Black Immigrant Daily News

The St Lucia Parliament on Tuesday night gave the green light for the island to have the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as its final and highest court, replacing it the London-based Privy Council.

All 13 government legislators who were present when the vote was taken supported the motion. Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet, who had earlier walked out of the Parliament during a debate on another matter, did not participate in the CCJ debate.

The government needed a three-fourth special majority of the 17-member Parliament to amend through the Constitution of St Lucia Amendment Bill 2023 and, according to the Speaker Claudius Francis, the requirement was met when all 13 government members voted in support of the motion that had been tabled by Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre.

Two government legislators are out of the country on official business

“It is a sad day that a former prime minister is not in the House to debate this bill,” Pierre said, adding that it showed the “scorn and contempt” Chastanet had for the population.

But speaking on a radio programme earlier, the United Workers Party (UWP) leader defended his decision to walk out, saying that he represents thousands of people and would not be “silenced” by a “biased” Speaker.

“People want to hear a different opinion and I am being denied the opportunity to speak,” Chastanet told radio listeners. “I am not going to allow the voice of the Leader of the Opposition to be marginalised.”

“There needs to be a challenge to what’s going on with the CCJ but I can’t do it alone,” he added, urging the population to express their feelings about the situation as well as the need for a referendum.

But government legislators, including former prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony who drafted the CCJ legislation when he served as the counsel general of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in Guyana, brushed aside the call, saying that the St Lucia Constitution makes no requirement for a referendum before acceding to the CCJ.

Prime Minister Pierre said he intends to write the British government providing an update on the move towards the CCJ in keeping with the agreement reached when the island attained political independence from Britain 44 years ago.

In addition, he said he would also be informing former Jamaica prime minister PJ Patterson, who in earlier correspondence had expressed confidence in St Lucia’s move and the experience of Anthony to help guide the process

He said he would inform Patterson that “Kenny did give us a lot of his knowledge and we did pass the bill”.

Pierre said passage of the legislation made St Lucia “part of history, and the history books will record that on the 28th of February, St Lucia broke the shackles of colonialism”.

Earlier, another former prime minister, Stephenson King, a senior member of the present administration, said he was pleased that the island was moving towards the regional court.

King said an ordinary person would need approximately EC$130 000 to access the Privy Council.

St Lucia becomes the fifth CARICOM country to make the CCJ its final court, joining Barbados, Belize, Guyana and Dominica.

All 15 CARICOM countries have also signed on to the original jurisdiction of the CCJ that also serves as an international tribunal interpreting the Treaty of Chaguaramas which governs the regional integration movement.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The visit by a CARICOM delegation to Haiti this week has been welcomed by many Haitian political stakeholders, but others fear all the efforts might be in vain should international actors fail to deploy a multinational military force to help the impoverished Caribbean country cope with the current catastrophic security situation, pundits say.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Michael Holness who led a CARICOM delegation to Haiti met on Tuesday with diverse political and social actors in quest of a rapprochement between Haitian protagonists. An official report on the outcome of those talks is yet to be communicated to the local media who were kept away.

Director of the Haitian Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights (CARDH), Gedeon Jean, who attended a meeting with the CARICOM delegation, said his group and other Haitian actors particularly put emphasis on the necessity to primarily address the security situation.

“What the population needs first is security, and it is clear that no one can rely on the Haitian police to provide the needed security,” the head of the human rights organisation based in Port-au-Prince told HCNN on Wednesday.

“So there is no other option. The deployment of an adapted foreign military force, which could result from a bilateral or multinational effort, is unavoidable.”

He added: “It is not that the police do not have the will to crack on gangs, but they don’t have the capability.”

“Bandits are raping women, girls; they kill and kidnap people as they please. Nearly 60 per cent of the capital’s metropolitan area are controlled by gangs.

“Imagine a police with no drones, not even one helicopter, they don’t have any technological tools, they lack appropriate weaponry…,” said Jean.

Several highly regarded personalities who usually avoid getting involved in the heated political debates have decided to speak out, saying that the situation in the country has become unbearable.

“The deployment to Haiti of a foreign military force is absolutely necessary to help the country find its way out of the crisis,” said Patrick Moussignac, a prominent investor and owner of Radio and TV Caraibes, the number one and most popular media outlet in Haiti.

“At this phase, there’s no other way. We should admit that we can’t do it alone. Haiti is now like a cancer that has metastasized.”

Moussignac said the worst thing that can happen is when “those who have the mission to protect you cannot protect themselves.”

He was referring to a wave of attacks on police officers that resulted in dozens of them being killed in the past year.

Moussignac also called on Haitian political protagonists to put Haiti on top of their agenda to end the ongoing political infightings.

He described a December 21, 2022 Accord adopted by a number of political actors, including the government, the private sector, and religious authorities, as a good step towards the end of the deadlock.

Helen La Lime, the UN Secretary-General Special Representative in Haiti, said a rapid action military force should be deployed to the CARICOM nation.

