Behold He Comes

[A new voice, new eyes seeing SVG. Unusually well written. This will be interesting to follow.]

Perhaps the most exciting cultural experience I have had yet on St. Vincent has been the use of public transportation.  The commute from my assigned village to the Peace Corps training site in Kingstown is over an hour long, and consists of a narrow winding road up and down the island’s sloping mountainous terrain, combined with non-existent speed limit laws and sardine-packed vans that don’t have seat belts.

Many of the vans have interesting names plastered across the front, like Stick Man, Lamo, and Axcess.  Others have names with a biblical reference such as Exodus, and the one I hopped on yesterday morning, Behold He Comes.  My theory for these religious names is that Vincentians believe it takes God’s good graces to drive amidst such challenging conditions and still arrive at your destination in one piece.  After four days here, I’m a believer too.  On the flip side, should the van happen to flip over the side of the road to meet its end at the bottom of the mountain, you’re probably better off being in a vehicle with a name that can deliver you to the pearly gates of heaven in its afterlife.

After getting on my mini-bus yesterday, everything was fine until a blue van in front of us failed to pull off to the side of the road in order to allow new passengers to board.  This happened multiple times, each time with a more rambunctious reaction from those on my van, until our driver decided to get out and yell at the other driver for not allowing us to pass.  The driver of the blue van did this again at the next stop and this time our driver, visibly upset, reached for his machete conveniently located adjacent to the steering wheel.

At this point, I could feel my eyes bulging out of their sockets, and my knuckles were white from clenching my fists in tension.  But some of my fellow passengers yelled to our driver, “Don’t do it, mon.  He’s just lookin’ for some conflict,” and our driver put the machete down.  God bless the peace-loving people of St. Vincent.

After finally passing the other van, our driver engaged in a game of ‘Look Who’s Got Control of the Road Now,’ driving at about 5mph in the middle of the road to piss off the other guy, until he finally got over it.  An hour and 15 minutes after getting onto the bus, I got off at my stop in front of the Peace Corps office, thankful that Behold He didn’t Cometh for anyone on those two buses that day.

http://camillepeace.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/behold-he-comes/

Digicell Football

St. Vincent will be the site of games from October 6 through 10 for group B
See http://dcc.digicelfootball.com/

Millennium Development Goals

Statement By
Dr. the Honourable Ralph E.Gonsalves
Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

At the
High Level Plenary Meeting
on the Millennium Development Goals
22nd September, 2010
New York

Mr. President, Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen:

The purpose of this United Nations Summit is to consider our individual and collective progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, which we committed to achieve by the year 2015. We have also gathered, as we have in the past, to reiterate our political commitment to achieving the MDGs. However, the threadbare rhetoric of good political intentions is meaningless without a demonstrated and tangible fulfillment of past pledges.

Over the past 10 years, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has made tremendous strides in achieving many of the MDGs. Indeed, even in the face of an increasingly difficult international economic environment, we have achieved many of the MDGs far ahead of schedule.

For example, Goal 1 of the MDGs codifies the overarching goal of our global pact – namely, the elimination of hunger and poverty. The standard set by the international community was that, by 2015, each country should reduce by half those persons who live in extreme poverty. I am proud to report that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has far exceeded this target, well in advance of the 2015 deadline. In the past decade, extreme poverty has been reduced from roughly 26% of the population to a mere 2.9%. This amounts to an almost 90% reduction in indigence.

To be sure, poverty, more broadly defined, remains a stubborn and vexing challenge in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. We have reduced non-indigent poverty by one-fifth in the past decade, but 30% of our population continues to struggle with less extreme forms of poverty.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has also far exceeded the goal of universal primary education. Indeed, we have achieved universal secondary education – improving access from 39% to 100% in just five years. By 2015, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will have achieved universal access to primary, secondary and early childhood education. Our ongoing “Education Revolution” remains the cornerstone of my government’s people-centered development policy.

Our health ministry has worked diligently to meet the relevant MDGs. Under-five child mortality has been reduced by almost half, and now approaches developed world standards. The spread of HIV has stabilized in my country, and we remain hopeful that we will begin to claim measurable success in reversing its prevalence in the coming years. We have increased access to pipe-borne water from 70% to over 98% through prudent infrastructural investments. Internet connectivity has tripled, and we now have more active mobile phone subscriptions than we have citizens.

Mr. President,

Despite these tremendous developmental strides, many obstacles still remain to achieving and sustaining the MDGs in our national, regional and international context. The collapse of the world economy, climate change, inequitable trade regimes, and the impact of transnational crime, all threaten our fragile gains.

From the perspective of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the most woefully unmet MDG is Goal 8, titled “A global partnership for development.” While developing countries continue their heroic struggle to advance in an increasingly difficult economic environment, many of our development partners have replaced their firm and measurable commitments of assistance with platitudes and empty rhetoric.

