Article by Sheria Brathwaite
Attorney General and parliamentary representative for St Joseph, Dale Marshall, in conversation with Prime Minister Mia Mottley at the opening of the St Joseph Outpatient Clinic. (Picture by Reco Moore) Social Share
The St Joseph Outpatient Clinic in Horse Hill was reopened earlier today after being closed on March 18, 2020.
During the opening ceremony, Minister of Health Jeffrey Bostic said the facility was in dire need of repairs for years before its closure.
Bostic said he had a commitment to make healthcare services more accessible to people in rural parts of the island, which was also a campaign promise of the current administration.
May 4, 2021
On this World Press Freedom Day 2021 and as we reflect on the theme Access to Information as a Public Good, I thought it instructive to share with the public – particularly media workers – insights into a 2008 draft Freedom of Information Bill, which after 13 years remains mere words on paper.
That bill was introduced by the former Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Government of late Prime Minister David Thompson and when he died on October 23, 2010, the proposed legislation continued to make the rounds within the public service under his successor, Freundel Stuart.
All indications suggest that Thompson may have had a special interest in ensuring that a Freedom of Information Bill became law in an expeditious manner to the extent that the processes involving it were managed by his office.
Retired Judge says Inniss got the ‘light end of the stick’
Article by April 28, 2021
A retired High Court Judge in Barbados is describing the 24-month sentence of former Cabinet Minister Donville Inniss on fraud and money laundering charges as a light escape.
Justice Christopher Blackman, who is also a retired Appeals Court Judge, was this evening responding to the verdict which was handed down to Inniss by Judge Kiyo Matsumoto today in the Eastern District Court of New York.
“In all the circumstances, the sentence was not excessive. Anything more than that might have been heavy-handed. He has come off at the light end of the stick,” Justice Blackman told
Statement from Attorney General Dale Marshall regarding the news of Donville Inniss’ sentencing.
“I don’t think that I can usefully comment on the outcome of the criminal proceedings brought against Mr. Inniss. The imposition of the penalty, as in our own judicial. System, is entirely a matter for the US courts.
That court heard the charges, presided over the case and listened to the mitigation. It is the only body that could make a determination of the appropriate penalty. I can only say that it now brings to an end this sad episode in Barbadian history, and there are important lessons to be learned by persons in and out of public life.”
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A first attempt to extend the state of emergency failed yesterday after Leader of the Opposition Bishop Joseph Atherley challenged whether the vote was valid.
While it was passed on the second try, Atherley said he was not convinced even that was right as the entire process should have been done over after the first time was wrong.
It was his initial query that prompted a five-minute suspension of the House of Assembly and sent Speaker Arthur Holder into consultation with Deputy Clerk of Parliament Nigel Jones on the matter.
Upon resumption of the sitting, Holder conceded that the vote was indeed invalid as Atherley stated and at the proposal of Attorney General Dale Marshall, recommitted the resolution, which was then passed in a vote by a majority of the members.