“Without the deployment of such a force which would be done in cooperation with the Haitian National police, the very positive effects of the political process and sanctions so far imposed will remain fragile and vulnerable; they risk to be wiped out,” La Lime stated during a meeting of the UN Security Council at the end of last year. “Haitians desperately need the assistance so that they may resume their activities and live their lives in peace.”

Despite substantial support for the deployment of a multinational force, the prominent group, commonly known as the Montana Accord, says it rejects any move which could include sending foreign military to Haiti.

“We’ve seen several deployments of the kind in Haiti, but they never brought about any solution,” said Magalie Comeau Denis of the Montana Accord.

“We promote a national solution to the Haitian crisis and to solve it once and for all.”

A representative of the Montana Accord also attended the Meeting with the CARICOM delegation on Tuesday.

A prominent Haitian actor, Jorchemy Jean-Baptiste who took part in the meeting with Prime Minister Holness, said he was very moved when the Jamaican leader said as he closed one of the sessions on Tuesday: “You Haitians are the first black nation that has invented the word freedom. Why can’t this nation also become one of the most prosperous and stable black nations in the world?”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The number of children without access to social protection is increasing year-on-year, leaving them at risk of poverty, hunger and discrimination, according to a new report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF today.

More than a billion reasons: The urgent need to build universal social protection for children warns that an additional 50 million children aged 0-15 missed out on a critical social protection provision – specifically, child benefits (paid in cash or tax credits) – between 2016 and 2020, driving up the total to 1.46 billion children under 15 globally.

“Ultimately, strengthened efforts to ensure adequate investment in universal social protection for children, ideally through universal child benefits to support families at all times, is the ethical and rational choice, and the one that paves the way to sustainable development and social justice,” said Shahra Razavi, Director of the Social Protection Department at the ILO.

According to the report, child and family benefit coverage rates fell or stagnated in every region in the world between 2016 and 2020, leaving no country on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of achieving substantial social protection coverage by 2030. In Latin America and the Caribbean, for example, coverage fell significantly from approximately 51 per cent to 42 per cent. In many other regions, coverage has stalled and remains low. In Central Asia and Southern Asia; Eastern Asia and South-eastern Asia; Sub-Saharan Africa; and Western Asia and Northern Africa coverage rates have been at around 21 per cent, 14 per cent, 11 per cent and 28 per cent respectively since 2016.

Failure to provide children with adequate social protection leaves them vulnerable to poverty, disease, missed education, and poor nutrition, and increases their risk of child marriage and child labour.

Globally, children are twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty – those struggling to survive on less than US$1.90 (PPP * ) a day – approximately 356 million children. A billion children also live in multidimensional poverty – meaning without access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, or water. Children living in multidimensional poverty increased by 15 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic, reversing previous progress in reducing child poverty and highlighting the urgent need for social protection.

Moreover, the pandemic highlighted that social protection is a critical response in times of crisis. Nearly every government in the world either rapidly adapted existing schemes or introduced new social protection programmes to support children and families, but most fell short of making permanent reforms to protect against future shocks, according to the report.

“As families face increasing economic hardship, food insecurity, conflict, and climate-related disasters, universal child benefits can be a lifeline,” said Natalia Winder-Rossi, UNICEF Director of Social Policy and Social Protection. “There is an urgent need to strengthen, expand and invest in child-friendly and shock-responsive social protection systems. This is essential to protect children from living in poverty and increase resilience particularly among the poorest households.”

The report emphasizes that all countries, irrespective of their level of development, have a choice: whether to pursue a “high-road” strategy of investment in reinforcing social protection systems, or a “low-road” strategy that misses out on necessary investments and will leave millions of children behind.

To reverse the negative trend, the ILO and UNICEF urge policymakers to take decisive steps to attain universal social protection for all children, including:

Investing in child benefits which offer a proven and cost-effective way to combat child poverty and ensure children thrive.
Providing a comprehensive range of child benefits through national social protection systems that also connect families to crucial health and social services, such as free or affordable high-quality childcare.
Building social protection systems that are rights-based, gender-responsive, inclusive, and shock responsive to address inequities and deliver better results for girls and women, migrant children, and children in child labour for example.
Securing sustainable financing for social protection systems by mobilizing domestic resources and increasing budget allocation for children.
Strengthening social protection for parents and caregivers by guaranteeing access to decent work and adequate benefits, including unemployment, sickness, maternity, disability, and pensions.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The parliamentary opposition is expressing concern about reports that the go ahead has been given for importation of cannabis from Canada, even while local farmers face difficulties exporting to the North American country.

In a media release Wednesday afternoon, Opposition Spokesperson on Industry, Investment and Global Logistics, Anthony Hylton, said he had serious concerns over the reported decision of Jamaica’s Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) to approve importation from Canada.

He termed the development as alarming.

Hylton said he strongly opposed the decision, “particularly because several attempts to legally export cannabis and cannabis products from Jamaica to the Canadian market have been met with resistance, including trade barriers.”

Hylton said the decision by the CLA to grant import licences for cannabis grown in Canada to be imported into Jamaica deserves a full explanation to the stakeholders in the local industry regarding the basis for such a decision.

He is demanding a quick response from the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Aubyn Hill, on the agency’s decision.

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