Black Immigrant Daily News

The leader of Barbados’ second largest political party is petitioning Government’s decision to replace Independence Day with Barbados National Day.

Dr Ronnie Yearwood, president of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), has launched a petition on change.org, citing that the decision was “hasty and unwanted”. In an official statement on the DLP social media pages, Dr Yearwood contended that the country’s transition to a parliamentary republic was ” nothing but a baseless Mia Mottley Vanity project”.

He added that the move from Independence Day to Barbados National Day was a selfish attempt by the Barbadian Prime Minister to leave a legacy, while negating the national significance of November 30 to citizens.

“Independence is more than a word to Barbadians. It’s a source of pride. The day the iconic Broken Trident was raised to signify our break away from England. The birth of our national anthem penned by Irving Burgie and the pledge written by Lester Vaughn. We will not allow these moments to be erased.

We will not stand by as this Prime Minister tries to graffiti her way onto history’s page yet again by forcing another unwanted change onto the people of Barbados,” Dr Yearwood insisted.

He continued: “We are not combining Independence Day celebrations with Republic day celebrations. We are strict guardians of our heritage and we will not allow Mia Mottley to jockey her self-entitled legacy on the backs of those who came before her.

It doesn’t matter if you call it Barbados National Day or Barbados Republic Day, we do not want it if the plan is to rename Independence Day. The solution is to keep Independence Day and we will celebrate as we always have.”

The leader of the DLP argued that many citizens were still lost about what it meant to be a republic, therefore, Government’s focus should be on educating the public and not solely on celebrating.

“From the beginning of this process, the focus has been on Celebration, not Education. People cannot truly celebrate something they do not fully understand,” Dr Yearwood maintained.

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Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 01, 2022 (SKNIS): Her Excellency Nerys Dockery, Permanent Representative of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations (UN), recently presented her credentials to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a brief and significant ceremony at the UN Headquarters in New York, U.S.A

Permanent Representative Dockery reiterated Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew’s “deep and enduring commitment to the United Nations and to the spirit of multilateralism that it seeks to protect and defend.”

“I pledge to you today Secretary-General that during my tenure, St. Kitts and Nevis will add value to the work of the UN even as you do the same for the people of my great country. I look forward to working with you and to our fruitful engagement over the next few weeks and months,” said Her Excellency Dockery.

She expressed delight in being St. Kitts and Nevis’ youngest and first female Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

“My presence here signifies a new approach being taken by a new and youthful administration that is eager to add its shoulder to the wheel along with progressive leaders around the world who are impatient for the creation of a more just, inclusive and equitable world. It is an administration which has begun with this ultimate objective in mind, and as such, is proceeding with a great sense of urgency to get things done and deliver tangible benefits that will improve the wellbeing and standard of living of our people,” said Her Excellency Dockery.

Her Excellency Dockery noted that since her arrival in New York, work has begun to “build and expand” St. Kitts and Nevis’ networks at the United Nations. Additionally, she has actively participated and enhanced the Federation’s influence in “collective actions to resolve problems faced by the human family,” as well as re-established and reaffirmed old partnerships and aggressively face new ones with like-minded countries in order to advance our agenda to take our tiny twin-island federation back to number one again.”

Permanent Representative Dockery said that it is St. Kitts and Nevis’ “firm belief that the United Nations provides indispensable global leadership in addressing humanity’s common challenges and endeavour.”

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Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 01, 2022 (SKNIS): The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis joins its CARICOM counterparts to observe CARICOM Energy Month which is observed annually in November to increase awareness of energy consumption and to encourage energy-saving actions. This year’s focus is on creating an all-electric future.

Minister of Energy, the Honourable Konris Maynard, reflected on the theme: “Our Future is Electric” noting that it positions the Member States to move away from total dependence on fossil fuels to using more mixes of renewable energy.

“This theme is meant to highlight the need for us to produce 100 percent of our electricity from renewable sources and convert all our energy end-use to electricity. In our case, that would mean ending our dependence on fossil fuels such as diesel for power generation. Instead, we will now be looking to power our electric grids from Solar, Wind, Geothermal, and other forms of renewable sources. It will also mean doing all our cooking using electric stoves and using electric vehicles as our means of transport,” said Minister Maynard. 

Minister Maynard said that although “achieving an all-electric future will, no doubt, be challenging,” it will definitely prove beneficial.  He outlined a few requirements needed to achieve an all-electric future.

“First, we will become more dependent on the electricity grid. This will require that the grid be reliable, secure, resilient, and accessible. Second, this will increase the demand on the electricity grid, which will require that we have ample access to renewable energy sources. This will require a substantial amount of financial, human, technical, legislative, and other resources to help us meet our 100 percent Energy Independence Goal by at least 2030,” said the Energy Minister. 

He added that the “journey has started,” and St. Kitts and Nevis has achieved some notable milestones along the way.”

“There is a 2.2 megawatts (MW) wind farm that has been in operation in Nevis since 2001. A 0.75MW solar PV Farm was commissioned at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport in 2013 and a 0.5 MW Solar PV Farm in the vicinity of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank round-a-bout in 2016. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank also commissioned 1MW of Solar PV installations between 2020 and 2021.

Added to these are several residual and commercial premises with rooftop solar PV panels,” he said. Important to note, Minister Maynard said that the “customs service charge and import duties are currently exempted on imported alternative energy equipment.  Additionally, regulations, procedures, and incentives are being drawn up for commercial, industrial, and domestic owners of rooftop Solar PV and Wind Turbines. When fully implemented, these initiatives should encourage persons to install and invest in alternative energy plants.”

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Rihanna has tapped Caribbean celebrities to participate in her upcoming Savage Fenty show.

Tobago-born Winston Duke and Sheryl Lee Ralph, whose parents are Jamaican, are among the stars featured in the fashion experience.

A release from Amazon said Savage X Fenty Show Vol 4 would feature performances by global musical artistes including Anitta, Burna Boy, Don Toliver, and Maxwell.

There will be special appearances from ?ngela Aguilar, Avani Gregg, Bella Poarch, Cara Delevingne, Damson Idris, Irina Shayk, Joan Smalls, Kornbread, Lara Stone, Lilly Singh, Marsai Martin, Precious Lee, Rickey Thompson, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Simu Liu, Taraji P. Henson, Taylour Paige, Winston Duke, Zach Miko, and many more.

Rihanna dropped the lineup reveal via her Instagram account.

Speaking on the Jimmy Fallon show on Monday ahead of the second installment of the Black Panther movie, Duke revealed he would be a part of the show.

“The legs will be oiled and they will be out,” he said, “I will be a Savage Fenty man.”

During an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Ralph said that Rihanna called her to ask if she would walk in her show.

“This is no Victoria Secret fashion show baby, this is something on a different level. When I saw the choreography, when I and her vision and what she had walking through the mountains, I was like alright then,” she said.

Since its launch, the Savage X Fenty show has shaken up the industry with its diverse array of bodies and genders. Last year, the show won an Emmy award for its choreography.

Savage X Fenty show Vol 4 will stream exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide from November 9.

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