The Queen has been graciously pleased on the occasion of Her Majesty’s Birthday, and
on the advice of Her Majesty’s Saint Lucia Ministers to approve of the following Honours in
the Birthday Honours List, 2018:
C.B.E. Commander of the British Empire
Dr. Herbert MARIUS
(For services to Health Care)
O.B.E. To be Ordinary Officers of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent
Order of the British Empire
Mrs. Augusta IFILL
(For contribution to Education)
Mr. John Calixte LEON
(For contribution to the field of Finance and Economics)
M.B.E.
To be Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent
Order of the British Empire
Ms. Melzar BRUCE
(for contribution to Education)
Ms. Felicite Hetty LUCIEN
(for committment to community service)
Mr. Alphonsus Stephen STANISLAS
(For services to education and community service)
B.E.M.
British Empire Medal (Civil Division)
Mr. Julius ADJODHA
(For service to the community)
Ms. Christina ALCIDE
(For service to the community)
Mrs. Rita Catherine DYER
(For contribution to education)
Saint Lucia wins top CTO Travel Media Award in Social Media.
It’s official! Saint Lucia produced the best social media marketing campaign in the Caribbean in 2018! The recognition came at the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) travel media awards gala dinner on June 7, 2018 in New York City, as part of Caribbean Week. The island received the award for Best Social Media campaign in the “Up the Social Ladder” category for its “Let Her Inspire You” promotion. It aimed to increase awareness of Saint Lucia in Canada, the United States and the UK through a social media campaign to boost online traffic, social media followers and bookings in 2018. Receiving the award on behalf of Saint Lucia were Minister for Tourism, Hon. Dominic Fedee; STLA Executive Chairperson, Agnes Francis; and Chief Communications Officer, Clinton Reynolds. In accepting the Award, Hon. Fedee congratulated the other nominees and thanked the CTO for honouring Saint Lucia with the prestigious award. “We are very happy to be receiving this award tonight,” said Minister Fedee. “This honour is the product of the hard work the team has put in to rebrand Saint Lucia and increase its presence, especially on social media. I want to congratulate Mrs. Francis and her team at the Tourism Authority on their vision and efforts in marketing Saint Lucia’s unique and captivating product,” he added. As a direct response to Saint Lucia being spared from the worst Atlantic hurricane season in Caribbean history, the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority launched the “Let Her Inspire You” campaign in November 2017, to let prospective visitors know it is safe to visit the island. The aggressive social media marketing blitz aimed to raise the island’s profile on social media by developing a distinct online presence, while highlighting Saint Lucia as being untouched by the hurricanes. It also sought to arouse curiosity from prospective visitors and retain the interest of repeat travelers by showcasing the destination’s rich culture. “We wanted to capture the imagination of every potential visitor and give them a panoramic view of what Saint Lucia has to offer, using the fastest-growing marketing tool in the industry – social media,” Mrs. Francis stated. “The award is testament that our strategy is working, so we will continue to develop similar approaches to promote the island and increase visitor arrivals.” The SLTA promotion included 200 unique images and 10 campaign videos, a sweepstakes and visits by high profile social media influencers to push brand Saint Lucia and increase the social media following on Facebook and Instagram. The effort also incorporated rebranding of the SLTA’s social media accounts from @SaintLuciaNow to @TravelSaintLucia to urge consumers to ‘Travel to Saint Lucia.’ The new hashtags #LetHerInspireYou and #TravelSaintLucia were adopted to connect and engage with social media users and to allow content to be discoverable easier. The five-month “Let Her Inspire You” social media campaign generated 11 million impressions, 20,000 sweepstakes entries and a whole lot of buzz for the island. It also spiked the destination’s Facebook following by 33% and Instagram by 21%. The awards gala was held at the Wyndam New Yorker Hotel under the theme, “Recognizing the Media: Honouring Top Caribbean Stories,” with the biggest players in Caribbean tourism attending. The CTO Travel Media Awards celebrate the very best in US and Caribbean travel journalism and reward individuals, organisations and destinations who produce and present exceptional work. Saint Lucia’s nomination for the Best Social Media campaign in the “Up the Social Ladder” category was one of two new social media categories awarded by the CTO this year.
