Vybz Kartel and his Attorney Reacts To Privy Council Appeal Ruling

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Urban Islandz

Vybz Kartel and his attorney Isat Buchanan both called out false media reports about his ongoing appeal on Tuesday.

The artist had filed a November 2021 application to introduce fresh evidence in his ongoing appeal before the Privy Council, Jamaica’s highest court of appeal. The artist’s appeal in the UK, filed in November 2020, is still active before the appellate court, and a decision is yet to be made.

Amid misleading reports that his appeal was denied, the artist called out Jamaican media for hastily reporting false information.

“Like I’ve always said, its like the Star just takes up random people off the streets and turn them into reporters but tell the badmind Jamaica media #TheCometsComing,” Vybz Kartel’s label page.

Vybz Kartel’s attorney Isat Buchanan also shared that the ruling on Tuesday (February 21) meant that the artist was denied permission to pursue his appeal on two aspects but that his substantive appeal is yet to be heard at a future later date.

Fox 5’s Lisa Evers also shared that Buchanan said that reports about the appeal being denied were false.

“…The APPEAL IS STILL ON & that the false reports apparently stem from a misunderstanding of the complicated legal process,” Buchanan said.

via Instagram

Vybz Kartel is presently incarcerated, awaiting the outcome of his appeal. The artist was convicted in 2014 along with Andre St. John, Kahira Jones, and Shawn Campbell.

The legendary dancehall artist was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for the murder. His lawyers argued that he did not receive a fair trial due to the issues that took place with not only the case being high profile and attracting undue publicity but also because a juror was charged for attempting to bribe the jury foreman and others whom he offered $500,000 to vote not to convict Kartel.

The artist’s attorneys also raised issues with the evidence from Kartel’s Blackberry phones used to convict him, claiming that the phones were tampered with.

Vybz Kartel’s appeal to Jamaica’s Court of Appeal shaved off Two and a half years from his 35-year sentence before he is eligible for parole due to an oversight by the trial judge.

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Caribbean Sargassum project to develop innovative products for climate resilience advances to new phase

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service
Sargassum inundation defaces coastline of Saint Lucia fishing community (June 2022)

Sargassum seaweed influxes have been a bane to the Caribbean since 2011, but the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) and Plant & Food Research (PFR), a New Zealand government-owned Crown Research Institute, are advancing a regional project aimed at turning Sargassum into innovative products that will create jobs and income as well as contribute to building the region’s climate resilience and mitigating the negative impacts of Sargassum in the region.

During 2023, the CRFM and Plant & Food Research –in partnership with other public and private sector institutions in the Caribbean region–will focus on lab-scale work and field trials to develop suitable prototype products from the Sargassum seaweed for commercial use.

A team from the CRFM Secretariat and Plant & Food Research recently visited Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados to meet with key stakeholders as they advance the second phase of the project titled, Developing Sargassum Products for Climate Resilience in the Caribbean.

Milton Haughton, Executive Director of the CRFM said: “Sargassum remains a major problem for our countries, coastal communities, and business enterprises, especially those in the fisheries and tourism sectors operating in the coastal and marine environment. We had a very productive mission to Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago meeting with partners and stakeholders with an interest in creating value-added products from the Sargassum. We are very confident that we can work together with interested partners to develop viable products and generate jobs and income streams for our people from this natural resource (Sargassum) that has been inundating our waters and beaches over the past 12 years. Our focus now is on developing and testing these prototype products and processes using the Sargassum. We will also be developing a product commercialization strategy.”

Fishers in Barbados are among stakeholders who have been adversely affected by the Sargassum influxes

Rosie Paterson-Lima, International Development Program Manager at Plant & Food Research, said her organisation’s involvement was made possible by funding from the New Zealand Government International Development Cooperation Programme.

“It is exciting for us to work in partnership in the region on this challenge, and to bring our expertise in agronomy, value chain analysis, and commercialisation. Together our goal is to minimise the problems caused by Sargassum by creating viable economic opportunities for the region. We are delighted to have Barbadian Dr Terrell Thompson joining the project delivery team recently as a consultant. Dr Thompson is a chemicals and materials engineer with impressive expertise and experience in the Sargassum industry,” Paterson-Lima said.

