Boko Haram "killed woman in labour" during attack: Amnesty

Thursday, January 15, 2015 | 4:34 AM    

LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) – Boko Haram fighters killed a woman as she was in labour during what is feared to be the deadliest attack in the militants’ six-year insurgency, Amnesty International claimed on Thursday.

The human rights group said one witness to the assault on Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad in northeast Nigeria, told them the woman was shot by indiscriminate fire that also cut down small children.

“Half of the baby boy (was) out and she died like this,” the unnamed witness was quoted as saying.

Amnesty said this week that hundreds of people, if not more, may have been killed in the attack, which began on January 3 and is thought to have targeted civilian vigilantes helping the military.

“They killed so many people. I saw maybe around 100 killed at that time in Baga. I ran to the bush. As we were running, they were shooting and killing,” a man in his fifties was quoted as saying.

Another woman added: “I don’t know how many but there were bodies everywhere we looked.”

The testimony chimes with claims from local officials that huge numbers were killed and that of witnesses spoken to by AFP, who described seeing decomposing bodies littering the streets.

One man who escaped from Baga after hiding for three days said he was “stepping on bodies” for five kilometres (three miles) as he fled through the bush.

Nigeria’s military, which often downplays death tolls, said this week that 150 people died, dismissing as “sensational” claims that 2,000 may have lost their lives.

Human Rights Watch said the exact death toll was unknown and in a statement published on Thursday quoted one local resident as saying: “No one stayed back to count the bodies.

“We were all running to get out of town ahead of Boko Haram fighters who have since taken over the area.”

Both Amnesty and HRW published separate satellite images of Baga and Doron Baga, 2.5 kilometres away, which it said showed the scale of the attack.

Aerial shots of the two towns — which have been hit previously by fighting — were shown the day before the Islamists moved in and four days later, after they had razed homes and businesses.

Amnesty said that the images showed “devastation of catastrophic proportions”, with more than 3,700 structures — 620 in Baga and 3,100 in Doron Baga — damaged or completely destroyed.

HRW said 11 percent of Baga and 57 percent of Doron Baga was destroyed, most likely by arson, attributing the greater damage in the latter to the fact that it houses a military base.

The Multinational Joint Task Force of troops from Nigeria, Niger and Chad has been involved in counter-insurgency operations against Boko Haram.

At least 16 settlements around Baga were burnt to the ground and at least 20,000 people fled, according to local officials.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said on Tuesday that its team in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, was providing assistance to 5,000 survivors of the attack.

The UN refugee agency has said that more than 11,300 Nigerian refugees have fled into neighbouring Chad.

Amnesty said the eye-witnesses and images reinforced the view that the attack was Boko Haram’s “largest and most destructive” in its fight to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

“The deliberate killing of civilians and destruction of their property by Boko Haram are war crimes and crimes against humanity and must be duly investigated,” it added.

Some 300 women were said to have been rounded up and detained at a school, witnesses told Amnesty, adding that older women, mothers and children were released after four days but younger women kept.

The Baga attack came before presidential and parliamentary elections in Nigeria next month and an upsurge in violence apparently designed to undermine the legitimacy of the vote.

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Boko Haram "killed woman in labour" during attack: Amnesty

Ministry of Labour seeking to increase number of NIS contributors

The Ministry of  Labour is to embark on a major drive to increase the number of persons who contribute to the National Insurance Scheme, NIS.
Under the law, all working persons are required to contribute to the NIS.
However, Labour Minister Derrick Kellier says of  the estimated 1.2 million employed persons, a little over 400,000 are contributors to the NIS.
Mr. Kellier says the Ministry will go on an aggressive public relations campaign over the next few months, to encourage all working persons to contribute to the NIS, and to inform them of  the benefits.

In the meantime, Mr. Kellier says given the increase in the population over the last two decades, accompanied by the rise in life expectancy, the Government has paid out huge sums from the NIS.
Payments currently stand at J$14b versus J$11b in contributions.
Mr. Kellier says if  there is an increase in contributors the J$3b shortfall can be filled.
This will also reduce the need to tap into the National Insurance Fund to fill the gap.
The Fund now stands at nearly J$70b.

