TRINIDAD: April 12, 2016: Customers in parts of Point Fortin and La Brea served by the Point Fortin Desalination Plant, are advised that there will be an interruption in their pipe borne water supply, on Thursday April 14, 2016 between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
This has become necessary, in order to facilitate maintenance work at the Plant, which is owned and operated by Seven Seas Water (SSW).
Areas affected include:
Lot10
Cochrane
Brighton Cato
Harriman Park
Reservoir Hill
Mahaica
Fanny Village
Egypt Village
Gonzalez
New Village
Clifton Hill
Vance River
Parts of Cap-de-Ville
Point Fortin proper
Customersare advised that following the resumption of operations, it may take between 6 to 12 hours for the service to normalize to some affected areas.
The Authority apologises for the inconvenience and thanks customers for their patience and understanding.
For further information, customers are encouraged to contact WASA’s Customer Call Centre toll free at 800 4420/26.
Dennison Paul, WSD Acting Manager (right), points as he outlines the Water Improvement Project to Prime Minister Harris (purple shirt) and Minister responsible for Water, Ian Patches Liburd (beige shirt), while WSD staff look on
Dennison Paul, WSD Acting Manager (right), points as he outlines the Water Improvement Project to Prime Minister Harris (purple shirt) and Minister responsible for Water, Ian Patches Liburd (beige shirt), while WSD staff look on ST. KITTS: Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 12, 2016 (SKNIS): Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, has urged residents of the Federation to be “careful with the use, and avoid the abuse of water at a time when there is a shortage.”
He emphasized this at the recent groundbreaking for the Mansion – Phillips – Molineux Water Supply Improvement Project when he outlined the importance of rectifying the situation.
“We have provided over $600,000 to the Water Department to ensure that within a matter of weeks or a few months, the water situation, as it impacts upon the people of Phillips, Molineux and Bourryeau would be significantly improved,” Prime Minister Harris said. “It is an expenditure that the Government is prepared to make because we will never count the dollars while lives are being inconvenienced.”
T. Dennison Paul, Water Services Department (WSD) Acting Manager/Water Engineer, revealed that the situation in Mansion, Phillips, Molineux and Lodge was peculiar in that unlike the other communities in the Federation, the only water available was from surface water (river or spring) sources. He described this as having “no redundancy” and explained that this made the area more vulnerable in the sense that there was no alternative source of water during droughts, as was the case in the other communities of St. Kitts. Hence, the importance of water supply improvements to the area.
“We are now running 800 feet of four inch diameter ductile iron pipe, all the way to Phillips,” Mr. Paul said. “When that water gets to Phillips, it would supply Phillips Village, Molineux, Bourryeau and of course Mansion. The other aspects of this project include chlorination. We would have to chlorinate that water supply to improve its quality to protect human health. We will also install a generator so that in the event of electricity outage we have standby generation, so that the people in the community do not suffer.”
The WSD Water Engineer further revealed that the project includes an automatic level control system. This he noted would cause the pump to close off once the tank at Phillips became full.
Citing St. Peter’s as an example, the Prime Minister noted that each particular water situation in other communities would be addressed.
“Those persons at Lodge, particularly those in the region above the school, must remain assured that just as we have moved here to bring relief, relief is intended to come to those people on the upper slope of Lodge; equally those in the upper St. Peter’s region,” Prime Minister Harris said. Indeed all who reside in high elevations become vulnerable when there is a water shortage. We want to offer our regrets for the inconvenience but to say to you and assure you that help is on its way.”
Mr. Paul detailed that another $300,000 had been provided by the Government to increase the overall supply of water. He noted that two wells were being drilled north of the Robert L. Bradshaw (RLB) International Airport by Ocean Earth Technologies (OET) that would provide an additional one million gallons of water per day.
OET, which is based in Florida, United States, provides services in the fields of hydrogeology, marine science, geotechnical investigations and geophysical mapping. The company’s previous association with the Federation was in 2009, when it conducted a hydro-geological survey and provided a report which gave a basis for the completion of the Water Resource Management Plan and Park Management Plan for the Royal Basseterre Valley National Park.
