Belize City (May 12th, 2016) – The Government of Japan is once again partnering with the Government of Belize.
The Government of Japan is granting a total of $204,368.00 BZD to the Carmelita Government School located in Carmelita Village, Orange Walk, Belize. This contribution was made for the construction of three (3) classrooms for the school.
The Government of Japan has been partnering with the Ministry of Education in Belize by providing grants, to construct classrooms and further enhance an environment conducive to learning.
In attenance was his Excellency, Mr. Masanori Nakano – Ambassador of Japan, Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture – Hon. Patrick Faber, Mr. Monty Sadarangani – Honorary Consul General of Japan in Belize, Keith Augustine – Principal and Ms. Diane Haylock – president of NICHE.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) have partnered to launch a Human Resource Development Commission for the Region.
The launch event was hosted on Thursday evening (12 May 2016) at the Caribbean Development Bank Conference Centre in Bridgetown Barbados.
The Human Resource Development Commission is tasked with establishing an Education and Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy with the aim of developing a workforce that is equipped for twenty-first century economic and societal requirements.
According to Assistant Secretary General in Charge of Human and Social Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Douglas Slater, who gave the main address at the launch, the Region can be proud of the strides it has made in Human Development particularly in the areas of health and education. He said the Region’s young people continue to excel in several traditional professions as well as in the creative industries but cautioned that those successes were no longer enough. He said the fact that several young people continue to be left behind cannot be ignored.
Dr. Slater explained that it was against this backdrop that the CARICOM Heads requested and reviewed an analysis of the challenges and successes of the Region’s education system and mandated the establishment of the commission. He said based on the initial work of the Commission, it was clear that the solutions for addressing the challenges identified in the education and training systems do not reside solely within that sphere.
“If we are to be successful in implementation of this conceptual model of development, then there needs to be a significant shift in the way in which we think and do business both nationally as well as regionally” Dr. Slater noted.
He said parents, community members, faith-based organizations and youth development organisations had a very significant role to play and would be engaged by the Commission in the development of the strategy. The Communication Strategy for the Commission would also play an integral role and the Commission would keep abreast with efforts being made by Member States to examine their education systems, he added.
“The task before us is not a simple one. It requires political will, but equally so, the focused engagement of all stakeholders in this effort.”
In closing his remarks Dr. Slater used the opportunity to thank the Caribbean Development Bank for its partnership in the establishment of the Commission. He also recognised the members of the Commission noting that they brought what he referred to as a considerable wealth of talent and infectious enthusiasm to the process.
Director of Projects at the Caribbean Development Bank Mr. Daniel Best spoke on behalf of the funding partner. He said the Bank was pleased to be associated with the development of the CARICOM Human Resource Development Strategy 2030. He noted that the education sector in the region has been a key driver of the social and economic development and acknowledged that significant strides have been made by Borrowing Member Countries of CDB, as both quantitative and qualitative outcomes have been achieved.
“We are pleased that the work of the Commission has begun. At CDB, we look forward to the Regional HRD Strategy” he said.
Other speakers at the launch included CARICOM Youth Ambassador Zuwena Perry and Lead Expert, Human Resource Development Commission, Dr. Didacus Jules.
Members of the diplomatic community at the familiarisation session on polymer certificates. (Photo courtesy the Ministry of the Attorney and Legal Affairs)
May 13, 2016: The Registrar General’s Department of the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs recently hosted a familiarisation session on the new polymer birth, marriage and death certificates for the diplomatic corps.
Some twenty representatives from the various Embassies and High Commissions accredited to Trinidad and Tobago were introduced to the multiple security features on the upgraded certificates at the session, which took place on Monday May 9, 2016 at the Ministry’s offices at Cabildo Chambers in Port of Spain. Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago visiting these diplomatic missions may be required to present these certificates when applying for visas or conducting other transactions.
Speaking at the session, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, the Honourable Faris Al-Rawi, welcomed the opportunity to share information with the Ministry’s international stakeholders and he indicated that the upgraded security in the new certificate is integral to international anti-crime and anti-terrorist strategies as fraudulent birth records can be used by criminals to assume new identities.
