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Dr. Terrance Drew Contributes To Academic Potential Of Primary School Graduates

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Dr. Terrance Drew Contributes To Academic Potential Of Primary School Graduates

PRESS RELEASE

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Tuesday, 25th July, 2017) -Community activist Dr. Terrance Drew, on Sunday 23rd July, presented six (6) primary school graduates of Constituency Eight, recipients of the Dr. Terrance M. Drew Scholarship Award, with their gifts during the third annual ceremony held at the Cayon Community Centre.

For this financial assistance programme, students are chosen by the teachers of their respective schools fitting categories of ‘Most Promising’ and ‘Most Outstanding’.

The 2017 awardees are: Kimmyon Hodge (Most Promising Boy) and Sheniqua Bass (Most Promising Girl) of the Deane-Glasford Primary School; Most Outstanding Student from the Conaree District – Kashara Douglas of the Tucker-Clarke Primary School; Djimon Percival (Most Promising Boy) and Keanna Huggins (Most Promising Girl) of the Cayon Primary School and also Most Outstanding Student from the Conaree District – Kadeja Lewis of the Beach-Allen Primary School.

PHOTOS: Dr. Terrance Drew seen with the 2017 scholarship recipients as well as parents and guardians.

Dr. Drew  expressed that he is “very proud” of the recipients who will go on to continue their academic journey at high school level in the upcoming new school year.

In giving some insight into the scholarship programme, Dr. Drew pointed out that students with promise and potential to do well should always be encouraged.

“I think we must recognise potential. We must not always say who comes first or second. There are some students carrying stars underneath and we have to identify and pull that potential out of them.”

Having received their awards, the scholarship recipients expressed words of gratitude to him for such a helpful gesture.

Speaking to the parents and guardians, Dr. Drew highlighted the significance of the awardees being selected from among their classmates.

He also urged them to do their part in assisting their children to tap into their full potential.

“It means that if the teachers in the schools would have all these students in a class and would sit together to determine who should get the award, it means that they see something in your child. So even if you are doubting that there is something in your child then that erases all doubt in your mind. These are educated people who sat down and decided that your son, your daughter or the child that you are the guardian for  has something in them and now therefore you must recognise it and help that child to bring it out in order to reach his or her full potential.”

Dr. Drew acknowledged that for many parents and guardians, buying school supplies and uniform can be very challenging, especially in a case where there are multiple children to provide for.

He went on to say that it is essential that children are properly prepared for school “so that psychologically, you can start putting them in the frame of mind that I am off and ready for school and I am ready for the challenges, of course.”

Dr. Drew, in talking to the children, touched on the importance of hard work and dedication in attaining success in life.

“Nothing that is worth having comes easily. Success is not a destination, it is a journey and a lot of the times we see the glory and we see the achievements but what they fail to show sometimes is the path that they had to travel to get to where they reach and that is what we want you to focus on.”

Additionally, Dr. Drew told the awardees that on the journey for success, punctuality, regular attendance as well as paying full attention in class are key.

“I know you are students and you have your own goals and your number one objective right now is to do well in school. There are times when you would become frustrated when you are studying. You would want to give up; successful people went through these things.”

Inside Scoop: July 14th 2017

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Inside Scoop: July 14th 2017
  • People want to know if de container dem dat dey fixing up in de high school is to go Nevis for Culturama. De famalaay say dat he mek a ton load a money from Carnival and Idi Amin promise him another ton load for Culturama.

 

  • Even though no school going on in de high school, is government money dat replace back all de tool dem and equipment dem dat went missing from een de metal work and wood work shop.

 

  • Is Idi Amin who tell de people dem must meet for 13 minutes. He say dat he spiritualist tell him dat any time dey go past 13 minutes, de obeah not gonwuk.

 

  • Dey say dat de man say dat he never see bobol like dat in he life and he is a Trini. He say dat he looking for he Jesus.  He not looking for no jail.  He say dat if de pastor want go jail for Idi Amin, das a matter for him.

 

  • People in de know say dat de lady and de famalaay tell de man dat if he ain do what Idi Amin say, he will see how barley grow. Dey tell him dat he must remember dat is bang he bang water to come here.

