The Governor General, Sir Colville Young, signed a writ of appointment naming Mr. Kent D. Clare as Director, Financial Intelligence Unit, with effect from 11 October, 2016.
The Financial Intelligence Unit would like to advise the general public that all future correspondences should be addressed to the attention of Mr. Kent D. Clare.
Prime Minister Hon. Allen M. Chastanet on Wednesday, received an EC$10.2 million payout from the CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) that will be used to rebuild Saint Lucia’s agriculture sector in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Matthew.
The Prime Minister commended the CCRIF SPC for its expeditious response toward mitigating Saint Lucia’s physical, infrastructural and revenue losses due to the storm.
He indicated that because of the changes triggered by global warming, emphasis has to be placed on disaster mitigation particularly in areas such as drainage, de-silting, and agricultural and infrastructural development.
“This cheque will be going directly to strengthening and rebuilding our agricultural sector and to pay for some of the costs that we have,” Mr. Chastanet said. “The government has also put in emergency requests through the World Bank, and the European Union (EU). We’ve already had teams meet with those different entities to receive funding to be able to implement redevelopment programs.”
CCRIF SPC Chief Executive Officer Isaac Anthony, affirmed that Saint Lucia was in good standing with the insurance facility. He added that the agency is expanding its product offerings, because it is essential for countries to have some form of disaster risk coverage.
“In addition to the products that we currently offer for tropical cyclones, earthquake and more recently excess rainfall, we are currently working on developing additional products. Right now we are building a drought model because drought has emerged as a major phenomenon in a number of countries especially Saint Lucia.”
The cheque presentation took place at the Office of the Prime Minister on Oct. 19, and was attended by Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Sen. Hon. Dr. Ubaldus Raymond; Minister for Local Government and Culture, Sen. Hon. Fortuna Belrose; Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Cooperatives, Sen. Hon. Jimmy Henry, and Director of Finance in the Ministry of Finance, Cointha Thomas.
The CCRIF SPC’s payouts to member countries impacted by the storm total almost US$8 million.
The Bank hosted an Energy Ministers’ Symposium and Lunchtime Session, participated in and presented at key sessions on the agenda, and met scores of attendees at its stand in CREF’s exhibition hall.
The Symposium, delivered in partnership with the Canadian Support to the Energy Sector in the Caribbean Fund, brought together more than 30 Energy Ministers, senior government officials and partners. During the event, attendees explored topics such as best practices for an enabling environment; the financial and technical risks in the deployment of renewable energy; and the role of sustainable energy in the climate context. The meeting concluded with a discussion on the way forward for championing the transformation of the energy sector in the Caribbean.
“We believe that the formula for energy sector transformation in the Caribbean is: bold leadership, strong partnerships, policy reforms, an enabling environment, smart investments, capacity building, and action, all underpinned by good governance,” said Patricia McKenzie, Vice-President (Operations), while opening the Lunchtime Session that followed the Symposium.
Additional partners from the energy sector joined CDB for the lunch, which featured a keynote speech by State Representative Chris Lee from Hawaii, who serves as Chairman of the Energy and Environmental Protection Committee in the Hawaii State Legislature. Lee emphasised the role of political leaders in transforming the energy sector and instruments Ministers can use to accelerate this shift, while sharing lessons learnt from the Hawaii context.
At CREF 2016, Peter Werner, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Specialist, presented on CDB’s technical assistance activities through the Canadian Support to the Energy Sector in the Caribbean Fund. Tessa Williams-Robertson, Head of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, CDB, participated in a panel: Project Case Study: St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the closing day.
“We have been mobilising concessional resources and working with many partners to secure adequate and appropriate funding for investment and technical assistance to advance geothermal energy in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” said Williams-Robertson.
“This is a very important project for CDB given its demonstration effect and the example it could be for future similar geothermal projects in the Region,” she told attendees.
CREF 2016 was held from October 17 to 19, 2016 at the InterContinental Hotel in Miami. CDB is a committed development partner of the event, which attracted more than 500 participants this year.
