Black Immigrant Daily News

The government of Barbados launched a planning process to set the foundations for its marine management, in an exercise supported technically and financially by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

This MSP process builds upon Barbados’s longtime work on marine ecosystems and environmental governance. It is also part of Barbados’ commitments under the debt conversion for nature transaction that the Caribbean country signed in September 2022, backed by a US$150 million guarantee from the IDB and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

A Marine Spatial Planning process involves a holistic vision for ocean governance and the participation and inclusion of all key stakeholders. The outcome provides direction to balance development and conservation interests and address the cumulative effects of various human uses of the same space.

In this sense, an MSP goes beyond conservation planning and ocean zoning. It also seeks to balance economic and social development with environmental conservation while enabling dialogue and collaboration between stakeholders. It also considers social and environmental change by monitoring continuously.

The Minister of the Environment and National Beautification of Barbados, the Hon. Adrian Forde, said, “Having the full participation of all stakeholders is essential to this process. We need them to share information about our marine space to ensure that equitable consideration is given to all relevant sectors. We recognize that climate change is real and the impact it has for Barbados, especially along its coastal corridors. Life started with biodiversity – and it will die without it.”

With the leadership of Barbados’ Coastal Zone Management Unit, the MSP will provide planners and decision-makers in Barbados with accurate, current data to inform their decisions. The initial stage of the MSP entails the creation of institutional, financial, legal and policy frameworks.

This MSP process shows Barbados’ commitment to continue strengthening the country’s ownership of this exercise. The MSP also highlights the importance of collaborative work in organizing the use of marine space, balancing demands for development with the need to protect marine ecosystems, conducting planning processes to achieve social and economic objectives, and alleviating pressures on ocean resources.

The IDB is committed to these efforts and will provide technical and financial cooperation. IDB Country Representative, Viviana Alva Hart, said, “We are honored by the trust placed in the IDB by the Government of Barbados to support them in their Marine Spatial Plan, a knowledge driven exercise to protect Barbados’ ocean space. Ensuring that global biodiversity remains rich and brings benefits to everyone will require reducing inequalities and strengthening the work being done by island states. With this launch, we are celebrating an important milestone towards achieving Barbados’ sustainability commitments.”

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Every day when Daniel Marie Carmel’s husband put on his flak vest and walked out the door for another day of fighting Haiti’s gangs, she wondered if he would come home that night.

Friday was the day her smiling spouse of 18 years, Ricken Staniclasse, didn’t.

One of the country’s nearly 200 gangs ambushed his police unit that morning, sending gunfire echoing through the streets in an unexpected area — a mansion-lined stretch of the country’s capital, Port-Au-Prince.

A gang lead by Lionel Lazarre battled the police patrol under the sweltering Caribbean heat as officers desperately called for backup. But help never came, the country’s police union said.

The fighting killed three officers, hospitalised a fourth with bullet wounds and left the 44-year-old Staniclasse missing.

Carmel, meanwhile, was terrified for herself and their three children.

“My husband was fighting a lot with the gangs, and we don’t know what could happen to us,” Carmel, 43, said while curled up on her red couch surrounded by neighbours. “I can’t sleep at the house anymore because I don’t know what could happen to us.”

The firefight was just the latest example of how Haitian gangs have grown in power and expanded in reach, leaving much of the population terrorised.

While the United Nations estimates that 60 per cent of Port-Au-Prince is controlled by the gangs, nowadays most Haitians on the street reckon that number is closer to 100 per cent.

Haiti has struggled with endemic gang violence for years, but the country spiraled into lawlessness after the 2021 killing of former President Jovenel Mo?se.

Powerful gangs have taken advantage of the political chaos and discontent with the current government led by Prime Minister Ariel Henry to further consolidate their control.

The government has failed to ease the violence, forcing many to flee their homes. News of rapes, kidnappings and ambushes on police have become the new norm.

Jolicoeur Allande Serge, director of the police unit that was attacked, said the Friday blitz in the Petion-Ville neighbourhood was a sign of that. He noted that moving into upper class areas “benefits (the gangs’) economic interests.”

Kidnappings and ransoms as high as $1 million have been a key part of the financing for such armed groups.

Meanwhile, police units struggle to keep up.

While Canada and the United States have sent armored vehicles and other supplies to Haiti, law enforcement officials say it is just a fraction of what they really need.

Tensions remained high Saturday, and in the afternoon Serge stood among a pack of armored trucks dented with bullet strikes. Officers holding automatic weapons, their faces covered by black masks, bustled about.

A group of 50 officers was returning to the area where they fought Friday night to try to break a gang blockade and search for the missing officer, Staniclasse.

“I lost three men … We’re not scared. We’re frustrated because we don’t have enough equipment to fight,” Serge said as he watched a convoy of police trucks roll out from the station. “We need ammo, helmets, armored vehicles.”

Analysts expect the bloodshed to get worse, especially after Haiti’s final 10 elected officers ended their Senate terms in early January, leaving the parliament and presidency unfilled because the government has failed to hold elections.

Critics say that has turned Haiti into a “de-facto dictatorship.”

Meanwhile, people like Daniel Marie Carmel feel hope drain for their country. Carmel said her husband always hoped he could help clean up his city. Together, they built a home and a life together. Their 11-year-old son dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps.

“He loved people, he loved to help people,” she said of her husband.

But two years ago, violence began to get so bad in their neighbourhood that they applied for a visa to migrate to the United States, hoping to join an exodus of people leaving Haiti. They never got a reply.

“I don’t know if he’s alive or dead, but I’m worried,” she said. “If we were able to leave the country, my husband would be alive.”

NewsAmericasNow.com