The Washington-based financial institution said about 1.8 million women and children in the earthquake-ravaged, French-speaking Caribbean country will benefit from one grant from the International Development Association (IDA), approved by the Board of Directors of the World Bank.

The World Bank said the US$70 million grant will increase access to maternal and child basic health services, “while the whole economy will benefit from another grant for US$20 million, which will improve the country’s business climate to attract private investment and generate growth”.

It said that three-and-a-half years after the earthquake, the Haitian government and partners are shifting their focus to lifting the structural bottlenecks that hamper the country’s long-term development, said Alexandre V. Abrantes, the World Bank’s Special Envoy to Haiti.

“These projects aim to improve Haiti’s outlook for the future by improving the health status of Haitian families, building a stronger health system, creating jobs and jumpstarting sustainable growth,” he added.

Abrantes said the US$70 million Improving Maternal and Child Health through Integrated Social Services Project will increase access to and use of maternal and child health, nutrition and social services in at least three departments: West, Northeast and Northwest.

He said the project, which is co-financed by a US$20 million grant from the Multi-donor Trust Fund for Health Results Innovation, will benefit 1.8 million people, including pregnant women, children under five and vulnerable families.

Specifically, Abrantes said the project will provide 450,000 women access to free reproductive health services, including family planning, prenatal care, delivery services, and breast-feeding support.

It will also provide more than one million people with preventive and basic curative services for cholera, diarrhoea, tuberculosis, and other childhood diseases, as well as 180,000 children under five with immunizations and vitamin supplements.

Abrantes said the project will support the Haitian government to set-up a mechanism for contracting existing health facilities to provide services at a quality standard of care.

In addition, he said it will provide support to the most vulnerable families in the project area through a network of community agents (Kore Fanmi), “who will deliver basic nutrition and social services, and refer them to health and other service providers”.

Abrantes said the second project for US$20 million, Business Development and Investment Project, “will foster economy-wide business environment reforms, in order to spur local and foreign private investment and job creation in light manufacturing, apparel, tourism and agribusiness, among others”.

He said this project includes a plan to support the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises by simplifying procedures to obtain operational licenses and certifications, as well as improving access to finance and transparency in competition.

The World Bank official said the project will also improve the regulatory and institutional framework governing Integrated Economic Zones (IEZs), and assist the government in the preparation of feasibility studies for at least one new IEZ outside of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.

By providing training and technical assistance, the project will build the capacity of micro, small and medium enterprises and help them increase production volume, standardize products, reduce costs and increase income through investment grants, Abrantes said.

The World Bank said it supports government efforts to reduce the Haiti’s  vulnerability to natural disasters, reconstruct critical infrastructure, build human capital, promote decentralized and inclusive growth, and strengthen governance.

“Continuing technical and financial support in key areas, such as service delivery and investment for growth, is of the outmost importance for the country’s reconstruction and long-term development,” it said.

In this nexus, the World Bank said IDA allocated US$500 million to Haiti for the 2012-2014 period, of which US$385 million have been provided to date in form of investment projects and development policy grants.

A government statement Wednesday said that the two leaders also discussed co operation in the economic, commercial and investment fields.

The statement said that the meeting was attended by several high ranking Kuwaiti officials and that Dr. Douglas, who is leading a three-member delegation, also met the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at the Bayan Palace.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Ports, Lucien Blackmore, speaking at a function organised by the Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce (DAIC), said  the Roosevelt Skerrit government is exploring the possibility of developing the geothermal potential in the southern and northern sections of the island.

“In Dominica we still know we have the south, the Soufriere source field, and of course we are looking at starting very soon after we get it right with Wotten Waven and to look into the northern parts of the country as well,” he told the business community.

Blackmoore said the government is looking at “the production facility picking up by 2015 and to start up we would want to start with the domestic plant at 2015.”

“We are looking at 10 megawatts … within an additional year, say by 2016, an additional five megawatts. So by the end of 2016 we will have 15 megawatts of power coming from geothermal on our local grid (and) by 2018 we should have 20 megawatts available to the local grid.”

The government has spent millions of dollars to date developing the geothermal energy project here and Blackmoore said that the project would also be beneficial to regional development.

