Jamaica: PNP AGAIN! Governing party thumps JLP in Local Gov’t Elections
THE ruling People’s National Party (PNP) demolished the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in yesterday’s Local Government Elections, taking 12 of the 13 parish councils, among them the prized Kingston and St Andrew Corporation in the capital city.
The governing party also won the Portmore Municipal Council and saw its candidate George Lee unseating the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP’s) Keith Hinds in the island’s only mayoral race.
The Trelawny Parish Council ended in a tie.
This was the second time in three months that the PNP was celebrating, having crushed the JLP 42-21 seats in parliamentary elections last December.
But yesterday’s poll was characterised by a low voter turnout of 34.5 per cent, according to the Electoral Office of Jamaica, a significant drop from the 53 per cent voter turnout in the December election.
The victory represented a reversal of fortunes for the PNP which won only three of the 13 councils in the 2007 Local Government polls.
In yesterday’s elections, the PNP took 149 of the 228 divisions. The JLP won 77, while two divisions went to independents — Lester Crooks (Riverside in Hanover) and Paul Patmore (Lorrimers in Trelawny).
Early yesterday afternoon, Opposition Leader Andrew Holness, in what appeared like a premature concession statement, expressed concern at the lack of voter interest in the elections, describing it as a threat to democracy.
“In a low voter turnout environment, the winning party only needs to use national resources to take care of the small portion of the electorate that votes for them and possibly placate the portion of the electorate that votes against them,” Holness said.
“This is the recipe for staying in power. However, without an engaged citizenry, oversight and accountability for government action are weak. Eventually governments stray from the best interest of all the people to focus on the interests of the party faithful.
“Government is therefore captured by political elite serving a voting minority. This is a threat to our democracy. I am concerned,” said Holness, who also recommended that the phenomenon of low voter turnout in elections be studied carefully.
Last night, at exactly 10 o’clock, a beaming Portia Simpson Miller, the prime minister and PNP president, told jubilant supporters at PNP headquarters on Old Hope Road in Kingston that local government is critical to the development of Jamaica and to ensure the delivery of services to communities.
“We have done it again,” she told the crowd, many of whom began celebrating a mere hour after the polls were closed yesterday and long before the Electoral Office of Jamaica had officially declared a victory for the governing party.
Not even the persistent raindrops could dampen the spirits of the supporters who immediately got into party mode as they awaited the address from the party leader.
“We are humbled by your support, and [I am] personally humbled by the support as I moved across the country working in the wee hours,” she added.
The opposition leader, she said, asked for a referendum and he got one on December 29 and another last night.
In an obvious reference to the JLP’s campaign slogan for the Local Government Elections, Simpson Miller said the people of Jamaica have “balanced the ting” by forming a union of local and central government.
“Now elections are behind us, the Government can settle down to face the challenges and they are many,” Simpson Miller said.
She wasted no time getting down to business as she introduced councillor for the Norman Gardens Division and vice-president of the party, Angela Brown Burke, as the next mayor of Kingston.
Simpson Miller also challenged the councillors to be accountable and responsible.
“There must be accountability, and they must operate in a responsible way,” she said.
Jamaica Observer
Three men slashed and killed in Barbados following domestic disputes
Three men were stabbed to death in less than 24 hours following separate domestic disputes incidents between Friday afternoon and the early hours of Saturday morning.
And, police are today questioning a woman and a man in connection with two of those incidents, and are looking for a third man in connection with the last incident.
Dead are Mr. Sylvan Trotman, 55, of Sanford, St. Philip, Mr. Macolm Husbands, 45, of 2nd Avenue, Welchman Hall, St. Thomas and Mr. James Jackman, 45, of Greenfields, The City.
The bloody period started on Friday afternoon when Mr. Trotman received multiple stab wounds on Friday around 4 p.m. following an altercation with a relative. He was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he later died. The relative, a man, is said to be in police custody.
By 9 p.m. police were called to the murder scene of Mr. Jackman who died following a domestic dispute with his female friend at his home. That woman is also now in police custody assisting with that investigation.
And, by 5 a.m. lawmen were looking at the body of Mr. Husbands whose throat was cut by an assailant after he opened the door of his home to see who threw a rock through his window. His female friend who was in the house at the time was also attacked. Their attacker fled the scene but has since been apprehended by police.
