Rastafarian
Awaits Compensation For Bahamas Government Cutting
His Locks
In Nassau, Bahamas, a
Rastafarian is still waiting to receive compensation
from the government after prison officials
reportedly ignored a court order not to cut his
locks, when he was incarcerated more than a decade
ago. Anthony Foulkes, 47, who was locked
up in 1995 for possession of marijuana, said his
rights were "blatantly violated", and claims that
the government does not seem interested in
compensating him any time soon. Foulkes
says that a court order was given to him by (Dame)
Joan Sawyer, who was then the acting Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court. The order stated clearly that
no razor was to come upon his head.
However, Foulkes claims that while detained at Her
Majesty's Prison in Fox Hill the prison officials
blatantly violated the court order given by the
chief justice. He says that prison officials
took the greatest pleasure to assist in cutting or
watched the cutting of a Rasta man's locks. Foulkes
says this of course was a violation of his
constitutional rights, freedom of thought, freedom
of conscience and freedom of religion.
Subsequently, Foulkes said he took legal action and
won the case in 2001. He was awarded a little
over $17,000 in 2001, however, he says that interest
on a judgment is 10 percent per year, and since he
has not received a dollar from the government, the
figure has far exceeded that amount by now.
Foulkes said the government has no excuse why the
money has not yet been paid. In the
meantime, Foulkes says all he has received since the
court ordered the government to pay was an apology
from the attorney general, representing the
government, and a prison official who was
representing the superintendent. Foulkes says
his locks are an outward symbol that he is separated
from the ways of the world, he says to cut them, is
just like forcing a Jew to eat pork, and when his
locks were being chopped off he felt belittled,
violated and unjustly taken advantage of.
As
Barbadians, like many of their regional
counterparts, struggle to cope with an increased
cost of living driven by spiraling oil prices on the
world market, some householders have been cutting
back on popular meats such as steak, pork and lamb,
and instead substituting fish, a cheaper protein
source. Flying fish the popular local delicacy
retails for as low as $25 per 100 or approximately
two dollars per kilogram, over seven dollars less
than the per kilogram retail cost of chicken.
Its relative ease and diversity in preparation makes
it an obvious choice. According to an
official from Government’s Fisheries Division, the
estimated total fish landed for 2007 stood at just
under 2,400 metric tons, compared with the 2006
figure of 1,920. Of the amount landed in 2007,
flying fish was said to account for 54 percent by
weight, and dolphin 29 percent.
The
British Virgin Islands Has Lost One Of Its Heroes
The man who fought the British to reclaim an
important area in the territory's capital,
seventy-two-year-old Noel Lloyd died quietly at his
home on Sunday, August 3rd after a brief illness.
Lloyd will be remembered for the gusty determination
and moral courage he displayed in pursuing the
annulment of a development project that would have
placed large parts of Road Town, the capital, and
Anegada, another island in the territory, beyond the
reach of local people. Through the
formation of the Positive Action Movement (PAM),
Lloyd led the opposition to the 1960s agreement
between the local government and the Bates Hill
Company of Britain to reclaim the area around
Wickham's Cay, which is now a popular commercial
area, on the basis of a 199 year lease, after buying
out the local owner, as well as control of
three-quarters of Anegada. Through
several public meetings and peaceful protests, PAM,
under Lloyd’s leadership, succeeded in persuading
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to appoint a
Commission of Enquiry and the agreement with Bates
was eventually dissolved. Prior to his
formation of PAM, Lloyd served in the Royal Air
Force in the late 1950s and early 1960s, after which
he lived for four years in Kenya before returning to
the BVI in the mid 1960s. Premier Ralph
O'Neal, in a brief comment, said, "We have lost a
brave man, a courageous man, a man who fought for
the principle and was not afraid to defend his stand
for the BVI. In fact Mr. Lloyd was a hero in every
respect." O'Neal also expressed his and
the territory's condolence to Lloyd's two daughters,
Sarah Lloyd Gomez, Michelle Lloyd, and their mother.
Puerto
Rican Policeman Killed In FBI Rescue
An FBI agent may have
accidentally killed a Puerto Rican policeman
in a late-night shootout with alleged
kidnappers, the island's top police official
said on Friday, August 8th. Police
Superintendent Pedro Toledo said evidence
collected so far suggests the 12-year
veteran, who was in uniform, was struck by
stray bullets during an FBI raid to rescue a
kidnap victim from the Dominican Republic.
