Monday, February 28, 2011

Woman flees employer?s home after two months of domestic servitude

page1b237Employer denies claims

By Judy H. Fitzpatrick

PHILIPSBURG--Having her passport taken away, being barred from leaving her place of employment, not being paid and having a huge debt-bondage are some of the assertions made by a middle-age Mumbai, India native who escaped from her employer's home in St. Johns earlier this month.

The woman Yenshin Chang, who said she was called a "bitch" and a "whore" by her employers, is now under the protection of a local organisation. She credits the hunch of an intuitive child for helping her to escape what she termed a horrific working experience.

Several local organisations including the Anti-Trafficking in Persons (ATIP) foundation which works closely with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and authorities are now helping the woman recover unpaid wages, get back her passport and return safely to her homeland.

The son of her employer, who asked that the name of the family's Front Street jewellery store be left out of the story and that only his initials B.K. be used, has denied the woman's claims and has accused her of trying to squeeze money out of the family. "We are the victims," he told The Daily Herald.

Police Force Judicial Department Head Denise Jacobs confirmed that the woman had filed a report on February 7 and that the matter had the "full attention" of authorities.

Spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office Rienk Mudd confirmed that the matter was being investigated and that the son had been interviewed.

Washington-based IOM Project Coordinator Chissey Muller, ATIP President Cassilda van der Neut and Safe Haven President Oldine Bryson-Pantophlet have condemned the incident, which Van der Neut said was a clear case of modern-day slavery.

Contact

Chang told The Daily Herald that she had first come into contact with the family (name provided) after reading an ad in a Mumbai paper in 2009 seeking domestic aid for an elderly woman in St. Maarten. She responded to the ad and was interviewed. She was told that she had to take care of an elderly woman for a monthly salary of 10,000 rupees (about US $200) per month, but she had doubts and did not follow up.

(St. Maarten's minimum wage currently stands at NAf. 7.96 per hour or NAf. 1,379 (US $766) per month for a 40-hour work week).

Chang said the family had kept calling her about the job and at one point had even promised to open a restaurant for her to work in. She had decided to give it a shot. Her plan was to save her earnings to make a down-payment on a home in India.

She was told that she needed a number of documents for her work permit to be processed and said she had been sent 22,000 rupees to look after the documents, which she said included police clearance and a medical certificate. "They told me that the papers won't be a problem, because the government is corrupt and they bribe the government and police in St. Maarten all the time."

She was later sent her landing permit and ticket and arrived in St. Maarten on December 7, 2010.

When she arrived, she was told that the woman she had to take care of had died the day before. She said she had then been asked to work as a maid at the family home and take care of another elderly matriarch in the family.

Chang said she had been subjected to unconscionable demands and had felt unwelcome from the beginning.

She said her passport had been taken days after her arrival and hadn't been returned despite her asking for it on two occasions. Up to the time of this newspaper's interview, she still did not have possession of her passport.

K. said Chang's passport had been taken for "immigration purposes" and had not been returned, because she was "a flight risk."

Chang said her request for a mobile phone had been denied and the family had placed a code on their home phone barring her from calling her family in India. She said she had also been denied Internet access.

She said she had not been allowed to leave the home, adding that the family had also complained about her cooking and cleaning habits and she had sometimes had to re-do meals three to four different times if they did not like the way it had been prepared. "I cried many times."

The woman said she had been asked to sign multiple documents as a condition of her employment. She showed this newspaper an employment contract indicating that she would be paid a salary equal to St. Maarten's minimum wage, but said she had been told that the amount she would actually be paid would be US $200. She said she was never paid.

Provisions are made in the law for employers to deduct NAf. 425 (US $236) from their employees' salaries for room and board. This means that if Chang had actually been paid the amount promised, she would have ended up owing her employer US $36 dollars, if the laws were applied.

Weeks into her stay, she requested to be returned to India, but said her employer had told her that she owed the family US $10,000 and that, once she paid it, she could leave. "A few days later, I asked him how long he would keep me here locked up if I didn't have the money," adding that the amount had by then been reduced to US $3,500.

She was called derogatory names and told that her mouth "was hot" when she protested and expressed her desire to leave. She said she had also been insulted about her marriage to a non-Indian. The woman said that, while she had been scared, she was not subservient and she occasionally "spoke for her rights."

A child in the neighbourhood who played in the area befriended her and it was through this child and her parent that Chang said she had managed to get in contact with a local organisation and had "escaped" the home earlier this month. "I felt like I found God. I was so happy," the mother of three said about leaving the home.

"She was trembling, shaking when we first saw her," a representative of the local organisation that aided Chang to leave said. "She was clearly in fear."

The St. Maartener who was instrumental in contacting the local organisation to help Chang told this newspaper that her first encounter with the woman had been very emotional. "She was crying a lot," she said. "The writing was on the wall and I was shocked that something like this is still happening. I remember her telling me that if we helped her she would be kissing my feet for life."

We are the victims

Chang's direct employer was contacted for an interview on Monday, but he was unavailable when this newspaper showed up for the appointment. His son K. later said he was willing to be interviewed.

In a prepared statement, K. said, "We understand the matter is with the Prosecutor's Office. We're not even sure if there is an investigation at the Prosecutor's Office. We have confidence in an objective investigation. If there is any indication from my visit, it is clear that she is abusing the system. We are the victims, not her."
Asked whether Chang was ever paid for her services, K. said she was indebted to them for "breaching her contract." He said she had been sent "a salary advance" of 22,000 rupees (abiou US $486) before coming to St. Maarten to "buy stuff for herself." Her ticket and other expenses such as room, board and taxes are now debts for breaching the contract. He declined to go into details of what these other expenses were, saying they were irrelevant. "If a worker completes their contract, they don't owe anything."

"This is not a vacation where you just take a trip, just to come for a few days to see what the island was like and return." He said too that Chang had hardly done any work around the house and his father had "wanted her gone" and had notified immigration about this. The day Chang "disappeared" from the home, it was reported to the police, he said.

He showed this newspaper a written document that he said Chang had signed, in which she admitted to being lazy and a bad cook, among other things. Asked who had typed the document, K. said Chang had written it by hand and it had been typed out, but he couldn't show this newspaper the purported handwritten version or prove that she had indeed written it.

The IOM official told this newspaper that people in situations like Chang's "can be forced to sign documents against their will. Also, people can commit to terms and conditions in employment contracts that, unbeknownst to them, actually violate the basic labour laws of the other country ? in this case St. Maarten's," she said, adding that "deceit was used to secure the commitment; it appears as though they agreed to the contract without force."

K. also denied that Chang had been kept against her will, saying that she had had "access to the gates and the keys."

K. said his father had notified authorities in January that Chang "was going to leave. He declined to go into any further details on the matter with this newspaper. "If I have to get a lawyer, I will get one, but there is no reason to. She broke the contract."

Full attention

Jacobs said the matter had the "full attention" of the police. She said it was not legal for someone's passport and freedom to be "taken away" and for someone to be placed in "prison-like situations." She said figures on domestic servitude in St. Maarten were not available and local authorities in collaboration with the Police Force of the Netherlands were currently conducting research into how prevalent this and other illegal practices were.
"In St. Maarten it is indeed a public secret and whenever there is illegality in a country these things can happen [...] especially people from abroad are used."

Prevalence

In recent years there have been several cases of primarily Indian employees who flee their employers' places of work alleging slave-like treatment, including being paid low wages and living in substandard conditions.

