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Het congres van de Nationale Partij Suriname (NPS) heeft zondag bij de meeste aanwezigen een zeer onbevredigend gevoel achtergelaten. De
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Remembrance Day Ceremonies will take place on Sunday, November 13; followed by a public holiday on Monday, November 14 in observance of veterans who lost their lives in the line of duty.
The Grand Cayman ceremony will be held at the Cenotaph outside Elmslie Memorial United Church in George Town – which will also be streamed live on CIGTV channels.
The Cayman Brac ceremony will take place in front of the War Memorial Cenotaph in Stake Bay.
Ceremonies are open to the public, and will start precisely at 10.45 a.m. Attendees and participants are asked to be assembled and seated by 10.30am.
The public is being asked to be mindful that road closures around the events will occur to ensure safe passage of the parade.
Individuals or religious organisations who wish to pay their respects by laying wreaths at the Cenotaph or the War Memorial, please email protocol@gov.ky by Monday, November 7.
Everyone attending the ceremony is encouraged to wear a poppy.
Donations for poppies are encouraged but discretionary. Donations are used to assist veterans or their widows to ensure that they receive the help they need to live with comfort, dignity and appreciation.
Poppies can be collected from the Government Administration Building on Grand Cayman and the District Administration Building on Cayman Brac.
(Source: Cayman Islands Government)
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Extended opening hours at several health facilities in SERHA region
Working not allowed when visiting the US on a tourist visa
Senate approves Order – gun amnesty begins Saturday, November 5
Justices of the peace receive Government email accounts
Performance-based promotion for correctional officers – Mayne
Climate change threatens attainment of the SDGs, says UWI Professor
New Building Water Supply System commissioned in St Elizabeth
Mandeville Art Fair opens November 10
What’s Up? Stacious is ‘flowing, growing and just living life’
14 hrs ago
What’s Up? with Stacious
NEWYou can now listen to Loop News articles!
Reggae-dancehall artiste Stacious is “flowing, balancing, working, growing, and just living life”.
The singjay, who is also a radio host and entrepreneur, talks about her entry into the music business, equality in the industry and drops a few gems for upcoming artistes.
Also, did we mention that the ‘Come Into My Room’singer, whose real name is Stacey Scarlett-Bryan, also dishes on her dream collab?
Check out this week’s What’s Up? produced by Ramon Lindsay.
When Sean-Paul Morgan and Kadian Thomas established a bar and grill three years ago in Portmore, St Catherine, the selling point they pitched to patrons was: “you don’t have to cross the toll for a go
The Ministry of Health & Wellness says it has received a report of the discovery of a deceased foetus in the sewer at the Kingston Public Hospital.
The ministry made the disclosure late T
The police have listed 29-year-old Nesta Morrison, otherwise called ‘Bigga Crime’ or ‘Grimy Boss’, as one of the most wanted men who has been wreaking havoc in the 11 Miles Area of Bull Bay, St Thomas
As the destination continues its strong tourism recovery, Jamaica has welcomed over two million stopover arrivals for 2022 as of October in line with previous projections.
“It is truly gratifying t
Three people are dead and 13 others injured following a two-vehicle crash on Melrose Hill bypass in Manchester on Friday.
Reports are that at about 11:30am, a taxi driver was operating a white moto
Twelve-year-old Whitley-Rae Davis was not surprised when she found out that she had earned a spot at Campion College in St Andrew, following the release of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) results in Ju
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A two-week gun amnesty is to take effect on Saturday, November 5 following the approval of the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) (Firearms Amnesty) Order 2022 by the Senate, on Friday, November 4.
The amnesty is slated to end at midnight on Saturday, November 19.
The Order, which will facilitate the amnesty, was moved by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator Matthew Samuda. It was approved by the House of Representatives on November 1.
Samuda said the amnesty is the last opportunity for those who hold or are in possession of illegal firearms or ammunition, to avoid significant prison sentences, and forms an important milestone in Jamaica’s fight against illegal guns.
He urged those possessing illegal firearms or ammunition to make full use of the amnesty.
“There is significant data… to show that members of gangs cannot be rehabilitated in three and a half years, which has been the average of many of our firearm sentences; this changes that,” the minister said.
Matthew Samuda (file photo)
“This gives us a fresh start in the war against illegal firearms. It is not a panacea, it’s not a silver bullet, it’s a part of a suite of investments, a suite of interventions (and) legislation, which must come together for us to break the back of this scourge,” Samuda added.
Breaches of the new Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022, which is now in effect, will result in penalties ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment.