"According to the witnesses we have
interviewed, there is a significant
possibility that he died from what we call
'friendly fire,' shots from the gun of an
FBI agent," Toledo said. The FBI
planned to dispatch a team of investigators
from the U.S. mainland to investigate the
incident, said spokesman Harry Rodriguez.
American
Tourist Murdered In China
A Chinese man wielding a knife
has attacked two US Olympic tourists in Beijing,
killing one and injuring the other. After
stabbing the pair, the killer then threw himself
from the 13th century Drum Tower near the main
Olympics site. He also injured a female
Chinese tourist guide before committing suicide.
The 47-year-old attacker, who has been named from
identification papers as Tang Yongming, targeted the
victims, who were related to a US Olympic coach.
The attack occurred just hours after competition
started for the Olympic Games, which was run under
unprecedented security measures. US officials
have been in contact with the relatives of the two
Americans and security officers have blocked off the
scene of the crime.
Alleged
beating being investigated
In Haiti, a local municipal official and witnesses
say two Haitian policemen were severely beaten by UN
peacekeepers in the country's largest and most
violent slum. Cite Soleil Mayor Wilson Louis in an
account supported by several witnesses, said about
ten Brazilian members of the UN peacekeeping force
in Haiti took part in the beating. The mayor called
for those at fault to be punished. Eyewitnesses said
the UN troops ordered the policemen to leave the
area during a security operation. They said the two
plainclothes officers had properly identified
themselves but were beaten after refusing to leave.
A UN spokeswoman said the incident was under
investigation.
Antiguans
march against crime
Police in Antigua say more than two thousand people
attended a march to protest crime in the country on
Thursday. The march, organised by the island's hotel
and tourism association, was also aimed at
expressing sympathy for two Britons murdered while
honeymooning in Antigua last month. Church leaders
and police spoke there about Catherine and Ben
Mullany who were shot on July 27 during an apparent
robbery. She died immediately - her husband was
placed on life support but died this week. No one
has been charged. Police said Thursday that a man
being questioned in connection with the double
murder has been released.
Loud
music on public vehicles prompts ban
Guyana's National Assembly has unanimously agreed to
ban music in hire-cars and mini-buses. MPs said they
were supporting the measure in a bid to reduce road
accidents and the incidence of hearing-loss. Those
violating the ban on music in public transportation
can be fined a maximum of 75-US dollars and six
months imprisonment. Home Affairs Minister, Clement
Rohee, told the House that repeated efforts have
failed to curb loud music in public transportation,
prompting the government to outlaw all music in
hire-cars and mini-buses.
10 Month Old Baby Killed In PR
Police in Puerto Rico say a 10 month-old baby was shot and
killed in his car seat during a drive-by shooting. Bullets hit
the baby in the head and back, while his parents were both
wounded in their hips late Tuesday. Both were in stable
condition at a local hospital in southeastern Puerto Rico.
Police say they are investigating a possible dispute between the
father and local criminals linked to drug trafficking.
New
Haitian leader vows focus on investment
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters): The woman recently ratified by
Haiti's parliament as the poor Caribbean country's new prime
minister on Tuesday vowed to spur fresh investment, if she wins
final approval to take office. "If my program is approved by
parliament, I will immediately take action to create the
necessary environment to facilitate investments," said economist
Michele Pierre-Louis. She still has to appear before both
legislative chambers to present a formal declaration of her
policies, which must win parliamentary approval, before
Pierre-Louis can take the prime minister's office.
Pierre-Louis said her efforts to bolster investment in the
country would focus on all potential sources of new capital,
foreign and domestic, as well as international donors. She said
her government would also seek to foster new spending on
national production, particularly food production, along with
energy, infrastructure projects and security. Pierre-Louis, who
would become Haiti's second female prime minister, also outlined
a series of austerity measures to limit nonessential government
spending and help buoy the economy of the poorest country in the
Americas.
