NEWS
Reactions after court ruling on asylum-seekers, refugees: 'Urgent need for legislative reform'
The ruling by Justice Frank Seepersad on Tuesday which clears the way for refugees and asylum-seekers in this country to be deported, if they contravene immigration laws, highlights the urgent need for legislative reform to protect this vulnerable group of people. Speaking hours after Seepersad's ruling on Tuesday, executive director of the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights Denise Pitcher said there is a need to protect them. “Deporting asylum-seekers and refugees, which this ruling paves the way for the state to do, back to a situation from which they had fled in the first place, risks leaving them in situations where their safety and security may be threatened,” Pitcher said. Read more here
Boy who wrote SEA with broken wrist tops his school
In an extraordinary display of resilience and determination, Jude Jones, a pupil of Ramai Trace Hindu School in Debe, topped his school in the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exams even though he wrote the examination with a broken wrist. The night before the SEA exams in March, Jones accidentally fell off his bed. Although he suffered swelling to his hand, he tolerated the pain and wrote the test, passing for his first-choice school–Presentation College. During an awards function at the school yesterday, Jones received a trophy for outstanding performance in the SEA examinations. Speaking to Guardian Media in an exclusive interview, Jones said he was always determined to tackle his academic hurdles head-on. He revealed that his broken wrist was not the worst of his challenges. Read more here
POLITICS
OAS, UK, Canada commend Caricom for its unity
The Organization of American States (OAS) as well as the UK and Canadian governments have commended Caricom for its unity in spite of challenges. The 45th Caricom heads of government summit continued on Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. OAS secretary-general Luis Almagro said he felt honoured to participate in Caricom's 50th-anniversary celebrations. "We shall all celebrate and we shall all be grateful for the contributions made by Caricom," he said. Read more here
Skerrit urges Caribbean to unite against climate injustice
With the Caribbean now in the hurricane season, Caricom chairman Roosevelt Skerrit expressed concern about a lack of firm decisions on climate change, He admitted that he sometime feels like giving up and not attending COP climate change conferences. Skerrit spoke at a flag raising ceremony marking Caricom’s 50th anniversary which took place in heavy rain yesterday at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre. He said people are living in a world which is more difficult that it was 50 or even 20 years ago and Caricom has to be united because too many injustices are being inflicted out to it as a Caribbean community. He cited climate change and “kicking down the bucket of firm decisions” to address Caricom’s concerns. “Sometimes we feel like giving up and not going to any of the COP (Conference of the Parties) conferences but we must never relent on our fight against injustice,” he said Read more here
BUSINESS
EU gives US$4.7m for Caribbean’s risk insurance
The European Union (EU) gave US $4.7 million to Caribbean governments for Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SPC) parametric insurance for this year. This has contributed to a total of around US$49 million in grant support since 2007. CCRIF currently offers five parametric insurance products – earthquake, based on modelled losses due to ground shaking; tropical cyclone, based on modelled losses due to wind and storm surge; excess rainfall, based on modelled losses due to the amount of rainfall; the Caribbean Ocean and Aquaculture Sustainability facility (Coast) product for the fisheries sector, based on rain, waves, wind and storm surge; and a product for electric utilities, based on losses due to wind for their transmission and distribution lines. Read more here
Caribbean energy deals affected by US politics–St Vincent PM
Political pressures in the United States have led to the Caribbean not getting a fair shake concerning energy deals connected to Venezuela. Speaking at the Hyatt Regency on yesterday, Prime Minister of St Vincent and Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, noted that the United States has been conveniently relaxing its rules for specific entities, yet showing another face to the Caribbean. “In the case of Venezuela, as soon as there’s a problem in Ukraine, and the pipeline from Russia, the American government gives a bligh, as the Jamaicans would say, to the Europeans to go and deal with Venezuela in relation to oil. They give permission to Chevron to talk to Venezuela about exploiting resources and paying Venezuela in US dollars. But yet, you don’t want Venezuela to do it with PetroCaribe,” said Gonsalves, when asked about Caricom’s interest in the permission granted to T&T by the US to explore the Dragon natural gas field in Venezuelan waters. Read more here
REGIONAL
Canadian Parliamentary Secretary visits Guyana to strengthen collaboration on energy transition, food security
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada, Maninder Sidhu, will be in Guyana from July 5 to 7, 2023. During his visit, Parliamentary Secretary Sidhu will meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd to strengthen the two countries’ collaboration on shared priorities, including energy transition and food security. The Parliamentary Secretary will also get a better understanding of Guyana’s economic situation and its opportunities for Canadian companies by meeting key political and commercial stakeholders. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Fukushima: Anxiety and anger over Japan's nuclear waste water plan
A controversial plan by Japan to release treated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear plant has sparked anxiety and anger at home and abroad. Since the 2011 tsunami which severely damaged the plant, more than a million tonnes of treated waste water has accumulated there. Japan now wants to start discharging it into the Pacific Ocean. The UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has published a report endorsing Japan's plan. But since it was announced two years ago, the plan has been deeply controversial in Japan with local communities expressing concerns about contamination. Fishing and seafood industry groups in Japan and the wider region have also voiced concerns about their livelihoods, as they fear consumers will avoid buying seafood. Read more here
5th July 2023