Black Immigrant Daily News

CHARLESTOWN NEVIS, October 24, 2022 (NIA) – The Honourable Latoya Bianca Jones has been sworn in as a Senator (Opposition) in the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis during a ceremony at the Theodore L. Hobson Court in Charlestown on Monday, October 24, 2022.

Hon. Jones, Special Adviser in the Office of the Premier, took the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office, administered by High Court Judge, His Lordship, Justice Patrick Thompson Jr. Present at the swearing-in ceremony were members of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Cabinet, relatives and friends, and specially invited guests.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Premier of Nevis, Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier, Elected Representative for Nevis 9 and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, extended congratulations to Ms. Jones. He said the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), which has the majority of seats on the Opposition Benches in the Federal Parliament, was pleased to have nominated her for appointment to the auspicious post. He further noted that her ascension to the post is in keeping with his party’s thrust to empower women and the youth.

“I think that today is a very historic day, because we have seen the appointment of a new senator on the Opposition Benches in the Federal Parliament, Miss Latoya Jones from Barnes Ghaut Village. It is significant of course because as a consequence of the people of Nevis on August 05 [2022] decided that the CCM was their preferred choice as the party to lead Nevis and to represent them at the federal level, and as a result of getting all three seats, we had the opportunity to appoint a Senator in the National Assembly. It was our considered view that Miss Jones has the necessary temperament, has the necessary training and background, and she can make a contribution at the national level in the parliament.

“Today we had history made here in Charlestown as she was sworn in by His Lordship and she becomes the first female Opposition Senator on the Opposition Benches from Nevis, and once we get there [National Assembly] tomorrow she will become the first Deputy Speaker from the island of Nevis as well…We are hopeful she will use this position to advance other women and the youths of Nevis, and the whole Federation as well,” he said.

The Honourable Senator said she is honoured to have been appointed to the National Assembly and excited at being afforded the opportunity to serve the people of Nevis and the wider Federation at that level.

“I am happy, humbled and honoured to be appointed as Senator in the National Assembly. I would like to thank Honourable Mark A. G. Brantley, Leader of the Opposition, and my colleagues in the CCM-led Nevis Island Administration, for giving me the opportunity to serve the people of Nevis. It is always within me to serve the people of Nevis and I’ve been given the opportunity to do so on a higher level. I can assure you that I will give it my very best,” she said.

Hon. Jones also expressed gratitude to her family and other persons for supporting her in pursuit of service to the people of Nevis.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Delays in the judicial system are a topic Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, has previously confronted and has done so again, affirming that Judges should be held accountable for the chronic delivery of delayed judgements.

Nandlall made the comments during a virtual town hall meeting set up by the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill Campus, that dealt with constitutional reform and the judicial selection process.

The AG emphasised the importance of Judges having security of tenure, noting that such protections are the cornerstone of democracy. But he noted that when Judges are not discharging their duty in a timely manner and this is having a serious effect on the administering of justice, there is a need for accountability.

“For example, the inability to deliver judgements on time and when it becomes chronic and amounts to a dereliction of duty, then that by itself should morph into what the Constitution speaks to as misbehaviour. So, while you have security of tenure, at the same time you have responsibilities and you can be removed for misbehaviour, as all the Constitutions provide.”

“But that misbehaviour must embrace the inability to discharge core judicial responsibilities. Which must be to write judgements in a timely manner, having regard to speedy justice and protection of the law… after all, the Judiciary is funded by public monies. As a politician, I have to answer every day to my constituency about cases not being heard, judgements not being handed out,” he said.

He noted that there is nothing he can do when persons come to him to question the sloth of the Judiciary, other than to ask those persons to have their lawyers write the presiding Judges. This is a situation that he acknowledged happens throughout the Caribbean.

Nandlall had previously flagged the backlog of cases in the Judiciary, including the Court of Appeal. Last year, he had said that the delay has resulted in massive miscarriages of justice, and although the backlog has been cleared in the civil division of the High Court, there remains stagnation in the Criminal Assizes, the Court of Appeal, and the Magistrates’ Courts.

The findings of a previous United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report had highlighted that one of the factors in the backlog in cases that have been plaguing the criminal justice system for years is a shortage of Judges.

The report had noted that in Guyana, while there is no shortage of criminal attorneys-at-law, there were only 14 of the expected 20 High Court Judges, and three of the expected five Court of Appeal Judges, at the time.

“If the present cadre of Judges is not increased, then the issue of backlogs will not be addressed. It is recommended that further options for increasing the human resource capacity, including for Judicial legal research assistants, Judges, prosecutors, and trained mediators, be explored,” the report had stated.

Whilst the assignment of temporary Judges has been used in the past in the Court of Appeal, this is not seen as a permanent solution, the report further noted. Rafiq Khan, SC, and Dr Christopher Bulkan were the last two temporary Judges to be appointed to the Court of Appeal. They were appointed to the post in January and February 2018, respectively.

Guyana is meanwhile without a Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the constitutional body responsible for advising the President on the appointment of Judges, with the exception of the Chancellor and the Chief Justice. The last JSC expired in 2017. However, President Dr Irfaan Ali has said that the Government is working on appointing the JSC.

The JSC’s powers also include the power to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in the following offices – Commissioner of Title, Magistrate, Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Registrar of the High Court, Deputy Registrar of the High Court, Registrar of Deeds and Deputy Registrar of Deeds and to such offices connected with the courts or for appointment to which legal qualifications are required as may be prescribed by Parliament.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

La nouvelle Première ministre Giorgia Meloni a fermement ancré mardi l’Italie au coeur de l’UE et de l’Otan tout en rejetant toute “proximité” avec le fascisme, un mois jour pour jour après la victoire historique de son parti d’extrême droite…

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A globe-trotting woman who has “worked from home” in nearly 30 countries says she won’t stop until she’s travelled the world.