UN
tightens border security
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti has
announced that it is bolstering its presence in a key
north-eastern border town as part of efforts to clamp down on
illegal drug trafficking. A UN statement said they also wanted
to improve security in an area prone to smuggling and other
crimes. The town of Ouanaminthe is one of the largest border
points between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Its mayor, Rony
Pierre, has welcomed the increased military presence, saying it
would help to reduce banditry and insecurity.
Handover
of suspects "imminent"
Guyanese police say they expect Brazil to hand over two key
suspects in the 2005 killing of two American missionaries near
the border with the Brazilian state of Roraima. Head of the
Criminal Investigations Department, Seelall Persaud, confirmed
that police had secured arrest warrants from the court in
Guyana. He said this process was necessary after previous
efforts had failed to get Brazil to hand over the men, in the
absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries. At
the time they were killed, the American missionaries were
working in Guyana's interior, translating the Bible into an
indigenous Amerindian language.
Tempers
flare in Turks and Caicos parliament
Tempers flared in the House of Assembly in the Turks and
Caicos Islands on Tuesday, August 5th. Floyd Seymour, Leader of
the Opposition, objected to a new piece of legislation that was
being hustled through Parliament and which pertained to the new
government sponsored TV station, which has been broadcasting in
recent weeks. Mr. Seymour had raised the issue that
the station was operating as a propaganda station for the
government and was commissioned without the authority of
legislation. The bill was presented for debate at 9 am and had
not been on the published agenda for the house meeting.
The acting Speaker of the House, Deputy Speaker Karen Delancy,
who is also a ruling Progressive National Party (PNP) member of
parliament, was presiding during the period this bill was
presented. Seymour openly criticized her for allowing this issue
to go forward for debate, three readings and passage in one
session without prior notice. He stated the standing orders of
the House preclude this procedure. Apparently, the bill, which
was outlined by Premier Michael Misick on Tuesday, allows only
one hour per year for political parties to make presentations.
The bill also restricts access to this media on the basis of the
number of seats held in Parliament and not on the basis of the
popular vote in the territory. The TV station had
cancelled a PDM paid program for a number of months without
explanation. Recently, however, they have agreed to restore the
contract and PDM has been airing a one hour weekly program for
the past three weeks. During the debate, the PNP members in the
House were heard jeering at the PDM for their views being
presented on Caribbean Net News, TCI Net News and TCI Journal,
who they suggested were owned by the PDM.
Top
ranking cop charged
A top ranking police officer in the
Cayman Islands has been charged in an ongoing corruption probe.
Deputy Police Commissioner Rudolph Dixon faces two counts of
misconduct in a public office and two counts related to
obstruction. Another officer who was also a suspect in the case,
will not be charged. The deputy commissioner was one of three
commanders of the Royal Caymans Police Service who were placed
on leave in March.
Seven
bullet-riddled bodies discovered
Authorities in the Dominican Republic say the
bullet-riddled bodies of seven foreigners were
discovered on Tuesday, August 5th along a
drug-smuggling route south of the country's
capital.Police said the victims were found dumped
with their hands tied together alongside a road near
a village about 40 miles south of Santo Domingo.
The police say the dead men include citizens from
Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua.The Dominican
Republic is seen as a transshipment point for
illegal drugs They suspect that the killings are
tied to drug trafficking. A police spokesman said at
least four of the seven victims were kidnapped the
night before from one of their homes. An eighth man
identified as a Nicaraguan citizen, is said to have
suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach but managed
to escape the gangland-style killing. He
has been hospitalized.
Scotland
Yard Helping To Investigate Couple's Murder's
The bridegroom shot in Antigua
while on honeymoon with his wife has died in hospital in Wales.
Ben Mullany died on Sunday, August 3rd. His wife Catherine was
shot dead in the attack at their hotel on the last day of their
honeymoon. Media reports say their joint funeral is expected
to be held at the same south Wales church where they were married
three weeks ago. Antiguan police are being assisted in
their investigations by Scotland Yard detectives.
Barbados
Fine Tunes It's Caricom Immigration Policy
The Barbados Government is to
identify a minimum set of economic rights which CARICOM nationals
who migrate to that country under the freedom of movement provisions
of the Single Market and Economy will be entitled to.
Prime Minister David Thompson says these provisions will be part of
a national managed migration policy, and will be based on what the
country can afford, while ensuring that the basic human needs of
migrants are provided for. Areas like access to
education, health, national insurance, and other social services are
being examined.