The United Nations has reported that the developed world has provided less than half of the development assistance that it pledged to deliver. The developing world received $120 billion in 2009, far short of the $300 billion that was pledged. The Gleneagles commitments to Africa are $20 billion short. The Official Development Assistance pledge of 0.7% of Gross National Income remains a cruelly unfulfilled promise for all but a few countries. The limited trickle of available assistance is unreliable, unevenly distributed and heavily influenced by political, rather than developmental, considerations. The financial crisis and the failed Doha Development Round belie the Goal 8 pledge to “[d]evelop . . . an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system.” From the perspective of the small, heavily indebted states of CARICOM, the Goal 8 commitment to debt relief rings similarly hollow.

Further, I must emphasise that much of the developing world remains mired in a situation that is not of our making. The developed world’s unmet pledges of development assistance were made well before those same countries plunged the world into a global economic and financial crisis. And their words of commitment were uttered before we had the full measure of the impacts of climate change. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had no role in creating the financial and economic crisis. We are blameless in causing climate change. Further, the responsibility for the crises in food and fuel prices is not ours.

Yet, in a brazenly illogical and indefensible manner, those who are culpable for these crises unacceptably cite the very calamities that they created as the basis upon which they can avoid their commitments to developing countries. They point to the fact that poverty and unemployment are rising drastically in the world’s major economies. They resort to thinly disguised code words like “aid effectiveness” and “governance structures” to mask their failings to meet their own assistance targets.

Somehow, we are expected to soldier on, with less assistance than promised, and in an international environment that is hostile to development, while the creators of the crises and the deliverers of empty promises often look askance at out developmental needs.

Mr. President,

The achievement of the MDGs is at a critical juncture. My government’s people-centered strides towards these goals are vulnerable, and potentially reversible, in this period of increasing global economic hardship. Internationally, the MDGs are unattainable and unsustainable without a shrinking of the yawning credibility gap between what is pledged and what is delivered by our development partners. For the next five years, Goal 8 must be the engine of further development, and the fulcrum by which we leverage our own national and regional best practices. The difference between achievement of the MDGs and failure is the difference between real commitments and empty promises; between responsibility and avoidance.

The great American President Abraham Lincoln once said that “[y]ou cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” As 2015 approaches, no one is served by evasive words and deeds by our friends, our development partners. A renewed global partnership to development, evidenced by measureable and demonstrable efforts to honour past commitments, is the only sure way that we can collectively attain meaningful and sustainable global development.

I thank you.

UN summit ends with calls for aid

08:51 AEST Thu Sep 23 2010

US President Barack Obama called on Wednesday for greater urgency in the fight against the world's social ills as a UN poverty summit ended with tens of billions of dollars of pledges but lingering pessimism about the impact. Obama unveiled a new "big-hearted but also hard-headed" US aid policy to push the world's poorest countries toward prosperity.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched a $US40 billion ($A41.98 billion) drive to save the lives of millions of women and children. Britain, China and Japan also promised more help.
But many leaders still accused wealthy nations of failing to keep their promises on assistance. Aid groups said millions would still die unnecessarily in the final five years of UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) initiative launched in 2000.

Obama and the UN chief highlighted advances made to reduce poverty and disease, spread education and increase opportunities for women since the Millennium summit in 2000 set eight key development targets. But the US leader said progress "has not come nearly fast enough."
"Not for the hundreds of thousands of women who lose their lives every year simply giving birth. Not for the millions of children who die from the agony of malnutrition," Obama said. Obama said the United States would now concentrate on countries that invest in their future and boost democracy, good governance and free trade. "Consider the millions of people who have relied on food assistance for decades. That's not development, that's dependence, and it's a cycle we need to break," he said.
"We need to be big-hearted but also hard-headed in our approach to development."

The UN chief said governments, philanthropists and private groups pledged $US40 billion ($A41.98 billion) in initiatives to boost the health of women and children. Ban estimated that his Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health could save 16 million lives by 2015.

Of the eight key development targets set a decade ago, cutting deaths of women during pregnancy and childbirth and those of children younger than five have seen the least progress. Countries from Afghanistan to Zambia - and also including Australia, Britain, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia and the United States - contributed to the drive.

Japan's Prime Minister Naota Kan promised $US5 billion ($A5.25 billion) over five years to help meet the UN's health goals and $US3.5 billion ($A3.67 billion) to help universal primary education. British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg vowed that his country's aid would reach 0.7 per cent of gross national income by 2013 and be enshrined in a law. Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the "gaps" left in the final five years of the MDG campaign.

Doubts were expressed inside and outside the summit chamber.
Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, said rich nations were behind many of the obstacles stopping nations from moving toward prosperity. He told leaders that some major countries "have replaced their firm and measurable commitments of assistance with platitudes and empty rhetoric."

China's Premier Wen Jiabao reminded world powers of their promises to devote 0.7 per cent of gross national income to assistance. So far only five countries have met the commitment.
"Assistance should be selfless and have no strings attached," Wen said.

Aid groups expressed strong doubts about the summit outcome.
ActionAid's chief executive Joanna Kerr called the UN summit "an expensive side-show". "UN summits will continue failing to deliver so long as leaders keep making empty promises on too many issues." Oxfam spokesman Ray Offenheiser welcomed the new US policy which would "support developing countries' efforts to end extreme poverty. "But let's not forget - in the time that President Obama stood at the podium to deliver his UN address, 30 women died in childbirth, and 66 children will have died from Malaria. Those numbers will repeat every hour upon hour until the president's words are turned into action."

