Moontown

“They are resilient. They are out rebuilding the homes, helping to clean neighbourhoods, selling on the streets, a lot of commerce is taking place. So, the people are back to work, so to speak. I believe once we can get more help into Haiti to provide tents and housing, we will certainly see a resurgence in the economy, but the people are in high spirits. Generally speaking, the people are taking charge of their future,” he said.

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding (right), consults with Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Prime Minister of Dominica,  Roosevelt Skerritt, during a media briefing on February 6.  JIS photo

Skerritt, who is also Prime Minister of Dominica, was speaking at a press conference, held at the Norman Manley International Airport on February 6, shortly after a CARICOM mission returned from Haiti, where members of the delegation met with President Rene Preval, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health.

The press conference was held to outline CARICOM’s assistance to Haiti so far, plans for the future and to update Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who has just returned from an official visit to the People’s Republic of China.

Giving an overview of the Haitian Government, Skerritt informed that they have put in place several Co-ordinators to oversee various aspects of the relief and rebuilding efforts of the island.

“The Government is functioning. Clearly, if a situation where all your administrative buildings have been demolished and a large number of your officers would have been affected, you have some challenges and this is where CARICOM will come to play a part in providing them with technical expertise,” he said.

He noted that whilst there are limitations to its operations, “Haiti is secure from what we saw.” The Chairman said that the Government has been responding to the needs of the people and has been putting back a number of institutions to get them functioning fully.

“We are very, very impressed with what is happening so far and I believe that with better co-ordination coming from CARICOM and the assistance that we have offered, Haiti will be in a better position to take greater responsibility,” he added.

Also on the mission to Haiti were: Special Envoy on Haiti Disaster Relief, P J Patterson; Secretary General of CARICOM, Edwin Carrington; Assistant Secretary General of CARICOM, Ambassador Colin Grandison, and Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, Jeremy Collymore. (Caribnet)

Starting Summer 2010, GOL, the second largest airline in Brazil, will operate a Boeing 737 from Sao Paulo to Bridgetown once a week on Saturdays, with same-plane connections to Buenos Aires, Argentina and connections to Rio de Janeiro at no additional cost.

This will be the second scheduled service from Sao Paulo in Barbados’ history. In the mid-nineties, BWIA operated a flight from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago through Barbados to Sao Paulo.

The new service was born out of meetings which the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA), aided by Hon. Consul to Brazil, Jorge Nemr, held with GOL in Sao Paulo and in Barbados in August and September last year. Since then the parties have been in constant contact via e-mail and telephone. The flight will be promoted from March, 2010.

The failure of that BWIA flight influenced Barbados’ tourism officials to put down some safety nets and BTA’s aviation consultant, Neville Boxill, said the following factors are expected to lead to the success of this new venture: “the wide domestic reach of GOL; the large market to sustain the flight (with the connections to Buenos Aires and Rio); and the six tour operators on board, which cover 95% of Brazil, a major tour operator market.” Additionally, focus groups conducted to confirm the interest of Brazilians in Barbados.

Brazil was chosen as a target market because it is an emerging market in a new global economy. It has great influence internationally in tourism and business. It has been out of the recession since the fourth quarter of 2009. Brazilians are very interested in travelling and although they speak Portuguese, they are reasonably comfortable dealing with a second language.

According to local tourism officials, Brazilians are looking for sea, sand and sun destinations but also a destination with a certain level of sophistication and the infrastructure to which they are accustomed. This is therefore a good fit for Barbados. (Caribnet)

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) — President Hugo Chavez inaugurated a folksy new radio talk-show on Monday by declaring an “electricity emergency” in oil-rich Venezuela.

Despite its huge crude reserves, the South American OPEC member relies on hydro-electricity for 70 percent of its power needs, and a drought has hit supply since late 2009.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. AFP PHOTO

“We are ready to decree the electricity emergency, because it really is an emergency,” Chavez said in the first edition of a show on state radio air waves called “Suddenly Chavez.”

With electricity cuts weighing on Chavez’s popularity ahead of important legislative elections in September, the government blames the shortages on the drought and soaring demand during five years of economic growth until 2008.

But critics say poor management and under-investment have undermined the power grid and exposed the failings of Chavez’s “21st century socialism” policies during his 11-year rule.