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Ministry of Labour seeking to increase number of NIS contributors

Barbados Labour Party plans Sunday anti-tax rally

Opposition Barbados Labour Party leader, Mia Mottley (File photo)

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Sunday July 20, 2014, CMC - Dissatisfied with concessions on the Municipal Solid Waste Tax the Opposition Barbados Labour Party plans a mass rally Sunday evening in downtown Bridgetown, where party leaders may announce protest marches.

This new tax was announced last year with a sweeping .03 per cent charge on the site value of every real estate property across the island, but there have been widespread complaints about the financial burden it places on residents.

Cabinet Thursday decided to waive all payments of this levy for pensioners with property valued under $190,000 (One BDS dollar = 50 US cents), slashed it for agricultural land, and pushed back the payment deadline for others.

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But Opposition Leader Mia Mottley Friday, described the changes as a ‘knee-jerk reaction’

“I welcome the news that some pensioners whose properties are valued at $190,000 or less will not now pay the tax. But there are still thousands more pensioners who still have to pay the full tax if their properties are above this value,” Mottley said.

Representatives of businesses and pensioners also welcomed the changes, but said they want more.

The political opposition maintained it stance that this legislation must be repealed.

“We are not stopping short of the complete repeal of this unfair, disgusting, discriminatory piece of legislation,” said BLP Senator, Wilfred Abrahams, in one of the many public meetings held last week as momentum builders for Sunday’s rally.

“It is coming a point in time very soon when we are going to call on the people of Barbados to walk with us,” he said in reference to Sunday’s rally.

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Barbados Labour Party plans Sunday anti-tax rally

Barbados Labour Party plans Sunday anti-tax rally

Opposition Barbados Labour Party leader, Mia Mottley (File photo)

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Sunday July 20, 2014, CMC - Dissatisfied with concessions on the Municipal Solid Waste Tax the Opposition Barbados Labour Party plans a mass rally Sunday evening in downtown Bridgetown, where party leaders may announce protest marches.

This new tax was announced last year with a sweeping .03 per cent charge on the site value of every real estate property across the island, but there have been widespread complaints about the financial burden it places on residents.

Cabinet Thursday decided to waive all payments of this levy for pensioners with property valued under $190,000 (One BDS dollar = 50 US cents), slashed it for agricultural land, and pushed back the payment deadline for others.

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But Opposition Leader Mia Mottley Friday, described the changes as a ‘knee-jerk reaction’

“I welcome the news that some pensioners whose properties are valued at $190,000 or less will not now pay the tax. But there are still thousands more pensioners who still have to pay the full tax if their properties are above this value,” Mottley said.

Representatives of businesses and pensioners also welcomed the changes, but said they want more.

The political opposition maintained it stance that this legislation must be repealed.

“We are not stopping short of the complete repeal of this unfair, disgusting, discriminatory piece of legislation,” said BLP Senator, Wilfred Abrahams, in one of the many public meetings held last week as momentum builders for Sunday’s rally.

“It is coming a point in time very soon when we are going to call on the people of Barbados to walk with us,” he said in reference to Sunday’s rally.

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Barbados Labour Party plans Sunday anti-tax rally

OECS adopts action plan for labour needs assessment survey

Sean Mathurin -coordinator OECS Labour Market Information Systems programme

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Thursday July 17, 2014, CMC – The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) sub-region has adopted a plan of action for the successful piloting of a region-wide Labour Needs Assessment Survey in 2014.

The plan was devised at a recent meeting of Directors of Statistics from the sub-region in St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

The two-day seminar also facilitated the piloting of the OECS wide Labour Needs Assessment Survey.

The survey will also evaluate difficulties encountered by employers in filling job vacancies.

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Sean Mathurin, coordinator for the OECS Labour Market Information Systems programme expects the survey results to provide detailed information on job creation based on the rationale, industry and occupation as well as difficulties employers have with finding suitable labour.

“The OECS Commission also values such information as critical for policy makers in macro-economic planning and investment as well as for human resource strategies.

“Social planners also need this information for finalising technical/vocational training and the provision of services to employers and job seekers,” Mathurin noted.

The OECS-wide Labour Needs Assessment Survey, a component of the OECS Labour Market Information Systems Programme will also produce information on demand flows of labour and unfilled vacancies.