Barbados announces departure of IMF mission and appointment of legal advisor.
The Government of Barbados announced today that a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Bert van Selm, has concluded its three-day visit to Barbados. During this visit, the Fund team was updated on the economic and financial situation in Barbados. Preliminary discussions were held on the key challenges faced by the Government, including the country’s very low level of international reserves, its unsustainable debt, and the need to develop an economic plan designed to address current imbalances and create the conditions for sustained broad-based growth. The Government and the IMF will continue to exchange views over the coming weeks, and expect to be able to commence detailed discussions regarding Barbados’s economic reform programme in the coming weeks—a programme that the IMF will be asked to support with financial assistance. The Government also announced that is has retained the services of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as external legal advisor in the context of the planned debt restructuring that was announced on June 1, 2018. Information for creditors will be posted periodically at http://gisbarbados.gov.bb/creditors/
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (second right), observes as Chief Executive Officer of Ingenuity Technologies Limited, Melarka Williams (second left), demonstrates the company’s innovative mobile survey and business analytics tool – iSurvey
PM Says Government Has Implemented Well-Tried and Well-Studied Policies to Achieve Growth.
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says he is satisfied that the Government has taken steps to revise its approach to achieving economic growth, by implementing “well tried and well-studied” polices that will facilitate this.
While acknowledging that Jamaica is growing “very slowly” and that the figures “are not what we want,” Mr. Holness said he is confident that “we are on the right track.”
The Prime Minister was speaking at the closing ceremony for the two-year pilot phase of the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) Innovation Grant from New Ideas to Entrepreneurship (IGNITE) project, and the launch of phase two at the Spanish Court Hotel, New Kingston, on Friday (April 27).
“We are doing the things that are necessary… and we are not hoping for growth to happen organically. We are right there in the field with you doing the granular things such as actually identifying the creativity and the innovativeness and we are giving those support to develop (them) into entrepreneurism, which we are supplying with the resources to create an enterprise that will grow, employ people and create the prosperity that we need,” Mr. Holness said.
Lauding the DBJ for implementing IGNITE, which provides grant funding support for micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs), Mr. Holness emphasised the importance of the Government’s “instrumental” approach to business development.
This, he argued, as the private sector, of which MSMEs are a part, “is the engine of growth,” noting that the latter stakeholders are pivotal to driving higher levels of economic growth.
As such, the Prime Minister said it is incumbent on the Government to support entrepreneurs in expanding their businesses, as also innovators and start-ups, to create employment, an essential underlay to achieving growth.
Equally important, Mr. Holness added, is creating the linkages between sectors, citing agriculture and tourism as an example.
While highlighting the work of the Linkages Council, which has been established in the Ministry of Tourism, he underscored the need to ensure that businesses being developed with support from Government “are not just growing in silos, but they are linking together with each other”.
“Linkages are absolutely important to growth. So (we must ensure) that the raw material, which is the product of one enterprise, becomes the raw material for the other… and that is how we start to secure growth in the economy,” he added.
“Economic growth is not a mystery. It is a well-studied area and there is a suite of policies that are very well understood that have been implemented and tried across the world,” the Prime Minister said.
Barbados elections will be held on Thursday, May 24, 2018 and Nomination Day is set for Monday, May 7.