The mission spanned 30 January to 11 February 2023. In Trinidad and Tobago, the team met representatives of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI), the Engineering Faculty of the University of the West Indies, the Association of Caribbean States, the Caribbean Private Sector Organisation (CPSO), and representatives of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. In Barbados, the parties met with officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Division, and the National Conservation Commission of the Government of Barbados, UWI – Cave Hill Campus, the European Union, CARDI, UNDP, FAO, the Fisherfolk Organisations and the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology. The purpose of these engagements was to share information on the Project and to explore opportunities for collaboration and strengthened partnerships under the project.

The CRFM and Plant & Food Research have successfully completed the first phase of the project, during which they worked with partners in Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic to conduct Sargassum raw material safety testing and review of potential products that could be made from the Sargassum. They are embarking now on the second phase of the project, which is Product and Process Development.

Sargassum blooms in the Atlantic have already begun, and they are expected to inundate the Caribbean region by April 2023. The Outlook of 2023 Sargassum blooms in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, released by the University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Lab on 1 February 2023, revealed that, “The overall Sargassum quantity in the Atlantic Ocean doubled from December 2022 to January 2023 (8.7 million tons), again setting a new record (previous January record was 6.5 million tons in 2018).” The outlook noted that this is the second consecutive monthly doubling of Sargassum, previously observed only in 2018, and all indications are that the Sargassum biomass will continue to accumulate and migrate westward over the next several months. Climate change has been identified as one of the major contributing factors to this phenomenon which has been affecting our region–and principally our coastal fishing communities–for the past 12 years.

The CRFM-Plant & Food Research collaboration will identify and use appropriate sustainable technologies for efficient harvesting of Sargassum, according to international best practices. The final phase is outreach and supply chain development, which would entail the dissemination of a model to industry stakeholders and wider Caribbean.

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American Airlines apologises to Caribbean PMs over incident in Guyana

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

American Airlines has extended its “sincerest apology” to Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, and his St Vincent and the Grenadines counterpart, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, after they became the latest high-level officials to fall victim to the airline’s policy on leaving Guyana earlier this month.

The Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the airline had refused to allow the two prime ministers, who were in Georgetown attending the 2023 International Energy Conference and Expo, to check-in through the VIP Lounge at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

The Foreign Ministry said the Guyana government had previously protested this position taken by American Airlines against its own high and senior government officials, but without success.

In separate February 20 letters sent to the two prime ministers, American Airlines Managing Director, International Government Affairs, Robert Wirick, offered his “sincerest apology for not proactively approving the request for expedited treatment and the inconvenience caused during your departure from Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

“We sincerely regret that we fell short of your expectations while travelling from Guyana to Miami to connect on a flight to The Bahamas for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit,” he wrote.

“American greatly treasures the relationship with you and the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. We will strive to ensure that all of your future travels on our airline are pleasant and exceed your expectations. American prides itself on delivering a high level of respect and service that our customers deserve. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns,” Wirick said in the letter.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Gonsalves told radio listeners in his homeland that he is not one to be “easily offended and disrespected” and that “first of all, nobody forced me to do anything”.

He recalled that both he and Rowley were inside the VIP lounge “early” on the morning of their departure.

“I think it was (as) we are going to Miami and then to Bahamas and the Chief of Protocol came and said that the people who are doing the check in at AA requested that we come there so that they could identify the face to the passport. That’s what I understand. So I said, ‘Fine. Keith, let’s go.’

Gonsalves said that they stood a short distance from the counter and after being told that the protocol details had been completed he left the area.

“Nobody asked anything. I just put up, Keith and I, we stood up talking. Nobody asked us anything. So I thought (what) was required was just a visual identification.

“The only inconvenience for me is that I was drinking a cup of black coffee earlier that morning. That by the time I got back it was cold and just had to get another one. I mean I understand the government of Guyana has some problems there because of how AA deal with it and could understand the government of Guyana raising it from the standpoint of how heads of government may be treated or whoever.

“I don’t know the whole history. I understand there’s something there but it’s the first time that I was ever requested by AA anywhere to come and turn up at the counter when I travel as Prime Minister,” Gonsalves said.

While he agreed what occurred in Guyana was “unusual”, Gonsalves said he wanted to make it clear that “I am not knocking the Guyana government. I am saying they have their history with them and there’s an issue which they’re taken up … to clarify, but I personally, as Ralph, was no sweat off my nose”.

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Vybz Kartel Appeal: Privy Council Denied Application For New Evidence

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Urban Islandz

United Kingdom’s Privy Council has rejected Vybz Kartel’s application to introduce fresh evidence into his appeal even as his substantive appeal remains before the court.

On Tuesday, reports first surfaced that the artist’s appeal was denied, but it was later clarified that it was, in fact, Kartel’s application to introduce ‘fresh evidence’ in the appeal that was denied.

