KINGSTON, Jamaica - This newspaper, as a matter of principle, welcomes this week's passage by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly of the long-awaited UN treaty on trade in arms.
News
WASHINGTON, CMC - The World Bank has outlined a “bold agenda” for ending poverty in the developing world, including the Caribbean.
“We are at an auspicious moment in history when the successes of past decades and an increasingly favorable economic outlook combine to give developing countries a chance - for the first time ever - to end extreme poverty within a generation,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
cash’ PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Caribbean Airlines is not cash-strapped, the airline’s vice-chairman, Mohan Jaikaran, said yesterday.
Jaikaran’s statement comes on the heels of a report in the weekend Mirror that the carrier was seeking an immediate $100 million injection from the Government to pay suppliers and employees.
“I do not know where anyone got that, but it is very sad that those are the reports coming out in the media,” Jaikaran said in a telephone interview yesterday.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) Tuesday predicted that the United States would implement “other unpleasant actions’ as it blanks the request from the Trinidad and Tobago government for information on whether or not National Security Minister Austin “Jack” Warner is the subject of a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) involving soccer’s global governing body.
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas is predicting an improved economic situation in St. Kitts-Nevis when he presents the federation’s national budget next Tuesday.
“I must point out that our country’s current account surplus, the overall balance surplus, and the primary balance surplus …will all be realized even after the reduction in corporate taxes and these surpluses will continue in 2014, even after the full effect of this reduction has been felt,” said Dr. Douglas.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government says it is continuing efforts for a wage restraint agreement within the public service, but not all unions have bought into the initiative which is seen as important to sealing a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Public Utilities Minister Horrace Dalley, said the three-year agreement, which was signed last month, will result in civil servants forgoing major wage increases for the period 2013 to 2015.
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – Civil servants have voted to take to the streets on Thursday in support of their demands for increased salaries of more than four per cent that the St. Lucia government says it is not able to pay.
The action by the Civil Service Association (CSA) also indicates a growing spilt within the Trade Union Federation (TUF) after CSA president Mary Isaac questioned the “solidarity” being shown by other public sector unions grouped under the umbrella body.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaicans will know what the Government intends to spend during the 2013/14 financial year on April 4, when Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips tables the Estimates of Expenditure for that year in the House.
Tabling of the Estimates will follow the State Opening of Parliament, when Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen will deliver the Throne Speech outlining the Government's priorities for 2013/14.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Barbados continues to bank on its people as its most valuable resource – a position that is reinforced by the heavy investment made by the State in the areas of education and health care. It is a natural synergy; after all, why invest millions in equipping a workforce with skills that are unable to be optimally implemented due to low productivity stemming from ill health? And of course, with health care being largely State-funded, the more that can be done to reduce avoidable illnesses, the better.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - The figures have been known for some years now— over half of the adult population of Trinidad and Tobago is overweight. But a recent comparative statistic, which ranks T&T as the third fattest country in the world, emphasises just how dire this situation is.