Black Immigrant Daily News

With the clear increase in violent clashes among students in schools locally, the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has recommended several strategies to remedy the situation.

Among the proposals being recommended is for the Government to introduce a SchoolEye closed-circuit television (CCTV) system similar to that of the JamaicaEye programme, where students are monitored through more CCTV systems, to catch the perpetrators of violence.

According to Opposition Spokesman on Education and Training, Senator Damion Crawford, such a CCTV system would also ensure an “increasing likelihood of punishment for violent activities”.

He is also advocating for the state to tie the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) to parent participation in parent-teacher activities, as well as the frequency of parents and guardians turning up at schools when requested by administrators.

“Continuation of access to PATH should, therefore, be on a term report basis, where schools indicate that parents have shown interest and have come to school whenever they are requested,” he said.

The proposals come in the wake of numerous videos on social media showing fights involving students, the latest of which involved several students of Meadowbrook High School in St Andrew last week.

The students involved in the feud have since been suspended, reports suggested.

In addressing a PNP press conference on Monday, Crawford identified the use of drugs, including Molly, the lack of monitoring by parents of their children, low parental involvement in their children’s upbringing, parental substance abuse, easy access of weapons to minors, and gang involvement, among the factors contributing to violence in schools.

He contended that efforts by the Ministry and Education Youth, including the use of metal detectors, are not enough to cauterise the issues relative to the present situation in schools.

To that end, Crawford proposed the creation of a department of socialisation in all primary and secondary schools, among other strategies to deal with the developing negative issues.

“This new department will be headed by guidance counsellors and will be staffed by the guidance counsellor, the deans of discipline and form teachers,” he said.

“Formulating this department will immediately place the over 40 adults under one umbrella to be trained, coordinated, or organised and deployed for the purpose of interaction, monitoring, problem-solving and consistent adult supervision inside and outside of classes,” Crawford added.

The immediate implementation of training for form teachers in the areas of behaviour modification, depression identification, spotting gangs, drug addiction and bullying, is also being recommended by the PNP.

According to Crawford, the hiring of more deans of discipline to achieve a ratio of one to 600 students, and more guidance councillors, is a necessary measure in the face of the disciplinary challenges now being faced by schools.

In furtherance of the call for an increase in the number of deans of discipline in schools, Crawford said: “In this case, you’ll have a dean of discipline within primary schools, for grades one to three, and a dean of discipline in primary schools for grades four to six.

“At the secondary level, you’ll have a specific dean of discipline focusing on forms one to three, and another dean of discipline focusing on forms four to six.”

The Opposition senator is also calling for a staggering of the lunch and dismissal times, “to increase the adult to student ratios” during those timeframes.

He also implored the Education and Youth Ministry to change its approach to detentions.

He elaborated that, “The new detention regime should detain the student for a term-long participation in peace education, and not just for short-term punishment.

“The student may also be detained for recommended participation in uniform core (activities), such as scouts, cadets or girl guides.”

Meanwhile, the PNP is also recommending an immediate implementation of a special summer programme for peace education, which would be mandated for students who considered to be disposed to violence.

Crawford said: “These students can be recommended from the guidance counsellor, the grade coordinator, deans of discipline, coaches and principals, or form teachers.”

Other strategies being proposed include the creation of reform schools for students in need of psychological help, located within each of the Education Ministry’s regions, and the employment of three child psychiatrists in each region.

A department of volunteerism is also being suggested, which is to be tasked with encouraging, vetting, coordinating and deploying “well-thinking” Jamaicans who are willing to participate in “mentorship, extra-lessons, telephone tutorial, clubs and societies supervision,” among other tasks.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Suite au drame de ce matin, une enquête “pour homicides involontaires et blessures involontaires n’ayant pas entraîné d’ITT supérieures à trois mois” a été ouverte par le Parquet de Pointe à Pitre.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 16, 2022 (RSCNPF) — The general public is hereby notified that effective Tuesday, November 15, 2022, vehicular traffic exiting Port Zante, in the vicinity of the Sands Complex, will be permitted to turn left or right on the Bay Road.

The general public is hereby notified that effective Tuesday, November 15, 2022, vehicular traffic exiting Port Zante, in the vicinity of the Sands Complex, will be permitted to turn left or right on the Bay Road.

Please note, however, that the traffic light signal at the junction will continue to indicate a right turn only. The appropriate signage will be posted at the junction to indicate left turns are also permitted.

This temporary change is to facilitate a traffic flow study by the Public Works Department (PWD), after which a decision will be taken on the way forward based on the results of the study.

We ask both motorists and pedestrians to continue to be cautious when using this intersection and to comply with the traffic signs and signals.

Please note, however, that the traffic light signal at the junction will continue to indicate a right turn only. The appropriate signage will be posted at the junction to indicate left turns are also permitted.

This temporary change is to facilitate a traffic flow study by the Public Works Department (PWD), after which a decision will be taken on the way forward based on the results of the study.

