Member

(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.

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The Bahamas has praised Ireland for its contribution to the development of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) saying it is also playing a pivotal role in the island’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said the establishment of an Irish consulate here will further deepen diplomatic relations between the countries since they established in 2007.

CGX starts drilling Eagle-1 well -same spot it was evicted from in June 2000
By STABROEK NEWS , MONDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2012
CGX  announced that it has begun drilling for oil in the Eagle-1 Well in its 100% owned and operated Corentyne Petroleum Prospecting Licence – the same spot it was evicted from by Surinamese gunboats 12 years ago.
CGX’s rig is the second to be drilling for oil simultaneously offshore Guyana, a first for this country. CGX also has a 25% interest in the other licence which also includes Repsol and Tullow.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, Express- NOW THAT Carnival 2013 is over Trinidad and Tobago may well give some thought to last weekend's statement by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines that this country is breaching Caricom's Revised Treaty in providing fuel subsidy support to state-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL). Gonsalves currently wears two hats pertaining to regional air transport— he is chairman of the shareholders group for island-hopping airline LIAT and he has lead responsibility among Caricom Heads of Government for air and sea transportation.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - WE have a sense that the Government's version of JDX, being called the National Debt Exchange Offer, is a smart way to squeeze $17 billion annually out of the system, without sending the nation into panic. We will return to this tomorrow in this space. But at the same, we also have the sense that Monday night's national broadcast by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips, which announced the JDX 2, has to be followed soon by a deeper effort to mobilise the nation around resolving our debt issue and raising revenues.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - It was not a happy group inside the Bank of Jamaica Auditorium in Kingston yesterday morning as Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips hosted the launch of the National Debt Exchange (NDX). The second of its kind in three years, Simpson Miller has indicated that the offer is a critical component of both the anticipated International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement and the country's debt-reduction programme.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - ELIMINATING discretionary waivers altogether could return $4 billion in revenue to the Government. But the tax breaks, which are approved after applications are considered by the finance ministry, mostly go to charitable organisations, while public sector bodies and government contracts take up a significant portion of the rest. What's more, with a targeted primary surplus of 7.5 per cent of GDP, or approximately $100 billion next fiscal year, the possible savings hardly dent a $20 billion to $40 billion shortfall.