Caribbean Headline News......

Printed Wednesday, April 23rd 2008

The bodies of 20 people, believed to be Haitian migrants, have been found off the coast of the Bahamas after their boat capsized.    Three survivors were found in the sea some 15 miles from Nassau.  A search operation was launched on Sunday, April 20th after fishermen heard people screaming for help, news reports said.  Every year, thousands of Haitians try to leave their impoverished nation, where recent riots over rising food and fuel prices have led to several deaths.  The US Coast Guard said a fishing crew alerted the Bahamian authorities after hearing cries in the sea early on Sunday.  The US and Bahamas launched a major search effort, deploying an airplane, helicopter and three boats to the area.  The three survivors said their boat was carrying 24 people when it capsized.  Faced with grinding poverty at home, some Haitians opt to board rickety boats to try to make the dangerous sea crossings to the US or to other Caribbean islands.  Reports of drownings are common. Last year, 61 people died when their boat capsized.  Most Haitians earn no more than $2 a day, and they have struggled to feed themselves as the prices of rice, beans and fruit have risen by 50% in recent months.

In Jamaica, a Police Constable and two men charged in a case of alleged kidnapping have been released on bail.  They are Constable Damian Davidson who is attached to the St. Catherine North Police division, Kevon Lee Stewart and Fredricka Radcliff.  They were all granted bail in the sum of $200,000 each when they appeared in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday. The case is set for trial on July 27.   Another man, Omroy Williams who was also implicated in the scam was recently offered bail amounting to $80,000.   It is reported that earlier this month, senior detectives smashed the scam and arrested the four.  They were questioned and placed in custody in connection with the alleged staged kidnapping of the policeman's girlfriend, Fredricka Radcliff.   Constable Davidson and his girlfriend are accused of faking her kidnapping on March 30 in order to get $1 million from the woman's family. 

Jamaica is moving to convince Caricom to drop its Common External Tariff on rice imported from outside the region.   The JLP government in Kingston says this will allow it to import 24,000 tonnes of rice from other countries over the next six months.  The Bruce Golding administration says that this is because Guyana has failed to guarantee the supply of all of Jamaica's estimated 50,000 tonne demand.   However, Guyana says it will resist a CET waiver on rice as it feels it can meet Jamaica's import requirements.

Christian Aid and Oxfam are among charities which have been recommending a serious return to agriculture to help deal with the rising prices issue.   That was emphasized again on Tuesday at a meeting in London that brought together a group of international policy makers and experts.   British prime minister Gordon Brown called there for coordinated international action to combat rising global food prices.  Oxfam spokesperson on trade Amy Barry, said developing countries need to be given the means to produce their own food.

A massive increase in food production, a more alert consumer and a threat to take legal action against profiteering merchants - these were the main planks of a statement made Tuesday by the Minister for Consumer Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago to deal with increasing food prices.   Peter Taylor made the statement in parliament following an assertion by Prime Minister Patrick Manning that the government had the solution to the problems of high and rising food prices.   Mr. Taylor told the senate that the government is bringing over 20,000 acres of land into agricultural production.  He said the vegetables and fruits from the farms will be available and affordable for local consumers.  The minister added that 5,000 other farmers will be given leases for the lands in June of this year.

The food price crisis has become one of the key election issues in the Dominican Republic.  The Spanish-speaking Caribbean nation is going to the polls on 16 May.  The latest opinion poll suggests that President Leonel Fernandez would win 51.7 percent of the vote.  His closest rival Miguel Vargas Maldonado of the social democratic Dominican Revolutionary Party would get just over 37 percent, according to the Gallup survey published on Monday.  

Saint Lucia's Tourism Minister has been addressing concerns about sustainable land use in the face of unprecedented hotel development on the Island.   Just last week the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association called for a moratorium on hotel expansion, while the Director General of the OECS had raised concern about sustainable land use in the sub-region.  Legal sources say alien land holding acts in the OECS Islands ought to have addressed the problem of non-Caricom nationals buying up land in the region.   However, they have explained that without appropriate policies to accompany the act, no determination can be made in regard to whether to sell or lease land to foreign investors, or where particular developments may be sited.

Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves says he is expecting assistance from Austria for the Banana Industry.  Dr Gonsalves who was on a working visit to Austria, said he put in a request for aid for the industry because it is facing a turbulent time and things could get even worse.   The prime minister said that is because Latin America is pushing for a further reduction in the tariff for the importation of Bananas into the European Market.   Under the current arrangements Caribbean bananas are sold on the EU market at 170 Euros a tonne.