Investigations into the three murders are continuing.
Caribbean 360 News
Trinidad contravenes CARICOM treaty – PM
St Lucia Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves on Monday said insurance laws in Trinidad and Tobago contravene the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) treaty and allow the oil rich twin island republic to treat its nationals favourably following the collapse of Colonial life Insurance Company (CLICO) and subsidiary, British American Insurance Co. Ltd (BAICO).
Gonsalves told Parliament that his administration believes all policyholders affected by the collapse of the two companies should have been treated “in precisely the same manner in respect of CLICO-Trinidad”.
“This is not an issue of a negotiation. This is an issue of a juridical responsibility as we see it,” he said in response to a question from Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace.
“If I might just say this first of all, widely, a number of institutions have had investment policies, annuities with CLICO-Trinidad. The position of the law in Trinidad and Tobago is that only monies which are in the statutory fund can be paid out to policyholders ordinarily resident in Trinidad & Tobago,” Gonsalves said.
“We have taken the position that under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that law is contrary to the equal treatment provision of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and therefore has no validity.”
Gonsalves said that if Trinidad & Tobago “is treating its own citizens in a particular manner, they must treat everybody in the Community in like manner”.
Gonsalves said that even though there is “a deficiency of funds in the statutory fund in relation to the liabilities under the policies of CLICO-Trinidad & Tobago, there are other assets, either of CLICO-Trinidad but through its parent entity, CL Financial, in which resources from St Vincent and the other places went to purchase and we don’t have those assets.
“So our position is that we have to be treated in precisely the same manner in respect of CLICO-Trinidad,” he told legislators.
Gonsalves said that in the case of BAICO, “there is a slight difference because British American was a Bahamian company but all its back offices arrangements and trade were done in Trinidad and under the suzerainty, obviously, of CL Financing, a company in Trinidad & Tobago, where its body, mind and soul was resident.
“So that there is a case for the contribution from British American but not to the same extent as there is in respect of CLICO Trinidad,” he added.
- CMC
Human rights in Cuba deteriorate, warns Amnesty
Cuba has intensified its harassment of dissidents and human rights activists, according to Amnesty International.
The campaign group's report says the number of people intimidated and taken into custody has risen sharply over the past two years.
It says there were 2,784 cases of human rights abuses between January and September 2011, which is 710 more than in the whole of the previous year.
The criticism comes as Pope Benedict XVI's prepares to visit Cuba next week.
The Cuban government has not responded, but the Communist Party newspaper Granma claimed on Wednesday that dissidents are trying to stir up trouble to put pressure on the Pope to comment.
'Prisoners of conscience'
Amnesty has also put four Cubans on its list of "prisoners of conscience", defined as people who have been jailed because of their "political, religious or other conscientiously held beliefs".
The four include Antonio Michel Lima Cruz and his brother Marcos Maiquel Lima Cruz, who founded online newspaper Cardogna.
Their paper was closed down in 2009 and they were convicted of "insulting symbols of their homeland".
Also highlighted are the cases of activists Yasmin Conyedo Riveron and her husband Yusmani Rafael Alvarez Esmori, detained for using "violence or intimidation" against a state official.
Only last year Cuba released the last of 75 activists it had jailed in 2003, but Amnesty said government critics, journalists and bloggers are being repeatedly held for short periods and denied access to lawyers and their families.
At the weekend more than 60 members of the Ladies in White pressure group were detained temporarily when they tried to go to mass at a Catholic church, a regular fixture for the organisation.
CaixaBank becomes Spain's biggest bank by assets
Spain's biggest bank in terms of assets has been created after CaixaBank bought Banca Civica for 977m euros ($1.3bn, £817m).
The government has amended laws to encourage mergers between banks, many of which collapsed following the bursting of the property bubble.
Banca Civica itself was formed by combining four troubled "cajas", or regional savings banks.
The merged bank will have 14 million customers.
CaixaBank will have 342bn euros in combined assets, deposits of 179bn euros and loans totalling 231bn euros, the bank said.
The CaixaBank deal will be completed by the third quarter and will generate cost savings and other benefits of 540m euros by 2014.