The ruling on Tuesday revealed that Vybz Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, had made a subsequent application to the Privy Council on November 12, 2021, where he applied to the court to have fresh evidence in the form of phone evidence garnered by international cyber experts entered to support his substantive appeal.

The substantive appeal was filed on November 20, 2020, where Kartel argued several grounds of facts and law that the evidence against him had been tampered with and that he did not receive a fair trial.

A ruling on the substantive appeal is still pending, contrary to earlier reports that the appeal was denied in its entirety.

A notice of the ruling was released on Tuesday (February 21) said, “Having considered an application for permission to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Jamaica on April 3 2020 in the matter between [the Appellants] and The King [Respondent] and having considered written submissions from the Appellants and the Respondent we have agreed to report to Your Majesty as our opinion that 1) permission to appeal be refused (in the application dated November 20 2020).”

Clerk of the Privy Council

The ruling added that the additional grounds of appeal advanced by Vybz Kartel also “be refused and also refused on the application for an extension of time and application to rely on fresh evidence.”

The ruling noted that the additional grounds application filed in 2021 “do not support the submission that a serious miscarriage of justice has occurred in this case.”

In the meantime, Jamaica’s Director of Public Prosecution, Paula Llewellyn, shared that Kartel was appealing on “fresh evidence” grounds after hiring cyber experts to examine the cell phones that his team claims were tampered with. The examination was done in the presence of the DPP, which holds state evidence until a trial is over.

The artist is accused of being the mastermind behind a murder plot to kill his associate, promoter Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.

Vybz Kartel and his co-defendants were found guilty on March 13, 2014, and he was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison while the others faced similar sentences. An appeal court judge reduced his sentence to 32 years and 6 months in 2020 after hearing arguments about evidence tampering in the trial. However, the murder conviction still stands. Kartel’s co-defendants are Shawn ‘Storm’ Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John.

Williams’ body has never been found, but the highly publicized case involved circumstantial evidence that police used to show that Kartel had the motive to kill Williams after two illegal weapons in his possession reportedly went missing. The police also tendered evidence from Kartel’s blackberry phones showing him speaking in codes ordering the death of Williams.

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Bahamas government announces further crackdown on illegal migration

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Prime Minister Phillip Davis says while Bahamians are “a compassionate people” they cannot afford to “shoulder any more burdens” as he reiterated Nassau’s position regarding illegal migration as well as the ongoing situation in the neighbouring French-country of Haiti.

In a nationwide radio and television broadcast on Sunday night in which he addressed a wide range of issues including the just concluded 44th Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit that was held here, Prime Minister Davis announced the launch of “Operation Secure,” a collaborative security operation between the Royal Bahamas Police Force, The Defence Force, and the Department of Immigration, to address security and migration-related issues in unregulated and unlawful communities.

He told the nation that stabilising the situation in Haiti, where efforts are being made to hold long overdue Presidential and Legislative elections, is the most effective way to decrease the amount of potential economic migrants coming to here daily.

CARICOM leaders at the end of their summit last Friday issued a statement on Haiti reiterating that the 15-member regional integration grouping must play a leadership role in addressing the deteriorating situation in Haiti.

“Heads affirmed that decisive action is needed at the earliest opportunity by CARICOM in view of the mounting insecurity and its widespread impact on all facets of Haitian life,” the statement said.

Prime Minister Davis, who is also the CARICOM chairman, told Bahamians that he has been “very clear with our international friends that assistance to Haiti must be carried out carefully and strategically, and with an acknowledgement of the burden The Bahamas is already carrying, and has been carrying for decades.

“Our country has been through a lot. We have very serious challenges and limited resources with which to face these challenges. We are a compassionate people, but we cannot take on new burdens,” he said defending again his decision not to sign a pledge at the Summit of Americas last year that included a commitment to take on refugees.

Davis said while 21 other countries including Caribbean nations like Barbados and Jamaica, signed on to this agreement, he declined because “our small nation cannot possibly shoulder any more of a burden.

“We are standing strong on this position. Despite pressure, earlier this year, when the United Nations called for countries in our region to halt deportations to Haiti, once again, I decided to continue repatriations.

“This is a decision I made for the benefit of all Bahamians and future generations of Bahamians. The Bahamas is for Bahamians, and for those who are prepared to follow the laws of our country. We simply cannot afford open borders.

