rush magazine issue 4

Website: www.grencomm.com tel.473 444 0400 fax. 473 444 0409 Email: [email protected]

Murder and Funeral of

St. David’s Oscar Bar-

tholomew

1

Message from the Pro-

ducer and Editor

2

Local Feature 3

Regional feature

Regional Story

4

5

Local story

Regional Story

6

7

Musical Feature

Local Story

8

9

Inside Sports

Money report

10

11

Page

January 21st 2012

Murder and Funeral of St. David’s

Oscar Bartholomew

As a result of mistaken identity Grenadian born permanent resident of Canada Oscar Bar-tholomew is dead after allegedly being beaten to death by police offi-cers at the St. David

Police Station.

Reports claim Bar-tholomew spotted a female police officer and mistook her for an old friend. It’s believed he hugged the woman and lifted her up off the ground before realizing it was a case of mis-

taken identity.

The hug was appar-ently viewed as an as-sault on an officer and Bartholomew was sub-sequently apprehended. While being taken into custody, the Toronto man was beaten to a bloody pulp and later succumbed to his inju-

ries in hospital.

The Royal Grenada Police Force Criminal Investigation Depart-ment is now examining

the incident.

Funeral

Mourners turned out in their hundreds at the Crochu Roman Catho-lic Church on Monday to pay their respects to the late Canadian Grenadian ci t izen

Oscar Bartholomew.

Bartholomew lost his life following an al-leged brutal beating while in custody at the St. David police station after mistakenly em-bracing a plain clothes

police officer.

Tearful longtime friend

Peron Taitt conducted

the eulogy and remi-

nisces on fond memo-

ries of him.

Throughout his life he

has found true happi-

ness with his wife

Dolette of ten years

who was with him the

day the alleged beating

took place.

Family friend Jennifer Alexis made a tribute to Bar-tholomew by singing a song in her native language

Latin.

The body of Oscar Bartholomew was taken to the

Oscar Bartholomew

1


Volume 1, Issue 4

TEAM RUSH

RUSH TV TEAM

• Rohan Bernard - Executive Producer

• Bernadette Julien - Office Manager

• Raynelle Benjamin - Research Officer

• Andrel Mc Millan - Technical Director

• Wayne Francis Wright- Camera/Sports

Commentator

• Sheena Duncan - News Anchor/Reporter

• Rawle Patterson - Community Reporter

• Maryann Tauofiq-Obst - Community Reporter

Welcome again to this the fourth issue of RUSH Magazine. In this issue we report on the painful death of a young man in police custody at St. David’s

Police Station.

On a happier note we examine the im-plications of the return to power in Jamaica of Portia Simpson Miller of the

PNP.

Both Grenada and Jamaica celebrate independence in February. Grenada 38 years and Jamaica 50 years. We wish

the people of both countries all the best.

Editor: Raynelle Benjamin

Welcome once again to another RUSH publication. Grencomm continues to push ahead by offering the public the latest

cutting edge in technology.

RUSH VOIP (Voice Over Internet Phone) introduces Grenada’s WIFI tech-

nology services.

The telephone works using the WIFI signal picked up as you turn around. At the same time Grencomm has launched its project to establish 100% WIFI cover-

age around Grenada by the end of 2012.

Co- Editor: Rohan Ber-

nard

2


Volume 1, Issue 4

Local Feature The TAWU and Breweries Impasse

Efforts are being made by both the government and opposition to resolve the Grenada Breweries Limited (GBL) and the Techni-cal and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) impasse.

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas has invited the Chairman of the GBL, Andrew Sabga and the President General of TAWU, Chester Humphrey to a meeting at his office for further discus-sions aimed at resolving out-standing issues.

“The objective of the meeting is to facilitate the return of the em-ployees to work and to get both parties to continue the bargaining

process,” the letter said, adding that “both parties are requested to put further media appearances on hold as a demonstration of goodwill.” The invitation follows a special emergency meeting of national stakeholders hosted by Prime Minister Thomas in the Cabinet Room of the Ministerial complex which discussed possible meth-ods of solving the impasse. That meeting brought together a cross-section of business, reli-gious, and civil society leaders.

It was agreed that a senior government official, other than the Labour Commissioner, would preside over negotiations between the two parties. The planned meeting is intended to have the major areas of disagree-ment addressed, including a plan for the return to work of Brewer-ies employees very soon thereaf-

On the request of the union a five

member team headed by the op-

position leader met with a nine

member delegation led by senator

Chester Humphrey who detailed

the events and circumstances

which led to the current impasse

between the Union and the Gre-

nada Breweries Limited.

The union leader appealed to the

Opposition to intervene and do

whatever is possible to bring an

end to the current deadlock, since

the Union intends to heighten the

industrial action if the company

refuses to end the current lock out

of workers.