– See more at: http://sknis.info/prime-minister-urges-residents-to-use-water-responsibly-as-improvements-in-water-supply-are-prioritized/#sthash.G7h67S1L.dpuf
DOMINICA: Commercial banana farmer, Deles Warrington of Calibishie invited the Ministry of Agriculture to his farm on Saturday April 9th for the harvesting of his tissue culture plants which he received in July last year. Warrington was in the process of packaging over one hundred boxes of bananas which will be exported to Antigua this week.
The commercial farmer received over two thousand tissue culture plantlets from the Ministry of Agriculture in two stages last year.
He says so far he has exported over 700 boxes of bananas to Antigua.
Warrington says with the change in weather forecast his production should increase.
“The weather is better around this time of year because you get both rain and sun. With this weather not only the banana trees will flourish but other crops such as plantain and ground provision.”
In April 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture under the Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM) imported 20,000 plantlets from France for distribution to farmers.
Before distribution, the plantlets went through a process of weaning and hardening.
This procedure involves nursing the plantlets to prepare for final transplanting onto beds.
The process took place at the smart green house at the One Mile Agricultural Station in Portsmouth.
In July, farmers from Castle Bruce and Calibishie received plantlets.
“I must say that I am happy to be here on the farm of Deles Warrington to witness the harvesting of bananas in the traditional way as we knew it before,” Hon Drigo revealed. “There were so many people who doubted the success of these plantlets that we brought in. Today we are here and we are looking at the size of the bunches, we are looking at the quality of the fruits and most importantly we are harvesting and seeing the control of Black Sigatoka diseases in this farm.”
The Minister expressed satisfaction with Warrington’s willingness to invest his own resources into the development of his farm.
He encouraged farmers to assist themselves in the growth of their farms.
Parliamentary Representative for the Paix-Bouche Constituency, Roslyn Paul, describes Warrington as a serious commercial banana farmer, passionate about his work.
“He is one of the persons who is able to manage the Black Sigatoka disease very effectively. I also know some farmers in Calibishie who have been successful and I would say Calibishie is the hub for agriculture. We are elated that Government has invested resources into the restoration of the banana industry and new emerging industries like white potatoes.”
DOMINICA: Dominica is the first of eight Caribbean countries to participate in a Japan funded Climate Change Partnership.
The Government of Japan has provided financial and technical support for the Japan Caribbean Climate Change Partnership under the United Nations Development Program, (UNDP), and sub-regional office for Barbados.
The project aims to support countries in the process of inclusive low emissions risk resilient development by improving energy security and integrating medium to long term planning for adaptation to climate change.
The project was launched on Friday April 8th.
Project Manager, Yoko Ebisawa said, “Interventions under the project include supporting policy innovation through the development of a number of nationally appropriate mitigation action and national adaptation plans. In addition implementing actually technology that is both low emission and advances climate risk management including demonstration in target countries. I hope that this project will help the people of Dominica to reduce tragedies and build resilience for adaptation to climate change in the country.”
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Environment, Helen Royer says the project is in keeping with the already established objectives to accelerate global action that threatens the well-being of society.
The project will capitalize on associated opportunities in the context of achieving sustainable socio-economic growth especially in developed and least developed countries.
“The project is focused on three main outcomes with an emphasis on water resource management, sustainable agriculture, community based climate smart resilient infrastructure and renewable energy and energy efficiency. We are pleased with the discussions held yesterday with other stakeholders who have given their support to the eight pilot projects identified,” she said.
Hon Minister for Health and Environment, Dr. Kenneth Darroux says discussions have already begun for a steering committee to effectively and efficiently execute the project.
“I can assure the Government of Japan and the UNDP regional office that we will ensure a timely and seamless implementation of the activities approved under this project. The Cabinet has endorsed the 10 member steering committee and we look forward to receiving the actual projects and interventions for consideration as we are confident that they will go a long way to building resilience in this extremely vulnerable country of ours.”
He says a number of projects are already under consideration for climate risk reduction.
“Up scaling and expanding the renewable energy in the Kalinago Territory, up scaling of the Morne Prosper women agriculture production, retrofitting the Grandbay Community Centre, developing the new Dubique resettlement model community, upgrading the Bagatelle water catchment area and retrofitting the Morne Rachette Community Centre. We look forward to the swift implementation of the project.”
The other countries to participate in the partnership are Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname.
