The Commonwealth Ministerial Committee on Belize, chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, Senator the Hon Maxine McClean, and comprising Barbados, Canada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Nigeria and Tanzania, as well as Belize and United Kingdom as observers, met on Monday, 16 May 2016, to discuss the recent events taking place in the Adjacency Zone between Belize and Guatemala.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belize, Hon Wilfred Elrington briefed the Committee on recent developments, including discussions between the governments of the two countries.
The Committee reiterated and endorsed the firm support of the Commonwealth for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Belize, as expressed consistently and most recently in the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Communiqué. The Committee encouraged all concerned to work towards a peaceful and final resolution of the longstanding disagreements concerning the border between Belize and Guatemala.
The Committee encouraged progress to be made through dialogue between Belize and Guatemala, and urged both parties to honour the terms of the Agreements reached in 2005 and 2008.
The Committee commended the Organization of American States (OAS) for its confidence-building and peace-building efforts between Belize and Guatemala, and urged the international community to continue to support these and other similar measures fully and as a matter of urgency.
Commonwealth Ministerial Committee on Belize
Police K-9 Unit fully complimented and ready for service
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 18, 2016 (RSCNPF) – The kennels for the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police K-9 unit now has a head count of six (6) with the completion of training by by Tina, Rex, Sully, Alphie, Pringle and Lori.
The new K-9 assets and their handlers completed six weeks of skills and obedience training on Tuesday(May 17) under the watchful eyes and guiding hands Grieg Bell of Dog Detectives, a K-9 training school from England.
Each dog was trained in a specialty area of detection based on displayed temperament and intelligence. The areas included the detection of explosives, narcotics, firearms and ammunition, general purpose policing and tracking.
According to Superintendent A. Adams, of the Operations Directorate, the three(3) springer spaniels, two(2) Malinois, and one (1) German Shepard will enhance the crime fighting capacity of the Police Service and challenged the handlers to deliver on the training they have received and to take care of the K-9′s entrusted to them.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr. Hilroy Brandy, in remarks, commended the Ministry of National Security for its support in the acquisition and training of the six canine units. He thanked the staff from the ‘Dog Detective’ team for embracing the opportunity to come to St. Kitts to the train the units. He thanks the Ross University for their assistance in monitoring the health of the dogs, and Mr John Zuliani for the continued support of the Coalition for Security.
A demonstration of the skill sets from the each of the teams was the highlight of the brief ceremony.
Four of the (4) dogs will remain on St. Kitts and two (2) will serve in Nevis.
(Press release courtesy of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force)
Prime Minister Gonsalves Signs Agreement With Qatar Civil Aviation Authority Representative
On Thursday, 12th May, 2016, Prime Minister Dr. Hon. Ralph Gonsalves signed an air services agreement with the Head of Agreements and International Relations, Department of Air Transport and Airport Affairs, Mohammed Faleh Alhajri of the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.
Mohammed Faleh Alhajri was accompanied to St. Vincent and the Grenadines was Senior Legal Researcher, Essa Abdulla Al-Malki. The signing ceremony took place at cabinet room.
After the signing, Prime Minister Gonsalves expressed gratitude to the Qatar Government for offering their services to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. According to Dr. Gonsalves, Alhajri will “secure the approval of his Cabinet” on his return to Qatar. Likewise, Prime Minister Gonsalves will seek the approval of Cabinet in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on the agreement. Dr. Gonsalves added that he would be invited to Qatar for formal signing in that country.
To this end, Prime Minister Gonsalves extended gratitude to the Emir of Qatar and his Government for coming to an agreement with the Government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on air services. He also expressed gratitude to the “technical persons from Qatar and also from St. Vincent and the Grenadines for their tremendous work in concluding the memorandum and the agreement.”
The construction of the Argyle International Airport is at hand highlighted Dr. Gonsalves, as is its opening and operations. He further explained that it is important for the country to have air services agreements “with a number of countries with which we are friendly and which have shown interest in the development of our country and for us to have this as the framework for the actual, possible operations of air services”.
In reply, Head of Agreements and International Relations, Department of Air Transport and Airport Affairs, Mohammed Faleh Alhajri, extended thanks to Prime Minister Gonsalves for “his warm reception and kind hospitality”. According to Alhajri, the agreement will allow airlines to operate any number of flights between the State of Qatar and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, without any restrictions.
In his concluding remarks, Alhajri expressed pride in the signing of the air services with St. Vincent and the Grenadines as the State of Qatar is the first Arab country to do sign such agreement. Also, he wished the Government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines prosperity and progress.
St Kitts and Nevis leads regional charge towards vector control
Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 17, 2016 (SKNIS): Minister of Health Honourable Eugene Hamilton said that there is no greater threat to our health security than vectors and the diseases they transmit.
He noted this at the second Workshop to Develop a Regional Network on Research and Control of Emerging Vector-Bourne Diseases in the Caribbean being held in St. Kitts from May 17 – 20.
Vectors are disease-carrying organisms such as the aedes aegypti mosquito or mice.
