BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate - There needs to be a diversification of the tourism industry, greater job opportunities in the food and beverage sector, a development of our natural resources and wider education of farmers to help them be more marketable and earn more. This challenge was voiced by Agriculturalist, Chelston Brathwaite, who says that there needs to be more job creation.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Barbados health authorities Wednesday said that no meat product containing horsemeat had been imported into the country in light of the controversy currently sweeping Europe. Senior Veterinary Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Mark Trotman, said “extensive trace back investigations” had been conducted and to date, none of the identified products had been imported into the island.
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, insisting that he has no intention of closing down a radio station widely regarded as supportive of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), has nonetheless instructed his lawyer “to pursue the fruits of my judgement” in two defamation cases. Nice Radio Monday paid EC$206,000 (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) to Gonsalves representing the full payment for a defamation judgement he won following statements made by a radio host almost 10 years ago.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Pressure mounted on Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar Wednesday to dismiss her National Security Minister Austin “Jack” Warner over the existence of “an illegal Flying Squad” operating in Trinidad and Tobago.
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC - The chair of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Trust says he will ensure that a complaint made by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves about two BBC journalists “is properly pursued through the BBC complaints process.” Gonsalves wrote to Lord Chris Patten on Friday to complain about the “rude” and “unprofessional” approach of journalists Matthew Hill and Paul Kenyon when they questioned him aboard an airplane in Barbados on February 17 about an allegation.
CASTRIES, St.Lucia, Feb. 28, CMC - Opposition Leader Stephenson King wants St.Lucia's Ambassador to the United Nations recalled following what he described as an embarrassing ordeal with the island losing its voting rights as a result of outstanding monies owed to the body. King told a news conference Wednesday that the development was an embarrassment not only for the government but the people of St.Lucia. He said that the excuses being made by Ambassador Menissa Rambally are quite "disappointing and astounding" and she should be immediately recalled.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), Wednesday warned that its members employed at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) would remain off the jobs accusing the company of reneging on the collective labour agreement regarding salaries. "Unless they stick to what is in our agreement like they want us to stick we will not be taking part in any more production and distribution of electricity," NAACIE general secretary Kenneth Joseph said.
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – Prime Minster Dr. Denzil Douglas says St. Kitts and Nevis has approached the challenge of debt-reduction by entering into in-depth, sustained, and ultimately successful negotiations with its creditors. He said his administration had also used a small portion of its assets to create a Special Purpose Vehicle capable of reducing the debt by nearly 50 per cent within a one year period. “We took this approach to debt-reduction as a means of encouraging and facilitating private sector growth,” Dr. Douglas said at the launch of the Caribbean Growth Forum, St.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Chronicle - THE ORGANISASTION of American States (OAS) is scheduled to hold its 43rd General Assembly in June when elections will take place for the posts of Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General (ASG). Neither of the incumbents—Secretary General Miguel Insulza, a former Foreign Minister of Chile, and Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin, the Suriname-born diplomat and former Assistant Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARIC0M)—is eligible to seek re-election.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate - THE Principal of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies is asking government to sit down with them and develop a strategy for its growing debt problem. Professor Sir Hilary Beckles maintained that the debt problem began to increase significantly with the death of former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance David Thompson, who had a firm grasp on the University’s finances.