We are only feeling the breeze

“We are only feeling the breeze of the financial meltdown in the global market. We don’t start feeling the rain as yet; it is just the breeze that is coming to our shores,”

“In general, a lot of the businesses are reeling in terms of what is happening, and to be honest with you, there is really no light at the end of the tunnel,”

“For all of them right now, it is not the input that is the problem, it is the receivables. (In other words) they have done the job, but they just cannot collect and this is causing a great problem. Their working capital is completely eroded, so the first thing they do is to look at cutting the payroll,”

Edward Chin-Mook, President-Small Business Association

Lime blasts ‘anticompetitive’ Digicel

“LIME firmly believes that the rate increase during peak hours which has the highest traffic volumes is not mere coincidence, but is a deliberate strategy by Digicel to target LIME’s high value corporate fixed voice customers in particular, and encourage them to churn off the LIME fixed network and onto Digicel’s fixed wireless service,”

“Digicel has taken advantage of a lack of regulatory action to attain an almost incontestable stage of dominance. If urgent action is not taken by the competent regulatory authorities, the competitive structure of the market intended by liberalization will be completely undone by the creation of another monopoly which will, in this case, rather than provide subsidized domestic services, provide extremely high priced services in order to maintain its super profits.”

LIME

What does Bill Clarke want from BNS? ‘$85m not worth 40 years of my life’

“Without any reference to the upcoming planning session, Robert Pitfield advised me that despite my long and distinguished service, and the exemplary manner in which I had led the Scotiabank franchise in Jamaica for 13 years, an executive decision had been made by officers of the Bank of Nova Scotia majority shareholder of the BNS Jamaica to terminate my employment with immediate effect,”

“I never resigned and I was never dismissed by the board of the bank. Therefore, what I am asking for is that my compensation be based on a buyout of my contract. What the bank is offering is as if I was terminated for cause. That would never be accepted by me in a hundred years,”

“Prior to the agreement that I should proceed on premature retirement, I was never charged or convicted of any criminal matter in Jamaica or elsewhere and I was never presented with any written charge and allegations from anyone associated with (BNS) or any other person with respect to any wrongdoing or inappropriate act,”

William (Bill) Clarke former CEO Scotiabank Jamaica

“On the other hand, Scotiabank – and the fight is being led from the headquarters in Toronto, Canada – feels its offer is justified, even handsome, in the circumstances.
Those circumstances relate to “…certain allegations and complaints made against him (Clarke) with regard to his personal and professional conduct that called seriously into question (his) fitness to continue as CEO”, the bank’s chairman, Robert H Pitfield said in his affidavit.”

Jamaica Observer – Desmond Allen