FORMER DIRECTOR GENERAL of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Dr Chelston Brathwaite, recently joined the St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies as interim director of the School of Agriculture.
In this new capacity, Brathwaite will assist the university in defining a new role for the school in supporting agricultural development in the Caribbean.
A LEADING agricultural official is questioning why regional governments have refused to invest more funds in the agricultural sector when it has the best prospect for growth and can save valuable foreign exchange.
Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has been selected to serve as the seventh Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) by the Heads of Government.
LaRocque, 56, a national of Dominica, replaces Sir Edwin Carrington of Trinidad and Tobago.
Guyana is one of two countries (Belize being the other) in the Caribbean to reduce hunger by 50 percent last year, says Lystra Fletcher-Paul, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative.
Fletcher-Paul indicated that Guyana knows what it wants in terms of agriculture in the Caribbean. Though the country has a high food production rate there is an issue of accessibility and this is the case in most hinterland communities where transportation is a challenge.
The Jamaican Government has placed an order for sugar from Guyana to avert shortages in that CARICOM country.
Quoting the Agriculture Ministry, the Jamaican Observer yesterday said that it has put in place measures to avert a shortage of sugar on the local market and has urged distributors not to hoard the product.
In a statement Wednesday, the Ministry assured the distributive trade that “adequate arrangements have been made to supply the market until local production comes on stream”.
The last six months during which I had the honour of holding the Chairmanship of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been a period of introspection, hope and modest accomplishments.
In handing over to my friend and colleague the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Honourable Dr. Denzil Douglas, I feel confident that his vast experience in regional matters and his immense skill in achieving consensus, will ensure that our Caribbean Community continues on a path of progress and development.
Salutations:
I welcome you all to St. Kitts & Nevis – the country that my Government is honored to have been given the opportunity to lead. These two islands, as we know, hold a special place in the history of the Caribbean. It was here that the French and British subjugation of this Region began. They are the islands of the indigenous people of the Carib. It is here that thousands of our African Ancestors called their home away from home. And it was here that the mass-based movement toward self-liberation - in the English-speaking Caribbean - began as well.
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The Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Recalling that Security has been established as the Fourth Pillar of the Community, Also recalling the important role being played by the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security, IMPACS, established to manage the region’s agenda on transnational organized crime, security and related matter, |
The Thirty-Second Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held at Frigate Bay, St. Kitts and Nevis from 30 June - 4 July 2011. The Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas presided.
