iNews Briefs
Former Cayman Islands college president’s trial now set for September
Pakistani National Hassan Syed, former president of The University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) has had his trial rescheduled to September instead of later this month.
Syed, who was extradited from Switzerland last year, has pleaded ‘not guilty’ to
13 counts of theft, fraud and deception related offences including falsely claiming he had a doctorate degree during his time as UCCI’s head.
The new date is due to problems Syed has had with representation and ‘complex issues’ relating to the case.
The trial is expected to take six weeks.
Caribbean Court of Justice Welcomes Dominica to Appellate Court
From Latin American Herald Tribune
SAN JUAN – The Caribbean Court of Justice welcomed Dominica on Friday as the fourth state, of the 12 Caribbean Community members, to access the Appellate Jurisdiction of the CCJ during a ceremony held in Roseau.
“In a certain way, the CCJ has always been your court, but today it is your whole court,” the CCJ’s chief justice, Dennis Byron, said during the livestreamed ceremony.
Byron introduced the CCJ judges and registrars to the audience at the Dominica State House Conference Center in Roseau, the Caribbean nation’s capital.
The attorney general of Dominica, Levi Peter, thanked the British Privy Council for the years it served as the appellate jurisdiction but said it was time to leave behind all colonial traces.
“Dominica’s accession to the CCJ is a significant development, a milestone in our history,” Peter said.
Dominica is one of 12 CARICOM members that use the CCJ as a court of original jurisdiction for interpretation and application of the treaty establishing CARICOM.
Twelve of the 15 CARICOM members are signatories of the CCJ: Antigua and Barbuda; Barbados; Belize; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Jamaica; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
All 12 states use the CCJ for interpretation and application of the CARICOM treaty, but several do not employ the CCJ as the court of final appeal in civil and criminal cases.
The Bahamas, Haiti and Montserrat are not signatories of the CCJ.
For more: http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2377302&CategoryId=14092
Cayman Islands jobs benefits survey is confidential says PwC
Last Friday (6) Alistair McNeish, Managing Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said at the official launch of the PwC and CISHRP Compensation Benefits Survey conference that the survey will be confidential and the survey is a critical tool to attract, motivate and retain staff in an increasingly competitive environment.
SOURCE and video: CNS: https://caymannewsservice.com/2015/03/video-report-jobs-benefits-survey-confidential/
Former Kittian PM cries foul
By Azad Ali From Caribbean Life
Former Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas has blamed acts of sabotage for the defeat of his St. Kitts-Nevis Labor Party (SKNLP) in the Feb. 16 general election.
Dr. Douglas in his first news conference since Team Unity, a coalition of three political parties won seven of the 11 seats at stake in the general election, said that the sabotage had also extended to the flights carrying SKNLP supporters back to the twin-island federation to cast their ballots.
The former prime minister told reporters that the St. Kitts-Nevis constitution permits nationals residing overseas to return home to vote and that all political parties had encouraged their overseas supporters to do so in the past.
“The 2015 election was no exception,” he said, noting that while every single plane bringing supporters of Team Unity had arrived on the island with no complications, “a series of highly concerning and downright creepy developments repeatedly botched the arrival of our planes.”
He said the passenger lists changed “mysteriously and repeatedly right before the eyes of Labor supporters as they were waiting to board various flights home.
“Pre-arranged, pre-approved and completely agreed upon stops disappeared from planes’ schedules. Pilots at overseas airports were indicating to us that they had been denied landing rights for various places, while those places were indicating to us directly that there were no problems whatsoever and that the flights in question had, most certainly, been cleared to land.”
“As though this was not enough, a bomb scare was actually called in one of the flights on which our people were scheduled to travel,” he said.
“I can say, without fear of contradiction, that had our flights, as well, been able to land, the St Kitts-Nevis Labor Party would now be continuing the tremendous work which has made St. Kitts-Nevis the bright spot of the region,” he said.
Dr. Douglas was seeking to become the first regional head of government to win five consecutive general elections.
For more: http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2015/3/2015-03-06-azad-denzil-cl_2015_3.html
New York baby is delivered after car crash kills parents
From BBC
A New York couple expecting their first child have been killed in a car crash on their way to hospital, but the unborn baby survived the accident.
Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21, were travelling in a taxi in Brooklyn when it was involved in a collision with another car close to their home.
Both were pronounced dead in hospital but the premature infant was delivered alive, police said.
