Moontown

Capt Robert Mansell (Pic courtesy of St Maarten Island Time.com)

It serves, as an affirmation, of the ability and leadership skills demonstrated by Williams in her provisional role as Executive Director of CARICOM IMPACS over the last three years which included coordination of regional security arrangements for CWC 2007.

Lynne Anne Williams, Executive Director of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS).

It is also, an acknowledgement of her achievements, in her previous portfolios in national and regional security, over the last 29 years, starting with a fifteen year military career where she specialized in Administration and Logistics, Military Intelligence, and Information Systems, followed by 14 years as senior executive within Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of National Security.

Williams is a graduate of the University of West Indies with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in Economics and Spanish with a minor in French. Her post graduate studies include International Relations, Security Administration, Disaster Relief Supply Management and Network Systems Analysis, Topologies and Design.

Williams has also in the past nine years addressed several international and regional audiences on regional intelligence and information sharing systems and regional security threat assessments.

Working alongside regional security ICT specialists, she has contributed significantly to and overseen the development of various mechanisms and systems to facilitate integration of the Region’s initiatives for enhanced information sharing and coordinated implementation of the mandates of CARICOM Heads of Government and Ministers of National Security.

One example of this is the legacy Advanced Passenger Information System managed at the Joint Regional Communications Centre in Barbados, in close collaboration with the Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre in Port of Spain, both sub-agencies of IMPACS and included in Ms Williams’ management portfolio.

Williams’ formal appointment comes on the heels of the signing of the Headquarters Agreement with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. These developments portend well for the Region’s crime and security agenda, as the Agency focuses its undivided attention to some of the key regional initiatives that it has been developing for some time including, the CARICOM Travel Card System (CARIPASS), the Advanced Cargo Information System (ACIS), and the Regional Integrated Ballistics Information System (RIBIN).

IMPACS is also spearheading a number of projects aimed at developing Human Resource capacity across the Region in various aspects of law enforcement, border security and intelligence.

CARICOM IMPACS is considered the nerve center of the new Regional management framework for Crime and Security matters which comprises of the CARICOM Council of Ministers of National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE), the Security Policy Advisory Committee (SEPAC) and standing committees of operational heads including regional Commissioners of Police, Military Chiefs, Immigration Chiefs, and Comptrollers of Customs and Heads of Intelligence Units.

In partnership with her dedicated team at IMPACS and in close collaboration with security practitioners across the Region, Williams is focused on ensuring the implementation of the Region’s Crime and Security Agenda and remains positively committed to the objective of a safer and more secure Caribbean.

Portia Simpson Miller

“The Opposition is most heartened that the Government has given a firm signal that they are seriously considering having the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as our final Court of Appeal,” Simpson Miller said in her contribution to the debate on the Bill, in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

“We are pleased for several reasons, including the fact that we were more than reluctant to give our approval for the provisions of the new Charter to be interpreted by the Privy Council (in London),” the Opposition Leader stated.

“We wish to announce loud and clear that this government now has our co-operation,” Simpson Miller added, signaling that the Opposition was ready to ensure that the Charter Bill gets the required two-thirds majority votes in Parliament. This followed revelation of the government’s willingness to review its position against the regional court becoming Jamaica’s final appellate court until its concerns about the system of appointment of the judges and the court’s financing were addressed.

She welcomed the move to put the legislative foundation in place for the Charter of Rights and the discussions on joining the Caribbean Court of Justice to be undertaken at the same time. The United Kingdom-based Privy Council is presently Jamaica’s final Court of Appeal.

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, said that recently that his party’s reservations about the CCJ have been reduced by recent developments, including the appointment of a regional judicial services commission to appoint the judges, instead of appointments sanctioned by politicians, and the establishment of a trust fund to finance the court.

These positions were discussed by Golding and a Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee at Jamaica House on Thursday October 15.

Simpson-Miller also expressed support for the Government’s position on same-sex marriages. She said that the Opposition was “completely satisfied” with the Joint Select Committee’s recommendation of a provision to restrict marriage, and similar unions, to one man and one woman within Jamaica.

She suggested that the provision should be specifically spelt out, so that there could be no ambiguity.

The Charter of Rights Bill will replace section three of the Jamaica Constitution, which deals with the fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens. Debate on the Bill is scheduled to continue at the next sitting of the House of Representatives.

