Massive PNP rally Sunday, Jan 31 in HWT. Election date to be announced?

Portia is set to call elections this Sunday and a massive PNP rally in HWT

Why is the Jamaican Prime Minister paying to speak to the nation

I have been waiting for over a week to see if any media house or journalist would ask the question ” Why is the Prime Minister paying to speak to the nation, when she can do so for free”.

The Prime Minister has released a number of messages to the people via the electronic media, where she has sought to explain what she is or has been doing for the people of this country.

The media will not ask the question, simply because they are the beneficiary of this kind of reckless spending that is totally unnecessary, because Portia Simpson Miller refuses to be interview by any media house.

Two interviews with two media houses, would have allowed the PM to get her message out there for FREE, but she has chosen to hide behind these pre-recorded messages and send them to the media house to be broadcast as paid advert, what nonsense !

The Prime Minister has a knack for running and continues to run from the day she was elected and I hope she runs away from Jamaica house come the next elections.

$5000 Hair style on a $5 head sparks outrage, really?

I swear there is something wrong with the people in this country. I swear over 50% of the population is bi-polar, because only that can explain the reaction to the Pastor for saying

” Its makes no sense to have a $5,000 hair style on a $5 head, it’s better to have more in the head than what is on the head”.

What the Phuc is wrong with this statement, which part is not true and what about it makes it disrespectful to women, what about it makes it “classiest”, give me a freaking break.

We call from the truth but prefer to hear a lie, which is no wonder our politicians are such good liars, because they that is what we really want.

The pastor called Jamaican man ” sperm donors ”  but I hear no outrage in the society about that categorization of our men, why , because we are only men.

These women who are calling for the head of the Pastor need to go get a life and leave the man alone. he was spot on, job well done.

The truth must be told and who feels offended that is their problem, well done sir!

A dat me seh

 

St Kitts and Nevis miraculous economic recovery, lessons for Jamaica?

“St. Kitts and Nevis is at a turning point, where it has the opportunity to establish itself on a sustainable long-term growth path. This will require difficult decisions and careful choices to preserve the hard-earned gains. It will also require continued fiscal discipline and the implementation of structural reforms to expand growth potential.

“Macroeconomic conditions improved significantly over 2013 and 2014. The economy recorded two years of strong growth, averaging about 6 percent per year, the strongest in the region by far. This reflects primarily a construction boom fueled by inflows under the Citizenship-By-Investment (CBI) Program; government and Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation (SIDF) investment and spending, including on the People’s Employment Program (PEP); and a continued recovery in tourist arrivals. Employment expanded by 23 percent over the two years, while inflation has remained low. Banks have remained stable following debt restructuring, although the NPL ratio significantly increased notably due to removing public sector loans from the total loan portfolio following the debt-for-land swap. Credit to the private sector is still sluggish, expanding by 0.5 percent in 2014.

The IMF report stated further and here we must take note.

“The strong fiscal outcome, combined with additional progress with the debt/land swaps, and some advance debt repayment, led to a further decline in the share of public debt in GDP to 80 percent at end-2014, compared to over 100 percent at end-2013, and about 160 percent in 2010. St. Kitts and Nevis’ debt-to-GDP ratio is now below the ECCU average.

 

https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2015/pr15289.htm

Note the Debt/GDP ratio in St Kitts and Nevis was much higher than Jamaica when they began the IMF program and to get it chopped by 50% in just 4 years( 2010 – 160% to 80% – 2014) nothing short of miraculous, but you don’t hear a work from all our most decorated and brilliant economist or financial analyst on this, do you?

Some other things about St Kitts and Nevis that most of you would not know.

1. Debt to Gdp ratio 2010 – 160%
2. Debt to GDP ratio 2014 – 80%
3. Healthcare in St Kitts and Nevis is FREE at the public hospitals and that includes medication.
4. There are no schools fees at high schools
5. Exam fees are free for the most needy, those who can pay, will pay.
6. The exchange rate has been fixed 1US$ = EC$2.7 for other 30 years (Zero devaluation)
7. There is No personal income tax.
8. Employers pay 1% of income into severance fund, used to pay off employees if a company packs up and leave without paying severance to the workers.
9. Government Ministers live in their own homes, no free housing
10. Government Ministers buy their own vehicles expect PM and Deputy PM
11. St Kitts and Nevis has more public holidays than Jamaica
12. St Kitts and Nevis is short on  labour and has to import workers from the rest of the region.
13. Off shore companies pays zero duty 0n imported raw materials that goes into manufacturing providing that all the finished good are exported.

