iNews Briefs
Cayman Islands to announce successful bidder for additional electricity supply on Friday
The Cayman Islands Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) will be announcing the successful bidder for additional supplemental electricity power generation for Grand Cayman on Friday, 3 October 2014, at 12pm.
Friday’s announcement concludes a bidding process by the Cayman Islands’ Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), to select a solution to Grand Cayman’s need for new firm generating capacity.
The process began in 2012 with a Request for Proposals (RFP) that was based on a Certificate of Need issued by Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC), which outlined the need for increased power generation.
Once the ERA determined that increased capacity was indeed required, it proceeded with a RFP to replace the soon-to-be-retired CUC generators, and also provide capacity for expected growth.
A new RFP was subsequently issued to five pre-qualified bidders, as well as CUC – which, under the terms of its licence, was obligated to bid. Competition for new power generation on Grand Cayman is one of the core principles of the new CUC licence, renewed in 2008, although CUC remains the exclusive transmission and distribution licensee on Grand Cayman.
While the lowest price was the most important aspect of the evaluation, as this determines consumer costs, non-price factors attempted to assess the strength of the bids in other areas – such as the cleanest power-generation models.
Following the announcement of the successful bidder, that company will begin preparations for additional generation – which must be online by 2016.
For more information on the bid process, please visit the ERA website at www.caymanera.ky
Eastern Caribbean Ministers talk environmental sustainability in Tortola
From Caribbean Journal
Environment Ministers from across the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States are meeting this week in Tortola to discuss environmental sustainability.
The summit is the first-ever meeting of its kind since the Revised Treaty of Basseterre came into force in 2011.
British Virgin Islands Premier Dr Orlando Smith made a high-profile address at the conference, joined by Virgin Islands Governor John Duncan.
On Monday, the meeting was preceded by an exhibition on climate change.
On Wednesday, the group will hold a one-day meeting at the Maria’s By the Sea hotel in Tortola.
On this week’s agenda are issues including ocean governance, energy and climate change and “other relevant policy issues related to natural disasters, and Small Island Developing States,” according to an OECS statement.
The meeting includes five ministers responsible for the environment.
Volunteers needed urgently for Cayman Islands National Festival
Executive Director of the Pirates Week Office, Melanie McField, says she needs at least 75 volunteers to come forward and assist in the many different events that take place throughout the week of Cayman’s National Festival.
Areas where volunteers are most needed are during the Pirates Week Landing and Parade, at the Food Courts, the Children’s Fun Day and the Mud Run.
McField said she needs persons of varying skills and there will be training sessions.
The deadline to sign up as a volunteer is Friday 31 October.
For more information call the Pirates Week Festival Office at:
10 Shedden Road
P.O. Box 51
Grand Cayman KY1-1101
Cayman Islands
Tel: 1 (345) 949-5078
Fax: 1 (345) 949-5449
E-mail: [email protected]
Pirates Week runs from November 6th – 16th.
TV audiences double for the 2014 Limacol Caribbean Premier League
From nevis Pages
Kingston, Jamaica. New figures published Tue Sep 30th indicate a significant growth in fans for the Limacol Caribbean Premier League, with over 65 million people across the globe tuning in to see the likes of Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine entertain in the 2014 edition of the Biggest Party in Sport.
The stand-out figures show remarkable growth in the Indian fan base, with 21m fans, a seven-fold increase on 2013, following the tournament. Viewing figures in the Caribbean showed a strong rise, from 31m to 39m, while there were 1.6m viewers in Pakistan and 600,000 in South Africa – a ten-fold year on year increase. There was a 174% rise in British fans following the tournament, while viewing numbers in Australia (65%), New Zealand (192%) and the USA (10%) also jumped markedly.
Pete Russell, Chief Operating Officer of the CPL, said; “The Biggest Party in Sport just keeps getting bigger, and for that we would like to thank our fans and broadcast partners. A unique blend of sport and entertainment has helped to establish the CPL as one of the key highlights in the cricketing calendar, and we can’t wait for next year, where our fans will be able to see even more global stars competing in the most exciting T20 tournament around.”