Brutal
Crime Brings Unwanted Publicity To Antigua
Former Antiguan High
Commissioner to London Sir Ronald Sanders says with the murder story
having raged in the British media, it will be some time before
Antigua recovers from all the unpleasant publicity. He's
recommending hard work in the tourism marketplaces to overcome this.
The former diplomat says the region as a whole is a casualty of this
awful tragedy which unleashed headlines around the world that
highlighted the word "Caribbean".
Guyana's
Jagdeo Is Still Hugely Popular
He may be constitutionally
serving his last term as president - but Guyana's Bharrat Jagdeo
remains the most popular politician in the governing Peoples
Progressive Party. President Jagdeo gave what may have been
his last address to a congress of his party, but his popularity was
confirmed in elections to the party's central committee held at the
end of the congress. He received the highest number of
votes. Founder member and former President Janet Jagan was
second and third was Minister of Culture Frank Anthony, who has been
put forward as a possible presidential candidate at the next
election in 2011. The congress also unanimously approved
a political declaration which called for more engagement with other
political parties and the social sector.
Smallest
snake discovered in Barbados
The world's smallest snake has
been discovered in Barbados - it's as thin as a strand of spaghetti
and only ten centimeters long. The American biologist
who made the discovery, Dr Blair Hedges, says the new species is
probably at the limit of how small snakes can be -- any smaller, and
it wouldn't be able to eat anything. Dr Hedges said he
found the new species when he turned over a rock in a threatened
area of forest in Barbados.
California's
Pot Law Upheld In Appeals Court
A state appeals court
upheld California's 12-year-old medical marijuana law on
Thursday, July 31st, rejecting two counties' arguments that
allowing patients to use the drug with their doctor's approval
condones violations of federal narcotics laws.The Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Diego
dismissed challenges by San Diego and San Bernardino counties,
which objected both to the 1996 marijuana initiative and to
recent legislation requiring counties to issue identification
cards to users of medical pot.The cards protect their holders from arrest by state or
local police for possessing small amounts of marijuana.The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the federal
government can enforce its drug laws, which ban marijuana use
and cultivation, against patients and their suppliers in
California and the 11 other states that have legalized medical
marijuana under their own laws.But in Thursday's ruling, the appeals court said states
remain free to decide whether to punish drug users under their
own laws."The
(federal) law does not compel the states to impose criminal
penalties for marijuana possession," said Justice Alex McDonald
in the 3-0 ruling, which upheld a Superior Court judge's
decision."The purpose
of the (federal law) is to combat recreational drug use, not to
regulate a state's medical practices.Besides, McDonald said, the
counties' only obligation under the California law is to process
and hand out the ID cards, a requirement that poses no conflict
with federal law.State and local officers can't arrest marijuana
users for violating the federal law, he said, and applications
for the medical marijuana cards contain a warning that they
provide no shield against federal authorities.Although the state's decision to allow medical marijuana
use "arguably undermines the goals" of the federal law, McDonald
said, county governments are unaffected by any such conflicts
and therefore have no right to sue to overturn the entire state
law.San Diego County's
lawyer, Senior Deputy County Counsel Thomas Bunton, said county
supervisors may decide by next week whether to appeal to the
state Supreme Court. He said a future appeal to the U.S. Supreme
Court is also possible.
Scientists
are continuing to monitor Montserrat's Soufriere Hills volcano
following an explosion on Tuesday, July 29th.
A dome over the volcano's crater partially collapsed spewing ash
into the sky. There were no injuries but several persons
were temporarily evacuated. Roderick Stewart is the
director of the Montserrat Volcano observatory and he explained
that there was a collapsed from the western flank of the dome
into the valley above the dome of Plymouth, and this uncovered
some very hot lava inside the dome which then had a number of
small explosions and together generated a large ash cloud which
went up an altitude about 40,000 feet. A series of blasts over
the weekend had released ash and blistering gases into the
atmosphere. In 1997 an eruption killed 19 people on the
island. Since the Soufrière Hills Volcano began erupting
in 1995 more than half of the population have left the island.