I bet you that, our local economist and financial analyst would not have mentioned this to most of you, simply because they are unable to use their analysis of the Jamaican economy to explain how St Kitts and Nevis could have accomplish so much with so little.

Don’t tell ,me the following

1. Its a small island state so it’s needs are less
2. The population is small and its infrastructure is less demanding
3. The Jamaican economy is much larger and therefore more complex
4. etc etc

It’s all about being relative ie a small country will have smaller needs and smaller population but that is all relative.

These countries have less resources to weather the economic shocks of the world markets, than a larger country such as Jamaica.

So I want someone without referring to the items I said don’t tell me about, explain very carefully and deliberately how St Kitts and Nevis was able to pull this off.

Is the the IMF’s first real success story and why have our economist failed to tell Jamaicans about the economic miracle that has taken place in St Kitts and Nevis.

( Dem say if you caan explain something, keep quiet and avoid it) 🙂

Bless.

 

Steps I would have taken to solve #badgas mystery

After almost 2 months we are not further along in determining the following

1. What is the contaminant in the fuel that is causing issues being motorist.
2. What is the concentration of the contaminant that is responsible for the problem
3. What is the source or possible sources of the contaminant.
4. How was this introduced into the gas being circulated in the trade.

What do we know so far

1. Motorist are having engine problems after purchasing gas
2. Unwashed gum in gas is above limit of 5mg/100 ml
3. Unwashed gum is said to be the contaminant, but how can that be when it is always present in gas.
4. Rubis gas appears to have highest concentration of unwashed gum
5. BSJ cannot conduct testing and must rely on a third party for some test

Steps that ought to be taken or should have been taken

1. Samples of gas taken from stations should be sent to an accredited oil testing facility
2. Testing facility should be asked to determine specific chemical composition of fuel and concentration of each chemical present.
3. Testing facility should be asked to do comparison of chromatography with known “good” samples of similar grade fuel .
4. Testing facility should be asked to compare both reading to international acceptable composition and concentration.
5. Testing facility should be asked comment on results and likely effect of higher concentrations of chemicals on engines performance.
6. Testing facility should be sent larger volumes of fuel and asked to facilitate  testing  on two test engines under tropical climactic  conditions and review performance results. One test to be conducted with know good quality fuel and second with suspected fuel.
7. Testing facility should be asked to comment on results of test above and determine if issues being annunciated by motorist is reflective of test results that have been observed.
8. Testing facility should be sent copies of Certificate of Quality (CoQ) for all imported fuel over the last six months, the CoQ is a standard requirement.
9. Testing facility should be sent test results conducted by all importers over the last six months as well as retained fuel samples. These are supposed to be available  as under the Petroleum Quality Control Act(PQCA) , these results are to be kept for three years and submitted to the Minister of Mining and Energy on a Quarterly basis
10. Testing facility should be sent samples of all fuel blends and additives well as test results after blending. Once again as mandated by the PQCA these are to be retained for 3 years and copies sent to the Minister of Mining and Energy
11. Testing facility should complete testing on both imports and blended product and comment of chromatography plus other test results.
12. Testing should facility should comment on effect on additive on final blend and possible issues if any when used in the concentration as noted from chromatography testing.
13. All data related to date of import, date of blend, concentration of additives, type of additive, days between blend, storage and delivery, date gas was been delivered from these blends and to which stations they were delivered .
14. All data related to stations ordered closed and test results from these stations and correlation between these stations and dates of delivery of each blend of fuel should be  examined.
15. Status of  fuel storage tank when fuel was received ie volumes of fuel that was present in underground storage tank . We are trying to establish ratio of old fuel vs new fuel. All this information to be analysed by testing facility.

