Dudus’ sentencing postponed again
Former Tivoli Gardens strong man Christopher (Dudus) Coke, will have to wait until March 16,to learn whether or not he will spend the next 23 years in Prison here.
Coke was scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow but Judge Robert P Patterson approved a request by Defense attorney, Stephen H Rosen to postpone the sentencing.
Yesterday’s postponement marks the third such since Coke was first scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Rosen requested the postponement to give the defense time to respond to a recommendation by prosecutors that Coke be given the maximum 23 year sentence allowed under a plea deal which was arrived at last August.
In their recommendation, prosecutors painted Coke as being so powerful while in Jamaica that he enjoyed virtual immunity from law enforcement.
Coke’s defense team is expected to paint a different picture of their client, by pointing to his charitable work in Tivoli.
Last year Coke who has been incarcerated here since June 2010 wrote to Judge Patterson seeking leniency in his sentencing.
And noted defense attorney Mark Golding said yesterday’s postponement will give Coke’s defense team an opportunity to rebut the recommendation made by prosecutors.
He said that there is no winner nor loser in delaying sentencing, since Coke will be given credit for the time he is incarcerated.
Jamaica Observer
Grenada ‘resident status’ promised to investors raises legal question
Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, who dismissed Environment Minister Joseph Gilbert last month on the grounds that the “action was taken in the public interest and in order to preserve the integrity of the government of Grenada and to maintain the highest standards of Cabinet decision-making”, may be confronting another situation that requires action on his part.
Documents circulating in St George’s show a senior ministry of finance official assuring the chairman of a Chinese financial company of Grenada government acceptance of a proposal to grant “resident status” to investors in return for investing up to US$50 million in Grenada.
However, Grenada has no law providing for payment for “resident status.” Journalists investigating the matter also uncovered no evidence that it was ever discussed and agreed to by cabinet.
The documents include letters written by Christopher DeRiggs, director of private sector development in the Ministry of Finance, to the chairman of the board of Touchstone Capital Partners Enterprise of China.
Last May, a 19-member Touchstone delegation visited Grenada and met with top government and private sector officials.
The visitors signed a number of memoranda of understanding and promised to plough US$200 million into the local economy.
Among the potential investors were said to be presidents and chairs of various companies whose finances are managed by Touchstone Capital Partners.
Touchstone, in following up with DeRiggs after the Grenada visit, requested a response on whether certain investors “will be granted the right to seek resident status in Grenada on condition that each successfully passes Grenada’s due diligence requirements and channels through Touchstone Capital’s pre-approved projects, an investment in Grenada of a minimum amount of $300,000 for 5 years.” Touchstone said it was “proposing up to $50m USD of investments under this program.”
DeRiggs answered in a letter dated September 12, 2011. The letter was copied to Finance Minister Nazim Burke; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Timothy Antoine; and Grenada’s Trade Counsellor at its Embassy in Beijing, Richard Nixon.
“In light of the foregoing,” DeRiggs said in the letter, “the Government of Grenada hereby accepts your proposal as captured in this letter, subject, of course to the clear understanding that the applicants shall pay all applicable fees associated with their application.”
DeRiggs, the point man in liaising with Touchstone on the fee-paying “resident status” arrangement he claims government had accepted, was also a lead player in another enterprise that was not discussed in cabinet and which ended prematurely in 2010.
He was part of a local team that had met representatives of SeWang One World, with whom a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed proposing investment of more than US$2 billion in Grenada.
Shortly after the signing of the MOU became public, news broke that Chinese authorities had arrested three people associated with SeWang One World on suspicion of fraud.
“These arrests have raised concerns about the wisdom of government’s decision to engage this company in the first place and the manner in which they were engaged,” Finance Minister Burke told reporters at a September 2010 news conference in St George’s.
Burke expressed “regret” that Prime Minister Thomas had signed the MOU in May 2010 with Yeja Park, who was described as president and CEO of SeWang One World Company Ltd.
“I do not believe,” he said, “that prime ministers … should sign on to an MOU of that nature with a private company. It’s not necessary to bring the prime minister into that scenario.”
Caribbean News Now
Fire leaves cruise ship adrift off Seychelles
An Italian cruise liner carrying more than 1,000 people was adrift without power in the pirate-infested Indian Ocean on Monday after a fire erupted in its generator room. The blaze, which was extinguished, caused no injuries, officials said.
