News

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders meet in Haiti next week for their annual Inter-sessional summit where they will discuss a wide range of issues including crime and security, the CARICOM Regional Aid for Trade Strategy, and a report on the Regional Architecture for Financial Stability. A CARICOM Secretariat statement said that the “historic” meeting will be addressed by the host head of state, President Michel Martelly, St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony and the CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC - Caribbean Community (CARICOM) parliamentarians have been told they must adopt a strong position at the 9th Regional meeting of the African Caribbean and Pacific –European Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) against the EU’s approach to differentiation.

KINGSTON Jamaica, Observer - COFFEE and tea products maker Salada Foods is eyeing Africa. "We are looking at the African market as another area of potential growth for us," said Julian Rodney, Salada's general manager. "Salada has no presence there." With a particular focus on West Africa, Rodney reckons that the similarity in taste profile to Jamaicans makes the market attractive.

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC –Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony says Eastern Caribbean countries are being punished because of their socio-economic development. He was making reference to the decision by lending institutions and other organisations to label St. Lucia and other Caribbean countries as middle income nations thereby denying them access to grants and concessionary financing. Speaking at the launch of the post- 2015 St Lucia Consultations organized in collaboration with the United Nations System in the Eastern Caribbean, Prime Minister Anthony said St.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate - A 42 per cent cut in the quota from the Pine Hill Dairy (PHD) would be disastrous for the local dairy industry. This is the harsh reality painted by President of the Barbados Dairy and Beef Producers’ Association, Brian Allan, who explained that to date, farmers have been moving around their quota among themselves to avoid dumping, since the announcement of a 25 per cent cut back in September by Pine Hill Dairy. The Farmers’ Committee is due to meet with the PHD to negotiate the cuts for March, April and May, where the suggestion is a 42 per cent cut.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate - The CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank, has announced that they will be sponsoring the Junior Achievement (JA) Programme, so that more students throughout the island will be able to further develop and practise their entrepreneurial skills.

With this investment the CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank has become a ‘champion’ as the proceeds will allow the JA the flexibility to make a substantial impact in a variety of areas, over the next 3 years at the Grantley Adams Secondary School, which both the Bank and the JA have adopted.

(Caribbean News) - Three years after the devastating Port-au-Prince earthquake, one of the largest international relief projects in Haiti isn't anywhere near where the quake hit. It's an industrial park on the north coast halfway between Cap-Haitien and the border with the Dominican Republic. Aid agencies are pouring millions of dollars into the project to encourage people to move out of the overcrowded capital and create jobs. Critics, however, say the jobs don't pay enough to lift people out of poverty.

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Grenada’s Prime Minister Tillman Thomas has expressed appreciation to the Organization of American States (OAS) for the mission’s “speedy response” to his request to provide technical support to validate and verify the integrity of the new voter registration system.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The tourism industry in the Caribbean is showing signs of recovery with the sector recording a 5.4 per cent increase last year as compared to 2011, a senior Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) official has said. CTO chairman Beverly Nicholson-Doty said that the state of the industry gives “reason to be optimistic” and that “all the signs suggest Caribbean tourism is rallying.

BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – Parliament has given the nod to the terms of a restructured one billion dollar (One Belize dollar = US$0.49 cents) super-bond even as opposition legislators complained of the “arrogant and reckless” position of the government and being kept in the dark over the new initiative.