RICE AND PEAS; VEGETABLE CHOWMEIN
SCALLOPED POTATOES; CORNMEAL COU COU
MACARONI PIE; BBQ CHICKEN
BBQ SPARERIBS; BBQ PIGTAIL
BAKED PORK; FRIED PORK
BAKED SNAPPER; FRIED STEAK FISH; GRILLED FISH
BEEF STEW; FISH GRAVY
STEAMED VEGETABLES; TOSSED SALAD
BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CUOPM) – St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas announced on Tuesday night the dissolution of the 11-seat Federal Parliament, paving the way for general elections by March 2010.
“I have today, in accordance with Section 47, Subsection 4 of The Constitution of St Christopher & Nevis, advised the Governor General, Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, to dissolve the Parliament of St Christopher & Nevis with immediate effect, in order that we may prepare the way for the general elections that we have all been so eager to hold,” said Douglas in a nationwide radio and television address. No dates for Nomination Day and Election Day were announced. “Let me put in context yet another charge being promoted by the (opposition) PAM – namely, that my Government is reluctant to hold elections based on the current boundaries. The people of St Kitts and Nevis have delivered massive victories to the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party based on these boundaries. In addition, the dramatic transformations in the physical, economic, social, and political infrastructure of our nation by Labour have impressed upon the voters of St Kitts and Nevis the competence, the effectiveness, and the social and economic progress that successive Labour administrations have delivered,” said Douglas. Douglas said his St Kitts-Nevis Labour Government had no reluctance, and has no reluctance, in going to the polls on the existing boundaries. “There was an inequity to be fixed, we had determined that we would do all in our power to fix it in the best interest of our nation, and that is what we were committed to do,” Douglas said. The Prime Minister announced that the Commonwealth, Caricom, and OAS have accepted his invitation to observe the national elections. “It is my fervent hope that when the Commonwealth Expert Team comes in to observe the elections, there will be no “blame game” on the part of PAM”. |
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 President Bharrat Jagdeo and other panelists at the World Resources Institute side event GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) — Guyana’s pioneering work in climate planning and strategy was recognized at a forum on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations global summit in Copenhagen, Denmark as it moved into its high-level stage. This country was cited for the development of its low carbon growth strategy and the progress made with the Norway–Guyana Agreement and the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Jagdeo was the featured speaker at the event. It was organized to showcase new research WRI has produced on the processes by which countries can develop plans to mitigate emissions, particularly from forests and from energy. It also looked at adapting to climate change and creating a platform for government, private sector, and civil society actors from developed and developing countries to share perspectives on the requirements of effective planning processes. Jagdeo in his address outlined the approach Guyana has taken in working towards establishing a model of how REDD+ can work towards addressing the drivers of deforestation at a national scale while at the same time ensuring key principles of participation, transparency, and accountability are upheld. REDD is Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation and is a central feature of this country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Guyana last month reached an historic deal with Norway under which that country will provide US$250M in support over five years for the LCDS. The President is due to continue meeting Wednesday morning with other leaders arriving for the summit, including Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. President Nasheed has taken a global lead on the need for urging action on climate change. The Maldives is one of the countries most vulnerable to rising sea levels and its Cabinet recently held an underwater meeting to draw attention the problems of climate change. At a side event, organized by the Caribbean Climate Change Centre and attended by several regional Prime Ministers including Dean Barrow of Belize, Stephenson King of St Lucia, Tillman Thomas of Grenada, and CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington and Deputy Secretary General Edward Greene, Jagdeo pointed out that at Copenhagen, CARICOM’s position will be tested. He underlined the need to have a realistic assessment of what is likely to emerge and how as a region CARICOM can encourage a favourable outcome. He pointed out that while the IPCC (Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change) in its fourth assessment report emphasized a target of 2 degrees Celsius, the current pledges for greenhouse gas emission cuts by Annex 1 countries are far from achieving this. He noted that commitments from China and India are critical in moving this forward and the challenge to the negotiations is how to get these two major players on board. Referring to financing, Jagdeo pointed out that while there is a commendable effort spearheaded by the United Kingdom and France to mobilise fast-track financing of US$10 billion annually, this is proving to be a challenge and is nowhere near the level of financing required. However, he said, it is a start and should be supported with a view towards ratcheting this up to US$150 billion by 2020 through a variety of funding sources, including public and private financing. (Caribnet) |
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| HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) — Cuba’s arrest of a US government contractor employed to help Cuban dissidents may rattle US President Barack Obama’s initiative to improve ties with Havana but should not derail it, analysts said.