Two tug boats from the island nation of Seychelles were steaming toward the drifting Costa Allegra, which had 636 passengers and 413 crew members on board, but they were not expected to arrive until Tuesday afternoon at the earliest.
Italian coast guard officials said a large French fishing boat could be the first vessel to reach the stricken cruise liner.
Monday's fire on the Costa Allegra immediately raised fears, since it occurred only six weeks after one of its sister ships, the Costa Concordia, hit a reef and capsized off Italy, killing 25 people and leaving seven missing and presumed dead. Both ships are operated by Costa Crociere SpA, which is owned by the Florida-based Carnival Corp.
However, company officials rushed to play down concerns.
The Costa Allegra is adrift "and being pushed by the current. It is stable and upright," Giorgio Moretti, the director of nautical operations for Costa Crociere SpA, told reporters in a conference call late Monday from company headquarters in Genoa, Italy.
No one was injured in the fire in the generator room and the cause of the fire was under investigation, Moretti said. The fire knocked out power to the ship's engines as well as to its lights and air conditioning.
Italian Coast Guard officials said emergency generators were keeping the ship's control room illuminated and communications equipment such as radios running. Officials said the cruise liner was holding steady, despite 5-foot (1.5 meter) waves in the area and passengers were being kept in the ship's big communal rooms, not in their cabins.
Moretti, a longtime Costa captain, said he expected the 636 passengers aboard would spend the night on outside decks. Among them were 212 Italian, 31 British and eight U.S. passengers, he said. Four of the passengers were children ages three or younger.
Costa Crociere SpA said in a statement the ship was about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Alphonse Island, one of the atolls in the Seychelles, a nation of islands and atolls that is a popular tourist destination.
The Allegra, whose Italian name means "merry," or "happy," had left northern Madagascar, off Africa's southeast coast, on Saturday and was cruising toward the port of Victoria, Seychelles' capital, when the fire erupted. Costa said the Allegra had been due in Victoria on Tuesday.
The general region where the cruise ship was adrift - off the coast of Tanzania - has seen a rash of attacks by Somali pirates. In 2009, an Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people aboard fended off a pirate attack in the Indian Ocean far off the coast of Somalia.
Moretti said an armed nine-member Italian military team on anti-pirate duty was aboard the Allegra, but he insisted the maritime region where the ship was now "isn't a high risk area for pirates."
"If pirates attack, the armed guards on board will respond. But as far as I am aware, no pirates have been sighted in the area," said Seychelles presidential spokeswoman Srdjana Janosevic.
A cargo ship was due to reach the Costa Allegra early Tuesday, and Moretti said it would bring batteries and otherwise help with communications. On Tuesday morning, a helicopter is expected to arrive, ferrying in "fresh food, cell phones and walkie talkies."
Tugs from the Seychelles island of Mahe, the largest island in the Indian Ocean archipelago, will arrive Tuesday afternoon.
"Once they arrive, they will decide which port" to take the Allegra to, Moretti said. "It depends on sea conditions."
Moretti said one possibility was evacuating passengers from the Allegra on lifeboats to Alphonse Island, then having them fly from its small airport to Mahe island. He also said 15 Costa engineers, technicians and other officials were flying to Mahe in hope of reaching the Allegra by air to repair its generators.
AP
Pakistan v England: Tourists hold nerve to win series
England claimed a dramatic five-run win over Pakistan in the third Twenty20 international to take the series 2-1.
On a slow Abu Dhabi pitch, the tourists were indebted to Kevin Pietersen, only the second man to carry his bat through a completed T20 international innings.
He made an unbeaten 62 in their 129-6 - and was then supported by a superb display by England's bowlers.
With Pakistan needing six from the final ball, Jade Dernbach bowled Misbah-ul-Haq to seal the series win.
Added to the 4-0 one-day series victory, triumph in the shortest form of the game provides England with further comfort following their humiliating 3-0 whitewash in the Test matches.
And, in their last T20 match in Asia before the sqaud is chosen for September's World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, Stuart Broad's men will draw confidence ahead of the defence of the trophy they won in 2010.
However, questions will remain over England's ability to make runs against quality spin bowling, with only Pietersen - aided by a late cameo from Samit Patel - able to cope with another magical display by Saeed Ajmal, who picked up 4-23.
Strong on the leg side early in his innings, the Surrey right-hander was forced to rein in his attacking instincts and bat with restraint as England faltered in the middle overs.
