Caribbean L 8 ife, March 8–14, 2019 BQ
CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
ACP Secretary General, Dr. PI Gomes
said he condemns the perpetration of
the violence and deplores the loss of life
in the French-speaking Caricom community.
The Guyanese-born diplomat said he
was urging “all parties to refrain from
any further action that could exacerbate
the situation” and also called on the Haitian
authorities to “exercise maximum
restraint in responding to any acts of
provocation by the protestors.”
Opposition political parties have been
staging street demonstrations in support
of their calls for Moise to step down,
after accusing him of not investigating
corruption in the previous government
over PetroCaribe, an oil alliance of many
Caribbean states with Venezuela to purchase
oil on conditions of preferential
payment.
St. Kitts
The St. Kitts and Nevis government
has said it will consider and consult
further on creating a framework for the
use of marijuana for
medicinal purposes after
a national commission
submitted several recommendations
surrounding
the use of the drug in the twin-island
Federation.
Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris
told Parliament recently that the National
Marijuana Commission, which had
been appointed to consult with the public
and enquire into wide-ranging issues
surrounding the use of marijuana, had
issued 13 recommendations for consideration.
He said the Commission, which began
its work on October 2017, presented its
report on Jan. 10, this year and “the Cabinet
has accepted the recommendations of
the commission,” which was chaired by
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws.
He said the Commission has recommended
that the Drugs Act be amended
given that blanket criminalization of cannabis
has been overtaken by the passage
of time and regional and international
developments.
Dr. Harris said the commission felt
the regime for the use of cannabis for
medicinal and scientific purposes should
be permitted under license and a strict
legislated regime.
Trinidad
The Trinidad and Tobago government
is considering an amnesty for Venezuelans
fleeing the crisis in their homeland
to register legally and possibly work for
one year.
This was revealed by
National Security Ministry
who said the registration
process will begin
soon to document and register all Venezuelan
nationals in T&T, once Cabinet
gives the approval.
He said the registration process is simply
to get the correct data of the number
of Venezuelans who were staying illegally
in T&T
Young could not say whether the registration
will give access to health and educational
opportunities for Venezuelans
who are fleeing their homeland in droves
because of the socio-economic crisis.
He also said a collaborative crime initiative
was in place to pull back on illegal
entry by immigrants, which will involve
more coastal patrols and land surveillance.
— Compiled by Azad Ali
Continued from Page 4
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