The US State Department has confirmed the December 5. arrest of the unidentified American, who The New York Times reported was handing out telecommunications equipment such as cellphones and laptops on the communist-ruled island. Havana has not commented publicly on the detention but may choose to turn it into the latest in a long list of diplomatic and espionage disputes that have roiled US-Cuban relations for almost half a century. But some analysts believe its impact will not seriously hamper Obama’s efforts to create an improved, more communicative relationship with Cuba. “It may cause an interruption in the near term, but ultimately I don’t believe it will affect the new dialogue on migration, re-establishment of postal service, and other matters,” said Phil Peters, a Cuba expert at the Lexington Institute in Virginia. Cuba has not yet granted American diplomats in Havana access to the detained man, who is not a US government employee, a State Department spokesman said in Washington. Maryland-based Development Alternatives Inc, which says it has a federal contract to support “just and democratic governance in Cuba,” described the American held as a sub-contractor employed “to assist Cuban civil society organizations”. These Cuban dissident groups are termed “mercenaries” and “traitors” by the Cuban government, which has often accused the United States of supporting them openly and also covertly in a bid to undermine communist rule on the Caribbean island. Obama promised this year to “recast” Washington’s relationship with Cuba and took initial steps such as lifting restrictions on family visits and slightly softening the 47-year-old trade embargo on the island. This included freeing up opportunities for US telecommunications companies in Cuba as part of an increased “people to people” contact strategy. A friendlier atmosphere led the Cold War-era enemies to resume migration talks in July and the Cuban government initially acknowledged a new attitude from the White House. But Cuba has since then accused the Obama administration of continuing to meddle in its affairs by supporting and funding dissident groups in the same way as previous US governments. To back this argument, Cuban state television recently broadcast images of two US diplomats attending a march last week by dissidents to mark Human Rights Day. Cuban President Raul Castro, 78, who took over from his ailing elder brother Fidel Castro in February 2008, has ended previous curbs on ordinary Cubans using cellphones and computers, but satellite phones and walkie-talkies are banned. The Internet, access to which is heavily controlled on the island, has become the latest frontline for Cuban dissidents, such as well-known blogger Yoani Sanchez, who are seeking to challenge government clamps on the media and political activity outside the one-party communist system.
US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said on Tuesday Washington regarded its support for human rights in Cuba as important. This included “providing and helping groups provide a capability to network and to communicate.” Countries like Cuba and China that feared the “flow of information” were going against the trend of this century, Crowley added. Dan Erikson, a Cuba analyst with the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said the arrest could be a warning Obama’s administration not to pursue USAID-funded programs in support of human rights and “civil society.” “It is clearly intended to send a shot across the bow to future US grantees who seek to circumvent the Cuban government to work with the island’s civil society,” he said. The US contractor’s detention may also fuel criticism of Washington’s foreign policy in Latin America, where a new generation of leftist leaders such as Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez has already expressed disappointment with Obama. “It shows Washington’s policy on Cuba hasn’t changed at all under the Obama administration. They keep using the same espionage, infiltration and subversion tactics of previous years,” Eva Golinger, a left-wing Venezuelan-American attorney and commentator, wrote on a leftist political website. Fidel Castro warned on Monday that Obama’s “kindly smile” could not be trusted, saying Washington was plotting against leftist Latin American governments, including Venezuela’s. (Caribnet) |
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Saying Jamaicans will see reduced traffic fatalities, safer journeys and lower transport costs, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has signed off on a new loan to improve the country’s roads.The bank said the US$10 million (J$895 million) loan marks one of the first targeted at ‘road safety’, as a primary objective by a multilateral agency - a policy initiative it is attempting to roll out across the wider Caribbean and Latin American region.
The funds will be disbursed over five years, with Jamaica getting 25 years to repay the loan, including five years of grace.
The bank did not specify the price of the funds, saying only it would be Libor based.