His only mistake came when he sent back Eoin Morgan after initially calling his partner through for a single, leaving the Dublin-born batsman short of his ground despite a despairing dive.
That ended another struggle for the left-hander, who should have been stumped and offered a chance that fell short of mid-off. He will now sweat on his place in the squad for the Test series in Sri Lanka.
Morgan's exit came prior to a spell in which England went 33 balls without finding the boundary, during which time Ajmal removed Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler.
The shackles were broken by Patel, who launched Ajmal for a straight six and then, next ball, inside edged for four.
After he was stumped trying to repeat the dose, it was left to Pietersen to add late impetus by swinging Umar Gul's waist-high full toss for six off the final ball of the innings.
When Pakistan replied, England got the start they wanted, Jade Dernbach having Mohammad Hafeez caught and bowled but, with Pakistan needing little more than a run a ball, they were able to build slowly through Asad Shafiq and Awais Zia.
However, after Graeme Swann trapped Zia lbw, the pressure applied by England's bowlers told when Shafiq was run out attempting a second by Buttler's accurate throw from the deep.
Still, Pakistan were able to make steady progress and needed only 17 when Broad began the penultimate over of the series.
The accuracy of the England skipper would prove crucial as, after two dots, Umar Akmal holed out to mid-off.
That brought Shahid Afridi to the crease but the only runs Broad conceded came when Bairstow let Misbah's slog through his legs for four at long on.
With 13 required off the final over, victory was still not entirely out of Pakistan's reach.
But when Misbah, who found the boundary only twice in his 32-ball stay, was asked to clear the ropes from the final ball, he could not match the brilliant Pietersen.
Magic deny rumors of Dwight Howard-to-Lakers trade
Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins is denying a rumor that the team has reached a deal with the Lakers to trade Dwight Howard to Los Angeles for a package including Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The rumored deal would also involve forward Hedo Turkoglu and point guard Jameer Nelson going to the Lakers, and the Raptors sending point guard Jose Calderon to Orlando. What Toronto would get in return is not known.
The Magic, by many accounts, will not trade Howard before the March 15 deadline, with the intention of trying to convince him to stay in Orlando. In order to do that, they’d have to surround Howard with a team he believes can compete for a title. To that end, Real GM reports, Magic general manager Otis Smith will make an aggressive bid to acquire point guard Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns.
Hunte to apologise to PM over offensive remarks
President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Julian Hunte plans to visit Kingston shortly to apologise to Jamaican Prime Minister Protia Simpson Miller for “inappropriate” remarks made last week by the WICB secretariat, a reliable cricket source has said.
However, a check with the office of the prime minister early Monday said Simpson Miller was yet to be contacted by the WICB regarding any such visit by Hunte.
The source who spoke to the Observer on condition of anonymity said the decision was taken at a two-day meeting of WICB directors in St Lucia on the weekend.
The Jamaica Cricket Association and Simpson Miller responded furiously to comments from the WICB secretariat which substantially said the Jamaican Prime Minister had spoken from a position of ignorance when she addressed issues involving regional cricket at a Jamaica Cricket Association Awards Dinner last weekend.
Simpson Miller had weighed in on the controversial non-inclusion of former West Indies captain, Jamaican Chris Gayle in the West Indies team since early 2011 as well as the non-inclusion of Jamaica as a venue for the upcoming Australia tour of the Caribbean.
Regarding Chris Gayle issue, Simpson Miller is reported to have said:
“I am very disturbed by how long this matter has gone on without a resolution. There has been no trial and no hearing; and as we know from the popular maxim – justice delayed is justice denied. It is not just to have one of the world’s leading cricketers being excluded from test cricket. This matter demands an amicable resolution as quickly as possible…”
However, the WICB said the Jamaican prime minister had not been properly “briefed” by its member association the JCA.
In specific reference to Gayle, of whom the WICB secretariat is demanding an apology for comments made about West Indies coach Otis Gibson and the WICB last year, the regional cricket authority drew the ire of the JCA and Simpson Miller by likening the situation to an imagined crisis involving a prime minister and Cabinet.
“The WICB does not believe that the Prime Minister is suggesting that Mr Gayle be returned to the West Indies team without withdrawing his comments. This would be tantamount to a member of the Jamaican cabinet lambasting and deriding the leader of the cabinet and fellow cabinet colleagues and being returned to that august body without any accountability for his or her actions,” the statement from the WICB said in part.