Police are seeking the driver of the other car, who fled the scene on foot.
The driver of the taxi in which the Glaubers were travelling was in a stable condition in hospital, police said.
The crash happened shortly after midnight a few blocks from the Glaubers’ home in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn.
The trip to hospital was related to Mrs Glauber’s pregnancy but it is not clear if they were going there for the child’s birth.
The cause of the crash is under investigation and police are looking for the driver and a passenger in the other car, who fled the scene.
The Glaubers were members of Brooklyn’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community – the largest in the world outside Israel.
“It’s a terrible, terrible tragedy,” community leader Rabbi Bernard Freilich told the New York Post.
“They were going for their first child. There are no words, I don’t even know what to say.
For more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-21650805
$1.7 million in Disneyland memorabilia sold
By CRAIG NAKANO Art Entertainment From LA Times
IMAGE: Story of Disneyland A 1956 Disneyland poster for the Skyway in Tomorrowland sold at auction for $5,310. (Van Eaten Galleries)
When a collector’s cache of Disneyland memorabilia brings in $1.7 million, that’s no Mickey Mouse auction
A 27-inch-tall 1970s robot bird from Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room sold last weekend for $153,400 — or $5,681.48 per inch of fiberglass, paint, wood and feathers. A “Story of Disneyland” guidebook signed by Walt in 1955 for the park’s opening day went for $13,275, and bidding on an original Pirates of the Caribbean skeleton propelled the sales price, including auctioneer’s commission, to $129,800.
But at Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks, where an undisclosed collector sold more than $1.7 million worth of Disneyland history in two days, some of the most charming pieces were the less-expensive vintage artwork — posters that dated to the park’s earliest days and, in many cases, were reminders of Disneyland’s past.
One lot was a 1956 poster for the Skyway, the long-gone gondola that once linked Fantasyland and Tomorrowland sold for $5,310. Another lot was a psychedelic 1962 poster for the Swiss Family Treehouse, which opened in Disneyland two years after “Swiss Family Robinson” hit theaters (but got remodeled in 1999, when Tarzan moved in), remained unsold.
Most of the posters sold above their pre-auction estimates. Autopia went for $4,130, Jungle River Cruise for $8,024, Tom Sawyer Island for $10,325 and Rainbow Caverns (remember that?) for $17,700. The Enchanted Tiki Room is still around, of course, and a hand-silkscreened poster from 1963, the year the attraction opened in its animatronic avian glory, had been estimated at $10,000 to $12,000. Alas, it went unclaimed.
For more and images: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-ca-story-of-disneyland-20150308-story.html
Cool Caribbean four-year-old has perfect answer to ugly jeer
From TVNZ
A smooth talking Caribbean four-year-old has come up with the perfect reply to a class bully’s ugly taunt.
Called “ugly” by a boy in her class, Siahj Chase, known as Cici, returned home from school in the Bahamas and told her mother about her quick comeback to the insult.
“What happened in school today?” her mother, Sonya Siahj, who recorded the conversation and later shared the video on Facebook asks.
“A little boy said I looked … ugly,” Cici responded.
“And what did you say?” Ms Siahj says.
“I said, ‘I didn’t come here to make a fashion statement. I came here to learn — not look pretty.
“The little boy said ‘I looked ‘bad’, and I said, ‘Did you look in a mirror lately? Bye bye, see you later, you’re making me mad.'”
The video has been viewed more than half a million times on Facebook and shared by 13,000 people.
For more and video: http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/cool-caribbean-four-year-old-has-perfect-answer-ugly-jeer-video-6250830
Utah baby found alive in river 14 hours after car crash
From BBC
Baby is born as parents die in crash
Newborn survives mid-birth crash Watch
A baby girl has been found alive in a car more than 14 hours after the vehicle plunged into a river in Utah.
The 18-month-old was discovered hanging upside down above water in her car seat by a fisherman on Saturday afternoon, police said.
She was rushed to a hospital in Salt Lake City, where her condition has been upgraded from critical to stable.
The toddler’s 25-year-old mother, named as Lynn Groesbeck from Springville, was found dead in the driver’s seat.
Investigators believe the vehicle careered into the Spanish Fork River after striking a cement barrier at about 22:30 local time (04:30 GMT) on Friday.
A fisherman raised the alarm at 12:30 local time (18:30 GMT) the next day, after he saw the girl dangling above the water as it flowed through the car.
