CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Caribbean
Social Justice and Women’s organizations,
in Jamaica and the Caribbean
have come out in support of abortion
law reform in Jamaica, which they
say mostly discriminates against poor
women.
In a statement, the organizations
have congratulated Jamaican parliamentarians
and social justice advocates
who have placed the issue on the legislative
agenda.
Last June, Jamaican
Member of Parliament,
Julia Cuthbert-Flynn
tabled a motion calling
for a debate on the
law that criminalizes abortion.
She also tabled a private members’
bill calling for the sections criminalizing
abortion in the Offences against the
Person Act to be removed and replaced
with civil law.
The women’s organizations are urging
the Jamaican parliament to guarantee
women’s enjoyment of their rights
to equal treatment, privacy, integrity
of the person and non-discriminatory
access to sexual and reproductive
health rights and services.
The statement noted that data coming
to those groups have shown that
“unsafe abortions are one of the leading
causes of maternal mortality in
Jamaica.”
It further noted that 70 percent of
all unsafe abortions in the Caribbean
are carried out on women below 30
years old.
“Within CARICOM, Barbados (1983)
and Guyana (1995) have led the way
with legislation that decriminalizes the
termination of pregnancy. Belize, St.
Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
have expanded the exceptions
that allow for abortion under the criminal
law,” the advocates noted.
Guyana
Guyana has been named the number
one “Best of Ecotourism” destination in
the world.
The award was presented to the Director
of the Guyana Tourism Authority,
Brian Mullis, at the ITB global travel
trade fair in Berlin, Germany recently.
The second annual
“Best of Top 100”
Awards is a selection of
the finest top l00 destinations
selected by a
panel of experts who
reviewed sustainability success stories
submitted by destinations worldwide.
The newly created “Best of Ecotourism”
category was added this year and
put Guyana against very well-known
and experienced ecotourism destinations
like Sierra Gorda in Mexico, Tmatboey
in Cambodia and the Galapagos
Islands in Ecuador.
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Director of Tourism, Brian Mullis
said Guyana has expanded considerable
effect in recent years not only to develop
new and innovative eco-friendly tourism
products as a part of the national
Green State Development Strategy, but
to also to incorporate sustainable tourism
best practice into all its strategy,
planning and programming while educating
the world about its deep commitment
to maximizing the positive socioeconomic
and conservation outcomes
from tourism.
Grenada
Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell
said the Dubai-based Range Development
is to undertake two new hotel
projects in Grenada estimated at US$130
million.
He said the Range Development is
well known for the high quality of its
hotels and for the ability to deliver
results in the region.
Range Development
is an investment and
hospitality company
operating across the
Eastern Caribbean. It has been involved
in the construction of the Park Hyatt in
St. Kitts and Cabrits Resort Kempinski
in Dominica.
Dr. Mitchell said his government’s
policy is to bring investment and sustainable
Caribbean Life, M 4 arch 29–April 4, 2019 BQ
jobs to the country and “our
partnership with Range Development is
irrefutable proof to this.”
He added, “The project will be based
in a rural part of the country, St. David,
showing our commitment to ensuring
that every Part or our tri-island stage
is developed.”
The prime minister said that the two
projects would result in an estimated
600 jobs during construction and many
more during the operations.
Jamaica
Jamaicans will be paying J$14 billion
less in taxes as the government reduces
the tax burden as part of measures to
stimulate greater business and economic
activity and boost growth.
This was revealed
by Minister of Finance
and the Public Service,
Dr. Nigel Clarke when
he opened the 2019 /
2020 budget debate in the House of
Representatives recently.
The measures, which will take effect
from April, 1, 2019, include abolishing
the Minimum Business Tax, payable by
all registered companies.
In addition, there will be an increase
in the annual General Consumption
Tax (GCT) threshold to J$10 million, up
from the current J$3 million.
This will mean that approximately
500 small businesses that currently
file GCT will no longer be required to
do so.
Other measures in the budget include
a reduction of the transfer tax payable
on the transfer of real property and
financial instruments. It is proposed to
reduce the transfer tax to two percent,
down from five percent.
Montserrat
A judge with the Eastern Caribbean
Supreme Court was among six women
honored in Montserrat
recently for their
“selfless contribution
and commitment to
the development and
advancement of Montserrat.”
Justice Esco Henry received the second
highest national award — the
Order of Excellence — at the 5th
National Honors Awards Ceremony for
her service in the field of law and public
service.
The judge, prior to her appointment
to the bench in 2014, served as attorney
general in Montserrat, as well as
the legal adviser to the St. Kitts and
Nevis based Eastern Caribbean Central
Bank that she was accepting “an award
which belonged to all of the people of
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