Analysts say power cuts have played a big part — along with water shortages and high crime levels — in cutting Chavez’s popularity levels from more than 60 percent a year ago to around 50 percent now.

A formal decree of emergency would enable the government to speed up moves to confront the power crisis, which range from stricter rationing and more thermoelectric generation, to the “seeding” of clouds in an attempt to produce rain.

“I call on the whole country: ‘Switch off the lights.’ We are facing the worst drought Venezuela has had in almost 100 years,” Chavez said in what appeared to be a new radio version of his long-running “Hello Mr. President” TV show on Sundays.

Chavez said the program would always be preceded by the sound of a harp playing local folk-music. “When you hear the pluck of a harp on the radio, maybe Chavez is coming. It’s suddenly, at any time, maybe midnight, maybe early morning.”

While provincial cities and villages are without light for hours at a time since rolling blackouts began in January, an attempt to ration electricity in the capital Caracas last month caused chaos and protests, forcing Chavez to suspend it.

Given the desperate situation, though, the government may try again in Caracas soon.

Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez, appointed after the previous minister was fired over the power crisis, said over the weekend that the country had achieved only a four percent cut in energy use in recent weeks, despite aiming for 20 percent.

A report by Edelca, one of the companies that form part of state-run power firm Corpoelec, has predicted the closure of the El Guri reservoir, which provides 44 percent of national demand, if the drought continues during 2010 and levels of consumption are not drastically reduced.

Electricity demand has increased by 38 percent since 2003 to an average of 14,100 megawatts in 2009. The government calculates the current deficit as 1,600 megawatts.

As well as stirring up local politics, the power-cuts are an obstacle to Venezuela’s recovery from recession after the economy shrank 2.9 percent in 2009. Major oil sites have their own generators, so remain relatively unaffected. (Caribnet)

Minister Singh in his presentation to the National Assembly on Monday said this year’s budget will build on the gains over the past years as the administration works to move Guyana forward.

Presented under the theme: “Consolidate, Transform, Sustain”, this year’s budget is the largest ever in Guyana’s history and will see marked growth in almost every sector.

The overall real growth in gross domestic product is projected at 4.4 percent, with non-sugar economy projected to grow by 3.4 percent” Singh said.

The minister said growth is expected in almost every sector, with the troubled sugar sector set to see production hitting 280,000 tonnes, 19.8 percent above last year.

He noted that in agriculture, despite some sectors not poised to reach the maximum, satisfactory growth is expected, with mining, and services also set to grow.

Dr Ashni Singh

The minister added that the monetary policy will continue to be aimed at maintaining stable prices and a responsive exchange rate, “While fostering private sector growth with inflation rate is targeted at 4 percent, in anticipation of some continuation in the recovery of commodity prices,”

Exports are also anticipated to grow significantly, while revenue collection is set to top $94.1 billion this year.

“Total expenditure is projected at $135.9 billion, an increase of 6.6 per cent over the 2009 level. Of this, current expenditure is projected to grow by 8 percent to $86.9 billion, while capital expenditure is projected to increase by 4.2 percent to $48.9 billion.” Singh outlined.

The finance minister added that government will continue its legislative agenda, with enactments ranging from strengthening the financial sector such as by fighting money laundering on the one hand; to safeguarding society’s most vulnerable, including children.

“This is the promise of this PPP/Civic government to the people of Guyana, that we will neither be distracted nor diverted from the task of building our country… this is equally the exhortation of this PPP/Civic government to the people of Guyana, that we must as a nation neither be distracted nor diverted from the task of working together to build our country, “ Singh concluded.

The budget is also places emphasis on information and communication technology, the low carbon development strategy transforming the economy and tourism.

The minister in his presentation also reflected on the performance of the local economy in 2009 which saw an overall growth of 12.3 percent. (Caribnet)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) – The struggling aid effort in Haiti was hit by another setback Monday as the UN halted deliveries to some 10,000 quake survivors after discovering that fake coupons were in operation.

An agitated crowd of around 100 people continued to wait well into the afternoon at the drop-off site close to the town hall in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville as others clamored to get tickets valid for Tuesday.

“We need food!” one old lady shouted at a guard charged with manning the steel bars blocking the entrance to the town hall offices.

