The Liming House

Good to see you again. Glad you enjoy the Limes.

In response to my indictment of the ‘charitable’ efforts of Virgin Atlantic and the Travel Foundation to turn a generation of young people in the Caribbean into fisherfolk and bee-keepers, a Virgin representative posted the following in the comments:

The Travel Foundation and Virgin Atlantic were concerned to read your comments on our work together in the Caribbean. We believe that the projects will bring huge benefits and stimulate entrepreneurship along with addressing pressing environmental issues. Here is further information which should allay any concerns and provide more information.
You are correct in saying that tourism is key to the region’s economy. In 2008, travel and tourism provided over 2.1m jobs and 15% of the region’s GDP but there is an opportunity to spread the benefits tourism brings further.
There are significant issues with youth unemployment in the Caribbean with as many as 30% of 20-24 year olds out of work.
The projects that we have chosen to develop may seem small, but they are very significant. They link to the globally-important environmental issues of waste management, fish and bee conservation – issues that are vital to food security.
By creating new, small-scale, local business opportunities many of the skills learned can be applied to any business which gives young people independence and choice.
These initiatives will offer choice, new opportunities and new skills for entrepreneurship with the aim that this will create new jobs and opportunities for income generation.

To which I have this to say:

I did not say that tourism is key to the region’s economy. In fact, most of the islands are attempting to diversify away from a dependency on tourism, particularly in light of the ongoing global financial crisis.

You – Virgin and the Travel Foundation – are talking your book. Tourism in the Caribbean is to your benefit.

Your projects are not merely small; they are insulting. The Caribbean’s youth are educated, technically savvy, computer-literate, driven and ambitious. But you think ’small scale’ fish farming is more important than developing financial services, media, advertising, marketing, manufacturing…

Pardon me if I don’t buy into your argument that relying on the fickle tastes of British tourists gives my peers “independence and choice”.

Your pitch might work on someone who has not grown up in the region, who has no idea of the scale and speed of the development in the Caribbean, someone whose idea of these islands is ’sun, sea, sand and subservience.’ I am not that person. You, however, quite obviously are.

Dear Trinidadian media: the Haitian earthquake is the biggest and most important Caribbean story, bar none, of the moment and the year to date.

What, exactly, is your excuse for your utter inability to update your sites to reflect this state of affairs, per the following screenshots (taken at approximately 8.55pm Trinidad time):

Screenshot of the Express front page at 8.55pm on Tuesday Jan 12

Screenshot of the Guardian Online's front page at 8.55pm on Tuesday Jan 12

Screenshot of the Newsday's website front page at 8.55pm on Tuesday Jan 12

Poor.

Short note from rating agency Standard & Poor’s on Republic Bank (highlighting mine):

S&P: Republic Bank Ltd. Counterparty Credit Ratings Affirmed At ‘BBB-/A-3′ With Stable Outlook

* The bank’s financial performance has been stable through a period of tough economic conditions in the Caribbean region.
* We are affirming the ‘BBB-/A-3′ counterparty credit ratings on RBL.
* The stable outlook reflects the bank’s likely maintenance of its financial profile in 2009 and 2010.
* A downgrade could result from rising nonperforming assets or falling profits, or an upgrade could result from a curtailing of further nonperformers.

MEXICO CITY Oct. 2, 2009–Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that it affirmed its ‘BBB-/A-3′ counterparty credit ratings on Republic Bank Ltd. (RBL). The outlook is stable.

“Our ratings on RBL are based on RBL’s leading market position in Trinidad and Tobago, stable financial performance, and geographic diversification in the Caribbean,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Alfonso Novelo. “However, we believe that strain on the quality of assets through 2010 will pressure profits, the balance sheet relies on short-term funding, and the bank faces strong competition in the region.“

Unidentified female X, in comment on facebook picture of self looking v tan:

oh gosh…i need to stay out of the sun!

Unidentified female Y, in response:

yuh lookin BLACK

Unidentified female X:

I know. This is terrible…definitely not the shade I want to be!!! I love being fair!!

Indeed.

A friend forwarded me the following Guardian story, which was published on Friday with the sensational headline:

Trinis drink more alcohol than water—Hospedales

In a word, awful. In two words, bloody awful. Any more words and this post will no longer be fit for children.