The dates for Barbados elections were announced today by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, who said he had officially notified Governor General, Dame Sandra Mason. All eligible persons are encouraged to check the Register of Electors to ensure that they are registered to vote. The register at the Electoral Department at Warrens Tower II, may be examined from Monday to Friday, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., while the one at the Public Library in Independence Square, The City, may be inspected from Monday to Saturday, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. In addition, persons may visit any of the 30 Registration Centres on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. For a list of those centres, persons may call the Electoral Department’s PBX at 535-4800, or view the Barbados Government Information Service’s website www.gisbarbados.gov.bb. Additionally, they may receive information about the constituency and polling district in which they are registered, and about the polling station at which to vote by calling 535-4875 and entering their Identification number on the keypad. Electors are reminded that they should take their identification card to the polling station on election day, even if it has been issued in excess of 10 years. Any elector who has lost or misplaced his or her identification card may present a valid passport or driver’s licence at the polling station. Electors who do not have these documents are still entitled to vote and should attend the polling station to which they are assigned.
Joint regional dialogue ends with call from stakeholders to create enabling environment to reduce stigma and discrimination.
Participants advocate for review of PANCAP justice for all road-map.
The Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), the mechanism that provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, concluded the Joint Regional Dialogue with Faith Leaders, Parliamentarians, Civil Society Leaders, National AIDS Programme (NAP) Managers and Youth Leaders in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with an urgent call from stakeholders for creating an enabling environment to reduce discrimination which acts as a barrier for vulnerable groups accessing health services and hinders efforts to reduce HIV infections.
The Dialogue, which included approximately 60 delegates from 14 Caribbean countries, was intended to facilitate an examination of national and regional issues and goals for ending HIV, and to take into consideration the targets established by the United Nations High Level Meeting Political Declaration June 2016 on ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030; the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals approved by 192 nations at the United Nations in September 2015, and the commitments made by civil society, faith-based and other implementing stakeholder groups for ending AIDS during the PANCAP consultations in 2016 and 2017.
Participants were tasked with proposing initiatives within the context of the CARICOM Model Anti-Discrimination Legislation and the PANCAP Justice for all Roadmap. Create an enabling environment to prevent stigma and discrimination
Among the strategic initiatives proposed by the wide cross-section of stakeholders was the creation of an enabling environment to prevent stigma and discrimination, which participants indicated, would reduce the incidence of HIV, increase testing, increase the number of people receiving antiretroviral drugs which would result in less deaths from AIDS and cost-saving within the health-care sector.
Participants underscored the importance of removing the barrier of discrimination as critical to the region achieving the 90-90-90 Targets by 2020, and keeping on track for ending AIDS by 2030. Sensitization on the CARICOM Model Anti-Discrimination Legislation
To achieve the removal of discrimination as a barrier, participants proposed a Public Awareness Campaign on the CARICOM Model Anti-Discrimination Legislation targeted at Human Rights Activists, parliamentarians, faith leaders and youth. The campaign is intended to educate these stakeholders on the use of the Model Legislation as a tool for mobilizing action to reduce instances of discrimination against vulnerable groups.
Emphasis was placed on educating parliamentarians on the model legislation and establishing connections with the existing parliamentarian network.
Utilizing established mechanisms such as the Youth Parliament and similar platforms to increase awareness of the Model was also proposed as a mechanism for sensitizing key stakeholders including subject ministries and ministers responsible for reporting on Member States’ human rights obligations. Standardize HIV education across the Region
The lack of standardized HIV education at the tertiary level was identified as a barrier for reducing HIV infections; participants proposed advocating for the introduction of such a programme through collaborations with Ministries of Education with the intention of exposing youth within vulnerable groups to new data on HIV and AIDS. Comprehensive proposal on saving costs through reducing HIV infections
Participants underscored the importance of highlighting the connection between saving costs within the health care sector and reducing HIV infections. A detailed, evidence-based proposal illustrating the financial savings from reducing HIV infections was proposed as a mechanism to empower parliamentarians to advocate at the highest-level for domestic funding for the HIV response. Next steps for stakeholders
Parliamentarians committed to advancing strategic initiatives to adopt the Model Anti-Discrimination Legislation. These included identifying the barriers to countries’ adoption of the Model Legislation; introducing Private Members Bill, utilizing existing Parliamentary Social Services Committees; sensitizing parliamentarians on the Bill, judicial activism; and establishing a Regional Parliamentarian Network.
