PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government suffered a major setback in the courts after a High Court judge ruled that the bailout plan by the Kamla Persad Bissessar-led coalition People’s Partnership administration was unlawful. High Court judge Joan Charles Tuesday ordered the State to pay a group of Executive Flexible Premium Annuity (EFPA) policyholders all the money they invested in the failed insurance giant, plus interest. Soon after it won the May 2010 general election, the Persad Bissessar government announced a new bailout plan for CLICO policy holders.

Haiti needs to develop a coordinated plan of action on human rights and a framework on the rule of law, an independent United Nations expert has said, noting that while positive changes are coming very slowly, there is a strong expectation from Haitians to see improvements.
“There is a need to have a strategy, there is a need also for each of the ministers to understand that they have a piece of the puzzle of the rule of law,” Michel Forst, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, told UN Radio yesterday.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua- Some of the top women in entrepreneurship in Antigua & Barbuda and the rest of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have put forward recommendations on how to address certain issues arising out of the evolution of the roles of men and women in society.
Their recommendations were made during panel discussions organised by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Royal Bank of Trinidad & Tobago (RBTT) in each OECS territory for International Women’s Day on Friday.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC - The Private Sector Commission (PSC) and Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI) Tuesday said they intend lobbying the Guyana government to beef up the necessary institutions to deal with corruption. In a joint statement, the two organisations agreed that the “perception of corruption of Guyana is too important to be ignored and negatively impacts on business and investment”.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn Tuesday said her office cannot at this time properly initiate criminal prosecution against any member of the Jamaica government over the failure to submit certain information to the Office of the Contractor General (OCG).
In a statement, the DPP said that she also made the decision not to initiate criminal proceedings against the Cabinet Secretary after closely examining the documentary material provided by the OCG along with 51 exhibits.