CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC- President of the Trade Union Federation (TUF) Julian Monrose has accused Prime Minister Kenny Anthony of attacking Civil Servants by accusing them of being greedy, unproductive and unpatriotic. The TUF President was responding to this weeks’ address to the nation in which Prime Minister Anthony outlined the islands fiscal situation in response to public servants demands for an 16% salary increase.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC - Barbados and Sweden have signed a protocol to amend the Convention for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income. A statement from the Ministry of International Business and International Transport said the accord went into effect last month after being signed on November 3, last year.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados Workers Union (BWU) says it will “definitely” embark upon industrial action after efforts to get the telecommunications company, Cable and Wireless (Barbados) Limited, to retract dismissal letters sent to nearly 100 workers last week failed. BWU general secretary Sir Roy Trotman said that while no date has yet been decided on when the industrial action would start, he was insisting “there will be industrial action but we will determine where, how and when. The time and the hour will be decided when the General Secretary announces”.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - FORMER Jamaican Ambassador to Venezuela Clifton Stone thinks that as long as Hugo Chavez's socialist party remains in power there is no danger to the Petrocaribe oil agreement which benefits Jamaica. "The danger would arise if the Opposition prevails and elections are called and they are victorious," Stone told the Jamaica Observer.
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that Parliament will be dissolved to make way for a General Election, hundreds rushed to voter registration offices island wide on Thursday morning.
“Yes, we are getting reports that the sub offices are extremely business today,” said Supervisor of Elections Judy Benoit as she confirmed that persons begun gathering at offices before the opening hours.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - We are not as concerned as most that Jamaica hasn't yet concluded a borrowing agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). For failure to conclude a deal will further narrow our options in the financial markets and perhaps force us into a cold-turkey kicking of our borrowing habit. Our greater fear is that the Government lacks the will to implement the policies that, with or without an IMF agreement, will be necessary if Jamaica is not to be sucked irretrievably deep into a fiscal black hole around which we have thrashed for too long.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) last night indicated that Cabinet has received an update from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) negotiating team and given directions for transmission to the IMF staff in order to bring about a conclusion to the negotiations. The update was received during day one of a special three-day meeting of the Cabinet at Jamaica House yesterday. During the meeting, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller reportedly outlined the administration's focus on growth, development and job creation.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says it is “necessary” for Jamaica to secure an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as her Cabinet ended the first day of a three-day meeting here.
Evidence of loss remains even three years after a massive earthquake claimed the lives of as many as 200,000 people in Haiti. In the middle of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, there is a cathedral whose sun-washed walls reach into the sky where a roof used to be. A lone flagpole marks the spot where the National Palace, a symbol of Haiti's government, once proudly stood. And on a downtown street that once bustled with storefronts, there is now a row of vendors who sell their wares under tent poles and umbrellas.
Cholera could be contained in Haiti by vaccinating less than half the population, University of Florida researchers suggest in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports. The work places UF's Emerging Pathogens Institute in the pro-vaccination camp in an ongoing international debate over how best to contain the two-year-old epidemic that has claimed thousands of lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been skeptical about the effectiveness of vaccination against cholera in this setting.