We ask both motorists and pedestrians to continue to be cautious when using this intersection and to comply with the traffic signs and signals.

LICENSING AUTHORITY

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The leader of Saint Lucia’s National Green Party (NGP) has called on Saint Lucians to think and live green, in a statement critical of global efforts to address climate change.

Andre ‘Pancho’ de Caires issued the statement amid ongoing COP27 climate change talks in Egypt.

His complete statement appears below:

World leaders and the elite met in Indonesia this year to discuss how they, these world leaders and billionaires will solve the climate crisis once again, as our Planet cries out in pain and agony from the continued onslaught of ever expanding human civilization.

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We find it quite ironic though, because we are here on edge of this precipice of extinction, as a result of these global leaders’ specific economic policies.

There was the Rio Summit, then the Paris Summit and now the COP Summits. What has been accomplished since all of these commitments were made years ago in Rio, to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses by all the countries that signed on to the protocols? What about all the deadlines? Absolutely nothing has been done. All deadlines broken.

In fact, things have gotten progressively worse, as we see the rapid increase in natural disasters due to climate change. Just take a look at the news. Floods, heat waves, droughts, super storms and on and on.

Reality is that these leaders cannot and will not do anything to curb the human  addiction to fossil fuel and the continued desire to consume and consume more, and this latest summit was just another talk shop gathering of the elite and privileged.

The main drivers of greenhouse gas emissions are transport, heating and cooling of buildings and homes, the operation of factories, agriculture, construction, and the production of plastics.

All of these sectors require some kind of internal combustion engine to run their respective operations, as well as the need for raw materials, a high percentage  of which are petro- chemical derivatives. Whether it be cars, buses, heavy equipment, trains, boats, ships, planes, generators etc,, fossil fuel is required to operate the machines that drive these sectors.

The big question is, ‘Are the companies that manufacture these machines planning to cut production to tackle climate change?’ For example, are car manufacturers going to produce half the number of units? Are airlines going to cut their routes in half? Are cruise lines going to reduce their ports of call? Are factories going to reduce production by say 50%? We think not, as our entire economic system is driven by GROWTH. Capitalism. Profits before planet.

And what is even worse, is that the fossil fuel industry does not only produce fuel for all of these machines and engines mentioned above, but is responsible for the production of  plastics, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and construction materials.  It seems virtually impossible at this point for humans to wean themselves off of this addictive dependence on the fossil fuel industry. And to believe that these politicians that met in Indonesia who are basically puppets of this economic system, have the power to convince huge multinational corporations to reduce production, is just a fantasy.

To put things into perspective, Saint Lucia, which is basically carbon neutral, meaning that we contribute very little greenhouse gas emissions, relative to our carbon capture and storage, yet are greatly affected by climate change, which fundamentally means that we are on our own when it comes to dealing with this crisis.

The best that we can hope for is for our Government to lobby those donor organizations or countries responsible for funding, whether it be in the form of grants or low interest loans, to secure these monies in order to create climate change resilient infrastructure in all of our economic sectors.

Commitments and promises will be made by these large organizations and First World countries to help SIDS, but unfortunately, history shows that in spite of these commitments,  the monies never seem to arrive. The situation is endemic. Look no further than Haiti after the earthquake.

Adding insult to injury is the war in Ukraine, where Russia has been forced to cut off fuel and energy supplies to Europe due to the crippling sanctions placed upon them by NATO, and as a result some European nations have started to fire up their coal burning power plants. The exact scenario that we have been trying to avoid for decades.

The very same countries that want to force third world developing nations to adhere to strict climate change mitigation regulations are now firing up their coal burning power plants to save themselves. How convenient.

Reality is that we live in a world driven by ego, power and greed, the desire to be bigger and better than the next person, whether at an individual level, a corporate level or at a national level, the desire  for growth remains the same. Humanity has embraced this path of collective suicide where we are all helping each other by the choices that we are making, to destroy our only home, Planet Earth.

If we as a massive conscious collective do not wake up and make the required changes to save our Planet for our future generations, then we will have failed. Depending on politicians and billionaires to save us is from ourselves is true madness.

People of Saint Lucia, Fair Helen is a special place, a blessed land, a beautiful  land, heaven on earth. Let us all come together, regardless of political affiliation and make the necessary changes in our lives, in our purchasing habits, in our lifestyles, in our  diets, in the way we deal with our waste, in the way we deal with each other in order to maintain this paradise that is our beautiful island home.

Let us buy local, eat local and give our money to another Lucian instead of purchasing imported processed foods that are killing us while the packaging fills up our landfills.

We may not be able to change the weather, but if we work as team Saint Lucia, I know that our people have the capacity to become self sufficient and build up resilience to climate change events. We have a lot of work to do, so let us ignore those so called leaders and do what we have to do as a united people. Think Green, Live Green.

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