CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Barbados
Authorities in Barbados have called
off the search for two missing Americans
who were last seen recently on a jet ski.
The jet ski has since been found.
Minister of Tourism
and International
Transport, Kerrie D
Symonds said that the
search has ended with
no success in locating
Magdalena Deville, 25, and Oscar
Suarez, 32.
The authorities said the couple had
rented the jet ski from an establishment
in St. James and the search included
personnel and equipment from the
USA.
Prime Minister, Mia Mottley had
ordered that the search continue for
another 72 hours.
Police said both were wearing life
jackets. Suarez and Deville arrived in
Barbados on June 22 and were scheduled
to stay for one week.
Bahamas
Minister of Bahamas Financial
Services, Trade and Industry and
Immigration, T Brent Symonds has
tendered his resignation to Prime
Minister, Dr. Hubert
Minnis recently.
Minnis said that
while Symonds will
no longer serve in the
Cabinet, his constituents in St. Ann’s
will continue to have an MP who cares
about them.
The prime minister has appointed
Elsworth Johnson to replace Symonds.
Johnson is a former president of the
Bahamas Bar Association and former
minister of state in the Office of the
Attorney General and Ministry of Legal
Affairs,
The small Opposition Democratic
National Alliance said Minnis provided
“no explanation or reasons for the
abrupt and unceremonious resignation
of the high-ranking Cabinet minister
who had been described as the super
minister owing to his multiple portfolios
and responsibilities.”
Dominica
Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt
Skerrit says he will be bowing out of
active politics after the next general
election, which is due
by March next year,
but is widely expected
to be held later this
year.
Skerrit became prime minister after
the death of Pierre Charles in January
2004. At the age of 31, he became the
world’s youngest head of government
leader, surpassing Joseph Kabila of
the United Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
Addressing Dominicans, Skerrit said
he also intends to step down as political
leader of the ruling Dominica Labor
Party (DLP) after the general election.
“We want to ensure that there is a
much needed transition to new ideas
and new talents. I have already made
it very clear that this will be my last
election as leader of the party,” he said.
In his address, Skerrit told Dominicans
they should consider coming home given
that the unemployment opportunities,
particularly in the tourism sector,
would become available.
He said several hotels would be
opening this year and several others
are under construction, including
franchises like Hilton.
Grenada
Head of the Financial Intelligence
Unit (FIU), Tafawa Pierre says
Grenadians have been fleeced out of
millions of dollars
as a result of online
financial scams.
He is urging
nationals to be
extremely cautious about accepting
online financial initiatives and that they
should contact the FIU in determining
whether the messages are authentic.
Pierre has estimated that Grenadians
have lost EC$7 million over the past
few years but there is every indication
that the figures have increased.
He said it is about EC$10 million that
people have been defrauded, adding
that there are two persons who had lost
in excess of EC1.5 million that was sent
over a one-year period.
Tafawa said the scammers are using
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different formats to attract persons and
innovative ways for the illegal business
to thrive, which include forex market,
offering grant funding from an agency
but to receive the grant some money
must be sent and fake check deposit.
Guyana
Guyana has been named the fastest
growing economy in the world by the
world’s largest stock market NASDAQ.
In a report, NASADQ said that with
a projected growth rate of 16.3 percent
during the four-year period 2018-2021,
Guyana is the fastest growing economy
in the world.
NASDAQ says that a GDP size of $3.6
billion (Guy) (2018
Rank 160), a growth of
4.1 percent in 2018 and
4.6 percent in 2019,
Guyana’s economy is
expected to grow by
33.5 percent and 22.9 percent in 2020
and 2021.
The report added that Guyana is a
middle-income country that has an
abundance of resources.
The report also pointed to the
ExxonMobil discoveries in Guyana
and the income that will come to the
country when oil production starts next
year.
Montserrat
A high court judge has placed a ban
on public comments regarding the trial
of Montserrat’s former Prime Minister,
David Brandt who was remanded in
custody on sex-related charges.
Justice Gareth Evans revoked the bail
after agreeing to adjourn the matter to
Nov. 18, 2019.
Media reports said the judge had
decided to remand Brandt to prison to
counteract four years of stall tactics by
Brandt’s attorneys and as a result could
possibly remain in custody until the
next court hearing.
In a statement issued by the
Registrar of the High Court on behalf
of the judge, reference was made to the
“number of comments and statements
made in the press and social media”
about the trial.
It said all members of the pubic must
avoid making supportive or negative
public statements in the media about
Brandt, or disparaging statements about
the trial in general.
Brandt, who served
as the sixth chief
minister of the British
Overseas Territory
from Aug. 22, 1997 to
April, 5, 2001, had been charged in 2015
with two counts of conspiracy to have
sexual intercourse with a minor.
The allegations date back to 2010. He
was released on EC$20,000 bail.
He has denied all the allegations
saying that he is not guilty.
Jamaica
The Jamaica government says it
will table in Parliament, the report
of a committee that examined the
operations of the state-owned oil
refinery, Petrojam regarding a series of
scandals over its management practices
and asset security.
Prime Minister,
Andrew Holness told
reporters that the
report will be also
made public, noting
that Cabinet has
considered the document but has not
yet come to any conclusions.
He said the report will be made public
and “we will gauge public opinion,
engage the public in this conservation
and make a decision.”
Pertrojam has been caught up in a
controversy of corruption allegations
since last June, when several revelations
about its operations were aired at
Parliament’s Public Administration and
Appropriations Committee.
Opposition legislators called on
the government to hold the then
Minister of Energy, Dr. Andrew
Wheatley accountable for questionable
management practices at the entity.
Wheatley and two senior managers
have since resigned. Holness said the
committee would review the future of
Petrojam.
Trinidad
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister,
Dr. Keith Rowley said he plans to
address the 74th General Assembly
of the United Nations in New Yok in
September.
He will do so for the first time as
prime minister, and among the issues
he intends to raise include Trinidad and
Tobago’s management of the an inflow
of Venezuelan migrants and harmful
perceptions of the regional banking
industry by some European countries.
He said it is important that he
address the assembly given Trinidad
and Tobago’s stance on the Venezuelan
situation.
Before attending the Assembly,
Rowley said, he plans to meet with
United States officials in Washington to
discuss several matters including the
potential delisting of Caribbean banks.
“We need the American banking
system to he told how the banking
operates in the
Caribbean and
we should not be
blacklisted,” he told
reporters on his
return from the recent
40th CARICOM Heads of Government
meeting in St. Lucia.
— Compiled by Azad Ali
b d
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Prime Minister of Dominica,
Roosevelt Skerrit has announced
that he will be leaving active politics
after the next general election. He
is seen here addressing the United
Nations General Assembly, Saturday,
Sept. 23, 2017, at U.N. headquarters.
Associated Press / Craig Ruttle
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