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/7999463/un-summit-ends-with-calls-for-aid

PM wades into comments by former PM

NEW YORK, CMC – St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonalves, has waded into controversial comments made by former prime minister Sir James Mitchell about the forthcoming general elections.
Sir James is reported to have told a public meeting earlier this month that he does not “trust even Jesus Christ when there is [are] elections, until I see the results”.

Addressing a town hall meeting in Brooklyn over the weekend, Gonsalves said he hopes the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Christian Council and individual churches would comment on the issue.

“Sir James is talking so much foolishness these days that I wonder whether something aint going wrong,” he told a meeting at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center.

“It’s a terrible statement.”

Sir James, the founder and former leader of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) made the comment while calling for international observers for the general elections, which are constitutionally due by March next year.
He challenged Gonsalves to invite observers “if he wants to prove he is a Democrat.”

“We want them here to go and see what is happening with the Supervisor of Elections,” he said.

“I know that she is an honorable lady, a distinguished lady, and so on, but I don’t trust even Jesus Christ when there is [are] elections, until I see the results”, he added.

“Jesus Christ is honorable and wonderful, but I am trying to exaggerate it to get you to the point,” he clarified.
But Opposition Leader and NDP president, Arnhim Eustace, said such a statement was wrong.

“I want people to understand my position on this matter. It was wrong to make such a statement,” Eustace told party supporters on Saturday.

“The New Democratic party cannot defend that statement. We cannot defend it. But Sir James himself recognises what he did and he called me the day after and he said, ‘I did something wrong’,” Eustace said

Gonsalves told the meeting that while he has “not announced the date for the election I know the date, and I’ve given the matter careful consideration, and Almighty God knows it.

“In due course, we all will know it,” he added.

Gonsalves said the incumbent Unity Labor Party (ULP) will conduct the election campaign on five major planks and urged supporters at home and in the Diaspora to “own the campaign” by defending their leaders, their country and “their gains in the last five years.”

“On the airwaves, they must own it. It belongs to them. It reflects who we are,” he added.

http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=43033

PM Seeking Another Term, In Brooklyn

St. Vincent: Ralph Gonsalves seekiing another term September 20, 2010

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has urged Vincentians living in the United States of America to take an active interest in the future course of development of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Prime Minister’s made the appeal, as he addressed a Town Hall Meeting in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday night.

He used the opportunity to report on the record of achievement of the Government over the last ten years and to outline the vision of his administration, and well as it policies and programs.

The Prime Minister said he is proud of the progress made by his administration, and is seeking another term in office to continue the work that has been started.

Ryan Gilkes

STARCOM Network News

SVG Announces International Airport

BUSINESSWIREVANCOUVER, CANADA

St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), a collection of 32 islands and cays in the Southern Caribbean, announced at the 16th World Route Development Forum that terminal construction will begin later this year on its new US$240 million international airport, the largest development project ever undertaken by this small country. The new Argyle International Airport will replace the existing E.T. Joshua Airport when it opens in the spring of 2012.

With vastly increased capacity, the new airport is expected to attract direct flights from major North American and European destinations, and spur increased investment in the country’s growing hospitality sector. The new terminal building will have about 11,500 square meters (123,784 square feet) of floor space, and is designed to handle about 1.4 million passengers per year, nearly four times the capacity of the current airport.

“The full realization of the potential of our country’s growth and development hinges on this international airport. And tourism is likely to be our main foreign exchange earner for a long time to come,” said Honorable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“The new Argyle International Airport will be a game changer for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as it will finally allow us to attract direct flights from major North American and European cities,” said Minister of Tourism, Honorable Glen Beache, who is attending the World Route Development Forum to meet with airlines and other development partners.

The Argyle International Airport is being built on about 175 acres of land, with a paved runway 2,743 meters (9,000 feet) long, and 45 meters (150 feet) wide. The airport is designed to accommodate jets as large as Boeing 747-400s.

“Our current airport’s short runway can only accommodate small planes traveling from neighboring islands, and its design and location prohibit planes from carrying cargo to capacity,” said Dr. Rudolph Matthias, CEO of the International Airport Development Company. “As expansion of the current airport was technically unfeasible, SVG developed a plan to build a new international airport.”

The project broke ground on August 13, 2008, and is expected to be complete by April 2012. The earthworks phase, now underway, involves moving three mountains, spanning a river, and filling two valleys to completely level the site. Project teams are currently working on the site seven days per week, 12 hours per day, using 70 pieces of heavy earth moving equipment.
In the final quarter of 2010, construction of the terminal building will begin, as well as the paving of the runway, taxiways, and aprons. The airport is being developed by the International Airport Development Company (IADC), a private limited liability company wholly owned by the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The project team includes the Chatoyer-Che construction team and CECI Engineering Consultants of Taiwan.

For more information about the airport and updates on its progress, visit www.svgiadc.com.