 

  • De PAM royal family get to hear datdey planning to set Mable on de lady because a what she write on de Facebook. But dey send back a message to Idi Amin and tell him dat if he tink he bad, he could meddle dem. Dey tell him just one word and he will see how barley grow.

 

  • Walla Walla tell somebody dat it come like somebody put some more jumbie on he government. He say dat he tired defend dem.   And dey own lice biting dem de hardest.

 

  • He tell somebody dat through dey mek up lie bout Dubai dumping number two in St. Kitts and dey did open up de septic tank up by de primary school and never did care if somebody child did drop een, every time he look round, dey have a number two problem.

 

  • He say dat dey ain know what to do wid de number two from dung by de Gardens. It looking like dey might have to pump it out in de sea.  And he say dat dey might have to do de same ting for de number two dung by de post office too.  And he tell de person dat none a de minister dem tekking on nutten, not even de awful stench at de main entrance of JNF.  All a dem just looking after dey self and leffing him dere to defend dem.

 

  • Tings so back for Walla Walla dat he wex because de Boss look happy and Idi Amin mout all time push up. But somebody say dat is when dey in de closet.  Dey say dat de frilly mout deputy mout so.  De baggamout deputy mout so.  De massive fella mout so.  De fallen angel mout so.  And Walla Walla mout so too.

SEEDS. GREED AND FAMALAAYYY!!!

Spokesman Editor
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By: FAIR SHARE FOR ALL

Hon. Marcella Liburd is right.

Something has to be fundamentally wrong why so many chairpersons and members of boards, why so many in the inner circle are resigning.

What is happening is that all who thought that Dr Douglas should have simply acquiesced to the demands of Timothy Harris and hand over the prime ministership to him, are now seeing for themselves why Douglas tried to save us in the federation from Timothy Harris.

But enough people were not listening.

They did not understand the role that greed, jealousy and visions of self-aggrandisement played in the 2015 campaign.They did not care that Timothy Harris had been accused of many serious questionable activities that had made international news.

They just bought into the lies that were being spread by those who had been in Dr Douglas’ first cabinet and never realised that they were only pawns in some people’s sick desire to teach Dr Douglas and all who dared to support him a lesson.

All three of them felt that each of them should have been, for different reasons, the prime minister.  Mind you.  The three of them never got on as individuals.  But collectively, because of the seed of discord that had been skilfully planted in their minds by the author of the treachery, they came together to execute their plan.

Now the seeds of discord seem to have caught back up with them and they don’t seem to be as “tight” as they were prior to 15th February, 2015.

Indeed, since then, the business of Sam Condor, Jean Condor and Dwyer Astaphan have been on the internet.  Put there by anonymous persons engaged to defend the prime minister from anyone and anything.

The superintendent of prisons, the chairman of NHC, all big Unity supporters, also found their business on the internet.

So now we have another resignation.  And people are wondering why.

First the chairperson of Social Security.  Now the chairperson of National Bank.  The two biggest indigenous lenders of money to the government.

Hmmm.  Interesting.

Coincidence?  I wonder.

This Team Unity government has me wondering a lot.

Like I am wondering what was going through Timothy Harris’s head when he decided to bring Major General Saunders here to help control crime.

I do not know the man.  I had never heard of him before.  But I am wondering if he is so highly recommended by the Jamaican Prime Minister as being so efficient and effective in combatting crime, why is he here and not in Jamaica where nearly one thousand murders have been committed so far for the year?

Now do not get me wrong.  I want to see an end, or at least a drastic reduction, in serious crimes here in my beloved federation.

I want the young men and women who have become cold-blooded murderers, who could walk up to someone they have known all their lives, put a gun to that person’s head and pull the trigger and watch them die, I want them to regain feeling in their hearts.

I want them to value life again.  I want them to learn to love again.

I want our streets to be safe again.  I want our homes to be safe again.  I want our schools to be safe again.  I want to be safe again.

Can Mr Saunders do that?

