CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Bahamas
The Bahamas government has signed
an agreement with Disney Island Development
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
h Th i d h
Limited for a proposed cruise
port and entertainment facility on the
island of Eleuthera.
The agreement was announced by
Prime Minister, Dr. Hubert Minnis
who said the project will cost between
US$250 million and $400 million.
A government statement
said Disney has
completed the acquisition
of the property
from the private seller
and approximately 190 acres of the land
were purchased, including the southernmost
point of the property and will
be conveyed to The Bahamas Government
for conservation and a national
park.
The value of the land donation was
put at $6.2 million.
Core elements of the proposed
project include low density development
and sustainable design, public
access and economic opportunities for
The Bahamas.
Minnis made the announcement
during a recent town hall meeting
to update residents on the government’s
mid-year budget statement and
the 30th Inter-Sessional Caribbean
meeting recently held in St. Kitts and
Nevis.
Under the Heads of Agreement, Disney
Cruise Line will ensure that 120
Bahamians will be employed directly
during the construction of the project.
The prime minister said the development
will provide a variety of entrepreneurial
opportunities for residents of
Eleuthera and The Bahamas in general.
Barbados
Barbados has recorded “solid” growth
in the tourism industry in 2018, according
to the Chief Executive Officer of the
Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., William
Griffith.
He said the country enjoyed a 2.7
percent increase in stay-over arrivals
last year, compared
to the corresponding
period in 2017.
In a statement Griffith
said that during
the course of 2018, the Grantley
Adams International Airport welcomed
681,397 visitor arrivals -17,686 more
than in 2017.
At the Bridgetown Port, he said the
island’s cruise tourism was “significantly
impacted’ by the effects of vessel
redeployment following hurricanes in
2017.
Griffith said this was due to the fact
that Puerto Rico, the primary home port
for the US-based sailings to the southern
Caribbean, was severely affected.
“We have once again proven Barbados’s
value as shown by the record
number of arrivals at both the air and
sea ports throughout 2018,” he said in
the statement.
The Tourism Marketing official said
that out of the five markets the United
States registered the strongest growth
with 8. 4 percent, producing 204,830
visitors to the island compared to
189,022 arrivals in 2017.
Griffith said other Caribbean islands
followed contributing 4.6 percent
growth of business with 77,149 arrivals
for the year.
There were also visitors from Canada
and the United Kingdom.
Caribbean
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
is developing a Regional Gender
Equality Strategy to accelerate the
effective implementation of key priority
actions that the 15-member counties
Caribbean L 4 ife, March 22–28, 2019 BQ
have signed onto, following the Beijing
Platform for Action Conference.
In a message marking International
Women’s Day, the Guyana-based
CARICOM Secretariat said the strategy
would assist those
countries which have
yet to fully implement
the Beijing declaration
that includes women’s
economic empowerment
and freedom from violence.
The CARICOM Secretariat said
International Women’s Day provides an
opportunity to reflect on gender equality
and the advancement of women
towards “Balance For Better” was this
year’s theme and call to action for
accelerating gender equality suggests.”
The statement said gender balance is
essential for economics to thrive and it
is a balance that creates stronger families
and communities, better working
environments and stronger nations.
The secretariat noted that next year
will be a banner year to mark several
important milestones, including the
25th anniversary of the Adoption of
the Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action.
Haiti
An international Monetary Fund
(IMF) delegation recently ended a twoweek
visit to Haiti, the troubled impoverished
Caribbean country.
The IMF discussed support for measures
to ease poverty, encourage good
governance, raise growth and stabilize
the country’s economic situation
through and extended fund facility.
Head of the delegation, Chris Walker,
said the Haitian government and
the Central Bank of
Haiti have reached an
IMF staff-level management
agreement
on a concessional zero
percent, three-year loan of US$ 229
million for Haiti.
He said the agreement will have to
be approved by the IMF’s executive
board, which is expected to consider
Haiti’s request in the coming weeks.
Walker said the agreement was
aimed at helping Haiti overcome its
current fragile state, and alleviating
the hardship of the most vulnerable.
He also said that priority had also
been given to the fight against corruption
and improvements in governance.
St. Lucia
Corporal punishment will soon
come to an end in schools in St. Lucia,
according to the Ministry of Education,
Innovation, Gender Relations and
Sustainable Development.
It said corporal punishment will be
suspended later this year before eventually
being abolished a year later.
The Education Ministry said the
move is in keeping with the many
international conventions to which the
island is signatory.
Corporal punishment
is to be suspended
from May, 1 this
year and eventually
come to an end by May 2020.
Chief Education Officer, Ruffina
Charles said that while the Education
Act has no stated policy for the abolition
of corporal punishment, it contained
structures in the act that stipulated
how corporal punishment should
be administered.
Charles said, however, that the
department must ensure that mandates
stipulated in the conventions,
including protection of children are
achieved.
Bahamas’s Prime Minister Hubert Minnis gives a speech during Americas Economics
Summit in Lima, Peru, Friday, April 13, 2018. Associated Press / Martin Mejia, File
Continued on Page 12
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