The Barbados Tridents emerged victorious in the 2014 edition of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League, overcoming the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final.
For more: http://www.nevispages.com/tv-audiences-double-for-the-2014-limacol-caribbean-premier-league/
Cayman Islands minimum wage delayed
Cayman Islands Employment Minister Hon. Tara River has announced the planned introduction of a minimum wage for Cayman Islands workers is to be delayed because “a number of variables must be considered and there is no easy fix to the minimum wage issue”.
The committee dealing with the minimum wage issue and how the base rate should be implemented has said they need extra time for public consultation.
Mosquito virus that walloped Caribbean spreads in U.S.
By Kelly Gilblom From Bloomberg News
Mosquito-borne virus that can cause debilitating joint pain lasting for years has spread to the continental U.S. after infecting hundreds of thousands of people in the Caribbean and Central America.
The virus is called Chikungunya, an African name meaning “to become contorted.” While the illness, first identified in Tanzania in 1952, has long bedeviled Africa and Asia, the only recorded cases in the U.S. before July involved patients who contracted the virus abroad.
Now, 11 cases have been confirmed as originating in Florida, spurring concern this may be the beginning of the type of explosive growth seen elsewhere from a disease that has no vaccine or cure. Medical and environmental experts are debating how best to quell the outbreak before it takes off.
“In a way it’s surprising it hasn’t been here yet,” said Scott Weaver, a professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Patients who contract Chikungunya have joint swelling and pain, fever, headache and rash for about a week, though some symptoms last months or years in some patients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Caribbean demands end to US Embargo of Cuba
From teleSUR
Island nations have called for an end to the Cuban embargo, and start of renewed action on climate change.
Caribbean nations reiterated calls for the United States to lift its embargo on Cuba on Tuesday, describing it as a relic of the Cold War.
“The long standing economic embargo on Cuba continues to be of serious concern to Barbados,” Barbados’ minister for foreign affairs Maxine McClean told the United Nations.
McClean said Cuba “has always demonstrated a willingness to assist the Caribbean, and indeed the developed world, in our quest for development.”
“We join the overwhelming majority of U.N. member states in opposing this unilateral action and look forward to a time soon when it will be relegated to the pages of history,” she stated.
Barbados’ call of an end to the decades old embargo was accompanied by similar demands from Belize and Saint Lucia.
The latter nation’s external affairs minister Alva Baptiste slammed the embargo as a “residual effect” of the Cold War.
The statements were made during the U.N.’s annual General Assembly debate in New York. Island nations also issued calls for international cooperation to fight climate change, which they argue will devastate coastal regions all over the world.
Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister Rimbink Pato warned some Pacific island countries have already reached a “tipping point,” and are struggling more than ever to hold their ground against the impact of climate change, according to the U.N. News Center.
“The international community must conclude a legally binding agreement in order to collectively address the adverse impacts of climate change,” Pato stated.
For more: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Caribbean-Demands-End-to-US-Embargo-of-Cuba-20140930-0114.html
Cayman Airways to obtain new plane for Grand Cayman/Cayman Brac service
From Cayman Airways
CAL to wetlease an Embraer 120 “Brasilia” from InterCaribbean for Brac route
Cayman Airways Limited (CAL) plans to obtain a 30-seat Embraer 120 “Brasilia” in mid-October 2014 to provide service between Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac under a wet-lease arrangement with InterCaribbean.
The Embraer 120, with a top speed of 378mph and range of just over 1,000 miles, is fully equipped with galley and lavatory facilities. The aircraft is expected to go into scheduled service on October 15th, 2014 and will be utilized for an interim period while Cayman Airways finalizes the necessary steps to introduce its own Saab 340 aircraft on the route.
Operational staff from InterCaribbean flew the Embraer 120 to Grand Cayman on September 30, 2014 to complete the necessary preliminary steps for service introduction, and took the opportunity to fly from Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac with the aircraft.
