Barbados

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - THE YEAR 2012 has seen challenges and opportunities, new beginnings and familiar setbacks, victories and defeats. The most glaring example is the attempts by the United Nations to end the bloody 21-month-old Syrian conflict through diplomacy which have been a resounding failure. There is little reason to expect a quick change given the Russian-United States disagreement on Syria.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - When four Caribbean leaders met in Bridgetown last Friday to discuss the future of the regional airline LIAT, they sounded upbeat, even with the times continuing to be turbulent for the airline industry worldwide. It is evident, after hearing not only the political directorate, but moreso the airline’s chairman Jean Holder and chief executive officer Ian Brunton, that a sustainable business model must be rolled out.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has launched an online system which allows consumers in 14 Member States to alert authorities on dangerous products which they detect in the market.

It is called the CARICOM Rapid Exchange System for Dangerous non-food Consumer Goods, (CARREX) and was developed in response to concerns voiced by consumer bodies of the need to strengthen the Region’s market surveillance for unsafe consumer goods.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was invited by the Government of Jamaica to establish a Mission to observe the General Elections to be held on December 29, 2011.

In response to that invitation, a seven (7) member Observer Group under the leadership of Mr. Winston Estwick of Barbados, was selected. Mr. Estwick and three (3) members arrived in Jamaica on Monday, 26 December 2011.

The other members of the Group are_

IN THE future, producers of fruits and vegetables and their products will be required to identify where any potential hazards can occur, establish control points, monitor how well their systems work and fix problems when they occur.

This is according to Juliana Almeida, a Representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) who spoke at a workshop organised by the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association (BMA) on the “New Requirements and Opportunities to Export Fruit and Vegetables to the USA” held recently at BMA headquarters.

There needs to be less talking and more actions taken in the agriculture industry for the benefit of farmers.
This is the word of Wismar Greaves, Managing Director and CEO of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL). He made these comments at the Crop and Livestock Insurance Seminar held at the Lester Vaughan School yesterday.

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.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)     The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat Programme Manager for Culture and Community Development, Dr Hilary Brown is of the opinion that the Caribbean needs to do more to strengthen its heritage tourism product.

She believes that “much more could be done” to develop the Region’s natural and built heritage which is an invaluable resource in building Heritage Tourism.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Barbadian Rosina Wiltshire has been appointed the First Caribbean Community Advocate for Gender Justice for the year 2010.

As part of her terms of reference, Dr. Rosina Wiltshire will be required to coordinate the research on Gender Based Violence (GBV) within the Caribbean Region and raise awareness of the need for further action to develop and strengthen integrated responses that will “address all social and legal sectors for the purposes of protection, provision of services; justice; and prevention.”

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Chief Medical Officers within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and representatives of regional institutions will meet on Friday 22 January at the headquarters of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency management Agency (CDEMA) in Bridgetown, Barbados to conclude a draft plan for the Community’s continued Health Intervention in Haiti after the devastating earthquake of 12 January.