About St. Vincent and the Grenadines:

A collection of 32 unspoiled islands and cays in the secluded Southern Caribbean, St. Vincent and the Grenadines boasts the best of what the authentic Caribbean is renowned for. The Grenadines stretch for 45 miles south from the main island of St. Vincent and include eight inhabited islands: Young Island, Bequia, Union, Mayreau, Mustique, Canouan, Palm Island and Petit St. Vincent. Tobago Cays is a horseshoe shaped reef that shields five deserted islets and is renowned as a sailing and snorkeling mecca. For more information on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, please visit www.discoversvg.com.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6434509&lang=en

© Copyright (c) Business Wire
 
 
 

Former PM’s Jesus comments

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – The opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) said it “cannot defend” a statement by its founder and former prime minster, Sir James Mitchell, that he does not trust “even Jesus Christ” when it comes to elections.

Sir James made the comments at a NDP rally on September10, The Vincentian newspaper reported.

It said Sir James’s comments came as he called for international observers for the general elections, constitutionally due by March 2011.

“We want them here to go and see what is happening with the Supervisor of Elections. I know that she is an honourable lady, a distinguished lady and so on; but I don’t trust even Jesus Christ when there is elections, until I see the results,” The Vincentian quoted Sir James as saying.

“Jesus Christ is honourable and wonderful, but I am trying to exaggerate it to get you to the point. You have to make sure that the job is done, and I am only going to pass judgement to say that we have a wonderful Supervisor of Elections only when the election is over. I don’t care who saying she (is) nice and she (is) good. I will see when the results come home,” he said.

NDP president and Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace said such a statement was wrong.“I want people to understand my position on this matter. It was wrong to make such a statement,” Eustace told party supporters on Saturday.

“The New Democratic party cannot defend that statement. We cannot defend it. But Sir James himself recognises what he did and he called me the day after and he said, ‘I did something wrong’,” Eustace said. Eustace said he believed that Sir James, who retired from electoral politics in 2000, “would make his own statement shortly for the benefit of the public”.

“Because he himself was concerned enough, he called me the very next morning after the meeting. I was not at the meeting. But, I know that he himself is not happy about the statement … I just want to let people understand that the New Democratic Party cannot defend that statement and we will allow Sir James to come forward and say what he has to say to the public of St. Vincent,” Eustace said.

Sir James was prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines from 1984 to 2000 and has observed elections in several countries.

http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=42937

Business Leaves SVG

As I understand it, the news clip at http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/czech-businessman-pitr-moving-firms-to-seychelles-press/530655 says that a Czek businessman is moving from SVG to the Seychelles because it is no longer safe to do business in SVG. On the other hand his "business" seems to involve tax fraud. Not clear whether we should be pleased or not.

Tourism Websites

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/interesting-places-st-vincent-16153.html
is a good information website for SVG. It will lead you to several other
websites with SVG information.

Taiwanese company wins Argyle bid

By admin on 9/15/10

A Taiwanese company has won the bid to do the main terminal at the Argyle International Airport.

Speaking yesterday, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said that the bidding process saw three companies presenting ideas. He added that two of the companies eventually backed out, leaving the job up to a Taiwanese company. He added that the two other companies would not have been suitable for the job citing among other things the lack of a base in or close to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The PM said that having a Taiwanese company do the main terminal is a plus because among other things, we have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

“There are negotiations with them at the moment as we would love to have a Taiwanese company do it because the money is coming from Taiwan”, said the PM

http://www.svgtoday.com/?p=4544

Sailing And Diving SVG

There's a description of SVG on http://www.coibadivers.com/article/st-vincent-the-grenadines-yacht-charter-2
It isn't that different from other tourist blurbs so I didn't copy it, but you could take a look. Here's one that's a little different.

Destination Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

If you're looking for island-hopping chartering with a bit of blue-water cruising thrown in, then head to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Located in the southern Windward Islands, 24 miles south of St. Lucia and 75 miles north of Grenada, this 32-island nation is anchored by St. Vincent, the largest and northernmost Grenadine, with islands such as Mustique, Mayreau, the Tobago Cays, Union Island, Petit St. Vincent, Canouan and Bequia stretching out to the south.

"The sailing is more open water than in the British Virgin Islands," says Narendra 'Seth' Sethia, base manager at Barefoot Yacht Charters, headquartered in Blue Lagoon, St. Vincent. "It's adventurous sailing, but not difficult. The lay of the land puts you pretty much on a reach whether heading north or south. Inter-island distances are relatively short: from one to four hours, though typically two and half hours. This means a leisurely morning sail with plenty of time to settle in an anchorage, enjoy lunch and a lazy afternoon on the beach."

Some would describe St. Vincent and The Grenadines as 'the way the Caribbean use to be', and this is indeed spot-on. The area is un-crowded; no high-rise hotels or fast food chains here. Yet, there's plenty to do ashore: eateries to suit every pocketbook and taste buds, great hikes, sleepy fishing villages where wooden boats are still built by hand and lively 'jump-ups' for the night owls.

A great one-week itinerary that hits the 'high spots' of the territory and also takes into account the prevailing wind and current, is to cast off from St. Vincent and sail to the private island of Mustique. Here royalty and the rich-and-famous play anonymously. Think Prince William, Mick Jagger, Tommy Hilfiger and many more. There's only one anchorage, at Britannia Bay, and it's a mandatory mooring area.

