Buckie Got It : St Kitts and Nevis News

International news, News

Cruise Ship Cancels Tours in St Vincent After Slaughter of Killer Whales in Full View of Visitors

Published April 5, 2017

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, Thursday April 5 2017 – On the heels of horrified tourists witnessing the killing of two orcas in Vincentian waters, a cruise ship has taken strong action in protest of the age old tradition.

TUI Discovery stopped short of pulling out of the destination, but has cancelled all its whale and dolphin watching tours, iWitness News has reported.

In a grim account, crew member on one of the two Fantasea tours on a whale and dolphin excursion, Ken Issacs, told the online news site that the delight of the rare sighting of a pod of four orcas, also known as killer whales, turned into a bloody tragedy as whalers slaughtered two of the huge sea creatures just off the Leeward coast.

He said the whaling boat, a pirogue with a modified shotgun with a harpoon mounted on the bow, carried three fishermen.

As he realized that the men were taking aim at an orca, he shouted to them to leave it alone, but was immediately dismissed.

A persistent Issacs then instructed the captain of the boat to go over to where the large killer whale was, but as they turned away the fishermen shot the first orca.

Issacs recounted hearing a loud explosion as the spear hit the killer whale.

He said guests were visibly shaken and many were crying, even as they returned to shore in Kingstown.

Issacs, who was angered by the incident, lamented that while whaling remains a legal practice in St Vincent, there was nothing traditional about people in speedboats using spear guns to kill whales.

He urged the government to ban whaling and instead develop a commercial market for whale watching.

Business, International news, News, Travel

LIAT Workers Getting Paid But No Promise Salaries Won’t Be Late Again

Published April 5, 2017

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Wednesday April 5, 2017 – Industrial action by employees of regional airlines LIAT seems to have been averted – for now.

Chairman of the shareholder governments, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, yesterday evening announced that the latest sore point – the issue of late pay – has been resolved, if only for the time being.

The shareholder governments summoned an urgent meeting yesterday after tensions flared over the weekend after salaries were late. But Gonsalves emerged from the meeting with staff, management, the unions and shareholders at the Hilton Barbados Resort to announce that given the tone of the of the meeting, he would “be very surprised if any form of industrial action was pursued by various unions representing the staff.

“I think that instructions have gone to the bank for the payments, so depends on which bank you are in, some persons would get paid tomorrow [Wednesday] or the next day,” he told the media.

However, trouble could still be lurking, with the Vincentian leader suggesting that there was no guarantee that the airline would not be late with salaries again soon.

“The management is not saying that they would be in a position on each occasion over the next three months to pay precisely on time; there may be a couple of days deferral,” Gonsalves said.

Gonsalves said the issue of salaries was an important one, but there were “several practical questions” that needed to be addressed, “which are of concern to the staff and the travelling public by extension, that we hope immediately to be addressed over the medium term”.

The prime minister also revealed that plans had been drafted for the establishment of a technical committee to formulate a medium term development plan for the struggling airline.

‘What we decided on the way forward is that I would liaise with the president of the Caribbean Development Bank [CDB], who would name someone to draw up terms of reference for a technical committee to study a series of issue affecting operations of LIAT. This would be fed into a task force appointed by the shareholders and that task force would hold consultations with all of the relevant stakeholders . . . . Hopefully we can put together these committees in the week after Easter Monday and there is an outside time of three months for all of this technical and consultative work to be done and the report to be presented to the shareholders,” the Vincentian leader said.

In the meantime, Gonsalves assured that the LIAT management would not be resting on their laurels while the consultative work was being completed, as they have a number of issues pertaining to flight operations and the company’s day-to-day operations to address.

In a press release issued on Sunday LIALPA, possible the most militant of the unions, had called on the shareholder governments to dismiss the airline’s management.

Gonsalves did not address this matter in any detail, limiting his comments to an acknowledgement that those concerns were raised “in robust language”.

