Articles - News

   OECS Secretariat, Castries St. Lucia: Senior officials from the OECS Secretariat and its Export Development Unit (EDU), recently concluded talks in Barbados, towards mobilizing donor resources for implementation of support programs for the private sector in the sub-region.

The team from the OECS Secretariat held discussions with officials of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) a key partner of the OECS Secretariat in the execution of programs for export development in the OECS. That meeting saw a review of work plans and an assessment of ways to co-ordinate action for effective utilization of available funds under the European Union funded 9th EDF Project for Private Sector Competitiveness. That project targets action to promote competitiveness for OECS enterprises. Fruitful discussions were held with officials of the European Union during which a full briefing was provided on the implementation of specific programs by the OECS Export Development Unit. There were frank discussions of the constraints which have hampered the full impact of these programs on their beneficiaries.
In this regard the Head of the OECS Export Development Unit Vincent Philbert says the OECS is seeking an extension of the period for drawing down funds from the EU supported project to further facilitate business development in the nine member grouping: “We did have very encouraging meetings in Bridgetown. It’s clear that regarding the EU funds we got approval of the programme estimates at least for the formal period September to December 2009. We think that is too much of a short window to allow us to implement all we need to do. From this September the issue is whether we will be given an extension of the time to draw down on these funds because we have a short window of a few months. So we are seeking to get that extended to December 2010 which is a one year extension. This is because we have had some delays which affected disbursements in the past which caused us to lose some time. So what we were seeking approval for was an extension of twelve months to allow us to draw down on the approved programme estimates up to December 2010.”

   A Virginia judge on Wednesday set a Nov. 10 execution date for John Allen Muhammad, mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area that left 10 dead.

The attorney general's office last week requested that the execution be on Nov. 9, but Prince William County Circuit Judge Mary Grace O'Brien chose a day later. The date, which falls on a Tuesday, was picked so courts would be open the day before in case they have to take up last-minute appeals, said Jonathan Sheldon, Muhammad's attorney.

The date was picked during an early morning conference call with the judge, the attorney general's office and Sheldon.

   The Ministry of Health will, as of Wednesday September 23rd 2009, designate the Castries Health Centre as an exclusive Flu Clinic providing service to people with flu sicknesses and symptoms only, while patients requiring other medical services will be treated at the Entrepot Health Centre.



For region one, the non-emergency section of the Gros-Islet polyclinic will provide exclusive treatment for flu patients while patients with other medical complications will receive care from the emergency section of the policyclinic.



Senior Medical Officer Dr. Merlene Frederick said in addition, the La Croix Maingot Health Centre has been designated as the exclusive flu clinic for region seven, while the Anse-La-Raye, Vanard and Jackmel Health Centres will cater to non-flu patients.

   Farmers, enraged by the attack on one of their colleagues and the increase theft of the crops, are appealing to the authorities to grant them the use of licensed firearms to protect their property.

Legislator Keith Clouden, who represents farmers in the Senate, said that the farmers are of the view that the guns would be a major deterrent.

“Because of their experience in the past, farmers have realised that being in possession of a firearm has in fact been a deterrent to some extent. In many instances in the past, farmers who have had firearms have witnessed a decline in acts of praedial larceny.

“So I would not rule out the question of farmers applying for firearm to act as a deterrent. I think that they must be properly vetted,” said Clouden, who is also a farmer.

Police have reported a five per cent increase in cases of praedial larceny over the past three years. So far this year, there have been 266 cases as compared with the same number for all of 2007.

But a senior government official believes that the authorities should not rush into providing guns to the farmers.

“I don’t think giving farmers guns is the solution. I think it will just create more criminal activity,” said Ingrid Rush, government’s food security manager.

“If those perpetrators know farmers have guns they will also come prepared. So this will not solve the problem. Guns will not solve the problems.”

The farmers have also complained that a 30-member Praedial Larceny Squad established six years ago to tackle the problem remains under staffed and under equipped.

   A 13-year-old teenager, who has a three-month old child for a Guyanese national, is asking the court to discontinue the case of having sex with a minor because she wants to marry him.

But Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington has warned the teenager, who was accompanied by her mother, that dropping the indictable charge was not that easy and furthermore she could be held in contempt of court if she refuses to testify against the father of her child.

"The matter is not under your control. The matter is for the DPP (Director of Public Prosecution)," he told the teenage mother.

The court was told that Vishnu Persad, 23, who is being held without bail, had sex with the minor last October.