In
Haiti, in a dusty courtyard women mould clay and
water into hundreds of little platters and lay them
out to harden under the Caribbean sun. The
craftsmanship is rough and the finished products are
uneven. But customers do not object. This is Cité
Soleil, Haiti's most notorious slum, and these
platters are not to hold food. They are food.
Brittle and gritty - and as revolting as they sound
- these are "mud cakes". For years they have been
consumed by impoverished pregnant women seeking
calcium, a risky and medically unproven supplement,
but now the cakes have become a staple for entire
families. The smidgens of salt and
margarine do not disguise what is essentially dirt,
and the aftertaste lingers - but because they
are the cheapest and increasingly only way to fill
bellies people eat them when they have to.
Increasingly, more and more people have to eat the
mud cakes. The global food and fuel crisis has hit
Haiti harder than perhaps any other country, pushing
a population mired in extreme poverty towards
starvation and revolt. Hunger burns are called
"swallowing Clorox", a brand of bleach.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization predicts
Haiti's food import bill will leap 80% this year,
the fastest in the world. Food riots toppled the
prime minister and left five dead in April.
Emergency subsidies curbed prices and bought calm
but the cash-strapped government is gradually
lifting them. Fresh unrest is expected.
According to the UN, two-thirds of Haitians live on
less than 25 cents a day and half are
undernourished. Food is available but people cannot
afford to buy it, if the situation gets worse
the country could see starvation in the next six to
12 months.
Trinidad
and Tobago's inflation rate jumped to a 14-year high
of 11.3 percent in June, led by rising food prices.
According to Trinidad's central bank, the June
inflation rate compared to 7.3 percent in the same
month a year earlier, and was up 1.3 percent from
the 10 percent rate recorded in May.
Core inflation, which filters out the effects of
food prices, accelerated to 6.4 percent in June
compared with 5.2 percent in May and 4.5 percent in
June 2007. The bank said this was almost
entirely due to the higher cost of electricity as
the state power company implemented new residential
rates with increases of 14 percent to 48 percent.
In
Jamaica, the police are warning users of the Bog Walk Gorge in
St. Catherine to observe the speed limit and to use the road
with care, this following an accident in the area in which three
men suffered serious injury. Constable Orville Johnson
from the Bog Walk Police appealed to motorists to check their
speed, check their vehicles and also check themselves in order
to reduce accidents. Eyewitnesses who saw the accident
said that at about 7.30am, a pick up truck which was heading
along the Gorge towards Spanish Town, crashed into a wall. The
witnesses added that the driver had swerved to avoid colliding
with an oncoming vehicle. The injured were taken to Spanish
Town Hospital.
Security
in Antigua
This past week, Antigua marked the peak of its carnival
activities but with the cloud of the shooting of a British
couple hanging over events.The carnival had been
heavily promoted in advance but officials reported more caution
in attending events during the last week following the shooting.
Newly wed Ben Mullany, who was left in a coma after the
shooting on July 27th in which his doctor wife was killed, was
flown back home to Wales on Friday, August 1st.
The 31-year-old physiotherapist, has been in intensive care
since being shot in the neck and a senior surgeon at the
hospital in Antigua told reporters that Mullany's prognosis was
"poor". His wife Catherine, 31, died when the pair were attacked
in their hotel bungalow in what media reports initially said was
a botched robbery. The couple were at the end of their
honeymoon after a wedding in south Wales on July 12.
Mullany's parents, who flew to Antigua to be with him after
Sunday's shooting, believe he will have a better chance of
surviving if he returns to the UK. Local police have been
questioning six suspects but the Caribbean island's Prime
Minister Baldwin Spencer has called for British police help.
Spencer has blamed the US and UK for deporting criminals back to
Antigua, fuelling the crime rate. He said the
deportees had "developed" as criminals while staying in these
countries and had "nurtured" their anti-social behavior.
Britain's Home Office said Britain had deported nine criminals
to Antigua and Barbuda since 2006. Antigua's PR machine
has swung into full damage limitation mode with them releasing
details of how little tourists are affected by crime. But people
who live there say that their reality has changed a lot in the
last few years and that crime is increasing. Prime
Minister Spencer announced a look at
legislation on bail, rules governing security firms, and a
tightening of stop-and-search legislation. He also announced the
introduction of closed circuit television at strategic points
and consideration of wire-tapping of phones. Former Prime
Minister, Lester Bird says some of the measures are
unconstitutional and there are alternatives to dealing with the
growing crime problem.
