -run business that is a favourite 424-1575. among locals. Open Mon-Sat; www.barbados.org/shops/royal/; No. 32, Broad Tots to Teens: Accessories, toys, jewellery and room decorations for kids and St., B’town; Tel: 429-7072 teenagers. Open Mon-Sat. Little Switzerland: A wold-renowned Tel: 228-1268

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Department Stores & Malls

Clothing & Footwear

Cave Shepherd: The biggest retailer on Broad St. functions as a mall, with most of its departments operated by concessionaires, thus bringing to customers a wide variety of tastes and choices, from perfumes and jewellery to clothing, footwear, books, and luggage. Open daily; www.caveshepherd.com; Broad Street, B’town; Tel: 227-2121.

Body Essence: This women’s apparel boutique offers ecasual and formal wear, suits and accessories, as well as bath and body products by Crabtree & Evelyn. Open Mon-Sat; Peronne Village, Ch. Ch.; Tel: 437-2100.

Redd Boutique: Here you can find the latest trends in clothing, shoes, accessories and beachwear for teens and adults.

Open Mon-Sat; Sheraton Mall, Ch. Ch.; Tel: 435-5690. •

Dingolay: Clothes, shoes, and accessories in the latest styles.Open Mon-Sat; Sheraton Mall, Ch. Ch; Tel: 436-2157.

Dwellings: This inland retailer offers accessories, housewares and furniture for your home. Corporate gifts, gift registries and online shopping also available. Open Mon-Sat. www.dwellingsbarbados.com; Canewood, St Thomas; Tel: 438-5900 Walker's World: This store offers indoor and outdoor furniture, home accessories and ‘turn-key’ packages for outfitting your entire home. Open Mon-Sat; www. walkersworldbarbados.com; St. Lawrence Gap, Ch. Ch.; Tel: 428-1183.

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Re-opening Soon!