BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Last week African business and government leaders met in Cape Town at the World Economic Forum on Africa to assess the impact of its growing wealth on alleviating poverty and to address the issue of transparency. It is well known that Africa’s impressive growth is not shared by millions of its people. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to a third of the world’s poorest people, and six of the top ten most unequal countries in the world.
BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – The Institute of Archaeology has launched an investigation into the destruction of a Maya archaeological site in northern Belize. Pictures broadcast on a local television network over the weekend showed the near total destruction of the Noh Mul site, which means Big Hill.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Consultations conducted within the Caribbean region have revealed that there are numerous threats to traditional knowledge (TK).
Regional Consultant with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Mary Ann Richards says that there is a lack of knowledge about the contribution that TK has made in the past and can make in the future to development. She made the point while addressing those attending the opening of a two-day seminar hosted by the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office at the Baobab Towers yesterday.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - T TAKES just one relatively small hurricane this season to throw our International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement off course. There is no provision for that, no special fund where we can access adequate resources to offset the kind of economic dislocation which results from our natural-hazard vulnerability. Adverse changes in the global economy, too, can overturn all our targets and hard-won gains and there is no global mechanism to take care of these exogenous factors. I am all for our 'putting our house in order' economically.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Trinidad and Tobago should not need the Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) to admonish this country about the dangers to good government and to democracy posed by political funding. Miguel Insulza has been the latest high official to mount a bully pulpit on the subject, addressed to political parties and ruling administrations in the Caribbean.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana government is seeking support for the passage of amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Act, warning it is in the country’s interest and should supersede political interest. Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, in an interview broadcast on the state-owned National Communication Network (NCN), said it is important for the opposition legislators to put aside their political interests and support the legislation.
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government is pumping an estimated US$20 million in the development of the information communication technology (ICT) sector, Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister Phillip Paulwell has said. “Jamaica is on a growth trajectory once more. We are seeing expansion taking place, especially in Montego Bay, and we want to facilitate and encourage that.
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC - Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony will Tuesday provide details of his administration’s fiscal policy for the next 12 months when he presents the national budget to Parliament. The government is expected to table an EC$1.3 billion (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) fiscal package and has already indicated that the recently introduced value added tax (VAT) would not be increased. “I want to make it clear, contrary to rumours be circulated, that the government of St.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Barbados should be conscious of its food supply, as the ability to withstand external shocks such as a nuclear accident, major terrorist attack, natural disaster or any international event that disrupts the movement of food to Barbados or leads to international food price increases, could leave us very vulnerable indeed. According to Dr.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Barbados may have few excuses as to why it is falling behind in implementing certain climate adaptation measures, but money cannot be one of them. Speaking at a seminar last Thursday which examined “Water Management, Health and Climate Change Adaptation”, presenter Dr.