BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - TODAY WE REFLECT on the life and times of the Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow, one of this island’s most important and influential leaders of the last century. Now a National Hero, Barrow will be remembered for many things – as Premier and Prime Minister and the man who led much of the social engineering that transformed this island-state. It is fortuitous that today, in the United States, the life and times of another great man of the 20th century, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, is also being celebrated. These two men stood for justice and equality.
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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - All Barbadians will breathe a huge sigh of relief now that there has been a settlement in the LIME dispute, and all parties at the negotiating table should be commended for their willingness to sit down and calmly, if perhaps a little belatedly, look at the issues and search for compromise. Our Prime Minister deserves kudos for using the prestige and respect due to his office to bring the parties together so that he could assist them in searching for compromise and settlement in the national interest.
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Many of the biggest players in the Caribbean tourism industry have gathered here for the annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s Caribbean Travel Marketplace conference. It is the second year in a row that the Bahamas has been the host country for the conference; it has been held at the Atlantis resort each time. The conference joins suppliers, such as hotels, restaurants and tourist boards, with buyers — tour operators and wholesalers, along with heavy industry-focused discussions.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Wayne Chen, president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF), has welcomed the Caribbean Examinations Council's (CXC) plans to introduce subjects related to entrepreneurship as part of efforts to boost the economies of the region. Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Chen said it was an initiative for which he had been lobbying for some time.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Political Leader of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) Gaston Browne has stoutly rejected the request by Attorney Vere Bird III to contest the next general elections on the ALP ticket. Browne, in a brief conversation with OBSERVER Media, said, “Not on my ticket,” when questioned about Bird’s interest. Bird made his interest known during a branch meeting last week and was awaiting a response from the executive of the party.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -THE CARIBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL (CXC) is taking steps to reduce incidents of fraud.
Speaking to the DAILY NATION after a service to mark the organisation’s 40th anniversary at St Matthias Anglican Church yesterday evening, senior assistant registrar for examinations and security Susan Giles reported that they were introducing an audit system.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - ONE of the things that we would like to wish for Barbados in 2013 is that the energy policy that is being put in place should start to bring substantial benefits for the island and its people.
Energy is one of those commodities that stand to build or break a country depending on what place the country lies on the radar of energy usage and availability. Over the past decade the price of oil has risen astronomically and there are no indications that the situation would get any better unless sources of energy are found.
CASTRIES, St Lucia, CMC-Attorney’s representing Speaker of the House of Assembly, Peter Foster, have demanded an apology from Opposition Leader Stephenson King over remarks in which he accused Foster of conflict of interest surrounding the inquiry into the St. Lucia Fire Service.
In a statement last week King claimed that Foster’s law firm had been hired as Counsel to the Commission while he was also representing a media house which the Chief Fire Officer has sued for defamation.
HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC - Premier Craig Cannonier has announced a 50 per cent reduction in the fleet of official cars used by cabinet ministers as his new One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) administration moves to reduce expenditure.
Premier Cannonier said while the OBA is still analysing the country's financial state, voters have clearly indicated that they “want and expect our government to be rational and organized as we face these enormous financial challenges that were inherited from the PLP (Progressive Liberal Party).
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy says some CARICOM nations have been operating less than neighbourly by putting up non-tariff barriers to Guyanese products. At a conference for stakeholders in the coconut industry last week he told those gathered that it was an issue the government has to tackle aggressively. “They study us more than we study (ourselves); they know exactly what we have so for example they want the CET (Common External Tariff) for sugar, they know exactly how much we can give them so they ask for more than that.