The IOM official said that, although there were no reliable statistics, it was thought that trafficking for the purpose of forced labour ? in this case as a domestic servant ? was quite prevalent in the Caribbean. "One of the challenges with identifying persons who were trafficked for domestic servitude is that often they work inside a home, which is private property and thus not accessible to the public. Therefore these victims often have very little access to neighbours and the surrounding community. They are often incredibly dependent on the employer/home owner for food, clothing, shelter and work permit sponsorship, in addition to wages.

"Additionally, it is hard for outsiders looking in to determine what the true situation is, because on the surface it can appear to be a live-in domestic worker, who works really hard and seems grateful for the opportunity to work," Muller said.

Nationals of India constitute the sixth largest bloc of immigrants legally residing in St. Maarten, home to 104 different nationalities.

International assistance

In St. Lucia at the time of the interview, Muller told this newspaper that immediate assistance for Chang might be to help to coordinate her voluntary return in areas such as airport transit time, reception in India and transportation from the airport to her home community. "IOM would also work with Ms. Chang to ensure that her safety is protected to the extent possible. For the longer term, IOM can work with Ms. Chang to develop a reintegration plan. In her case, she's already expressed interest developing a particular skill to earn an income, and IOM could help to arrange for her to complete the skills certificate course."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/14069-woman-flees-employers-home-after-two-months-of-domestic-servitude-.html

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Coffee Planet unveils largest premium coffee roastery in Middle East

Dubai-based Coffee Planet, a multi-solutions coffee company supplying every market sector in the coffee retail chain, today launched its new $2million roastery at Gulfood 2011, the region?s premier event promoting food and beverage-related products, which is being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/coffee-planet-unveils-largest-premium-coffee-roastery-middle-east

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PJIA wins major marketing award in Santo Domingo

page1b230Beats out Aruba and Panama

AIRPORT--Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) won a renowned recognition award at the Routes Americas Conference in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, on Monday evening. One of three airports nominated by the major airlines (for the Caribbean), PJIA won the Routes Americas Airport Marketing Award in recognition of its marketing efforts that have made a real impact on the future network development of airlines.

More than 300 aviation professionals were gathered, taking part in the 4th Routes Americas ? the only network planning event for all the Americas. The Routes Airport Marketing Awards have become synonymous with recognising and rewarding the highest standards of marketing activities undertaken by airports. They work on the core principle that those who are best suited to judge an airport's marketing activities are its primary users: airlines.

The heat had two categories this year: South, Central and the Caribbean; and North. In the first category, Queen Beatrix International Airport of Aruba and Tocumen International of Panama were shortlisted, while PJIA in St. Maarten was declared the winner. In the second category, Edmonton International Airport and Las Vegas McCarran International Airport were highly commended, but Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was crowned winner, not only of that category, but also overall.

In collaboration with St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, PJIA submitted a 1,000-word presentation on what it had done to improve airlift and passenger experience for 2010 and 2011. The involvement of the Tourist Bureau was key, considering the close relationship with PJIA in focusing on airlift development and product diversification.

Minister of Tourism Franklin Meyers, Tourist Bureau Head Regina LaBega and PJIA Interim Director Larry Donker were all present for the award presentation. PJIA's Marketing and Communications section is Managed by Lucrecia Lynch-Matinburgh and her team.

"The best people to judge the effectiveness of any airport's marketing campaign are its primary customers, the airline network planning community," the organisers explain in their description of the awards. "Airlines consider the efficient and useful marketing activities of any airport on their network, within the region, irrespective of airport size."

PJIA's award was premised on its market research activities, marketing communications, the airport's business case presentations for new market opportunities and the airport's joint communication campaigns with third parties. Innovative use of technologies or techniques to support the airlines was also considered.

Voting took place December 17, 2010 and closed on January 24, 2011. Only airports registered for the Routes Americas event in Santo Domingo were considered by the judging panel.

Shortlisted airports were contacted from January 26 to submit a case study by e-mail to support their nominations. Nominations and supporting material were evaluated by a panel of industry experts and the highly commended and winning airports were chosen in each category. The winners of the Americas Region were announced at the Gala Dinner in Santo Domingo on Monday evening.

The award comes on the heels of PJIA being recognised in 2010 as the third-largest airport in the Caribbean, according to Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association ALTA. In terms of aircraft movement, PJIA only stands behind San Juan, Puerto Rico (Luis Munoz Marin International Airport) and Nassau, the Bahamas (Lynden Pindling International Airport).

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/13767-pjia-wins-major-marketing-award-in-santo-domingo.html

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Institutionalized Arab Inequality in Israel

By Stephen Lendman

In December 2010, the Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel published a study titled, Inequality Report: The Palestinian Arab Minority in Israel, saying:

Affecting Jews as well, it takes many forms, including:

-- privileged v. deprived groups;

-- Western Jews (Ashkenzim) v. Eastern ones (Mizrakhim);

-- men v. women;

-- Israeli-born Jews (Sabar) v. immigrant ones (Olim);

-- Orthodox v. secular Jews;

-- urban v. rural ones;

-- progressive v. hardline extremists;

-- gay v. straight, and so forth.

Mostly, it represents majority Jews against minority (largely Muslim) Israeli Arabs, indigenous people living in their historic homeland, comprising 20% of the population or about 1.2 million people, excluding East Jerusalem and Golan.

Under international law, they're considered a national, ethnic, linguistic and religious minority, but not under Israel's Basic Laws. As a result, they face "compound discrimination" as non-Jews, as well as for belonging to one or more sub-groups. For example, women, Bedouins, the disabled or elderly.

Institutionalized inequality excludes them from state resources, services and positions of power, including:

Legalized Inequality

As citizens, they're denied equality and freedom in a Jewish state. Over 30 laws directly or indirectly discriminate besides new ones at various stages in the legislative process.

Citizenship

It affords no equality, granting it solely to Jews, and under a new law, it may be lost for reasons alleging "disloyalty" or "breach of trust."

Income/Poverty

Affecting over half of Arab families, they're disproportionately poor compared to one-fifth of Jews. Arab towns, villages and Bedouin communities are the poorest.

Redistribution of Resources and Social Welfare

Resources are disproportionately allocated to Jews, a policy institutionalizing inequality.

Employment

Arabs are discriminated against with regard to work opportunities, pay, and conditions, largely because of entrenched structural barriers, especially affecting women, the disabled, and other sub-groups. Failure to perform military service impedes men, even when no connection between it and job qualifications exist.

Arabs are also underrepresented in civil service jobs, Israel's largest employer. They constitute about 6% of public employees, despite affirmative action laws requiring fair representation.

Land

Longstanding and more recent laws deprive them of its access and use. Admissions committees in many agricultural and community towns exclude them based on alleged "social unsuitability," amounting to legalized apartheid.

As a result, Arab towns and villages suffer severe overcrowding, their municipalities having jurisdiction over only 2.5% of total state land. Moreover, since 1948, about 600 Jewish municipalities were established, no Arab ones.

Education

Israel's Ministry of Education has centralized control, excluding Arab educators from decision-making authority. Moreover, State Education Law sets objectives, emphasizing Jewish history and culture. Though Arabs represent 25% of school children, funding for them is far less than for Jews.

Arabic Language

Though an official state language, it holds vastly inferior status to Hebrew, including regarding resources allocated for its use.

Health

On average, Jewish life expectancy exceeds Arabs who face much higher mortality rates, especially past age 60. In addition, Palestinian infant mortality is double that for Jews. Poorer Arab communities are especially impacted, lacking facilities to keep pace with needs.

