Black Immigrant Daily News

While the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security is amending the Domestic Violence Act of 1966 to impose stringent measures to curb gender-based violence, initiatives such as rehabilitation services for perpetrators of abuse will be rolled out in 2023.

Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud said the Ministry is considering renaming the Act to the ‘Family Violence Act’ which will go together with other pieces of legislation.

“This is not a piece of legislation that will stand on its own. It will be by other legislations like the Bail Act and so that we can have the punitive measures and a big component of this is rehab of the perpetrators” Minister Persaud stated on Wednesday.

She continued, “That is something that will come on stream next year, because I have always believed that sometimes people become violent because that’s what they’re exposed to as young people […] there is so much acceptance of it, so we will have to have these programmes.”

The new law will be crafted to include best practices from around the world.

“We’re also looking at the impact those pieces of legislation had in these parts of the world; we’re looking at our domestic situation. We have merged all of this and we’re looking at how we can be very progressive, very modern but also very protective.”

Minister Persaud said police officers will be mandated to pursue cases of domestic abuse even if the victim refuses to, once there are visible physical marks on the victim’s body.

“We know there’s an age-old problem where people might report domestic violence and when police go, it depends on if the persons say they want to pursue or depends on what the police will do at the time. Once they see evidence of serious bodily harm, you have to.”

The minister believes that all the other measures being put into the new legislation will address the major gaps that currently exist in the gender-based violence situation in Guyana.

In September, Minister Persaud revealed that there are 40 proposed amendments to the archaic law. Amendments will see the insertion of other forms of abuse including economic, emotional, and psychological violence, and the updating of penalties for breach of protection orders.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 26, 2022 (SKNIS): Tourism is considered one of the fastest-growing economic sectors regionally and globally. As such, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has committed to building a more vibrant and resilient tourism industry as it is a critical pathway for the Federation to build better going forward and to recover faster from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This was according to the Governor-General’s Deputy Her Excellency Marcella A. Liburd, JP during her Throne Speech at the Opening of the New Session of the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis since the August 5th General Elections. The parliamentary sitting was held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort Royal Ballroom on Tuesday, October 25, 2022.

“Our new Labour Government is proposing a better way for the expansion of our tourism sector which continues to be one of the critical pillars of development here in the Federation,” said Her Excellency Liburd. “Over the recent past, our tourism industry has shown a lacklustre performance with no major gains in brand recognition or development of the tourism product.  At this time, we want to reassure our citizens that our Government is working assiduously to turn things around.  We are determined to put our tourism sector back on track to contribute more to our national development…

Over the next five years, we will attract at least two new five-star hotels building on the foundation that has already been established with the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis and the Park Hyatt Resort in St. Kitts.  Our Government has put in place a team that will work hard to ensure that an increasing number of visitors will choose St. Kitts and Nevis as a preferred destination.  Our Government, therefore, intends to work with the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) to improve the marketing of our twin island Federation as the premier destination in the Caribbean,” Her Excellency Liburd added.

Her Excellency Liburd said that the government’s “proposal for the expansion of the tourism plant holds great potential to assist in multiple ways to diversify the economy and achieve its development objectives.”

“The addition of Medical Tourism, Sport Tourism, and entertainment related Tourism will flow from robust and ongoing efforts to establish the Federation as a global center for movie and music production and the creative arts in general. The construction of new hotels and other tourism-related infrastructure will provide employment opportunities and facilitate skills transfer in new construction techniques to our local tradesmen and tradeswomen,” said Her Excellency Liburd.

She noted that during the rebuilding phase numerous permanent jobs will be created.

“As we saw in the past, with the build-out of the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis and the Marriott and Park Hyatt Resort in St. Kitts, some of our citizens have been given opportunities to master their craft internationally. We will therefore pursue policies that encourage the promotion of our people working in the tourism industry,” said the Governor-General’s Deputy. “We want to see many more of our citizens being offered the opportunity to work regionally and internationally as top executives in their field of choice. Emphasis will also be placed on training our people to take up the opportunities for work in the industry as employees of the new enterprises that would come on stream or as entrepreneurs managing and growing their own businesses.”

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CHARLESTOWN, NEVIS, OCTOBER 26, 2022 (NIA) — Principals of the seven government-owned primary schools on Nevis were presented with tablets on behalf of their students, a gift from the Windsong Foundation through the Tech Up project.

The 250 Lenovo Tab M10 Plus devices were presented to the principals by Hon. Troy Liburd, Jr. Minister of Education in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), on October 25, 2022, at the Premier’s Ministry conference room at Pinney’s Estate.

In handing over the tablets, Mr. Liburd encouraged the students benefiting from the gift to take care of them.

“I would want to urge all of the young people who are going to be benefiting from these tablets to treat them with care. They are gifts intended for them, to benefit them in their education and in their development as a whole and we want to encourage the parents also to speak with the children to ensure that when they have possession of the tablets that they treat them with the highest possible regard and that they care them,” he said.

The Education Minister noted that the tablets are the first part of the donation and that some laptops are expected shortly.

He thanked the Windsong Foundation for their long relationship with the NIA, and urged members of the corporate community to invest in young people.

“Windsong Foundation has come forward and they have been partnering with the Nevis Island Administration, partnering with the Ministry of Education, partnering with our schools and our young people here on Nevis and we have to say a very big, warm thank you to them…

“Windsong is a charitable organization but they are an externally charitable organization so…I do want to take the opportunity to encourage some of our corporate entities here in the federation to partner with the government, partner with Education, of course, to partner with the young people.