The Registrar General, Ms. Karen Bridgewater, explained that the new certificates, printed on more durable polymer material, contain the same information as the previously issued electronic certificates. The representatives from the diplomatic corps were advised that the security features on the new certificate make these documents not only difficult to forge but also tamper-evident.
The Registrar General also advised that the previously issued electronic certificates continue to remain valid until further notice and added that stories in the public domain about an imminent, sharp increase in their cost are false and unfounded. The cost of a certificate remains at TT twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
The Hon. Minister for Tourism Hon, Senator Robert Tonge as well as Hon. Minister for Ports, Senator Miriam Blanchard met with the management of LIAT on behalf of Government.
The meeting which took place on Thursday, May 10th, 2016 gave Government a chance to state clearly Dominica’s position on the airline’s quality of service to the country as well as to hear directly from LIAT the current challenges facing the airline.
GIS News spoke with the Hon. Minister for Tourism, Senator Robert Tonge, on Thursday, May 12th, 2016.
“The Hon Prime Minister wrote LIAT about his disappointment about the manner in which they handled a particular flight and generally the type of scheduling that we get. The Ministry of Tourism has been speaking about the fact that we are being adversely affected by the number of flights and the level of LIAT’s service. May persons have to overnight in other countries and cannot reach Dominica immediately. That will increase the cost and time it takes to come to Dominica.
“We had a meeting with two executives of LIAT, Julie Reifer-Jones the Acting CEO and CFO and Lloyd Carswell the Chief Commercial Officer.
“The meeting was very good because it allowed us to understand LIAT’s challenges; I think before you can put too much pressure on someone, you first need to understand their challenges,” he reported.
The Hon. Minister revealed that the number of LIAT flights to and from the island and the timeliness of those flights were discussed.
“Many flights are late coming to Dominica and that impacts passengers and tourists. We spoke to them about improving their customer service, timeliness and schedule.”
He revealed that shortly after Tropical Storm Erika in 2015, LIAT was down from about 15 aircraft to nine.
“They had to reorganize themselves and create a new schedule. Unfortunately, that schedule impacted us greatly so we have been having discussions with them a on regular basis to get the schedule to benefit our people in Dominica.”
Coming out of that meeting, the Hon. Minister says is a new flight schedule which accessible on LIAT’s website and will take effect on June first.
LIAT’s additional aircraft is also anticipated to improve flight performance.
The Discover Dominica Authority of the Ministry of Tourism has put in place a committee to further advance the issue of air access to Dominica.
“We have an Air Access Committee at the Discover Dominica Authority which is responsible for discussing with different airlines and getting as many flights here as possible.”
He listed direct flights from Europe to the US to Guadeloupe and Martinique via Norwegian Airlines which he believes is a benefit to Dominica.
Additionally, Senator Tonge says Air Antilles has joined LIAT and L’express Des Iles to take passengers to and from the French islands and Dominica on the same day.
“We’re consistently working with many other airlines to try to improve the air access to Dominica. We are also supporting an air access conference in June where access operators will come to Dominica to better understand our challenges and discuss new ways to make access to Dominica better.”
Chief Secretary, Tobago House of Assembly, Orville London. (Photo courtesy lyndersaydigital.com)
May 13, 2016: THA Chief Secretary Orville London will join a Trinidad and Tobago contingent for the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) 46th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors in Jamaica from May 18-19.
The meeting, themed “Economic Growth for Transformation and Poverty Reduction” will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
The contingent, led by Minister of Planning and Development Camille Robinson-Regis, Governor of the CDB for Trinidad and Tobago, will leave the country on Tuesday (May 17). It will also include a representative from the Ministry of Finance, as well as Selvon Hazel of the Division of Finance and Enterprise Development.
The Chief Secretary will attend the meeting in his capacity as temporary alternate governor for Trinidad and Tobago to the CDB.
At the meeting, representatives of the various Caribbean countries will discuss the importance of restructuring regional economies to ensure sustained economic growth.
Before the two meeting days of the conference, various committees of the board will meet from May 15-17. These include the Oversight and Assurance Committee, the Human Resources Committee and the Procedures Committee.
London will return on May 21.
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MAY 13th, 2016 (PRESS SEC) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded its 2016 Article IV mission to St Kitts and Nevis. A team from the IMF, led by Ms. Inci Otker, conducted the Article IV Consultation in the country between April 20th and May 3rd.
