BEST WEEK EVER

VINCENTIAN CRICKETER Gidron Pope is taking the Vincy flag east, with his recent selection for the Bangladesh Premier League – slated to play for the Rangpur Riders – which could see him earning anywhere from US$30,000 to $70,000.

Pope joins 13 other West Indian players selected for the BPL, which runs from November 4 until December 9. The left-hander’s cricketing skills also came under the limelight in February this year, with him being one of the top performers for the West Indies Under-19 team, who won the ICC World Cup for the first time in the history of the competition.{{more}}

NO ONE COULD BE HAPPIER and more relieved than operator of Cobblestone Inn Hotel Ann Joshua.

The businesswoman, who has been operating the hotel for the last 30 years, had been served with a ‘Notice to Quit’ on July 12, 2016, by a lawyer for National Properties Limited (NPL). She was given until September 30, 2016 to hand over the premises, after Government had decided that in the interest of transparency and proper development of the property, there should be an open tendering process for the hotel. The property owners advertised, but at the end of the process, no one, not even Joshua, responded to the invitation to express interest!

So, Joshua is now the holder of a brand new five-year lease for the hotel. Whew, what a relief!

ONCE THE ‘TOAST OF THE TOWN’ for bringing much needed investment and tourism opportunities to St Vincent and the Grenadines, Harlequin Group chair Dave Ames has pretty much fallen from grace.

Last week, insolvency proceed- ings began for Harlequin Property SVG. This comes after Ames was earlier this year slapped with charges relating to theft and tax evasion, and subsequently issued a warrant for failing to turn up to court to answer these charges.

A local insolvency practitioner has been appointed to come up with a proposal that will both help rescue Harlequin Property SVG and repay the company’s creditors. However, if the proposal is unable to be reached or is rejected, Ames’s company will enter into liquidation.

With the looming threat of a third bankruptcy and mounting legal woes throughout the region and back in the UK, 2016 hasn’t been kind to the British business- man… and quite frankly, 2017 isn’t looking any better.

AFTER FALSELY representing himself as several persons in an effort to defraud the United States Embassy in Barbados, chair of the Carnival Bands Association (CBA) Hugh Ragguette of Stoney Ground, Kingstown, found out that crime does not pay when he was slapped with four charges of fraud. Ragguette initially pleaded not guilty, but later changed his plea to guilty. Ragguette’s matter was adjourned and a date for sentencing was set for Wednesday, October 13, 2016, when he will return to the Serious Offences Court to find out if his week will be upgraded to the Worst Week Ever.

…I’d ask when something is going to be done about the steadily increasing numbers of cart men recklessly weaving in and out of busy traffic in the streets of Kingstown. Not only are they road hazards, but they’re also verbally abusive when confronted by drivers. The way I see it, the authorities have two options: prohibit cart men from operating entirely, OR subject them to road taxes, licence fees etc, just like drivers.

Media Watch

Increasing numbers of women have been making up the workforce within the media industry over the past decade – which is great. However, what’s not so great is the fact that at press conferences and other such events, men still seem to dominate the Q&A segment. Apart from SVG TV’s Sheron Garraway, female media members tend to remain silent; and even when they do venture to speak, it’s hardly ever a hard-hitting question. Why is this?