Political Participation

Arabs have unequal access to all areas of public life and decision-making, including the legislature, judiciary, and civil service. Moreover, Israel's Attorney General and extremist MKs tried to disqualify Arab parties from political participation, and overall limit their political voices.

In addition, legislation targets free movement and speech, including attempts to restrict political travel to Arab nations called "enemy states." Further, police routinely use force to arrest Palestinian demonstrators to silence dissent.

"Years of deliberate discrimination, unequal citizenship and a limited voice in the political system have left Palestinian citizens" feeling vulnerable, marginalized, insecure and distrustful of state authority, exacerbated by being considered a "fifth column."

Framework of Legalized Inequality

Israel's Basic Laws afford rights solely to Jews. Arabs clearly aren't wanted so aren't treated equally under the law. As a result, institutionalized discrimination harms them in all aspects of daily life, including citizenship and family unification rights, forcing them to live apart or insecure under threat of separation.

A Case Study of Discriminatory Resource Allocation

Government provides "budget balancing grants" to municipalities and local councils to fund essential services. Arab communities are systematically cheated despite far greater need.

The current system affords extra grants to towns absorbing new Jewish immigrants, so-called "front line" communities, and others called "socially diverse," excluding Arab ones considered homogeneous. Nearly always, Jewish communities are helped. Adalah's 2001 Supreme Court petition for redress is still pending.

Further, Amendment 146 to the Income Tax Act affords Israeli communities near Gaza and others exemptions for political reasons. All Arab towns and villages were excluded.

A Case Study of Military Service Excluding Arabs from Railway Inspection Work

In 2009, the Israeli Railway Company (IRC) and another firm employing guards concluded an agreement, excluding applicants with no military service from consideration. Over 130 Arab citizens held guard positions. The decision threatened their status or ability to obtain future employment. A temporary September 2009 court injunction prevented those employed from being fired. After a follow-up February 2010 hearing, the Railway Company cancelled the exclusionary provisions.

A Case Study of Arab Family Unsuitability to Live in Rakefet

Fatina and Ahmed Zubeidat hold Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design College of Architecture degrees with distinction. Both are practicing architects. After marrying in 2006, they applied to live in Rakefet, located in Misgav in northern Israel. Its admissions committee requires applicants take an acceptance test. It excluded them on grounds of "social unsuitability." In September 2007, Adalah petitioned Israel's Supreme Court, demanding admissions committees be abolished. In October, the Court ordered Rakeft set aside land for the family, pending a final decision. It's still pending.

A Case Study of Unrecognized Bedouin Al Araqib Village Destruction

On July 27, 2010, al-Araqib residents were awakened at dawn, surrounded by police carrying guns, tear gas, truncheons and other arms. Declaring the village a "closed area," its 250 residents were ordered out in two minutes, warned that resistance would forcibly remove them.

Almost immediately, 1,300 police officers began demolishing homes while residents tried salvaging belongings. All 45 houses were bulldozed. Villagers were displaced and their belongings confiscated. Police also uprooted 4,500 olive trees. Tax Authority representatives accompanied police, seizing property of indebted residents.

No prior warnings were given. A week later, the village was destroyed a second time, police again using excessive force, including pushing, stomping, dragging, assaulting, and cursing people present at the time. Adalah immediately demanded a criminal investigation. Numerous other villages have also been targeted. None so far have gotten redress.

A Case Study of a Possible First Ever Unrecognized Bedouin Village High School

None exist in any unrecognized Bedouin village. In Abu Tulul region, El-Shihabi is home to about 12,000 Bedouin citizens. About 750 are of high school age. However, only about 170 can attend 12 - 15 km away, requiring public or other transportation to reach.

In 2005, Adalah petitioned Israel's Supreme Court for 35 Bedouin girls and six local NGOs, demanding an accessible high school be built nearby. In January 2007, the Court ruled for one to begin operating on September 1, 2009 to no avail. On September 22, 2009, Adalah again petitioned for enforcement, including that non-implementation be considered in contempt of court.

A Case Study of Mother and Child Clinic Closures

In October 2009, Israel's Ministry of Health (MOH) closed clinics in three unrecognized villages - Qasr el-Ser, Abu Tlul and Wadi el-Niam. They specialize in post-natal care with three others established after Adalah's successful 1997 Supreme Court petition.

MOH's reasons for closure were bogus. As a result, the health and lives of thousands of pregnant Bedouin women, new mothers and their babies are at risk. On December 16, 2009, Adalah petitioned Israel's Supreme Court, demanding clinics remain open. On August 11, 2010, two reopened. The other is still closed.

Case Study about Protesters Killed in October 2000

In October 2000, at the start of the Second Intifada, police killed 13 unarmed Palestinians, protesting occupation brutality. Snipers shot most in the head or chest. Hundreds of others were injured and over 1,000 arrested. Despite Or Commission recommendations, no one was held responsible. Over 10 years later, no commander, soldier, policeman, or political official was charged with cold-blooded murder. Given impunity, they remain safe from prosecution.

Legitimate Political Activity Criminalized

In November 2009, Israel's Attorney General indicted Arab MK Mohammed Barakeh, leader of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash), for participating in four nonviolent protests against Israel's Separation Wall, the 2006 Lebanon war, and its officials remaining unaccountable for the October 2000 killings.

In January 2010, the Knesset House Committee voted to strip Tajammoa/Balad party MK Sa'id Naffaa of his parliamentary immunity. Israel's Attorney General then indicted him for visiting Syria in September 2007 as part of a holy site pilgrimage. Charges included contact with a foreign agent.

Earlier, MK Azmi Bishara, then National Democratic Assembly/Balad head, was indicted for political speech -for "supporting a terrorist organization (Hezbollah)." In fact, he merely analyzed factors leading to Israel's southern Lebanon occupation and right to resist it. Charges followed the Knesset voting to strip him of parliamentary immunity. At the time, it was unprecedented in Israeli politics. In February 2006, Israel's Supreme Court dismissed all charges unanimously.

Nonetheless, on June 7, 2010, the Knesset House Committee revoked Tajammoa/Balad member Haneen Zoabi's parliamentary privileges for participating in the May 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla. As a result, she lost her diplomatic passport, overseas travel privileges, and right to have the Knesset pay her legal expenses in case of criminal prosecution. Overall, she was viciously assailed. Called a "terrorist" and "traitor," extremist ministers and MKs wanted, but failed, to have her Knesset membership and citizenship revoked.

Socially, politically and economically they're denied rights for being Arabs in a Jewish state, affording them solely to Jews. Increasingly less of them, in fact, benefit under predatory neoliberal harshness, rewarding the rich, abandoning the rest.

As a result, Israel is a nation of extreme, growing inequality, mostly affecting Arabs. Studies, in fact, found Israel, America and Britain the most unequal western societies, an indictment of neoliberal betrayal.

Moreover, Muslims face violent and ad hominem attacks, with no protections afforded them. As a result, some call Israel a failed state, more hypocrisy than democracy, resembling how Arundhati Roy once described India, calling it a "limbless, headless, soulless torso left bleeding under the butcher's clever with a flag driven deep into her mutilated heart."

For Israeli Arabs, it's daily reality. For Occupied Palestinians, its worse. For besieged Gazans, it's catastrophic because world leaders abandoned them.

- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Contact him at: lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net and visit: sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Source: http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16681

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Egypt public debt amounts to US$184 billion

Once again, it was decided to delay the resumption of trading in the Egyptian stock exchange for next week after it was scheduled to open on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the government is making efforts to restore the economic sectors after the recent events in the country. The efforts now concentrate on releasing imports needed for the production of food without payment of customs duties and tax, in exchange for a written pledge to pay immediately after the situation is stabilized.