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OECS adopts action plan for labour needs assessment survey

Labour Ministry commends Fire Brigade on handling of gas tanker fire

Friday, January 10, 2014 | 6:31 PM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development has lauded firefighters on the job done extinguishing a burning oil tanker along the Mona Road residential community of St Andrew on Thursday.

“The Jamaica Fire service is often faced with heavy criticism from the public, but notwithstanding these criticisms, among other challenges, the members of the Jamaica Fire Brigade remain strong, committed individuals, dedicated to providing great service to this nation and as such they must be applauded,” the ministry said in a statement Friday.

According to the ministry the fire fighters contained the blaze, which could have spread to houses nearby, preventing a loss of life and further damage.

The ministry said that it took seven units from the Half-Way-Tree, Rollington Town and York Park fire stations to put out the blaze.

“We would also like to recognise the brave actions taken by the driver of the gas tank truck that caught fire. Mr Mutler’s quick thinking and response also resulted in the saving of lives and property and it would be remiss of us to not extend sincere gratitude and appreciation for what he did,” said Junior Local Government Minister, Colin Fagan.

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Labour Ministry commends Fire Brigade on handling of gas tanker fire

Division of labour

Where is our daughter?

She hath not appeared…Nor to us hath tender’dThe duty of the day.– Shakespeare, Cymbiline III, 5My noble father,I do perceive hereA divided duty.– Shakespeare, Othello I, 3EVERYONE has assigned duties in life, or at least they should. In both of the above quotes, this duty is carried out by daughters, women, females. And therein lies the problem. As Shakespeare also said… “Aye, there’s the rub.”But should duty, work or labour be the domain of a specific gender? Who dictates that women should do specific tasks only, and men do other types of tasks? Is there such a thing as ‘woman’s work?’ The Bible did say that women were hewers of wood and carriers of water, but I can’t recall any mention of what labour-intensive tasks men were supposed to carry out.From ancient times, in almost all civilisations, women were assigned certain tasks. They kept the house clean, looked after the children, washed the clothes, stitched the garments and generally looked after the everyday chores.The men, on the other hand, did the hunting, fishing, bringing home the food, fighting to protect the clan or village and building the structures. Even in cowboy movies, the Indians always said that captured white women were useless because they couldn’t do the tasks such as cleaning the buffalo carcass and other domestic stuff that the squaws could do.The rules were specifically defined and both genders knew who did what. We’ll find out more about this division of labour right after these responses to ‘Worthless MBAs’.Hi Tony,My theory on the main reason for the MBA malady and the like, is perhaps due to the Jamaican demographic profile. It appears that for the population over 15 years old, there are about 44,000 more women than men. With this abundance of women, what are they to do but share and share alike?! It may not be the ideal thing to do and we may not condone it, but that’s the facts of life and food for thought.WickhamHey Teerob,Clearly there is a shortage of good men, that’s why women will be with a man who is married but so called available. The figures say that the genders are about equal, but what they don’t say is that the male population is divided into worthless men, non-working men, gays, stay-at-home momma’s boys and married men. So voila, the women will settle for the lesser evil, the married men. At least he has a job and was good to a woman once.SheilaMr Robinson,You’ve done it again and mashed some corns. Too many women have no self-worth or self-esteem [that"s] why they choose to be with another woman’s man. They may buy into the lame excuses, but the bottom line is, they are poaching another woman’s man. How would they feel if the roles were reversed and their husband had another woman with them? You should write about worthless mistresses who have no shame.KarenNature is beautiful and perfect. Every single creature has its assigned role, from the majestic eagle to the Johncrow to the maggot, and none is greater than the other. In a hive of bees, every bee knows what it’s supposed to do, as there are the worker bees, the soldier bees who protect the colony, the drones, and, of course, the queen whose task it is to lay the eggs. The same goes for ants and other animals such as lions and elephants. So what of man, who is supposed to be of a higher order?If you delve into the realm of economics, noted 18th-century economist Adam Smith postulated the theory of division of labour. He said that it’s far more efficient if each person was assigned a specific task to complete the whole rather than try to build the whole by himself. Ergo, some people make the tyres, others make… Please see our E-Paper for the full version of this article