“We have heard geothermal is not only a question of producing power for Dominica  but also seeing it as a serious means of regional integration and we can think of no better way of starting as we say ‘charity begins at home’.

“Normally our neighbours are an extension of our family and of course the department of Guadeloupe and Martinique has been intimately involved in the project process from inception,” he added.

He said with the necessary arrangements in place, Dominica will ensure that by 2018, 40 megawatts of geothermal energy will be exported to Martinique and 50 megawatts to Guadeloupe by 2020.

Project Officer in the ministry of Energy and Ports, Alexis George, said the project is a national priority and will seek to enhance competitiveness.

“The geothermal resource development is indeed a national priority it is a very big project and it is cutting across all sectors of the economy.

“We recognize that the geothermal resource is about bringing about cheaper, more affordable electricity to the community and the country of Dominica,” he added.

The Philippines coast guard says its crew acted in self-defense, believing the Taiwanese fishing boat was trying to ram its vessel. A Taiwanese investigation in tghe May incident found 59 bullet holes in the fishing boat.

Prime Minister Dr. Denzil L. Douglas in a message to the Taiwanese Resident Ambassador described the death as an “unfortunate development that has seemingly heightened tensions at the diplomatic level and could result in the untimely escalation of conflict between both countries.

“We express our firm solidarity with your government, your beloved country and people at this difficult time,” said Dr. Douglas, adding that as a strong ally and close international partner Taiwan, the twin island Federation stands unequivocally in its support to the decisive measures taken by the Taiwan government in response to the atrocity which demonstrated frivolous disregard for human life.

“Notwithstanding, in the interest of peace and security, St. Kitts and Nevis would like to recommend that both parties exercise restraint. We are of the view that this maritime boundary dispute could be settled through collaboration and without recourse to military force or coercion, which could result in further loss of lives, if not resolved amicably,” said the Prime Minister.

“St. Kitts and Nevis expresses continues support for the Government and people of the Republic of China and looks forward to the timely resolution of this matter,” he said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan in its latest statement on the matter said negotiations have taken place between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan.

During the two-hour meeting, the two sides agreed to provide mutual legal assistance when requested, which laid the groundwork for cooperating on the investigation into the incident.

Prime Minister Kenny Anthony

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, May 22, CMC – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Wednesday began its 43rd Board of Governors meeting here with St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony calling on the international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to develop a new strategic partnership with the region.

Anthony, in a wide ranging address to the governors that also include heads of governments, finance ministers and representatives of developed countries, such as Britain and Canada, said that the financial institutions “prescribe for us but very rarely do we tell them what we expect of them, what we want from them”.

He said the international institutions, of which the region holds membership, must be able to “facilitate our integration into the global economy.

“To do this we must be must be very clear of our objectives and our relations with these institutions. The IMF for instance, must join with us to petition the international community for special terms on which debt can either be restructured or reduced.

“If the institution insists that debt above certain levels is a binding constraint on growth and countries have exhausted all the avenues recommended by them, then the international community will have to play a critical role so that growth can be re-started”.

Anthony said also that the World Bank group must also be encouraged to mobilise significant funding on reasonable terms for infrastructural development “and to re-start the growth process.

“In addition, through the IFC, they need to make major efforts, along with the governments at the national level, with developing the domestic private sector and to encourage the entry of foreign investments in the sectors identified for leading the growth process”.

Anthony, the outgoing chairman of the region’s premier lending banking institution, said “concentrated effort is needed by the World Bank group to get the engine of growth moving again.

“”I want to suggest that we look into the possibility of creating a consortium like the former Caribbean Group for Cooperation for Economic Development which was responsible for significant success in mobilising substantial funding in the 1980s when the region experienced one of its fastest rates of growth”.

The St. Lucia Prime Minister said that the various initiatives now being undertaken by the IMF with the discussion on small states, the World Bank and the Caribbean Growth Forum “can culminate in such an institutional framework to pursue certain…objectives with specific timelines.

Anthony said even the World Trade Organization (WTO), “despite the pain it has unleashed on the banana producing countries of the region, is crucial to the integration of the region into the international financial system.