National AIDS Managers, Civil Society Leaders and Youth Leaders committed to working collaboratively at the national level to advance elements of the PANCAP Justice for All (JFA) Programme, including policy advocacy for the provision of psychosocial support as part of the elements of the JFA Roadmap; addressing social protection issues including domestic violence through interagency collaboration and social determinants of health; mapping civil society service delivery; and to strategically collaborate with Live Up! The Caribbean Media Alliance.
Faith leaders committed among others to continuing and strengthening their response to HIV; sharing best practices within the faith community; delivering education to address stigma and discrimination; highlighting the responsibilities that are associated with sex; and providing love and compassion.
In his closing remarks, Dr Edward Greene former UN Secretary-General Special Envoy for HIV in the Caribbean, now PANCAP Special Advisor challenged participants to remain committed to the proposed review of the PANCAP Justice for All Roadmap and to enact the proposed initiatives with the overarching aim of successfully achieving the 90-90-90 Targets by 2020, and keeping on track for ending AIDS by 2030. He also challenged secular and faith stakeholders to foster age-related sexual education, promote tolerance and respect and to reconcile the difference between the rule of law and theology through respectful dialogue.
100 volunteers mobilized against plastic pollution in Anse-La-Raye, St-Lucia.
Over 100 volunteers gathered in the community of Anse-la-Raye, Saint-Lucia, on April 20 to participate in a major cleanup activity. The initiative was held in observance of World Earth Day celebrated on April 22 under the theme “a World Without Plastic”.
The cleaning activity was organised by the Anse-la-Raye Disaster Committee in collaboration with the OECS Environmental Sustainability Cluster, the New Zealand High Commission, the European Union, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SPC) and the Saint Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority.Students from five different schools participated in the initiative. Young volunteers marched in the street of Anse-la-Raye to encourage residents to join the cleanup campaign and to raise awareness about plastic pollution. Following the march, participants formed several groups spread over different sectors to collect litter from the streets and the drains of the community.
Josette Edward-Charlemagne, Programme Officer in the OECS Environment Sustainability Cluster, who coordinated the initiative with other stakeholders, explained that Anse-la-Raye is very strategic as to raising public awareness on environmental issues and noted that the community, which is traversed by two rivers, is heavily impacted by plastic pollution and a growing number of illegal dump sites.
We are currently undertaking two projects involving the two rivers in Anse-la-Raye. The first is a mangrove restoration project, funded by CCRIF SPC while the second involves stabilisation of the river bank, funded by the Government of New Zealand. While implementing the mangrove project, we observed the level of pollution in the area which is why we chose to support the cleanup initiative in that particular community.
Mrs. Edward-Charlemagne also underlined the close collaboration between the OECS Commission and the Member States with respect to a collective response addressing environmental matters.
Plastic waste is a critical problem which poses many problems and contributes to flooding in our small communities. We are working with our Member States to ensure that measures are put in place towards its elimination.
According to the United Nations 8 million tonnes of plastic waste end up polluting the oceans each year. If no urgent action is taken, the oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050.
Windrush Generation: High Commission to assist affected Saint Lucians.
Saint Lucia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr. Guy Mayers is calling on all Saint Lucians affected or who may have family members or friends who fall into the Windrush Generation category to contact the Office of the Saint Lucia High Commission for assistance.
Mr. Mayers explained that the High Commission is already handling several cases of Saint Lucians impacted by the UK Immigration policy and efforts continue to ensure persons affected get proper representation.
The UK Government Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, announced this week that citizenship fees and language tests will be waived for the Windrush generation and their families. Affected persons will also be granted the formal status they are entitled to, without having to pay naturalisation fees or pass any tests. The UK Government has also promised speedy compensation.
