www.haitiantimes.com

It is a known fact that the price of gas has skyrocketed across the world in the last few months. The problems are many. Social turmoil in Venezuela, the now eminent war with Iraq, are some of the reasons for this spike. In the United States, the average price of regular unleaded is now roughly $1.75, up from $1.45 a few months ago. But in Haiti, the price increase has been dramatic. It rose some 75 percent. That, naturally, has created unrest in a country already mired in social and political impasse. The reason that the price went up so much in Haiti as opposed to other countries is that the Haitian government had lifted subsidies on the price of gas. All other governments subsidize the price of gas to allow industries a competitive edge. But in Haiti, the subsidies have been legendary for their amount.

Some of the amortization started to weigh under the René Préval administration but the former president refused to do so for political reasons. Préval, who was governing under an executive decree after dissolving Parliament, knew the political backlash would be too great if he eased up on the gas subsidies even as the price of gasoline was increasing worldwide. Now his “twin” Jean-Bertrand Aristide has to deal with the decision.

Facing financial woes, Aristide lifted the subsidies in one fell swoop, sending the country’s already wobbling economy into a tizzy. While we believe the increase was inevitable, Aristide should have administered the remedy in more palatable doses. Furthermore,this sort of decision should be explained to the public so that they can understand the situation. Remaining silent during such a crisis is not the right way to govern, particularly from an administration where transparency is at the core of its platform. We’ve seen this over and over where the leadership does not communicate with people.

Democracy demands that a leader talks to its people and make sure that they understand, at each step, what’s going on, specially during a time of crisis. While this administration is adept at creating crisis, it falters every time in managing it properly.

www.thenassauguardian.com By LISA ALBURY Guardian Business Reporter lisa@nasguard.com

Drivers say that failure to cap gasoline prices would be "murder of the taxi cab industry."

The industry, which is a major buyer of gasoline, spends millions of dollars with gas retailers.

Calling on Government to properly regulate prices, president of the Taxi Cab Union, Leon Griffin said something needs to done to keep gas prices level.

However, as of Saturday, the price of gasoline and diesel at the various stations throughout The Bahamas increased.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry, announced that lead free gasoline at Shell Bahamas Ltd. increased by 22 cents from $2.97 to $3.19 and diesel oil increased by 24 cents from $2.03 to $2.24.

At Esso Standard Oil, lead free gasoline, its 93 Octane, increased by 27 cents from $2.92 to $3.19, while lead free gasoline, its 91 Octane, increased by 17 cents from $2.98 to $3.15.

Texaco Bahamas Ltd. lead free gasoline, its 91 Octane, increased by 21 cents from $2.98 to $3.19 cents, while diesel oil increased by 38 cents from $2.03 to $2.41.

The price of gas and diesel in Freeport, Grand Bahama also increased. Diesel oil increased by 13 cents, from $2.32 to $2.45. And on Wednesday, March 19, lead free gasoline (93 Octane) will increase by 10 cents, from $2.90 to $3.00. Lead free gasoline (87 Octane) will increase by 16 cents, from $2.84 to $3.00

"Should price hikes continue, some drivers may just park their vehicles," Mr. Griffin told The Guardian. "Others may decide to call it quits altogether."

According to the standard flat rate regulated by the Road Traffic Department, the fare for passengers travelling from Paradise Island to the Airport is $28 for two passengers and $3 extra for each additional passenger. There is also leeway for cab drivers to charge passengers for luggage.

Charges for meter fares start at $3 with $0.40 charged for every quarter mile travelled. No matter whether passengers travel at the flat rate or meter rate, drivers are permitted to charge any price agreed upon with passengers.

Mr. Griffin said he is not certain whether the price of gasoline is reflected in the amount of money charged to passengers because the rates or fares are controlled by the Road Traffic Department.

While he believes oil companies are not to blame, because gasoline is not made in the country, the president said their profit margin is contracting, mainly due to high taxes Government charged to bring the product into the country.

"I believe that if the Government was to go down on the taxes they charge oil companies and suppliers it would help," he said. "Then these savings could be passed on to the consumers who are the ones really being affected by the high prices."

The Bahamas Electricity Corporation is blaming higher fuel costs for an increased surcharge in consumer billing.

It is estimated the cost of a gallon of gas plus delivery to The Bahamas is about $1.15. Oil companies or gas suppliers reportedly make $0.40 per gallon; gas stations about $0.50 per gallon, bringing the total supplier and retailer margin to approximately $0.90 per gallon.