In a press release dated today, May 13th, 2016, the IMF provided a positive overview of the Team Unity Government’s management of the economy in 2015, as well as St. Kitts and Nevis’ economic prospects for 2016.
Commenting on the press release, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Sustainable Development, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris said, “The IMF’s statement is another independent verification of our competent stewardship of the economy, and it gladdens my heart that such a reputable international institution would commend my Government’s policy actions and vision.”
The IMF’s positive overview of the economy reinforces similar statements made by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), and United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on the impressive economic performance of St Kitts and Nevis.
In its press release, the IMF noted that macroeconomic performance remained strong in 2015 and the economy grew at an estimated 5 percent, in line with 2015 Article IV projections. The IMF said construction activity was strong in 2015 and that the ongoing recovery in tourism along with strong wholesale and retail activity also supported growth.
“Inflation turned negative, owing to the impact of VAT and import duty exemptions and lower commodity prices. The fiscal position remained in surplus, at an estimated 5 percent of GDP,” the release also said.
The Government received high praise for its debt management. “The debt-to-GDP ratio continued its impressive downward trajectory, and is projected to reach the ECCU’s 2030 target of 60 percent in 2017,” the IMF said.
There was good news on the banking sector, too. “The banking system remained stable with comfortable capital buffers and high levels of liquidity. Private sector credit witnessed a moderate recovery of 3.2 percent year-on-year in 2015,” the press release said.
Contrary to the propaganda of the maladjusted opposition, the IMF says the outlook for 2016 is positive and growth is expected to moderate to 3.5 percent in 2016. Latin Trade Magazine in April 2016 described St. Kitts and Nevis as a star in the Caribbean on account of both its leading economic performance in 2015 and projections for 2016. The country’s growth rate is way ahead of the OECS and CARICOM average.
On April 18th, the ECCB Governor, Mr. Timothy Antoine, made a presentation to the Cabinet and said that GDP growth, as at December 2015, in St. Kitts and Nevis was 4.02% greater than in the ECCU. Mr. Antoine also said that growth in private sector credit rose to 3.2% in St. Kitts and Nevis, but registered a decline of 6.1% throughout the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) last year. As at December 2015, St. Kitts and Nevis’ debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 61.64% compared to 76.04% for the eight-member ECCU as a whole.
Dr. Harris says the people of St. Kitts and Nevis should be comforted that our country is moving in the right direction.
Please find link to the IMF’s press release enclosed. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2016/pr16220.htm
(Press release courtesy of the Office of the Press Secretary)
May 13, 2016: On Thursday 12th May 2016 marked day one of the Anti-corruption Summit hosted by the Prime Minister of Great Britain David Cameron.
Over fifty (50) world leaders convened in London with a view to stemming and eventually stamping out the scourge of corruption.
During the day’s proceedings both the British Prime Minister and the United States’ Secretary of State John Kerry agreed that corruption and terrorism are two major challenges facing the world.
Prime Minister Rowley was part of a private breakfast meeting hosted by Prime Minister Cameron which included the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the head of the World Bank. Prime Minister Rowley also made contributions during the open sessions.
Today, six (6) countries, (Britain, Afghanistan, Kenya, France, the Netherlands and Nigeria) agreed to publish registers of the real owners of companies in their territories. It is being referred to as a register of beneficial ownership. This is a key goal of anti-corruption groups. Six more countries are considering doing likewise.
Please see attached Trinidad and Tobago’s position.
(L to R) Dr. Devon Gardener; Judith Ephraim; Jacques Chouraki; Minister Ian Patches Liburd
Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 13, 2016 (SKNIS): The Geothermal Regional Forum concluded on Thursday (May 12) and officials are already buzzing about some of the outcomes of the three-day conference that was held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort.
Judith Ephraim, Programme Officer at the Sustainable Energy Unit at the OECS Commission, said geothermal energy is a part of the energy consideration mix in the Caribbean with seven out of 10 OECS countries exploring such. While every country has a different roadmap for pursuing geothermal production there are areas for collaboration.
“We see areas such as capacity building, such as negotiations, as areas where collectively we can share experiences, we can share resources,” she said.
