CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Antigua and Barbuda Attorney General,
Steadroy “Cutie” Benjamin said
the government was moving to establish
a registry for sex offenders in the
very near future.
Speaking in Parliament recently,
Benjamin said once convicted, the
names of all sexual offenders will be
placed on a public registry.
This disclosure follows the establishment
of a Sexual Offenses Model Court
last month.
Benjamin, who is also the minister
of public safety issued
a strong warning to
offenders saying that
he was going to ensure
that the legislation was
going to be on the list before the end of
March this year.
“We are going to make certain also
to notify the neighborhoods into which
you are going to reside,” he said during
his contribution to the budget debate.
Minister of Sports, National Festivals,
Culture and The Arts, E. P. Chet
Greene recently called on Benjamin
to put legislation in place to prevent
convicted and known sexual offenders
from hanging around areas, specially
sporting facilities that are frequented by
young people.
Barbados
Barbados recently hosted a twoday
consultation aimed at continuing
the development of a framework
for a structured and
continuous dialogue
between the Caribbean
Forum (Cariforum)
and French Caribbean
Outermost Regions (FCORs) and British
and Dutch Overseas Countries and
Territories (OCTs).
Among the topics discussed were
recommendations for a dialogue framework
at the political and technical levels
that were developed through a consultancy
and first presented at a region
consultation in Barbados last April.
The other areas included human and
social development; trade and investment;
disaster risk management; and
crime and security.
The meeting viewed the report and
discussed its recommendations. There
was an agreed mechanism for deeper
and more effective co-operation and
collaboration among Cariforum, OCTs
and ECORS.
This feedback will enable the consultant
to revise and finalize the report,
the Guyana-based Cariforum Secretariat
said.
Caribbean
The Caribbean Development Bank
(CDB) is projecting a positive economic
outlook for the region with real gross
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Suriname focuses on climate change
domestic product (GDP) growth of
approximately two percent this year.
President of the CDB, Dr. Warren
Smith told a press conference this is
based on the expected expansion of the
construction, tourism and extractive
industries such as gold and oil.
He said in order to sustain these
gains over the medium term, its member
countries will need
to step up their efforts
to build long-term
resilience and tackle at
least three challenges
head on — climate change, evidenced
by strong weather events and energy
insecurity; wide fiscal deficits and high
public debt; and high unemployment,
especially among the youth.
He said the performance of the Caribbean
over the past year showed that
the majority of the bank’s borrowing
member countries recorded economic
growth averaging 1.9 percent, compared
with 0.5 percent in 2017.
The CDB president said the fastest
growing economies were Grenada at
Caribbean L 4 ife, Feb. 22–28, 2019 BQ
5.2 percent, Antigua and Barbuda with
a growth rate of 3.5 percent and Guyana
3.4 percent.
Grenada
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell
has said the ongoing political crisis in
Venezuela could easily engulf the Caribbean
and has called for a peaceful solution
in the matter.
“Venezuela is right at our borders so
what is happening there, if not dealt
with or solved peacefully, it can have
serious consequences
for all the countries in
the region, including
Grenada,” he said.
Mitchell warned
that if the situation in Venezuela is
allowed to prevail, where the United
States and other countries have taken
one side and China and Russia have
taken another side, and either side provides
military and other forms of support,
without serious mediation “we
can see it engulfing the region and all
of us will pay a heavy price.”
He said serious mediation is the only
way to amicably resolve the crisis.
Jamaica
Jamaica main opposition People’s
National Party (PNP) has condemned
the second murder of its members in
many weeks, saying the latest killings
are wanton acts of criminality across
the country that is leaving too many
individuals and families in mourning.
PNP and Opposition
Leader Dr Peter Phillips,
said the party is
shocked and saddened
over the shooting
death of former PNP
councilor Madge Morris at her home
in Portland, coming a few days after
Dr. Lynvale Bloomfield, the MP for East
Portland, who was also found murdered
at his home.
He said the PNP continues to maintain
that no Jamaican should have to
face this viciousness in their own country,
urging the security forces to do
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THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Minister for Foreign Affairs Yldiz Deborah Pollack-Beighle said the adoption of the Krutu of Paramaribo
Joint Declaration on HFLD Climate Finance Mobilisation declaration represents a commitment that no longer
would HFLD nations be the ones producing the solution to climate change and global warming without the
required fi nancial assistance. See story on Page 32. Inter Press Service / Desmond Brown
/www.caribbeanlifenews.com
/www.caribbeanlifenews.com