Photo Courtesy: earthdata.nasa.gov JAMAICA: Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) St. James Parish Agricultural Manager, Sadie Dixon Bennett, is hailing the farmers in the parish for their commitment to safeguarding the nation’s food security.
She told JIS News that the 8,650 registered farmers have been working hard to cultivate crops for both the local and export markets.
“We have somewhere in the region of 1,250 hectares of agricultural crops growing in the parish and these include vegetables, pineapples, bananas, plantains, ground provisions and we have now gone into Irish potato,” she informed.
“We have been doing sweet potato (and) we want to diversify into onions…and for the past two years or so, we were tops in ginger production for the country,” she boasted.
Mrs. Dixon Bennett noted that the parish is positioning itself to become the leading producer of banana and plantain, with lands identified under the agro-parks programme for the growing of the crops.
She informed that through the Production Incentive Programmes, they will be able to access key inputs such as seeds, fertiliser, small livestock, tools and irrigation equipment.
Mrs. Dixon Bennett told JIS News that the parish is also showing significant improvements in poultry and small ruminant production.
She said the office continues to work to identify markets for the farmers and will be meeting with key stakeholders in the hotel industry in order “to get more local produce on the plates of resort guests.”
“We can see that the hotel rooms are growing and we are hoping to have discussions with the JHTA (Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association) …to see how some of these farmers’ group can benefit from the hotel markets,” she told JIS News.
Mrs. Dixon Bennett further pointed to plans to implement two apiculture projects, which will target at-risk youth in the parish.
She said the office is hoping to get the projects underway “within the next month or two.”
She said the objective is to provide income-earning opportunity for young people in vulnerable communities.
“We think that apiculture is a good thing for them…there is good money in honey,” Mrs. Dixon Bennett said.
Farmers in St. James are served by six Extension Officers, four Specialist Officers, one Marketing Extension Officer, one Livestock Extension Officer, one Land Husbandry Officer and one Social Services/Home Economics Officer.
DOMINICA: Parliamentary Representative for the Portsmouth Constituency Hon. Ian Douglas has announced that work will resume at the Cabrits Resort and Spa located on 4.5 acres of land between the Purple Turtle Beach and the Cabrits National Park.
Work on the over 50 room hotel which commenced in September of 2011 was temporarily delayed due to changes which were being made within the Moroccan government. GIS news spoke with the Hon. MP for the Portsmouth Constituency Ian Douglas on Wednesday 6th April.
“That [the project] is managed and handled by the Moroccans. The funding is like a gift to the Government of Dominica by the Moroccans,” he said. He said “the Moroccans came to Dominica about five weeks ago to look at the project. They had a thorough tour of the facility and I sat with them to discuss the future of the program. They have given the commitment that they will come back in short order to complete the project.”
The Hon Minister says the Moroccan Government has pledged its continued support towards the completion of the resort.
“They are now at the stage where they are looking at things like the interior décor, the color and type of tile they will be using and the painting they would like. They are also discussing whether they want the hotel to have a West Indian or Arabic feel. I think it was a good discussion and they have gone back to Morocco and they are looking at the materials that they would like to purchase.”
Looking back - Dame Billie Miller being sworn in following the 1981 General Election by then Governor General, the late Sir Deighton Ward. Also pictured is the late Prime Minister Tom Adams. (FP)
Looking back – Dame Billie Miller being sworn in following the 1981 General Election by then Governor General, the late Sir Deighton Ward. Also pictured is the late Prime Minister Tom Adams. (FP) BARBADOS: Dame Billie Antoinette Miller has had very successful careers in law and politics but she will be the first to tell you that she chose neither of those paths. Rather, they chose her.
“My father thought that law would be a good profession for me. If I had my own choice I would have chosen social science but in those days, you tended to want to gratify your parents.”
Similarly, when she was invited by the late Prime Minister Tom Adams to enter elective politics in 1976, it was the last thing on her mind.
“I had grand ideas about becoming the General Secretary of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), bringing new systems in and all sorts of things. One day, Tom Adams walked into my office, the only time that he ever did, put his briefcase on my desk and looked at me and said to me, you have to get ready to run.”
Despite the way she entered these arenas, she embraced them both wholeheartedly. Dame Billie was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1968 and to the Barbados Bar in 1969.
