18. July 2009 by admin.

STEAMED PUDDING AND SOUSE; MACARONI PIE

CHICKEN PELAU; CORN MEAL COU COU

PEAS AND RICE; LASAGNE; FRIED FISH

BBQ CHICKEN; BBQ PORK

GRILLED FISH; STEAMED VEGS; SALADS

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18. July 2009 by admin.

St. Lucia Star
Written By: Star Reporter on Jul 17th, 2009

CARILEC (The Regional Electric Utility Association) has secured funding of approximately US$500,000 over a three-year period from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to undertake programs related to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiatives on behalf of its utility members. The funding has been secured under the IDB’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI) program. The contract agreement for the funding was signed by both parties in June 2009.

From L to R: Nigel Hosein, Executive Director CARILEC, Marius St Rose Chairman of the Board of Directors LUCELEC, Prime Minister of St Lucia Stephenson King, Trevor Louisy, immediate past chairman of CARILEC & Managing Director of CARILEC at the CARILEC CEO conference held in St Lucia.

The Caribbean Electric Utility Service Corporation is a not for profit association currently consisting of 33 electric utilities within the Caribbean Region and approximately 60 Associate Members (who are suppliers, equipment manufacturers, consultants and other industry stakeholders). The association is mandated to utilize the grant to enhance and strengthen its capability to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives amongst its utility members.

In order to achieve this objective, CARILEC will use the funding to finance the following over the three year period: conduct annual performance benchmarking studies for its utility members; contract the services of a Renewable Energy Advisor to be the focal point within the Secretariat on renewable energy and energy efficiency matters; preparation of a Position Paper on Electric Utility Regulation in the Caribbean; the development of a prototype Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for member utilities to utilize in encouraging private sector entities to develop their own renewable energy capabilities. The grant will also to be used for CARILEC to conduct training programs for capacity building of electric utility personnel in renewable energy, biofuels development and carbon trading markets. The training will also include developing utility members’ expertise in carrying out walk-through energy audits for customers to assist them with energy conservation to reduce electricity wastage.

Nigel Hosein; the Executive Director of CARILEC; who has been instrumental in sourcing the funding, says that he views the grant as a means for CARILEC to greatly assist the regional utilities with enhancing their renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in their efforts to provide reliable and affordable electricity for customers. He stated that the grant also comes at an opportune time where we are beginning to see in the past couple months an increase in oil prices (currently around US$70 per barrel from approximately US$30 per barrel at the beginning of the year). Therefore, the region needs to continue to aggressively pursue efforts to reduce our dependence on oil for electricity generation and look for alternative fuel sources while at the same time implementing energy efficiency and energy conservation programs.

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18. July 2009 by admin.

Written By: Alisha Ally 

The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States launched its public awareness materials under the OECS Protecting the Eastern Caribbean Region’s Biodiversity Project, or the PERB for short. The launch was held at the Ministry of Economic Affairs Conference Room in the American Drywall Building Friday morning
(July 10).

Head of the OECS Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU), Keith Nichols.

According to Head of the OECS Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU), Keith Nichols, the focus of PERB is to make development issues urgent across member states and emphasize the need to protect the ecological systems that support the development agenda. He went on to say the key to fulfilling the agenda is education and awareness, especially when there are competing interests at loggerheads with conservation and preservation.

Crispin d’Auvergne made his remarks as a representative of National Focal Point
St Lucia and explained, “If you look at the growth in St Lucia, you will see that we are competing interests for our natural resources all over our island. Each sector is vying for its own piece of our natural habitat but without consideration for the needs of other sectors and that cannot continue to happen. Our very economy is dependent on the availability of sufficient natural capital to secure the requirements of all the sectors and to meet the needs of our growing population. We need to find ways in which each sector can grow but in an equitable manner.” He stressed the natural environment is pivotal to socio-economic prosperity, therefore, maintaining biodiversity is paramount.

In October 2007, the OECS entered into an agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), facilitating access to donor funds to continue work in the region on biodiversity conservation. Biodiversity conservation is a priority for the USAID since healthy, biodiverse systems form the foundation for economic and social development, which is a priority for this agency. At Friday’s event, USAID representative Michael Taylor says the biodiversity awareness campaign must not only educate the public but also target the policymakers behind the development process.

As an OECS ESDU document states: “The OECS islands form the eastern most boundary of the Caribbean region and these islands are rich in biodiversity, which features terrestrial systems such as coastal and rain forests, and marine systems such as mangrove wetlands, seagrass beds and coral reefs. However, there are signs of degradation of these fragile systems and as such, their associated species and environmental services are being put at risk.” A number of these species residing in OECS territories are endemic to the region, and this degradation is, for the most part, associated with poorly planned developments, population growth, unsustainable agricultural and tourism activities, pollution and overexploitation of natural resources.

The region’s governments have expressed their commitment to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity after recognizing the importance of biodiversity to our economic growth and way of life. Their commitment has been demonstrated through the signing of relevant regional and international agreements. One such agreement is the region’s St George’s Declaration, which includes a principle to protect and conserve biological diversity.

The development of the PERB Project was based on past work in the region that has highlighted issues affecting the OECS Member States, the needs of these countries and lessons learnt. The project comprises four components. The first two components focus on addressing issues at the national level and the other two components focus at the regional level.

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18. July 2009 by admin.

Steel structure supporting a steel storage bin at Caribbean Cement’s new Mill 5 collapsed while being filled at the plant in Kingston Wednesday night. - fileCARIBBEAN CEMENT Company Limited yesterday said that although it had suffered a setback in the commissioning of its new state-of-the-art mill, this would not affect the quality of the product.

A large material-storage bin collapsed Wednesday night while being filled. The company on Friday emphasised that it was not a silo which had collapsed.

