Free movement through OECS set to take effect

  

http://www.spiceislander.com

Published on January 26th 2011 by James Dumont

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada -- Grenada and other member-nations of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are eliminating the need for passports to travel to and from each others countries.

It’s one of the outcomes of the ratification of the Revised Treaty establishing the OECS Economic Union, which permits free movement of people in the sub-region covering the Windward and Leeward Islands.

Free movement, and a range of other issues relating to the Economic Union, were discussed at the 52^nd Meeting of the OECS Authority in St. George’s on January 24.

Host Prime Minister, Grenada’s Tillman Thomas, said free movement of people throughout the OECS should take effect within a few months.

“We are setting the date of August 1^st of this year. By that date, we expect OECS citizens to be moving in and out OECS states without restrictions, once you have a driver’s license or I.D. card,’’ Hon. Thomas told reporters at a post-meeting news conference Tuesday.

Walcott wins top priority prize

  

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Published on January 25th 2011 by News Staff

CASTRIES, St. Lucia -- St Lucian Nobel laureate poet Derek Walcott has won one of the most prestigious poetry prizes in the world.

He scooped the TS Eliot Prize for Poetry on Monday 24 January for his 2010 collection "White Egrets".

Mr Walcott was chosen from a shortlist of ten authors.

The judges said they felt that his White Egrets was a moving, risk-taking and technically flawless book by a great poet.

The collection covers difficult subjects such as the complex colonial legacy of the Caribbean but also the wonders of modern St Lucia - where Walcott was born eighty years ago and now lives.

It also includes two poems written to United States president, Barack Obama.

Derek Walcott won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992.

Four Killed in Floods

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Published on January 5th 2011 by News Staff

BASSE-TERRE, Guadeloupe -- Officials in Guadeloupe say four people were killed and another is missing after the car in which they were traveling was swept away by floods. 

The French Caribbean island has been drenched by three days of torrential rain.

Officials say flood waters swept away the four-wheel drive car and its occupants when they tried to cross a submerged bridge over a flooded ravine.

Guadeloupean police said rescuers later found four bodies and were searching for a fifth person who is missing.

Deadly grenade blast rocks Guyana capital Georgetown

http://www.bbc.co.uk

Published on January 5th 2011 by News Staff 

GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- One person has been killed and 19 people injured in an explosion at a bus depot in the capital of Guyana, Georgetown.

Police said the explosion was caused by a grenade, but refused to speculate whether it was an accident or a deliberate attack.

Eyewitnesses said the blast rocked the busy streets around the bus depot, near Stabroek Market.

Officials at Georgetown Hospital said they were treating 19 people.

Doctors said most of those injured had shrapnel wounds.

One witness told the Associated Press news agency he had been left temporarily deafened by the explosion.

Police have cordoned off the area and are gathering evidence.

Sir Ellis funeral at NAPA Friday

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news
Published on January 4th 2011 by Clint Chan Tack

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad -- The State funeral for this country’s first president, Sir Ellis Clarke, will take place on Friday at 11.30 am at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port-of-Spain. 

The announcement was made in a statement issued yesterday by the Office of the Prime Minister. The statement said Sir Ellis’ family will hold a private funeral service from 9.30 am at the Church of the Assumption in Maraval.

After this service, the State funeral will be held at the NAPA from 11.30 am.

Following the State funeral, there will be a private family service for Sir Ellis at the Lapeyrouse Cemetery where he will be buried. The Office of the Prime Minister also announced that tomorrow and on Thursday, Sir Ellis’ body will lie in State for public viewing in the rotunda of the Red House in Port-of-Spain from 6 am to 6 pm.

Banton Thanks Fans For Support During Drug Troubles

Source: http://www.contactmusic.com

Published on January 3rd 2011

Reggae star BUJU BANTON has publicly thanked his fans for standing by him throughout his "turbulent times" after he was imprisoned and hit with a string of drug charges last year (10).


The music veteran, real name Mark Myrie, went on trial in September (10), facing allegations including conspiracy to possess and intent to distribute cocaine following his arrest in December 2009, when he was reportedly caught attempting to buy drugs from an undercover police officer in Sarasota, Florida.

The case collapsed when jurors were unable to reach a verdict following three days of deliberations and he walked free from prison in November (10), after Bob Marley's son Stephen offered up his own house as a bail bond for his troubled pal. Banton has remained quiet on his legal troubles since his release, but he has now broken his silence to pay tribute to his loyal devotees.