Jamaica’s roads are in need of urgent upgrades due to inadequate maintenance and the effects of several natural disasters in recent years,” said the IDB Tuesday in a statement announcing the loan.
“Between the years 2001 to 2008, the Jamaican government reported about 98,000 crashes and almost 3,000 fatalities.”
Costly accidents
Four years ago, accidents were a US$100 million drain on the national purse, the bank added.
The announcement of the road-safety loan comes just ahead of the expected announcement in Parliament Tuesday that Jamaica and the International Monetary Fund had reached an accommodation on the US$1.2 billion borrowing facility for the country.
Jamaica’s situation is becoming more precarious, with expenses currently running $79 billion ahead of its revenue from taxes and grants - exacerbated by underperforming tax revenues, which were $15 billion below expected levels up to October.
The IMF’s balance of payments support is expected to trigger access to multilateral credit from agencies like IDB, providing cheaper sources of financing for government operations and programmes.
The IDB said its US$10 million loan will help reduce traffic fatalities and injuries by financing civil works to improve road-safety conditions and provide adequate signage and pedestrian crossings.
It will also finance a road safety assessment plan for drivers and pedestrians and the production of road design manuals that establish road safety standards.
The bank also expects a redesign of the process of issuing of road repair jobs, saying the funds would ’support innovative ways’ of contracting road maintenance and financing surface repairs, removal of debris, maintenance of damaged structures, and repair and replacement of traffic signs and guardrails.
business@gleanerjm.com
European and Latin American countries on Tuesday ended a 13-year dispute over banana tariffs in a deal that will significantly open EU markets to more imports from countries such as Ecuador.
The agreement signed by trade negotiators in Geneva would immediately lower the European Union’s tariff on bananas from Latin America to €148 (US$215) from the current level €176 per tonne. It must still be formally approved by each government.
The EU’s import charge would drop under the deal to just €114 a tonne by 2017, meaning millions of dollars in new opportunities for growers in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
The decision will be a blow to the smaller Windward Islands, who are already finding it difficult to compete with the more productive Latam countries.
Jamaica’s largest banana producer exited the export market last year, and was unmoved by the developments.
“We have made a lot of money in the banana-exporting business, but we have had our challenges as well but at the same time we are always assessing market opportunities,” said Jeffrey Hall, chief executive of Jamaica Producers Group.
“JP made the decision to shift focus in banana from commodity export to value added and we are at the moment satisfied with our decision and the fact that the decision, actually reduces the preferential treatment provide some consistency with our decision.”
JP had 1,300 acres of land underbananas when the last hurricane hit, and “in a good year” would export about 30,000 tonnes, Hall said.
The WTO sees the deal as a victory for multilateralism, though the conflict has taken two decades to resolve, having first emerged in 1991, based then on concerns espoused by Costa Rica.
“This has been one of the most technically complex, politically sensitive and commercially meaningful legal disputes ever brought to the WTO,” said director general Pascal Lamy.
“It has also been one of the longest running sagas in the history of the post-WWII multilateral trading system.”
Some of the Latam nations - supported by American fruit distributors such as Del Monte and Dole - have bitterly battled the 27-nation EU for similar preferential access as granted for producers from African and Caribbean countries, mainly former British and French colonies.
Strong presence
Chiquita sources most of its bananas from Central American countries covered in the deal. It has traditionally had a strong presence distributing in Europe.
The case was officially brought to the World Trade Organization in 1996, and the United States and Ecuador both won the right to impose trade sanctions on European goods after the WTO found the EU’s rules to be illegal. Brussels has repeatedly tinkered with the import requirements in recent years, but none of the changes has withstood challenges at the WTO.
“After lengthy consultations, legal examinations, negotiations, and gentle prodding by an honest broker, a solution has been found,” said a triumphant Lamy, a former EU trade chief now heading the global trade body.
“This proves there is no trade issue which lies beyond the reach of WTO members when they exhibit good will and a spirit of compromise. I hope that the same pragmatism, creativity and diplomacy will help move forward the Doha Round negotiations.”
Tariff cuts
The tariff cuts will be phased in over several years to allow poorer African and Caribbean countries to adjust to steeper competition from Latin America. With the banana rules on a more even footing, the EU will compensate the former French and British colonies with nearly €200 million in aid.
