Caribbean Headline News Round Up......

Printed Friday, April 18th 2008

French poet Aime Cesaire, an energetic promoter of black cultural identity, died Thursday, April 17th in the Caribbean island of Martinique, a government source said. He was 94.  Cesaire died in hospital in Fort-de-France where he had been admitted on April 9 for heart problems.  With fellow writers such as Leopold Sedar Senghor from Senegal, Cesaire invented the term "negritude" which he defined as an "affirmation that one is black and proud of it."   Describing himself as "negro, negro from the bottom of the sky immemorial" Cesaire fought against colonialism through political activism and poetry.  His flamboyant and demanding works are standard texts in universities and are also celebrated in top French theatres.   Former Senegalese president Abdou Diouf described Cesaire as a great figure of 20th-century literature, saying he was a "poet who had a world stature while remaining deeply attached to the cultural values of the black world." Born on June 25, 1913 in Martinique, Cesaire was educated in Paris, where he attended the Lycee Louis-le-Grand on an educational scholarship before passing an entrance exam for the elite Ecole Normale Superieure.   In his student days he and Senghor created the literary review "L'Etudiant Noir" ("The Black Student").   With his 'negritude', Cesaire was in fact a forerunner of the later "black is beautiful" movement in the United States.
His ideas were first fully expressed in his long poem "Cahier d'un retour au pays natal" ("Return to My Native Land"), a powerful depiction of the ambiguities of Caribbean life and culture.   As a playwright he is best known for two plays, "The Tragedy of King Christophe" and an original adaptation of Shakespeare's "the Tempest".   In Martinique, Cesaire's health condition had been closely watched, in particular in Fort-de-France where he served as mayor for 56 years, from 1945 to 2001.

In Jamaica, two employees of Burger King's St James Street branch in Montego Bay, St James, were hospitalized after they were doused with hot oil by a co-worker.   It is understood that the incident occurred at approximately 2 p.m. Wednesday April 16th after the management at the fast food franchise reprimanded two employees for company breaches, resulting in one of them being fired.   According to an employee, this decision did not go down well with the fired employee, who reportedly used a container of hot oil to burn the other employee who was not fired.   The hot liquid, however, is reported to have also injured another co-worker, who was not involved in the dispute.  The restaurant was closed for two hours as a result of the incident.

In Haiti, sellers and angry customers clashed over the price of rice on Tuesday April 15th, three days after the government announced a deal to reduce the price by 15 percent after food riots that killed at least five people.  Vendors said customers had expected rice prices to drop immediately after the government announced on Saturday an agreement with importers to cut the cost of a 110-pound sack of rice from $51 to $43.   But vendors were still selling older, higher-priced stocks, angering hungry Haitians and keeping alive simmering tensions over skyrocketing living costs in a nation where most people get by on less than $2 a day.   There were no reports of injuries as a result of the heated confrontations, which in some places involved minor scuffles, but lawmakers called on the government to announce immediately when the price cuts would reach the market to prevent further violence.   The Haiti Senate fired Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis on Saturday, April 12th after days of unrest over the high cost of living in the impoverished Caribbean nation of nearly 9 million people, where malnutrition is rampant.   International agencies have appealed for emergency funds to help Haiti and other countries hit by food riots. Record oil prices, rising demand in Asia, the use of crops for biofuels and other factors have pushed up food prices across the globe.
 

(photo: Seymour) In the Turks & Caicos Islands, Floyd Seymour, leader of the opposition Peoples Democratic Movement has called on Premier Michael Misick to step aside following allegations of sexual misconduct. In a press statement on Wednesday, Seymour said, “It is with deep regret that the Premier, the leader of the Turks and Caicos Islands has been implicated in a serious matter involving sexual misconduct. The entire country is in a state of shock and dismay and is at a crossroads because of the allegations.”   Seymour urged the authorities to ensure that the investigation into the allegations is carried out with the utmost integrity and expediency.   “The eyes of the world are watching and justice must not only be served but must be seen to be done,” Seymour said.   He went on to call for Misick to step aside and allow someone else to act as premier while the investigation is continuing.   “It is the only right thing to do,” Seymour said. However, Misick declined to step down and said that he will continue his duties as premier. According to Misick, an American female made a false report to law enforcement officials in the United States that she had allegedly been sexually assaulted by him whilst visiting the Turks and Caicos Islands. Misick has expressed confidence that he will “be completely and fully exonerated of this false and outrageous allegation.”   Misick also said that he will not be commenting any further on the matter, due to the ongoing investigation.

An appeal for Jamaican consumers to decrease their dependence on food imports has been called by Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, who warned that the developing world food crisis posed a "clear and present danger" to the nation.  Tufton, in making his debut presentation in the annual Budget Debate in Parliament this week, spent just under three hours stressing the necessity for the nation to increase its agriculture output and feed its own people.  Noting that some 61 per cent of the country's basic food items were imported, the agriculture minister said data from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica showed that the nation's food import bill had increased from US$479 million in 2002 to US$662 million up to November 2007.   Tufton said Cabinet agreed on Monday, April 14th to place the focus of Labour Day, to be observed on May 23, on food security.  The theme will be 'Eating What We Grow and Growing What We Eat'.  The school garden program will also be expanded through the Jamaica 4-H clubs in collaboration with the ministry.  At a cost of $30 million, the ministry will distribute some 200,000 packets of vegetable seeds to each student from grades eight to 11 in every secondary institution. These seeds are expected to be planted at home or within their communities on Labor Day.   In addition, commencing this year, school gardens will be established within 966 public institutions.   Another initiative to boost agricultural production is an Urban Backyard Garden Program, which will be implemented immediately within 400 households in Portmore and Spanish Town, St Catherine.   Initially, selected residents within these communities will be given free of cost a backyard garden kit, developed by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority.