In this March 7, 2015 photo, officials respond to a report of car in the Spanish Fork River near the Main Street and the Arrowhead Trail Road junction in Spanish Fork, Utah
Officials later removed the car from the river
Three police officers and four firefighters who entered the river to rescue the child were later treated in hospital for hypothermia.
Police said they would not be releasing any further details unless the baby’s condition changed. The girl’s name was not released.
For more:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31791086
How Aruba is Becoming the Caribbean’s Greenest Island
By Julia Renfro From Caribbean Journal
IMAGE: ORANJESTAD – Is Aruba the Caribbean’s greenest island?
The Dutch Caribbean island has taken another big step in its effort to lead the world in carbon footprint reductions and to be an example to the region.
Last month, Aruba’s government signed a contract with the local utility service company ELMAR NV to convert all of the island’s public-road lighting to energy-efficient, light-emitting diodes (LED) by 2017, which would reduce energy consumption and lower maintenance costs.
According to Mike de Meza, Aruba’s Minister in charge of Economic Affairs en Energy, the project will initiate in June, when conventional light fixtures will be replaced by the new system and the public-road network will be expanded.
“Aruba will replace all public-road lighting with LED technology and install additional lighting to areas that currently do not have nighttime illumination,” Aruba Prime Minister Mike Eman said. “We will achieve a 30 percent savings for the country and invest these funds back to our people by installing street lights in the neighborhoods that don’t have at this moment.”
Robert Henriquez, the energy distribution company’s director, said that Aruba had already started the LED replacement installations on a smaller scale.
The newly-agreed nationwide replacement installations will take about two years.
The changes will not only save the country in energy costs, but offer brighter lighting for increased safety and lower maintenance costs.
Aruba’s long-term sustainability program goal aims to become 100 percent free of fossil fuels by 2020, resulting in a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Aruba also has plans for a “Green Corridor,” that would connect both ends of the island in a more efficient and cost-effective way.
The latter represents one of the biggest projects undertaken on the island, and its success will hinge in large part on the LED project.
“In the last few years we’ve been working hard on this bright idea to convert our public lighting to using the LED technology,” said Minister of Urban Development.
For more: http://www.caribjournal.com/2015/03/08/how-aruba-is-becoming-the-caribbeans-greenest-island/
EU pumps US$2m in Caribbean labour project
From Jamaica Observer
PORT OF SPAIN (ILO) — A US$2 million (1.7 million Euro) project, signed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) with funding from the European Union in December 2014, was formally launched with the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC) and the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) at the 9th Caribbean Ministers of Labour Meeting in Nassau, Bahamas.
“The ILO is very pleased to be involved in this project to support both regional and national social dialogue, with members from organisations representing employers and workers, as well as government representatives. We see this project as ensuring policy coherence contributing to regional economic and social integration,” stated Giovanni di Cola, Director, ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean.
Last month a planning meeting was held in Port of Spain, comprising five board representatives, each from the CEC and the CCL, as well as members of the ILO Office DWT and Office for the Caribbean.
At this meeting a schedule of activities was agreed on which will run during the first 12 months of the project.
The activities will serve to strengthen workers’ and employers’ organisations to engage more effectively in social dialogue at the regional level. The aim of the project is to enable consultation and exchange of information between representatives of governments, employers and workers on issues of regional interest relating to economic and social policy, and to contribute to policy setting in regional forums pursuant to the EPA’s Social Chapter.
“This initiative should lift the cooperation between Caribbean governments, labour, and business to a new level, and thereby significantly impacting regional integration and our overall economic and social development,” said Wayne Chen, President of the CEC.
For more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/EU-pumps-US-2m-in-Caribbean-labour-project_18518248
Cameron returns as WICB President
From Jamaica Observer
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Dave Cameron has been re-elected president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
He defeated former West Indies fast bowler and current Barbados Cricket Association head, Joel Garner, 8 votes to 4, in elections which were held in Kingston Saturday.
His vice-president Emmanuel Nanthan was also returned by the same 8 to 4 vote margin, defeating Garner’s running mate Baldath Mahabir, of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board.
For more: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Cameron-returns-as-WICB-President
WICB encouraged despite deficits recorded in financial statement
From Jamaica Gleaner
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, Dave Cameron, remains optimistic about the economic fortunes of the regional body despite it tabling negative financial statements at the annual general meeting (AGM) on Saturday.