“This is why we continue to advocate for a Haitian-led solution to the ongoing crisis in Haiti – a sustainable solution supported by a partnership between many nations. The Bahamas will gladly endorse such an effort, but that solution cannot, and will not, ever include actions that may further negatively impact the Bahamian economy and our communities.”

Prime Minister Davis said that he “fully understand the frustrations felt throughout our islands,” and that “successive administrations could have done more to protect our borders, enforce our laws, eliminate shantytowns, or build an international coalition to address the root problem.

“The Bahamian people have understandably grown impatient. The need to tackle our immigration problems is urgent. Because the life we enjoy here is precious. And anything this valuable must be protected.”

In his address, Prime Minister Davis said he wanted Bahamians to know that his administration has “a comprehensive plan to disrupt the flow of migrants to our islands and to actively pursue the identification and repatriation of those who have entered our nation illegally.

“The Bahamas is a nation of laws, and we will continue to enforce those laws, responsibly and humanely. And what we are doing is making an impact.”

He said last year, 4,748 persons were repatriated, the largest number of repatriations in a calendar year in the country’s history.

“In 2023, already, 1,024 persons have been repatriated. Since we came into office in September 2021, only one migrant vessel was able to land on an inhabited island.”

Davis said alongside the “very vigorous and ongoing repatriation efforts” the authorities have worked to bring the international community together in support of a sustainable solution in Haiti.

“In addition, for more than a year, we have been systematically working to satisfy legal requirements, put in place by our nation’s Supreme Court, so that we can take more aggressive action on shantytowns.”

He said over this period, the authorities have conducted surveillance and gathered evidence establishing that these communities “are unlawful and expanding.

“For years, the Court’s injunction has stood in the way of concerted action on unregulated and illegal communities. But on Friday, the 10th of February, our application to have the injunction discharged was successful, paving the way for the government to act,” Davis said, adding that “following the removal of the injunction, we immediately launched Operation Secure.

“Operation Secure is a collaborative security operation between the Royal Bahamas Police Force, The Defence Force, and the Department of Immigration, to address security and migration-related issues in unregulated and unlawful communities. The operation is focused on identifying irregular migrants, documented migrants, and Bahamians living in these communities, and addressing their status in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.

“We cannot have shantytowns on our islands: they are unsafe, a hazard to public health, they are against the law, and they directly impact our way of life. Our priority is decisive action, based on the laws of our land.”

Prime Minister Davis said that undocumented migrants will continue to be processed and repatriated, adding “this is already underway and will be greatly expanded in the coming days and weeks.

“Documented migrants living in unregulated communities will be required to relocate at their expense or their employer’s expense, or face repatriation. And any Bahamian citizens found to be living in these communities will be required to relocate.”

He warned also that the authorities will hold accountable the entire network of people who make possible these shantytowns.

“Through Operation Secure, we will prevent the exploitation and abuse of migrants by unscrupulous landowners and businesses, holding accountable those with a reckless disregard for our laws. Operation Secure targets those entering our borders illegally, as well as any Bahamian citizen or legal resident who is breaking our laws.

“If you are a Crown Land holder who is unlawfully leasing land, you will be prosecuted. If you are engaged in human smuggling, you will be prosecuted. And if you are employing migrants illegally, you will be prosecuted.

“We will have a zero-tolerance policy for anyone seeking to break or circumvent the laws of The Bahamas. We depend on the skill and professionalism of our uniformed officers.”

Prime Minister Davis said that to support the successful execution of Operation Secure, the government will continue to recruit more immigration officers and consideration is being given for the construction of a new Detention Centre on the island of Inagua, so that migrants who are detained anywhere in The Bahamas can be repatriated without the need to travel to New Providence.

He said as Operation Secure addresses the situation on the ground, the authorities are also investing heavily in protecting the country’s borders.

He said the Royal Bahamas Defence Force is completing the final phase of the Sandy Bottom Project and that this multi-administration initiative is the largest capital investment project ever initiated by the government to expand the Defence Force’s fleet.

Davis said the additional ships have enhanced the Defence Force’s capabilities to carry out its mandate to secure our territorial waters.

“As we increase our capacity for border protection, we will build on our partnerships with neighbouring countries like the US, Cuba, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Haiti for enhanced cooperation and intelligence sharing. We will also be increasing border protection operations with key partners like the US Coast Guard.

“The reality is we have to defend 100, 000 square miles of territory in The Bahamas. Even wealthy nations like the United States, with all resources at their disposal, struggle to put a complete stop to the inflow of undocumented migrants across their borders. But the difficulty of the task will not deter us from doing all that we can to intercept undocumented vessels in our waters.