He says, 

"I give thanks to all my supporters who have been supporting me through these turbulent times. Thank you to all the people who have shown interest in my situation. I know you see the way they are trying to destroy my life, and you’ve supported me through these troubled days. I truly appreciate your support."

And Banton is excited to return to the stage to play his first concert in months when he shares the bill with Damian Marley, Shaggy, Wayne Wonder and John Legend at a show in Miami, Florida later this month (Jan11).

He adds,  

"I haven’t played my music and sung for my people in a long while. And I would like to pour my heart out and my music also for the people who have been there for me. I know there are a lot of haters out there and a lot of people who wish me the worst, but my God is still on the throne. And I just want to welcome all those who have been supportive of me to come."

But Banton's legal issues are far from over - he has to wear a monitoring bracelet to ensure he doesn't flee the U.S. and prosecutors plan on re-filing the charges in the coming weeks.

Former Chief Minister John Osborne dies

 

http://www.newsmontserrat.com
Published on January 3rd 2011 by News Staff

OLVESTON, Montserrat -- Montserrat’s former Chief Minister John Alfred Osborne died in the United States Saturday night, official sources have confirmed. He was 74 years old.

The exact cause of death has not been disclosed but Osborne’s health had been failing for several months and his family decided to take him to the US for medical care.

Osborne served as Chief Minister from 1978-1991 and again from 2001-2006. He retired from active politics ahead of the last general election in 2009.

The island’s airport bears his name.

(CMC)

Mara Gets the Nod

 

http://www.nationnews.com

Published on January 2nd 2011 by News Staff

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- Mara Thompson received the overwhelming nod at today's nomination meeting held in Gall Hill, St John.

Mara, who announced that she would be contesting the seat left vacant by her late husband and Prime Minister David Thompson, received 60 votes out of a total of 69 at the meeting.

The Democratic Labour Party's executive and general councils are yet to ratify the decision. It is expected, however, that this will be done later tonight.

It was a full house at the compound of the Gill and Gollop Parish Centre at the compound of the St John's Parish Church where some constituents gathered. Others who had thrown their hat in the ring, expressing an interest in becoming the next St John MP were also present, including Dale Lashley, Vere Brathwaite, Anthony Walrond and Leroy McClean.

Seismologist predicts major earthquake for the Caribbean

 

http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com
Published on December 29th 2010 by Global News Staff

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- The Acting Director of the Seismic Research Centre of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr Joan Latchman, has warned Caribbean countries to be prepared for an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 after Trinidad and Tobago was rocked by a 5.1 magnitude quake on Sunday night. 

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (DPM) said there were no reports of damage or injury from the quake that the National Earthquake Information Center at the United States Geological Survey registered at 5.1 magnitude and located 15 miles west of Port of Spain in Trinidad and 70 miles west of Scarborough in Tobago. It was also felt in some sections of Venezuela. 

The CMC reported that Latchman said while the region has not had a severe earthquake for the last 100 years, she is predicting that one with a magnitude of 8.0 could hit the Caribbean any day. 

"Our largest earthquake close to Trinidad occurred in 1756 which is more than 200 years ago. The largest one in the Eastern Caribbean occurred in 1843 which is more than 100 years ago, the region is posed for a larger earthquake,” she said on a radio programme in Port of Spain. 

On January 12 this year, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit Haiti, killing an estimated 300,000 people and leaving more than one million homeless. 

Latchman said that, while the Caribbean has recorded earthquakes in the magnitude 7.1 to 7.5 range in the Eastern Caribbean, "every 20 to 30 years we have not had that one in the magnitude eight range, that we expect every 100 years. 

"So that is what we are saying and we have been saying it now for many years, that the region is posed to experience one of the great earthquakes and as a region and as a country we need to be prepared. 

"We need to take it seriously ... we need to take the earthquake hazard very seriously,” she said.

Greetings Readers,

As we welcome this most blessed year filled with energy, goals and high expectations... let's not forget one major thing heavily learned in 2010:

!ANY BLOODCLAT SHIT COULD HAPPEN!

So regardless... always, always, always be prepared for the unexpected & the inevitable and continue praying peoples. Remember that as Caribbean people, we ARE naturally united. So instead of being against each other or ignoring our neighboring country's pain... let's re-unite, re-build and plain and simple... have each others backs yeh.

~peace, love & blessings~

*saaalute!