CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Barbados
The newly-established Barbados
Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority
is getting ready to start issuing
licenses next month.
This is according
to Minister of Agriculture,
Indar Weir who
hinted at the possibility
of Barbadians having
to make “heavy investment in order
to get going” into the new industry
under which the government will allow
the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal
purposes.
He is hoping that the first license
would be ready to be issued before February
but not later than the end of the
month.
The agriculture minister said while
Barbadians will not be left out of the
new industry they must be prepared
to make heavy investments in order to
get going.
He said Barbados’ marijuana sector
is not small business activity only, it
calls for huge investment in research
and development.
Barbados is the latest CARICOM
country to get involved in the cultivation
of marijuana for medicinal and
recreational purposes.
Last month, the Barbados Parliament
gave the green light for people to
be in possession of up to 30 grams (one
ounce) of marijuana while lawmakers
are yet to debate the legislation regarding
the establishment of the appropriate
authority to manage the sector.
Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent
and the Grenadines and Jamaica have
all passed legislation allowing for investments
in the marijuana industry.
Caribbean
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
has expressed concern at the
ongoing political, economic, humanitarian
and social situation in Haiti.
CARICOM chairman
and Barbados, Prime
Minister Mia Mottley
said the 15-member
grouping is “particularly
concerned about the several incidents
of violence and the associated
and tragic loss of life,” adding, “The
current crisis has adversely affected all
sectors of the society and has brought
about severe hardship for the people
of Haiti.”
She said it is urgent for all stakeholders
in the country to engage in
constructive and meaningful dialogue,
in a spirit of good faith and concern for
the nation and towards resolving this
prolonged crisis.
“The recent decision taken by the
major stakeholders to ensure that the
children of the country can resume
schooling as a new school term resumes
Caribbean L 4 ife, Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 2020
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Family and friends transport the coffi n that contain the remains of a protester who was recently killed, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday,
Nov. 19, 2019. Hundreds of people attended the funerals for people killed during anti-government protests, three of whom were
allegedly shot by police while participating in the protests. Associated Press / Dieu Nalio Chery
is an important step forward,” she said.
“We shall liaise with the Haitian
government to facilitate a visit by an
advanced team led by the secretarygeneral
to explore with the government
and people of Haiti and other interested
parties an acceptable way forward
towards alleviating the present crisis,”
Mottley said.
Jamaica
The Jamaica Constabulary Force
(JCF) said it would be placing greater
emphasis on training and educating
members and other stakeholders on
domestic violence after a member of
the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) allegedly
killed his lover and then committed
suicide.
The JCF said that
the initiative will help
members recognize
and handle domestic
violence related matters
in keeping with legislation.
The JCF said in a statement: “Our
officers of the JCF understand that
domestic violence is one of those activities
that can lead to major crimes and
early intervention is necessary to save
lives.”
It said that the issue of domestic violence
is a “persistent problem” that has
negatively impacted Jamaica’s crime
statistics and urged citizens to utilize
the domestic violence intervention
centers that were established to deal
with cases of domestic violence.
The JCF statement follows the murder
of two women recently by their
partners, including a 34-year-old nurse,
Suianne Easy, who was chopped and
killed.
St. Kitts
Chairman of the Cannabis Core
Committee, Dr. Wycliffe Baird, says he
believes the establishment of a marijuana
industry in St Kitts/Nevis should be
primarily for the benefit of the people of
the twin-island federation.
He thinks the industry
should be built primarily
for the benefit
of local persons saying
that he don’t think
that any foreigners should be allowed
to come to St Kitts and dominate, as
it were, the industry and then employ
local people.
Baird said while he understands that
foreign input in the creation of such an
industry is crucial “in terms of dominating
the industry and getting all the
benefits, the benefit should accrue to
the people”.
Last August, Prime Minister, Dr.
Timothy Harris said the decision of
his administration to introduce legislation
aimed at decriminalization small
amounts of marijuana for medicinal
and other purposes was a step towards
the country consolidating its freedom
from slavery.
He said the government has introduced
legislation to “expunge the
records of those criminalized.”
The government announced the
establishment of a broad-based Cannabis
Core Committee of experts to
provide technical support to further
advance the work towards the decriminalization
of cannabis and the establishment
of a marijuana industry in the
federation.
St. Lucia
St. Lucia has recorded its highest
number of stayover visitors last year.
Prime Minister, Allen Chastanet says
his administration will be making every
effort to improve the tourism sector as
Continued on Page 18
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CARICOM concern over Haitian crisis
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