Moontown

TORTOLA, BVI — At 8:00 am Tuesday, Tropical Disturbance 10 was located 12.4N/43.4W or about 1,080 miles east of Barbados. Movement is to the west-northwest at about 15 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 20 to 30 mph, mainly to the northeast of the center.

Showers and thunderstorms associated with the low pressure area located about 1100 miles east of the Lesser Antilles have become limited this morning. Environmental conditions are expected to become less favorable for tropical cyclone formation during the next day or so.

According to forecasters Tropical Disturbance 10 will continue towards the west-northwest for the next two days and then toward the west beyond that. On this track, the system would be very near the Lesser Antilles on Friday. By Saturday, it would be south of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The dry air that is affecting the system is preventing convection from concentrating near the center of the system, despite an overall improvement in its structure. There is a 30 - 40 percent chance that this system could become a tropical depression over the next 48 hours. (Caribnet)

The administration of the National Democratic Congress, led by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, will continue to do what’s in the best interest of the Grenadian people, said Burke, who is also Minister of Planning, Economy, Energy and Cooperatives.

Nazim Burke

“The biggest tax break ever enjoyed in the history of Grenada by Grenadians is a tax break that we gave within six months of coming into office,’’ Finance Minister Burke said.

“We got into office in July and by December, we had put into place a tax amnesty where we said to the population, ‘look, forget all the interests you’re owing; forget all the penalties; simply pay the principal amounts that are due and owing on your tax and we will treat you as though all of your taxes have been paid up.’ Never before in the history of the country had anything like this been done and it was done, I must add, at a time when the IMF said to us they would not support such a decision, and they would not support such an economic measure.”

The amnesty was implemented, the Finance Minister said, “because we saw the opportunity there to, first of all, ensure that businesses that were struggling financially, who could not meet their tax obligations, can remain open; and by so doing, keep people employed, create jobs and create income in the population. We saw this as a measure that was wise to take in the wake of the economic crisis, to keep the economy stimulated and active.’’

Burke told the Government Information Service that it’s “absolutely ridiculous’’ for the opposition NNP to allege that government had failed a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic review under what is known as the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), and to have levelled claims against the current administration of causing economic hardship.

The PRGF was adopted in 2006 by the former NNP administration, which was defeated 11 – 4 in general elections in 2008.

The opposition charged that government is looking to implement new measures in which “there will be no more tax breaks for persons and institutions and the property of persons failing to pay on time will be confiscated.”

“Let’s look at the record of the New National Party,’’ Burke said in response. “Everybody knows of the Levera Project. Over 300 persons’ property was taken away from them. The Levera Development Company paid the then government $3.8 million to compensate those whose lands were taken and the government refused to pay a single cent to any of these persons. There are several incidents around the country of persons whose lands were simply taken away from them without any compensation at all. So it is absolutely ridiculous to suggest that this government is the one that is going to be taking properties away from people.’’

Contrary to the opinions of the opposition, the IMF review conducted in April was completed and approved by the Fund, said Hon Burke.

“As a result of which, $6.8 million was released to the Government of Grenada,’’ he said. “So to suggest that it was not done is just false.

What qualifies the country for the extended credit facility is the successful passage and completion of the PRGF.’’ In other words,” explained Burke, “had we not completed the PRGF successfully, we would not qualify to enter into the extended credit facility.’’ (Caribnet)

The caravan started its journey in the Mexican city of Monterrey, and the launching of this publicity campaign, which already visited Europe and South America, was attended by scores of Mexicans interested into knowing more about Cuba and its offers.

Authentic Cuba, as a promotion event, was organized by the Cuban Ministry of Tourism along with its Mexican office, and will run through June 19.

The head of the Cuban Tourism office in Mexico Alicia Pérez Casanova said this opening ceremony, held at the Fiesta American Hotel in Monterrey, was of great importance for Cuba.

Perez highlighted that for the first time this campaign includes a series of promotion activities, and added that the main tour operators showed their growing interest on having Cuba as a tourist destination.