Son of Jamaica’s national hero, Marcus Garvey, Dr Julius Garvey (centre), admiring the plaque officially naming the Marcus Garvey Hall of Culture, after it was unveiled at the Organization of American States’ (OAS) in Washington, DC, Wednesday (October 21). Also in the picture are, from left: Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Ambassador Albert R Ramdin; Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States and the OAS,  Anthony Johnson; and Secretary General of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza. (JIS photo)

The Marcus Garvey Hall of Culture, located on the first floor of the historic main building of the OAS headquarters in downtown Washington, DC, is a venue for major cultural events.

Along with the unveiling, an exhibition of books, papers and artifacts entitled “Marcus Garvey: National Hero of Jamaica”, was mounted by the OAS Columbus Memorial Library to mark the occasion.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Secretary General of the OAS, Miguel Insulza, said that it was appropriate that Garvey be recognised by the organization, because he was active throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Son of Jamaica’s national hero, Marcus Garvey, Dr Julius Garvey (centre), admiring the plaque officially naming the Marcus Garvey Hall of Culture, after it was unveiled at the Organization of American States’ (OAS) in Washington, DC, Wednesday (October 21). Also in the picture are, from left: Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Ambassador Albert R. Ramdin; Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States and the OAS, His Excellency Anthony Johnson; and Secretary General of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza.

“This great Jamaican travelled throughout Central and South America, where he observed the difficult conditions under which his people lived and worked. He was not only perceived to be a trouble-maker, he was a trouble maker demanding an improvement in living conditions and human rights for citizens all over the Americas,” Insulza said.

“We are still working on the convention against discrimination, and we hope to complete this process very soon. While this convention speaks against all forms of discrimination, it was conceived as a convention against racial discrimination,” he noted.

Mr. Insulza challenged the audience to use Garvey’s bust, donated to the OAS by the Jamaican Government in the early 1980s and displayed in the Hall of Heroes (upstairs the Hall of Culture), as well as the renamed Hall of Culture, as symbols of equality and justice in the Americas.

Jamaica’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, Anthony Johnson, said that the ceremony in honour of Garvey was significant for Jamaica and the Caribbean.

He said that Garvey’s marches through Harlem, Kingston and Havana, as well as his exhibitions of paintings and sculptures, were among his arsenal of tools to build up self-esteem among black people, and to use that self-esteem to promote commercial and industrial success.

Responding to the tributes, Garvey’s son, Dr Julius Garvey, recalled his father as a 20th century leader, who dedicated his life to educating and uniting African people across the globe.

“As we advance into the 21st century, we must work together and develop and grow as one united people,” he recommended.

The ceremony was attended by ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives of the member states of the OAS, members of the diplomatic corps in Washington, DC and representatives of organizations and agencies within the metropolitan area.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (BGIS) — The Barbados Cabinet recently agreed that the Ministry of Health should enter into negotiations with potential consultants on the issue of a new hospital for this country.

Barbados Health Minister Donville Inniss

This was revealed recently by Minister of Health Donville Inniss, as he addressed a press conference called to update the public on developments in his Ministry. He noted that the consultants would be engaged for the purpose of “conducting a feasibility study on the construction of a new hospital on a greenfield (new and rural) site, to conduct appraisals of alternative sites and make recommendations on the most suitable location for a new general hospital.”

According to the Health Minister, they would also be required to advise on cost estimates for the construction of such a hospital, as well as make recommendations on possible financing models, whether a public-private partnership or traditional financing measures.

The process would also call for consultations with stakeholders on the various options, a point which Inniss emphasised was critical. “We take this very seriously. We are of the view that the consultants have to engage the public, staff and other stakeholders on the various issues,” he stressed.

It was also revealed that the Health Ministry was moving ahead with plans to relocate its staff from the deteriorating Jemmotts Lane facility by the beginning of next year. Minister Inniss said: “We have already relocated the Barbados Drug Service from Jemmotts Lane to Fontabelle, and the National Insurance Board is currently working on renovating two-and-one-half floors at the Frank Walcott Building on Culloden Road to accommodate the main Ministry of Health.

“We expect that renovations should be completed by the end of the year with the intention of the Ministry’s staff moving shortly there afterwards.”

He noted that the staff complement of the Health Ministry was almost 3,000 and not all persons could be accommodated at the Culloden Road location. However, he pointed out that Government was “very much committed to providing decent accommodation for public officers”.

Members of the media also heard that Cabinet had agreed to the establishment of an independent National Health Care Quality Council as the national coordinating agency for quality management in the health sector. The Health Minister acknowledged that the initiative was being pushed because “we have heard the concerns with regards to quality of care being raised in both public and private institutions and facilities”.