TRADE UNION NEWS: July 14th 2017

Spokesman Editor
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By: Batumba Tak

General Secretary

The St. Kitts-Nevis Trades & Labour Union

Workers Recognize The Importance Of Trade Unions In Protecting Their Rights

In the words of Pope John Paul 11, 1981, “Their (Unions) task is to defend the existential interests of workers in all sectors there their rights are concerned. The experience of history teaches that organizations of this type are an indispensable element of social life, especially in modern industrialized societies. (Unions) are indeed a mouthpiece for the struggle for social justice, for the just rights of working people in accordance with their individual professions.”

A discussion on the objectives of the Trade Union Movement cannot be better begun than by a quotation from Samuel Gompers, the founder, President of the American Federation of Labour. To quote him:

Trade Unions were born out of the necessity of workers to protect and defend themselves from encroachment, injustice and wrong to protect the workers in their inalienable right to higher and better life; to protect them, not only as equals before the law, but also in their rights to the product of their labour: to protect them, not only as equal before the law, but also in their rights to the product of their labour, to protect their lives, their limbs, their health, their homes, their firesides, their liberties as men, women, as workers, as citizens; to overcome and conquer prejudice and antagonism; to secure them the right to life, and the opportunity to maintain that life, the right to be full sharers in the abundance which is  the result of their brain and brawn, and the civilization of which they are the founders and the mainstay.

However, despite all the odds against the Trade Union Movement, including a rise in unemployment, Trade Union membership has seen some increase, reflecting the dire need for Collective Action.

Thus, prompting the Historian to state quite clearly that “Trade Unions” have demonstrated an ability to show that they are the very best available Collective Defense for workers, especially in “Times of need.”

We shall now continue by looking at how workers recognize the importance of Trade Unions in protecting their rights.

The Trade Union Leadership of course, not only recognized the rise in Trade Union membership but also understood that this rise, however, still means that Trade Union membership is below where it was prior to the beginning of the global Financial Crisis in 2008.

The Trade Union Leadership also recognized that because of the recession that took place in the private sector (especially in manufacturing, retail and finance, not to mention small business owners), including the age of austerity in the public sector, which led the huge job cuts and the continued rising unemployment, even a small overall rise in Trade Union membership is a considerable achievement.

However, the plain truth is, recent research has clearly shown that the breakdown of new figures shows that Trade Union membership grew in the private sector, while at the same time in the public sector it is static.

The question that has been asked by a cross section of populace is: “What accounts for the surprise rise in Trade Union membership?”

We look at it this way, first the Trade Union’s ability to show that they are the very best available Collective Defense in times of need.

It has been said many times over and very often by the Industrial Experts that Trade Unions are unable to practically do much if anything at all to prevent redundancies when they have been announced, but just the fear of redundancy and job insecurity is motivating workers/employees to join Trade Unions.

However, more often than not workers/employees fully believe that they were and continue to be targeted to be made redundant because they stand up for their rights and encourage their co-worker to do so as well.

Shakira Pitt Wins Regional Contest

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Shakira Pitt Wins Regional Contest

By: Precious Mills

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts– Following the annual Miss Venus Caribbean Model competition held in Anguilla over the past weekend, Kittitian beauty Shakira Pitt was crowned queen , taking a back-to back win for St.Kitts while Jahnel Nisbett from the sister isle Nevis walked away with second runner-up position.

The yearly pageant, which was staged on Saturday 15th July at the Anguilla Great House, featured a total of five contestants which included representatives from the host country Anguilla, St. Maarten and the Dominican Republic.

Shanice Powell of St. Maarten placed first runner-up.

This media house understands that the pageantry platform embraces as its mission statement; ‘Promoting the Caribbean cultural diversity with self-confidence and edification, while embracing service through the crown’.

Alsanarda Hanley of St.Kitts won the pageant last year (2016).

The newly- crowned Shakira Pitt is the reigning Sugar Mas Miss National Carnival Swimsuit queen.

Local contractors endorse Revised OECS Building Code project

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Local contractors endorse Revised OECS Building Code project

July 20, 2017 – Basseterre; St. Kitts: Local contractors and engineers in St. Kitts-Nevis have expressed high praise for the ongoing Revised OECS Building Code project which seeks to increase resilience of the built environment and adequately mitigate risks to natural hazards.