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/egypt-public-debt-amounts-us184-billion

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WITU legal adviser to meet teachers Monday

PHILIPSBURG--Windward Islands Teachers Union's (WITU's) legal adviser will meet with the union's membership on Monday.

The meeting will be held at the WIFOL building on W.J.A. Nisbeth Road starting at 4:00pm and the union said it would be looking forward to a good turnout, because the issues to be discussed are of vital importance to teachers' welfare.

The legal representative will be speaking to the workers about the injunction the union plans to file against the government for the payment of the 3.3 per cent cost of living adjustment (COLA) for teachers as agreed by the former government in August 2010.

WITU members have rejected several offers from the government regarding the payment of the allowance and were particularly upset about the "no work, no pay" policy government said would be applied to them for meeting with their union during school hours on January 31 and February 1.

WITU President Claire Elshot told The Daily Herald on Friday that the legal adviser would give a clear indication about the focus of the court injunction. "The legal adviser will explain the process of the injunction and explain what the workers' legal rights are to meet with their unions and with respect to the 'no work, no pay' policy, as well as what they can expect with the injunction.

"Once this is clear to them and once the lawyer gets total clarity on what is required with this injunction, then we can move forward with the further steps."

Elshot said the union had met with the legal adviser on Thursday and with Education Minister Rhoda Arrindell.

Elshot said the legal adviser had pointed out a "contradiction" in the government's proposal for the payment of COLA that was signed by Windward Islands Civil Servants Union/Private Sector Union (WICSU/PSU) on Wednesday.

She said the contradiction had been pointed out to Arrindell during Thursday's meeting. "We also presented the minister with the course of action to be taken by our membership," Elshot said.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/13325-witu-legal-adviser-to-meet-teachers-monday-.html

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Woman flees employer?s home after two months of domestic servitude

page1b237Employer denies claims

By Judy H. Fitzpatrick

PHILIPSBURG--Having her passport taken away, being barred from leaving her place of employment, not being paid and having a huge debt-bondage are some of the assertions made by a middle-age Mumbai, India native who escaped from her employer's home in St. Johns earlier this month.

The woman Yenshin Chang, who said she was called a "bitch" and a "whore" by her employers, is now under the protection of a local organisation. She credits the hunch of an intuitive child for helping her to escape what she termed a horrific working experience.

Several local organisations including the Anti-Trafficking in Persons (ATIP) foundation which works closely with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and authorities are now helping the woman recover unpaid wages, get back her passport and return safely to her homeland.

The son of her employer, who asked that the name of the family's Front Street jewellery store be left out of the story and that only his initials B.K. be used, has denied the woman's claims and has accused her of trying to squeeze money out of the family. "We are the victims," he told The Daily Herald.

Police Force Judicial Department Head Denise Jacobs confirmed that the woman had filed a report on February 7 and that the matter had the "full attention" of authorities.

Spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office Rienk Mudd confirmed that the matter was being investigated and that the son had been interviewed.

Washington-based IOM Project Coordinator Chissey Muller, ATIP President Cassilda van der Neut and Safe Haven President Oldine Bryson-Pantophlet have condemned the incident, which Van der Neut said was a clear case of modern-day slavery.

Contact

Chang told The Daily Herald that she had first come into contact with the family (name provided) after reading an ad in a Mumbai paper in 2009 seeking domestic aid for an elderly woman in St. Maarten. She responded to the ad and was interviewed. She was told that she had to take care of an elderly woman for a monthly salary of 10,000 rupees (about US $200) per month, but she had doubts and did not follow up.

(St. Maarten's minimum wage currently stands at NAf. 7.96 per hour or NAf. 1,379 (US $766) per month for a 40-hour work week).

Chang said the family had kept calling her about the job and at one point had even promised to open a restaurant for her to work in. She had decided to give it a shot. Her plan was to save her earnings to make a down-payment on a home in India.

She was told that she needed a number of documents for her work permit to be processed and said she had been sent 22,000 rupees to look after the documents, which she said included police clearance and a medical certificate. "They told me that the papers won't be a problem, because the government is corrupt and they bribe the government and police in St. Maarten all the time."

She was later sent her landing permit and ticket and arrived in St. Maarten on December 7, 2010.

When she arrived, she was told that the woman she had to take care of had died the day before. She said she had then been asked to work as a maid at the family home and take care of another elderly matriarch in the family.

Chang said she had been subjected to unconscionable demands and had felt unwelcome from the beginning.

She said her passport had been taken days after her arrival and hadn't been returned despite her asking for it on two occasions. Up to the time of this newspaper's interview, she still did not have possession of her passport.

K. said Chang's passport had been taken for "immigration purposes" and had not been returned, because she was "a flight risk."

Chang said her request for a mobile phone had been denied and the family had placed a code on their home phone barring her from calling her family in India. She said she had also been denied Internet access.

She said she had not been allowed to leave the home, adding that the family had also complained about her cooking and cleaning habits and she had sometimes had to re-do meals three to four different times if they did not like the way it had been prepared. "I cried many times."

The woman said she had been asked to sign multiple documents as a condition of her employment. She showed this newspaper an employment contract indicating that she would be paid a salary equal to St. Maarten's minimum wage, but said she had been told that the amount she would actually be paid would be US $200. She said she was never paid.

Provisions are made in the law for employers to deduct NAf. 425 (US $236) from their employees' salaries for room and board. This means that if Chang had actually been paid the amount promised, she would have ended up owing her employer US $36 dollars, if the laws were applied.

Weeks into her stay, she requested to be returned to India, but said her employer had told her that she owed the family US $10,000 and that, once she paid it, she could leave. "A few days later, I asked him how long he would keep me here locked up if I didn't have the money," adding that the amount had by then been reduced to US $3,500.

She was called derogatory names and told that her mouth "was hot" when she protested and expressed her desire to leave. She said she had also been insulted about her marriage to a non-Indian. The woman said that, while she had been scared, she was not subservient and she occasionally "spoke for her rights."

A child in the neighbourhood who played in the area befriended her and it was through this child and her parent that Chang said she had managed to get in contact with a local organisation and had "escaped" the home earlier this month. "I felt like I found God. I was so happy," the mother of three said about leaving the home.

"She was trembling, shaking when we first saw her," a representative of the local organisation that aided Chang to leave said. "She was clearly in fear."

The St. Maartener who was instrumental in contacting the local organisation to help Chang told this newspaper that her first encounter with the woman had been very emotional. "She was crying a lot," she said. "The writing was on the wall and I was shocked that something like this is still happening. I remember her telling me that if we helped her she would be kissing my feet for life."

We are the victims

Chang's direct employer was contacted for an interview on Monday, but he was unavailable when this newspaper showed up for the appointment. His son K. later said he was willing to be interviewed.

In a prepared statement, K. said, "We understand the matter is with the Prosecutor's Office. We're not even sure if there is an investigation at the Prosecutor's Office. We have confidence in an objective investigation. If there is any indication from my visit, it is clear that she is abusing the system. We are the victims, not her."
Asked whether Chang was ever paid for her services, K. said she was indebted to them for "breaching her contract." He said she had been sent "a salary advance" of 22,000 rupees (abiou US $486) before coming to St. Maarten to "buy stuff for herself." Her ticket and other expenses such as room, board and taxes are now debts for breaching the contract. He declined to go into details of what these other expenses were, saying they were irrelevant. "If a worker completes their contract, they don't owe anything."