"'Must do's' are to rent a mule (self-drive gasoline-powered golf cart) and drive across to stunning Macaroni Beach," says Sethia. "Have a cocktail or meal at Firefly, visit the Cotton House, or chill at Basil's Bar - rated by Time magazine as one of the best 10 bars in the world."

The next day, sail to Salt Whistle Bay, on Mayreau, the smallest of the inhabited Grenadines. The anchorage here is breathtaking, but small. Saline Bay, on the southwest, is not as picture-postcard, but there's much more room.

"Walk up to 'The Village' and hang out at one of several friendly, local-style bars where you'll meet some real characters and can enjoy a great West Indian meal," says Sethia. "Visit the beautiful hilltop stone church with its expansive views across the Grenadines. Eat at Dennis's Hideaway (he even has a pool) or Robert Righteous."

Day three, sail to the Tobago Cays Marine Park.

"Swim with turtles, snorkel on the reef, have a picnic on Petit Tabac where Captain Jack Sparrow was marooned in Pirates of the Caribbean, and ask the fishermen to prepare a lobster or fish barbecue on the beach," suggests Sethia.

Sail over to Clifton Harbor on Union Island the next day. Dinghy out to 'Happy Island', which is built out of conch shells, sand and stone, and chill out in a hammock with a cold beer. Happy Island's creator, Janty, is usually around for a chat. There are many little stores here to stock up on provisions. Then, take an afternoon sail to Petit St. Vincent. Walk up the hillside to the one and only bar, sit down with a cocktail in the lush surroundings where hummingbirds abound, and stay for dinner.
The next day, cruise to Charlestown on Canouan.

"Hike across the central ridge and down to the windward lagoon," says Sethia. "Take a picnic lunch, relax on the beach or snorkel on the reef."

Finally, round out the week before heading back to St. Vincent, with a stop at Admiralty Bay, on Bequia. Stroll through Port Elizabeth and check out the local boat builders and handicraft stalls, hike up to Spring and Industry and visit the Turtle Sanctuary, or laze on Princess Margaret Beach.

"You can also hang with the locals for fun and food at Lower Bay on a Sunday afternoons," says Sethia, "and sway with the rhythm at Thursday night jump-up at The Frangipani."

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW A permit to cruise St. Vincent and The Grenadines costs $14 per person per month. Children under the age of 12 are free.

The mandatory mooring fee at Mustique is $80 - and it's a 3-night permit. Moorings in other anchorages run between $15 and $20 per night, but its best to double-check them because maintenance is spotty to rare.

Spear-fishing by non-locals is prohibited.

Jet-skis are banned throughout St. Vincent and The Grenadines.

The Tobago Cays Marine Park entry fee is $3.85 per person per day.

*All amounts are quoted in U.S. dollars.

Carol M. Bareuther, RD, is a St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands based marine writer and registered dietitian.

http://www.allatsea.net/article/October_2010/Destination_Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines

Summary of PM speech to UN

UNITED NATIONS (NEW YORK, NY), June 25, 2009: - Dr. the Hon. Ralph E. Gonsalves, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines delivered an impassioned call for reform of global financial systems and architecture in response to the deepening world economic crisis.

Prime Minister Gonsalves said the small, open and vulnerable Caribbean economies had been "globalized" out of their agricultural exports, particularly bananas; were in danger of being "climatized" out of tourism because of sea-level rise and global warming; and stigmatized out of attempts to diversify through financial services. Contrary to the title of the Conference, the countries of the Caribbean viewed the world to be ensnared in more than a mere financial and economic crisis -- it was a profound crisis of capitalist globalization. Regulatory failure of banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions reflected the triumph of neo-liberal ideology, which had sought to roll back any interventionist role of the State in an effort to be minimalist. But "the chickens have come home to roost, as the poor and the working people suffer consequentially", he said, listing the crisis' numerous impacts, such as rising poverty and unemployment, shrinking foreign direct investment and strained social safety nets.

Remarking that the crisis had laid bare an unsustainable and unethical mode of production, consumption and distribution, he said the "limited" and "unimaginative" corrective measures suggested by some States and institutions seemed "bereft of logic and value". He questioned why countries should be forced to borrow from those whose bad advice and reckless regulatory neglect had precipitated the crisis in the first place. The responsibility for the crisis lay in the world's unregulated financial centres and in those who had considered it their right to prescribe and proscribe other people's policy space. In contrast, in its search for a solution, the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines would seek an enhanced space where the role of the State was vital. In its view, a good solution to the crisis required a framework for a modern, competitive, many-sided post-colonial economy that was at once local, national, regional and global. It must be people-centred.

In dealing with the crisis, he said, his country had sought to strengthen bonds with other nations through various regional groupings, and added that the spirit of multilateralism must inform the engagement of the United Nations in the crisis. Believing that United Nations involvement was essential, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had been "deeply" and "centrally" engaged in drafting the Conference's outcome document, and its Permanent Representative was a co-facilitator. While the document did not fully reflect all of the country's interests, needs and ambitions, it was an important and actionable first step. Its 20-point action plan touched on the peculiar needs of small island developing States; called for a people-centred solution; stressed the need for solidarity and the need to restore confidence in open trade; and acknowledged the right of developing countries to employ trade defence mechanisms. It also called for national stimulus packages that did not affect other countries adversely, and demonstrated an understanding that developing countries needed the flexibility to implement counter-cyclical measures.

