Statement by the Ministry of Social Transformation and Human Resource Development.
The Ministry of Social Transformation and Human Resource Development on Saturday announced that following a routine inspection of the hurricane relief items donated to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, a number of items were discovered missing from the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) storage facility on American Road.
Subsequently, the Ministry conducted an investigation which resulted in two individuals being arrested by the police.
The Ministry of Social Transformation and Human Resource Development takes note of this development and advises that it will be re-evaluating its procedures and monitoring mechanisms at the National Office of Disaster Services NODS storage facility and will make the necessary adjustments to ensure accountability and the security of hurricane relief supplies and other items in the department’s possession.
This country’s eighth Governor-General will be sworn into office on Monday, January 8, during an installation ceremony at the Senate Chamber of Parliament, which will get under way at 4:00 p.m.
Madame Justice Sandra Mason, who has been named Governor-General designate, will become Dame Sandra Mason. She replaces Sir Elliot Belgrave, who retired on July 1, 2017.
The Governor-General designate has served as Justice of Appeal at the Supreme Court in Barbados, and High Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Prior to those two appointments, she worked as Registrar of the Supreme Court in Barbados and held the post of resident Ambassador to Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and Brazil.
Madame Justice Mason holds membership in several organisations, including the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal, United Kingdom, where she is presently serving as president. She is also Chairperson of the Community Legal Services Commission, and member of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission; the Royal Commonwealth Society; and Parent Education for Development in Barbados.
She has also authored a number of publications. They include “Development of the Trade Union in Barbados”; “Juveniles in the Barbados Society”; and “Due Process, Human Rights and the Administration of Juvenile Justice – A Comparative Study of the Juvenile Systems in the Commonwealth Caribbean UNICEF”.
The installation ceremony will be carried live on CBC TV 8, CBC Radio and Voice of Barbados.
HBO invites viewers to a humor-filled start of the New Year with the return of three original comedy series. The highly anticipated new seasons of CRASHINGandDIVORCE premiere on Sunday, January 14th, while the web-turned-TV series HIGH MAINTENANCE returns for its second season on Friday, January 19th.
DIVORCE:Jan. 14 at 23hrs. In the aftermath of their explosive separation, Frances (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Robert (Thomas Haden Church) are learning to rebuild their lives independently, even as they stay entangled through their kids and mutual friends. Focusing on careers, new relationships and finding ways to be happy again, they learn that pursuing the next chapter will be more complicated than they imagined. This eight-episode second season will also feature Molly Shannon as Diane, Talia Balsam plays Dallas, Dean Winters as Tony, Robert’s Divorce attorney, Sterling Jerins plays Lila, Frances and Robert’s complicated teenage daughter and Charlie Kilgore is Tom, their 16-year old son.
CRASHING:Jan. 14 at 23:30hrs. Created by and starring Pete Holmes, CRASHING returns for its eight-episode second season. The series draws on Holmes’ own experiences as a comedian, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the world of stand-up comedy.
Feeling lost in the universe, Pete has an enlightening conversation with an atheist sending him into a night of New York debauchery. This marks the beginning of a season in which he starts to question his faith and find his voice. With the help of Ali, a fellow rising comic, Pete explores the alternative comedy scene, a world of comedy nerds, apartment shows and no-drink minimums, where he begins to thrive. These diverse encounters test his enthusiasm and optimism, but also promise to make him a better comedian as he tries to survive the competitive world of New York stand-up. Series veterans featured on season two of CRASHING include Lauren Lapkus as Pete’s ex-wife, Jessica, George Basil as Leif, Jessica’s former lover, and comics Dave Attell, Dov Davidoff and Artie Lange, playing versions of themselves.
HIGH MAINTENANCE: Jan. 19th (Jan 20th at 00hrs). From the unexpected and offbeat to the predictable and mundane, HIGH MAINTENANCE provides a glimpse into the daily routines of a diverse group of New Yorkers and how they light things up. Ben Sinclair stars as The Guy, a nameless pot deliveryman whose client base includes an eccentric group of characters with neuroses as diverse as the city. Season two will be comprised of 10 episodes.
The hit HBO original series, Game of Thrones, will return for its six-episode, eighth and final season in 2019.
Directors for the new season include David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, David Nutter and Miguel Spochnik. Writers for the new season are David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman and Dave Hill.
HBO’s fantasy series based on the bestselling book series by George R.R. Martin has become one of the most successful of its time, breaking audience ratings,
All past seasons of Game of Thrones are available on HBO GO, the digital platform for premium entertainment. HBO GO can be accessed through any mobile device with iOS 7.1+ (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) or Android (OS 4.0+) operating system and at www.hbogoca.com. HBO GO can also be enjoyed on the TV screen with Chromecast and Apple TV. The platform is available as an independent online subscription through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store digital stores, as an on-demand service with participating operators and as an add-on complement at no additional cost with a subscription to the premium pay-TV HBO/MAX package.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) strongly objects to the recent labelling of some of its Member States by the European Union as Non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, CARICOM Secretary-General said Wednesday 12 December 2017.