About
114 Haitians were scheduled to be sent back home from the
Bahamas
on Thursday, July 31st, following a failed
human smuggling attempt earlier in the week.
Assistant Director of Immigration William Pratt said the other
183 who were captured early Monday morning, in the largest
apprehension of illegal immigrants so far this year, would soon
be deported. Police got word of the smuggling attempt
through a call to their control room early Monday morning,
indicating there was a sloop laden with Haitians in the
country's waters. When police officers, Defense Force
marines and immigration officers rushed to the scene on the
southern end of New Providence, they captured 233 men and 64
women.
(Mr.
Tsvangirais)
In Africa, Zimbabwe's
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he is "fairly
satisfied" with power-sharing talks aimed at ending the
country's crisis. He said that there are, like in any
negotiations, sticking points that need to be unraveled.
During a visit to Senegal, he also suggested the two-week
deadline for concluding the talks could be flexible.
Earlier, Mr Tsvangirai said he hoped President Robert Mugabe
would make an "honorable exit" after the talks.
Mr. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accuses Mr. Mugabe
and his Zanu-PF party of stealing Zimbabwe's presidential
election. On Wednesday, July 30th South African President
Thabo Mbeki, who has led negotiations over Zimbabwe's crisis,
said the parties were determined to find a solution within a
two-week timeframe.
In Haiti, the Senate
ratification of Michele Pierre-Louis as Haiti's next prime minister
has set up the political process for round two. Ms
Pierre-Louis' nomination as President Rene Preval's choice of prime
minister was ratified by Haitian senators on the evening of
Thursday, July 31st. This ended a
three-month stalemate as the country's two chambers remained
deadlocked over nominees to replace Jacques Edouard Alexis after a
week of food riots. She must now return for a
second round of voting in both the Senate and the Chamber of
deputies.
In
Jamaica, a Westmoreland businessman was fined $500,000 or nine
months hard labor in the Savanna-la-mar Resident Magistrate's
Court on Thursday, July 31st for breaches of the Dangerous Drugs
Act. He is Dermot Lawson, 47, of Kentucky in the parish.
Lawson, along with Steve Scott, 27, and Kirkland Hylton, 22,
also of Kentucky, were held by members of the Island Special
Constabulary Force along the Hopeton Main Road on July 12th.
They were arrested and charged with possession of, dealing in,
trafficking and taking steps to export ganja. The court
was told that the men were held in a Toyota Corolla motor car
with two suitcases packed with 36 packages of compressed ganja.
The police say the packages were prepared for export. When
the men appeared in court, Lawson pleaded guilty after admitted
to owning the drugs but said Mr. Scott and Mr. Hylton were not
involved. They were discharged with strong warnings from
the judge.
A
retired Deputy Commissioner of Police has returned to Grenada's
police force to take up the top post.
He has identified training and development as his key
priorities. James Clarkson, who retired from the Royal Grenada
Police Force in 2005, was named the new Commissioner of Police
following the retirement of Winston James. Sixty
four year old Clarkson, said he was looking forward to the task
of taking the force to higher levels of performance.
Clarkson's career began in 1961 when he served in the West
Indian Regiment until 1962. He then joined the
Trinidad Defense Force, staying there until 1967. He
later served the police force in various capacities between 1970
and 2005.
In
Dominica, the leader of the opposition United Workers Party, UWP
has resigned.
Earl Williams announced his resignation on Wednesday, July 30th,
one week after the UWP said it was concerned about allegations
of financial wrongdoing leveled against him. Mr. Williams,
who was elected as UWP leader in November 2005 to replace former
Prime Minister Edison James, broke his silence on charges that
he had not been able to account for just over $90, 000 US
dollars that he had received to purchase land on the island's
west coast for a client based in the United States. Mr.
Williams said he had already informed Dominica's President N.J
Liverpool of his decision. Meanwhile, UWP Deputy Leader
Ron Green will take over the duties that were assigned to Mr.
Williams pending his own confirmation in the post.
Caricom
Pass
Caribbean Community (Caricom)
officials have made the first tentative steps towards what will
become a hassle-free swipe card across the region. The
Caricom Pass is due to be ready for introduction by April 2009.