Source: https://www.caymanairways.com/BracPlane
Caribbean Community consults on dangerous consumer goods
By Aaron Humes From Patrick Jones Belize
Consumer recalls are a fact of life, however they sometimes come too late to reverse damage or even death caused by faulty equipment or information.
In the Caribbean region a CARICOM Rapid Alert System for Exchange of Information on Dangerous (Non-Food) Consumer Goods, known as CARREX, has been established to provide a database on which to build consumer knowledge as well as that of local authorities across CARICOM.
The team of consultants from the CARICOM Secretariat is visiting Belize for a one-day consultation held at the Belize Biltmore Plaza today.
Deputy Program Manager for the CSME Unit of the Secretariat, Philip McClaren, says the exchange is being developed to work among all CARICOM states and there are efforts to link up with a similar exchange operated by the Organization of American States to bring all of the Americas together to act on these alerts as they happen.
According to McClaren, the practical application must be led at the local level by agencies that work well together – in Belize’s case, the Bureau of Standards and Customs Department among others.
It is also important that the public be educated to look out for these goods and be able to report them to the appropriate authorities.
The consultation was held previously in the other 14 CARICOM member states.
For more: http://www.patrickjonesbelize.com/2014/09/30/caribbean-community-consults-dangerous-consumer-goods/
Cayman Islands holds vigil for teen soccer player
Hundreds of people came together in West Bay, Grand Cayman to hold a candlelight vigil last Friday (26) to remember 19 year-old soccer player Brian Ebanks who died on 12th September.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service has confirmed there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.
Massive quantities of Pelagic Sargassum washing up along Caribbean shorelines
From ROFFS
Massive quantities of pelagic sargassum have been washing up along Caribbean shorelines this year, significantly disrupting coastal habitats, local fishing, tourism and community activities. Scientists with the University of Southern Mississippi – Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) and their regional collaborators are assessing critical aspects of this event (as with the 2011 Caribbean mass sargassum strandings event), including the source and causes. Jim Franks, fisheries biologist with the GCRL, recently announced a GCRL website (with user-friendly online reporting form) designed specifically to accommodate the reporting of large quantities of pelagic sargassum throughout the Caribbean region. This site serves as a data reporting/collection center and represents a service available to individuals, organizations and fisheries agencies throughout the region for contributing their observations to the sargassum information database. Reported observations are an extremely valuable component of ongoing assessments and are greatly appreciated as scientists work to understand these events.
IMAGE: Pelagic sargassum on the East Coast of Barbados – September 2014 – credit H. Oxenford
SOCA gets out the Caribbean-American vote
From Caribbean National Weekly
The non-partisan grassroots “Soca The Vote” campaign encourages thousands of eligible Caribbean-American citizens across the State of Florida and United States to register to vote and participate in the upcoming November elections.
In a press release, the organization urged the Caribbean Diaspora to register in time for the crucial November elections in South Florida.
“There are thousands of Caribbean-American citizens across the State of Florida who have migrated to the State and reside primarily in Central and South Florida. And although they are all eligible to vote, many do not bother to register,” noted the statement. “Every Caribbean-American citizen over the age of 18 is eligible to register and vote in the General Elections on November 4th.”
Eligible citizens may register from any online portal at their website. To register, citizens must the online form, print, and mail to their respective Supervisor of Elections on or before Monday, October 6, 2014.
“Politics impacts the life of every Floridian regardless of their race, religion, or national origin. Political decisions are made with or without a citizen’s participation,” says the statement. “Caribbean-Americans have a choice to be involved in these important decisions.”
For more: http://www.cnweeklynews.com/soca-gets-caribbean-american-vote/
The Caribbean Conference on Solid Waste Management 2014!
The theme for this conference is “Solid Waste Management: A National Development Imperative”.
The Caribbean Conference on Solid Waste Management commenced September 30, 2014!