“The region has to devise a strategy to treat with the trade and access to markets for existing and new goods and services. You will have to jointly on a regional basis devote the requite resources to the hosting of opportunities and making the connections to successfully insert ourselves into the major supply chains that service international trade.”

Anthony said that the United Nations has a number of agencies which can be vital in “facilitating the restructuring of our domestic economies and their insertions into global economy”.

But he made it clear, “we need to be selective and form a clear…view of our approach to all of these institutions of which we are members.

“The way forward is not going to be easy, but sheer necessity suggests we need address this perennial economic problem, not only with new vigour, but with new ideas and commitment,” Anthony said, adding that the “case must be made for stocktaking of the most fundamental kind.

“The challenges we face are so monumental …that these reflections and thinking, as often said out of the box, are not optional. We are at the cross roads, it is definitely required”.

Anthony warned the governors that if the Caribbean countries continue along the same socio-economic path they would be heading for an “unsatisfactory outcome.

“We need to find another way to secure a different outcome. Better outcomes, however, will not appear out of thin air,” he warned.

“In short, things will not resolve themselves  if left alone and so we need good governance, technical and administrative capacities and social consensus and accountability to effect change and achieve success,” Anthony said, outlining three scenarios that are possible in this conjecture.

He said the countries could maintain their current policies, change the policies while the international community remains in current faze or thirdly “both circumstances change leading to increased growth and economic transformation iof we have the appropriate policy”.

Messiah told the 17^th biennial conference of the Waterfront and Allied Workers Union (WAWU) that such a system, will among other things “provide information to members and others about the availability of jobs advertised within” the island of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts-Nevis, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands (BVI), members of the  economic union.

“What role can the union play in assisting members who wish to establish themselves with CARICOM (Caribbean Community) certificates as skilled workers or as contractors,” which is a requirement under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) allowing for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the region.

The CCL president also questioned the role of sub-regional trade unions “in the relation to the quality of governance that will be acceptable in the OECS union.

“The time will come when super nationalism will be a major feature of our existence, when the logic of small size  will force us to ask whether we need so many governments, so many ministers, so many cabinets, so many civil service, so many police services in such a small geographic, demographic  and economic space,” said Messiah.

Earlier this month, former secretary general of the Barbados-based CCL, Kertist Augustus, who is also WAWU’s secretary treasurer, said the trade unions need a greater voice within the OECS.

“In the sub-region, the unions in the OECS, we are seeking to have status at the OECS summit similar to what used to be the case similar to what used to be the case in relation to the CCL at the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) annual heads of government conference where the CCL had an opportunity to speak to and to address the heads of government on issues that were considered important by the trade union movement in the Caribbean.
“So we are seeking to have a similar status at the level of the OECS and of course it is the OECS unions within the CCL that are spearheading that effort since we believe if we have such a status…then it is going to strengthen the case that we are going to have at the wider region,” he added.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Julian Robinson, addressing the 12^th International Conference on the Social Impact of Computers in Developing Countries, that ends here on Wednesday, that in Jamaica, oversight of the ICT sector is shared among several agencies including the Spectrum Management Authority (SMA), the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) and the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR).

He said the Portia Simpson Miller government is seeking to create a single regulatory agency with ICT-specific functions, arguing that the process of going through three regulators slows investments and so the intention is to simplify the regulatory environment.

“As you can imagine, if you are an investor in the ICT sector, it means that you have to interface with three separate organisations and in many cases, they operate independently of each other. It is an inefficient way to operate, it slows our ability to get goods and services to market.

“The (single regulator) will ensure that we operate more efficiently and effectively, and in a more cost effective manner,” Robinson said, adding that the government is also creating the legislative environment to facilitate investment in ICT.

“We are about to table Data Protection legislation, which will be tabled in this calendar year,” he informed.

He noted that the 2010 Cyber Crimes Act is also being reviewed to make it easier to prosecute persons, who use technology to commit criminal activities.

“Cyber crimes are now becoming a feature of transnational crimes. We, here in Jamaica, have suffered at the hands of cyber crimes. We have held a number of consultations, we have established a joint Parliamentary committee, and we have gotten submissions from stakeholders, both within and outside of Jamaica, and those amendments will be made shortly,” he stated.