“The young people are the ones who are going to grow up to become the consumers of the future so I want to ask and encourage you to make an investment in them…It’s for the benefit of the young people and once the young people benefit, the country, as a whole, benefits,” he said.

Ms. Zahnela Claxton, Principal Education Officer, described the donation as a significant one.

“These devices are an important contribution towards our greater vision and mission and we know that we have adopted ‘Education for the Future’ as our key phrase for the Department of Education here and the way forward for education…An integral part of providing our students with some of the skills that they need for the future, of course, is technology…and we want our students to be engaged in technology…

“The intention of these devices is that they would be used for our students who may not have access to devices at home. They might not have the socio-economic background where they can be able to have their own devices for use. So these devices will be made available to them through a check-in and -out system,” she said.

The Principal Education Officer expressed hope that all children would have access to technology as they prepare for their future.

“It is our hope that every child will have the opportunity to prepare for the world of work and the general world that they would have to face and part of that is, of course, their access and involvement as it relates to technology.

“We know how much we have been stressing on ensuring that our students access our various platforms, as we reflect on the days not too long ago when we had to be online for our various classes and so there is no child who should be left behind. There is no child who should be disadvantaged because of their parents’ economic situation and so these devices are here through the Tech Up project, our thrust to ensure that our students have equal access,” she said.

Mr. Kevin Barrett, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, chaired the handing over ceremony.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Data from the third quarterly survey of business and consumer confidence have revealed that fewer families received remittances between July and September 2022, due in part to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, those who received remittances were unable to save any of the funds due to the rising cost of living and the need to cover daily living expenses.

Speaking to the comparative third quarter for 2021 and 2022, pollster Don Anderson said while the number of persons who said they were receiving remittances fell to 29 per cent in 2021, the figure fell even further in 2022, to 25 per cent.

Just over 600 consumers and 100 businesses were polled for the Jamaica Conference Board Survey of Business and Consumer Confidence, which was presented by Anderson, the CEO of Market Research Services Limited, on behalf of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) on Tuesday.

“Fewer households are receiving remittances. Based on the information [that] they used the remittance to cushion their financial situation, in a number of households, the situation will more than likely, especially with the price increases, be difficult…,” Anderson said.

What’s more, “When we asked people if they saved any of this, very few are capable of saving any. The bulk of it is distributed in terms of household expenditure, sending children to school, feeding themselves on a daily basis and taking care of their essential needs,” he said.

Consumers also pointed to the impact of inflation on the cost of goods and services over the last year, with 87 per cent of respondents noting that prices have increased significantly.

“So, when you see a fall off in the number of households receiving remittances, you can therefore match that with the concomitant increase in prices and you can see that consumers, despite all the positives they are expressing, are likely to be feeling a greater pinch now… than two years ago,” the pollster said of the analysis of the data.

The JCC began plotting the data on remittances in 2010, Anderson told attendees to the virtual presentation of the data.

He said over the years, the survey has found that “the volume of remittances received in the country has played a very significant role of helping persons, primarily in the lower sector, to meet their daily household expenditure.”

According to Bank of Jamaica data, total remittance inflows for July 2022 stood at $US 305.5 Million with August posting $US307.2 Million. Data for September is not yet available.

The JCC conducted its survey between July 1 to September 15

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Cattle rustling continues to be a major problem faced by farmers in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), and one farmer is seeking the intervention of the Ministry of Agriculture after 53 of his sheep went missing on Monday.

According to that farmer, the disappearance of animals from within the savannah has forced many farmers to take their animals to residential areas where they live, but this creates other issues with crop farmers.

Oudal Budhram, a cattle farmer of Number 55 Village Corentyne, in venting his frustration over the situation, having recently lost 53 sheep, says it is a significant blow to his livelihood. Budhram said that up until Sunday night, he had 62 sheep. On Monday, when he went to the savannah where he had left his animals, he found only ten of them.

“Abie search round the whole area where the sheep dem ah graze, and we couldn’t find the sheep. When we come, we observe about ten young ones; they pick out the big sheep dem and leff the kiddie dem, an carry way all the big sheep dem — fifty-three what me check,” Budrham said.

He has since made a report to the Police. Budram, who also has 20 goats and 15 head of cattle which he keeps at the savannah in the backlands of Number 56 Village, said this is not the first time he has lost sheep as a result of theft. The loss of the animals, he said, has dealt him a tremendous blow, since he depends solely on his stock to make a living.He explained that he has invested over $1M in sheep.

Budhram has been rearing sheep for over four years. He says this is the heaviest loss he has suffered.

“From the big flood, thirty-seven head dead from the flood,” he said while noting that he also lost eleven at one time as a result of theft.

“Last March that gone, I buy five Alsace cow to get milk, because me na wuk no way, so I say I gon milk dem cow and get lil money. It cost me $1.5M, and dem man go away with all five, and now they go away with over $1M worth in sheep fo me. Me na know wah fo turn to now,” he continued.

Cattle rustling and the theft of small ruminants has been one of the major issues affecting animal farmers on the Upper Corentyne.

According to Budhram, other farmers in the community have been losing small animals, but this is the first time so many were stolen at one time.

Apart from this, farmers have to deal with attacks by jaguars, pythons and alligators, even dogs which go to the savannah and feast on the newly born.

However, Budhram strongly believes his missing animals were the victims of theft.

Only recently, Police officials in the region said they would be paying more attention to cattle rustling, and promised results before the end of October. This was after farmers had complained that the law enforcement officers seemed inept in dealing with the situation.Meanwhile, a butcher from New Amsterdam has been placed before the court for cattle rustling and related charges.

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