'Restructuring'
Following the merger, CaixaBank will be the market leader in the regions of Catalonia, Andalusia, Navarra, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.
The Barcelona-based bank La Caixa, which has a majority stake in CaixaBank, will retain 61%.
"The merger will help to consolidate the restructuring of the Spanish banking sector, by creating a leading bank in the Spanish financial system with an extensive regional presence, which will help support the country's economic development," the bank said.
The Bank of Spain on Tuesday confirmed that the Spanish economy returned to recession.
It contracted again in the first quarter of 2012, the central bank said, after shrinking 0.3% in the three months to December.
On Friday, the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will announce its 2012 budget, which must set out how Spain will cut the public deficit to 5.3% of its output this year from 8.51% last year.
Many are unhappy with the deep austerity cuts enacted so far, and unions have called a national strike for Thursday to protest against labour reforms that make it cheaper to sack workers.
The country's jobless rate is 23%, the highest in Europe, and the Spanish economy is expected to contract by 1% this year.
But the European Commission has warned that if its government brought in further budget cuts to meet its targets, the economy would contract by more than that.
Apple could up China investment as Tim Cook visits
Apple has indicated it will consider higher investments in China, as chief executive Tim Cook visited Beijing to meet Chinese officials.
"China is very important to us and we look forward to even greater investment and growth here," said Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based Apple spokesperson.
The company did not provide details on the meetings.
This is Mr Cook's first trip to China since taking the top job in August after the death of founder Steve Jobs.
High demand
Analysts said further investment in China was likely to come in the form of more stores, amongst other things.
Apple currently has five stores in mainland China and one in Hong Kong, although some Apple products are offered through other resellers.
Apple's iPhone is currently sold by two telecommunications companies, China Unicom Hong Kong and China Telecom.
"[Mr] Cook will certainly be talking about increasing the number of stores. In the past they were planning an accelerated store roll-out programme," said Robert Clark, an analyst at Electric Speech, an independent technology and telecom consultancy based in Hong Kong.
Apple products are in high demand in China. Earlier this year, the release of the iPhone 4S was marred by angry crowds outside the Apple store in Sanlitun in Beijing.
Customers waiting in line threw eggs and scuffles broke out with police when the store did not open as planned and no iPhone 4S devices were sold.
Tim Cook's visit also comes as Apple is embroiled in legal battles in China over intellectual property rights and faces labour challenges with its Chinese suppliers.
Apple is currently involved in a legal dispute over the trademark for the iPad name in China with local company Proview International Holdings.
The Wall Street Journal has quoted an attorney for Proview saying that no meeting was planned while Mr Cook is in China.
Apple has also faced criticism over the working conditions at its suppliers, mainly Foxconn.
Flights cancelled as strike disrupts German air travel
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled at German airports as ground staff strike over demands for more pay.
National airline Lufthansa said it had scrapped more than 400 flights scheduled for Tuesday, mostly at Germany's biggest airport, Frankfurt.
The walkout is part of wider industrial action by public sector employees ahead of further talks due later this week.
Service workers' union Verdi is demanding a 6.5% pay rise for its two million members.
About a third of flights were cancelled at Frankfurt, a spokesman said. Munich, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Cologne-Bonn and Hannover are also among the airports affected.
In earlier talks, the union rejected an offer of a 3.3% pay increase over 24 months from public sector employers. Further negotiations are scheduled to start on Wednesday.
The union says public sector workers are undervalued, and that their pay has been squeezed by national and local governments trying to keep spending down.
At a crossroads
The strike has also hit public transport, nursery schools, hospitals and local government services in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Verdi head Frank Bsirske said the strikes were a warning, and were called to accelerate talks.
"It can't continue like this, that we are always struggling with the prices for rent, for petrol and for food and have less money in our pockets than the previous year," he said.
Mr Bsirske threatened wider strike action if the next round of talks fails, telling a union rally on Tuesday that negotiations are at a crossroads.
The BBC's Steve Evans in Berlin says unions argue that workers accepted cuts in living standards to help the economy weather the global financial crisis of 2009, but should no longer continue to suffer now that the situation is improving.
German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich condemned the action as "disproportionate".
