KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace Monday questioned the decision of the three-month old Financial Services Authority (FSA) to take over management and control of the Building and Loan Association (BLA), warning it could lead to further loss of investor confidence in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “Further, I call on the FSA to give members a more fulsome account of the status of Building & Loan, with all deliberate speed,” Eustace told a news conference.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government is urging nationals to accept the stringent measures that will accompany a multi-million dollar Stand By Agreement (SBA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would include increases taxes and the launch of a national debt exchange offer on Tuesday. In a joint address to the nation on Monday night, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and her finance minister Dr.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Finance Minister Dr. Peter Phillips says the government will introduce a number of measures aimed at improving the local economy as Jamaica moves into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it says is necessary to shore up the island’s balance of payments position and provide access to other multilateral sources of funds.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Opposition Leader Owen Arthur is warning of a “fiscal cliff” in Barbados and accuses the Freundel Stuart government of putting the country in that crisis. Addressing a political meeting of his Barbados Labour Party (BLP) on Sunday night, Arthur, who is seeking to regain the government he lost in 2008, said that the decision of the government to call the general election so late could have an effect on the economy particularly as it relates to the government’s Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The European union is providing EC$1.3 million (One EC dollar = US$0.27 cents) to the Gilbert Agricultural and Rural Development Centre (GARD) for a project aimed at enhancing the income generating opportunities of vulnerable young women in Antigua and Barbuda. GARD said the Empowerment of Young Women in Antigua and Barbuda in their Income Generation (YWEP) project will have a two year life span and will target over 200 vulnerable young women who are unemployed or underemployed.

BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – The Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) Monday began the first of a series of risk management workshops in Suriname as it seeks to develop a regional approach to climate change risk management. The CCCCC said that representatives from the UK based consulting group Acclimatise, will assist in conducting the high-level workshops in Suriname, Barbados, Jamaica and Belize.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Principal of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Sir Hilary Beckles, wants Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries to begin efforts aimed at seeking some form of reparation from Western countries for slavery.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque will be paying a three-day official visit to The Bahamas, the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat has announced.

It said that LaRocque will meet with Prime Minister Perry Christie on Thursday and will also pay courtesy call on Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Frederick Mitchell.

He will hold talks with National Security Minister Benard Nottage, who is also the chairman of the CARICOM Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE).

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - WHATEVER the prime minister and her finance minister tell the nation later today, we can be very certain that it will require even more sacrifice and hardship. We already know that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme — deemed by economic experts as absolutely necessary if Jamaica is to stabilise its economy and ultimately achieve sustainable economic growth — will demand more cost cutting.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - THE WHITE Paper for the national workplace policy on HIV/AIDS has been tabled in Parliament, further paving the way for the establishment of enforcement mechanisms to protect the rights of persons infected or affected by the illness. The paper, which was laid on the table of the Senate on Friday, is intended to give legislative expression to an occupational safety and health act, which the Government says will soon be enacted.