Antigua
A delegation from the Nevis Island government, headed by Premier Joseph Parry met recently with LIAT’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Challenger and other senior LIAT officials to agree on joint efforts for promoting that island destination for the upcoming 2011-2012 winter tourism season.
In welcoming the Nevis delegation to LIAT, Challenger noted the long-standing relationship between the carrier and Nevis and indicated the airline’s interest in furthering that relationship.
Premier Parry pointed to development programs and projects being pursued by his administration and the significance of reliable air transport links to that process.
During their discussions both sides agreed on a schedule of services between Nevis and Antigua for the winter season aimed at maximizing the destination’s connectivity to UK travelers using VC Bird International Airport in Antigua as a hub.
Guyana
The Guyana Council of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities, with a few thousands persons, have been sensitized of their civic duty and constitutional right to vote.
The organization is expecting more persons to participate in this year’s national elections scheduled for Nov. 28.
This is according to head of the organization, Leon Walcott, who emphasized that voters with disabilities at times experience difficulties when they want to exercise their franchise, not through any fault of the administration or Guyana Elections Commission, but the country’s cultural view of persons with disabilities.
Walcott noted that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided a reimbursable grant of US$8,082 as part of its Governance Enhancement Project. The project ends on Dec. 31 and so far persons in seven Regions have been reached.
Haiti
A human rights group said it has filed claims with the United Nations seeking damages on behalf of more than 5,000 Haitian cholera victims and their families.
The claims filed by the Boston-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti argue that the UN and its peacekeeping force are liable for hundreds of millions of dollars for failing to adequately screen peacekeeping soldiers.
They say the infected soldiers caused the outbreak when untreated waste from a U.N. base was dumped into a tributary of Haiti’s most important river.
“The sickness, death and ongoing harm from cholera suffered by Haiti’s citizens are a product of the U.N.’s multiple failures,” the complaint reads. “These failures constitute negligence, gross negligence, recklessness and deliberate indifference for the lives of Haitians,” the group said.
Cholera has sickened nearly 500,000 people and killed more than 6,500 others since it surfaced in Haiti in October 2010, according to Haitian Health authorities.
Jamaica
Scores of doctors and nurses from a Chinese navy hospital recently visited Jamaica to treat poor Jamaicans as part of a global humanitarian mission to portray China’s rapidly growing military as a responsible power.
The People’s Liberation Army’s 584-foot-long Peace Ark carries more than l00 medical volunteers who provide free surgery, CAT scans, eye care and other procedures.
The floating hospital was launched three years ago and is making its second foreign trip, the Chinese Embassy said. It is on a roughly 100-day journey around the Caribbean, where the United States is the largest investment source and military power.
The aim of the operation dubbed “Harmonious Mission,” is to soften the image of China’s million-member military and boost its ties with other nations’ armed forces.
Montserrat
Two officials from the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) recently visited Montserrat to begin preliminary work on the island’s national ICT policy strategy and implementation plan.
The CTU has been contracted through the Ministry of Communications, Work and Labor to develop the island’s first comprehensive strategy on the use of information and communications technologies.
Over the next three months, Nigel Cassimire, a telecommunications specialist and Rodney Taylor, business development and operations manager with the CTU, will be meeting with local stakeholders in the public and private sectors to look at Montserrat’s needs as they relate to developing an ICT-focused culture.
The core objectives are to conduct an environmental review in relation to ICT’s and to assess the e-readiness and develop needs of the information infrastructure and the local human resources.
Montserrat Premier Reuben Meade has been championing the cause for Montserrat to lead the region in its use of ICT across all sectors.
St. Lucia
The opposition Democratic Movement (NDM) is calling for the postponement of the Nov. 28 general elections as a result of the tragic vehicular accident that claimed the lives of l9 people.
NDM leader and former government minister Ausbert D ‘Auvergne has been joined by independent candidate, Janie Compton-Rambally, who represents the Micoud North constituency, from where the victims of the accident occurred.
The daughter of the later former Prime Minister Sir John Compton, and founder of the ruling party, said she would raise the issue with Prime Minister Stephenson King.
D’Augergne said that the people of the country and especially those families who were personally affected by the accident should he allowed to grieve without distraction of an election campaign.
Both the UWP and the SLP suspended campaign recently and the government has declared three days mourning in respect of those killed when the min-bus plunged off a cliff at Mount Sion in Choiseul, south east of the capital Castries. The passengers were returning from a funeral.
Trinidad
The Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) and the local Chamber of Commerce have signed an agreement with the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) to improve trade between the two countries.
The TTMA and Chamber in a joint release recently reported that on Oct. 27 this year the two business organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the JCC and the Bermudez Group of Companies as sponsor, in Kingston, Jamaica “for the official establishment of a Trade Desk to facilitate trade in goods and services between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.”
The Desk will assist members of the signatories to “establish trading partners by providing relevant market information, facilitating market access, networking and meetings.”
In the release, the TTMA and the Chamber pledged to continue to work alongside the JCC to facilitate and assist trade between the two countries.
Trinidad
About 6,000 persons have been arrested since the start of the State of Emergency on Aug. 12, 2011.
Director of the Public Affairs Unit of the Police Service, Sharon Lee Assang stated this while speaking at the daily news conference.
She said there were 463 gang-related arrests with 1,405 people being detained on outstanding warrants.
Some 12,739 rounds of ammunition, 34 magazines and 154 firearms were seized.
She said 484 people were arrested for breach of the curfew, 833 for other offences and 1,024 on drug offences.
The courts have freed more than 250 who were charged under the Anti-Gang Act after the Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute them.
Trinidad
Seven Trinidad and Tobago police officers including a female cop were arrested and charged jointly with three counts of murder.
Acting Sergeant Kemraj Sahadeo, Constables Roger Nicholas, Glenn Singh, Antonio Ramdhin, Ronaldo Rivero, Safraz Juman and WPC Nicole Clement recently appeared before a Magistrate in the Port of Spain Court and were remanded in custody until Nov. 15.
This is the first time in the history of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service that seven cops are jointly charged with murder.
They are accused of shooting to death Abigail Johnson, Allana Duncan and Kerron Eccles at Poui Trace, Barrackpore in South Trinidad on July 22, this year.
The victims were occupants in a car when police alleged they were fired upon. The officers were engaged in a shootout and when the smoke cleared the three occupants of the car were killed.
Their killings had sparked outrage by residents in their hometown in the deep South, Moruga who blocked the roadway during a standoff with the police.
Compiled by Azad Ali
