By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has accused the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) of joining with foreigners to undermine economic development in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Gonsalves made the claims in a radio programme on Sunday after he told listeners of an encounter he had with two journalists from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) while aboard an aircraft in Barbados.

By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

ROSEAU, Dominica, Feb 19, CMC – High Court judge Lionel Jones has reserved judgment on whether or not to uphold an application to strike out a challenge by the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) to the nomination of Eluid Williams as President of Dominica. Opposition Leader Hector John filed the lawsuit in October last year claiming that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit’s nomination of Williams for election to the office of the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica was “unconstitutional, null and void”. Hector is also challenging the procedure and process of the election.

By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

PARAMARIBO, SURINAME, CMC – A military court has denied a request to dismiss a case in which President Desi Bouterse and several others are implicated in the deaths of 15 prominent people who were opposed to the then military government in Suriname in 1982. The Military Court is reported to have delivered its verdict last week when it met behind closed doors, according to the Suriname based website, Devsur. Com It said that attorney Irwin Kanhai had submitted the request on behalf of three of the accused.

By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – A series of consultations aimed at identifying national and regional measures to better facilitate trade in keeping with the commitments being negotiated under trade facilitation within the World Trade Organization (WTO) began here on Monday.
The consultations to be held throughout the seven-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States are aimed at simplifying and harmonizing international trade procedures such as payment of fees, access to information and cooperation between customs and other authorities. 

By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – Prime Minister Perry Christie will address the Bahamas International Investment and Business Forum that begins here on Wednesday. The organisers said that the two-day event has attracted participation from more than 27 countries and is being held under the theme “At the Crossroads of 21st Century Trade and Investment”.

By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Director-General of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) Directorate in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, Ivan Ogando Lora, has paid tribute to the former director-general of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), Ambassador Henry S. Gill, who died after a prolong illness in Trinidad and Tobago. “It is fair to say that the CARIFORUM-EU EPA will loom large with respect to the late Ambassador Gill’s legacy,” Ogando said of Gill, who died last week Thursday.

By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

As well as exporting cash crops such as coffee, cocoa, mangos, breadfruit and potatoes, Haitians rely on 40% of the food produced in the country for local consumption. With this in mind, it's easy to see why last year's dramatic weather patterns and global economic meltdown produced aftershocks as significant and devastating as those of the 2010 earthquake. In 2012, there were five events – separate, but intrinsically linked – that Haiti did not handle well, in my opinion.

By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Antigua and Barbuda says it is seeking a development policy loan from the World Bank based on a comprehensive debt framework. A government statement gave no indication as to the size of the loan, but said that it is a “budget support instrument similar to the policy” at the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Opposition Leader Owen Arthur wants his detractors to look at the policies of his Barbados Labour Party (BLP) ahead of Thursday’s general election rather than focus their attention on his health.
Arthur, who turns 64 on October 17, is seeking to regain the government that he lost when the BLP was trounced 2010 by the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).
Now as he campaigns for that poll, he is wishing that people would stop making his health an issue.

By mahtabala, 19 February, 2013

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The main opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is likely to win as many as 20 seats in Thursday’s general election, according to the latest opinion poll published here on Tuesday.
The poll by the Caribbean Development Research Services Inc (CADRES), shows that the BLP, lead by former prime minister Owen Arthur could win between 17 and 20 of the 30 seats to be contested in the general election.