“Our silos at Carib Cement are large, concrete structures primarily for the storage of cement. All of these are intact,” said public relations officer Lystra Sharp.

On Thursday, the cement company said that an independent investigation into the collapse of the storage bin was being conducted “to ascertain the cause of failure and to prevent a recurrence”. Carib Cement said that it expected to have a full understanding by early next week.

In the statement, marketing manager, Alice Hyde, gave the assurance that there would be adequate cement in the market for all of Carib Cement’s customers.

“There will be no interruption to the supply by Carib Cement. Silos and warehouses are full, and the operational plant was not affected by this accident,” she said.

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18. July 2009 by admin.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning last evening said that comments made in the Parliament by Opposition MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh, that ethnic cleansing is being carried out among doctors at the Port of Spain General Hospital, are the kind to be expected from “gutter snipe” and not a Parliamentarian. Manning further said that the Parliament is no place for “that kind of talk”, as yesterday’s debate on a bill concerning ambulance services in this country turned into one that was almost overtaken by the issue of race, after Gopeesingh said there were more doctors of African descent than Indian descent at the public health institution. “I don’t want you to bring it. I’m not interested in it. You see, Mr Speaker, it would have been enough if the member had come and said ‘on the basis of this evidence I make this statement’, I would have objected also, I would have objected also, Mr Speaker, because evidence or no evidence, that kind of talk in a Parliament like this does us no good,” Manning said. The Prime Minister’s comments came in an unplanned contribution to the debate on the Emergency Ambulance Services and Emergency Medical Personnel Bill, 2009, during the House of Representatives sitting at the Red House, Port of Spain. He made them in response to Gopeesingh’s comments earlier in the proceedings that according to what he had been told, there was ethnic cleansing being carried out among doctors at the Port of Spain General Hospital. Saying that he had respect for Gopeesingh as a doctor and a senior Parliamentarian, Manning said he was “very much taken aback when on the basis on what the honourabale member said he was told, he sought to come to the Parliament to raise an issue of race and to raise it in such a manner that could be the source of tremendous discord”. “It is not the kind of talk that I would ascribe to a member of Parliament. It sounded like the kind of talk that you will expect from a gutter snipe, that is how it sounded to me. Most inappropriate,” Manning said, calling on Gopeesingh to withdraw the remarks.

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18. July 2009 by admin.

Anna Ramdass aramdass@trinidadexpress.com

President George Maxwell Richards and Prime Minister Patrick Manning, as well as Government Ministers and Opposition MPs, should not get salary increases because of the current economic downturn in the country. This was the recommendation of the Salaries Review Commission (SRC) in its 89th report, which raised red flags after its review of the economy and advised the need for caution. The report was laid in the Parliament yesterday. Information Minister Neil Parsanlal, in a statement to the House, said, “The SRC has proposed, and Cabinet has accepted, that there will be no salary increases for holders of offices within the purview of the Salaries Review Commission, inclusive of members of this honourable House, at this time. The SRC has recommended instead that consideration be given to a review of these remuneration arrangements before the usual three-year interval, should there be a reversal of the current downward trend in the economic environment.” He added that the SRC indicated some exceptions to its recommendations with respect to the salaries, but for only the following office holders: - Certain offices in the Judicial and Legal Service which had not previously been evaluated, but had been slotted into the existing structure as an interim measure; - Those offices in the Judicial and Legal services which Cabinet agreed should be re-evaluated; - New offices which had been placed within the purview of the Salaries Review Commission. In its report, the SRC stated, “In light of the current economic environment, globally and locally, we are of the view that it is incumbent on us to proceed with caution. While we are not insensitive to the submissions made by office holders, we consider that the environment demands a prudent approach to compensation reviews and sacrifices at all levels of the society.” The SRC stated that it faced considerable difficulty in preparing the report given the constantly changing economic environment. “In fact, the current environment has been described as a nightmare for policymakers, given the extent of its unpredictability. Indeed, in many advanced economies and increasingly in developed ones, the worsening economic situation has been marked by mounting job losses, salary freezes and demands for a review of the bases and elements of executive compensation,” the SRC further stated. The SRC noted that when it began its review in January last year, the economic outlook for this country was positive. However, in a matter of months that changed. The SRC noted that Government had projected that real GDP would grow at a rate of about five per cent per annum over the period 2009 to 2011. But given the slowdown in economic activity, the Central Bank, by April this year, stated the new projection rate for growth stood at zero per cent to one per cent. The SRC also noted the fluctuating prices on the cost of food as well as the inflationary pressures on the country. “In the final stages of our review, the financial crisis which began in the United States spread throughout the world, resulting in a global economic slump,” stated the SRC, adding that with this it noted an emerging trend in the way different countries treated with this problem. The SRC pointed out that in 2008 and 2009, parliamentarians in the United Kingdom and Canada accepted lower increases in salaries than those recommended by their salaries board. It also noted that in New Zealand, parliamentarians voted unanimously not to accept a pay rise in 2009. Similarly, governments in Australia and Bermuda announced the implementation of pay freezes for parliamentarians and in Singapore there have been salary cuts for parliamentarians. Closer to home, the SRC noted that the Prime Minister of Jamaica took a 15 per cent reduction in his salary and requested his colleagues take a pay cut of ten per cent. Additionally, in Jamaica, public sector wages were frozen effective April 1, 2009. The following are the current salaries of higher office holders, exclusive of perks and additional benefits; President-$49,500 Prime Minister-$48,000 Minister of Government (Cabinet) -$33,000 Minister of Government (non Cabinet)-$27,300 Leader of the Opposition-$23,800 Opposition MPs-$14,000 Independent and Opposition Senators-$10,500

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