“I started my practice on the first Monday morning of 1969. At that time, I was the only woman practising law at the private Bar. I was not the first woman to become a barrister-at-law, there were a few before me but there was no-one else at the private Bar at that time.”
Her practice was mainly a civil court and chamber practice where she carved out a specialty in Family Law, in advance of modern Family Law legislation in Barbados.
Her graduation to politics followed. “The creature known as lawyer/politician is known everywhere in the world, it’s not peculiar to the British Commonwealth…and it’s a natural progression from the practice of law to the making of laws and that’s how it happened with me.”
Leader of the BLP, Tom Adams, invited her to run to represent the City of Bridgetown after then representative Elliott Mottley left for a diplomatic posting. “I did not know then that he may well have approached, or so I have been told, some of the young men of my generation at the time but nobody wanted to touch the City.”
She did not make up her mind immediately, since, she explained, she was at a very important juncture in her legal career. “I got on an aeroplane, I flew to London, checked into a hotel over Christmas, including Christmas Day, thought and thought and thought, and two days later got on the plane, came back to Barbados and it hadn’t crystallised. And with me, it has to kind of infuse my being, and then I know what I have to do.”
Shortly afterwards however, she decided to take the plunge, after great prodding by the late Sir Harold “Bree” St. John. She subsequently won the by-election on May 12, 1976, and three months later, retained the seat in the general election.
Dame Billie links her association with Bridgetown from birth since for the first year of her life, her family lived at Baxter’s Road before moving to Brighton, Black Rock. But her “love affair” with the City began in earnest around age seven or eight, when she would go into Bridgetown every Saturday morning to visit the Public Library.
Once she got her library books, she walked over to her father’s ice factory on Tudor Street, after which she was allowed to explore Bridgetown as much as she liked, as long as she was back at the factory by midday. “I think this is where the magic of the City overtook me. This is where, I think looking back, the love affair with the City of Bridgetown began.”
She remembers walking up Tudor Street and admiring the overhanging galleries, the tin merchants and the women with their big trays of ground provisions and raw nuts on Milk Market; Suttle Street filled with the different Caribbean accents as hawkers from Dominica, St. Lucia and other islands sold their wares; and Broad Street, with stores such as Fogarty, the Ideal Store and Harrison’s.
“I went everywhere. Every Saturday, we would take a different route and it was like another world because in those days it was just Rediffusion and books, but within Bridgetown, there was this wonderland and I never lost that feeling about the City of Bridgetown.”
So in 1976, she took her seat in the House of Assembly as MP for the area. And then the unexpected happened yet again. “I was the youngest member of Parliament, I was 32 years old and I had no previous experience in parliamentary matters. It never occurred to me that I would be invited to sit in the Cabinet.”
But invited she was, taking up her first portfolio in the Ministry of Health and National Insurance. There, she made her mark by establishing a network of polyclinics across Barbados based on a model she had seen in Cuba, introducing the National Drug Service; and, under the National Insurance portfolio, implementing unemployment benefits.
Dame Billie’s participation in elective politics lasted for 31 years and during that time she was elected MP for the City of Bridgetown seven times. She served as Minister of Education (1981 – 86), Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate (1986 – 91), Deputy Leader of the Opposition (1993 – 94), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Business/Leader of the House of Assembly (1994 – 2003), Minister of Tourism and International Transport (1995 – 1999), and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (2003 – 2008). She retired from elective politics in 2008.
In retirement, her work to empower women and girls, both in Barbados and internationally, is a top priority. One of her desires is to see more women in elective politics in Barbados. “For the first 18 years that I sat in Parliament, I was the only woman. It was not easy…countless times I wished that there were other women in there to bolster the argument from the perspective of a woman.”
She rejoiced in 1994 when three more women entered Parliament under the BLP banner. “And I give Prime Minister Owen Arthur, as he then was, great credit. There were four women in Parliament when he was Prime Minister and he put all four of them into his Cabinet. There are not many Prime Ministers who would have had the courage to do that.”
She believes the participation of women in Parliament is vital not only to address women’s issues but to have a woman’s perspective on all issues. “I talk to women often about these things and it is concerning that so often women are doing very well in their careers and they say to me, ‘I am well respected in my profession, I’m good at what I do.
