CFU adopts integrity measures
Integrity in football is a concept spreading across the Caribbean. At least as far as the region’s governing football body is concerned.
The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) recently adopted integrity measures for all competitions, following in the football footsteps of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).
“While it is sad that the game now requires these documents, I am at the same time proud to see that the CFU is helping to create the enabling environment for the game to be protected,” CFU President Gordon Derrick said in a statement.
The new measures include:
Players and referees signing an integrity declaration form
Players and referees will receive information about the threat of match fixing
Presentations will be given to players, referees and other officials outlining the procedure if approached about match fixing
The CFU maintains there have never been allegations of match fixing in any of its competitions.
Source-Cayman News
Four Windies players retained, five sold in IPL auction
Four West Indies cricketers have been retained to play for their respective franchises while another five have been purchased on the first day Wednesday of the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL) player auctions.
Dwayne Bravo has been retained by the Chennai Super Kings, Sunil Narine the Kolkata Knight riders, Kieron Pollard will continue to play for the Mumbai Indians while Chris Gayle has been retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Sunrisers Hyderabad snapped up Darren Sammy, Dwayne Smith moves from Mumbai Indians to Chennai super kings (CSK), the Royal Challengers Bangalore bought Ravi Rampaul, Jason Holder has been recruited to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad while spinner Samuel Badree was a bargain buy for Chennai Super Kings.
Overall, Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik were the biggest buys on day one of the auctions, sold for US$2.25 million and US$2.01 million respectively.
The auctions for the 7th edition of the IPL will resume on Thursday.
Souce-CMC
Guyana dismissed for 181 in Super50 semi
Guyana, winning the toss and batting against Barbados in the second semi-final of the NAGICO Super50 regional competition were dismissed for 181 in 48.4 overs at the Queen's Park Oval on Thursday.
Scores: Guyana 181 all out (48.4 overs) Narsingh Deonarine 58, Christopher Barnwell 37, Anthony Bramble 34, Veerasammy Permaul 19 (Fidel Edwards 4-16, Jason Holder 2-35).
Earlier rain interrupted play when Guyana was on 159 for 7 off 46 overs.
Source-CMC
Rowley awarded substantial damages by Trinidad High Court
The High Court Wednesday awarded Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley TT$475,000 (One TT dollar = US$0.16 cents) in damages following remarks made by a former senator five years ago about a controversial land development project.
Former independent Senator Michael Annisette, who is also President of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Union SWWU), had made reference to the so called “Landate Affair’ in and out of the Senate that involved allegations that materials were siphoned from the Scarborough Hospital project to a private housing project owned by Rowley’s wife.
Rowley, speaking to reporters after the High Court also ordered the former legislator to pay costs, said that he was satisfied with the ruling and that he was prepared to take anyone before the courts to clear his character.
Rowley said that the “Landate Affair” had been the subject of a Commission of Inquiry and other probes by the authority and on each occasion there had been no truth to the allegations made.
Last year, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said that the Landate Affair was still the subject of a police investigation.
Attorney Faris Al-Wari told reporters that the judge in awarding the “highest award of damages in Trinidad and Tobago in the sum of 475,000 dollars and also legal costs in the sum of 160,000 dollars reflected that this attack (on Rowley) was at least as offensive as the most serious defamation in the cases considered by the court”..
Al -Wari said that the judge also noted that the “attack was a wide one which related to an improper relationship allegedly between a (businessman)…and misbehavior in public life”
Source: Caribbean 360
Haiti to register overseas nationals
Haiti is launching a programme to register its migrants who live without documentation abroad, including in the Dominican Republic, where thousands of people of Haitian origin are in danger of being left stateless by a court ruling.
Government workers will travel to remote corners of the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos, which also has a large Haitian population, to register people of Haitian descent residing there without legal papers,
Baptiste Saint-Cyr, director of the country’s National Identification Office, told private Radio Metropole on Tuesday.
The US$2.5 million project begins next month and will be carried out in other countries where Haitian migrants live, Saint-Cyr said. Haitian immigrants will be identified with the help of neighbours.
The programme comes after a Dominican constitutional court last fall moved to revoke the citizenship of people of Haitian descent even if they were born in the Dominican Republic. The ruling aggravated already uneasy relations between the Caribbean neighbours, and it drew condemnation from human rights groups while spurring protests and boycotts in Haiti.
Advocacy groups fear the ruling renders people of Haitian descent stateless, but the Dominican government maintains they never had citizenship in the first place.
The two countries began closed-door discussions this year in an effort to stem tension over the ruling and other differences, with representatives from the UN, Caribbean Community, European Union and Venezuela serving as observers. The decision to document Haitians who live in the Dominican Republic emerged as one of several agreements from those talks.
Dominican officials have said the court ruling is irreversible but a resolution appears to be a possibility.
In front of the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States in Washington last Friday, Haitian President Michel Martelly expressed hope that the meetings would yield a positive outcome.
“In the context of these negotiations, the Dominican Republic has adopted a series of commitments that should allow us to find a successful solution, something we firmly desire,” he said.
Dominican President Danilo Medina is supposed to submit a bill to his congress February 27 that would naturalize residents who are about to lose their nationality.
Source-Associated Press
Grenada to sign IMF letter of intent by month end
Economic Affairs Minister Oliver Joseph says the Grenada government will sign the Letter of Intent to implement the International Monetary Fund (IMF) backed home grown structural adjustment programme by the end of February even if trade unions fail to reach an agreement with regards to a three year wage freeze.
‘We are still trying to get an agreement with the union, a consensus for in best interest of all,” said Joseph.
The Technical and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) and the Public Workers Union (PWU), two of the unions that represent government workers are schedule to meet with their membership this week to discuss the matter.