A release from the Ministry of Health, Wellness & the Environment stated that the Chateaubelair hospital and clinic will be retro-fitted under the SMART Hospitals Project, which aims to provide safer greener health facilities to deliver care during natural disasters.
The project is being funded by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), through the U.K. Department for International Development, the Ministry said.
Friday’s Town Hall Meeting will be hosted by PAHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO). It will take place at the Chateaubelair Learning Resource Centre from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
The Office of the Prime Minister announces that the Honorable Prime Minister today signed the commencement order to give effect to the provisions relating to the appointment of the thirteenth senator pursuant to the Belize Constitution Sixth Amendment Act.
This order takes effect on 20th January, 2017. The three months will be used to facilitate the necessary consultations with the NGOs to work out the mechanism for selection of the thirteenth senator.
The Saint Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority (SLSWMA), through small-scale funding assistance from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), is seeking to develop a strategy for solid waste management.
A consultant has been contracted to undertake the development of the strategy which will serve to guide the work of the SLSWMA during the next 10 years. The consultant, Karen Luken of Economic Environmental Solutions International, LLC (EESI) along with the staff of the SLSWMA will this week seek the input of a broad base of stakeholders and concerned citizens toward the development of the strategy.
A stakeholder consultation led by Ms. Luken will be held on Oct. 20 at the Palm Haven Hotel, Rodney Bay. The consultation is expected to run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The process also involves a series of focus group discussions targeting solid waste recyclers, constituency councils, waste haulers, legal representatives, technical staff, and former general managers of the SLSWMA. Focus group meetings are expected to run from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. for the week, with the exclusion of Oct. 20.
Input from stakeholders, concerned citizens and groups is important to the process to ensure that the eventual output is acceptable to the government and people of Saint Lucia and contributes to an overall improvement to solid waste management on the island.
This initiative is being conducted in an effort to identify lands that are productive versus those that are not, so that the IRD database can be accurately updated. The teams will proceed to the other parishes within the upcoming months.
Property owners are kindly asked to co-operate with the Officers as they conduct this exercise.
The Inland Revenue Division thanks all for their usual co-operation.
He was speaking at a handing over ceremony for a tipper truck to the Canefield Urban Council on Friday, October 14th.
“The Mahaut Scout Troupe has been trying to build a headquarters for a while now. A portion of was given to them by Mr. Nassief. Early this year the groundbreaking ceremony was held… they broke ground not knowing where the money would come from. The project has begun. They made a request to me and I made a request to the Prime Minister on their behalf. We are making a cheque of $20k available to them towards construction of the scout’s headquarters in Mahaut.”
Road improvement work is ongoing in the Belfast area.
Hon Blackmoore noted, “That [the road] is normally used when we are having an activity in the Mahaut area. Vehicular traffic is diverted to that area. The road there is in a very deplorable condition. We are spending in the region of $210k to improve the road in the upper Belfast area.”
Washroom facilities are also being constructed.
“When we originally conceptualized the rehabilitation of the playing field it was always my plan to construct proper washroom facilities. This will include showers for both women and men. We have been able to get the funding and the request was made to the Hon Prime Minister. We have a local contractor and we are spending $40k to build these washroom facilities.”
Minister Bain-Horsford left the island on Tuesday October 18th.
The high level meeting in Mexico is designed to facilitate dialogue with Caribbean Countries and give them the opportunity to share their knowledge and experiences on the change in strategic food industry areas.
The session will be facilitated by specialists from International Organizations, all geared towards preparing for the implementation of two Regional Technical Cooperation projects.
The forum will highlight topics such as: Women and youth inside rural environment, family agriculture, shared challenges in animals and plant health, food and safety, food quality identification and agricultural sustainability.
Dialogue will also be held with International Cooperation Agencies like the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the French Institute for Research and Development (IRD) and the Ministers of Agriculture.
Minister Yolande Bain-Horsford will return on Friday October 21st, 2016.