“Where cooperation is possible, we will welcome all the help we can get – whether through our work with regional and international partners or through major NGOs whom we will invite to support Operation Secure by providing humanitarian help,” Prime Minister Davis said, adding “we pledge to conduct our efforts swiftly and humanely, and above all to maintain accountability to the Bahamian people on this commitment”.

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Coast Guard repatriates 311 people to Haiti

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Coast Guard Cutters Tampa and Vigilant’s crews repatriated 311 Haitians to Haiti, Monday, following an interdiction 30 miles northeast of Caibarien, Cuba.

A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater C-130 airplane crew spotted a suspicious vessel, Wednesday, at approximately 1:30 p.m., and alerted the nearest Coast Guard cutter.

Coast Guard Cutters James, Tampa, Isaac Mayo and Vigilant arrived on scene and their crews rescued 311 men, women and children from the unsafe vessel.

The vessel sank with no pollution concerns.

The people were reported to be in good condition.

“Coast Guard and partner agency crews continue to patrol the Florida Straits, Windward and Mona passages,” said Lt. Peter Hutchison, Coast Guard District Seven. “Our crews our doing their very best to stop people from illegally entering the U.S. and to discourage people from risking their lives by taking to the sea.”

Since Oct. 1, 2022, Coast Guard crews have interdicted 3,117 Haitian migrants compared to:

7,175 Haitian Migrants in Fiscal Year 2022
1,527 Haitian Migrants in Fiscal Year 2021
418 Haitian Migrants in Fiscal Year 2020
932 Haitian Migrants in Fiscal Year 2019
609 Haitian Migrants in Fiscal Year 2018
419 Haitian Migrants in Fiscal Year 2017

Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical attention.

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Skerrit indicates no certainty as to when intra-regional travel woes will be solved

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Based on remarks from Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, it seems that the shareholders of LIAT 1974 Ltd are nowhere closer to resolving the travelling woes currently being experienced by travelers following the collapse of LIAT.

“It is an ongoing discussion. We have mandated the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to explore and to examine the current challenge that we have and to come up with some recommendations on how we can overcome the travel issue of intra-regional travel,” Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told reporters at the end of the 44th CARICOM summit in the Bahamas.

LIAT has a history of financial problems but the gravity of the situation became even more glaring during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic when the airline was forced to shut down in July 2020.

Skerrit told reporters the matter had been discussed during the summit and the leaders had received an updated report from the CDB.

“Amongst ourselves, we have also discussed a number of actions we believe we can take immediately to help resolve the current challenge we have. The reality is we all miss LIAT in the Caribbean, an airline that was chastised by so many of us, but now we understand and appreciate the important public good LIAT espoused for so many decades and so we are looking at what kind of construct we can bring to play recognizing that there are existing companies that are servicing our islands,” he said.

Skerrit said the Caribbean countries are looking “at how we can work with those existing entities to seek to alleviate the current challenges”.

The airline is owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

A downsized version of the carrier has been operating a reduced schedule with a limited workforce since November 2020.

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Skatta Burrell Addresses Ishawna Backlash Over ‘New Child’ Church Theme Video

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Urban Islandz

Skatta Burrell has stepped forward to address controversy sparked by Ishawna’s new music video.

The Christian community in Jamaica is once again up in arms at Ishawna, who is accused of “mocking God” and the church in her new music video. The dancehall star knows how to get people riled up, especially as controversy is a feature of dancehall music, and it appears that she has hit the hammer on the head once again. The new song “New Child” features a video showing women at what looks like a church service, mimicking how churches tend to look on a Sunday morning.

On Monday, her producer and manager, Skatta Burrell, hit back at the critics who called out the artist for seemingly “mocking God” because the video concept appeared to be about women in a church service with Ishawna as the pastor.

The music video featured Ishawna on stage in a red dress with a couple of dozen women in church pews acting like they were in a church service. One woman even got up and rolled around in church in the way that videos from actual churches look. Many on social media were up in arms about the video appearing to mock church services where people get the “holy ghost” and sometimes act out.

According to Skatta Burrell, the artist was merely celebrating women.

“Can’t please everyone,” Skatta said in a statement on Instagram. “A few Persons saying that this video [is] disrespecting God. Well Dressed Women coming together in unity celebrating and enjoying an uplifting song that empowers them is now mocking God? That’s not even a real Church.”

He continued, “Some People filled wit resentment in them heart they can’t stand to see others Happy and Being nice to each other. they prefer to see half naked females cat fighting and hating amongst themselves.”

