Black Immigrant Daily News

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Karl Samuda, says persons employed in the Canada-Caribbean Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme are well regarded on the farms where they are engaged and are seen as valuable team members.

The Minister noted that on his recent visit to Canada, the farm owners spoke “very highly” of the workers.

“Everyone I spoke to, the message was simply, ‘we don’t know what we would do without the Jamaican workers, and I would extend that to the [other] Caribbean people who are engaged in the programme, because they said to me in a declarative fashion, ‘without these workers we could not survive’.

“That made me very proud as a Jamaican, as a member of the Government of Jamaica and as a Caribbean person. It made me feel a sense of great pride,” Samuda said.

He was addressing the opening ceremony for the programme’s annual review meeting at the Hilton Resort in Montego Bay, St. James.

Minister Samuda said that an expansion of the programme should be considered, noting that this would benefit the Canadian economy and create more opportunities for Caribbean farm workers.

“I am looking forward to the expansion of the programme involving our people, and I speak now of Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean,” he said.

The Minister urged the stakeholders, during the review meeting, to also seek to identify and address weaknesses, including the likelihood of persons going absent while on the programme.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development in Canada, Michael McPhee, said that the agricultural sector in Canada is a major contributor to the economy .and acknowledged the role of farm workers from the Caribbean.

He noted that some 8,000 workers from the region are taking part in the programme this season.

For his part, the President of the Ontario-based Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (FARMS), Ken Forth, commended “the men and women, who have come to our farms to work over the last 56 years”.

The farm group brings workers from around the world to Canada to plant, grow and harvest crops.

“I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. This is a historic programme – 56 years and still relevant. This programme is still in existence today, thanks to farmers and farm workers alike, the persons in this room today and the persons who have sat in this room over the last 50 years. It is important to all of us and all our countries that you all know that,” he said.

The review meeting will end on November 17.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Considered one of the oldest churches in the country, the St. Patrick Anglican Church located in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) went up in flames this morning.

The church, which was established over 180 years ago, is the oldest Church in the Parish and might be the third oldest Church in the entire Berbice.

It is situated at Rose Hall, East Canje.

Reverend Ezra Minty said worship had not been held at the building for just over one year. Reports are also that the building was off grid and has been without electricity.

Rev. Minty believes the fire was deliberately set.

Meanwhile, Divisional Fire Officer Clive McDonald said when the fire service arrived on the scene, the entire building was engulfed.

He too believes that the fire was deliberately set. The building was completely destroyed.

The fire was first seen at about 5:00h.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Fatal accident at Callender’s Christ Church Loop Barbados

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Les pays en développement ont présenté un front uni jeudi, pour exiger un financement pour compenser les ravages que leur cause déjà le changement climatique, un sujet brûlant sur lequel butent les négociations, à un…

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A remorseless child rapist has been jailed for 15 years and three months. Thirty-three-year-old Ray Williams, who groomed his 12-year-old victim, was sentenced on Wednesday when he appeared before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Sexual Offences Court in Georgetown.

By pleading guilty to three counts of child rape, Williams, a coal miner and father of four, did not put the young girl through the harrowing ordeal of a trial.

He first raped the child between February 26 and July 31, 2021, then again between August 1 and 31, 2021, and again between September 1 and 30, 2021.

Notwithstanding his guilty pleas, Williams maintained his innocence.

“I am asking for mercy from the family [of the victim] and for the Judge to have mercy upon me, knowing that this is something I didn’t commit. I’m going to jail for something that I have never done,” said Williams, who appeared in court from prison via Zoom.

According to the sex offender, he pleaded guilty to the charge because “I don’t need to stay long in jail; so, I just admit to what is the crime so that I can pay my time.” He said the victim “knows in her heart” who harassed her.

On the first count of rape, Justice Kissoon sentenced Williams to 12 years in prison. He, however, adjusted the sentence upward for the repeated sexual assault on the girl. As such, Williams was handed prison terms of 13 years and three months and 15 years and three months on the second and third counts respectively. The three jail terms will run concurrently.

In admonishing Williams, whom he described as a “sexual predator”, the Judge told him that he had violated a position of trust as an adult, a husband, a father of four, and a spouse.

Williams was represented by Attorney-at-Law Teriq Mohammed, while State Counsel Cicelia Corbin, in association with State Counsels Caressa Henry and Paneeta Persaud, presented the prosecution’s case.

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