He was at the time accrediting a new Ambassador of France to CARICOM, H.E. Antoine Joly at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.
The Secretary-General urged France to leverage its influence for the EU to desist from “taking such arbitrary and punitive actions against,” those CARICOM Member States it had blacklisted. Those countries, he emphasized, have not been so labelled by the relevant regulatory authorities such as the Financial Action Task Force and the OECD Global Forum.
“This decision by the EU has been based on new and unilaterally-determined criteria, that go beyond the generally accepted international tax transparency and accountability standards which our countries have been diligently meeting over the past several years,” he stated.
“CARICOM strongly objects to this listing of our Member States and calls on the EU to remove our Member States from this pernicious list,” he added noting that the Community stood ready to discuss this matter with the European Council.
A major consequence of “blacklisting” was the “de-risking” strategies that included the withdrawal of correspondent banking services by certain international banks, the CARICOM Secretary-General told the French envoy. He said that the impact has had a “detrimental impact on the trade and financial operations” of the Region’s economies.
“As Ambassador to the Community, your direct engagement in promoting awareness about the extent of our capabilities and the obstacles we face in our aspirations for economic development is of great significance,” he told the new French envoy.
In the Caribbean, procurement challenges are a key contributing factor to late project start-up, slow disbursements and extended project implementation, which result in delayed project outcomes. The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved a USD700,000 grant to assist with the establishment of modern procurement systems in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
The project will contribute towards the strengthening of public procurement systems and related institutional capacity in the OECS, through results-focused activities that provide for effective, efficient and transparent procurement. Daniel Best, Director, Projects Department, CDB notes that public procurement has a direct impact on the economies of the Bank’s Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs). “There is a direct correlation between the quality of public procurement systems and the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending. Research shows that better expenditure management provides a foundation for building stronger and more inclusive economies, by promoting civil society participation, stimulating private sector growth and investment and encouraging wider improvements in governance,” he said.
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) research, typically 10 to 15 percent of a country’s gross domestic product goes through its public procurement system and this is often considerably more in Small Island Developing States such as CDB’s BMCs.
The Project will comprise five components:
an assessment of public procurement in five OECS member countries using the revised Methodology for the Assessment of Procurement Systems;
post-assessment workshops and the creation of National Action Plans;
implementation of activities outlined within National Action Plans;
development of an OECS public procurement virtual network; and
the accreditation of public procurement officials by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply through the Regional Procurement Training Centre.
The project is consistent with the Bank’s strategic commitment to promote good governance in the Region and to support more efficient implementation of its projects. It also builds upon the procurement workshop held in June 2017, which considered opportunities for procurement reform across the OECS.
CDB’s work in public procurement has included the development of an online procurement coursefor Caribbean stakeholders and, in collaboration with the World Bank, support for the establishment of a Caribbean regional procurement centre, at the University of Technology, Jamaica. The procurement centre offers internationally recognised procurement training, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.
Private Sector Engagement Meeting in Kingston, Jamaica.
The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), in collaboration with the world’s largest donor organization, the European Union, pulled together some of the region’s most influential business leaders and private sector representative organisations to answer this very question last week at a Private Sector Engagement Meeting in Kingston, Jamaica.
The meeting included a feature address from former Prime Minister of Jamaica Mr Bruce Golding who stressed that the region’s private sector collectively has the power to effect positive change in the region’s legislation and to drive the business climate in a manner that supports economic growth. However, this is not currently happening due to the lack of a recognised regional private sector body to represent their needs when policies and trade relations are discussed by governments at the regional level. Without the private sector, the Governments cannot achieve the kind of sustainable economic growth needed to affect GDP.
H.E. Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Jamaica, Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, highlighted in her welcome remarks that the private sector is the engine for growth and plays a critical role in spearheading how the regional economies develop. As the largest donor of Caribbean Export, the two organisations work together to support the increase of employment creation through the provision of targeted interventions of which the region’s private sector may take advantage. Ultimately the development and growth of the region’s private sector will contribute to the overall goal of poverty reduction and sustained economic growth.
Executive Director at Caribbean Export, Ms Pamela Coke-Hamilton stressed that in view of the rapidly changing global trade environment and seemingly nationalistic foreign policy in the wake of BREXIT, the U.S. abandoning the Trans- Pacific Partnership Agreement and the approaching expiration of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement in 2020, the Caribbean will be significantly affected and therefore must be organized.