Ecuador, the world’s largest banana producer, could be the big winner. Its industry supports more than 1 million Ecuadoreans and the South American nation claims that the EU’s latest tariff rules from 2006 was costing it about US$100 million a year in lost revenues.
Latin American bananas have around 60 per cent of the current EU banana market, while African and Caribbean producers have 20 per cent, according to EU officials. Bananas grown in the EU - mostly on Spanish and French islands - account for another 20 per cent.
Giovanni Anania, a professor at Italy’s University of Calabria, predicts that the agreement will cause EU imports to move further away from its traditional suppliers, with Latin American countries capturing most of a 17 per cent surge in new exports.
The world banana trade is currently estimated at around US$8.8 billion.
- AP and Gleaner reports
A section of Caribbean Cement Company’s Rockfort plant is seen from the sea, May 2006. - File Jamaica’s Caribbean Cement Company Limited is planning a debt swap with its parent, Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), that would free the company of US$15 million (J$1.34 billion) of liabilities.
The company proposes to convert the debt to preference shares that would not attract a fixed dividend, but would be treated as equity in the Jamaican operation, whose installed capacity has been increased from one million to 1.8 million tonnes.
Caribbean Cement’s big debt to TCL was generated during the modernisation and upgrading project, which was finalised in August 2009.
To follow through on the debt conversion, the company needs shareholders to sign off on the deal.
New class of shares
Executives of Caribbean Cement were said to be in a meeting when Wednesday Business sought comment, and Chairman Brian Young was out of the country, but an information notice on the stock exchange confirmed that the company planned to issue the new class of shares.
“The preference shares are expected to be treated as equity securities as they do not carry rights to a fixed dividend,” said Caribbean Cement’s market notice.
“TCL will only be entitled to receive a dividend as and when one is declared in respect of the ordinary stock units of CCC, of at least the same amount.”
How much the swap would grow TCL’s ownership or dilute the value of existing shares was unclear.
The Trinidad group already owns 74 per cent of Caribbean Cement; while minority partners like Cemex of Mexico, through Scancem International St Lucia Limited, Mayberry Investments, National Insurance Fund, Guardian Life Limited are among the top six shareholders of the listed cement producer.
Caribbean Cement has set an extraordinary meeting for January 5 at Knutsford Court hotel in New Kingston for shareholders to vote their acceptance of the proposal.
The Jamaican operation, whose Rockfort plant was upgraded at a cost of US$177 million, had $5.25 billion in liabilities at September 2009, of which $2.34 billion was long-term debt.
The swap would erase 25.5 per cent of the total debt and 57 per cent of the long-term liabilities. (Jamaica Gleaner)
THE QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL (QEH) is considering recruiting returning nationals to fill its shortage of nurses.
Director of Human Resources Charmaine Napoleon-Ramsay said the hospital was trying to find creative ways to fill vacancies there. As of the end of October, there were 36 nursing vacancies.
“A lot of persons are interested in returning to Barbados from the US and Canada and other places and we have had some interest expressed by Barbadians who are willing to return home to work,” she said during a media briefing by the hospital’s executive members at the Savannah Hotel on Monday.
Napoleon-Ramsay added that they were still looking to recruit nurses from places like the Philippines once again.
In addition, a two-day job fair held at the Savannah Hotel recently was successful in getting nurses who graduated from the Barbados Community College to sign on.
Director of Nursing Services Bernadette Harris explained that the Ministry of the Civil Service created a new position - that of graduate nurse - for those nurses who had taken the regional exam and were awaiting the results.
“The QEH has 20 of those positions created. To date, as we speak, we’ve got the results from the General Nursing Council and as of December 21, we will have 12 new registered nurses in position and 13 graduate nurses, giving us 25 additional nurses,” she said, pointing out that the hospital had a complement of 423 registered nurses.
Harris said that with a new High Dependency Unit on the cards, which is supposed to take some of the pressure off the Intensive Care Units and Recovery Room, more nurses would be needed.
However, Napoleon-Ramsay said the recruitment drive was not only limited to nurses. The QEH was also looking for medical lab technicians, rehab therapists, anaesthesiologists, radiographers and “we’re also in the process of recruiting a person to fill the post of director of medical services”. (MR) (Nation News)