But as I am of late attempting to be constructive as well as merely scathing, behold the thinking behind my righteous indignation:

T&T is ranked as the 98th among countries with the highest consumption of alcohol.

This is a non-statement. It tells one nothing. Worse, it doesn’t actually make any sense. What are these countries with the highest consumption of alcohol, pray tell? And how many of them are there? Or did the hapless reporter, Richard Lord, mean to say:

Measured in litres of pure alcohol consumed by its citizens in a given year, Trinidad and Tobago ranks 98th globally, Alicia Hospedales, Minister of State in the Social Development Ministry, said during Wednesday’s debate…

Onward:

She said that information was provided by the World health Organisation (WHO).

Did she, Richard Lord? Did she really mean that someone from the WHO handed her a report on the matter? Perhaps. Rather more likely, Ms Hospedales or one of her staff – unlike say, Richard Lord – did a cursory Google search and happened on this handy Wikipedia-provided, WHO-sourced list of countries ranked by alcohol consumption.

Onward:

Hospedales said the Government’s decision to increase taxes on alcohol and tobacco products was a good one as it is intended to act as a deterrent to users of those products. Responding to claims from Opposition MPs Ramesh Maharaj, Dr Roodal Moonilal and Chandresh Sharma that the initiative was not likely to succeed, Hospedales said she begged to differ. She said the measure would be successful.

SIGH. There is no evidence in this story of either fact checking or even the most cursory editing, so I shall provide some:

Hospedales said the Government’s decision to increases taxes on alcohol and on tobacco based products as part of its 2010 budget proposals was intended to act as a deterrent to users of those products. Higher taxes tend to be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices,  which may lead to reduced demand for the more expensive goods.

Hospedales disagreed with Opposition MPs Ramesh Maharaj, Dr Roodal Moonilal and Chandresh Sharma, who claimed the initiative was not likely to succeed.

And again:

The minister said T&T had been ranked among the countries with the highest number of Alcoholics Anonymous groups per capita in the world.

She said from statistics it seemed that citizens of this country were drinking more alcohol than water.

Gobsmackingly awful, but *thinking constructive thoughts*:

The minister said T&T also ranked (is this true? And if so, where? would have to ACTUALLY DO SOME REPORTING) among those countries with the highest number of Alcoholics Anonymous groups per capita.

On that point, there’s only one study floating around on the interwebs as regards “AA groups per capita” – it dates back to 1991 and posits, among other things:

the highest ratio of A.A. groups in 1991 was in Iceland (784 groups/million people), which has among the lowest levels of alcohol consumption in Europe, while the lowest A.A. group ratio in 1991 was in Portugal (.6 groups/million people), which has among the highest levels of consumption.

Which is interesting, given what Hospedales apparently said next (according to Richard Lord, anyway):

She added that it was a strong indicator that alcohol use and abuse “was a major problem in T&T.”

The study noted above implies exactly the opposite. Ah well.

As for this:

She said from statistics it seemed that citizens of this country were drinking more alcohol than water

I demand to see those statistics, unless she was making a glib generalisation. In which case, WHY THE HELL DIDN’T THE REPORTER MAKE THAT CLEAR? Oh, right. Because it makes a sexy headline. *dies*

And so it ends:

Hospedales said the use of alcohol had caused a myriad of problems for individuals, families and the society as a whole. She quoted statistics which showed that in T&T “66 per cent of highway deaths was due to alcohol use, 63 per cent of fire deaths, 60 per cent of motor cycle deaths, 50 per cent pedestrian accidents, 50 per cent of drownings have all been due to alcohol consumption.”

And I edit, because someone should have:

Hospedales said alcohol had caused myriad problems for individuals, families and the society as a whole. She cited statistics [FROM? BECAUSE THIS IS QUITE CONTENTIOUS] which suggest that in T&T, 66 per cent of highway deaths were due to alcohol use. According to Hospedales, 63 per cent of fire deaths, 60 per cent of motor cycle deaths, 50 per cent of pedestrian accidents and 50 per cent of drownings have all been due to alcohol consumption.

For shame.