The minister said once the amnesty expires, the full force of the law is expected to be applied to anyone found in possession of an illegal firearm or ammunition.
Samuda stated that firearm amnesties, such as the one that is the subject of the Order, are not unique to Jamaica, because they have been used successfully around the world as an operational tool to reduce the high levels of armed violence resulting from the proliferation of firearms and ammunition.
He further said for the last 25 years, Jamaica recorded, on average, 1,270 murders annually, the vast majority of the homicides have been committed with illegal firearms, adding that the firearm is the weapon of choice for murders and other acts of crime and armed violence in Jamaica.
The minister said since 2018, the security forces have taken more than 3,200 illegal firearms from the streets, and in excess of 53,000 rounds of ammunition. Each year, the forces have seized upwards of 625 firearms.
He added that as at October 31, 2022, a total of 652 firearms had been seized, representing an 11 per cent increase over the 585 that were recorded for the same period in 2021.
Peter Bunting (file photo)
“I want to emphasise that the aim of this measure is not to reveal the identities of the persons who comply with the amnesty. The amnesty is also intended to provide an opportunity for licence holders who are in possession of expired authorisations to surrender their weapons to the (Firearm Licensing) Authority (FLA),” he said.
The conditions for the surrender of firearms or ammunition are outlined in the Order. These may be handed over to a sub-officer or senior sub-officer on duty at any police station; any designated officer at a Firearms Licensing Authority (FLA) location; or to an attorney-at-law on behalf of an individual seeking the amnesty, for delivery to the nearest police station.
Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, Peter Bunting, said the Opposition is in support of all efforts to tackle the issue of crime in the country, “so long as the methods employed are within the ambit of our laws and constitution.”
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Check out this weekly feature for practical tips and information on living in, working, studying, and visiting the USA.
Many people visit the US on visitor’s (tourist) visas, which are officially called the B1/B2 visa.
Every visitor gets one of a range of timeframes for the visa – a single entry, a one-year multiple entry, a five-year multiple entry, or a 10-year multiple entry. But, many don’t realise that the visa has specific legal requirements that holders must follow.
The most important requirement of the visitor’s visa is that visitors are prohibited from working in the USA.
The visa is to allow individuals to visit friends and family and experience the US as a tourist and then to return home at the end of the visit. So, usually, the visit would range from a few days to a longer time frame.
When visitors land in the USA, their passports are stamped with a time frame, the maximum time is six months. For the past few years, the border officers are not stamping the passport, but they are entering that six-month time frame into their database.
So, even if nothing is in the passport, it is in their electronic database.
Unfortunately, many persons breach the requirements of the visitor’s visa in several ways. The most common breach is by working.
Working is not allowed in any form on a visitor’s visa, so it doesn’t matter if the work is housesitting in exchange for free accommodations and so no actual money is being exchanged, or if the work is in a place where a pay cheque is given.
So, people find all sorts of employment and begin to work, usually what is called “working under the table”, as they are not legally allowed to work and are, therefore, paid, usually in cash.
If they had a social security number from a long time ago (eg for school) they might use that to help to get a job. If US immigration officers do an audit visit of the workplace and persons do not have legal authorisation to work, they will be in breach and deported. The employers also face hefty fines.
Even if persons appear to get away with working illegally, they could be flagged and extensively questioned when leaving the country and especially when coming back, because immigration has various red flags that they look for in various scenarios.
Red flags include large sums of unexplained cash, having stayed much longer than the original time told to border immigration officers, regularly coming to the USA in a short period of time and claiming to be on vacation, and online communication showing a clear intention of plans for working or actually previously working.
Persons may be questioned extensively and rigorously and sometimes admit that they were working. In those cases, they are often put back on the next plane home and their visitors’ visas are immediately revoked.
Another breach is that persons stay longer than the maximum time of six months allowed because they hold a visa that says, for example, “one-year multiple entry, five-year multiple entry or 10-year multiple entry”. People incorrectly think it allows remaining over six months because the visa page has this notation. That is incorrect, but many people don’t seem to know.
They end up being “visa overstays” or as Caribbean people say “they run off”.
They then run the risk of being deported from the USA if found, as well as being barred from re-entry for a long period if they do leave and try to return to the USA. These persons are also viewed negatively by the US immigration authorities if they try to apply for other US immigration benefits later on, so it makes sense to be very careful.
Visit and have fun, enjoying friends, family and the scenes, sights and sounds of the USA on your visitor’s visa and return home when your visit is over.
*This article does not constitute legal advice and is intended for informational purposes only.