Some say gasoline mark-up far exceeds the average of other countries, and should be controlled by aggressive price competition or some type of regulation by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Just as taxi drivers now have to be cautious in their spending of gasoline to continue their business, other Bahamians are being urged to be prudent in spending.

With the United States preparing to go to war with oil-rich Iraq, the cost of living in The Bahamas is expected to surge over the next six months.

A main component in the possible price increase of gasoline is an unexpectedly long oil strike in Venezuela, which normally accounts for about 14 per cent of U.S. imports.

During the latter part of 2002, the U.S. Energy Department said it would lend crude from the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve to U.S. oil companies whose refineries were suffering a shortage of supplies from Venezuela.

The OPEC nation exported almost 2.7 million barrels per day and supplied around 14 per cent of U.S. daily oil imports before the strike.

Iraq sits on the world's second-largest oil reserves, at least 112 billion barrels worth.

Caption:TAXI BUSINESS - Taxis, left, line up at the British Colonial Hilton for fares, as the Government announces hikes in gas prices over the weekend. (Staff photo by Patrick Hanna)

Posted Monday March, 2003

Sunday www.barbadosadvocate.com Mar 16 2003 Web Posted - Sun Mar 16 2003

No, I don’t think that America actually tried to conquer her empire. She (empires are female) was only given, or over-ran, or poxed or measled, huge and fertile and ore-laden acres inhabited only by those (so-called red) Indians, who were luckily so susceptible to ordinary European diseases that they could be conquered by an unwashed blanket. Maybe muskets played a part too.

Then the British colonials in America heard about that great event at Oistins when our own Bajan ancestors proclaimed the immortal words “No taxation without representation” and the Americans later used that powerful idea (without attribution) inthe irritable American colonies, eventually clobbering those short, feeble, poor marksmen in the British troops. There was also some story about throwing tea very naughtily into the sea.

Anyway, the Americans finally won the match, achieving independence from the British Empire, and, very gradually, turning into the richest nation in the world, and perhaps one with the greatest religiosity.

Naturally, they became pious Christian democrats or even republicans, suspicious of their ancestral origins, hostile to the sensible European practice of balancing power against power, and addicted to grandiloquent, semi-religious ideas about turning the whole world into a law-abiding community of democratic nations, closely resembling their saintly selves.

It certainly was a pity that their own God (who made the world) deposited most of the valuable oil under distant places they didn’t know much about, instead of much more sensibly under their own churches and chapels and synagogues. The Americans generously forgave him.

Unlike the British, which the historian, J.R. Seeley, said, acquired their empire “in a fit of absence of mind”, the Americans got theirs by pompous notions proclaimed from the top of a mountain of gold. Not quite a proper empire either, just a nursery of naughty nations, in which America is the rich nanny of the world.

I think that living under an empire is the normal situation of our species. Look back at the Persian empire, the Roman, Spanish, British, Aztec, French, Mughal, Chinese and Russian empires. Empires turned up everywhere. Empires are normal, but never everlasting.

My preference, naturally, is for the British one, and after that for the American, followed by the Roman. You are allowed to have different preferences, even without apology. Very few wise people will vote for the Russian.

One of the present problems is whether every country should be allowed its own armoury of weapons, nuclear, biological, chemical etc. or whether (and why) there should be some system of licences so that Barbados can have one tiny warhead I suppose those towel-headed beards in Islamic Iran will have to be allowed a slightly bigger one. Will Venezuela’s Chavez have to get two?

What about Iraq, and the Palestinian Republic? Will Haiti get a blackish warhead named Field Marshal Henri Christophe? Or should the nuclear non-proliferation agreement be continued and enforced? Enforced by whom? And why? And how? I suppose the consent of the UN will be required, so no enforcement will actually ever occur. Anybody who’s got the pennies can join the game!

(Sir Aubrey “Jack” Leacock is a long- standing surgeon at the Barbados general Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth hospital.)

reuters.com Fri March 14, 2003 05:43 PM ET (The following statement was released by the rating agency)

NEW YORK, March 14 - Moody's Investors Service lowered the rating on the $72 million Series 1997A and 1999 revenue bond debt of Aruba Airport Authority to Ba1 from Baa3. This concludes the review for downgrade. The rating outlook is negative.

