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POLICE are seeking the identity of a man who was gunned down in Las Lomas on Wednesday night.

Police said residents at Soriah Branch Trace heard gunshots at around 10.55 pm and on checking, saw the man bleeding on the road.

Police from the La Horquetta CID were called in and found the man’s body.

Homicide detectives also visited the area with a district medical officer who ordered the body removed to the Forensic Science Centre.

Police said they will be using the man’s fingerprints to try and find a match in their database but they are also calling on the public for help in identifying him so that an autopsy can be done and investigations continued. Up to press time, no arrest had been made.

Detectives from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations (Region II) are continuing enquiries.

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The Government of Saint Lucia (GOSL), through the Carnival Planning & Management
Committee (CPMC), continues to show support for Saint Lucian creatives by obtaining a
copyright licence from the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights
(ECCO) Inc.

in preparation for hosting the national carnival events. By doing so, the GOSL is demonstrating continued understanding and appreciation of the value of Intellectual Property Rights.

The GOSL understands the rights associated with music -the main driver of entertainment activity in this and every carnival season.

The CPMC, which is responsible for national carnival events such as the Parade of the Bands, Calypso and Soca Monarch competitions, King and Queen of the Bands and the
Carnival Queen Show, recognises that the use of musical works is beneficial to both the
music creator and the music user.

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Music usage is essential to sustaining the livelihoods of both parties, and to benefit, the creators of music must be compensated for the use of their Intellectual Property.

Officer in Charge at ECCO, Mr. Keen Cotter, asserts that “carnival is one of the platforms
providing the largest consumption of local content, and through licensing, benefits the

songwriters of the songs we enjoy at these events and we look forward to greater co-
operation from stakeholders.”

ECCO is a non-profit Collective Management Organisation (CMO) whose primary role
is to administer certain Intellectual Property Rights on behalf of its members in the
Eastern Caribbean and throughout the world.

ECCO collects fees by issuing licences to music users, granting them permission and authority to the restrictive acts as defined in the various Copyright Acts of the region, including public performances at events.

These licence fees are then distributed as royalties to members and members of sister
organisations.

ECCO reminds all music users that a public performance licence is required for the
hosting of events, TV/radio and cable broadcasting, and public performances at
businesses irrespective of the method of transmission or quantity used.

Source: Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights. Headline photo: Stock image.

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La jugadora de baloncesto estadounidense Brittney Griner, detenida en el aeropuerto internacional Sheremétievo de Moscú el pasado 17 de febrero en posesión de drogas, se declaró este jueves culpable de contrabando de aceite de hachís, pero, según reporta la agencia TASS, la deportista aseguró que no tenía la intención de cometer ningún delito.

Detienen a una basquetbolista olímpica de EE.UU. en un aeropuerto de Moscú por posesión de drogas https://t.co/XxbgPSacxc pic.twitter.com/NSNUpwpdQK

— RT en Español (@ActualidadRT) March 7, 2022

La atleta había llegado desde Nueva York y, mientras pasaba por el corredor verde del aeropuerto, su equipaje llamó la atención de un perro del servicio policial. 

En su primera audiencia, el viernes pasado, Griner fue informada de los cargos en su contra: se le acusa de introducir drogas deliberadamente en el país. El Ministerio de Exteriores ruso notificó el miércoles que la estrella de la WNBA podrá recurrir su sentencia o pedir clemencia una vez que se dicte el veredicto.

Greiner se enfrenta a una pena de entre 5 y 10 años de cárcel. Su próxima comparecencia ante el tribunal tendrá lugar el 14 de julio.

Biden está “trabajando” para conseguir su liberación

El presidente estadounidense, Joe Biden, llamó por teléfono a la esposa de Griner y le aseguró que está “trabajando para conseguir la liberación de Brittney lo antes posible”. El presidente calificó de “intolerable” la detención de la deportista.

En medio de la llamada, de la que participó también la vicepresidenta de EE.UU., Kamala Harris, Biden ordenó a su equipo que mantenga contactos regulares con la familia de Griner y las de otros estadounidenses detenidos en el extranjero.

Noticia original de RT en Español. 

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To meet increasing international demand, rum distillers Hampden Estate invested $240 million to expand its ageing warehouse facilities.

The two warehouses will span 32,000 square feet and house 10,000 barrels, moving Hampden’s storage capacity up from 2,700 barrels.

The warehouses are specially designed in consultation with Tank Weld for optimum ageing at Hampden, factoring temperature, humidity and airflow. It also features a state-of-the-art fire detection and suppression system.

One warehouse is already complete and filled, with the other slated to be completed by year-end.

This expansion will allow the distillery – through its global distribution partners, La Maison & Velier – to increase its production and availability to the 27 markets it currently has distribution contracts with.

Additionally, the distillery will have a new bottling plant, which will aid in allowing Hampden to meet its goal of bottling all its products on site.

Currently, many of the expressions are bottled overseas, while Rum Fire and the annually released limited ‘Great House’ distillery editions are bottled on the estate.

At the official opening of the ageing facility held last Friday at Hampden Estate in Trelawny, chairman of the Spirits Pool Association, Clement ‘Jimmy’ Lawrence, in his keynote address, indicated that in 2021 the country recorded US$55 million in revenues — despite the lag effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With transformation, the Jamaican rum industry has the potential to eclipse other categories over time, even including the Cognac industry. Surely, a journey of 1,000 miles starts with a first step, and the rum industry is unmistakably moving with urgency along that path. These investments [at Hampden Estate] and others to come signal a bright future for growth and profitability,” Lawrence said.