Others simply pointed to their mouths and stomachs.

UN World Food Programme spokesman David Orr said the suspension would affect around 10,000 survivors of the massive January 12 earthquake that killed over 212,000 people and left an estimated one million people homeless.

The UN agency has set up 16 food distribution points across the city, handing out 25-kilogram (55-pound) sacks of rice designed to feed a family for two weeks.

Orr said World Food Programme partners hoped to restart the distributions at the affected site on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Laura Silsby, the leader of a group of 10 American missionaries arrested at the Dominican border for trying to smuggle out a busload of children appeared in court to answer kidnapping charges.

“I am trusting God to reveal all truths and that we will be released and exonerated of charges, and we are just waiting for the Haitian legal process to complete,” Silsby said.

“It went very well,” she told reporters as she left the hearing and was taken back to the police station where she and her nine colleagues from the Idaho-based New Life Children’s Refuge are being held.

The other nine were expected to be heard on Tuesday.

“We’re doing very well. God is good. He’s sustaining us. We’ve been given great care,” she said.

The defendants, who acted without authorization from the Haitian government, claim they meant no harm and simply wanted to give the children a better life in an orphanage they planned to set up in the Dominican Republican.

But soon after their arrest on January 29 it emerged that several of the 33 children were not orphans, although some of their parents have admitted they agreed to give away their kids.

“The children have parents,” acknowledged lawyer Aviol Fleurant, who is representing the Americans after their previous attorney quit the case over accusations he was trying to bribe the judge.

“They were there in the name of humanity, in the name of the human heart to help Haitians cross the border because everything was dysfunctional in Haiti at the time,” Fleurant said.

A final decision from the judge is expected within three months after the proceedings are completed and the Americans face lengthy prison terms if convicted of child trafficking and criminal conspiracy.

The case has been criticized as a distraction from the stumbling international aid effort to bring Haiti, already the poorest nation in the Americas before the January 12 tremor, back on its feet.

Haitian President Rene Preval was expected in Quito Tuesday for a donor conference organized by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

The situation in the Caribbean nation, almost one month after the disaster, is still dire as disease breaks out in squalid makeshift camps and the massive aid effort struggles to house people before the arrival of seasonal rains.

At the central immigration bureau, hundreds of Haitians queued in line for a precious passport to leave. Others simply massed in front of the entrance.

An official directing the crowd with a bullhorn said only renewals would be handled due to overwhelming demand and that those wanting a passport for the first time would have to come back next week.

Crowds have swelled ever since the bureau reopened after the quake, said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

Massive lines of visa seekers have also appeared before the US embassy.

A man waiting in front of the immigration office said he had been coming every day for about a week, hoping to join his parents in France. He said the destruction has left him seeking a better life for his family.

“Everybody’s looking for a way to leave,” said Jourdain Jean Nickson, 30. (Caribnet)

Nikita Braxton South Bureau

The first drunk driving arrest in South Trinidad was made in an early morning roadblock Sunday-a man who had attended the Chutney Brass fete at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre.

Joseph Nanan appeared in the San Fernando Traffic Court yesterday, charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

The breathalyser test was administered to Nanan, 43, after he was stopped during a roadblock exercise in San Fernando at 1.35 a.m. on Sunday. Nanan was taken to the Mon Repos Police Station, where he was tested twice within eight-minute intervals around 2.30 a.m. He was found to have more than twice the legal .35 millimetres of alcohol in his breath.

In the San Fernando Traffic Court yesterday, Nanan pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle after consuming alcohol that exceeded the prescribed limit in accordance with the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act.

Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan wanted to know why. Nanan said he drank beers before leaving the Chutney Brass event. Rambachan told Nanan the maximum penalty for a first time offender was $8,000 or three years in prison.

Nanan was eventually fined $3,500, ordered to pay $400 immediately and given six weeks to pay the remainder. In default he will serve a nine-month hard labour prison sentence.

Acting Superintendent of the Southern Division, Cecil Santana, and Acting ASP Williams spearheaded this exercise. Santana said the public should beware of such ongoing exercises over the Carnival period, but noted they would not stop next Tuesday.

’We will like the public to know that such exercises will be on-going long after Carnival,’ Santana said. (Trinidad Express)