Dr. Mitchell gave the commit-

ment that the Opposition will im-

mediately make every attempt to

engage the management of the

Grenada Breweries to get the

other side’s view of the situation

in seeking a resolution.

Left to right Prime Minister Tillman Tho-mas and Opposition leader Dr. Keith Mitchell

President General of TAWU Chester Humphrey

Ministerial Complex

3


Volume 1, Issue 4

Regional feature

Caribbean reacts to PNP victory

that was the centerpiece of its election manifesto,” Girvan said in a commentary on the election results.

“But the package as a whole is likely to be deflationary rather than growth-promoting; and get-ting sustainable growth remains the number one challenge for Jamaica. This will be the litmus test of the government’s eco-nomic performance.”

Girvan, who is also Professor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies, (UWI), also said that the victory of the new PNP government “will probably be welcomed in the region. He said traditionally the PNP, unlike the

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has always been seen as a supporter of the regional integration move-ment; but he noted recent issues including Jamaica’s huge trade deficit with Trinidad and Tobago remains a “ festering sore on the body of CARICOM relations”.

The Caribbean has begun reacting to the victory of Portia Simpson-Miller,

who led her People’s National Party (PNP) to a resounding victory in Jamaica’s general election.

Former secretary general of the Asso-ciation of Caribbean States (ACS), Professor Norman Girvan said the immediate challenge for the govern-ment will be the economy and more specifically, the multi-billion dollar Stand By Agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The latest agreement has been off-track for most of the last year; the government has no choice but to re-establish it in order to access badly needed funds. The room to manoeu-vre is limited. A fresh austerity pack-age is a virtual certainty.”

“The PNP government will strive to extract concessions to soften the blow, notably the jobs programme

Meanwhile, the ruling St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) says it is “elated about the PNP’s victory and its re-turn to office under the leadership of incoming Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller.

“Like the St. Lucian peo-ple, the Jamaican people have spoken decisively in general elections and changed government in their search for a better days ahead; and, like St. Lucians, Jamaicans have placed their trust in a party that is tried and tested and has put bread, freedom and justice before fancy pro-jects,” said the SLP’s gen-eral secretary Leo Clarke.

Clarke said Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony “who is until now the most recent Prime Min-ister to be sworn into office, will be keen to welcome his newest

colleague, Prime Minister Simpson-Millar, when she takes office.”

Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller

Dr. Kenny Anthony

4


Volume 1, Issue 4

Regional story

US Congress takes aim at Antigua and Barbuda

Following a US Senate Reso-

lution against Antigua &

Barbuda introduced on De-

cember 8, ten United States

congressmen introduced a

Congressional Resolution on

December 23 expressing the

sense of the House of Repre-

s e n t a t i v e s t h a t t h e

“Government of Antigua and

Barbuda has committed nu-

merous acts against the inter-

ests of United States citizens

and operated the financial

sector and judicial system of

Antigua and Barbuda in a

manner that is manifestly

contrary to the public policy

of the United States.”

House Resolution 507 was

led by Representative Mike

Coffman of Colorado, and

joined by

House Judiciary Committee

Chairman Lamar Smith, Repre-

sentatives John Culberson and

Pete Sessions, all of Texas; Rep-

resentatives Jeff Boustany and

Bill Cassidy, both of Louisiana;

Representative Jo Bonner of Ala-

bama; Representative John Dun-

can of Tennessee; Representative

Greg Harper of Mississippi; and

Representative Blaine Luetke-

meyer of Missouri.

The resolution focuses primarily

on the actions of the government

of Antigua & Barbuda to chal-

lenge the authority of the US

government in the aftermath of

the Stanford Financial Group

fraud,

but also cites the illegal expro-

priation of US citizen-owned

Half Moon Bay.

In addition, the resolution re-

quests that, “the Secretary of the

Treasury

should direct

the United States Executive Di-

rectors of the International Bank

for Reconstruction and Develop-

ment and the International Devel-

opment Association (commonly

known as the ‘‘World Bank’’)

and the International Monetary

Fund to use the voice and vote of

the United States to ensure that

any future loan made by the

World Bank or the International

Monetary Fund to the Govern-

ment of Antigua and Barbuda is

conditioned on providing com-

plete redress of the matters, and

satisfaction of the requirements.”

“Instead of taking steps to help

compensate Stanford victims

from around the world, the gov-

ernment of Antigua and Barbuda

looked out for itself – stealing

assets that were funded by the

savings of innocent Stanford in-

vestors, and defaulting on loans

made with stolen funds.”

The resolution has been referred

to the US House of Representa-

tives Committee on Foreign

Affairs for a formal vote. The ear-

lier Senate Resolution is now

pending a vote by the Senate

Foreign Relations Committee.

