Roseau, Dominica (September 6, 2010) – On September 25, 2010, RBC Royal Bank of Canada is sponsoring fundraising walk/runs across the Caribbean to benefit the RBC/RBTT Children’s Cancer Fund. In Dominica, the walk/run will start at 5:30 a.m. from the RBC Royal Bank of Canada branch on the Dame Eugenia Boulevard. RBC invites community members to join RBC employees in the event to raise funds for... 

Brussels, 2 September 2010,– The European Commission approved the first financing decisions under the EUR 264 million 2010 allocation for the so-called Vulnerability FLEX mechanism to help the most vulnerable African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries cope with the impact of the global financial crisis and economic downturn. The V-FLEX mechanism is a short-term instrument which provided... 

St John’s, Antigua – The WICB has received numerous queries from the media regarding the Selection Committee not having recommended Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor and Narsingh Deonarine for Central Retainer or Developmental contracts for the period October 1 2010 to September 30, 2011. The WICB issues the following information as clarification: Ramnaresh Sarwan The Team Management, Selection Committee... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (2 September 2010) – The Caribbean will intensify its lobby for a fairer passenger tax system in the UK, when a high level delegation from the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) visits the British capital next week for a series of meetings with travel industry and parliamentary bodies. Between 6 and 8 September 2010, six Caribbean ministers of tourism, along with the CTO’s... 

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — If you want to showcase your destination, company or product to cruise executives, destination governments, tour operators, ship agents and all facets of the industry spanning the globe from Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, then the 17th Annual FCCA Conference & Trade Show in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is the place... 

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – The St. Vincent and the Grenadines parliament Monday approved legislation allowing the Ralph Gonsalves administration to seek a multi-million dollar loan from the bank of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA). ALBA is a Venezuela-led initiative that is based on the idea of social, political, and economic integration between the countries of Latin America and... 

Burke ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – The Grenada government says it is holding talks with a Korean investment company that has indicated a willingness to invest billions of dollars in selected government projects on the island. Finance Minister Nazim Burke has confirmed that talks were taking place with SuWang One World after local officials of the company accused the Tillman Thomas government of... 

Shaw KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Finance Minister Audley Shaw says the Bruce Golding administration will be presenting a new budget to parliament and has assured citizens that no new taxes are envisaged in the fiscal package. Shaw, speaking at a news conference where the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that the island had passed the second quarterly targets in keeping with the US$1.2 billion... 

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC –Taiwan’s First lady, Chow Mei-ching, is due to visit Haiti on Saturday Sunday after the Caribbean country was devastated by a major earthquake in January killing more than 300,000 people. An official statement said that she will be making the trip as honorary president of the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China and “Love Ambassador” for World Vision. Known... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Jamaica has said the country has met the quantitative performance targets under the multi-billion dollar Stand-by Agreement (SBA) with the international financial institution. Dr. Trevor Alleyne, who headed an IMF team that ended a 10-day visit to the country on Friday, said that the focus of the mission was to... 

Mitchell ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Mitchell has blamed the polices of the two year-old-Tillman Thomas administration for the problems conforming the Grenadian economy. In a radio broadcast on Thursday night, Mitchell, who served as prime minister of this Caribbean island for 13 years, said that listed the 15 percent Value Added Tax (VAT), stalled projects and the decision... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The European Union is providing four billion dollars (US$46.9 million) in budgetary support to Jamaica to assist in the government’s debt reduction programme and the sugar industry. The government will receive J$2.7 billion (US$23.4 million) for the Debt Reduction and Growth Enhancement Programme (DRGEP), while J$1.3 billion (US$11.7 million) will go towards support for... 

THE VALLEY, Anguilla, CMC – Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hubert Hughes, said his government has borrowed 10 million EC dollars (3.74 million US dollars) from Dominica through the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) to pay civil servants’ salaries on Friday, he told reporters here. Hughes said in his weekly media briefing that he found an empty treasury when his administration assumed... 

Trinidad PM MIAMI, CMC – Two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) prime ministers are scheduled to address the annual Americas Conference that begins here on September 14. Recently elected Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, Kamla Persad Bissessar, and her Haitian counterpart Jean-Max Bellerive will address annual conference being organized by the World Bank and the Miami Herald newspaper. The Trinidad... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) is predicting that inflation will continue to decline and should be within 1.5 to 2.5 per cent for the financial quarter ending in September. According to the Quarterly Monetary Policy Report (QMPR) released by the BoJ, if the September figure is attained it will be a continued reduction in the quarterly inflation rate, following the 4.1 per cent... 

Arthur BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC- Former prime minister Owen Arthur is calling on the private and public sectors as well as the labour movement to help produce a new economic plan for Barbados. Arthur told a public meeting that the mid-term economic plan of the present government has failed to bring relief to Barbadians. “Barbados needs to have a recovery programme set out clearly drawing from the ... 

