News

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Two well known individuals in the political sphere have declared that the controversial dealings involving the late Vere Bird Jnr – the elder brother for former Prime Minister Lester Bird – may have tarnished his political career somewhat. That was the sentiment echoed by Political Analyst Arvel Grant and Antigua Labour Party (ALP) Senator Lennox Weston on Sunday’s Big Issues. Both men, however, concurred that the son of the Father of the Nation had contributed to national development.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - Veteran politician and one of Guyana’s longest serving politicians, Reepu Daman Persaud died on Sunday, according to well-placed sources. He was 77. Hospital sources said he was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH)-based Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI) late Saturday night.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC - Dame Hilda Bynoe, Grenada’s first -ever native head of state has died here after a prolonged illness, relatives confirmed. She was 91. “Grenada considers the passing of Dame Hilda as a great loss, not just to Grenada but to the Caribbean as a whole. She came from a rural place and maintained her love for the people,” said Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell. Her son Roland Bynoe described her as a “Caribbean woman. She grew up in an era when the unity of the Caribbean was important”.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - The Ministry of National Security is reported to be awaiting answers from officials of Caribbean Airlines (CAL) over the carrier’s failure to secure work permits for several of its foreign pilots. The T&T Guardian understands the ministry wrote to the airline two weeks ago inquiring about five American pilots who have been operating out of T&T. The letter was sent through CAL’s line minister Larry Howai and copied to chairman Rabindra Moonan but to date there has been no response.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – President Donald Ramotar says he is not in favour of an opposition request for an extension of the debate on the GUY$209.8 billion (One Guyana dollar = US$0.01 cents) budget and urged legislators to put aside their differences for the betterment of Guyana. Debate on the fiscal package which began on March 25 is due to end on Tuesday and Ramotar said he has not seen “anything during the debate to make me very optimistic that they (opposition) are ready to want to see our country move forward.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - As much as we are inclined to commend the Government for the Budget it tabled in Parliament last week, we will reserve comment until the finance minister, Peter Phillips, presents the rest of his funding programme, including the allocations for the multilateral financial institutions (MFIs).
For, as they say, the devil's in the detail. Further, as is evidenced by its failure so far to tie up arrangements with the MFIs, this Government does not inspire confidence in its ability to accomplish anything within its promised time frames.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - JAMAICA has signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with Kuwait that will encourage and guide future investments into the Caribbean country.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – A consultant with the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), says Jamaica could receive financing from international organisations to assist with its efforts at reducing the impacts of climate change.
Dr. Oscar Coto says this could be achieved through advancement of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Programme of Activities (PoA) as well as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs).

WASHINGTON, CMC – As the World Ocean Council (WOC) gets ready to host the Save our Seas conference (SOS) 2013, the Washington-based Institute for Caribbean Studies (ICS) has issued a call for private sector leadership in securing the future of the Caribbean Sea.
“SOS 2013 is an unparalleled, world-class gathering of the diverse ocean business community. It sets the agenda for ensuring responsible industry operations,” said Dr. Claire Nelson, ICS’ Jamaican-born president. 

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC-The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will hear final submissions in the Shanique Myrie case when the court sits at its headquarters in Port of Spain on Monday and Tuesday. The Trinidad-based CCJ will hear testimony in the case brought by Myrie, 25, who alleged that when she traveled to Barbados on March 14, 2011 she was discriminated against because of her nationality, subjected to a body cavity search, detained overnight in a cell and deported to Jamaica the following day.