The Windrush Generation refers to Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries mostly as a response to post-war labour shortages in the UK.
The CARICOM High Commissioners have been intricately involved in the process to resolve the Windrush issue and were instrumental in getting a meeting with UK Prime Minister Theresa May for CARICOM Prime Ministers during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
“Together we as CARICOM High Commissioners decided that the welfare of our nationals must be given priority above all other issues to be discussed at CHOGM and we took the fight to the UK authorities,” said Mr. Mayers.
“Along with our efforts and the help of the UK press, the region’s prime ministers were very effective in shedding even more of a spotlight on this issue and based on the latest announcement by the UK government we have prevailed and we are now urging all affected to come forward. You no longer have to suffer in silence or fear of being detained and taken to a detention centre,” Mayers said.
“The UK Government has understood that they need to deal with those persons who have made a tremendous contribution to the development of the United Kingdom, who came here by invitation of the United Kingdom and now to be treated with that level of disdain. So we are helping to get their situation regularized at no cost to them and we are getting very good support and cooperation from the Home Office at this time.”
Mr. Mayers again appealed to Saint Lucians affected by the policy to bring it to the attention of the Saint Lucia High Commission, asking that they send their names and contact information and copies of whatever documents they possess “so that we can make representation on their behalf.”
“The staff of the High Commission stands ready to assist and we have already dealt with several cases and achieved success. We have been receiving requests for assistance from Windrush victims stranded in Saint Lucia as well as those up here who have been living in fear and denied their rights,” Mr. Mayers added. “We have even been contacted by Saint Lucians who are not part of the Windrush generation however they have lived in the UK for a long time and we will be doing everything in our power to assist them in getting regularized.”
Enquires should be made to: Saint Lucia High Commission in London at
+(44) 207 370-7123 or Email: enquiries@stluciahcuk.org
A delegation from the Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO) along with the contractor for phase one of the John Compton Dam Rehabilitation Project, as well as the Parliamentary Representative for the area met with residents of Tet Chemin on Sunday, April 22, to discuss particulars about the project and other water related concerns.
The meeting came amid calls from residents for information about the project which is soon to commence. A variation has been made to the original proposal for the desilting of the John Compton Dam that will now comprise two phases. The first phase is the construction of the sediment disposal site and the second phase is the installation of a drain pipe that will transport the silt downstream and the dredging of the dam.
Phase one, which is set to commence in the coming weeks will be undertaken by Mega Contracting, a Saint Lucian owned company, whose CEO, Ned Samuels, as well engineers attached to the company, on Sunday addressed the concerns raised by the residents. The concerns ranged from disturbances that will be caused by heavy equipment when the project begins as well as employment opportunities and the availability of water.
The desilting of the John Compton Dam has become necessary in order to restore the facility to its original capacity. As a result of heavy siltation due to climate change factors, namely Hurricane Tomas in 2010 and the 2013 Christmas Eve trough, two thirds of the dam was left filled with silt.
The commencement of phase one of the project marks the end of almost eight years of planning. Plans for the second phase of the project have not yet been finalized.
Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange. (FILE)
Minister Grange Condemns Killing of Pregnant Woman and Children.
It’s reported that 38-year-old Abanique Cunningham and her two children — four-year-old Sanique Coote and seven-year-old Jayanna Coote — were chopped to death. Minister Grange said it was a “tragedy” and a “most horrific case of gender based violence which I condemn in the strongest sense of the word.”
According to the Minister, this latest incident brings into focus the importance of efforts to eliminate gender-based violence and to transform the ways in which we bring about a change in how women are perceived. More Stories: Jamaicans to do more to protect children from abuse
“Governmental action is vital to prevent and end gender violence, but success requires people speaking up. I note that the police have made an arrest in this case, and I encourage anyone with any information that can assist in this case to make a report to the police,” the Minister said.