He called on the General Assembly to implement the outcome document's call for an intergovernmental working group to be established, so as to operationalize the 20 principles. Quoting John Maynard Keynes, he said the crisis had exposed the contradictions and inequalities of capitalism as practiced by the world. "This moment [...] must be the point at which we take financial ideological orthodoxy outside of the box of stagnation and failure," he said. Applauding the vision of the Government of Venezuela, which had first conceptualized a formal United Nations conference on the crisis, he also welcomed efforts taken by allies in the North, particularly the new regulatory and institutional arrangements proposed by President Barack Obama of the United States.

Prime Minister Gonsalves also chaired a high level roundtable discussion on the impact of the crisis.

From the website of the SVG Mission to the UN

Gonsalves confident of being re-elected

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, Sept 11, 2010 CMC - Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is confident that his ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) will be returned to power when voters go to the polls to elect a new government in general elections constitutionally due by March next year.

Speaking on a local radio programme Friday, from Cuba, Gonsalves said it would take a “miracle” for the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) to defeat the ULP in the next general election that political observers say would be held before the constitutional deadline.

“The NDP doesn’t have leadership, they don’t have quality candidates, they don’t have any programme. And, they have a lot of angry people who hanging around, and a long of people who (are) just greedy and they want to get into the State to rip it off,” he told radio listeners.

“Now, in relation to me, I am the least important person in terms of what would happen if the ULP lose. I’m a professional,” said Gonsalves, an attorney and former university lecturer.

“Now, the point about it is this: What I am focusing on, I have to complete the international airport. If I don’t complete it, who is going complete it? Look, St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the moment, -and I don’t want to sound immodest here - which leader in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has the global stature to get things done for St. Vincent and the Grenadines? Which one? None (of) them! Absolutely none! And this is not something which can be made. If you don’t have it, you don’t have it,” Gonsalves said.

He said that before entering politics he had delivered lectures internationally in addition to practising law.

“As a professional and as an intellectual, I had made a mark. And the politics, my role as Prime Minster, simply added to that,” he said.
Gonsalves acknowledged that he is “not indispensible” but insisted that in the present political climate he is the best choice to lead the island.

“And that is the point I am making. And I don’t sound immodest about it, even though the point I am making is true,” he said, adding that he was not blowing his own trumpet.

“ I am just asking people to look at these matters,” Gonsalves said.

In the last general election, the ULP won 12 of the 15 seats with the NDP winning the remaining three.


http://csmenetwork.com/2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9119:-st-vincent-prime-minister-confident-of-being-re-elected&catid=122:csme-network-latest&Itemid=211

Free travel on new ferry service

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, Wednesday September 8, 2010 –

Several people will be able to travel free of cost, including the physically challenged, when the Caribbean’s new ferry service is launched by BEDY’s Travel of Grenada next month. The ferry service, when operational, will connect Barbados, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and St Vincent, providing daily services to those islands.

BEDY’s Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Ross promised yesterday that on each trip, 12 free seats will be allocated for the physically handicapped, persons requiring urgent medical attention, representatives of government travelling on government business, members of the clergy, persons travelling on special education assignments, as well as police officers. 

Ross said that would be in keeping with the agency’s Special Situation Seat Assignment Programme.
In giving an update on the launch of the ferry service, Ross said most of the pre-launch plans have been fine-tuned and by the end of this month, a comprehensive booking system will be in place at locations across the region.

Those persons living in the United States will also be able to make their inter-island travel reservations and cargo bookings through BEDY’s Miami office.  

Three vessels – one with a capacity for some 900 passengers, 180 motor vehicles and cargo, and two others, La Palma Express and Nutmeg Express, with a capacity of 260 and 300 respectively – will be utilised. The smaller vessels will provide inter-island tour and charter services. Ross said the schedule for the larger vessel is being revised. No exact date has been given for the launch of the ferry service, but BEDY said it would happen towards the end of next month.

GARIFUNA AMERICAN HERITAGE AWARDS

GARIFUNA AMERICAN HERITAGE AWARDS
 
The Garifuna American Heritage Foundation United, Inc.
Cordially invites you to honor 5 men and women who have been not only the guardians but also the builders and the supporters of the Garifuna Culture here in Los Angeles, California.
 