Anna Pelova, 33, has her own marketing business, which she runs from her laptop, allowing her to work from all corners of the globe.

So far, she’s journeyed through dozens of countries in South America, Africa, Europe and Asia, and hopes to hit 100 by the middle of next year.

Although Pelova’s job had always allowed her to travel, the COVID-19 pandemic saw demand for her business rise.

And this increase in revenue meant she could afford to start working abroad–thousands of miles from her home in East Finchley, north London.

Pelova said: “My business allows me to work from anywhere in the world, as long as I have my laptop.

“For me, when the pandemic hit, demand for my services really skyrocketed, so I decided to use the money to travel the world, one country at a time.”

Pelova moved to the UK from Bulgaria in 2009 and studied advertising at the London College of Communication.

During her course, she completed a work and travel module in San Francisco before coming back to England to finish her studies.

She then started travelling consistently in 2015, taking remote marketing jobs to finance each trip.

It wasn’t long before she went out on her own and started a remote marketing agency, and over the years Pelova has slowly grown her business.

The nature of her work means she can work from anywhere, and in November 2020 she took a spontaneous trip to Mexico.

While abroad, COVID-19 forced the UK to shut its borders, leaving Pelova stranded on the other side of the world.

But, unlike many, her business thrived during the pandemic, and she decided to use the cash to finance a personal goal of visiting every country in the world.

Pelova said: “I’ve always been well-travelled, and Mexico was the 49th country I’d been to.

“But it wasn’t until I got stuck there that I officially decided I wanted to visit every country in the world.

“The UK borders shut, so I thought my business is doing really well, why don’t I just go wherever’s open and work while on my travels?

“It felt right at the time, so instead of going home, I headed to South America, which is where I started my journey.”

Pelova caught a short-haul flight from Mexico to Columbia and then travelled to Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru.

After a few months in South America, she then flew to Africa, visiting Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Egypt.

Next on the agenda was the Balkans, including north Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia, and after that, Anna ticked off central Europe.

She visited, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, France, Spain and Portugal, before flying to Pakistan for a friend’s wedding a month later.

Pelova says exploring the world is endless fun, but it’s important she gets her work done each day before she has her downtime.

She said: “I treat each place I stay in as a new home, that’s the mindset you have to have.

“Sometimes I get a sim card for the country I’m in and work on my phone.

“I have to make an effort to reply straight away to clients so I don’t lose business because people think I’m off travelling and not taking work seriously.

“If I’m not on my laptop, I’m on my phone, giving instructions to freelancers and a part-time assistant.

“Even if I’m walking around sightseeing, I have to make time to be clear with them.

“When I arrived in Brazil, I didn’t go out exploring for a week as I had a really busy work schedule. It was hard to do, but I had to stay inside.”

“In a beach town in Kenya I had to buy a lot of 4G data as the Wi-Fi was rubbish in the country, it is more expensive but it has to be done.”

After a short spell back in London, she was off again, this time to South East Asia, visiting the likes of the Maldives, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

Pelova then rounded off her last adventure with a trip to a military base in Azerbaijan, where she went on a guided tour around its war-torn regions.

Now she’s home again but is already planning her next trip to Central America, where she hopes to tour Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, and Honduras.

If everything goes to plan, Pelova says she is aiming to have visited 100 countries by the middle of next year.

So far, she has visited 79.

“I have met so many people travelling, especially in Africa,” Anna said.

“You just meet people and then travel with them, and I can say I’ve made friends for life on my adventures.

“I even flew to Pakistan for two weeks for the wedding of a friend I met travelling.

“Having the discipline to work can be tricky sometimes, but I know that my work is what funds my lifestyle, and I wouldn’t be able to travel without it.

“In my early 20s I used to go to hostels and stuff.

“Now I usually work from hotel rooms, rather than an Airbnb, as I need the privacy of having my own place.

“The temptation is very strong to explore new places, but I have to do the work first, then after that I can go exploring in my free time.

“I am also writing a book on millionaire entrepreneurs from all over the world based on the past six or seven years, which is almost finished.

“I’m still really young, and I can’t wait to travel more places, meet more people, and experience more culture on my journey around the globe,” she said.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) has held discussions with the Guyana Government on the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP).

This was disclosed by Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Mark Berman during a recent interview.

Canada is well-known for its hydropower infrastructure. In fact, the clean and renewable energy supplied by hydropower accounts for over 60 per cent of all the electricity generated in Canada. This is an area in which Berman said Canada could provide assistance to Guyana.

“The most obvious projects are the large infrastructure projects of which there are many in Guyana. And that’s one of the things the oil and gas sector will allow the Government to strengthen, the infrastructure in the country. Bridges, roads, hospitals and energy infrastructure.”

“So, we’ve had discussions about potentially, for instance the Amaila (Falls) Hydropower project, which Canada has significant experience. Canadian companies may be interested in some bridge projects,” he said.

The revival of the 165-megawatt AFHP was one of the promises made by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic in its manifesto. The project was initiated under the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration, but was scrapped by the coalition Administration which had controlled the National Assembly by a one-seat Opposition majority.

AFHP is expected to deliver a steady source of clean, renewable energy that is affordable and reliable, and is envisioned to meet approximately 90 per cent of Guyana’s domestic energy needs, while removing dependency on fossil fuels.

It is expected that the AFHP will be based on a BOOT model, wherein the company would supply electricity to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc at a cost not exceeding US$0.07737 per kWh, and wherein the company would provide the entire equity required by the project and undertake all the risks associated with the project.

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