Moontown

These extra flights are not open to public sale and are being used solely for stranded BA customers waiting to be rebooked, free of charge.

BA operational and commercial teams are also looking at adding extra flights and larger aircraft where possible, in order to lead the customer repatriation effort.

The airline hopes to add more flights into the schedule in the days ahead using BA resources and also by chartering aircraft.

Operations got off to a good start on Thursday morning and by the endd of the day BA would have operated more than 1,000 flights since UK airspace was reopened late on Tuesday night.

BA said it is doing all it can to help the tens of thousands of customers who have been delayed around the world by these unprecedented circumstances. (Caribnet)

The Seminar is geared towards legal practitioners; scholars of international law; law students; government officials; members of the private sector and any other persons keen on understanding the regional and international legal arrangements of the Caribbean Community.

The Seminar aims to heighten understanding, appreciation and knowledge of selected aspects of Treaty law and practice. It will also serve as a forum for encouraging wider participation in CARICOM Treaties and International processes. The four day Seminar will be facilitated by a team of highly experienced legal experts from the OGC along with other specialist presenters.

Presentations will cover key areas including:

• Overview of international Law (Sources, Vienna Convention, etc.)
• Overview of the CARICOM Treaty/CARICOM Structure (Organs/Bodies/Functions)
• Participation in Treaties and Drafting of Final Clauses Aspects
• The CARICOM Treaty Process (Treaty Registry and Depositary etc)
• The Treaty Process of the Organisation of American States (OAS)
• The Treaty Process of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (Caribnet)

St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas (Photo: Erasmus Williams)

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Denzil Douglas said the White Paper, approved by the Cabinet on Monday and released during his monthly press conference on Wednesday, “is intended to give our people an overview of the VAT system and how it works in the hope that it will invoke meaningful discussion and consultation.

“It is imperative that all citizens and stakeholders acquaint themselves with the policy and administrative issues related to VAT as it will affect all of us,” he said in a message published in the document.

Douglas said that the Tax Reform Unit would be engaged in public consultation exercises throughout the Federation and that he was encouraging all citizens and stakeholders to participate and to contribute to the discussion “aimed at crafting a successful VAT for our Federation.”

He said that the local economy had made significant strides in transitioning from one heavily dependent on sugar production to a services based economy with Tourism and Financial Services as the leading sectors.

However, he noted that the present tax system has not kept pace with the development of the economy and continues to be based to a large extent on the levying of duties on imported goods.

“This results in distortion and inequity in the tax system which must be addressed. In addition to the transformation of the economy and the need to ensure harmony between the system of taxation and the economy we must also address the unfolding international pressures that favour free trade and the necessity for countries to open their borders,” said Douglas.

He said as his administration seeks to achieve macroeconomic stability and growth, the domestic tax system must be placed on a sound footing.

“We believe that this objective can be achieved by the introduction of the VAT which is a modern, broad based tax on consumption, charged at various stages of production with a mechanism which allows businesses to offset the taxes that they have paid against the taxes that they charge.

“The introduction of the Value Added Tax would therefore reform our tax system making it simpler and more efficient and create more equity by taxing all aspects of consumption including services.”

The Prime Minister said that the government would also need to examine the entire tax system to ensure that the system as a whole supports the smooth implementation of the VAT and that there are no disparities that arise as a result of this change.

“We will therefore be looking at other areas such as the existing Excise Tax and a Business Tax,” he added.

A number of countries within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have either introduced or are contemplating introducing the VAT system as a sub-regional initiative.

St Kitts and Nevis is a member of the OECS. (Caribnet)

Prime Minister Bruce Golding

Golding, who was making his contribution to the 2010/11 Budget Debate in the House on Tuesday, pointed out that the inflow of guns into Jamaica facilitates most of the murders that are committed here.

He declared that the effort to stop the flow of guns from the United States, will be done “with the same vigour that we seek to apply to the flow of illegal drugs from Jamaica to the US.”

“The security forces recover, on average, 600 guns each year. We suspect that a greater number enter the island each year, creating an ever increasing arsenal of illegal weapons snuffing out lives with callous brutality,” Golding said.

The Prime Minister noted that the overwhelming majority of guns coming into the island are manufactured in the US, adding that a resolution before the United Nations for an international convention to restrict the illegal trafficking in small arms, is still the subject of negotiations. (Caribnet)

More than 20 local producers are down to participate in the six-month long expo, which is being held under the theme: ‘Better City, Better Life’.

The largest trade show in world history, some 190 countries and more than 50 international organisations are registered to participate, and China expects to receive almost 100 foreign leaders and millions of people from across the world for the event.

