CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Barbados
CARICOM chairman and Barbados
Prime Minister, Mia Mottley recently
paid a courtesy call on Guyana’s key
opposition figures, including former
president and current Opposition Leader,
Bharrat Jagdeo.
During the visit,
Jagdeo told Mottley it
was critical that CARICOM
maintained a
strong observer presence
in the country during national
elections next month.
She expressed disappointment with
the response of the regional movement
during the political disputes of the past
year.
“We are hoping for free, fair, peaceful
elections,” Jagdeo said, adding that
his People’s Progressive Party remained
hopeful that issues of race and ethnicity
would not be used negatively to influence
the outcome of the poll.
Mottley, who was accompanied by
Barbados’ Attorney General, Dale Marshall,
QC. and Secretary General of
CARICOM Irwin La Rocque, reiterated
Barbados’ and CARICOM’s commitment
to working with Guyana prior to
and after the national elections, noting
the critical role the country as always
played in regional development.
The General Election will be held on
March 2.
Guyana
Guyana-based conglomerate, Banks
DHI Ltd., is expanding into the energy
auto sales industries in keeping with
the needs and demands of the local
economy.
Chairman of the
company, Clifford
Reis said the economy
which is set to undergo
drastic changes, will
bring new challenges, demands and
realities.
‘We have already seen an increase in
the demand for additional housing and
industrial zones to satisfy the increasing
manufacturing capacity,” he said.
“The motto of this subsidiary will
be on the future of transportation and
alternative energy,” he said, noting that
Guyana’s new oil-producing status, science
and technology the world over are
also changing.
The chairman said that company
is seeking to secure a car dealership
agreement with a recognized manufacturer
and talks are also underway with
another company for the importation
and sale of a new brand of motorcycles
to the Guyana market.
Regarding the energy sector, Reis
said Banks DHI has already begun the
installation of solar energy at its restaurants
and it is also involved in the conversion
of all areas within the company
Caribbean Life, F 4 ebruary 14-20, 2020
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Haiti’s President, Jovenel Moise arrives for an interview at his home in Petion-Ville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Feb. 7,
2020. Moise said Friday that he is optimistic that negotiations with a coalition of his political opponents will succeed in forging a
power-sharing deal to end months of deadlock that have left the country without a functioning government. See story on Page 26.
to the use of solar energy — utilizing
solar panels to be mounted on the manufacturing
plant and office buildings.
Grenada
The Grenada Tourism Authority
(GTA) recorded more than 500,000 visitors
to the state of Grenada, Carriacou,
and Petit Martinique last year and is
expecting a further increase in visitor
arrivals for 2020.
GTA said stayover
visitor arrivals, which
were considered the
most valuable visitor
in terms of on-island
spending, accounted for 162,902, a one
percent increase over 2018’s bumper
growth of 160, 970 arrivals.
It said considering one of the largest
hotels on the island, the Rex Grenadian,
has been closed for refurbishment since
May 2019, this is a good indication
of the destination’s growth and high
demand with intrepid travelers.
Grenada’s accommodation portfolio
also expected to increase its market
share with the addition of the Royalton
Grenada Hotel, scheduled to open in
March 1, 2020, as the largest hotel on
the island with 257 rooms.
Turning to the cruise ship sector,
GTA said visitor arrivals accounted for
337,940 maintaining solid numbers
after 2018’s record growth (15 percent)
of 342, 826.
Grenada’s yachting industry also
continues to show strength with preliminary
visitor arrivals currently at
24,611.
Jamaica
More than 100 people were murdered
during the first month of this year in
Jamaica, according to figures released.
The figures show that, at the end
of January, 116 people
had been murdered, an
eight percent increase
over the corresponding
last year when l04
people were killed.
The figures show nine women and
three children were among the 116
victims.
In the first week of this month, 35
people were killed.
The killings come despite the imposition
Associated Press / Dieu Nalio Chery
of states of emergency in almost
half of the police divisions across Jamaica.
Three of the eight divisions under
states of emergency have shown increases,
namely St. Andrew South, St. Catherine
South, and Kingston Eastern, the
latter having been imposed recently.
Prime Minister, Andrew Holness has
said his administration was committed
to bringing the homicide toll down, but
argues that the high number of murders
facing the country now did not
happen overnight.
Last year, Jamaica recorded more
than 1,326 murders, a 3.4 percent
increase over the 2018 figure.
St. Vincent
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines
government has defended its decision to
allow the cruise ship, AIDAPerla, with
more than 3,000 passengers on board to
berth recently even as two other Caribbean
countries later refused to do so in
wake of the Chinese killer coronavirus.
Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves
said: “We have to act sensibly with
Continued on Page 18
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Haitian prez sets his terms for talks
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