Minister Hamilton emphasized that the collaboration between the St. Kitts Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and the consortium that secured funding from the Special Programme for Tropical Diseases Research and Training (TDR) which facilitated the workshop, needed to continue. The first workshop was held December 2015 in Trinidad on Surveillance Diagnostics while the one currently being held concentrates on vector-control and research and is co-hosted with the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“It is true that NCDs (Non Communicable Diseases) constitute our greatest health burden,” Minister Hamilton said. “It is also true that outbreaks of vector-bourne diseases increase morbidity, sick leave, loss of productivity and create surge demand on all health facilities and related finances. Indeed palpable anxiety, fear and sheer panic accompany outbreaks and new infections, rumours of an outbreak or the potential for one. The emotional response extends beyond our borderts to our tourism-source markets.”
Minister Hamilton went on to make the connection between concerns caused by vector-bourne illnesses and the impact on the economies of the region.
“As Zika has reminded us travel advisories can make tourism-based economies like ours wobble,” he said. “The negative impact of existing and vector-bourne diseases on the economy defines this workshop as a health and development activity. Although your deliberations will be rooted in science and technology, the all-important issue of sustainable growth and development of small states looms large over all that will be said and decided this week.”
Addressing the regional network, which is expected to be the outcome of the two workshops, Minister Hamilton noted that no Caribbean country can tackle vector-bourne illnesses on its own, but it will take a collaborative effort. He said this was particularly so since tourism requires open borders.
“Closing the borders is not an option,” Minister Hamilton said. “One solution is the strongest possible integrated approach to vector reduction or elimination with the participation of all of the relevant actors in the network.”
Minister Hamilton expressed the government’s pleasure at supporting the relationship between Ross University, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and partners.
Prime Minister attends CDB Board of Governors meeting in Jamaica
ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA, May 18, 2016 – GIS: Prime Minister Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell is in Jamaica this week to participate in the Caribbean Development Bank Board of Governors meeting.
The meetings take place in Montego Bay on Wednesday, May 18th and Thursday, May 19th.
While in Jamaica, Prime Minister Mitchell will also hold meetings and participate in other engagements with his counterpart, new Prime Minister of Jamaica, Honourable Andrew Holness, and other members of his Cabinet.
Dr. Keith Mitchell returns to Grenada on Saturday, May 21st. In his absence, Honourable Elvin Nimrod is the Acting Prime Minister.
More students get white coats at RUSM
Ross University School of Medicine graduated more students to their next phase of learning at a white coat ceremony last Friday, May 13th at the university’s annex.
The white coat ceremony marks the students’ transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences.
Parliamentary Representative for the Portsmouth Constituency, Hon Ian Douglas, welcomed the students to Dominica.
The Hon Minister says Government continues to work with the Ross University to ensure its success.
Hon. Douglas revealed that Portsmouth has developed tremendously since Ross’s inception.
Dr. Mark Kimpton, Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine and former student of Ross University was the keynote speaker.
He challenged the medical students to put patients first.
Ross University was founded in 1978 and has more than 12,000 alumnae who are practicing in the United States, Canada and beyond.
Two Dominicans were among those receiving white coats.
Telecoms director calls for 95% broadband penetration
Director of Telecommunications, Bennett Thomas, has challenged the telecommunications sector to increase local broadband access to 95% by January 2017.
The Telecoms Director was speaking at DIGICEL’s 10th anniversary celebrations on Friday, May 13th.
Thomas invited telecoms providers to work with the Government to establish a broadband strategy for the country.
“We actually have three players on the ground and they all seem to have fibre networks around the country so when we ask for a 95% penetration rate, that is possible by 2017.
“It would not far-fetched should Government anticipate even greater benefits to consumers- whether a reduction in per-minute charges, termination of roaming rates both locally and regionally and continued investment in national developmental activities and projects.”
Thomas stated that the growth of the telecoms market within the OECS has, that it possible opened up the sector.
He continued that the marketing approach of service providers which has accelerated the use of technology among citizens has greatly enhanced access to the internet.
Bennett believes there is room for development and that providers can play a significant role in improving the experience for young people.
“Government for its part will continue to provide the necessary enabling environment to facilitate inward investment in the sector and would be pleased to see scholarships granted to the exceptional students to pursue courses in ICT and other related disciplines either at the DSC or the ICT Centre for Excellence which will soon be opened on the grounds of the DSC.”
Currently broadband access stands at 26%.
Position of the Office of the Prime Minister (Gender and Child Affairs Division) on child marriage
May 18, 2016: The Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister (Gender and Child Affairs) has noted with concern the statements that are being attributed to the President of the Inter-Religious Organisation and the Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, on child marriage as recently reported by the media.
Both parties have reportedly stated that the State should not interfere with the law as it relates to the minimum age for marriage.
As a nation, we recognise that our children and women are two of the most vulnerable groups in society, who are in need of our care, protection and support. The Government, is committed to legislative measures and other initiatives aimed at ensuring that our children are protected and their rights upheld. In this context, the issue of child marriage in Trinidad and Tobago is a topic of national concern.