Nadine C Atkinson-Flowers is admitted to practice in the USA and Jamaica. Her US practice is in the area of immigration, while her Jamaican practice areas include immigration and general legal consultancy. She has been an attorney for over 15 years in Jamaica and has written articles for several legal publications. She is passionate about access to justice issues and volunteers with several legal, business, children and community service organisations in Jamaica and the US. She can be contacted at info@atkinsonflowerslaw.com
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The inter-island ferry APT James arrives at the Scarborough Port, Tobago. File photo/Jeff K Mayers
The Trinidad and Tobago inter-island Transportation Company Litd (TTIT) has reported that it transported 21,178 passengers on the seabridge between October 24 and November 2. The inaugural Tobago carnival was officially held from October 28-30, but there was a huge demand in Trinidad to reach Tobago earlier in the week.
On October 28, the official start of the carnival, there were 3,161 passengers on eight trips on the seabridge.
There were ten trips on October 31,which facilitated 3,196 passengers.
TTIT said the inter-island ferries conducted 62 trips, inclusive of ten additional trips, to/from Tobago. There were 8,105 vehicles on-board. TTIT thanked all travellers for choosing its service.
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Wedding pic of Shamzard Mohommed at wife Keisha Bostic. Mohammed shot and killed his wife and later took his own life
A 42-year-old teacher from San Fernando died in hospital on Friday morning after her estranged husband ambushed and shot her multiple times, then turned the gun on himself.
Keisha-Marina Bostic, of Drayton Street, died shortly after 7 am.
Her estranged husband Shamzard Mohammed, of Reece Road in Barrackpore, died in the yard of her family’s home.
The police found a gun with ammunition next to the body.
Marva Bostic, mother of Keisha Bostic, cries openly on learning her daughter who is a teacher and lawyer was shot outside her home on Drayton Street, San Fernando, by her husband Shamzard Mohammed on Friday morning. Photo by Lincoln Holder
Distraught relatives who gathered at the house said the couple married in January. Bostic was staying in Barrackpore but returned about two months ago to live at her family’s home in San Fernando.
The house is metres away from the Anstey Memorial Girls’ Anglican School. A few students could be seen on the school grounds.
The police said at around 6.30 am, Bostic was driving her car out of the yard to head to work at a secondary school in Point Fortin.
Mohammed blocked her pathway with his car, confronted her and shot her several times.
Relatives took her to the San Fernando General Hospital. Bostic was also an attorney.
Mohammed, 40, who worked as a contractor, then shot himself. The police said he had a firearm user’s licence.
Bostic’s mother, Marva Bostic, was inconsolable as she sat on a chair and waited for the police to remove Mohammed’s body from her yard.
People surrounded her and tried to comfort her. She did not mince words in expressing her grief and anger, calling on the police to get “that garbage” out of her yard. She also made suggestions as to what should be done with his body.
“He did it because she left him,” the bereaved mother said.
Crime scene investigators process the car driven by Shamzard Mohammed who shot his wife Keisha Bostic on Drayton street San Fernando in a murder-suicide. Photo by Lincoln Holder
Marva recalled leaving the house at around 5.30 am on Friday. She got a call about the tragedy around 7 am and returned.
Marva Bostic has now lost both her adult children to gun violence.
Her son Daniel Kenneth Bostic, 35, was shot and killed on July 1, 2015, in the Juma Masjid in San Fernando. The police said a man walked up from behind and shot him. The father of two fell to the ground, and the gunman shot him several more times before running away. That shooting happened in the month of Ramadan.
No one has been arrested for Daniel’s killing.
On the latest murder, senior superintendent of the Southern Division Richard Smith offered condolences to the Bostic family and “all the other families concerned in this tragedy.”
“We pray that our nation recovers from all the violence we see. We are asking that people exercise restraint, compassion, and love in responding to situations,” Smith told Newsday.
Although the couple were estranged, the police said no related domestic-violence reports had been filed at any police station in the division.
Smith said the police regularly patrol the district, especially in school zones.
Photo by Lincoln Holder
Southern Division police including Insps Phillip and Lewis were at the scene. Homicide Bureau Region III police including Supt Dhillpaul, Insp Jones, acting Sgt Deo, Cpl Smith and PC Ramoutar also visited and gathered evidence.
San Fernando major Junia Regrello met the Bostic family and offered condolences. He said Bostic was a former secretary of the PNM’s San Fernando West constituency group. He also referred to her as a hardworking and committed young woman. Bostic’s mother was also a PNM activist.
