Black Immigrant Daily News

Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has called for help from the Regional Security System (RSS) and has implemented 24-hour police patrols, among measures in response to deadly gun violence in the southern town of Vieux Fort.

“The Regional Security System and other assets have been contacted and will be on the ground early next week,” he said.

Since Thursday, seven people have succumbed to gunshot injuries in Vieux Fort.

“It is time to act, and I ask for your support. There will be some difficult decisions to be made, and some strong actions will be taken to deal with these cowards and criminals,” said Pierre, who is also National Security Minister, in an address to the nation late Saturday.

In announcing other measures to deal with the spike in violent crime, he disclosed that on Sunday, he would meet some civil society and business leaders to discuss the current situation and seek solutions.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Allen Chastanet voiced confidence in the police, following the incidents in Vieux Fort.

“This message really today is for our police officers to say to you that you certainly have my vote of confidence and that of many Saint Lucians. We are depending on you,” Chastanet stated in a video posted to social media.

“We appreciate that you are leaving your own homes and your own family members to come and defend us,” the former prime minister said.

“We really need the police officers to be strong, single-minded and to help bring calmness in our community.”

And while expressing sympathy to those who lost loved ones in the Vieux Fort incidents, he noted that the situation in the Southern town had generated a wave of panic and unprecedented fear.

“I understand that some people are resorting to evacuation of the South. But the reality is we are a small island, so what’s happening in Vieux Fort today we have no idea what tomorrow is going to bring,” Chastanet noted.

He also appealed to everyone, including community leaders and churches, to give the people solace and comfort.

“Know that we are in this fight together. We have given recommendations to the government. Hopefully they will heed those recommendations,” the former prime minister stated.

In addition, Chastanet observed that civil society and community leaders must play a strong leadership role, including supporting and instilling confidence in police officers to bring “‘this madness” to an end.

Chastanet said he offered prayers and intended to play his role as a leader to bring calm to “this sea of absolute chaos”.

“We can make it through this. St Lucia is better than what we are displaying.”

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Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit Monday praised his Antigua and Barbuda counterpart, Gaston Browne, for his efforts in keeping the inter-regional airline, LIAT, in the skies, but acknowledged the need for governments to invest in inter-regional travel.

“I recognized as Prime Minister of the country the important and unprecedented role that LIAT has played and was playing at the time to intra-regional travel,” Skerrit told a news conference as he defended his administration’s decision a few years ago to become a shareholder in the debt-ridden airline.

He said LIAT was helpful to Dominica, especially after natural disasters “and I do not believe there is any other entity that can be reasonably expected to replace the functions of LIAT in the region.

“Governments investment in air transportation in the region cannot be replaced by private sector investments only. Governments must invest in inter-regional travel because inter-regional travel for so many islands is really a public good.”

“While you want entities to run professionally and great accountability, greater transparency there are a set of things you don’t expect from them because they have to fly into areas that a commercial airline, running as a private investment will not want to go into, you understand and that’s where LIAT was important”.

Gaston Browne said last week that Antigua and Barbuda seems to be on its own with regard to the establishment of a new company to replace LIAT (1974) Limited which collapsed in 2020.

The Antigua-based LIAT (1974) Limited, entered into administration in July 2020 following increased debt and the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

But Browne said he now recognizes that “Antigua and Barbuda is practically standing alone in terms of having an entity that is owned by a group of governments.

“What seems to be the prevailing thinking at this time is that most heads are of the view that there are sufficient assets within the region. In fact, there is a study that was done by the Caribbean Development Bank as well as the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) and that was the meeting I attended in St. Lucia, and the consensus was that there are sufficient assets to service the region.”

Browne said that there are “primarily private sector held assets and they don’t see the need for the governments to invest in any national airline or regional airline”.

LIAT, before entering into administration had been servicing several regional destinations and has since scaled down its operations and is now servicing Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, San Juan Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, and St. Maarten.

In February, the Guyana government said while it has not committed to investing in the cash-strapped regional airline, LIAT, it nonetheless wants to be “part of a solution for regional air transport”.

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Commonwealth Day will be celebrated on Monday with observances, speeches, exhibitions and cultural events across the 56 Commonwealth member countries.

With ‘Forging a Sustainable and Peaceful Common Future’ as its theme, the day aims to unite 2.5 billion Commonwealth citizens in celebration of their shared values and principles, and in pursuit of a common future, centred on sustainability and peace.

This will be the first Commonwealth Day presided over by His Majesty King Charles III as King and Head of the Commonwealth. The day will also mark the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Commonwealth Charter, which outlines the values and principles that unify the 56 Commonwealth countries, representing one-third of humanity.

In her Commonwealth Day Message, the Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland KC, paid tribute to Her late Majesty The Queen for her seven decades of service and welcomed His Majesty The King for his first Commonwealth Day as the new Head of the Commonwealth.

Speaking on the role of the Commonwealth in her message, she said:

“We stand together now to face the challenges of the moment and seize the opportunities of tomorrow. Where there is violence and conflict, we work for peace. Where there is insecurity, we protect the culture, process and institutions of democracy. Where there is poverty, we tackle it. Where there is injustice, we challenge it.

“Where our brothers and sisters have their lives threatened and disrupted by the impacts of climate change, we stand with them, working tirelessly for climate action and a more sustainable world. I believe profoundly that our family of 56 nations and 2.5 billion people is stronger, more vibrant, more connected and more purposeful than ever.”