If it has to be a rite of passage to go into politics that my name has to be dragged through the mud, I have to be in rum shops and so on, it’s not going to happen.’” But Dame Billie has a counter for that argument. “I tell them you make your own decisions. I never canvassed in a rum shop in 31 years. My canvassers would be in there, my supporters would be in there and they would be talking politics but I have never done that. You set your own rules.”
Today, she continues to be of service to Barbados. She is vice president of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons and deputy chairman of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission. Internationally, she sits on the Board of Women Deliver, a global advocacy group which focuses on the empowerment of women, with particular emphasis on women’s health.
Dame Billie says however that she has committed to slowing down. “My quality of life here (at home) gives me pleasure – the gardens, the beauty of the sunsets, the birdsong. I’m never heading anything again. I’ve had enough of that in my life and I’ve made that clear. I need to be free to move about as I please.”
joycspring@gmail.com
BARBADOS: Residents of urban Barbados will get an opportunity to show off their “green thumbs” when the Urban Development Commission (UDC) hosts its 2016 Garden Beautification Competition to celebrate this country’s 50th Anniversary of Independence. Greening, Growing for All Generations is the theme of the competition, which has been designed for present and past clients of the Commission.
A press briefing will be held on Monday, April 18, to launch the competition and discuss plans for the upcoming Earth Day, which is observed annually on April 22. The speakers will include Director of the UDC, Derek Alleyne.
Hon. Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit DOMINICA: Musicians in Dominica, particularly songwriters and engineers, can look forward to professional training to further enhance their skill.
This, as Hon. Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit acts on his commitment made to Dominica’s musicians last July.
An initial allocation of $500K was put towards the music industry in the 2015/2016 national budget.
At a press conference on Monday April 11th, Prime Minister Skerrit said training was identified as one of the key aspects of developing the industry.
He believes that music, if done professionally, has the capacity to contribute more to the national economy.
“We need musicians to go out there and have some performances in the different countries such as the United States and Europe to bring in the foreign currencies into the banks. It impacts positively on the economy and we will see a greater contribution to the GDP,” he said.
Swedish national and renowned international song writer Arlena Gibson will conduct training sessions in song writing from April 26 to 29th.
Another training session in studio recording and sound engineering is also on the cards for May 15th by El Stu Young of Canada. Both trainings will be conducted at the Dominica State College.
The training sessions will be open to all and applications are available online and at DEXIA office.
President of the Association of Music Professionals, Mc Carthy Marie says these two areas sometimes overlooked, are important for the success of any artiste.
“The music business is a potentially lucrative business for all concerned,” he said. “There are many rules involved in the music business. One of the key rules, the one which makes quite a lot of money, is the business of songwriting. The music business rests on creating songs that the public will like and react too. It is within that context that we agreed and decided among the members, one of the things we need to do is assist people who want to be in the music business to craft better songs that will be accepted easily in the international market.”
Marie says musicians in Dominica can look forward to more of these training programmes and the Hon. Prime Minister has promised that Government will underwrite future training sessions such as these.
The Hon. Minister for Culture, Justina Charles, notes the budgetary allocation to the industry indicates Government’s appreciation of the development the industry can bring to the nation.
She expressed hope that young people will take advantage of the opportunity being presented.
“The music industry is growing very rapidly with many of our young people demonstrating interest in this industry. This is an opportunity to get them engaged in something positive.”
The training programmes will cost approximately $54K.
ST. LUCIA: The Water and Sewerage Company Inc. (WASCO) wishes to inform its Customers that we are experiencing some technical problems in Customer Services Department, as a result of these problems the Customer Services Department and the Cashiers’ Booths will be closed with immediate effect until tomorrowWednesday, April 13th, 2016.
WASCO will resume normal services tomorrowApril 13th, 2016.
WASCO apologies for any inconvenience caused.
TRINIDAD: April 12, 2016: Customers in parts of Point Fortin and La Brea served by the Point Fortin Desalination Plant, are advised that there will be an interruption in their pipe borne water supply, on Thursday April 14, 2016 between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Warrington was in the process of packaging over one hundred boxes of bananas which will be exported to Antigua this week.
GIS news spoke with the Hon. MP for the Portsmouth Constituency Ian Douglas on Wednesday 6th April.