“This is another murder that would add to the growing number that we are disturbed about. There are so many stories of what went on. The fact is a mother lost another child. Let us hope that our main focus should be to be responsible and get our act together,” Regrello said. “There is no right way to do the wrong thing. Two families are now suffering because of the indiscretion of one person.”
On Friday afternoon, Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby- Dolly, Minister in the Ministry Lisa Morris-Julian, as well as the executive team and staff of the ministry offered their “deepest condolences” to the bereaved family.
A post from the ministry via its social media pages said Bostic was a teacher at the Point Fortin East Secondary School.
The post added, “The Student Support Services Division of the ministry has been informed of the tragic incident and will provide all the necessary support to the staff and students during this difficult time. May her soul rest in peace.”
The TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) also took to social media to mourn the death of its “fallen comrade.”
The association also offered heartfelt condolences to Bostic’s colleagues, students, family and friends.
“Words cannot express the sorrow and sadness we feel at the passing of our comrade, Keisha-Marina Bostic. We acknowledge and appreciate her contribution to the education sector,” a Facebook post from TUTTA said.
“Our prayer is that God comforts you during this difficult period. May your hearts find solace in remembering her light, beauty and laughter.”
The Institute of Law and Academic Studies, commonly called ILAS, based in Chaguanas, also took to social media about Bostic’s murder.
Photo by Lincoln Holder
“Brutally snatched away from us. RIP Keisha. Condolences to your loved ones. This is all we can say at this time,” the post said, followed by an emoji of a broken heart.
Friday’s murder-suicide is not the first for the year.
On April 1, primary schoolteacher Amar Deobarran, 41, chopped and killed his wife Omatie, 36, at their home at Oropouche South Trace, Barrackpore. The mother of two worked as a supervisor at Bankers Insurance Ltd in Chaguanas. Deobarran drank poison and died hours after the attack.
Two weeks later, on April 16, Coast Guard officer Kester Williams shot and killed his wife, Sharsa Alfonso-David, and himself at their home at Edinburgh 500 in Chaguanas. Both were 47. Alfonso-David was a deputy general secretary of the Banking, Insurance and General Workers’ Union (BIGWU) in Barataria.
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Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds . File photo/Jeff Mayers
NATIONAL Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds and Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly assured members of the House of Representatives on Friday that steps are being taken to ensure the safety of students and teachers at Rose Hill RC Primary School in Laventille after a shooting incident near the school on Monday.
Responding to a question from Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, Hinds told MPs that he visited the school on Thursday along with members of the police service and Defence Force.
He said, “The actual shooting incident took place about 200 metres from the school.”
School administrators, Hinds continued, told him in the presence of the police that “they were satisfied that at no stage in that event, were the children at peril, or any physical harm.”
He accepted that the sound of gunfire was traumatising and troubling for everyone.
Hinds said the school is overseen by the Catholic School Board and the board has ensured that the students have been taught certain safety practices over the years.
“The children reacted accordingly.”
Moonilal asked Hinds if he was the author of a Facebook post which claimed that a video which showed students lying on the floor of their classroom while gunshots were heard, was misleading and the students “were not in any imminent danger.”
Hinds did not answer the question.
He said the police will increase the number of static patrols in the area around the school.
“In other words, they remain on that and surrounding locations far more permanently.”
Hinds said the police will also offer counselling sessions for staff and students.
“I am satisfied that the police are fully aware of the goings on in that area and they have identified the technical solutions they propose to put in place to put a more safe and comfortable environment for the staff and the students.”
Moonilal asked if similar approaches would be taken in other parts of TT which face similar challenges.
Hinds said, “Most certainly and I can emphasise as well that one of the major planks in the police’s effort in this matter and more generally, is the question of firearm retrieval.”
He reiterated that law enforcement agencies continue to grapple with efforts to take illegal firearms “out of the hands of the criminals and let them join the 7,000 (firearms) that we already have in hand for destruction after the legal processes of arrest and charge and conviction of those (people) who were found in possession of them.”
Responding to a question from Naparima MP Rodney Charles, Gadsby-Dolly described the incident as most traumatic. Her ministry will be providing support for students and teachers at the school.
She said the school has a guidance counsellor and a “dedicated school social worker has been deployed (at the school) for the next six weeks to offer counselling to the students.”
The ministry’s students support division will meet with the parents of students to offer them “focused support in trauma management.” Gadsby-Dolly said the ministry’s employee assistance programme has been offering support to teachers at the school since Monday.
“The school is carded to resume physical operations next Wednesday with the TT Police Service providing sustained presence for the duration of school days for a period to be determined.
