Black Immigrant Daily News

Prime Minister of St. Lucia Philip Pierre has urged CARICOM member states to redouble efforts towards fixing the region’s transportation issues and removing lingering trade barriers.

The regional leader said last weekend that the absence of any reliable transportation network in and around member states, given the “unfortunate demise of LIAT”, was a major hindrance to modern cooperation which regional leaders need to address as a matter of urgency.

“Travelling around the region has become a nightmare, both from the standpoint of high fares and reduced flight availability. It is having an undermining effect on the economic prospects of the region… This state of affairs must not be allowed to continue for much longer.Addressing the annual Errol Barrow Memorial Lecture hosted by the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus last Friday, Pierre said “The issue of regional air and sea transportation must be approached from the premise that regional transportation is a regional public good, and as such, governments must invest in and finance it because it is a duty they owe the people of the Caribbean.”

Examining the future of CARICOM as it celebrates 50 years and the legacy of Errol Barrow as a Caribbean champion, Pierre noted that though Barrow, along with Prime Ministers Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Michael Manley of Jamaica and Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas in 1973 with the intent of creating CARICOM with deeper ties between the islands, this vision has unfortunately been hindered in several areas.

He said that despite the phased approach to freedom of movement throughout the islands, there were still difficulties with national legislation and administrative frameworks falling short of what was required at this stage.

Pierre added: “Regional integration in the Caribbean will never be effective if the people cannot, and do not have the means and the systems to move freely between the islands and to easily communicate between themselves and share their ambitions and their experiences with each other. How can we be serious about building a vibrant regional community and single market, if the people who are the main participants, can not get around the region freely and affordably?”

According to the St Lucia PM, one of the key pillars of CARICOM – economic integration, which is supported by the philosophy of free trade – has also been slow in its adoption across the various member countries to a worrying degree. He stressed that the removal of the current trade barriers between the islands was a must.

“If free trade, therefore, is to be a more significant stimulant to economic development throughout the region, and therefore positively impact the lives and living standards of the peoples of the region, then in the decades ahead CARICOM member states must make a concerted effort to dramatically increase trade by removing the outmoded barriers that still encumber genuine free trade,” he explained.

Pierre also pointed to the colonial era’s influences on economic policies as another factor that needs to be corrected in order to improve the social and economic output of CARICOM.

“There is a school of thought that believes that in the CARICOM context, the freeing of trade among member states is necessary but insufficient to obtain the gains of economic integration. It argues that it also necessitates the removal of colonial economic and social structures and production and consumption patterns that have kept the region at a low level of development.

“It is clear that if CARICOM is to deliver on raising the standards of living of its people, as Errol Barrow had hoped, the deepening of regional integration through the CSME, must proceed at 50 times the pace of integration during the next 50 years.

“We must revisit with some urgency the agreement for a single economy, whose attainment is now a goal on a distant horizon.”Pierre reminded attendees that it was the duty of citizens and leaders within the region, to fully support the true purpose and ideology behind CARICOM, as it will serve as an integral support and development body for all.

“As CARICOM ends the first 50 years of regional integration, I urge all of us, leaders and citizens alike, to adopt the approach of Errol Barrow and the other leaders, that in this journey, the only goal must be to see the Caribbean fully integrated so that in 50 years’ time CARICOM would not have gone, but CARICOM would have become, not a community of states, but a truly integrated community of the peoples of the Caribbean – economically prosperous, socially advanced, culturally confident, and proudly independent.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Action for Primates, a UK-based project that campaigns on behalf of non-human primates globally, is urging the Governor of Sint Maarten to abandon plans to kill the entire population of vervets (African green monkeys), believing that such drastic and inhumane action will not only be ineffective, but it will also tarnish the reputation of Sint Maarten as a popular Caribbean holiday destination.

A letter has been sent to Governor Ajamu G. Baly by Dr Nedim Buyukmihci, co-founder of Action for Primates and a veterinarian with many years practical experience working with non-human primates, including reproductive control, as well as advising on education and humane methods of resolving issues related to negative interactions between people and non-human primates.