"This is not a vacation where you just take a trip, just to come for a few days to see what the island was like and return." He said too that Chang had hardly done any work around the house and his father had "wanted her gone" and had notified immigration about this. The day Chang "disappeared" from the home, it was reported to the police, he said.

He showed this newspaper a written document that he said Chang had signed, in which she admitted to being lazy and a bad cook, among other things. Asked who had typed the document, K. said Chang had written it by hand and it had been typed out, but he couldn't show this newspaper the purported handwritten version or prove that she had indeed written it.

The IOM official told this newspaper that people in situations like Chang's "can be forced to sign documents against their will. Also, people can commit to terms and conditions in employment contracts that, unbeknownst to them, actually violate the basic labour laws of the other country ? in this case St. Maarten's," she said, adding that "deceit was used to secure the commitment; it appears as though they agreed to the contract without force."

K. also denied that Chang had been kept against her will, saying that she had had "access to the gates and the keys."

K. said his father had notified authorities in January that Chang "was going to leave. He declined to go into any further details on the matter with this newspaper. "If I have to get a lawyer, I will get one, but there is no reason to. She broke the contract."

Full attention

Jacobs said the matter had the "full attention" of the police. She said it was not legal for someone's passport and freedom to be "taken away" and for someone to be placed in "prison-like situations." She said figures on domestic servitude in St. Maarten were not available and local authorities in collaboration with the Police Force of the Netherlands were currently conducting research into how prevalent this and other illegal practices were.
"In St. Maarten it is indeed a public secret and whenever there is illegality in a country these things can happen [...] especially people from abroad are used."

Prevalence

In recent years there have been several cases of primarily Indian employees who flee their employers' places of work alleging slave-like treatment, including being paid low wages and living in substandard conditions.

The IOM official said that, although there were no reliable statistics, it was thought that trafficking for the purpose of forced labour ? in this case as a domestic servant ? was quite prevalent in the Caribbean. "One of the challenges with identifying persons who were trafficked for domestic servitude is that often they work inside a home, which is private property and thus not accessible to the public. Therefore these victims often have very little access to neighbours and the surrounding community. They are often incredibly dependent on the employer/home owner for food, clothing, shelter and work permit sponsorship, in addition to wages.

"Additionally, it is hard for outsiders looking in to determine what the true situation is, because on the surface it can appear to be a live-in domestic worker, who works really hard and seems grateful for the opportunity to work," Muller said.

Nationals of India constitute the sixth largest bloc of immigrants legally residing in St. Maarten, home to 104 different nationalities.

International assistance

In St. Lucia at the time of the interview, Muller told this newspaper that immediate assistance for Chang might be to help to coordinate her voluntary return in areas such as airport transit time, reception in India and transportation from the airport to her home community. "IOM would also work with Ms. Chang to ensure that her safety is protected to the extent possible. For the longer term, IOM can work with Ms. Chang to develop a reintegration plan. In her case, she's already expressed interest developing a particular skill to earn an income, and IOM could help to arrange for her to complete the skills certificate course."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/14069-woman-flees-employers-home-after-two-months-of-domestic-servitude-.html

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Palestinians protest US veto near Hebron

altWest Bank, (Pal Telegraph)- A number of Palestinians participated yesterday� in the weekly anti-wall rally in the village of Bait Ummer protesting the United States veto of a UN resolution condemning Israeli’s expansion of� illegal settlements on the Palestinian territories .

Source: http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/8573-palestinians-protest-us-veto-near-hebron.html

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Sunday, February 27, 2011

GEBE workers without union, no union won the referendum

PHILIPSBURG--None of the three unions that contested Thursday's referendum at utilities company GEBE accumulated enough votes to represent the workers.

The workers are currently without a union. A total of 102 workers were eligible to vote in the referendum. A union needed at least 52 votes to win. A total of 71 workers turned out to vote, 42 casted their ballots in favour of the Workers Institute for Organised Labour (WIFOL); 19 for the Windward Islands Health Care Union (WIHCU) and 10 for the United Federation of the Windward Antilles (UFA).

There were no blank votes. Another referendum can only be held at the company after six months.

UFA, which had been the workers representative before the referendum, lost a lot of support. That union will not be contesting any possible referendum at GEBE if one is called in six months. UFA President Francis Olivacci thanked all those who voted for the union.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/13899-gebe-workers-without-union-no-union-won-the-referendum-.html

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WIFOL responds, says progress hinges on payment of workers

PHILIPSBURG--Workers Institute for Organised Labour (WIFOL) responded Thursday to a proposal for the re-opening of Simpson Bay Resort and Marina and reintegration of the workers, but attorney Maarten le Poole says everything hinges on payment of the workers.

"If the workers are not paid in keeping with the court verdict, then everything is off the table," Le Poole told The Daily Herald last night.

He said the union had made "several amendments and additions" to the proposal, but declined to go into details as to what they were. The union's response was sent to Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, special mediator Raphael Boasman and other parties involved in this case.

It was unclear to the union whether the workers were going to be paid. Le Poole made it clear that they should be.

"The issue is now that the employees get paid, because there were some signs that they will not be paid and the union made it clear that if they were not paid, there is no agreement," he said. "[The resort was] vague about whether they will be paid or not. Unless salaries continue to be paid, there won't be any agreement. Hopefully, tomorrow [today, ed.] they will be paid or everything is off the table."

This newspaper understands that the proposal is geared towards the re-opening of the resort and taking back workers pending the appeal of the court's verdict. It is also understood that a delay in the payment of a transfer tax for the resort is included in the proposal.

Wescot-Williams had told reporters at the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday that a request had been made for the delay in the payment. She also confirmed that cheques from the resort were at the Receiver's Office, but had not yet been cashed. She said no decision had been taken on whether they would be cashed. This is still an issue to be sorted out technically, "if government agrees to some type of extension of payment."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/14126-wifol-responds-says-progress-hinges-on-payment-of-workers-.html

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Gaddafi speaks in front of his supporters in Tripoli

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, on Friday made a surprising appearance in Tripoli's Green Square, speaking to a crowd of his supporters.

"We can defeat any aggression if necessary and arm the people," Gaddafi said, in footage that was aired on Libyan state television on Friday. "You, the youth, be comfortable? dance, sing, stay up all night," he said.

On Thursday evening, he made some comments by phone, leading to speculation about his physical condition. The footage aired on Friday, however, showed the leader standing above the square, waving his fist as he spoke.

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/gaddafi-speaks-front-his-supporters-tripoli

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Two die during violent clashes in Oman

Two people were killed Sunday during protests in Oman. Omani police fired tear gas on Sunday at stone-throwing demonstrators in the industrial city of Sohar. The proteters were demanding political reforms, witnesses said.

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� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/violent-clashes-oman

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Israeli Media 'Fears' the New Egypt

By Neve Gordon

Over the past three weeks the Israeli media has been extremely interested in Egypt.

During the climatic days of the unprecedented demonstrations, television news programmes spent most of their airtime covering the protests, while the daily papers dedicated half the news and opinion pages to the unfolding events.

Rather than excitement at watching history in the making, however, the dominant attitude here, particularly on television, was of anxiety-- a sense that the developments in Egypt were inimical to Israel's interests. Egypt's revolution, in other words, was bad news.

It took a while for Israel's experts on "Arab Affairs" to get a grip on what was happening. During the early days of unrest, the recurrent refrain was that "Egypt is not Tunis".

Commentators assured the public that the security apparatuses in Egypt are loyal to the regime and that consequently there was little if any chance that President Hosni Mubarak's government would fall.