"Given that we have made a substantial offer, mistreating the public with these strikes is not justified," Mr Friedrich told the Rheinische Post daily.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn on formal sex ring investigation
Former International Monetary Fund boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been placed under formal investigation in France over alleged involvement in a prostitution ring.
The move could lead to formal charges.
He has admitted attending parties where the authorities believe prostitutes were provided by a gang, but denies knowing that they were prostitutes.
Last May, he resigned from the IMF after being accused of attempting to rape a hotel maid in New York.
The charges were later dropped.
The maid, 32, is now bringing a civil case against Mr Strauss-Kahn, which is due to start in New York on Wednesday. He has always denied any wrongdoing.
'No inkling'
Mr Strauss-Kahn faces preliminary charges of procuring prostitutes and involvement in an "organised gang", one of his lawyers said.
The 62-year-old former IMF head, who could face up to 20 years in prison if tried and convicted, was released on 100,000 euros ($135,000) bail.
Prosecutors say Mr Strauss-Kahn cannot contact defendants, plaintiffs, witnesses or the media in relation to the case.
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says the allegations relate to his supposed involvement in a vice ring that hired prostitutes for hotel orgies, mainly in Lille, but also in Paris and Washington.
The case has become known in France as the "Carlton affair", named after a hotel where several orgies are said to have been held.
The magistrates are examining allegations that business associates of Mr Strauss-Kahn were involved in the prostitution ring, and misusing corporate funds.
Eight people have already been placed under formal investigation, including a senior police officer.
One of Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, Richard Malka, said: "He firmly declares that he is not guilty of these acts and never had the least inkling that the women he met could have been prostitutes."
Consorting with prostitutes is not against the law in France, and Mr Strauss-Kahn has acknowledged that he was at some of the parties with the women.
Last month he was held in police custody for 48 hours at the start of his formal questioning.
Our correspondent says Monday's hearing came as a surprise, and it is not yet clear why Mr Strauss-Kahn appeared before his scheduled appointment later in the week.
However, Mr Strauss-Kahn is also facing the court case in New York.
He will not appear in person there.
His lawyers, and those of the maid, Nafissatou Diallo, will debate whether Mr Strauss-Kahn's position in the IMF afforded him diplomatic immunity.
The criminal charges against Mr Strauss-Kahn were earlier dropped, when doubts emerged over the reliability of Ms Diallo's testimony.
Mr Strauss-Kahn had faced a third case - an accusation by 32-year-old author Tristane Banon of attempted rape.
Although magistrates concluded there was prima facie evidence of sexual assault, the statute of limitations precluded a prosecution and the case was dropped.
--BBC
Rio Tinto explores diamond mines sale
Rio Tinto has said it will explore selling its interests in the diamond trade.
The world's second-largest miner of iron ore said that it is considering "whether we can create more value through a different ownership structure".
Rio Tinto operates diamond mines in Canada, Zimbabwe and one in Australia - where last month it found the world's biggest pink diamond.
No deal is imminent, it said.
The Anglo-Australian company also operates an advanced diamonds project in India, which creates diamond composites for industrial use.
"The diamonds market outlook is very positive, with demand growing strongly and lack of new discoveries limiting supply," said Rio Tinto executive Harry Kenyon-Slaney.
"We have a valuable, high-quality diamonds business, but given its scale we are reviewing whether we can create more value through a different ownership structure."
"This process may take some time," he added.
CONSULTATIVE FORUM MEETS TODAY
THE CONSULTATIVE FORUM OF THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS WILL MEET FOR THE THIRTY-SECOND (32ND) SITTING OF THE CONSULTATIVE FORUM OF THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS ON TUESDAY 27th DAY OF MARCH 2012 IN THE NJS FRANCIS BUILDING POND STREET, GRAND TURK AT 10AM.
BILLS TO BE DEBATED INCLUDES:
PENSIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL 2011
PENSIONS (SPECIAL PROVISIONS) BILL 2011
PENSIONS (VALIDATION) BILL 2011
NATIONAL INSURANCE (AMENDMENT) BILL 2011
There will be a presentation made by Mr. Malike Cummings - Electrical Commissioner as well.
Join Radio Turks & Caicos at 10am for live coverage.