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Division of labour

Labour Ministry intervenes in sugar workers impasse

News

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

THE Ministry of Labour and Social Security has set an emergency conciliation meeting for tomorrow at 10:00 am, in an effort to resolve an impasse between Pan Caribbean Sugar Company and the unions representing workers at the Monymusk, Bernard Lodge and Frome sugar factories.The workers have been demonstrating since Monday against the sending on leave of 132 security guards, and the contracting of a private security firm, Quest, by Pan- Caribbean/Complant, the Chinese firm which bought the three factories in 2011.The unions involved are the National Workers’ Union, the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and the University and Allied Workers Union.Yesterday, the BITU’s deputy island supervisor in charge of the sugar sector, Harold Brown, told the Jamaica Observer that the workers are determined to show their objection to the sending off of the workers, following the redundancy of some 200 workers since last year.He said that 90 workers were made redundant recently, including 30 security guards, and on Monday another 132 security guards were sent on “discretionary leave”, which the management says is part of the restructuring of the operations.He said that the trade unions met with the management of Pan Caribbean on Monday and insisted that the company reinstate the workers. However, the talks broke down after the management turned down their request. He explained that after the talks broke down, the protest spread from Bernard Lodge, St Catherine, to Monymusk, Clarendon, and Frome, Westmoreland, yesterday.COMPLANT International took control of the three former government-owned sugar factories in August 2011, after investing more than US$8 million ($680 million) in the production of sugar cane since the start of the year.The three sugar factories and the lands immediately surrounding them were sold to COMPLANT for US$9 million or more than $700 million in July last year. Under the deal, the company also secured some 30,000 hectares of cane lands through a 49-year lease agreement, which is renewable for another 25 years.

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Labour Ministry intervenes in sugar workers impasse

Jamaica doggedly pursues free movement of labour in Caricom

News

BY BALFORD HENRY Observer senior reporter henryb@jamaicaobserver.com Monday, July 08, 2013

DESPITE the reluctance of some Caribbean territories to do so, Jamaica continues to pursue the dream of freedom of movement among Caribbean Community (Caricom) states.Last week, Minister of Labour and Social Security Derrick Kellier tabled a Bill to amend the Caribbean Community (Free Movement of Skilled Persons) Act, to broaden the categories of skilled nationals able to access jobs in regional countries.The Bill provides for the introduction of a single certificate system, and seeks to implement fees to provide financing for administrative services for the processing and issue of qualifying certificates, as well as increased penalties to deter non-compliance with the Act.The Bill’s “Memorandum of Objects and Reasons” explains that the Caricom Free Movement of Skilled Persons Act established the legislative framework for the phased implementation of Jamaica’s Treaty obligations under Articles 45 and 46 of the 2001 Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the instrument that brought Caricom into being in 1973.The revised Treaty was itself implemented into domestic law by the Caribbean community Act, and Article 45 of the Revised Treaty commits member states to the goal of the free movement of nationals within the community. Article 46 obliges Jamaica and other member states to accord categories of community nationals the right to seek employment in their respective jurisdictions, and to establish appropriate legislative, administrative and procedural arrangements to facilitate movement of nationals into and within member state jurisdictions.The Free Movement of Skilled Persons arises from an agreed Caricom policy that was originally separate, but related to the original Protocol II of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. That policy is enacted in legislation in all the Community member states, providing for the free movement of certain categories of skilled labour on qualifying for the CARICOM Skills Qualification, or skills certificate that theoretically removes the need for work permits across the region.But critics have often claimed that the provision has been observed more in the breach in most territories, except Jamaica.Eight categories of Caricom nationals are now eligible for free movement throughout the region: university graduates, media workers, artistes, musicians, sportspersons, managers, technical and supervisory staff attached to a company, and self-employed persons/service providers. In addition, the spouses and immediate dependent family members of these nationals will also be exempt from work permit requirements.It was also agreed to allow, at a later stage, for free movement of tertiary-trained teachers and nurses; higglers, artisans, domestic workers and hospitality workers, pending the agreement of an appropriate certification.The skills certificates are obtained from the requisite ministry, once all the essential documents/qualifications (which vary with each category of skilled persons) are handed in with an application.

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Jamaica doggedly pursues free movement of labour in Caricom