Cuban Consul Luis Quitante and the mayor of the Guadalupe municipality Ivonne Álvarez opened the event, which started with a competition of traditional Cuban dances. (Caribnet)

MIAMI, USA (Reuters) — Former US President Bill Clinton returns to Haiti this week in a bid to jump-start the quake-ravaged nation’s reconstruction as the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season looms over the Caribbean.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive spoke of Clinton’s return to Port-au-Prince in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, saying he would preside over a meeting of the Haiti reconstruction commission.

Clinton heads the commission together with Bellerive, who said Thursday’s meeting would be the first involving all its members. It is part of a sorely needed effort to better coordinate international aid efforts, Bellerive said.

In addition to approving specific rebuilding projects, Bellerive said he hoped the meeting — involving government officials from Brazil, France, the United States and Venezuela — would establish clear-cut guidelines for the disbursement of aid. More than $5 billion in aid was committed by about 140 countries after Haiti’s catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake.

“We have a blueprint, we have a plan that everybody accepted,” Bellerive said. “Now, we need human resources, we need equipment, we need know-how, we need support.”

Critics, including some in recent protests on the rubble-strewn streets of Port-au-Prince, have accused the government of dragging its feet on reconstruction and in its overall response to the disaster.

But Bellerive said some seemed to have forgotten the huge scale of the disaster, which killed more than 300,000 people and flattened much of the Haitian capital.

“It’s a big challenge,” he said. “We are facing the biggest disaster of the continent.”

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and meteorologists predict this year will be a very active one. Bellerive said that lent a sense of urgency to reconstruction efforts.

More than 1.5 million Haitians are still living in makeshift tent cities and under plastic tarpaulins after being made homeless by the quake. They may have some shelter from torrential rains, but flash floods were a major concern. He said Clinton personally had taken charge of plans for emergency evacuations and storm response.

“I hope that we will do what we have to do to avoid any casualties,” Bellerive said. “Psychologically we cannot handle more tears in Haiti.” (Caribnet)

The US State Department’s annual report on human trafficking on Monday placed the Dominican Republic at the bottom level of countries that do not meet the minimum standards on human trafficking, joining the likes of North Korea, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea.

“The Dominican government categorically rejects the US State Department report, which gave the Dominican Republic a negative rating on human trafficking,” Foreign Minister Carlos Morales said in a statement.

“This bureaucratic report does not reflect the reality of what the Dominican Republic is doing, efforts that it invalidates and disqualifies.”

Morales insisted his country was “making great efforts to combat both human and a drug trafficking, and there is a true desire at all levels of the Dominican state to face these two evils.”

The State Department report identified the Dominican Republic as a source country, as well as a point of transit and destination, for men, women and children who are victims of human trafficking, especially for prostitution and forced labor.

It said Dominican authorities have failed to prosecute anyone for human trafficking since 2007, noting several cases of Dominicans doing forced labor in the United States and Argentina.

According to the report, some 12.3 million people were the victims of trafficking worldwide in 2009-2010, although it said there has been progress over the past decade.

Cuba, Iran and Saudi Arabia remained in the rock-bottom category, which included mostly Asian countries.

US allies Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were place on a watchlist, accused of failing to prevent women from being forced into prostitution. (Caribnet)

The head of Banco Federal, Nelson Mezerhane, told Globovision he was “very surprised” by the government’s decision to seize the assets of Venezuela’s eight-largest bank on Monday over a “severe lack of liquidity.”

“Yesterday, the president declared war on the banks. And there you have it, mission accomplished, no sooner said than done,” he complained.

But Chavez shot back, saying he had “nothing to do” with the intervention.

“Shame on them for leading a bank irresponsibly into a position of bankruptcy,” Chavez said in a televised statement.

The firebrand leftist leader hailed the financial authorities’ “on time” takeover and said the operation was meant to “protect people who save their money and the whole Venezuelan banking system.”

Mezerhane is a principal stockholder in the Globovision television chain, an opposition news broadcaster that has frequently clashed with the Chavez regime over the years. He has said the seizure was politically motivated and due to his post with the opposition broadcaster.

The takeover was the latest of a series of Venezuelan financial institutions seized by the Chavez government.

In January, bank regulators seized control of three small banks and ordered two others closed, in a move officials said aimed to ensure “a healthy national banking and financial system.”

The Chavez government also liquidated eight small- and medium-sized banks in November and December, four of which were nationalized and consolidated into a new bank called Bicentenario. (Caribnet)