Drawing attention to the growing co-operation within the Commonwealth at a time of polarisation, Secretary-General Scotland added: “Our unique qualities and advantages mean that the Commonwealth in 2023 is not simply a part of the international system, it is a beacon within it. These qualities shine in the fact that, with a multilateral system under strain, the Commonwealth is growing, precisely because of what we stand for and what we can deliver.”

She continued: “So, on this tenth anniversary of our [Commonwealth] Charter, as we renew our commitment to its values and to each other, let us resolve together to ensure that in the years to come, we make the peaceful and sustainable common future we all strive for a reality for the whole Commonwealth.”

Around the Commonwealth, cities will host inter-faith, multi-cultural observances to mark the day. One of the largest gatherings will be the traditional service at Westminster Abbey in London and will be attended by The King, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, senior government officials, other dignitaries and hundreds of young people.

At the service, the theme will be expressed through musical performances, testimonies and readings from individuals representing several Commonwealth countries, including ‘Amalgamation Choir’, an all-female choir from Cyprus.

Commonwealth Day has been celebrated on the second Monday in March every year since 1977. In recent years, there has been a shift away from a single-day observance towards a full-week celebration, with Commonwealth Day as its focal point.

This year, as part of the Commonwealth of Nations Flag for Peace initiative, each Commonwealth country and every UK city will receive a flag, which they can raise on Commonwealth Day in celebration of the values of the Commonwealth Charter, including democracy, human rights, sustainable development, equality and respect.

Parliamentarians, mayors and high commissioners in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, the Pacific and Europe will also mark the day with various activities, including speeches and cultural events.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has also produced a special quiz for students to learn more about the modern Commonwealth and its diverse membership. Schools around the Commonwealth can download and use the quiz free of charge.

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Prosecutors on Friday withdrew a charge against a 40-year-old Jamaican woman accused of illegally living in Bermuda after it was confirmed an order had been signed for her deportation.

Gabrielle Gangadhar pleaded not guilty in Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to a charge of staying on the island without permission between November 2022 and March 2023.

Director of Public Prosecutions Cindy Clarke told the court on Friday that the Crown would offer no evidence in the case.

“There has been a signed deportation order from the Governor [Rena Lalgie] so there’s no reason to proceed with the criminal offence,” she said.

Clarke said Gangadhar would be held in custody until next week, when she is set to be sent home.

The court heard that a flight has been scheduled for March 15.

After Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo discharged Gangadhar from the case, she urged the court to allow her to remain on the island so that she could continue to pursue a case with the Human Rights Commission.

But Tokunbo said he was not able to help as it was outside of his powers.

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March 4, 2023 marked a historic moment for the world’s ocean. After a marathon of intense, sometimes overnight negotiations, Member States of the United Nations agreed on the provisions of a treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (the ocean biodiversity treaty).

With this treaty, a new chapter for equity in the world’s ocean has begun. Almost two decades ago, small island developing states drew the international community’s attention to the governance gap for the ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction and the lack of any comprehensive regime to adequately regulate human activities in those areas. That gap posed a direct or indirect threat to the health of the marine environment including marine biodiversity with knock on impacts for coastal nations and the planet. They also pointed to the inequitable use of these areas which SIDS consider to be the common heritage of humankind. From 2004 to 2015, together with other developing countries and the support of non governmental organizations, the SIDS led efforts to make the case for a new treaty. By 2018, that case was filed and an intergovernmental conference convened with a view to adopt a first ever ocean biodiversity treaty.

From the outset, CARICOM demonstrated its leadership in the process with the region’s representatives serving in different roles from the phases of the Preparatory Committee that determined the elements of the treaty, through to the five sessions of the Intergovernmental Conference that finalized the treaty itself. More importantly, its political leaders demonstrated the highest level of support for the conclusion of an ambitious framework for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, with a view to enabling equity and effectiveness. In a final statement ahead of the fifth intergovernmental conference, CARICOM Leaders declared their support for:

(a) a fair and equitable benefit sharing regime, including monetary and non-monetary benefits, for marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources that ensures all humanity for generations to come will benefit from utilisation of those resources and information;

(b) an inclusive transparent consultative process guided by science for the establishment of area-based management tools, including marine protected areas;

(c) a robust threshold and transparent process for the conduct of environmental impact assessments, with global oversight for activities that may be allowed and an agreed decision-making standard for activities that should not be allowed;

(d) adequate, accessible, sustainable and predictable financing to support implementation of the BBNJ Agreement while delivering capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology to developing countries, in particular for SIDS and be responsive to their needs and priorities;

(e) additional funding arrangements for a liability mechanism;

(f) an effective framework of institutional arrangements that will support the provisions of the Agreement and ensure decision making based on the best available scientific information and incorporate the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples and local communities, facilitate effective capacity building and transfer or marine technology, and ensure the required generation of, access to, and use of funding towards the aims of the BBNJ Agreement; and finally;

(g) due recognition of the special circumstances of SIDS as an operational principle of the Agreement.

CARICOM welcomes the conclusion of the intergovernmental conference and the adoption of the ocean biodiversity treaty. It takes note with appreciation that the provisions of the treaty have met the region’s core objectives. Importantly, CARICOM recognizes that this new treaty lays a formidable foundation for the fair, equitable and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction. CARICOM will begin consideration of the next steps to become a party to the treaty and looks forward to the continued support of the international community in bringing the treaty into force and effect, and promoting its universality.

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