CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Antigua and Barbuda recently hosted
a two-day conference aimed at helping
people with disabilities live independently,
be included, and participate in
their societies on an equal footing in
the Eastern Caribbean.
The conference,
which was hosted by
the London-based
Commonwealth Secretariat,
was addressed
by Prime Minister Gaston Browne and
the island’s Governor General, Rodney
Williams. It was held under the
theme, The Future is Accessible, and
the organizers said the conference
builds on the outcomes from the first
IAmAble summit held in 2017 which
promoted practical steps countries can
take to improve prospects of education,
employment, health and mobility for
people with disabilities.
Barbados
Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley
says that the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM), which recently inaugurated
its diplomatic office in Kenya could
become the most important contact
between the 15-member bloc and the
United Nations.
She said the CARICOM
representation in
Nairobi, is going to be
the one that is going
to have the greatest
impact in how “our nations function,
how we build with our food security,
and above all else, how we deal with our
water security, because one of the more
silent consequences of the climate crisis
has been on our ground water supply
across the region.”
The United Nations office is one of
four major United Nations office sites
where numerous different UN agencies
have a joint presence.
Nairobi is the global headquarters
for two UN programs — the UN Environment
Program and the UN Human
Settlements Program.
Mottley said CARICOM needs technical
support as well as the amplification
of the financial development resources,
noting the Warsaw Development for
Loss and Damage as a consequence of
climate change.
She said that for CARICOM, “this is
not just an optional battle, this is battle
for our survival as a region,” noting the
historic nature of the opening of the
diplomatic office here.”
Grenada
The Grenada government through
the Ministry of Social Development
and Housing will soon be embarking
on a project that will give grants to
thousands of people currently using
pit latrines to enable them to construct
Caribbean L 4 ife, December 20-26, 2019
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
jamaica Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett and Minister of Culture, Olivia Grange at launch of Reggae Month.
bathrooms and toilets with potable
water.
Minister for Social
Development and
Housing, Delma Thomas
said funding for
the project will be the
additional EC$5 million allocated to
her Ministry in the 2020 budget which
was recently debated in Parliament.
She indicated that there will be challenges
to implementing the projects
for some homeowners because there
will be issues with the land ownership
because not everyone owns the land
where the homes are located. The plan
is to install l0, 000 toilets and bathrooms
throughout the island.
Grenada as a signatory to the Sustainable
Development Goals is committed
to achieving Goal 6, which focuses
on clean water and sanitation.
That goal requires states to provide
access to adequate and equitable sanitation
and hygiene for all, and an end to
open defecation, with special attention
paid to the needs of women and girls
and those in vulnerable situations.
Jamaica
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism,
Edmund Bartlett says 66 cruise ships
are scheduled to call at ports across the
island throughout this month.
Of the total, 25 are scheduled for
the resort town of Ocho Rios, with 19
for the western city of Montego Bay, 18
for Falmouth in the northern parish of
Trelawney and four for Port Antonio, in
the eastern parish Portland.
Bartlett said the figure,
while less than
the 75 port calls for
December 2018, is
expected to rise as the
season gathers momentum.
He said that cruise lines officials are
well aware of the quality that Jamaica
brings to the table and, as such, “they
continue to send their biggest and
newest ships to our ports year in and
year out.”
Guyana
London-based global information
provider, IHS Markit Ltd, says Guyana’s
consistent exploration success will be
a plus even in a challenging oil price
environment.
An article in the
company’s website
said more discoveries
outside the Stabroek
block were essential
for the country, proving that its potential
stretched way beyond one field.
IHS Markit said the Guyana basin is
successfully positioning itself as one of
the most exciting emerging, deep-water
exploration basins around the world.
Since 2015, ExxonMobil and its partners
have made 14 discoveries, totaling
more than six billion recoverable barrels
of oil equivalent.
The Liza field, the first discovered by
ExxonMobil, is expected to start producing
by the end of the year.
More recent discoveries include
those by Tullow Oil and its partners in
the Orinduik block. According to IHS
Markit, these are expected to have a
significant of the lives of the Guyanese
people.
St. Vincent
Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves
says the delay in enacting the Freedom
of Information Act is due to the fact
that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is
awaiting its regional counterparts as
the Caribbean attempts similar type
legislation.
Dr. Gonsalves was
responding to questions
in the Parliament
by an opposition
legislator, Daniel
Cummings, who sought answers as to
why the legislation, passed 16 years
ago, had not yet come into force.
The Freedom of Information Bill was
passed in October 2003.
Cummings, the parliamentary representative
for West Kingstown has asked
Gonsalves whether there are plans to
bring the law into force and how soon
the public can expect the law to come
into force.
Gonsalves in his response, said there
are two pieces of legislation that are
Continued on Page 22
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Jamaica welcomes cruise lines
/www.caribbeanlifenews.com
/www.caribbeanlifenews.com