Robinson said the government has received support from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to establish a cyber emergency response team, which will be up and running in another six months.

The conference, organized by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), brings together policy advisors, academics, practitioners from the private sector, non-governmental organizations and the public sector, who are involved with ICT and development in developing countries.

It is being held under the theme “Into the Future”.

The police said that a 40-year-old man and a 17-year-old youth were shot and killed by unidentified men who left the scene in a stolen vehicle.

The names of the men killed were not disclosed and the police said that following the killings, three other men were shot and wounded.

“Preliminary reports indicate that the victims were sitting outside a business establishment on Mt. Pleasant Avenue along with others, when they were approached and subsequently shot multiple times by a group of males” who fled the area in the same stolen vehicle, the police said in a statement.

The police said the men, ages 56, 37 and 27 years remain in serious condition at hospital.

The authorities said they later engaged the occupants of the vehicle in a shootout and that an 18 year-old male had been shot and injured and a high powered weapon confiscated.

They said acting on information, they went to a house in the capital, “where they arrested the suspects and confiscated a handgun”.

Last week, the United States issued a warning to its nationals to The Bahamas to be wary of the crime situation in the country after a U S citizen was shot and killed during an armed robbery.

The US Embassy here said that so far 40 people had been murdered here since the start of the year and that US citizens “residing in and travelling to The Bahamas, to be aware of their surroundings and remain on heightened alert to avoid being a victim of crime”.

It said that “armed robbery remains a major threat facing US citizens in The Bahamas” and that since the start of the year “a number of US citizens have fallen victim to armed robbery with some having been seriously injured in the commission of these crimes”.

It said the local police have warned of the increased number of armed robberies in the capital, quoting the police as indicating that for January 1 to April 15 “there have been 328 armed robberies, 111 robberies, and 660 house break-ins.

Reporters Without Borders

PARIS, May 21, CMC – The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RWB) Tuesday said it hopes that the authorities will soon disclose the reasons behind the murder of radio journalist Pierre-Richard Alexandre, who was shot last weekend.

A correspondent for the national radio station Radio Kiskeya and the host of a daily political discussion programme on local Radio Delta, Alexandre died of his injury two days after being shot on May 17.

The 40-year-old journalist was shot at his home and questioned whether it was a hit or a stray bullet.

“Alexandre’s professionalism as a journalist was widely acknowledged and we express our full support for his wife, two children and colleagues,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“Following his alleged killer’s arrest, the police should be able to quickly establish whether or not his death was linked to his work as journalist. In either case, journalists’ safety continues to a matter of concern in Haiti, where the political climate is a source of intermittent tension.”

Alexandre’s death follows the murder in March of  journalist Georges Honorat, a former member of the management of the weekly Haïti Progrès who had of late been working for the press department at the prime minister’s office.

Although Haiti is ranked 49th out of 179 countries in the latest Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, its journalists still experience recurring security problems.

“Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the truth about the April 2000 murder of Radio Haïti Inter director Jean Dominique, noting that Radio Télé Ginen journalists were attacked in Port-au-Prince on 8 May, the day that a judge questioned former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide about the Dominique murder.”

Cameron on Monday wrote to Bermuda, along with the rest of Britain’s OTs and Crown dependencies such as Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

The call for continued partnership with the UK came just weeks before Britain hosts the next G8 summit on June 15.

With tax avoidance a priority for the gathering, Cameron wrote: “This is the critical moment to get our own houses in order.”

Last month’s visit to Bermuda by UK Minister for the Overseas Territories Mark Simmons saw cabinet vow that Bermuda would “lead jurisdictions” in transparency, and enforcing beneficial ownership regulations.

Cameron’s letter underscored the point, however — especially on the latter.

Noting that some jurisdictions had committed to producing action plans on beneficial ownership, he added: “I hope those of you who have yet to can do so as quickly as possible.”

The letter, which did not specifically single out by name any of the 10 territories to which it was addressed, emphasised  Cameron’s respect for their right to be “lower tax jurisdictions”.

Bermuda has already pledged to provide UK authorities with tax information automatically.

“There is a critical mass building,” Cameron wrote, saying Britain aimed to set “a global standard in tax transparency”.