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has expressed concern at the temporary closure of a television station in Guyana by the Guyanese president. The IAPA expressed concern at a four-month suspension on April 12 of broadcasts by CNS Channel 6 television in Guyana on the orders of that country's President Bharrat Jagdeo, acting as minister of communications, on the grounds that the station "infringed the terms of its license" by airing on three occasions a call-in by one of its viewers saying the prime minister should be assassinated.   The Guyana Press Association (GPA) said that it would not issue an opinion on the cause of the alleged offence but it deplored Jagdeo's action, saying it was out of line as the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting (ACB) had decided it would not act against the TV station because its Director had apologized for the allegedly offensive content of the call. The GPA called on Jagdeo to lift the broadcast ban because he was himself the aggrieved party in the matter. Meanwhile, after 17 months and on the repeated insistence of the IAPA and other press organizations Jagedo's government recently announced it would resume placement of official advertising in the daily newspaper Stabroek News, which had been "punished" for its critical editorial content.


A decision by Bermuda to scrap a public holiday honoring the Queen's birthday has stirred protests in Britain's oldest colony. The mid-Atlantic island's centre-left Progressive Labour Party government announced plans last week to eliminate the Queen's Birthday holiday that gave workers a day off in June, and replace it with a National Heroes' Day in October.   Outraged, more than 2,000 of the island's 65,000 residents have signed an online petition to retain the holiday.  "Clearly, the removal of our sovereign's birthday as a public holiday is inexcusable," petition creator Cameron Hollis said, calling the decision "a blatant insult to Her Majesty."   Several former British colonies, including Australia and New Zealand, celebrate the birthday with a day off work but Britain itself does not.  Queen Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926. But she celebrates her official birthday in June when there is less risk of cold, wet weather spoiling parades and outdoor events.   Bermuda marks the day with a military parade that draws hundreds of spectators. It is set this year for Saturday, June 14, with a day off work on Monday, June 16.   Workers will get an extra holiday this year when the first National Heroes' Day is celebrated on Monday, October 13, but from 2009 there will be no public holiday for the Queen's birthday.   Bermuda, a resort island and international business hub, was settled by Britons whose ship was blown ashore by a hurricane in 1609 and celebrates its 400th anniversary next year. Despite a long-held desire to split from Britain, the PLP, which has been in power for a decade, has yet to put the independence issue to the people and opinion polls consistently show a majority oppose independence.   An independence referendum in 1995 was heavily defeated.

In St. Kitts a man from St. Paul's, Kevin Kelly recently appeared before the court to answer a charge of unlawful possession of panties and he was convicted and fined $750 to be paid in one month or serve one month in prison. Police were conducting routine stop and search operations on 5 April and Kevin was stopped and searched and the items were found in a box he was carrying. Kelly was unable to give a satisfactory reason for such possession and he was arrested and charged.

In Jamaica, heavy rainfall affected several parts of the island on Thursday and resulted in flooding and landslides in some sections of St. Ann.  The rains rendered the busy Fern Gully Main Road in Ocho Rios impassable forcing traffic to use alternative routes.  There were reports of flooding on sections of Main Street in the town and a massive landslide in the pimento Walk area.  According to one resident, his house was severely affected by the landslides.   There were also reports of flooding along the North Coast Highway especially in the Runaway Bay area.   Motorists were cautioned to proceed with care in the vicinity of the Shell Service Station on the Runaway Bay Main Road.
 

On Wednesday, April 16th, Cuba said that a series of reforms ordered by new President Raul Castro will strengthen socialism and it will not tolerate attempts by the United States and local dissidents to subvert it.  Cuba brands opponents to the one-party socialist state as mercenaries on the payroll of its ideological enemy, the United States, and frequently imprisons them.   There has been a marked increase in public debate and criticism under Raul Castro, who first temporarily stepped in as acting president in 2006 when his brother Fidel Castro underwent surgery from which he never fully recovered.   Since officially taking over in February as Cuba's first new leader in almost half a century, Raul Castro has lifted restrictions on Cubans using cellular telephones, staying at hotels and buying computers and DVD players.   He has also begun to decentralize agriculture to provide incentives to private farmers, and lift wage caps, among other measures.   A number of dissident organizations have condemned the moves as too little and too late, and are demanding freedom for political prisoners, a market-based economy and multi-party democracy.  US President George W. Bush recently said change was more important than stability in Cuba and some Florida politicians urged Cuban dissidents to hold street demonstrations.  The US government doubled funding this year for Cuba's small and fractious dissident groups, which are illegal but tolerated to a certain degree.

The US Treasury on Wednesday April 16th said it approved a $1.282 billion economic stimulus payment to Puerto Rico to be distributed to local residents as "recovery rebates" intended to revive the island's economy.  The payment is part of the broader $152 billion US economic stimulus plan, under which the Treasury will begin to distribute tax rebate checks to US taxpayers in early May.   A Treasury spokesman said Puerto Rican taxpayers will receive amounts equivalent to the US rebate checks of about $600 per individual or $1,200 per married couple.   Under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, Puerto Rico's government had to submit a plan outlining how it would distribute the rebates before a one-time payment could be made from the US Treasury to the Puerto Rico Treasury Department. Puerto Rico operates a separate, independent tax system.