His positive outlook is due to budget tightening, plus initiatives pursued by the association.
“For the year 2013-2014 the WICB recorded a comprehensive loss of US$1.53 million and we now have a negative shareholders equity of US$5.4 million,” Cameron noted during the board’s post-AGM press conference on Saturday.
“This, while negative, was actually a major improvement over where we had projected to have been,” said Cameron, who defeated former West Indies fast bowler, Joel Garner, 8-4 in presidential elections at the AGM.
According to Cameron, one of the reasons for the losses resulted from a reduction of cricket played by the West Indies throughout the period.
“But with the real hard work, led by our audit, risk and compliance committee, marketing committee and finance committee, we were able to have a much more favourable out-turn,” he said.
Cameron said a reduction in legal wranglings with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) also impacted their finances positively.
“In the last four years leading up to now, the WICB has spent close to US$5 million on legal fees, and that is because of the past relationship we have had with the West Indies Players Association.
“In the financial statements for the last period, the WICB has spent no more that US$387,000 on legal fees. That is a major improvement on where we are today.”
Going forward, Cameron said they will be conducting economic assessments to improve opportunities for growth.
“One of the things we keep talking about (during the meeting) is the economic impact of cricket to West Indies civilisation,” he pointed out.
“We have agreed this year that we will do an economic impact assessment of the West Indies tour and that will be made available to all.
“This is so that we can really start to quantify and measure what we are doing, and hopefully use that to engage our partners as to how we grow West Indies cricket.”
The AGM, in addition to its 12 territorial board members, also had in attendance representatives of its seven co-opted special groups.
The co-opted groups include CARICOM, Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce, Caribbean Media Association, Caribbean Tourism Association, Association of Caribbean Tertiary Institutions, West Indies Cricket Umpires Association and WIPA.
Ship rescued in Caribbean Sea by Dutch Coast Guard
From St Maarten Island Time
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – The Dutch Coast Guard station ship named the Zr.Ms. Zealand, which was on duty in the Caribbean seas, provided assistance on the 6th of March to the troubled motor boat “Lady J”.
The motorboat which was coming from Barbuda, sent a distress signal because she was in trouble after the engine had failed.
The assistance of the Zr. Ms. Zealand had been requested by the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) and the assistance was quickly provided. Shortly after the “Lady J” was found.
Zr.Ms. Zealand has a team consisting of a physician, technical staff, and members of the boarding team.
They were sent on-board the boat to investigate whether the crew needed medical help and if they could fix the engine problems.
Once on board, the crew appeared to be in good health, but the engine problem could not be fixed. Eventually it was decided that the “Lady J” had to be take under tow to the Port of Antigua.
Jamaica to begin certifying ‘authentic reggae’
By David Downs From Smell the Truth
The Caribbean nation of Jamaica is synonymous with the sound of reggae. Now, Jamaica leaders want to certify “authentic reggae” to bolster indigenous artists on the world scene.
The Associated Press reports today on the influential island’s efforts to better protect its cultural heritage. Jamaica hopes to add reggae to the United Nation’s global list of “intangible cultural heritage” sites that includes Argentina’s tango and China’s Peking opera.
An “authentic reggae” certification mark would function as “sort of a ‘Good Housekeeping Seal’” to encourage using Jamaican musicians, producers and merchandise.
Outside of the Bob Marley family, few top-selling reggae albums come from Jamaica anymore. The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association does not discourage outsiders from making reggae, it just wants more credit. Island artists suffer from rampant record piracy on the island and off, and frequently cannot offset those losses with touring, due to issues securing travel visas, among others.
Reggae was born of the confluence of Afro-Caribbean folk and American R&B, and first hit the shores of England in the ‘60s, then exploded in the ‘70s. Modern non-native reggae stars have grafted the genre’s tropes onto their own accents and locales. Jamaica also recently moved to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis as well as medical cannabis.
For more: http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2015/03/09/jamaica-to-begin-certifying-authentic-reggae/
Jamaica’s Marijuana Decriminalisation: Will the Rest of the Caribbean Follow Suit?
From Global Voices
Jamaica has long been the Caribbean island that the developed world most associates with liberal marijuana use.
This perception might stem from the fact that the island’s biggest global icon, the late reggae musician Bob Marley, was a committed Rastafarian, who routinely smoked herb as path to deeper spiritual awareness. In this sense, weed might seem as synonymous with Jamaica as reggae music, but despite tourists flocking from the Global North with dreams of spliffing up on a beach and feeling irie, cannabis use was illegal on the island until recently.