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB ), in association with the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), will be hosting a Caribbean Conference on Solid Waste Management. This conference will be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica from Tuesday, September 30 to Friday, October 3, 2014, under the theme “Solid Waste Management: A National Development Imperative”. The objective of the conference will be to raise the profile of solid waste management on the development agenda and explore solutions within the Caribbean context.
Speakers from academia, environment ministries, non-governmental organizations and scientific bodies will be making presentations on solid waste. Topics like integrating solid waste management into legal and institutional frameworks, waste recovery, energy, climate linkages and other themes will be addressed over the four day period.
Mr. Christopher Corbin, Programme Officer for the Assessment and Management of Environmental Pollution (AMEP) Sub-programme at UNEP CEP, will be making a presentation entitled “UNEP- Supporting Waste Management in the Wider Caribbean and Globally”.
For further information, please visit this link.
Trinidad & Tobago’s projected GDP growth relative to Caribbean [Cayman projected growth 1.5]
By Michael Ariston from breaking News T&T
Competitiveness in the Caribbean showing some gains The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index for 2014-15 saw four Caribbean countries show improvement, while three deteriorated. Jamaica was a clear outlier, showing the most improvement by moving up eight notches, and by being the only Caribbean country to show improvement for two years in succession. Barbados was the other outlier, being the only Caribbean country to show deterioration for two years straight—slipping three spots last year and eight spots this year. Guyana deteriorated the most regionally, having slipped by fifteen spots this year. Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti reversed the declines seen last year, rising by three and six notches respectively.
Trinidad and Tobago — Tighter monetary policy is here The Central Bank raised its policy “repo” rate by 25bps to 3.00%, after having held it at 2.75% since September 2012. Effective immediately, this move was “necessary to pre-empt a potential rise in inflationary pressures and to mitigate higher portfolio outflows”. The inflation rate has jumped to 7.5% y-o-y in August 2014, up from 3% in June and 5.9% in July. The Central Bank expects fiscal spending to exacerbate excess liquidity in the financial system, currently around TTD7 billion. On 23 September 2014, the Government issued a TTD2.5 billion twelve year bond at 2.8%, which was undersubscribed by TTD1.1 billion, suggesting the coupon rate was unattractive. Consumer lending, mainly for automobiles, home improvement and credit cards, grew by 6%, while mortgages rose by 11% y-o-y in July 2014.
See attached chart
SOURCE: RBC Caribbean Economic Report, September 2014
For more: http://news.co.tt/public_html/article.php?story=20141001110157187
Antigua and Barbuda to receive $2.1 Million grant from Turkey
From Caribbean Journal
Antigua and Barbuda will soon be receiving a $2 million grant from the government of Turkey, Antigua’s government announced this week.
The grant came following a meeting between Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Meeting in New York last week.
The grant will target “project development,” Antigua’s government said.
According to a statement, Browne proposed that Turkey establish a diplomatic mission for the Caribbean based in Antigua and Barbuda, while Erdogan reportedly said he would welcome an Antigua and Barbuda embassy in Turkey.
Erdogan said his government would cover the cost of rent for the proposed facility for five years.
Turkey is one of several countries that have been steadily deepening their ties with the Caribbean region.
In July, Turkey held a high-profile summit with CARICOM, signaling its “clear and long-term engagement” with the Caribbean region.
That included the proposal of an eventual free-trade agreement between the Caribbean Community and Turkey.
For more on this story go to: http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/09/30/antigua-and-barbuda-to-receive-2-1-million-grant-from-turkey/
Haiti riot police disperse pro-Aristide rally
By Joseph Guyler Delva From HCNN
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (HCNN) — Scores of supporters of former Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, took to the streets on Tuesday to mark the 23rd anniversary of the coup that ousted Aristide in 1991, but riot police dispersed the demonstration with tear gas and water cannons as marchers failed to obey police orders about the march route and timeframe agreed upon for the rally.