5


Volume 1, Issue 4

Local story Grenada Independence preparation

Rush TV news spoke with CEO of the Grenada Cultural Foundation Livingston Nelson; he says great deal of promotion will be going into the prepara-tion and encouragement to ca-lypsonians to make the event a

success.

More attention should be put

into the celebration for the lib-

eration hence the reason a full

month of activities are planned.

“Breaking all barriers, striving for greater achievements under one flag”, that’s the theme for the 38th annual In-

dependence Day celebration in

Grenada.

Planned to keep persons occupied or-ganizers are hoping this year’s event

will be most memorable.

One of the main highlights for the cele-

bration is the improvement of the Ca-

lypso competition which with the ex-

ception of last year has not been given

much attention.

He further stated that Cul-ture, Agriculture and Sports are some of the areas that will be promoted during the

month of activities.

The official launch took place on 6th January and activities will be on going until February 7th where a large celebration will take

place at the national

6


projects designed to bring the homeless back to their old neighborhood, build, reno-vate and find jobs through friends. This approach made Haiti extremely productive

and prosperous in the past.

Historians believe that this approach is a step in the right direction. “Haiti should look to the past and the system of small farms and the decen-tralized economy that once provided Haitians with dig-

nity, autonomy and wealth.”

Cuba and Venezuela, two

third world countries are the

two most consistent, and

prominent countries that con-

tinues to help Haiti

today.

Volume 1, Issue 4

Regional Story Haiti two years later

Two years after the Magnitude 7 earthquake which struck Haiti 16 miles West of Port-au-Prince killed an estimated 316000 people and left 1.5 million homeless,

Haitians still live in dire

conditions.

At present cholera which Haitians

are convinced was brought in by

UN peacekeepers, has killed over

7000 people and sicken more than

520,000. The disease, the worse

in modern history to hit a single

county has spread to the

neighbouring Dominican Repub-

lic, where 21000 case and 363

deaths from cholera have been

reported.

Most people in Haiti lack public

sewage system, or sanitary la-

trines, and Haitians often drink

from the same water they use to

bathe and defecate.

“It is not a question of Haiti of

ignorance. It is access.” In the im-

mediate aftermath UN secretary

general Ban Ki-Moon, former US

President Bill Clinton and others

vowed that the world would help

Haiti “build back better” and

$2.37 billion has been spent, Hai-

tians have hardly seen any build-

ing at all.

At the time, grand ambition were voiced for a Haiti rebuilt on mod-ern lines. New housing would replace shanty towns and job gen-erating industries would be spread out to ease the human crush of Port-au-Prince, the sprawling

capital with its 3 million people.

But now the government, led by president Michel Martelly, seem to be going back to basic, nurtur-

ing small community-based Cholera in Haiti

Magnitude 7 earthquake in Haiti

Left to right—Haitian and Cu-ban health officials.

7


Musical Feature

Tribute to Kitchener

Volume 1, Issue 4

He would capture the Road March title in 1963, 1964

and 1965.

Kitchener would capture the Road March again 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1971. The Grand Master stepped out of competition in 1976. This did not stop his pulsating rhythms from dominating the carnival scene and Panorama for many years thereaf-

ter.

Born Aldwyn Roberts in Trinidad in April 1922 he adopted the calypso name of Lord Kitchener. He be-came known as the grand-master of calypso and the

Road March King.

Kitchen’s smooth and easy voice would become his trademark from his rendi-

tions in the 1940’s until his

death in February 2000.

Disillusioned with Trinidad and seeking economic for-tune Kitchener travelled to England in 1948. During his time in England he toured the small pubs in London and clubs in Manchester at-tracting substantial audi-ences. He returned to Trini-

dad in 1962.

Visit our store at:

2nd level, Bruce Street Mall, St. George's Grenada W.I.

Tel: (473) 435 7874 Or email us at

[email protected]

Lord Kitchener earlier days

8


Volume 1, Issue 4

RUSH TV PROGRAMME

Local Story Carriacou Carnival Preparation

Digicel’s Country manager,

Patricia Maher, said that the

company

is again

o v e r -

whelm to

be asso-

c i a t e d

with not

only the

f e s t i v a l

but the

fact to

be touching the lives of the

people of Carriacou and Petite

Martinique in such a meaning-

ful way.

Segment 1 Headline News

Segment 2 From Our Local Reporters

Segment 3 Local Feature

Segment 4 Regional News

Segment 5 Regional update

From Our Regional Reporters Regional Feature

Segment 6 Wayne On The Run

Segment 7 Inside Sports

Segment 8 Music and Culture

Senator, Arley Gill, commended Digicel for its continue growing sponsorship towards the Carriacou and Petite Martinique Carnival fes-

tival.

He added that

his Govern-

ment has been

doing more

for the Carri-

acou Carnival

unlike they

predecessor.

This year’s festival is be-

ing held under the theme-- more mass, more energy, more cultural

rhythm for one and all.

