CARICOM crabs in a barrel

KINGSTON, Jamaica - WE have never for one moment deluded ourselves into believing that the signing of the 1973 Treaty of Chaguaramas -- that governs Caribbean Community (CARICOM) relations -- would have ushered us overnight to the Promised Land of regional integration. In fact, we knew clearly that...
Read More

High-level talks on future of CAL

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica has given the new board of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines (CAL) a month to indicate how it intends to use the Air Jamaica brand in the future. Transport Minister Dr. Omar Davies, Tuesday, met with a high- level delegation from Trinidad and Tobago that included Tra...
Read More

CAL’s unfriendly skies

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The news that our Minister of Tourism, Irfaan Ali is engaging his Trinidadian counterpart about the unilateral, dramatic increase of airfares by Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) from Guyana is welcome. Even more welcome would be news that the talks have resulted in the red...
Read More

Haiti receives US$15 million policy-based grant from IDB

WASHINGTON, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has furnished a US$15 million grant to Haiti to support policy, legal and institutional reforms in the agricultural sector. The Washington-based financial institution said farming plays a “fundamental role in the Haitian economy...
Read More

EDITORIAL - Tax havens in retreat

KINGSTON, Jamaica - A development that could affect the economics of some of Jamaica's more prosperous Caribbean neighbours and, perhaps, the pocketbooks of some of our better-heeled citizens, passed largely unnoticed here last week. Ten of Britain's overseas territories and colonies, acqui...
Read More

Take charge of your health

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Health is unarguably the most important issue for any society. When health is impaired there is a reduced standard of life and, in some cases, a loss of life. When one considers economic hardships, educational challenges, community unrest, or even criminal activity, they all p...
Read More

US Coast Guard helps seize 1,500 pounds of cocaine in Caribbean Sea

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, CMC – The United States Coast Guard along with the Royal Netherlands Navy has seized 1,517 pounds of cocaine, with a street value of about US$24 million, from a go-fast vessel in the Caribbean Sea. In a statement on Wednesday, the Coast Guard said as a result, three smu...
Read More

Late, but needed

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Although it is a case of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted, the Insurance Bill 2013 is a welcome piece of legislation which we hope will eliminate the possibility of any future recurrence along the lines of the CL Financial disaster. The unanimous parliament...
Read More

Unions criticise coalition government, plan massive demonstrations

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Labour leaders Wednesday criticised the coalition People’s Partnership government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar describing it as a “spiteful and ruthless” administration that has trampled the rights of workers. They gave Persad Bisse...
Read More

Opposition warns of disobeying laws to stage street protests

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – Leader of the main opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM), Shawn Richards, is warning that people will “ultimately take the matter to seek justice into their own hands” after the police denied a request for a march next week. Richards said tha...
Read More