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – The Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association (GHTA) is calling on the government to approve a temporary waiver on the Value Added Tax (VAT) on hotel rooms as the sector continues to deal with the global economic and financial crisis. GHTA said it sent a letter to Prime Minister Tillman Thomas requesting that the 10 per cent VAT on rooms per night be suspended for six months. “We... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The international credit rating agency, Standard and Poor’s (S&P), has rated  the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) as a ‘Triple A’ institution. S&P in its just-released analysis of the bank’s operations listed the CDB’s strong capitalisation, its diversified and well-performing loan portfolio as well as the bank’s prominent position... 

Grant BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – The main opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM) Monday said it was concerned over the recent decision by the Us-based Reed Data Services Ltd (RDS) to close its operations by yearend. “I am saddened and disheartened by the pending closure of the Reed Data Services as it has provided employment for hundreds of our citizens and has been a major presence on the... 

Dookeran PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The four-month old People’s Partnership government will present its first national budget to Parliament on September 8, Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar has announced. Speaking on her return from a 10-day trip to the United States, Persad-Bissessar said Finance Minister Winston Dookeran will present the fiscal package. She said that pre-budget consultations... 

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The main opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP) says it will renegotiate a multi-million dollar loan signed recently between the Baldwin Spencer government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “We will change the terms and conditions of the IMF arrangements to allow better circumstances for our people which must include help for the elderly, assistance for the needy... 

Barrow WASHINGTON, CMC – The United States and Belize have signed an agreement aimed at combating organised crime. US Department of State said Prime Minister Dean Barrow and the US Ambassador to Belize Vinai K. Thummalapally signed an amendment to the Letter of Agreement implementing the Mérida Initiative. The State Department said the initiative, now known as the Central American Regional Security... 

UNITED NATIONS, CMC – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says it is helping the residents of a district of the Jamaican capital rebuild their lives following the violent unrest linked to the extradition to the united States of reputed drug dealer Christopher “Dudus” Coke. More than 65 civilians and three police officers were killed when the security forces clashed with gunmen... 

Henry KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government says at least 6,700 jobs will be created under a multi-million dollar island wide road rehabilitation programme being undertaken with assistance from the Chinese government. The five-year J$36 billion (US$400 million) project is expected to begin later this year and will be implemented by the National Works Agency (NWA). It will be carried out... 

CASTRIES, St Lucia, CMC – The eighth annual meeting of credit unions from throughout the sub-region has started here with delegates being told they need to develop strategies that would allow the movement to withstand the global and economic crisis. Director of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions, Aaron Moses, told the 250 delegates that “the food crisis, the energy crisis, the financial... 

Golding ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC –Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman Bruce Golding is warning of tough measures ahead for regional countries that fail to implement decisions aimed at deepening the regional integration movement. “We are developing a system where reports will have to be made – not a discretionary thing – where if things we have decided on, which have not been done, or... 

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, CMC – A study by the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has found that regional countries can expect annual losses of six per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) as a result of climate change. CCRIF, which is a risk pooling facility, owned and operated by regional governments, said that it had conducted the study on the “Economics of Climate... 

Douglas BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas Friday said it was important for the twin-island federation to position itself to take advantage of the opportunities that will emerge at the end of the current global economic and financial crisis. Addressing the launch of a private aircraft terminal at the RLB International airport, he said that the new service would complement... 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – United Nations projects in health, education, job creation, rubble removal, reproductive health and improving access to food have been approved for Haiti as the country continues its effort to rebuild after January’s catastrophic earthquake. The Interim Haitian Recovery Commission (IHRC), which was set up in April to coordinate and oversee the recovery and reconstruction... 

Thomas ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – The main opposition New National Party (NNP) on Thursday challenged the government of Prime Minister Tillman Thomas to be more creative and proactive in dealing with the struggling Grenadian economy, warning that without proper leadership the situation will get worse. “While the New National Party acknowledges that we have been adversely impacted by the... 

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, CMC – The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) says it has formalised procedures for exchanging supervisory information on United States and Cayman Islands banks and banking institutions that have operations in each others’ jurisdictions. CIMA said that the four main federal banking regulators in the United States that are parties to the “Statement of Cooperation”... 

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) has urged its striking workers to return to the job. Some workers downed tools Tuesday in response to disciplinary action against nine of their colleagues blamed for a fire at the Skeldon Sugar Factory on August 7. GUYSUCO said the fire was as a result of “gross negligence which caused extensive damage and remedial work will cost... 

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders have agreed to the establishment of a Council of Ambassadors as a new mechanism they hope will lead to the effective implementation of decisions taken in the efforts to deepen the regional integration movement. CARICOM chairman and Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding told reporters he hoped the new mechanism would be approved... 

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Immigration Minister David Burch has “red carded” nine companies in a bid to protect Bermudian jobs amid growing concerns over unemployment. Burch told a media conference on Tuesday that work permits would no longer be issued for cleaners, masons, carpenters or landscape gardeners without his direct approval. Unveiling a raft of tough new measures to protect... 

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The regional airline, LIAT, said it will test the facilities at the Melville Hall airport in Dominica on Tuesday night,  a few weeks  after authorities there said that the airport in the north of the island would accommodate night landings for the first time in its history. LIAT’s Corporate Communications Manager Desmond Brown told the Caribbean Media Corporation...