In Jamaica, Taxi operators in Spanish Town and its environs in St. Catherine are back on the road.  The operators resumed duties Tuesday afternoon following a meeting with Transport Minister Mike Henry and representatives of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).  The drivers pulled their units to protest against an increase in the franchise fee being charged by the JUTC.  Some operators said that the fee jumped from $9,300 to $54,000.  However during Tuesday morning's meeting, Mr. Henry reportedly told the JUTC to justify the rate increase.  The President of the Spanish Town Taxi Operators Association Aaron Mattis who was in the meeting said other follow-up meetings with the JUTC and the Transport Authority are scheduled for later in the year.   Mr. Mattis added that the operators were instructed to go back to work because a satisfactory resolution was reached and they got what they wanted, the renewal of the licenses for taxis.  Hundreds commuters were left stranded by the protest; some were seen walking from Old Harbour Road to Spanish Town.

In Cuba, the infamous but necessary humped-backed public buses, which locals dubbed "camellos" in Havana, said goodbye to the streets of the capital after Chinese and Russian made buses arrived to replace them.  For thirteen consecutive years, the camellos have been the only choice for the average person among the 2.5 million inhabitants in Havana, back and forth from work, home, school; notwithstanding the not-very-pleasant expletives when they got over-crowded during peak hours in summertime.   The last of these vehicles in the capital drove to the Calvario bus station in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo on Saturday, April 19th where it was met by some of its inventor-engineers Alfredo Muñoz Martinez, (project designer of the Empresa Industrial Guanabo), the National Office of Industrial Design, architect Adrian Fernandez Marquez, designer Pedro Garcia Espinosa and engineer Nestor Alonso Rodriguez.  The revitalization of local transport in Cuba, still insufficient though, is a sign of economic recovery but not yet the end of the economic crisis known as "special period" that began after the collapse of the socialist bloc and has been aggravated by the US economic blockade.   Visitors to the city and locals with good memories will never forget the camello, already one of the symbols of the city, along with the Morro Castle and the Giraldilla.

As Caribbean region agriculture officials continue to grapple with the devastating effect of the red palm mite (Raoiella indica) on their coconut crop, local entomologist Ian Gibbs is again urging Barbadians to be extremely vigilant in keeping the pest from the shores of Barbados.  "If you are travelling to any of the affected countries, including Dominica, St Lucia and Trinidad, please do not bring back, or try to smuggle in any kind of palm products, any kind of orchid products, or any of those plant parts, because you could inadvertently bring the red palm mite with you and cause a major headache here in Barbados," he said. Dubbing the pest, which is said to be wreaking havoc across the Caribbean, a threat to business as well as the horticultural industry, the entomologist stressed that it posed a serious threat to palms, bananas, heliconias, orchids and of course coconuts. "I know that a lot of us like coconut water, so imagine having to do without coconut water for many years to come," he said. In terms of preventative measures, the Ministry of Agriculture spokesman said plant quarantine officials here were on a heightened alert for the pest, and restrictions were in place on all palm products including woven mats, bags and hats coming into the island. He also indicated that the ministry had also embarked on an island wide survey to check on the mite's presence. In terms of its appearance, Gibbs noted that the mite, as its name implied, was "brilliantly red" in color, and could easily be seen against most backgrounds. He underlined, however, that it was very small, and therefore one had to look verycarefully. According to scientists, the red palm mite can be distinguished from spider mites by their red color, flattened bodies and long hairs. All life stages of the pest, including its eggs, are red. The adult female is said to have black patches across its back in some instances.

 

The San Juan, Puerto Rico, US Coast Guard Sector issued a press release early Monday morning, indicating that rescue crews had suspended their search Sunday afternoon for a fisherman who went missing Tuesday, April 15th while traveling from St John, US Virgin Islands to Vieques, Puerto Rico.  St John resident Phillip Fredericks, 45, is still missing after he was expected to arrive to Vieques, Puerto Rico last Tuesday night after departing from St John aboard the fishing vessel Don Chepo Monday afternoon. The 27-foot Don Chepo is a fiberglass and wooden fishing vessel with a blue hull and is powered by two 200 horsepower Evinrude outboard engines.   Coast Guard rescue crews spent five days conducting 21 searches spanning out more than 12,835 nautical square miles throughout the search area. Since Wednesday, Coast Guard rescue crews searched for Fredericks with HH-65 Dolphin helicopters from Air Station Borinquen, Coast Guard 33-foot response boats from Boat Station San Juan, a HU-25 Falcon Jet from Air Station Cape Cod, Mass. an a HC-130 aircraft from Air Station Clearwater, Fla., a Coast Guard Auxiliary fixed-wing aircraft from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and a Coast Guard Auxiliary helicopter from Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands.   The US Coast Guard extended heartfelt condolences to Mr. Fredrick's' family and loved ones during this difficult time.   St. Johnian Fredericks, a fixture in the Cruz Bay town area, could be seen several late afternoons a week selling freshly caught fish near the boat ferry dock.