“The employees raised a number of issues relating to decisions, which, if the employees are correct about those matters, they would require immediate corrective action,” he said.

Crime/Justice, Local news, News

Senior Officers Slated To Undergo Advanced Security Screening Using Most Recent Technology Available

https://zizonline.com/senior-officers-slated-to-undergo-advanced-security-screening-using-most-recent-technology-available/ #

Published April 5, 2017

(RSCNPF): As the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force continues the transformation into a modern day Police Service; one built on integrity and service delivery, new policies and protocols are being put in place to ensure both.

One such new protocol is the introduction of Polygraph Technology in the recruiting and selection process. Over the last months, all recruits in “Training Class 41” were screened using Polygraph Technology.

Commencing this week, all Senior Officers of the Police Service will also undergo Advanced Security Screening. The screening of Senior Officers was first announced by Commissioner of Police Mr. Ian M. Queeley in January at his New Year’s Lecture to the Police Service.

Commissioner Queeley said, “as we continue to look at criminal activity both within and outside of our borders, in order for us to be most effective we must operate in an environment of continued trust.” He added, “our country expects the highest standards of integrity in those we entrust with the security of our nation and so, as Commissioner, I have decided that there is no more a transparent way than to employ the most advanced security screening for our officers. Starting this week we will screen all of the Senior Officers, and then begin to screen all other Officers within Police Service.

Every Officer will be screened to ensure continued suitability for their current and future assignments within the Police Service.

The Commissioner stated, “we will employ a mix of advanced screening protocols, which are in line with best practices internationally. Our officers will be screened using the most advanced system called EyeDetect.” In addition, “Officers will also undergo a detailed Forensic Polygraph Examination and a Psychometric assessment to ascertain mental suitability.”

Commissioner Queeley noted, “once we embark on this initiative, the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force would be one of the few Police Services in the region to complete such detail security screenings on its officers. We know this will help to maintain integrity in our ranks, and continued community confidence in the Police Service.”

Horoscope

Thought of the day

April 4, 2017

Buckie Got It……Good morning my dear families and friends I hope that we all had a good night’s rest.

The thought for today says
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

I have strength for all things in Christ the One strengthening me.
Philippians 4:13 (LITV). Have a blessed Wednesday.
Today’s Tip

There are three types of people in this world. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen, and those that wonder what happened.

News, Regional News, Travel

LIAT in fresh dispute with workers

Published: 4 April 2017

A meeting will be held here Tuesday to discuss how to get out of the latest problem facing the struggling regional carrier, LIAT, which is embroiled in a salary dispute with staff.

The airline’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Julie Reifer-Jones said the shareholder governments had agreed to intervene in the carrier’s latest disagreement with workers and will meet Tuesday to determine how to avert industrial action.

The unions representing the workers have rejected the company’s plan to pay salaries late because of its financial woes. The unions have also threatened to take action if the airline proceeded with the deferrals.

In a press release issued on Sunday, the pilots’ union, the Leeward Islands Airline Pilots Association (LIALPA) went a step further, saying it “will not stand by and watch the airline’s financial health continue to deteriorate at massive levels, to the point where LIAT can’t even pay salaries on time”.

It also called on the shareholder governments to sack the management.

“LIAT management refuses to accept responsibility for the sad state of the airline’s affairs, and instead is focusing on making the crew the scapegoats. The travelling public deserves to know the truth: The current management at LIAT is not capable of running the airline at this critical time. Their track record speaks for itself,” LIALPA said in the release.

The union also strongly denied claims that delays in service experience over the weekend were due to industrial action by the pilots.

“This has nothing to do with LIALPA and we are not involved at all. As a matter of fact, we continue to pledge to the Caribbean people that we are currently going above and beyond the call of duty to get the airline running at optimal levels, even to the extent of not having meal breaks and working 11 hour shifts. We have already worked almost an extra week without pay. However, this is not sustainable,” the release stated.