Dr. Devon Gardener, Programme Manager for Energy and head of the Energy Unit at the CARICOM Secretariat, agreed and said delegates looked at “the major challenges the member states are having in bringing their geothermal potential on stream” and “identifying how can we then package a set of support dynamics that can help the countries to address those issues as they come up and help to drive this forward so we can meet our targets and objectives.”
Ms. Ephraim said the number of delegates with different backgrounds from across the Caribbean made the forum attractive. These include development partners who she said have “a genuine interest” in the region’s energy development.
“This also presented an opportunity for us to build synergies among the partners and to see where we can create niches, where there can be focused attention in a coordinated mechanism to allow us to advance and accelerate geothermal energy development,” she added
Jacques Chouraki, President of Teranov – a French engineering and services company for new and renewable energy – said one area where coordination can be beneficial is in the drilling of wells. He suggested that several countries pursuing geothermal exploration could band together to negotiate a collective cost which is likely to be lower than each country negotiating individually.
Minister of Public Infrastructure in St. Kitts and Nevis, Honourable Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd, quoted the late legendary American businessman Henry Ford and said “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
He added that a collective approach to renewable energy development will offer economic and other benefits that will redound to the region’s population.
The centre will identify mechanisms to better prevent, diagnose and treat diabetes.
The Government of Saint Lucia has announced a major national initiative that will transform the fight against diabetes, via a unique public-private partnership between the Ministry of Health, Wellness, and Gender Relations, and a non-profit supported by Switzerland-based W Science.
The initiative will create a new standard for the diagnosis, treatment and research into this chronic condition. It will be led by the newly established National Diabetes Coordinating Centre (NDCC), and accompanied in the next twelve months by a nationwide diabetes screening program, an educational awareness-raising campaign, a training program for diabetes specialists, and a national registry of people with diabetes that will greatly enhance clinical care and research in Saint Lucia and the Caribbean region.
Speaking at the launch, Minister for Health, Hon. Alvina Reynolds said the impact of diabetes of public health resources in significant.
“Diabetes is an endemic public health issue and one of the leading causes of early death. Taking into account the myriad and long-term complications of this condition, its impact on public health resources and national finances is enormous. As such, identifying and establishing mechanisms to better prevent, diagnose and treat diabetes is one of the single greatest health priorities.”
The launch follows more than a year of in-depth feasibility studies on diabetes by W Science. The research team was led by Prof. Philippe Halban, a global authority on diabetes research with more than 40 years of experience in the field.
The NDCC will be directed by a team of national and international diabetes, healthcare and IT expert advisors. Clinical research at the centre will drive improved treatment and care of people with diabetes in Saint Lucia, alongside provisions for an immediate expansion of medical equipment and medication available through island-wide primary healthcare centres.
The centre will be run by a team of newly-recruited local clinical and administrative specialists, who will coordinate all aspects of the project with full involvement from primary healthcare centres, government ministries, regulatory authorities, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations.
The council considered a wide range of issues that included discussions on the external representation of member states and progress towards the realization of an OECS Single Domestic Space.
The second Meeting of the OECS Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers was convened in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on May 8, under the chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Hon. Sir Louis Straker.
Minister Straker accepted the mantle of chairmanship of the council from the outgoing chairman, Hon. Alva Baptiste, Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation of Saint Lucia.
The outgoing chairman pointed to the achievements of the OECS during his tenure, including the accession of Martinique to membership of the Organization, and the leadership role played by the region in championing the cause of Small Island Developing States at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which took place in Paris in December 2015.
The incoming chairman expressed the hope that the council would continue to address the business of the OECS in an efficacious manner.
The second Meeting of the OECS Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers was convened against the backdrop of profound and dramatic changes taking place on the geopolitical front and offered the ministers the opportunity to contribute to the process of designing and fashioning responses to the challenges confronting the region as a result of those changes. The council considered a wide range of issues including the external representation of member states, relations with third states, progress towards the realization of the OECS Single Domestic Space, United Nations matters, relations with the EU post-Cotonou, and matters relating to hemispheric institutions such as the ACS, CELAC and the OAS.
The council committed itself to remain engaged on these and other matters under its purview.