 

In short order one can be able to determine with a great degree of certainty the following

1. If poor quality fuel was imported in the first place, with contaminants or concentration for certain chemicals above international recognized or accepted volumes.
2. If fuel became contaminated or suspect after blending and agent that was responsible for this.
3. Establish a clear link between the importer, blender, distributor and the affected gas station.
4. Establish culpability for the issue.
5. Determine how exiting volumes of #badgas should be disposed of

 

Is the above beyond the Professor and his time.

Mind you I have no Professor title, so I may be unqualified to speak on this matter, but despite this fact, the above would form a great part of my approach to solve this GREAT mystery.

Bless

 

Rubis was subject of “contaminated” gas in Cayman in 2013 !

It is highly unlikely that consumers will receive any compensation from the fuel marketing companies given what I have unearth from a similar investigation carried out in Cayman in 2013.

Excerpts from that report

Arising out of the increased number of complaints relating to suspected fuel quality issues across the three Islands, the Petroleum Inspectorate (PI) launched an investigation into the matter in August 2013. The scope of the investigation was essentially to determine whether fuel of dubious quality was being imported and marketed locally and further, assess the possibility of local contamination as a result of equipment integrity issues or poor operating procedures by fuel handlers.

Customer complaints

• “Car is performing poorly since fueling-up at XX Gas Station” 

• “Engine/Fuel light on and car had to be taken to shop” 

• “Encountered serious problems with my car and took it to mechanic/garage and they had to flush tank and change components (at significant costs) to get my car running again”

•  “Car (Engine) is vibrating heavily and stuttering”

•  “Having serious issues with vehicle starting in morning, during the day the p problem goes away”

•  “Vehicle is not developing power as it should” (high-end vehicle operators)

All the above seems similar to what we are seeing in Jamaica.

Lab Results

Analysis was carried out for select parameters for both premium and regular grades of gasoline as shown in the Table 1 above. The significant parameters for which ‘dilution’ could potentially impact the results were MMT (hence OI) and Existent Gum.

Existent Gum

This parameter was found to be above the upper limit set by the standard test and while Esso provided explanation and somewhat ‘justification’ for their results, Rubis results which were significantly higher remains unexplained by the company. However, based on (details of) complaints received and the limited technical information obtained from garages and mechanics across the Islands, the symptoms were not indicative that this was likely a significant contributor to the problems most motorists experienced. This parameter has been flagged for follow-up monitoring and discussions.

MMT

This is the shortened name for manganese (compound) which is added to gasoline to improve its Octane rating.

This parameter is tested to ensure the concentration of MMT is within acceptable limits as set by a particular jurisdiction. Due to absence of legally mandated limits in Cayman Islands, Rubis currently utilizes US EPA standards for this additive of up to 1/32 gram per US gallon, while ESSO utilizes treat rate consistent with allowable limits in Canada and Australia up to a maximum 18mg/Liter concentration.

Overall, the specifications (or limits) for the parameters tested are acceptable at this time by Petroleum Inspectorate, that is, we have no reason or basis to substantially challenge the limits established by the industry which is defined under ASTM D 4814 standard for gasoline. The Vapor Pressure and Existent Gum limits would require research and analysis to ensure practical limits are established for Cayman Islands and any limitation of the analysis will be thoroughly evaluated. By similar token, the actual test results were acceptable for all samples except the Existent Gum, but to reiterate, this could not be considered a root cause of the issues motorists were experiencing

Link to the above  article can be found here Contaminated Fuel Report

Based on the above, it is likely that Rubis will remain very strong in defending its position and highly unlikely that Jamaican motorist will get any sort of compensation from the marketing companies, specifically Rubis.

Another commonsenseja investigative piece.

Bless

 

Phillip Paulwell should be held accountable for #badgasscandal

The Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell have so far refused to name the importer, marketing company and distributor of the contaminated fuel that has been on the markets since November.

I would like it be known, that Phillip Paulwell has fell down on the job once again and MUST be the one held accountable for the bad gas that is now on the market.

I know people will say, the minister cannot be held responsible for everything because he has other folks working for him and to that point I say, well you have a point there. The fact however is the Minister in this case has chosen to hold unto information that could possible exonerate himself, but has instead chosen to keep the information a secret.