Veteran construction engineer Peter Jenkins of Jenkins Limited is of the view that the Revised OECS Building Code is critically important to the built environment of St. Kitts-Nevis and the OECS sub-region in terms of the regulation of building standards.

PHOTO: Peter Jenkins

“Having practiced in the construction/engineering sector since 1980, I can say with some degree of certainty that it is important that the built environment in St. Kitts and Nevis, the OECS, and the Caribbean be regulated. This is important from a development standpoint. Persons who are bringing development to the region must be able to be confident that there are a set of standards to which the sector is regulated, so that there are standards for all aspects of design, all aspects of construction, all aspects of maintenance. We hear, very often, of incidents all over the world where there are collapses, during construction, after construction, and these are in developed sectors of the world. We hear of collapses in China, in the United States, in Canada, all over the world. And so we have to give the assurance that the standards to which we construct are of such that we can basically guarantee some degree of safety, said Jenkins”

Jenkins stated that the revision process will create stakeholder buy-in and give assurance of the quality of the building process in the OECS.

“The Code, as a uniform building code of the OECS, is critical. It gives more status and weight to the integrity of the process that we went through to determine the Code itself. And so, it is important that we continue this process towards the point where we actually have a revised code that all of us would be stakeholders to, would have bought into the process and agreed upon the final document so that the population of the OECS and those coming in can be assured of the quality of the building process in the region,” Jenkins added.

Jenkins also spoke to the importance of the Revised OECS Building Code to the region in light of increased threats from climate change.

“We have to look at flooding. All of these things are critical and will be addressed in the Code and it is important that we get it right so that we can provide some degree of protection to developers. Persons will be occupying such buildings in the future and so this is very important. Climate change has brought additional emphasis and impetus to us in terms of getting this document prepared,” said Jenkins.

EXCLUSIVE NEWS-Konris Could Dust Off Song Book Soon

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By: Precious Mills

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts-In his 2007 hit tune called ‘Sleeping Tiger’, King Konris, the then 24-year-old calypsonian, sang about  consequences of waking a sleeping tiger, advising not to so.

PHOTO: Konris ‘King Konris’ Maynard in entertainer’s mode during a past performance in the calypso arena

Fast forward a decade later and Konris Maynard, the 34-year-old opposition parliamentarian of Constituency Three seems to be in a related state since continued complaints about the stifling of democracy levelled against the two-year Team Unity Government, headed by Dr. Timothy Harris, is pushing him to dust off his song book.

Notably, however, the lyrical tiger within the nation’s youngest parliamentarian is fully awake, outspoken and making observations like a watchdog as the musical content come to him.

“…The country is going to reach to a boiling point because they are trying to suppress the truth… ‘Don’t let Konris get up and talk in Parliament’ but it ain’t only Parliament I have a voice (but also in) my constituency, on Freedom(FM) and they better be careful I ain’t tek back out de song book because they will not suppress my voice; they will never do it.”

So said Maynard on Wednesday 12th July during an appearance on the Labour Party-sponsored ‘Issues’ programme on Freedom FM (106. 5). At the time, he was discussing being booted from the House of Assembly the day before (Tuesday) by Speaker Michael Perkins, two minutes shy of an adjournment.

In an exclusive follow-up chit-chat with this media house that same day, he (Maynard) revealed that he actually has themes and melodies working on which could be released in a few weeks if he wanted to.

“To be honest, I’ve been really thinking about it. I’ve been attuning my mind to the creative mode to put  somethings together because I think it is really time for me to  pull out the song book; I really think  the time has come.”

While speaking over the radio airwaves, Maynard talked about his experience at Tuesday’s Parliament session which adds to past encounters with Speaker Perkins.

The Speaker claimed “gross disrespect” on Maynard’s part.

“Every time Konris Maynard gets up to challenge what the Prime Minister has said, the Speaker feels that it is his mandate whether by instruction or by his  own intuition feels that ‘Boy I can’t allow Konris to talk’  so he is asking me to stop my presentation even before he  knows or hears what I’m going to say. He did it again yesterday as the House was wrapping up in adjournment, two minutes before the House was supposed to finish and because he perceived, he anticipated or thought that I was going to say something that was going to contradict what the Prime Minister said, he was asking me to take my seat and when you make a point about it, he is willing to throw you out of the House,” Maynard remarked.