The age at which males and females can enter into marriage in Trinidad and Tobago are regulated by our four marriage statutes. All four statutes permit marriage at ages which are in conflict with the age of consent to sexual activity as reflected in the Children Act, 2012.
The permitted ages under the various statutes are as follows:
1. Under the Hindu Marriage Act, Chapter 45:03, a girl may marry at age 14 and a boy at 18;
2. Under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, Chapter 45:02, a girl may marry at age 12 and a boy at 16;
3. Under the Orisa Marriage Act, Chapter.45:04, a girl may marry at age 16 and a boy at age 18; and
4. The Marriage Act, Chapter. 45:01, sets out a process and procedure of consent for marriages of minors, which governs Christians and Civil Marriages.
The child protection goals embodied in the Children Act, 2012, and more particularly the provisions that children under 18 cannot consent to penetrative sexual conduct, is a reflection of our society’s collective will to safeguard and protect our children. The gap between the age for marriage (currently 12, 14 and 16) and the age of consent to penetrative sexual conduct (18 years) has increased since the proclamation of the Children Act, 2012 in May, 2015 and must be harmonized.
Early marriage can expose a child, inter alia, to:
1. Decreased opportunity for education;
2. Serious health risk such as premature pregnancy and sexual transmitted infections since the child cannot abstain from sex or insist on condom use;
3. High risk due to early pregnancy such as death during delivery, endangering the health of young mother and their babies; and
4. Increased likelihood of being subjected to gender-based violence.
Moreover, early childhood marriage terminates many of the elements associated with a healthy and enjoyable childhood and creates a cycle of poverty by curtailing the educational opportunities of the children involved.
It is the Government’s view that children are entitled to the fullest benefits of childhood and to the enjoyment of their rights as children and the Government is committed to the protection and fulfilment of these rights. In this regard, there is a critical need for the age of marriage to be aligned to the age of consent for sexual conduct.
Ministry targets tropical bont tick
New cases of the disease-carrying bug among livestock have emerged.
Saint Lucia’s livestock farmers are being urged to implement safety measures following the resurgence of the amblyomma variegatum, otherwise known as the tropical bont tick.
The last major outbreak of the amblyomma variegatum in Saint Lucia was in 1996.
Timothy Norville, Senior Animal Health Officer and coordinator of the Tick Eradication Program at the Ministry of Agriculture said at that time assistance was attained in an effort to eradicate the tick.
“We got assistance from what is known as CAP, the Caribbean Amblyomma Program. This was funded by an outside agency, so much of the pressure was taken off of us when it came to acquiring the drug, Bayticol, which assisted in running the program.”
In early 2000 Saint Lucia attained provisional free status with evidence of the tick populations having been destroyed. However new cases of the disease-carrying bug among livestock have emerged, and farmers are being warned to be proactive.
“Anyone who suspects that their animal has the amblyomma or has a tick infestation we advise them to call our office or to call the extension office and have someone visit so that we can confirm what it is. On that confirmation we will provide them with a receipt or a prescription and they go over to our Plant Propagation Unit at Union, and they can purchase. If they have any need for further assistance on how to apply the medication and how frequently, our officers are always willing and able to guide them through.”
While the ministry has put measures in place to ensure that all known cases are contained, due to the tick’s extensive increase in numbers, horses, toads and dogs are also being sourced as hosts.
The public is being asked to look out for the tick which is recognizable due to its bright, pretty colouring and report any sightings to the Tick Eradication Office at 758.468.5621.
CARICOM Ministers Of Foreign Affairs Meet At The Nineteenth Meeting
CARICOM Ministers Of Foreign Affairs Meet At The Nineteenth Meeting Of The Council For Foreign And Community Relations (COFCOR) In St. Vincent On May 9-10,2016.
Ministers of Foreign Affairs from across the Caribbean Community gathered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for the Nineteenth Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR).
This meeting followed on the heels of Sunday`s Organisaton of Caribbean States(OECS) Second Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs` Conference room in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The opening ceremony heard addresses from CARICOM Secretary-General, His Excellency Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, outgoing chairman of COFCOR, Hon. Alva Baptist, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saint Lucia and incoming chairman of COFCOR, Hon. Sir Louis Straker, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Commerce and Regional Integration. The attendees were entertained by Rodney Small`s rendition of David Rudder`s “High Mass” and a lustily performance of the national anthem of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines by the Zweslique brothers.
Delegates representing Member States of CARICOM discussed a number of important bilateral and cross border issues along with numerous multilateral and hemispheric issues affecting CARICOM with specific focus on the United Nations, the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) over the two days of meeting. Also, on the agenda was the US-Cuba relations and its implications for the Caribbean Community.
In an effort to deepened and strengthened relations with third countries, COFCOR had an open discussion with delegations from The Kingdom of Netherlands and Sweden. The Nineteenth Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) culminated on May 10th, 2016, at the Beachcombers Hotel in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