Given the posture by the Minister, I wish to point readers to the Petroleum Quality Control Act, which is what is used to guide petrol quality in Jamaica. I will point you to very specific sections of the act, where the Minister cannot shy away from his responsibilities, since this sections sets out the reports that are to be submitted to to Minister on a regular basis.

Records 17.—

• A producer of any of the petroleum products appearing in the FOU~~ Fourth Schedule shall in respect of each year keep a record of the amount of Schedule every petroleum product produced.
• (2) An importer of petroleum or of any of the petroleum products Firs1 specified in the First Schedule shall keep a record of the source and disposition Schedule of each shipment of petroleum products.
• (3) A bulk distributor of petroleum blending stock or of any of the petroleum products specified.in the Fourth Schedule shall keep a record of the source of, and every transaction relating to, such blending stock or petroleum product.
• (4) A blender of petroleum blending stock or of any of the petroleum products specified in the Fourth Schedule shall keep a record of the volume of each component blended.
• (5) Every record referred to in paragraph (I), (2), (3) or (4) shall be retained for a period of three years from the date on which the record is made.
• (6) A person who is required by this regulation to maintain a record shall- (a) provide a copy of any inspection, including the results of any analyses, carried out under the Act;
  1. (h) provide a comparison with the specifications, set out in regulation 10, for each quantity of product sold or transferred to a bulk distributor, producer, bulk user or retailer or to any other person to whom the petroleum product is sold or transferred; and
  2. (c) if requested by the Minister to do so-
     1. (i) produce the record for inspection within the time specified in the request;
     2. (ii) copy or report in writing to the Minister, the contents of such record as is specified in the request within thirty days of the date of receipt of the written request

 

REPORTING TO THE ENERGY MINISTER – PHILLIP PAULWELL

The act sets forth very specific reporting requirements to the minister and a such Phillip Paulwell or is aides must have been made aware of the #badgas before the complaints started or at least should have had that information very soon after.

According to the act as set out below the Minister should have had test results forwarded to him, so I am not not sure why the BSJ is running around doing test save and expect to confirm the information already available  to the minister by the importers/distributors.

Let’s have a read, I extracted the relevant sections.

Report to Minister

Section  18.

• Every person who produces, imports or exports any petroleum product specified in the Fourth Schedule shall submit to the Minister for each quarter during which the petroleum product is produced, imported or exported, within fifteen days after the last day of each quarter, the information set out in Sixth Schedule.
• Every person who is a producer, importer, bulk distributor or blender of any petroleum product specified in the Fourth Schedule and who sells, distributes or transfers such product to a retailer or to a bulk user shall submit to the Minister, in respect of each quarter during which the petroleum product is sold, and within fifteen days after the last day of each quarter, the information set out in the Sixth Schedule.

 

Section 19

 Sampling and Analysis of Petroleum Products

  Every-

1. producer, importer, blender or bulk distributor of any petroleum product specified in the Fourth Schedule; or
2. retailer or bulk user of gasolene or any petroleum product specified in the Fourth Schedule, shall provide the Minister or any person authorized by the Minister in writing, with a sample of such gasolene or petroleum product for the purpose of determining the composition or quality of the product compared to the specifications contained in the Second Schedule.

Can the Minister therefore tell the nation what really happened here, since it is very clear to me (at least) that Phillip Paulwell has once again fell down on the job.

I urge the Minister to reveal the full information on the #badgasscandal or bear full responsibility for the mess that is now unfolding before us.

Bless.

Full copy of act can be found here

 

Gasoline Importers and importing low cost winter blend fuel

It turns out that local importers have been importing low cost winter blend fuel, which containers a much higher RVP and selling it to gas stations as the more expensive summer blend fuel.

This is the reason for the problem we are now seeing at the pump and all we hear from the BSJ is the fuel is contaminated but refuses to say what the contaminant is.

 

 

Happy New Year

I want to take the time out to wish all readers , supporters and detractors on the this blog a happy , healthy, spirituality fulfilling and wealth filled new year.

I hope you will all accomplish the plans you have set out this year and at the end of the year you can all look back and say, job well done.