Media Switch

Once it became clear that this line of analysis was erroneous, most commentators followed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's lead and criticised President Barack Obama's Administration for not supporting Mubarak. The Foreign News editor of one channel noted that: "The fact that the White House is permitting the protests is reason for worry;" while the prominent political analyst Ben Kaspit expressed his longing for President George W. Bush.

"We remember 2003 when George Bush invaded and took over Iraq with a sense of yearning", Ben Kaspit wrote. "Libya immediately changed course and allied itself with the West. Iran suspended its military nuclear program. Arafat was harnessed. Syria shook with fear. Not that the invasion of Iraq was a wise move (not at all, Iran is the real problem, not Iraq), but in the Middle East whoever does not walk around with a big bat in his hand receives the bat on his head."

Israeli commentators are equivocal on the issue of Egyptian democracy. One columnist explained that it takes years for democratic institutions to be established and for people to internalise the practices appropriate for democracy, while Amir Hazroni from NRG went so far as to write an ode to colonialism:

"When we try to think how and why the United States and the West lost Egypt, Tunis, Yemen and perhaps other countries in the Middle East, people forget that. The original sin began right after WWII, when a wonderful form of government that protected security and peace in the Middle East (and in other parts of the Third Word) departed from this world following pressure from the United States and Soviet Union... More than sixty years have passed since the Arab states and the countries of Africa were liberated from the 'colonial yoke,' but there still isn't an Arab university, an African scientist or a Middle Eastern consumer product that has made a mark on our world."

Fear and the Brotherhood

While only a few commentators are as reactionary as Hazroni, an Orientalist perspective permeated most of the discussion about Egypt, thus helping to bolster the already existing Jewish citizenry's fear of Islam. Political Islam is constantly presented and conceived as an ominous force that is antithetical to democracy.

Thus, in the eyes of Israeli analysts, the protestors- that Facebook and Twitter generation- are deserving of empathy but also extremely naïve. There is a shared sense that their fate will end up being identical to that of the Iranian intellectuals who led the protests against the Shah.

Channel Two's expert on "Arab Affairs" explained that: "The fact that you do not see the Muslim Brotherhood does not mean they are not there," and another expert warned his viewers not to "be misled by ElBaradei's Viennese spirit, behind him is the Muslim Brotherhood."

According to these pundits, the Muslim Brotherhood made a tactical decision not to distribute Islamists banners or to take an active part in leading the protests. One commentator declared that if the Muslim Brotherhood wins, then "elections are the end of the [democratic] process, not its beginning," while an anchorman for Channel Ten asked former Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer whether "the person who says to himself: 'How wonderful, at last the state of Egypt is a democracy,' is naïve?"

The Minister responded: "Allow me even to laugh. We wanted a democracy in Iran and in Gaza. The person who talks like this is ignoring the fact that for over a decade there has been a struggle of giants between the Sunni and Shia with tons of blood spilled. The person who talks about democracy does not live in the reality we live in."

Democratic Threat

Ben-Eliezer's response is telling, not least because it is well known that Israel supported the Shah regime in Iran and has not proven itself to be a particularly staunch supporter of Palestinian democracy. Democracy in the Middle East is, after all, conceived by this and prior Israeli governments as a threat to Israel's interests.

Dan Margalit, a well-known commentator, made this point clear when he explained that Israel does not disapprove of a democracy in the largest Arab country but simply privileges Israel's peace agreement with Egypt over internal Arab affairs.

Israel, one should note, is not alone in this self-serving approach; most western countries constantly lament the absence of democracy in the Arab world, while supporting the dictators and helping them remain in office. In English this kind of approach has a very clear name - it is called hypocrisy.

- Neve Gordon is the author of Israel's Occupation. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Visit: http://www.israelsoccupation.info. (This article first appeared in Al Jazeera.)

Source: http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16670

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Richardson, RRR defend fishermen, vendors, taxis

MARIGOT--Opposition party Rally, Responsibility, Success (Rassemblement Responsabilit� R�ussite (RRR)), headed by Territorial Councilman Alain Richardson, has come out in defence of St. Martin's small businesspersons, fishermen, market vendors and bus and taxi drivers and against the UP/UMP government's move to replace the professional tax.

The Territorial Council deliberated on the tax change on Thursday. The new system proposed is based on a dual mechanism (a licence tax and a levy of fixed assets).

Richardson said in a press release that this mechanism "favours greatly large companies that have for their operations large buildings and lands [...] and penalises greatly small and very small businesses," that represent close to 90 per cent of businesses in the Collectivit�.

RRR presented several amendments during Thursday's session that were "retained, validated and adopted" by the council.

These amendments will now permit market vendors to benefit from a general rebate of 50 per cent, thus preventing the penalisation of this profession. Vendors would have seen their tax more than double if government's initial text had been adopted, whereas their yearly tax for 2011 is now limited to 200 euros.

Taxi and bus drivers are to benefit from a total exemption (as with the Professional Tax), while under the government's proposed text they would have been seriously taxed.

A further amendment is that all new businesses are to benefit from a total exemption for the first year, an exemption of the levy on fixed assets for the second year and a 50-per-cent rebate in the third year. Under the government's proposed text they would have been fully taxed from the beginning, according to RRR.

The Collectivit� will collect a minimum amount of tax resources from the larger companies that, under the original proposal, would have seen their contributions substantially slashed.

The mechanism proposed by RRR now sets a minimum yearly contribution scale based on business size (level of yearly sales); this reintroduces more fiscal justice.

Richardson also tabled for RRR a tax-incentive modification for fishermen to aid by reducing fuel cost. He presented an amendment to the Gas Tax Law that would grant a total exemption from the government's fuel tax of six euro cents per litre for all registered fishermen.

The five-seat RRR sees its achievements for small business and defence of the Collectivit�'s financial interests as clear indications and proof of its effectiveness and commitment to serve the people and in line with the slogan, "Together, let's make it happen in 2011."

RRR "vehemently denounced" the fact that, over the Collectivit�'s four years of existence, the Council had been called to create, modify and adjust taxes, yet no substantial data, no simulations and no evaluation of the various scenarios had been presented or offered.

"This blind way of governing after four years of UP/UMP government is irresponsible and unacceptable," RRR said via Richardson. "How can the population have confidence in such a government? How can the tax payers understand and adhere when government cannot even evaluate the impact and justify its choices?"

The group said the government of President Frantz Gumbs was again bowing to the dictate of the French Tax Services in that, after imposing the suppression of the "Inhabitancy Tax" in 2009, was now doing the same with the Professional Tax behind fallacious excuses (of non-operational software to prepare assessments for 2011).

The group made it clear that, with the critical financial situation of the Collectivit�, this suppression of 10 million euros of assessed tax, for an average yearly collected amount of five million euros, would be a fatal blow for the finances and even the autonomy of the Collectivit�. It denounced this as "another violation" of the constitutional autonomy of the Collectivit� that President Gumbs had "not even protested against."

RRR said that any new tax structure or mechanism destined to replace the Professional Tax had to guarantee yearly at least the equivalent resources in tax collected as the Professional Tax as well as fiscal justice within the business community, and had to be an incentive for business creation, development and growth and not another hurdle to discourage anyone from getting involved in business.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/13980-richardson-rrr-defend-fishermen-vendors-taxis-.html

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BBC ends Spanish broadcasts for Latin America; major role in Falklands war

The service was launched in 1938 to counter Nazi propaganda The BBC has ended its radio broadcasts in Spanish for Latin America, 73 years after they first went on air. The service faced its greatest challenge during the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina in 1982.