The JCA which has previously being accused of not doing enough to resolve the issue involving Gayle promptly voiced its “complete rejection and condemnation” of the eight-paragraph statement from the WICB. The JCA called on Hunte to “retract the unfounded and unwarranted attack against the Honourable Prime Minister of Jamaica and to move immediately to resolve the Chris Gayle impasse, as we believe he has been more than reasonably punished”.
At a press conference last week Simpson Miller accused the WICB of being “rude” and “crude” and promised to raise the issue at the level of CARICOM.
G20 finance ministers ask eurozone to boost rescue fund
Eurozone countries need to put more money in their rescue fund before G20 nations can step in to help them, the G20 finance ministers have said.
They said such a move was "essential" to their decision to provide more resources to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help the region.
Earlier this month, eurozone leaders set up a permanent bailout fund of 500bn euro ($673bn; £420bn).
There are concerns the fund may not be able to rescue a deeply indebted state.
"We have to see the colour of the eurozone's money first - and quite frankly, that hasn't happened," the British chancellor George Osborne said.
"Until it does, there's no question of extra IMF money from Britain or probably anyone else."
The German factor
Any move to boost the eurozone rescue fund is likely to put more pressure on the leading eurozone economies, especially Germany.
The eurozone's biggest economy has so far resisted calls to increase the size of the bailout fund and sent mixed signals regarding whether it was prepared to change its stance.
On the eve of the G20 meeting, German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble wrote in an article published in the Mexican newspaper El Universal that he was against such a move.
"Should we increase even more the firewalls? The response is a resounding no," he wrote.
"This would not only not solve the problems of debt and competitiveness that brought the affected countries to their current state of affairs, it would also discourage their governments from carrying out consolidation and reform."
However, after the meeting, Mr Schauble said that eurozone leaders would look into the matter and take a decision as early as next month.
Meanwhile, Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs urged the region's leaders to solve the issue as soon as possible.
"One of the crucial lessons of this crisis has been that... the longer we wait the more costly it tends to get," he said.
'Weak growth'
The eurozone debt crisis has seen growth slowing down in the region's economies.
Italy and the Netherlands both slipped into a recession in the last quarter of 2011. They saw their economies shrink by 0.7% during the three months to the end of December, the second consecutive quarter of economic contraction.
Germany had its first negative quarter since 2009 with a decline of 0.2% in the October to December quarter, compared with the previous three months.
The fear is that if not controlled and solved in time, the region's debt crisis may start to hurt global economic growth.
The eurozone is a key market for Asia exports. As growth slows down in the region, consumer demand is likely to fall and hurt Asia's export-dependent economies.
The G20 finance ministers warned that risks to global economic growth continue to remain high.
"The international economic environment has continued to be characterized by an uneven performance, with weak growth in advanced economies and a stronger, albeit slowing, expansion in emerging markets," the ministers said in a joint statement issued after the meeting in Mexico.
China reforms needed to sustain growth, says World Bank
China needs to embrace fundamental free-market reforms if its economy is to continue to grow at the "impressive" pace of the past three decades, the World Bank has said.
The country had reached a "turning point" and needed to reform a growth model that was "unsustainable".
The role of government and state enterprises needed redefining, it said.
But even if growth slows, China was likely to become the world's largest economy before 2030, the bank added.
'Muddling through'
In a report, the World Bank said the Chinese economy had grown on average by 10% a year for the past 30 years to become the world's largest exporter and manufacturer and its second-largest economy.
But it said such growth could not be sustained without far-reaching reforms.
"The case for reform is compelling because China has now reached a turning point in its development path," said the bank's president, Robert Zoellick, at the launch of the report in Beijing.
"The country's growth model is unsustainable. This is not the time just for muddling through - it's time to get ahead of events and to adapt to major changes in the world and national economies," he added.
The bank said there were six important messages that emerged from its research.
- Enact structural reforms to promote a market-based economy. This could be achieved by redefining the role of government, reforming state enterprises, developing the private sector and promoting competition
- Quicken the pace of innovation, both internally and by participating in global research projects
- Encourage investment in green projects and increase efficiency of resource use
- Promote social security for all
- Strengthen the fiscal system by mobilising additional revenues and boosting local government financing
- Engage more with the global economy.
Recent data suggests the Chinese economy is cooling.