According to him, people, regardless of their different political affiliations, are fed up.

“That type of democracy is not going to get us anywhere. That is why people on the streets are fed up. All type of people whether they support PAM, Labour or whoever, they are fed up because they thought that this group of men was going to be some aura, some Eldorado…”

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Ex-COP Comments On Sentencing of Son’s Killer

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Ex-COP Comments On Sentencing of Son’s Killer

By: Precious Mills

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts– Former Commissioner of Police Austin Williams, during an exclusive interview with this media house, commented on this week’s sentencing of his son’s accused killer saying it “brings a sense of closure to the matter.”

At the High Court on Monday 10th July, 25-year-old Jahari ‘Baddie’ Bart received a life imprisonment judgement for the April 2011 murder of 27-year-old Laustin Jamie ‘Big Ship’ Williams, the son of the then sitting top cop.

PHOTO: Laustin Jamie ‘Big Ship’ Williams

Remembering his son, he told: “He was just a really happy fellow. He was a really great son and a really great father.”

His deceased son is survived by two children, a boy and a girl, from separate relationships.

Williams said his 8-year-old grandson son, the younger of the two, is around him “almost every day so I get a little bit of comfort.”

Asked if he was in court when the sentence was handed down by resident High Court Judge Justice Trevor Warde QC, he informed that he had not been going to court often and so he did not know that the matter was coming up.

“No. I didn’t know sentencing was coming up. I didn’t even go to court much either…”

As to how he found out about the sentence, he informed: “My wife told me she about heard it…”

Austin William’s son, whom he shared with his wife Laura, was killed while he (Austin) was overseas on a business trip.

Jahari ‘Baddie’ Bart

When asked about what it was like getting the news then, he first said: “It is such a sad story that don’t even want to talk about.”

He however, spoke further by sharing: “It’s just that …I was away on business… somebody had to come give me a message from somebody else …so maybe I was like the last to know. That was the hardest part…”

On the night in question- Monday 4th April 2011- Laustin Jamie Williams was in the company of three other men playing cards at Buckley’s Estate yard in Basseterre when a gunman fatally attacked him, hitting him multiple times about his body.

He was pronounced dead on the scene by the district medical officer following that incident which took place at about 9:30 P.M.

No one else sustained injuries.

Williams was a popular disc jockey of Unstoppable Sounds.

In a news report, WINNFM indicated that Justice Warde, who was not the trial judge in the case, said from what he had gleaned from the documentation and other material on the trial, the shooting was planned and reckless.

According to that media house, Bart, who was represented by attorney Chesley Hamilton, was convicted in July 2016 on the third trial attempt, after the first trial was declared a mistrial and the second ended in a hung jury.

Bart was 19 years of age when he was charged with Williams’ murder.

Cancer Survivor Talks Poor Peeing

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Cancer Survivor Talks Poor Peeing

By: Precious Mills

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts- “It’s not only cancer that affects the man’s urinary system.”

So said medical doctor and prostate cancer survivor Dr. Winston Isaac, president of the Walnut Foundation (a men’s health organisation in Toronto, Canada) during an interview with this media house at a fourth annual prostate screening project held  on Saturday 15th July) at the Masonic Lodge located at Taylor’s Range in Basseterre.

The yearly health exercise was organised by the Rotary Club of St.Kitts in collaboration with Dr. Dwayne Thaites, Island Medical Specialists and A Time 4 Us Foundation.

More than 300 men took part. For the screening, blood was drawn from the arm to test the level of the Prostate- Specific Antigen (PSA) followed by a Rectal Digital Examination (DRE).

PHOTO: Section of men gathered for the 2017 prostate screening project held over the past weekend (Spokesman Snap)

Dr. Isaac, who is a St.Kitts-Nevis national, explained: “With prostate, there could be many things that can go wrong with the prostate but warning signs are not necessarily early signs of prostate cancer. So if somebody has difficulty peeing for instance, they could have a lump. Now the lump may not necessarily be active cancer. So the reasons why the checks are being done in the rectal digital examination is to see if there are any lumps on the prostate. If a man is taking a long time to pee, there is something wrong with the urinary stream so it could be, I would say, an enlargement of the prostate and it’s closing down on the pee channel or it could it be that there is a lump of the prostate cells that is affecting the channel for pee to come out.”