According to Maher, the Carri-acou and Petite Martinique car-nival has been their longest consistent associate thus far and spoke of the significance

of the festival.

Minister for Carriacou and Pe-tite Martinique affairs, senator, George Prime, was in high praise to Digicel for their con-

tinued support to the festival.

The Minister called on all to

build on the success of the

2011 carnival and was in high

praise to those who had the

vision 25 years ago to revive

this prelentant celebrations.

Digicel ‘s Country manager — Patricia Maher

Minister responsible for Culture—Senator Arley Gill

9


Volume 1, Issue 4

Inside Sports The West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) won its latest arbitration with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)

Dinanath Ramnarine executive president of the

regional players’ union,

disclosed that the WICB

will have to pay in the vi-

cinity of US$2 million for

a breach of the Memoran-

dum of Understanding

(MOU) and the Collective

Bargaining Agreement

(CBA). The CBA and

MOU required both parties

to discuss and agree to the annual schedule for

regional and international matches, the number of

games, dates, location/venues, travel and accom-

modation.

The breach pertains to both WICB and WIPA de-

ciding on match conditions and the number of

matches played by the players. At a press confer-

ence held recently Dinanath Ramnarine stated:

“I hope that after this costly ruling for the WICB,

they agree to negotiate matters with WIPA in the

best interest of West Indies cricket because there

are many more matters to be dealt with,”

“This is the 10th arbitration that WIPA has won,

as compared to WICB’s zero.” In his judgment

Senior Counsel Jairam Seenath, the arbitrator in

the case, said: “provisions of the CBA and the

MOU should not be trifled with since a breach

of them may cause serious (and sometimes ir-

reparable) damage”.

“The damages flowing from such a breach is a

natural and foreseeable consequence — pacta

sunt servanda (contracts are to be kept),” he

said.

The award includes US $728,000 representing

loss of earnings by the players for the regional

four-day tournament: 40 percent of the gross

receipts for an additional

T20 match two years ago

between West Indies and

South Africa and the Car-

ibbean T20 in July 2010;

US $100,000 for a loss of

sponsorship opportunity

for WIPA, as well as

WIPA’s legal costs.

An appeal is expected to be lodged by the

WICB against the decision.

Visit our store at:

2nd level, Bruce Street Mall, St. George's Grenada W.I.

Tel: (473) 435 7874

Dinanath Ramnarine

10


Volume 1, Issue 4

Money Report Fight for Claro customers

Telecommunication firms Digicel and LIME both moved on Friday to lure Claro customers in limbo as word spread about Digicel's plan to shut down the Claro network

which it acquired last year.

Digicel stated in a press release that it had advised the The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) that, from early this week, Claro cus-tomers will be able to transfer their current Claro numbers to the

Digicel network.

"Digicel will be providing replace-ment SIM cards to all active Claro customers at its extensive network of Digicel stores," announced the

company.

But, in an unsurprising move, LIME went on the offensive in an attempt to upstage its bitter rival with what it called a "rescue op-tion" for Claro customers "left

hanging" by the acquisition.

"It is clear that Claro customers are

feeling disenfranchised as they have been tossed over to the coun-try's most expensive mobile net-work without any say in the matter and LIME wants them to know they have an alternative," said Stephen Price, LIME Jamaica's head of marketing in a press re-

lease.

"Claro customers who come over to LIME can enjoy better value for money with our 'Free Nights' pro-motion and unlimited calling to five friends with 'Faves', which is similar to Claro's current 'Call 2 Text 1' offer. Plus they will also enjoy mobile data plans for as little

as $100 per day," Price added.

News broke last week that Digicel was granted permission to shut down the Claro network less than four months after agreeing to keep it going under the terms of their

merger.

With Claro now due to cease operation by March 1st, 2012. OUR and Digicel met to discuss about the market leader's plans for the shut-down of the Claro network and the Claro customer mi-

gration.

"Likewise, Digicel updated the OUR on its plans to shut down the Claro network thus achieving efficiencies and economies of scale which will see it in turn investing US$30 million in the rollout of island-wide 4G Mobile. This is on top of an existing investment of over US$1 bil-lion in Jamaica to date,"

stated Digicel.

It is unclear how many mo-bile users are on the Claro network. Claro claimed in 2009 that they had over-taken LIME in mobile sub-scribers, but this was dis-

puted by LIME.

Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR)

11


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Visit our store at:

2nd level, Bruce Street Mall,

St. George's Grenada W.I.

P.O. Box 1548, True Blue, St. George’s

Grenada

Ph: (473) 444-0400 | Fx: (473) 444-0409

[email protected]

grencomm.com/live

12

rush magazine issue 4

Documents

police custody

davids oscar bartholomew

davids police station

female police officer

body of oscar bartholomew

david police station

davids oscar bartholomew

local story regional