Gross domestic product expanded by 8.9% in the three months to the end of December compared with a year earlier.
That is down from 9.1% in the previous quarter and is the slowest pace in more than two years.
Earlier this month, government figures also showed that demand for Chinese exports fell in January.
Greece bailout: German MPs give strong backing
German MPs have voted by 496 to 90 to back the second EU/IMF bailout for Greece.
Chancellor Angela Merkel had urged them to back the deal, while conceding there was "no 100% guarantee" it would work.
Several MPs in her party opposed the deal but it was not clear if they had voted against the government.
Germany will have to pay more than any other country for the 130bn euro ($173bn; £110bn) package, agreed by eurozone states last week.
Although the Bundestag (lower house) had the power to block the bailout, it was always expected to go through because of the support of two opposition parties, the Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens.
In the event, there was a large majority in favour of the deal, with five MPs abstaining in the vote.
The BBC's Stephen Evans, in Berlin, says that despite the five-to-one majority, there is a great deal of scepticism about the bailout's effectiveness both among politicians and the wider population.
Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, from the ruling Christian Democrats' Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), had earlier argued that Greece's chances of recovery would be better if it left the eurozone.
"I'm not talking about throwing Greece out, but rather about creating incentives for an exit that they can't pass up," he told Spiegel magazine on Sunday.
Under the front-page headline "Stop", Germany's mass circulation Bild newspaper made a direct appeal to parliament: "Don't keep on going the wrong way."
An opinion poll for Bild's Sunday edition suggested that 62% of those surveyed wanted MPs to vote against the package.
'Hopeless case'
Mrs Merkel told the Bundestag that she was aware that people were concerned that Greece was a "hopeless case" and that the eurozone would be better off without it. But she had come to the conclusion that "the opportunities of this new package outweighed the risks".
"No-one can predict what the repercussions of a disorderly default would be for all of us and also for the people of Germany."
Under the terms of the bailout, Greece has to approve 3.2bn euros in budget cuts and has already backed a debt swap with banks and private investors to wipe out 107bn euros of debt.
For the opposition SPD, former Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told MPs that the government's crisis management followed a motto of "too little, too late and above all too vague".
But he said his party would support the deal as it was in Germany's economic and national interest.
Left Party leader Gregor Gysi bitterly criticised the SPD and Green decision to back the coalition government, comparing the deal secured for Greece with the Treaty of Versailles that led to major German reparations and concessions after World War I.
"Greece needs a Marshall Plan, not a Versailles Treaty," he said.
The chancellor also said that Germany was prepared to speed up the planned payment of capital into the new permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), with 11bn euros this year and a second portion next year.
Mrs Merkel said that she was resisting pressure to increase the size of the ESM from its 500bn euro capacity when it comes into existence in July.
Payroll tax cut? ‘In your dreams’, says Premier
Premier Paula Cox told businesses in Bermuda to ‘keep dreaming’ about getting a payroll tax reduction today at the Chamber of Commerce’s Budget breakfast panel discussion hosted by PwC.
“In your dreams”, she lightheartedly said to a chuckling crowd when asked by the panel moderator whether there was any chance of a reduction.
When questioned about whether she would consider austerity measures to help Bermuda’s struggling economy, she said that once businesses were back on their feet, then she might consider taking away the “crutch” of concessions for the hospitality and retail sectors.
She added that the Government could have saved $21 million by not giving out business concessions, but reiterated the Government favoured growth over austerity measures.
“There can’t be any guarantee going forward,” she said of continuing concessions.
Wayne Caines, CEO of Digicel and member of the executive committee of the Chamber, was also on the panel representing the business community.
In his speech he said that Bermuda needed to reduce spending, cut costs and have a “clear plan for the future” to increase revenue.
“It must be noted that as of March 31, 2011 the Government’s revenue deficit stood at $254 million,” he said. “Even with borrowing from the Sinking Fund and pension plan, the Government will still be short $172 million in 2013, with no viable means of repayment.
“There must be a refocused, lean Civil Service, cutting jobs through attrition will not be enough. There must be a cut in pay for Civil Servants and MPs. I know that talk of cutting jobs and salaries in the Civil Service is not easy and is never popular. But the fiscal times in which we are living call for such measures.”
He offered “out-of-the-box” revenue-generating ideas, including privatising LF Wade International airport and the ferry service, long-term leases for small uninhabited islands and generating income from satellite orbital slots through administration fees.