In the letter, Dr Buyukmihci points out the inhumanity of the capturing and killing of hundreds of vervets, as well as the ineffectiveness of using such lethal means to resolve the issue of conflicts between the monkeys and people. In particular, he noted:

– “It is stated that the vervets in question will be trapped and killed over the next three years. But, as this is being done over this length of time, there will be an increase in pressure for the vervets to reproduce. It is almost certain that there will be a surge in births, increasing the number of individuals.”

– “Regardless of the timeline, however, given the Sint Maarten terrain, it is highly unlikely that every vervet will be captured, allowing those remaining to continue to reproduce.”

– “There is also the issue of vervets residing in neighbouring French St Martin. There will be nothing to keep them from expanding their range into Sint Maarten.”

Instead, Dr Buyukmihci advocates the adoption of measures that can be taken to humanely reduce the negative interactions between vervets and people without having to resort to killing the vervets, and provides a comprehensive review of the issue. Considerations for non-lethal resolution include reproductive control such as sterilisation combined with education programmes to help the public deal with and prevent negative interactions with monkeys.

Rather than dismiss vervets as a ‘pest’ or a nuisance and killing them, Action for Primates appeals to the government and communities of Sint Maarten to adopt a humane approach to the situation.

The fact that vervets are non-native is irrelevant. Not only have they been on Sint Maarten for over 400 years, having been brought there by people, and are now part of the ecosystem, they are living, sentient individuals who share many of the important characteristics we value in ourselves. They experience pain, suffering and distress similarly to people.

It is not their fault that they are there and they should not have to pay for this human-caused problem with their lives. With the globally growing acknowledgement of the negative impact human activities are having on the planet and its inhabitants, it is more important than ever that we reassess the way we not only treat non-human primates, but how we humanely resolve negative interactions.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved today a disbursement of SDR 81.9 million (US$105 million) to Haiti under the Food Shock Window of the Rapid Credit Facility[1] to help Haiti address urgent balance of payment needs related to the global food crisis.

Haiti has been hit hard by the global food price shock. Record price inflation has worsened Haiti’s fragility given the high pass through from global to domestic food prices and shortages in food supplies. With more than half the population already below the poverty line, Haiti faces a dire humanitarian crisis, with an expected financing gap in FY2023 of at least US$105 million (0.5 percent of GDP), assuming import compression and pending additional external financing from development partners. This shock compounds the hardships of an already highly fragile country–also suffering a public health emergency (cholera) and serious security risks.

Following the Executive Board’s discussion, Antoinette Sayeh, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, issued the following statement:

“Haiti is facing a dire humanitarian crisis and was hit hard by the economic spillovers from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These spillovers included record price inflation that worsened Haiti’s fragility and compounded the suffering of Haiti’s population already affected by a severe malnutrition. Measures are being taken by the government to cushion the impact of the food price shocks on the population and to expand the social safety nets.

“IMF emergency support under the food shock window of the Rapid Credit Facility will help fill the balance of payment gap and support those most affected by food price rises through feeding programs and cash and in-kind transfers to vulnerable households, waives school fees and other measures.

“To address the crisis, budgetary resources will need to be allocated toward priority spending on food programs and to increase social assistance toward the most vulnerable. To ensure the appropriate use of emergency financing, which will be vital for catalyzing further donor support and mitigate risks to debt sustainability, the authorities should carefully control, track, record, and publish all spending related to the emergency response. Supported by close Fund engagement, they should undertake internal expenditure audits by all the line ministries involved in the use of emergency resources provided under the food shock window through the General Inspectorate of Finance and communicate these internal audits to the Supreme Audit Court in a timely way.

“The combination of appropriate macroeconomic and structural policies under the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) provides additional safeguards for the Fund’s outstanding obligations. While providing adequate liquidity support to the financial sector, the central bank should reduce monetary financing of the deficit and limit foreign exchange interventions to smoothing volatility.

“The SMP is also catalytic to donor support. A successful implementation of Haiti’s SMP would be key in the process of restoring macroeconomic stability and sustainability, strengthening the social safety net, and tackling governance weaknesses and corruption.”

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