He continued: “That is why one of the tests that is normally done when the doctor is evaluating a man’s urinary system is something which is called a flow test. It puts the guy to pee in a funnel that is passed through a computer. So there is a graph that is generated to see where the strong flow is, where the weak flow is and how long it takes to empty the bladder.

Dr. Isaac said such a flow test is one of the checks usually carried out by urologists.

“It’s not only cancer that affects the man’s urinary system. They can have an infection or an enlarged prostate and the enlarged prostate happens as the man gets older…,” he added.

Newly-elected President of the Rotary Club of St.Kitts Charles Morton applauded his gender peers for coming out in their numbers for another time around saying: “This year has been a tremendous success relative to the prostate screening. We are extremely pleased at the attendance…”

The New Basseterre High School and The Aquifer Continued From Last Week

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By: Earle Clarke

We have been hearing from the Minister of Education about the construction of the New Basseterre High School on the Aquifer, but the Minister of Public Works who is responsible for the Aquifer is totally absent teacher in allaying the fears of the population of the country, never mind the inhabitants of East Basseterre, that their water supply would not, in any way, be affected by the construction of the school on the Aquifer. There are two reasons which could possibly be responsible for our East Basseterre representative to be in silent mode about such a disastrous affair: (1) He is Totally  in disagreement with such construction work, but is unwilling to rock the boat, preferring to remain silent so that he can continue to receive his monthly salary, or (2), The representative has become so corrupted by those with whom he has associated himself that he doesn’t care a damn if the contaminated water from the Aquifer contaminates the health of his constituents or  those who come to visit and are guests in parts of his constituency. I heard the name of some persons called who indicated that all will be well if the school is constructed on the site. When the unity mirage was waging war on the Basseterre High, local, regional and International scientists were approached and their findings were made public in the media.

The Government said that they have consulted with some local professionals who gave the O.K. for the building to be erected, but we have seen no report of their findings, only mouthing from the Minister of Education. One of the local advisers must tell us why she resigned her post immediately after the victory of the unity mirage and why she now finds it convenient to have her name besmirched with the erection of a school occupied by over a thousand students and teachers right on top of an Aquifer? I am not aiming any personal attacks on the reputable reputation of the person.

All I am interested in is (1), as a resident of East Basseterre, that I be given the impregnable assurance that the inhabitants of the area will never be at risk: (2) If the lady could not work under the unity mirage, how professional is she to advise the same mirage under whom she could not work that it would be safe to build a school with toilets on an Aquifer which supplies drinking water for thousands of residents and visitors in the area? I personally would like to see her explaining this to me in a Town Hall Meeting or on a Panel Discussion on T.V. Dear reader, in 1972, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was built in the Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. This plant was well fortified to withstand earthquakes and other disasters, yet, on 26th April, 1986, nine years later, there was a huge catastrophe which claimed the lives of over 40,000 (forty thousands) persons and contaminated the area to such an extent, that it will be impossible for anyone   to live there, or even plant food there, for the next 20.000 years (twenty thousand).

Then, there was the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March 2011. This facility was constructed in 1967 and commissioned on March 26th, 1971. Its reactor had a high atomic and earthquake safety level when it was made; despite all these safety precautions, an earthquake and a tsunami, wreaked disaster upon it, causing it to be shut down. All the precautions taken, yet it became vulnerable to the elements against which it was built to withstand. It would be naïve and very unprofessional of me to compare the disaster of a nuclear facility with the erection of a school on an Aquifer.

The lesson I was attempting to point out is that, with all the precautions one can take to prevent mistakes and calamities and disasters from taking place, our attempts and our efforts are not 100% fool proof. Mistakes can be made. Man made things only last for a while. Just imagine something going wrong with the collection of the stool and the urine and all that waste impurity entering our Aquifer and we drinking and bathing in that filth? Would we be able to sue the company in Miami which advised us that it would be safe so to construct the school there? By the way, before the construction, could we see the recommendation from this company so that we could digest it?

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