The idea is for the card to ride on technology put in place which
allowed easier travel across the Caribbean for the 2007 Cricket
World Cup. Officials met at Caricom headquarters in Guyana's
capital, Georgetown, and agreed that some countries might want an
easing-in period for the new technology.
Emancipation
Day
A number of Caribbean countries
were this weekend marking Emancipation day. In Jamaica,
activities were held at the birthplace of pan-Africanist and
national hero Marcus Garvey. On public holidays across the
region, Afro-Caribbean groups issued calls for better education on
African history. Evangelical-Mother of the Guyana United
Apostolic Mystical Council, Denise Miller, said that the Internet
had become one of the major distractions for Guyanese of African
descent. She said that many of the young people have become
wayward because they lack spiritual guidance.
Caribbean
News Updated
As
Barbadians, like many of their regional
counterparts, struggle to cope with an increased
cost of living driven by spiraling oil prices on the
world market, some householders have been cutting
back on popular meats such as steak, pork and lamb,
and instead substituting fish, a cheaper protein
source. Flying fish the popular local delicacy
retails for as low as $25 per 100 or approximately
two dollars per kilogram, over seven dollars less
than the per kilogram retail cost of chicken.
Its relative ease and diversity in preparation makes
it an obvious choice. According to an
official from Government’s Fisheries Division, the
estimated total fish landed for 2007 stood at just
under 2,400 metric tons, compared with the 2006
figure of 1,920. Of the amount landed in 2007,
flying fish was said to account for 54 percent by
weight, and dolphin 29 percent. 
The
British Virgin Islands Has Lost One Of Its Heroes
Puerto
Rican Policeman Killed In FBI Rescue
American
Tourist Murdered In China
Alleged
beating being investigated
Antiguans
march against crime
Loud
music on public vehicles prompts ban
New
Haitian leader vows focus on investment
UN
tightens border security
Handover
of suspects "imminent"
Tempers
flare in Turks and Caicos parliament
Top
ranking cop charged
Seven
bullet-riddled bodies discovered
Scotland
Yard Helping To Investigate Couple's Murder's
Barbados
Fine Tunes It's Caricom Immigration Policy
Brutal
Crime Brings Unwanted Publicity To Antigua
Guyana's
Jagdeo Is Still Hugely Popular
Smallest
snake discovered in Barbados
Scientists
are continuing to monitor Montserrat's Soufriere Hills volcano
following an explosion on Tuesday, July 29th.
A dome over the volcano's crater partially collapsed spewing ash
into the sky. There were no injuries but several persons
were temporarily evacuated. Roderick Stewart is the
director of the Montserrat Volcano observatory and he explained
that there was a collapsed from the western flank of the dome
into the valley above the dome of Plymouth, and this uncovered
some very hot lava inside the dome which then had a number of
small explosions and together generated a large ash cloud which
went up an altitude about 40,000 feet. A series of blasts over
the weekend had released ash and blistering gases into the
atmosphere. In 1997 an eruption killed 19 people on the
island. Since the Soufrière Hills Volcano began erupting
in 1995 more than half of the population have left the island.
In
Haiti, in a dusty courtyard women mould clay and
water into hundreds of little platters and lay them
out to harden under the Caribbean sun. The
craftsmanship is rough and the finished products are
uneven. But customers do not object. This is Cité
Soleil, Haiti's most notorious slum, and these
platters are not to hold food. They are food.
Brittle and gritty - and as revolting as they sound
- these are "mud cakes". For years they have been
consumed by impoverished pregnant women seeking
calcium, a risky and medically unproven supplement,
but now the cakes have become a staple for entire
families. The smidgens of salt and
margarine do not disguise what is essentially dirt,
and the aftertaste lingers - but because they
are the cheapest and increasingly only way to fill
bellies people eat them when they have to.
Increasingly, more and more people have to eat the
mud cakes. The global food and fuel crisis has hit
Haiti harder than perhaps any other country, pushing
a population mired in extreme poverty towards
starvation and revolt. Hunger burns are called
"swallowing Clorox", a brand of bleach.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization predicts
Haiti's food import bill will leap 80% this year,
the fastest in the world. Food riots toppled the
prime minister and left five dead in April.