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File photo: PEP political leader Phillip Edward Alexander.
THE political leader of the Progressive Empowerment Party (PEP), Phillip Edward Alexander, has written to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to investigate claims by former commissioner of police Gary Griffith over an alleged $45 million “inducement” from the Prime Minister to pursue political opponents.
The letter was hand-delivered on Thursday afternoon. It asks the DPP to direct an investigation and unearth whether any law was broken.
At a media conference on Friday morning, Alexander said, “If there are no laws to restrain Dr Rowley directing the police service to go after political opponents, the question is why?”
In a short video circulating on social media, Griffith made the allegation during a political meeting hosted by his party, the National Transformation Alliance. He claimed while he served as police commissioner, Rowley gave him the money and told him, “These funds are to be used directly to hire a foreign attorney to arrest political opponents.’ (In) any other country in the world this government would have collapsed,” Griffith commented.
Alexander felt now this information has been made public, the DPP was the best person to say whether any wrong was done.
If this is true, he said, it would mean the government had tried to manipulate and influence the police authority and the justice system for political gain.
“The question is, why? That seems to be the living definition of misbehaviour in public office. And on the heels of Nelsongate, the government, through its former attorney general, demonstrated that it was willing to do anything to undermine the rule of law to go after political opponents, whether they’re guilty or innocent – that is besides the point. The point is, the government used underhanded illegal methods to try and prosecute and jail political opponents.”
Alexander also questioned the integrity of Griffith. “This is not something that you were supposed to sit on. If you’re bringing it out in the public space now, you could have brought it out in the public space then. What is the purpose of bringing it into the public space now – sensationalism?
“…The political directorate is not supposed to be able to direct the police service. That is what the separation of powers is for. The police service is supposed to say that we need $500 million to operate. It is the remit of the justice system of the DPP, of the police service, to identify where wrong has been done and crimes have been committed, and to use the funds available to them for that.”
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One hundred and twenty-nine (129) Saint Lucians received their certificates at a graduation ceremony held on Thursday, October 27, at the Pastoral Centre, in Marisule, Gros Islet.
The graduates participated in the “Youth and Women’s Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion” and “Business Incubator for Start-up Enterprises” programmes, both of which are funded by the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
The graduation ceremony was the culmination of months of professional training for the entrepreneurs facilitated by Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC).
Seventy-three (73) graduates completed the Jennès Vocational Skills Training Programme, while fifty-six (56) did the Business Incubator for Start-up Enterprises Programme.
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Graduates who received certificates for the Youth and Women’s Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion Programme did either of three courses: Digital and Creative Entrepreneurship, Early Childhood Development, and Heath Aide. Special awards were also presented to students who performed exceptionally. Recipients of the Top Achiever Trophy were as follows:
Elaine Clersaint — Health Aide (South)
Lisa Yarde — Health Aide (North)
Lenora Moses — Digital and Creative Entrepreneurship
Nola Alexander — Early Childhood Development
In his remarks, His Excellency Peter Chia-yen Chen, Taiwan’s Ambassador to Saint Lucia, congratulated the graduates for their hard work, and encouraged them to make the most of what they learned for the betterment of their communities.
“Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy once said the following: ‘We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.’ What Kennedy was basically saying is that while we have time, we must make the most practical use of it. Over the past few months, graduates, you have done just that. You’ve made the best use of your time to turn yourself more professionally into entrepreneurs. We could not be more proud of you, so you deserve a big round of applause,” Ambassador Chen told the graduates.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Merle St. Clair-Auguste, Acting Principal of SALCC, congratulated the graduates for persevering despite facing many challenges along the way. She urged them to use their knowledge gained to make a meaningful contribution to society.
“You are well on your way to contributing meaningfully to your country, to your community,” she told the graduates. “You are using your talents, skills, creativity, and experience to work and share with your friends, family and us to improve all of our lives.”
Ms. Esther Rigobert, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, was also one of the speakers at the graduation. She urged the graduates to challenge themselves by always striving for excellence.
“You all have achieved something significant,” Rigobert told the graduates. “You are all dreamers. It started with an idea and you dared to dream. You desired to enhance your skills and abilities, to develop your product concepts, to seek the support of the Government and other stakeholders, and to participate more meaningfully in our nation’s development.”
Other special guests at the graduation ceremony included Dr. Pauline Antoine-Prospere, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training; Mr. Elsi Lafeuille, Director for Commerce and Industry; and Mr. Ajani Lebourne, Guest Speaker — Youth Leader, Training and Development Professional.
SOURCE: Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
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