Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica - JAMAICA is to receive euro 0.5 million (approx J$63.4 million) from the European Union (EU) to assist victims of Hurricane Sandy in the eastern section of the island. The EU said the money, which will fund the operations of the French Red Cross in Portland, St Thomas and St Mary to repair damaged homes and helping victims overcome their losses and regain their livelihoods. The Dominican Republic has also been offered one million euro by the EU, which said it has decided to increase the aid granted to victims of Hurricane Sandy by euro 1.5 million.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - It is most unfortunate, but a number of Caribbean countries have been stained by corruption that has not gone unchecked in the international community. Drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, police killings, facilitating tax evasion, bribery of politicians, human rights abuses of every kind, corruption in governance, and lack of transparency in public procurement are but a few of the ills affecting the region.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn Tuesday said her office cannot at this time properly initiate criminal prosecution against any member of the Jamaica government over the failure to submit certain information to the Office of the Contractor General (OCG).
In a statement, the DPP said that she also made the decision not to initiate criminal proceedings against the Cabinet Secretary after closely examining the documentary material provided by the OCG along with 51 exhibits.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica is the second Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to have participated in a survey conducted by an international organization assessing enterprises in developing countries to help them better understand the non-tariff barriers to trade.
The International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint cooperation agency of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), also conducted the survey in Trinidad and Tobago under a three year programme that was launched in 2010.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC - The Jamaica Teachers Association, (JTA) has become the latest public sector union to sign a wage restraint agreement with the Portia Simpson Miller led administration.
Previously, the teachers’ union had stated that it could not make such an agreement and as a result did not join other public sector unions, which signed the agreement with the government last week.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - THERE is an intriguing story in yesterday's Sunday Observer about a push by The Bahamas to make sports a major engine of growth for its huge tourism industry. Those who haven't read it, should.
Much has been said in Jamaica about sports and its potential as a money spinner — especially since this island of 2.7 million is the envy of the world in terms of sporting achievement.
But as Assistant Sports Editor Mr Sean Williams pointed out in yesterday's story, the Bahamians aren't just "talking the talk, they are walking the walk".

KINGSTON, Jamaica - A senior economist with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is warning member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) that they face similar challenges now confronting the Eurozone countries.
Alfred Schipke, formerly of the IMF Western Hemisphere Division, said the Eastern Caribbean Currency and Economic Union, may be the smallest of three economic and currency unions worldwide, bringing together eight small islands, whose total combined population is less than a million.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Last week's death of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, happened as the Jamaican Government was advertising its appointment of Dr Wesley Hughes, the former financial secretary, as manager of its PetroCaribe Development Fund.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Seventeen countries of the Caribbean face a heightened period of economic uncertainty now that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died. Twelve of the 17 Caribbean countries are members of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). They have become highly reliant on their oil supplies from Venezuela on a part payment-part loan scheme, called PetroCaribe, without which their difficult economic circumstances would be decidedly worse.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC - The United States-based rating agency, Moody’s Investor Services has cut Jamaica's sovereign foreign currency credit rating to Caa3 from B3, citing the recent domestic debt exchange as a distressed event that still leaves the country with a high debt burden. Last month, Jamaica launched a National Debt Exchange (NDX) to alleviate the financing pressures of its sizeable debt load.