GAHFU, Inc. requests the pleasure of your company in honoring these great individuals and to induct them into GAHFU’s Wall of Fame with an honorary plaque.  These men and women are being honored for their lifetime commitment to our community:
 
Mrs. Martha Martinez – Mrs. Anita Martinez
Mr. Clifford Palacio – Mr. Ruben Reyes – Mr. Carlos Domingo Alvarez
MAR’S CARIBBEAN GARDENS
14008 Crenshaw Blvd. Gardena, CA 90249 (310) 323-5000
 
September 25, 2010 8 pm – 2 am
 
Dinner & Dance $25 donation per person to benefit the establishment of
 Our Garifuna Cultural Center.
(Includes admission and dinner only – Drinks sold separately)
Semi-formal and/or cultural attire – Tickets available by contacting GAHFU, Inc. or by calling (323) 898-6841 Helen Laurie (323) 496-4101.
Plenty of free parking.
Libaña Baba Cultural Drummers, Souls by Harry Shaw,
Norman Ysaguirre, Fred Dixon & DJ Nice
Seating is limited, please purchase your tickets in advance.
Please RSVP (323) 898-6841 E-mail: garifunaheritagefoundation@yahoo.com  
Sent on Tuesday, August 24, 2010                            www.garifunaheritagefoundation.org

Ricky Singh on SVG Politics

ANALYSIS by RICKEY SINGH Sunday, September 05, 2010

INTERFERENCE in the domestic affairs, and election politics in particular, by foreigners in North America and Europe has been an old problem for some Caribbean countries ever since their independence from Britain.

Best known victims of such interference with money and so-called "experts" are known to have been Jamaica, Guyana, Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda.

But it's difficult to recall an outstanding example of the sort of brazen public interference by some American business people, one a former employee of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as that of a British agency as is currently occurring in the Caricom member state of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

With a new general election expected to be called within the next two to three months, the foreign groups and agents have been increasing their profiles under the guise of "preserving democracy" (what else is new!) in that Windward Island whose prime minister is being targeted for, among other "sins", his "unholy alliance" with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

Ralph Gonsalves, leader of the governing Unity Labour Party (ULP), and currently a second-term prime minister, suffered a political setback in November last year when the Opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) of Arnhim Eustace won a surprising "no" vote campaign at a referendum to change the country's constitution in favour of a constitutional republic. Foreign involvement was then also an issue.

The popular margin of victory at the referendum was about 7,000 (29,000 for NDP and 22,493 for ULP). But Gonsalves has been on the offensive ever since.

He went public last week with the release of an 'Open letter to the people of the Caribbean' to expose groups and individuals said to be passionately working to "undermine" his government and Vincentian "sovereignty".

Opposition NDP

Apart from the specific information provided on the American and British groups and business people, Gonsalves referred to the Opposition NDP as the primary beneficiary of the ongoing "foreign interference".

He also mentioned Sir James Mitchell, former prime minister and founder-leader of the NDP, as an "Advisory Board member" of the Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL) of Britain.

This agency actually promotes as "its principal business, the art and science of mind-bending" as well as boasts of having borrowed techniques from Adolph Hitler".
Since Prime Minister Gonsalves' open letter and simultaneous forwarding of copies to all Caricom Heads of Government, in addition to "sensiting" leading civil society organisations, I opted to get a response from both NDP Opposition Leader Eustace, and Sir James Mitchell.

I failed to reach the NDP leader, at the time of writing, in telephone calls to his home and his party office. I did, however, reach Sir James, the former long-serving prime minister.

Sir James' response

After I informed him of the relevant sections of Gonsalves' three-and-a-half-page open letter, Sir James said that as former leader of the NDP and prime minister, he "never saw anything wrong in having foreign consultants for elections..."

So far as his presence on the board of SCL of Britain was concerned, all he was prepared to say was that "I have never been in the business of mind-bending of electoral support of the Vincentian people".

In relation to Americans operating out of St Vincent and inviting financial contributions to help "protect democracy" that was being endangered by the Gonsalves administration, the former prime minister said that "using Internet technologies to raise funds for any cause has now become a way of life". He preferred not to get into "the details".

However, for his part, Prime Minister Gonsalves has provided a two-page "attachment" outlining specific names of personnel and groups, websites and Facebook posting of those involved in the brazen campaign, a few operating from within St Vincent and the Grenadines, "to raise money starting from a low of US$5:) in a campaign to destabilise his administration and make a mockery of his country's sovereignty".

Dr Gonsalves is very categorical in his statement that, "over the past 11 months, commencing around October 2009, and continuing, foreign elements out of Britain and the United States of America have aligned themselves to the opposition NDP in an insidious campaign of defamation of this blessed country and of attempting to destabilise the Unity Labour Party Government led by me".

NDP leader Eustace has since dismissed Gonsalves' claims of the party's involvement with foreigners to destabilise his Government.

Poster

Comrade Ralph accuses the NDP of going overboard

9/02/10 SVG Today

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves thinks that the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) has gone overboard in relation to persons they have recruited to help them with their election campaign.

The PM said that he is planning to send a letter to CARICOM that highlights what he calls the “unpatriotism of the Opposition New Democratic Party (NDP)”.

“I have drafted a letter and I will send it out to the people of the Caribbean and to every leader of the CARICOM member states to say to them that the New Democratic Party has involved former colonialists from Britain and those who have no interest in our country, like the Tea Party activists who fighting Obama who is trying to help the black people in America”, said Gonsalves recently.

According to the Prime Minister, the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) has aligned itself with persons who have in the past done work for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Speaking recently, the PM described the action as, “dangerous” as apart from other things the NDP is conducting fundraisers abroad at which they are asking persons for money, “to save St. Vincent and the Grenadines”.  The persons who the PM said the NDP are using in what he thinks is a smear campaign are United States businessmen Dave Copps and Blake Burris.