“As we face a rapidly changing environment, we need to ensure that our national and regional policies are adjusted to meet the new demands or challenges that they will face. Now is the time to move forward with the establishment of a regional body with private sector representation at the broadest cross sectoral level; a body that will become an integral partner in regional Public-Private Dialogue (PPD).”
With issues such as the current policies in relation to the free movement of labour which are hindering regional trade yet to be addressed, the attending private sector representatives collectively agreed that they needed to hold CARICOM and their governments to account for the implementation or lack thereof of the policies and regulatory frameworks that will improve the business environment and facilitate growth.
Joseph Cox, Assistant Secretary General, Trade and Economic Integration, CARICOM Secretariat emphasized the need for unity between the private sector across the region to ensure regional development. A unified regional private sector would be more effective as it relates trade relations especially when it is results orientated in its approach.
It was clear from the attending participants that businesses want trade to happen and that there is a need to co-ordinate across the region for better PPD. At the end of the meeting the grouping made a commitment to work together and signed an agreement on the way forward that will lead to the development of a relevant regional private sector body to represent their interests regionally and internationally.
Paris, December 12, 2017 – Prime Minister Skerrit participated in the One Planet Summit as a panelist.
Prime Minister Skerrit urges the international community to scale up investments in building climate change resilience.
At the One Planet Summit in Paris, France, on December 12, 2017, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit called on the international community to scale up investments in building climate change resilience. “In order to build resilience to climate change, island-states like Dominica require significant investments in residential and public buildings, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, and utility services – water, electricity, telecommunications.
He highlighted the impact of hydro-meteorological events as well as slow onset events on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Dominica. The impact is becoming more severe and even more frequent.
According to Prime Minister Skerrit, there is unprecedented political will to stem the emission of greenhouse gases, gradually decarbonize the electricity sector and reduce reliance on carbon-based fuels for transportation. Two years ago, the international community demonstrated these commitments with the Paris Climate Agreement and the creation of the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
“The challenge, however, is the in ability of countries, especially small states which are most adversely affected, to access the resources that have been committed to combating climate change. The complexities involved in procuring those funds compounded by the slow pace of disbursement, threaten to eliminate the gains made in Paris two years ago”.
He called for greater efforts in streamlining the processes to access these funds and to implement plans and programs to assist SIDS. He sighted the creation of the Climate Resilience Executing Agency of DOMINICA (CREAD) as one solution to address these challenges. Partnership between countries and the international community to streamline processes and to create the capacities for implementation will benefit beneficiaries as well as benefactors.
Prime Minister Skerrit thanked the international community for their support in responding to the impact of hurricane Maria on Dominica. He urged countries to continue to partner with the government and people of DOMINICA to create the first climate resilient nation.
The Belize Bureau of Standards (BBS) in the Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade and Commerce hereby informs the public that its offices will be closed for business on December 14th, 2017 between the hours of 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm and during the entire day of December 15th, 2017.
The Bureau apologizes for any inconveniences this may cause. For further information please call our office at 822-0446 or 822-0447.
DNA testing at Forensic Laboratory to be a reality soon.
Speaking recently with media operatives, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan revealed that the procurement process to acquire equipment for Forensic Laboratory to do DNA testing has been approved. The Minister disclosed the equipment costs fall within the vicinity of US$1M and was provided for by Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP) of the Ministry of Public Security.
Minister Ramjattan also disclosed that over the next six to seven months, the laboratory, located at Turkeyen, will have its security upgraded to safeguard the integrity of the exhibits, ventilation works completed and the certified training of staff who will be conducting various forensic tests.
Minister Ramjattan explained, “The Americans experts, through their ambassador indicated that we haven’t as yet reached the stage for that quality of DNA testing. And we had to wait until we get all the other things fixed, the infrastructural work, the integrity system and the ventilation system because these exhibits have to be maintained at a certain temperature and also the design of that original lab wasn’t there yet.”
The Public Security Minister said it is disappointing that this was not yet achieved. He, however, emphasised that the “accreditation and the certification, will come when we get it one hundred percent fixed.”
Minister Ramjattan opined that much of the laboratory’s ‘design work’ was incorrectly done previously. This resulted in the government being forced to recall the Barbadian expert, to conduct an assessment of the facility as it currently stood. Subsequent to her findings, he added, reconstructive works began.
The Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL) is a government initiative with the long-term goal of providing quality laboratory service to support forensic and non-forensic investigations. The GFSL offers forensic analysis on samples related to criminal investigations in the areas of toxicology, questioned documents analysis, trace evidence and chemical analysis and non-forensic laboratory testing relating to matters not associated with criminal investigations.