Source: http://en.mercopress.com/2011/02/26/bbc-ends-spanish-broadcasts-for-latin-america-major-role-in-falklands-war?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=main&utm_campaign=rss

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Sarah says Pelican staff still employed

~ Entitled to salaries until dismissal request finalised ~

PHILIPSBURG--The Pelican Resort employees are still employed and are entitled to pay. That was the word last night from Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, who is also serving as Minister of Labour.

Wescot-Williams said in a press release last night that she had been working diligently on the Pelican Resort issue with respect to keeping abreast of what had been transpiring and by having government departments and entities carry out their responsibilities.

Her statement was made after almost a week of silence on the matter since the Pelican workers were given letters relieving them of their services last week Wednesday and had staged at least two protests at the resort, including a heated one on Saturday.

She said mediators Derrick Holiday and Kenneth Lopes "have handed in their assignment, which the Prime Minister considers that parties reached a deadlock.

"It was at this stage that I announced my intention to appoint an extraordinary mediator to again attempt to bring parties to an agreement. The day this announcement was made, it was also announced that the evening before parties had reached an agreement. Where that agreement stands at this time is known to all," Wescot-Williams pointed out.

Royal Resort Management on behalf of Pelican Resort Management Company has submitted a request for mass dismissal, she said.

"Let it be stated emphatically that until a ruling is given on the dismissal request, the employees are employed and entitled to pay, a 'lockout' notwithstanding. The dismissal request also needs to go according to procedures established by law and involves the scrutinising of the company's financial position to determine the justification of the request.

"And while on the topic of procedures, I need to also state that it is every politician's right to appear wherever they please and, of course, where emotions run high as is the case with the Pelican workers, there is always fertile ground for political posturing.

"In my case, more was achieved by making sure I was constantly briefed as to developments and that Labour Affairs from the Secretary General down was on the ball and they know that this entire matter is a grave concern for this government.

"We involved mediation when it was necessary; we allowed collective bargaining when that was taking place, which is the preferred way to go. And we were prepared to again mediate, via a mediator especially chosen for this case.

"An important aspect that has bearing on this case is the so-called 'pass-over of business' or 'take-over of business,' to make the term clearer. Our laws do not sufficiently go into this aspect, especially as far as employees are concerned. It is because of this fact that there are so many unclear issues surrounding who is responsible for the workers of Pelican Resort and as per when.

"A clear verdict on this is also important in connection with the dismissal request now before the relevant government department in connection with entitlements of the workers of Pelican Resort."

Wescot-Williams had said several weeks ago that with the labour legislation now completely in the hands of the government of country St. Maarten what needed to be amended, adapted and modernised to comply with international labour legislation trends could now be done.

"This process that started back in 2006 with the social partners needs to continue. I have instructed the Labour Affairs Department, however, with urgency to review the legislation and propose new legislation to deal with the matter of 'take-over of business,' thereby making it clear where the responsibilities lie for especially the workers when businesses are taken over, be it through sale or any other means.

"This is the discussion the Parliament of St. Maarten should be having, rather than individual members of Parliament giving workers false comfort and berating government in the process."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/13141-sarah-says-pelican-staff-still-employed-.html

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Saturday, February 26, 2011

Meyers: Conserve energy as crisis continues in Middle East, Africa

Says: 'cutback wherever possible'

PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Franklin Meyers says government is closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East and North Africa and the impact and influence that it will have on the world's economy in general and St. Maarten in particular.

Global oil prices have already spiked due to the situation in Libya. "Any spike in oil prices will cause ripple effects on our economic wellbeing and aggravate the already high cost of living on the island, Meyers said in the press release.

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is also following the unrest with interest because Libya had promised the organisation's members million of dollars in investments.

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Baldwin Spencer said the unrest has serious implications for the Caribbean. "We are still very much dependent on oil from the Middle East."

Meyers said residents should already start looking at ways and means to conserve energy by limiting unnecessary driving and/or by making use of car pooling and conserve energy at home.

The minister suggested that residents visit the website of utilities company GEBE for energy usage and conservation tips.

Jamaica state owned oil refinery Petrojam announced this week that Jamaican motorists will have to pay almost two Jamaican dollars more for a litre of gasoline. This is the fourth straight week of increases in the prices of gasoline in Jamaica.

This week, oil rallied more than US $100 a barrel in New York for the first time since October 2008, as Libya's uprising threatened to stop exports. Libya is Africa's third-biggest crude supplier. There is global concern that surging fuel prices will impact the global economic recovery.

Food prices around the world surged to a new historic peak in January, for the seventh consecutive month, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), adding that the prices are not likely to decline in the months ahead.

The latest Food Price Index, a commodity basket that tracks monthly changes in global food prices, averaged 231 points in January and was up 3.4 per cent from December last year, the highest level since the agency started measuring food prices in 1990.

According to FAO, the upward pressure on world food prices is not abating and is a major concern especially for low-income food deficit countries that may face problems in financing food imports and for poor households which spend a large share of their income on food.

"Government will carry out the necessary price controls and do whatever is in its power to minimise any adverse effects the ongoing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa will indirectly have on our economy," Meyers said.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/14173-meyers-conserve-energy-as-crisis-continues-in-middle-east-africa-.html

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Jbeil MP affiliated with the FPM Simon Abi-Ramia: "Our Priority: Combating Corruption"