Emergency subsidies curbed prices and bought calm
but the cash-strapped government is gradually
lifting them. Fresh unrest is expected.
According to the UN, two-thirds of Haitians live on
less than 25 cents a day and half are
undernourished. Food is available but people cannot
afford to buy it, if the situation gets worse
the country could see starvation in the next six to
12 months. 
Trinidad
and Tobago's inflation rate jumped to a 14-year high
of 11.3 percent in June, led by rising food prices.
According to Trinidad's central bank, the June
inflation rate compared to 7.3 percent in the same
month a year earlier, and was up 1.3 percent from
the 10 percent rate recorded in May.
Core inflation, which filters out the effects of
food prices, accelerated to 6.4 percent in June
compared with 5.2 percent in May and 4.5 percent in
June 2007. The bank said this was almost
entirely due to the higher cost of electricity as
the state power company implemented new residential
rates with increases of 14 percent to 48 percent.
In
Jamaica, the police are warning users of the Bog Walk Gorge in
St. Catherine to observe the speed limit and to use the road
with care, this following an accident in the area in which three
men suffered serious injury. Constable Orville Johnson
from the Bog Walk Police appealed to motorists to check their
speed, check their vehicles and also check themselves in order
to reduce accidents. Eyewitnesses who saw the accident
said that at about 7.30am, a pick up truck which was heading
along the Gorge towards Spanish Town, crashed into a wall. The
witnesses added that the driver had swerved to avoid colliding
with an oncoming vehicle. The injured were taken to Spanish
Town Hospital.
legislation on bail, rules governing security firms, and a
tightening of stop-and-search legislation. He also announced the
introduction of closed circuit television at strategic points
and consideration of wire-tapping of phones. Former Prime
Minister, Lester Bird says some of the measures are
unconstitutional and there are alternatives to dealing with the
growing crime problem. 
About
114 Haitians were scheduled to be sent back home from the
Bahamas
(Mr.
Tsvangirais)
PM
Selection Not Over
In
Jamaica, a Westmoreland businessman was fined $500,000 or nine
months hard labor in the Savanna-la-mar Resident Magistrate's
Court on Thursday, July 31st for breaches of the Dangerous Drugs
Act. He is Dermot Lawson, 47, of Kentucky in the parish.
Lawson, along with Steve Scott, 27, and Kirkland Hylton, 22,
also of Kentucky, were held by members of the Island Special
Constabulary Force along the Hopeton Main Road on July 12th.
They were arrested and charged with possession of, dealing in,
trafficking and taking steps to export ganja. The court
was told that the men were held in a Toyota Corolla motor car
with two suitcases packed with 36 packages of compressed ganja.
The police say the packages were prepared for export. When
the men appeared in court, Lawson pleaded guilty after admitted
to owning the drugs but said Mr. Scott and Mr. Hylton were not
involved. They were discharged with strong warnings from
the judge. 
A
retired Deputy Commissioner of Police has returned to Grenada's
police force to take up the top post.
He has identified training and development as his key
priorities. James Clarkson, who retired from the Royal Grenada
Police Force in 2005, was named the new Commissioner of Police
following the retirement of Winston James. Sixty
four year old Clarkson, said he was looking forward to the task
of taking the force to higher levels of performance.
Clarkson's career began in 1961 when he served in the West
Indian Regiment until 1962. He then joined the
Trinidad Defense Force, staying there until 1967. He
later served the police force in various capacities between 1970
and 2005.
In
Dominica, the leader of the opposition United Workers Party, UWP
has resigned.
Earl Williams announced his resignation on Wednesday, July 30th,
one week after the UWP said it was concerned about allegations
of financial wrongdoing leveled against him. Mr. Williams,
who was elected as UWP leader in November 2005 to replace former
Prime Minister Edison James, broke his silence on charges that
he had not been able to account for just over $90, 000 US
dollars that he had received to purchase land on the island's
west coast for a client based in the United States. Mr.
Williams said he had already informed Dominica's President N.J
Liverpool of his decision. Meanwhile, UWP Deputy Leader
Ron Green will take over the duties that were assigned to Mr.
Williams pending his own confirmation in the post. 
Caricom
Pass
Emancipation
Day
In
Antigua, t