The crowd of several thousand left from the downtown area, went through various streets in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, to end up in the bordering Tabarre district where Aristide lives. But police officers, who blocked the road leading to Aristide’s home, broke up the demonstration when demonstrators tried to force their way through.
“The police do no respect our right to demonstrate. They fired tear gas and throw water at us that makes our skin itch,” said Maxo Jean-Louis, 30, with a poster of Aristide in his hands, and saying he was a member of the “Lavalas” people, which is another word to describe supporters of the former leader.
A judge issued for several weeks now an arrest warrant for Aristide and later put him under house arrest on corruption charges, but police authorities have not been able to enforce the orders of the judge because of lack of cooperation on the part of Aristide who has refused to appear and who has angry supporters camping outside his gate to prevent his arrest.
“We the Lavalas people do not want Aristide Arrested and we’ll make sure that this does not happen,” Margilus Petit, a pro-Aristide marcher, told HCNN on Tuesday.
The demonstrators accused Haitian president Michel Martelly and Prime minister Laurent Lamothe of launching a series of political attacks and persecutions against Aristide, allegations categorically rejected by Justice minister, Jean Renel Sanon.
“Martelly and Lamothe should give up power or we’ll force them from power,” said Petit.
Aristide supporters organize every year, since 1992, street demonstrations and other forms of protests to mark their reprobation of the 1991 bloody military coup that sent Aristide into exile.
Aristide has been accused of embezzling or misusing several hundred million dollars when he was in power from 2001 to 2004, before being forced from power and exiled to South-Africa. He came back to the country in 2011.
Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn confirmed to star in the second season of HBO’s “True Detective”
Justin Lin is set to direct the first two episodes
Miami, FL – = – HBO confirmed Sep 23rd that Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn will star in season two of the Emmy® nominated original series True Detective. Created and written by Nic Pizzolatto, the eight-episode, hour-long drama is set to begin production later this fall in California, with the first two episodes under the direction of Justin Lin.
In the new season, three police officers and a career criminal must navigate a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a murder. Colin Farrell will star as Ray Velcoro, a compromised detective whose allegiances are torn between his masters in a corrupt police department and the mobster who owns him, and Vince Vaughn will play Frank Semyon, a career criminal in danger of losing his empire when his move into legitimate enterprise is upended by the murder of a business partner.
Additional casting will be announced as it is confirmed.
Caribbean facing self-sufficiency and food security issues
From Atlanta Black Star
The Caribbean has achieved 10 percent food security and self-sufficiency, according to Arlington Chesney, executive director of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI). The target for the region is 25 percent, he told the T&T Guardian.
Speaking in an interview after the opening ceremony of a regional workshop at the Carlton Savannah, St Ann’s, Chesney said the region is importing too much food. “We are strategically trying to identify those commodities that we can do away with easily. We’ve identified about 12 commodities where the region can make a relatively rapid impact on the food import bill,” he said.
Chesney said CARDI is looking at commodities to reduce imports but there are challenges in achieving that goal.
“One of the challenges that we have is that a lot of the food import is processed products,” he said, although he expressed confidence that CARICOM (the Caribbean community) is doing its part in promoting the idea of food security to the member states. “In the last two or three years they have put a lot of the policies in place. In one instance, I understand, there are three investors from T&T in Guyana. Remember CARICOM is not a ‘doing’ institution, the activities (investment) has to take place at the national level. What CARICOM has to do is try to facilitate those activities at the national level along with the member States,” he said.
Chesney said not all the food on the import bill can be eliminated, but items such as poultry, roots and tubers, fruits and vegetables, sheep and goat can be eliminated to achieve an acceptable level of food security. Asked whether there was enough political will by the leaders of the CARICOM member states, he said there is need for a greater percentage of national budgets to be allocated to agricultures. Chesney said CARDI plans to pilot a project on coconuts in 2015.
Source: guardian.co.tt
For more on this story go to: http://atlantablackstar.com/2014/09/26/caribbean-facing-self-sufficiency-food-security-issues/