This is not the first time that Ishawna has caught flack for her music. The artist previously received criticism for what some fans felt was disrespect for one of Jamaica’s most iconic women- the erudite Miss Lou after declaring that “[mi] nuh wear tablecloth like Miss Lou,” on Instagram.

Ishawna also faced major backlash after her Ed Sheeran sample of “Shape of You” called “Equal Rights” promoted oral sex for women as recipients. Ishawna drew the ire of many people, including the Christian and Rastafarian communities which condemned her lyrics in the song. Even some dancehall stalwarts like Bounty Killer aired their displeasure at the lyrics and accused the singer of corrupting the youth.

Ishawna, who signed a record deal with New York-based Payday Record last year, has not reacted to the criticisms.

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Dominica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines chart a course for their dasheen value chain

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Dasheen was the focus of weeklong discussions among some 50 stakeholders including farmers, exporters, government representatives and regional partner Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).

From February 13-17, 2023, these stakeholders from across the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines engaged in an assessment of the dasheen value chain of each country, facilitated by the Caribbean Value Chain team of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

This weeklong Regional Dasheen Value Chain Working Session is a part of activities under the regional cluster of projects on Promoting Windward Islands Food Production and Trade Corridor through National and Regional Value Chain Development. The workshop sought to identify the challenges along the dasheen value chain and to establish an action plan for increasing the efficiency and profitability of dasheen production.

The three countries discussed the current state of their dasheen sectors, the root causes of its challenges, the steps necessary to remove the vulnerabilities faced by farmers and to ensure secure, fair, and profitable markets for dasheen. Marketing, production, cost of production, mid-supply chain, sustainability, primarily in relation to gender and climate change, were among the topics discussed.

Farmers, regional and international exporters shared the realities on the ground in dasheen production. Mr Lenson Grant, a young dasheen farmer from St Vincent and the Grenadines, shared his challenge of lacking access to a stable market for dasheen and noted that this resulted in inconsistent prices for the product. He highlighted that while he loved planting dasheen, these challenges significantly impacted his earnings.

Mr Nick Bernal, Exporter of Seasons Farm Fresh serving the Caribbean markets in Miami and New York, remarked that while the Caribbean offers high quality dasheen, there is an issue of consistent supply from the region. He added that the future of dasheen production needs to be large-scale to be profitable on the export market and that a coordinated effort in filling this gap would greatly serve the development of a regional dasheen industry.

These sentiments led to discussions on how to alleviate some of the challenges to production, marketing and supply in a holistic and collaborative way that involves all stakeholders at the government, private sector, and farm level. This would ensure a consistent and quality supply of dasheen to adequately supply the local, regional and export markets.

Ms Romuld, FAO International Value Chain Specialist remarked that success of the dasheen value chain was highly dependent on all stakeholders, including farmers, processors, exporters, various government representatives, financial institutions, investment promotion entities among others, having a strong and effective partnership, particularly with the private sector. She emphasized that countries, especially those keen on exporting high potential crops like dasheen, would require strong private sector investment to ensure sustainability.

The working session concluded with a preliminary draft of an Upgrading Strategy that will define the goals for the dasheen sector in each country and identify a path to achieving these goals over the next five years. Over the coming weeks, the countries will establish national value chain teams to deliver a final version of the Strategy for implementation, guided by FAO over the next two years of the project.

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UWI, disgruntled students in talks following protest

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

A high level meeting involving administrators at the University of the West Indies, Mona (UWI) and representatives of Chancellor and Mary Seacole halls is now under way.

The meeting comes following a protest last night by disgruntled students from both halls who demonstrated over an incident at a sporting event.

It is being alleged that a student was assaulted by a licensed firearm holder.

The dispute reportedly stemmed from discrepancies with a race.

Details on what transpired after the race remain unclear.

The upset students have called for the removal of an unnamed resident adviser and Dr Nadeen Spence, the Students Services and Development Manager for Mary Seacole Hall.

The police were called in last night and they defused the situation and took the firearm holder into custody.

Another protest by the students was planned for this morning but Chancellor Hall Chairman Shaquille Ramsay told The Gleaner that the students have decided to postpone further demonstrations pending the outcome of today’s meeting.

An earlier meeting reportedly took place with the security apparatus of the university.

While noting that students have a right to protest, campus registrar Dr Donovan Stanbury urged them to allow the talks to take place.

Stanbury also reiterated that the matter is being addressed.

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