According to him, the terms of reference of this committee would involve advising the Ministry on issues pertaining to quality care; providing annual reports to the Minister on the quality of the sector; setting benchmarks on which performance can be measured and establishing performance standards and protocols, measurable indicator and evidence-based tools that should be applied in evaluating every aspect of the health services and to audit the performance of institutions and providers; licensing health care institutions and develop linkages with reputable international agencies to facilitate interaction and cooperation with respect to benchmarking, peer review and accreditation.

It is proposed that the Council should be established by law under the National Health Services Act, Cap 44, and as stated by the Minister, it would be “an important tool in assisting in raising the standard of health care across the board in Barbados, both in the public and private sectors”.

At least 10 passengers died, and another 12 were injured in an accident on one of the main freeways in Caracas. AFP PHOTO

“Eight people died at the scene and another two” died at local hospitals on Friday, said Victor Lira, director of the area’s Civil Protection agency, adding that some of the wounded were in a critical condition.

The head of the city’s firefighters, William Martinez, said the truck appeared to have lost control and struck the back of the bus, pushing it onto the median where it flipped over.

Authorities have launched an investigation to determine whether excessive speeding or a brake failure may have caused the crash.

Last weekend, at least 24 people died in two traffic accidents on Venezuela’s chaotic freeways.

Some 130 firefighters, backed by National Guard troops, were still trying to put out the massive fire, hours after an early morning explosion triggered the blaze at the Caribbean Petroleum Corp. storage facility at Bayamon.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Matinicus enforces a safety zone following a fuel-tank-farm explosion near San Juan. Photo courtesy of US Coast Guard

After initially destroying 11 tanks at the 40-tank site, the fire spread to at least six more, containing products such as jet fuel, bunker fuel and gasoline. It was one of the largest fires ever in the US Caribbean island territory.

“There are 17 tanks ablaze, and the firefighters are cooling the rest to avoid their explosion,” Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuno said. He declared a state of emergency in San Juan and four surrounding towns.

As flames licked up to a height of 100 feet over the oil facility, pushing a mushrooming black plume of smoke into the air, Fortuno announced the mandatory evacuation of the Sabana Amelia neighborhood, where around 1,000 to 1,500 people lived. The neighborhood is in the same Catano district from where around 350 people were evacuated earlier.

Despite the size of the blaze, no deaths have been reported, but at least two people were slightly hurt. Schools in the San Juan metropolitan area were closed during the day.

Winds from the south were pushing the huge column of black smoke from the fire out over the Atlantic, away from the population centers, but officials from the National Weather Service were watching for any wind changes that could threaten neighborhoods and require more evacuations.

Governor Fortuno asked residents to stay calm and remain indoors. Officials said they were also watching out for rain, which could mix with the smoke to create toxic rain.

Although officials said the incident was initially being treated as an accident, FBI agents were assisting the authorities in investigating the cause of the explosion.

The US Chemical Safety Board said it was also deploying a six-person team to San Juan to help with the inquiry.

EXPLOSION “LIKE EARTHQUAKE”

Fortuno said security had been protectively stepped up at the island’s other oil facilities in the south coast town of Guayanilla and at Yabucoa on the east coast.

Puerto Rican authorities temporarily froze prices of gasoline and other oil products to prevent price gouging, but ruled out any risk of serious fuel shortages.

The early morning explosion which caused the fire rocked the surrounding area, shattering windows in some buildings.

“The heat was incredible. It was an inferno,” said firefighter Juan Cruz, one of the first on the scene.

Housewife Tamara Rivera, 37, said she was awakened by a loud explosion in her Puerto Nuevo neighborhood. “I thought it was an earthquake, but when I went outside, I saw the big orange glow. It looked like daylight over there,” she said.

Following the blast and fire, the US Coast Guard established a safety zone in the part of San Juan Bay closest to the fire location. No vessels were permitted to enter this zone without prior permission from the Captain of the Port.

But the terminal where tourist cruise lines dock in Old San Juan was not affected, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

The Caribbean Petroleum Corp (CPC) facility also included a 48,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery, but this was not in operation, according to the CPC website. There were no immediate details on the extent of damage from the fire.

CPC has under contract more than 200 service stations in Puerto Rico to market Gulf brand gasoline and diesel.

Residents jammed gasoline stations, fearing a fuel shortage, but Fortuno said the island had enough supplies.