Minister of Industry and Investment, Karl Samuda (right) engaging in discussion with President, Jamaica Promotions Corporation/Jamaica Trade and Invest (JAMPRO/JTI), Sancia Bennett-Templer during a press conference to outline Jamaica’s participation in ‘Shanghai World Expo 2010′ April 1 at the JTI’s offices in Kingston. The six-month long expo will be staged from May 1 to October 31 in Shanghai, China.

Speaking at a press conference at the New Kingston offices of Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI) on Wednesday, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Karl Samuda, said the expo presents “great opportunities” for Jamaica to showcase its products and attract foreign investors.

“It is well for us to be exposed to, not only China, but to the world. Whatever products we take to China, there must not be the possibility of a.buyer taking up a product and finding fault with it. The product must be perfect, because for us to make the kind of impression that we need to make about Jamaica, we must be excellent; nothing else will do,” he stated.

The Minister said he is satisfied with the level of commitment of those who have volunteered to go to China, to not only expose their products, but to be part of the experience of “showcasing and showing off to the rest of the world what Jamaica is really like.”

National Coordinator for Shanghai World Expo 2010, Dr Dana Morris, informed that a range of local products and services be showcased weekly in the 3,400 square-foot ‘Brand Jamaica’ booth.

The booth, which will form part of the CARICOM Pavilion at the expo, will feature spices, condiments, rum, beer, coffee, herbal tea, fortified wines, apparel, and art and craft, which will be displayed in packaging bearing the Mandarin language of China.

There will also be ongoing entertainment in the form of live music, dance demonstrations and other cultural activities.

CARICOM Day celebrations on July 17 will be among the major events for Jamaica. Other activities in July include distributors’ and exporters’ fora, while in August, there will be a Jamaican Independence Gala.

Dr Morris noted that the expo will present Jamaica with a chance to build on and benefit from the publicity and goodwill garnered at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and to position Jamaica as the hub of the region for culture, trade and investment.

The ‘Brand Jamaica’ booth will be opened from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and will be managed and operated by four Jamaicans from across ministries and two students studying in China.

It is estimated that 70 million visitors will attend the expo with an estimated 700,000 to visit the Jamaican booth.

Jamaica’s participation in expo is an inter-ministerial effort involving the Ministries of Industry, Investment and Commerce; Youth, Culture and Sports; Tourism (Jamaica Tourist Board); and Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, among others. (Caribnet)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — The meal doesn’t look like much, rice, a few vegetables and a little bit of meat, but for the Haitian school children who receive it for free, it is reason enough to come to class.

By 10:30 am on a Wednesday, the smell of chicken stock wafts through the Rosalie Javoukey school, located in a neighborhood of Haiti’s devastated capital Port-au-Prince.

In the shade of a three-story building scheduled for demolition, women bustle about, doling food onto metal and plastic plates on huge tables set up in between white Unicef tents.

The playground has been eliminated “because it is covered in tents,” said Sister Marie-Bernardette, the school’s headmistress, and now it serves as a staging area for the daily free school meal.

The children, aged five to 12, wait their turn to retrieve their meal. They return to their desks, say grace and then begin eating, “in silence,” their headmistress reminds them.

Schools across Haiti’s capital, devastated by a January 12 quake that killed at least 220,000 people, including some 1,350 teachers and 38,000 students, officially reopened on April 6.

But 100 days after the devastating 7.0-magnitude quake, the country continues to struggle and many children are still missing from classrooms in the capital.

Some have left for the countryside, others were killed in the quake, and some are being kept home by their parents.

“It’s difficult to convince parents to send their children to school. They are scared that there will be another earthquake and the school will be destroyed,” said Alejandro Chicheri, a spokesman for the World Food Programme.

Students at the school also attend classes in fear of what might happen.

“I don’t feel at ease at school,” said Valencia Demostene, 12. “I know that we will still have natural disasters, like earthquakes…” Her voice trails off.

At the moment, Rosalie Javoukey school has some 400 students, 200 fewer than before the earthquake.

To encourage attendance, the World Food Program has launched a major food distribution program in schools in Haiti, a country where some 500,000 children do not get an education, roughly one quarter of all the country’s youth.

Some 550,000 students already receive a meal each day, but the figure is expected to rise to 800,000 in coming weeks.

“We’re trying to get as many children as possible back to school, which will allow them to return to reality and to save their school year. And it also helps parents who are trying to find work so they can bring some money home,” said Chicheri.

For the students in this underprivileged neighborhood, the meal is a blessing.

“There are some parents who don’t have anything to give their children to eat. You can see it on the faces of the children, they are preoccupied because they are hungry,” said Mother Louis, a teacher at the school.

The meals provide the children with some comfort in the short-term at least, but many remain deeply scarred by the experience of the January quake.