Christelle Harris, Director of Hampden Estate, and Andrew Hussey, CEO of Everglades Farms Limited is flanked by (left) Thierry B?nitah and (right) Luca Gargano, Directors of La Maison & Velier, Hampden Estate’s global distribution partner.

Incorporated in 1753, Hampden Estate is a rum producing and exporting company owned by the Hussey family-controlled Everglades Farms.

At the official ceremony, the warehouse facilities were dedicated to the family patriarch, the late Lawrence F.C. Hussey, a renowned businessman and horse racing trainer. Described as a visionary, he is credited with pioneering the establishment of Hampden Estate’s rum brand.

Since acquiring the distillery in 2009, Everglades Farms has since then bottled its rum brand, tripling its warehouse space used for ageing rum and has added four 5,000-gallon copper pot stills, increased cane-crushing capacity, and converted its operations to LNG, including a 200-kW Microturbine.

Despite the modern changes, Director of Hampden Estate Christelle Harris emphasised that “Hampden Estate is a representation of Jamaican heritage and we were given the gift and responsibility of preserving that heritage. We now share that heritage with the world. We have made a concerted effort to stick to production methods exactly as they were and we want to be a representation of what Jamaica has to offer”.

Before being acquired, Hampden was producing only 140,000 LAA (litres of absolute alcohol). It currently produces 1 million LAA per annum — of which 95 per cent is exported.

Spanning 16,000 square feet, the ageing warehouse will house some 5,000 additional barrels.

The distillery relies on a unique blend of environmental factors mixed with the old-world copper pot distilling techniques that flavour the award-winning rum.

Hampden’s first bottled product under Everglades’ ownership Rum Fire has been awarded numerous times since its initial release in 2010, picking up awards in Italy, Germany, France, and the US.

The distillery employs 160 people, with 90 per cent of its staff residents from surrounding communities.

MP of Northern Trelawny Tova Hamilton, who delivered the opening remarks at the ceremony, also said, “Businesses like these are the backbone of our country and benefit our communities significantly. In a time when global markets are experiencing economic shocks, this official opening and dedication of this rum ageing facility signals that Trelawny is open for business”.

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HELPING HAND: From left, Carmen Pruna, Active Cosmetics Director, L’Oréal Caribe; Dave Hughes, General Manager of L’Oréal Caribe; Carolina Serrano, Senior Marketing Manager, L’Oréal Caribe and Delores Robinson, founder of NGO GROOTS T&T following a product donation and visit to the NGO. PHOTO COURTESY L’OREAL CARIBE

A NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisation offering life saving help to vulnerable women and children escaping abusive circumstances recently received a grant of €59,000 from the L’Oréal Fund for Women.

GROOTS TT, which stands for Grassroots Organisations Operating Together in Sisterhood and which is located in La Horquetta, is the beneficiary of this donation, a L’Oréal press release stated.

This NGO operated two transition homes from two rented houses, and according to its founder Delores Robinson, it was facing imminent eviction from both locations, if not for the lifeline given by L’Oréal Caribe.

“These grants are a life saver, and that is not an exaggeration, as the homes are crucial to GROOTS’s work of transitioning women from their abusive situations to a more normal life,” Robinson said.

She told a team headed by Dave Hughes, General Manager, L’Oréal Caribe, “The homes offer a safe space for female victims of gender-based violence, those struggling with mental health issues (stress, depression, anxiety), different sexual orientation stigma, and HIV/AIDS.

“They receive counselling here, and the home is a base for the organisation’s Food Economic Empowerment Development and Sustainability (FEEDS) programme. It is a primary tool used to impart life skills, vocational and even agriculture skills to the women so they can become financially independent on their path to recovery and normality.”

Robinson said the grant from the L’Oréal Fund for Women will benefit women who are survivors of domestic violence by paying the transition home’s rent, stipends for additional counsellors, life Skills coach, and trainers and supporting personals in the implementation of phase one of the FEEDS programme.

The head of the NGO praised the L’Oréal’s Fund for Women for being a savior for her organisation’s work. Several times, she indicated, she had to fund several initiatives on her own and this included paying rent for the transition home during the height of the covid19 lockdown and pandemic, providing over 6,000 meals for female headed PLHIV (people living with HIV) and their families, socially displaced people living on the streets of Curepe, St Augustine and Tunapuna, as well as domestic violence survivors.

“Most times I use my own funding, but we also get private donations from stakeholders sympathetic to our cause. GROOTS T&T does not receive Government funding, but we do work closely with several government units which send women and children to the home for sanctuary.

“So far, the home has taken in 37 women and 26 children, and up to December 2020, we would have referred about 30 women and children because we could not feed them. Four women are currently living at the transition home.”

General Manager of L’Oréal Caribe, Dave Hughes, said L’Oréal will continue supporting GROOTS TT so they can own their facilities and expand their work.

“The L’Oréal Fund for Women was established specifically to fund initiatives globally like the work of GROOTS TT that focuses on empowering women at risk of gender-based violence and different types of oppression such as poverty and access to education.”

He added that the women and children GROOTS T&T are helping will join the already 400,000 women worldwide the L’Oréal Fund for Women has already helped.

L’Oréal is the world’s largest cosmetics company and started a €50M solidarity fund two years ago as cases of domestic and sexual violence, and loss of income for women soared because of the pandemic.

GROOTS was founded in 2014 and was registered as an official NGO in 2016.

In 2018, the organisation opened its first transition home. By 2020, with the increase in demand for transition housing for vulnerable women and children, a second home was opened. However, due to financial constraints in mid-2021 the organisation closed its 14 women and 7 children capacity home.

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