Approximately $43 million of the Series 1997 bonds are insured by MBIA and are rated Aaa based on the claims paying ability of the company. This rating action reflects continued weakeness in the airport's tourist based air service market, as reflected in the 13% decline in its passenger facility charge eligible enplaned passengers since 2000. Also considered was the potential for further near term stress on the airport's financial operations given the tourist based economy and the dependence on the U.S. market. While financial performance appears to have stabilized in 2002 with only a projected small decline in net revenues from 2001, this incorporates a number of non-recurring revenue increases and expenditure reductions. The 2003 budget is based on a 1% passenger growth forecast that Moody's believes may be too optimistic.Moody's also has concerns over the lack of organizational consensus on near term strategy, as has been reflected in the delayed approval of the 2003 budget.

The airport's 13% decline in passengers since 2000 has brought passenger levels to below that of 1999. Airport officials have based the 2003 budget on a forecast of 1% passenger growth in 2003. This appears to be somewhat optimistic given the potential negative impact that a war with Iraq could have on international U.S. tourism. North American tourists accounted for 70% of the tourist visits in 2002, followed by Latin Americans at 18%. The Latin American market, dominated by Venezuelans, declined 3% during 2002 reflecting the economic situation in Venezuela.

Also considered is the precarious financial state of the US airline industry. American Airlines is the dominant carrier at 27%, followed by US Airways at 10%, and the local Dutch Caribbean Airlines at 8%. Continued retrenchment by the airlines could affect lift to Caribbean destinations. KLM has added back a number of routes that it was going to cancel from Aruba which should help traffic to Europe and South America, though they won't offer the same level of service as in 2002. The 2003 adopted budget indicates preliminary financial results for 2002 showing revenues declining slightly from 2001. However, this is in part due to a number of non-recurring revenues including receipt of proceeds from a litigation settlement. Of particular interest will be whether these revenues will be considered towards calculating the 1.35 times rate covenant test for 2002. The 2003 budget, which was adopted two months into the fiscal year at the end of February 2003, projects a 1.65 times debt service coverage.

In Moody's opinion this appears to be optimistic given the projected growth in passengers and revenues and the roughly 14% in assumed additional cost reductions. Management's assessment and strategic response to any significant changes in traffic and revenues during the course of the year will be an important factor in assessing the airport's creditworthiness. To its credit the Authority has taken a number of steps to increase fees and charges to offset the decline in finances since September 11th. Thishas helped stabilize the airport's financial picture. Proactive measures include implementing a $2.50 per passenger security charge in March 2003. The airport authority's board has the power to increase the passenger facility charge if needed.

In addition, a $20.5 million court judgement against the government of Aruba, after a deal to create a motor sports complex ended in a dispute with the developers, increasingly seems unlikely to affect the Airport Authority. Bondholders also benefit from a number of reserve accounts held in the United States, including a cash funded debt service reserve totaling almost $10 million.

www.nbc5.com POSTED: 1:43 p.m. CST March 13, 2003 UPDATED: 12:13 p.m. CST March 14, 2003

CHICAGO -- A north side man has apparently vanished. The 55-year-old went missing following a kayaking trip in the Carribean and was last seen off the coast of Venezuela.

Lee Harris was vacationing at a resort area in Curacao. He was staying at a property he owns there, near a beach he's familiar with. That's why family and friends can't explain his disappearance.

Harris was kayaking with his wife, stepson and several friends Sunday morning.

"He said, 'You guys go ahead and I'll catch up with you,' and that's the last they saw of him," Harris' aunt, Denise Bolon, told NBC5's Jennifer Mitchell.

His business partner, Bismark Brackett, was notified Sunday afternoon. Retracing the route on a map with Mitchell, Brackett said Harris had kayaked in the area dozens of times.

"They kayak from the beach to this area," Brackett said, pointing to an area on the map north of Harris' property where the missing man apparently often took his kayak. "Somewhere between this small beach and Cave Lee, he went missing."

Known as an avid outdoorsman, Harris did have a life jacket on since the water in that area is often rough, Mitchell said.

Rescue crews continue searching the water where he was last seen and family members are posting information on the Internet, hoping someone may have spotted him.

"There was no sign of him. No kayak. No lifejacket. Nothing," according to Bolon.

Mitchell said the family hopes that might be good news. Maybe Harris simply drifted off course and will be found with his kayak alive. He's a good swimmer and an athletic guy. Friends and family are hoping that he's found alive.