That all changed last month — quite fittingly the month of Marley’s birth — when the Jamaican House of Representatives passed a law decriminalising possession of up to two ounces of marijuana. The new legislation also allows people to grow up to five plants for personal use, and guidelines are currently being established for the cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana and use of the herb for religious application.
The law has made Jamaica the first Caribbean nation to make the bold move of attempting to regulate cannabis use in a region where, in most cases, its illegality has not quelled consumption. Across the Caribbean, national justice systems are backlogged with minor possession offences that accomplish nothing more than sullying a young person’s police record.
Jamaica joins a number of other countries who are pioneering this approach to dealing with marijuana use. In August last year, Global Voices published a story which suggested that decriminalisation could eventually happen across the Caribbean. Jamaica remains the single largest exporter of marijuana in the region.
Caribbean 2030: new thinking for a new generation (WP1404)
From Wilton Park
Date: Monday 1 – Wednesday 3 June, 2015
Location: Wiston House (https://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/venue/wiston-house/)
Reference: WP1404
How do the new and next generation of leaders in the Caribbean see the future? What is their vision for 2030 and beyond? How can they work better together to face the economic, political and security challenges and opportunities they face? How do they envisage the Caribbean countries can best work together in the future? What relationships do they want with the wider region and traditional and new partners?
This event provides a forum to address these questions by:
Providing a neutral and residential setting for the new and next generation of leaders in the Caribbean from different sectors to come together to have an in-depth discussion about their aspirations for the future of the region;
Creating a network of younger leaders in the Caribbean from different sectors encouraged to stay connected; and linked to the UK and other key external stakeholders who they might not otherwise have access to.
Developing an outline vision for the Caribbean for 2030 during the meeting, with the objective that this can be shared more widely, and built upon by participants afterwards; identifying potential paths forward for politicians, policymakers and others on specific areas;
Sharing cross region expertise on the drivers and the opportunities for the Caribbean domestically and internationally.
The programme will feature a mix of highly participatory, roundtable plenary sessions, with speakers invited to provide introductory remarks to initiate debate, and smaller working groups. Discussions will be held off the record under the Wilton Park Protocol to ensure a free and frank exchange.
For more: https://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/conference/wp1404/#conference_introduction
DHL stepping up Caribbean focus
From Barbados National News
DHL EXPRESS, the industry leader in global logistics solutions, is making moves to assert its position in the Caribbean market. The company held its first Area Conference in the Caribbean at the Sonesta Ocean Point Hotel in St Maarten, from February 10 to 12. The three-day conference brought together over forty DHL executives and managers responsible for a number of areas critical to DHL’s Caribbean operations.
GAIA T20 starts tomorrow
Speaking on the company’s decision to host the conference in the Caribbean, Reiner Wolfs, managing director of the Caribbean region at DHL Express, highlighted that DHL Express has experienced continuous and steady revenue growth in the region over the past several years, mainly through the development of new products and services and through attractive pricing campaigns. Wolfs also cited recent reports that attest to the region’s current potential for significant economic development, including the January report issued by the World Bank which stated that the Caribbean is expected to experience GDP growth of about 4.1 per cent over the years 2015-2017.
For more: http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/64369/dhl-stepping-caribbean-focus#sthash.nu9Ym5zk.dpuf
Caribbean rum to host monthly pop-up showcasing spirits
From BAR Magazine
A series of monthly pop-up bar nights are to be launched in London by the team behind Caribbean rum The Duppy Share.
The Spirits Social will run on the second Thursday of every month in the Maxilla Social Club, under the Westway in North Kensington, starting on March 12.
Aiming to showcase “the very best of London’s spirits scene”, they will feature not just The Duppy Share but three other spirits brands each month. They will serve signature cocktails to a backdrop of live music alongside street food specialists.
The first event will include the pure milk vodka Black Cow from Dorset, premium alcoholic tonic Pedrino, and award-winning Regal Rogue vermouth.
Tickets are £10 per person in advance via DesignMyNight.com, which includes a free first drinks and subsequent cocktails at £5 each. The next events are on April 9, May 14, June 11, July 9 and August 13.
For more: http://barmagazine.co.uk/caribbean-rum-to-host-monthly-pop-up-showcasing-spirits/