Mother Louis asks a class of students how many of them were trapped beneath the rubble of buildings that were strewn across Port-au-Prince by the quake.

About half raise their hands.

“I was under the rubble for two days. My father was the one who pulled me out,” said Francesca Jeune, a nine-year-old who dreams of becoming a doctor.

She describes her experience with a giant grin on her face, but teachers say their students remain traumatized and they try to provide the children with therapy.

“We play, we move around. Anything to try to get the earthquake off their minds,” Mother Louis says. (Caribnet)

A release from the Foreign Affairs Ministry stated that this appointment is a critical part of the search to find a practical settlement of the issue that emerged from the Venezuelan position that the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899, which definitively established the territorial boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, is null and void.

The release stated that Government welcomes the appointment, “which would now enable Guyana and Venezuela to resuscitate discussions under the Good Offices of the United Nations.”

A series of coordinated efforts facilitated the appointment, which was stepped up in 2009 when the foreign ministers of Guyana and Venezuela agreed to jointly meet with the Secretary General on this matter during the official visit of Guyana’s foreign minister to Caracas on July 11, 2009.

Ministers Rodrigues-Birkett and Nicolas Maduro, of Venezuela, met with the Secretary General, in New York, in October 2009, to seek the resuscitation of the good offices process through the appointment of a personal representative since the seat was vacant because of the death, in January 2007, of Oliver Jackman, who served in that capacity from October 1999 to January 2007.

The announcement of the appointment of Professor Girvan is an outcome of that meeting, and effectively brings to the mediation table the expertise of an internationally renowned Caribbean economist, academic and international civil servant, who also possesses valuable experience as a former Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).  (Caribnet)

Jagdeo along with the president of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed , Afghanistan’s Director General of the National Environmental Protection Agency Prince Mostapha Zaher, Chinese actress and popular green life-style guru, Zhou Xun, Japanese earth scientist, Dr Taro Takahashi and American venture capitalist, green energy entrepreneur and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Vinod Khosla were conferred with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEDP) 2010 Champions of the Earth award, the , the United Nations’ highest awards for environmental leadership,.

Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo. AFP PHOTO

The six winners, drawn from the worlds of government, science, business and entertainment, each exemplify how action, inspiration, personal commitment and creativity can catalyze a transition to a low carbon, resource efficient 21st-century Green Economy.

UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner announced the names of the awardees on Thursday at the Earth Day and Business for the Environment Global Summit (B4E), in Seoul, Korea.

“President Jagdeo is a powerful advocate of the need to conserve and more intelligently manage the planet’s natural and nature-based assets. He has recognized more than most the multiple Green Economy benefits of forests in terms of combating climate change, but also in terms of development; employment; improved water supplies and the conservation of biodiversity,” said Steiner.

Jagdeo previously was named by Time magazine Champion of the Environment and is regarded as a global leader in environmental issues.

The UNEP Director believes the six awardees have set the precedence when it comes to tackling issues relating to the environment.

“The six winners represent some of the key pillars upon which society can build Green Growth and a development path to unite rather than divide six billion people,” Steiner said:

Entrepreneur Vinod Khosla has made it a personal mission to realize a low-carbon path by establishing investments in clean and renewable energy start-ups.”

“President Nasheed is not only an articulate voice for the vulnerable and the poor facing the challenges of global warming, but a politician who is showcasing to the rest of the world how a transition to climate neutrality can be achieved and how all nations, no matter how big or how small, can contribute.”

Jagdeo, according to the UNEP, gained international recognition for his position on environmental issues within his country and on the global scale.

“As the president of a country with 40 million acres of untouched rainforest, Jagdeo has been working on inviting donors and investors to pay for the protection of the forests through the sale of carbon credits, or investments in eco-tourism and pharmaceutical discoveries. With the money he expects to generate from this trade, President Jagdeo plans to improve the country’s coastal infrastructure to protect it from the potential rise in sea levels.”

Special mention was made of the Top administrator of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nation’s proposal that the UN Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) program adopts Guyana’s model on forest management and has encouraged the rest of the world to live in a way “where protecting forests is more economically prudent than cutting them down”.

The Champions of the Earth awards were established in 2004 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognizes individuals who embody commitment and vision towards environmental leadership through their action and their influence.

To date, the award has recognized 34 outstanding environmental leaders including Al Gore, Brazil’s former Environment Minister Marina Silva, Sudanese researcher Dr Balgis Osman-Elasha and Olympic Committee Chair Jacques Rogge, among others.

The 2010 prize categories are: Entrepreneurial Vision, Policy and Leadership, Science and Innovation, Inspiration and Action, and a special category, Biodiversity and Ecosystems Management. (Caribnet)