Recent interview with Monday Morning. Will the new government take long to be formed? I think that Prime Ministerdesignate Najib Mikati is waiting for an answer from the forces of the new opposition, namely the March 14 forces, and I think this will not take much time.Do you expect the participation of the former majority in the new cabinet, and how do you interpret its preparations to mark thefifth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005?In my opinion, the March 14 forces do not exist anymore. In 2005, they united with the Free Patriotic Movement and Walid Jumblatt?s bloc. In fact, the expression ?March 14 forces?, is no longer valid since their movement is seen to be fragmented into many currents. In fact, they no longer form a homogeneous bloc.As to their marking of February 14, day, it is a traditional annual gathering. We will note there the absence of the Jumblattist group, and I only hope that this gathering will not be followed by a day of anger similar to that which took place recently in Tripoli and in other cities or regions where there was violence.No to any vindictive ideas How do you conceive the priorities of the new cabinet?The political scenery has changed after the departure of the Hariri government and the political dissensions concerning the indictment to be issued be the Special Tribunal for Lebanon [STL]. The first duty of the new cabinet will be to take a position towards this issue in a wise and intelligence way. We in the Free Patriotic Movement are concerned with finalizing this dossier.Combating corruption and the expropriation of public funds will figure at the top of our priorities. Then, we intend to form a cabinet of action farremoved from any notion of taking revenge.PRIORITY TO THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUESCan we conclude from your words that the new ministerial team will get down to studying the dossiers pertaining to the daily life of the citizens?The exclusion of the factions which dominated the national scene will enable us to speed up the study of these issues and find appropriate solutions for them.How do you explain this change in the positions of some MPs which brought in Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati?Prime Minister Saad Hariri made big mistakes because of his incapacity of clearly reading the changes which took place in the local and regional situation, wagering more on his relationships and the assistance of foreign powers.The Future Movement is now called to make a re-evalution of this new stage in order to participate with the other national parties in the political decisions. On the personal level, our relations are solid with Prime Minister Hariri and his work team, and General Michel Aoun has said that he has for him a paternal affection.But there is a difference between this paternal view and his management of national affairs, which did not succeed.Has the popularity of the FPM leader, General Michel Aoun, increased or not after the latest political developments?All the Christian leaderships affiliated with the Future Movement labor under an obsession with General Aoun, whose option triumphed over those of all the other political forces. They should therefore recognize this fact so as to be able to build together a prosperous future. Any Lebanese observer, especially a Christian observer, can notice in which way the Arab regimes have lost ground by having taken the side of the opposed [March 14] camp, in addition to the fall of this camp in Lebanon on the constitutional and democratic levels. All those who are endowed with a capacity for analysis can understand the intelligent strategy of General Aoun.FOR A REVISION OF THE TAEF AGREEMENT?Is there any tendency inside the FPM in favor of the revision of the Taef Agreement?We are witnessing a crisis of reigme resulting from many factors, some of a political nature, others of a confessional and sectarian kind.Lebanon needs a reforming group representing all the representative forces in the country, without any external interference, to reform our system in a way to make it conform to the modern developments of our time.All the parties should show an availability to elaborate the new political and social contract.What is your vision of the next stage?The next stage will be marked by a period of shortlived tensions, which will be followed quickly, by a stage of political stability, economic prosperity and social justice.Will the March 14 forces participate in the new cabinet? In fact, if they are not represented, the drafting of the new cabinet?s policy statement will not take much time. And how about the indictment of the STL and its timing?We cannot give our opinion on the timing of its publication, but what the former [opposition accomplished, had as an objective was to banish the specter of sectarian conflict from Lebanon. We will deal with this issue on the basis of these constants.How do you assess the relations between President Michel Sleiman and General Aoun?Our wish is that the head of state will remain at an equal distance from all the political forces and consequently, to remain a consensual president. This requires him to shun any idea based on the principle of the political rivalry among the various forces on the Lebanese scene.The rival camp says that Prime Minister-designate Mikati is your candidate. How do you reply?The opposition opted for the candidacy of Prime Minister Mikati on the basis of his attachment to two principles, namely the protection of the Resistance and his commitment to undertake reforms in all the economic and social dossiers.And how about the STL?We should act in order to spare Lebanon the negative repercussions of the international tribunal, especially since it bases its action on ?politicization?, in order to annihilate the Resistance in Lebanon. I should point out here that we will not demand from Prime Minister Mikati more that what Prime Minister Hariri promised during his negotiations with the Syrians, Saudis, Turks and Qataris. The clauses of the compromises are known by everybody, and what Prime Minister Hairir was ready to do, Prime Minister Mikati is also ready to do.What is your analysis of the events in Egypt?I think that the domino system of which America talked when it invaded Iraq is taking an opposite turn. The Americans dreamed of establishing regimes allied with them, and we see demonstrations take place in the Arab countries against foreign interference in their affairs. Also, the rival [March 14] Lebanese party lost an influential ally in the collapse to the Egyptian regime.

Source: http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/News/PoliticalNews/en-US/129425751348726980.htm

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Ministers, CFT meet today on 2011 budget

PHILIPSBURG--Members of the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT are in St. Maarten to discuss the amendments to the 2011 budget with the Council of Ministers, in particular with Finance Minister Hiro Shigemoto. Meetings will take place today, Thursday.

The Council of Ministers approved a list of cuts and other measures to bring the budget in line with CFT recommendations, and other adjustments were deemed necessary after technical discussions between the Finance Department and CFT technocrats.

The changes took into consideration the CFT letter issued in January, which estimated the budget deficit to be NAf. 30 million.

An additional NAf. 15 million was added to this deficit due to the agreement signed with Windward Islands Civil Servants Union/Private Sector Union (WICSU/PSU) and General Union for Government Personnel ABVO to pay civil servants, teachers and staff of the subsidised school boards a 3.3 per cent cost-of-living adjustment in July, retroactive to January 1.

In addition, NAf. 16 million in cost was added as adjustments that would have been corrected by means of a budget amendment later this year. However, Shigemoto said it had been decided to include them now.

The proposed solutions to cover the total deficit, including the additional cost, total NAf. 61 million.

Cost-cutting measures totalling NAf. 14.4 million will be taken across the seven ministries. These measures were discussed and jointly decided on with the Secretaries-General.

National Alliance (NA) leader Parliamentarian William Marlin said on Radio Soualiga on Wednesday that Parliament was yet to see the changes to the budget. He said a copy should have been sent to Members of Parliament at the same time as to CFT.

Minister Shigemoto had said last week that government wanted CFT to give its advice on the budget adjustments before sending them to the Advisory Council and Parliament. This approach has been taken to save time and ensure that government does not have to go through another round of debate in Parliament to discover later that the CFT does not agree with the budget as presented, the minister said.

The Consensus Kingdom Law on Financial Supervision for Cura�ao and St. Maarten stipulates that the budgets have to be established, but it does not stipulate by what entity. Hence, St. Maarten's budget can also be established by the Council of Ministers, Shigemoto said.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/14072-ministers-cft-meet-today-on-2011-budget.html

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Police investigate assault on guard

SIMPSON BAY--A security guard from a well-known security company was working in the Simpson Bay area last week when he had occasion to stop and check a person who was entering the building. The man was in plain clothes and showed no indication that he was in fact "special."

After a quick check it was established that the man was allowed into the building to collect his child from some class that had been taking place. The man collected his child and took the child to his car. He then returned to the security guard and told him to remember his face. He was quite threatening and took offence at being questioned as to his purpose and authority to enter the premises.

The guard was charged with ensuring that only parents and persons with the credentials to do so entered the building, for the safety of the children, one of whom was his.

A couple of days later the guard was again at his place of work when four persons, one a woman, approached him. All four were wearing police uniforms and they reportedly punched the guard in the stomach, bundled him into a car and gave him some rough treatment. As he was being released the child's father told him, "You will remember my face now, won't you?"

When asked about the incident police spokesman Inspector Ricardo Henson neither confirmed nor denied the details of the story on Friday. He told The Daily Herald: "An investigation is currently underway by the Internal Affairs Department and I can say nothing more about the matter at this stage."

The owner of the security company, who did not want to be identified, said, "I am very sad that this information got out. I have spoken to the police and as far as I am concerned this should stay as an internal matter for the police to deal with. There is too much negative news at this time and I believe that the police will deal with this issue in the proper way. I have not gone to the Prosecutor's Office with this matter because I have faith that the police themselves will deal with the situation."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/13321-police-investigate-assault-on-guard-.html

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Friday, February 25, 2011

Bahrain hit by F1 race cancellation

Bahrain on Monday was hit as organizers said the season-opening Formula One race in the kingdom has been called off because of anti-government protests. Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa stated the country must "focus on immediate issues of national interest and leave the hosting of Bahrain's Formula One race to a later date."

The race was to be run March 13.

Earlier, Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone held talks with the crown prince of Bahrain over whether next month's race will go ahead. 

 

Bahrain protest
� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/bahrain-hit-f1-race-cancellation

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Blue Coat 2011 Web Security report reveals that a single click can open door to Cybercrime

Blue Coat Systems, a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today unveiled the 2011 Blue Coat Web Security Report that examines Web behavior and the malware to which users are most frequently exposed. The report analyzes Web requests from the Blue Coat WebPulse service, which weekly rates nearly three billion requests in real-time, to provide a comprehensive overview of the changing ways in which people are using the Internet and the new methods cybercrime is using to target their attacks.  

Nigel Hawthorn, VP EMEA Marketing at Blue Coat Systems
� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/blue-coat-2011-web-security-report-reveals-single-click-can-open-door-cybercrime

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