January 7, 2017

Letters & Opinion

EC Dollar Tribute To Sir Dwight

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SINCE his sudden and unexpected passing away on December 22 at the age of 70 (he would have been 71 in two weeks’ time), tributes to the former long serving governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Sir K. Dwight Venner, have poured in from almost all over the world, culminating in the touching and moving testimonies from members of his family and close friends at his official funeral service at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Castries on Wednesday.

Letters & Opinion

The Year of The Dragon

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SOONER rather than later, the “sleeping dragon” was expected to awaken from its slumber and take its place at the feasting table. In his book, The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria predicts the decline of the West and the Rise of the Rest. No doubt, Mr. Zakaria must have been thinking about China when he wrote: “Americans see that a new world is coming into being, but fear it is one being shaped in distant lands and by foreign people.”

Letters & Opinion

Immortalize Venner on E.C. Dollar

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Image of Sir Dwight Venner

I GREW-UP in the Faux-a-Chaud part of Hospital Road in Castries seeing Dwight Venner walking up and down the main road, to and from his family’s home, to town and from school (Saint Mary’s College). Much younger than him, I attended the Methodist Primary and RC (Roman Catholic) Boys schools in Castries — and knew more about his father than about the usually lone but friendly young ‘College Boy’ with all those thick school books.

Letters & Opinion

Passport: Sale or Saviour?

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Image of Ronald Sanders

ON January 1, “60 minutes”, an investigative programme aired by the US television company, CBS Corporation, ran a segment on “Citizenship by Investment Programmes” (CIP) that are operated by several countries around the world. For reasons best known to itself, “60 minutes” focused on three Caribbean islands after paying merely a passing glance at Malta, a Mediterranean island that is part of the 28-nation European Union (EU). It let pass other countries in Europe and North America that also operate such programmes.

Letters & Opinion

Soul of a Nation – Pt.1

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Nearly twenty years ago Gypsy spoke to us eloquently of the growing scourges of drug addiction, prostitution, teenage pregnancy and the increasing incidence of the rape of women in his homeland, Trinidad & Tobago, and pointed to the reason for this. According to him that reason was: “Politics for one and politicians for the other.” Nobody listened, and today we know the result – those scourges now threaten to overwhelm Trinidadian society.

Editorial

Sir Dwight – The Best Legacy

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Image of The late Sir Dwight Venner

SIR Dwight Venner was finally laid to rest this week, but still the tributes to this outstanding son of the sub-region continue to pour in and we are beginning to hear talk about ways in which he can be immortalized. One suggestion that is being advanced, which we heartily endorse, is having his image printed on our EC currency.

News, News-buzz

S.L.P. Responds To Chastanet

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Hilaire [Photo: Stan Bishop]

THE St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) has taken issue with comments made by Prime Minister Allen Chastanet during his Thursday night press conference studios of the Government Information Service about how he could prove the veracity of an applicant for St. Lucian citizenship claiming a net worth of US$3 million or higher.

News, News-buzz

Chastanet Tells About Other Big Project

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A confidential letter from the former administration to a prospective investor in England almost a year ago is today turning out to be a subject of debate between the government and the opposition St. Lucia Labour Party. Both parties made mention of the letter at separate press conferences Thursday. Prime Minister Allen Chastanet called it “an interesting letter” while Philip J. Pierre, SLP and parliamentary opposition leader, called it “a letter of comfort”.

News

Grenada Mission For Russia

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ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Russia is hinting at further debt relief for Grenada after the island signed an agreement on settlement of its debt to the Russian Federation through the Paris Club in November 2015. A government statement said that the debt amounting to US$266,000 was signed on November 19, 2015, and that St. George’s has been assured “that there may be even further or total relief of the debt owed by Grenada”.

News

V’zuela Opposition In New Moves Again

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Image of Julio Borges

CARACAS — Venezuela’s opposition, still smarting from its failure to remove President Nicolas Maduro last year, installed a new congress head on Thursday who demanded across-the-board elections and sought military help to end “dictatorship.” In a renewal of Venezuela’s bitter politics after the holiday lull, the ruling Socialist Party responded that the National Assembly was in contempt of the law.

News, News-buzz

Two Jailed for Phone Scam

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MIAMI, CMC – The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says the owner and operator of a Florida-based telecommunications company has pleaded guilty and a West Palm Beach, Florida, resident have been sentenced to 52 months in prison in connection with a sophisticated global cellphone fraud scheme linked to the Caribbean.

News

UN Warns of Coral Reef Bleaching

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Image of Coral reefs

UNITED NATIONS, CMC – A new study has predicted that if current trends continue and the world fails to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nearly all of the world’s coral reefs, including many in the Caribbean, will suffer severe bleaching – the gravest threat to one of the Earth’s most important ecosystems – on anannual basis.