“The NDP has aligned itself with the colonialists, the Tea Party types, who are against Obama to try to bring down the Government of St.Vincent and the Grenadines and to defame us,” said Gonsalves while describing some of the things persons are saying abroad as, “a dastardly lie”.

SVG Looking For Consultant

CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO IDENTIFY RELEVANT INFORMATION FOR ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES TO ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVES OF THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC)

 The Ministry of Health and the Environment, invites suitably qualified applicants to provide Consultancy Services to identify relevant information for St. Vincent and the Grenadines to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Consultant will be required to build on information presented in St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Initial National Communication on Climate change. Specifically the Consultant will be expected to provide inter alia, information on the following:
• Identify steps taken to integrate climate change into relevant social, economic and environmental policies
• Activities related to technological transfer
• Climate change research and systematic observation
• Research to adapt to and mitigate climate change
• Education, training and public awareness
• Capacity building at the national, regional and sub regional levels
• Efforts to promote information sharing among and within countries and regions

Qualification and Experience
Applicants should possess relevant academic qualifications and experience that would allow him/her to complete a thorough analysis of the issue, demonstrate familiarity with environmental developments within St. Vincent and the Grenadines and UNFCCC reporting requirements. Applications, with recent curriculum vitae and two references should be submitted no later than September 3rd, 2010 to: The Permanent Secretary 
Ministry of Health and the Environment 
Ministerial Building 
Kingstown 
St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Further details may be obtained from the National Project Coordinator at (784) 485-6992 
 

© 2009 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat. All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 10827, Georgetown, GUYANA.
Tel: (592) 222 0001-75 Fax: (592) 222 0171 | E-mail your comments and suggestions to: registry@caricom.org | SiteMap

'Foreign interference' in St Vincent

Originally printed at http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/_Foreign_interference__in_St_Vincent - 101937308.html

INTERFERENCE IN the domestic affairs, and election politics in particular, by foreigners in North America and Europe, have been an old problem for some Caribbean countries ever since their independence from Britain.
Best known victims of such interference with money and so-called "experts", are known to have been Jamaica, Guyana, Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda.

But it's difficult to recall an outstanding example of the sort of public brazen interference by some American business people, one a former employee of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as that of a British agency as currently occurring in the Caricom member state of St Vincent and the Grenadines,

With a new general election expected to be called within the next two to three months, the foreign groups and agents have been increasing their profiles under the guise of "preserving democracy" (what else is new!) in that Windward Island whose Prime Minister is being targeted for, among other "sins", his "unholy alliance" with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

Dr Ralph Gonsalves, leader of the governing Unity Labour Party (ULP), and currently a second term Prime Minister, suffered a political setback in November last year when the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) of Arnhim Eustace, won a surprising "no" vote campaign at a referendum to change the country's constitution in favour of that of a constitutional republic. Foreign involvement was then also an issue.

The popular margin of victory at the referendum was about 7,000 (29,000 for NDP and 22,493 for ULP). But Gonsalves has been on the offensive ever since.

Yesterday he went public with what he has released as an "Open Letter to the People of the Caribbean" to expose groups and individuals said to be passionately working to "undermine" his government and Vincentian "sovereignty".

Apart from the specific information provided on the American and British groups and business people, Gonsalves referred to the opposition NDP as the primary beneficiary of the ongoing "foreign interference".

He also mentioned Sir James Mitchell, former prime minister and founder- leader of the NDP, as an "Advisory Board member" of the "Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL)" of Britain.

This agency actually promotes as "its principal business, the art and science of mind-bending" and boasts of having borrowed techniques from Adolph Hitler..."

Since Prime Minister Gonsalves' "Open Letter" and simultaneous forwarding of copies to all Caricom Heads of Government, in addition to "sensitising" leading civil society organisations, I opted to get a response from both NDP Opposition Leader Eustace, and Sir James Mitchell.

I failed to reach the NDP leader, at the time of writing, in telephone calls to his home and his party office. I did, however, reach Sir James, the former long- serving prime minister.

After informing him of the relevant sections of Gonsalves' three-and-a-half- page "open letter", Sir James said that as former leader of the NDP and prime minister, "he never saw anything wrong in having 'foreign consultants for elections...."

So far as his presence on the Board of the SCL of Britain was concerned, all he was prepared to say was "I have never been in the business of mind- bending of electoral support of the Vincentian people..."

In relation to Americans operating out of St Vincent and inviting financial contributions to help "protect democracy" that was being endangered by the Gonsalves' administration, the former prime minister said that "using internet technologies to raise funds for any cause has now become a way of life". He preferred not to get into "the details".
However, for his part, Prime Minister Gonsalves has provided a two-page "attachment" outlining specific names of personnel and groups, websites and Facebook postings of those involved in the brazen campaign, a few operating from within St Vincent and the Grenadines, "to raise money starting from a low of US$5) in a campaign to destabilise his administration and make a mockery of his country's sovereignty".

Gonsalves is very categorical in his statement that, "over the past eleven months, commencing around October 2009, and continuing, foreign elements out of Britain and the United States of America have aligned themselves to the opposition NDP in an insidious campaign of defamation of this blessed country and of attempting to destabilise the Unity Labour Party government led by me..."