Joseph said that while the Dr. Keith Mitchell government has given the assurance there would be no job losses as a result of retrenchment once the programme goes into effect, the promise can only be a reality if the unions accept the wage freeze.
“If the government was to go ahead and sign without an assurance from the union that there will be no increase in salaries for the period of the three year programme which commence officially as of January 1, 2014, then government will have to use the option of retrenching workers in order to reduce on Government monthly wage bill,” he said during Tuesday’s post Cabinet news conference.
“This is not a threat…we are not coercing anyone, what we are expressing is real facts,” said Education Minister Anthony Boatswain, who explained that if government don’t go through with the structural adjustment programme there would be some uneasiness with regards to the social and economic development of Grenada.
“If we don’t go through with the programme it will be total chaos. We will have a country to run with no money,” he said while explaining that once the letter of intent is sign with the IMF government will receive grants and other financial and technical support from institutions such as the Caribbean Development Bank, the European Union and the World Bank.”
Pleading for all the relevant stakeholders to join in the efforts to re-organise the island’s fiscal situation, Boatswain, a former finance minister, said that there was need for every too contribution towards solving the problem.
“This is a national issue, it’s not a polarize issue, it’s not a yellow or Green issue, its national issue that needs national attention,” he said.
Last week, President of the Grenada Trades Union Congress (TUC), Madonna Harford, raised issues with the manner in which the government was going ahead with the strategy.
“You freezing salaries for three years, the public worker above EC$3,000 (One EC Dollar = US$0.37 cents) would have to pay income tax. So no increase, income tax, then you have increases in user fees, properties etc, so in the long run the public sector worker would be at a serious disadvantage,” Harford said.
The trade union official admitted that while Grenada was not isolated from the impact of the global economic and financial crisis, “the fact remains that somehow…decisions that would have not been very good or wise decisions coming back to haunt us right now.”
Late last year, Prime Minister Mitchell told nationals that while the international community was willing to restructure the island’s debt, the country would have to make sacrifices.
Mitchell, whose New National Party (NNP) came to office in February last year, said Grenada was unable to pay its creditors and was seeking the assistance of the international community to restructure its debt.
Since then there have been several activities aimed at finding a solution to restructuring the debt that is estimated at more than two billion EC dollars (One EC Dollar = US$0.37 cents)
The government has appointed the London-based White Oak Advisory, which describes itself as an independent financial advisory firm providing specialist, high-level and impartial advice to governments and other clients on matters relating to sovereign finances and sovereign debt, to advise it.
Source: Caribbean360
CARICOM concerned over Guyana’s failure to approve anti-money laundering legislation
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat Tuesday said it was “deeply concerned” at the failure of Guyana to approve the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act (AML/CFT).
In a statement, the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said the regional grouping was “at the continuing delay in Guyana’s progress towards implementing recommendations to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering regime.
“CARICOM calls on all parties involved in the process to take all necessary actions without further delay to have the necessary reforms implemented,” it said.
The Organization of American States (OAS) said it was offering to help Guyana ensure that it enacts legislation dealing with anti-money laundering and terrorism.
OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, has called for the “timely approval” the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act (AML/CFT) in the Guyana Parliament.
Insulza said that passage of the legislation “should bring the country up to standard on these matters”.
Guyana, already blacklisted by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) faces the possibility of further sanctions after government claimed that the opposition were again withholding support for the AML/CFT Act.
Government chief whip, Gail Teixeira, said the opposition controlled National Assembly appears to have put the legislation on “pause” after it failed to agree on amendments to the AML/CFT.
“We are now on pause for 24 hours or 48 hours,” said, Teixeira, who is also chairperson of the parliamentary special select committee which is considering the amendments.
But the leader of the small opposition Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, said his party would not support the amendments unless the government agreed to operationalise and establish the Public Procurement Commission.
The Paris-based International Financial Action task Force (IFAFT) is due to meet later this week to consider among a review of the implementation of measures taken by a number of countries to address deficiencies identified in the last round of mutual evaluation report.
The February 12-14 meeting will also discuss the identification of jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT system and a review of the progress made by jurisdictions that had been identified at the October 2013 Plenary.
Last November, the CFATF announced that it had blacklisted Guyana after the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country failed to approve legislation to combat money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.
In its statement, CARICOM said that it “remains deeply concerned” that failure to pass the AML/CFT could result in action by the (CFATF) which could have an adverse impact on the Guyanese economy and by extension the CARICOM region as a whole.
“Any action that reduces the ease or increases the cost of processing international financial or trade transactions will adversely affect trade and financial flows in the Region, retard the regional integration enterprise, limit the opportunities for growth in Guyana and the Region and result in hardship for the people of Guyana .
“CARICOM therefore urges that this matter be speedily resolved, by enacting the relevant legislation, in the interest of the people of Guyana and the Community,” It added.
Source-Caribbean Media Corporation
Caribbean faces threat of biggest tsunami ever recorded
The Caribbean could be at risk from a mega-tsunami that scientists warn could devastate coastlines from Florida to Brazil following a volcanic eruption in the Canary Islands.
The monster wave generated by part of a mountain collapsing into the sea would be the biggest ever recorded and would be an unstoppable force, travelling at speeds of up to 500mph.
The massive wall of water would likely make first landfall on the West Saharan coast of Morocco, where the wave could measure as much as 330ft from trough to crest.
The greatest destruction was nevertheless expected in the built-up coastal areas of the Caribbean, Florida and Brazil, according to a new forecast by Dr Simon Day of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at University College London.
The tsunami could reach heights of 130ft to 164ft throughout the region and travel several miles inland, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Earlier research by Dr Day had predicted that a future eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands was likely to cause the western flank of the mountain to slide into the sea.
Dr Day, working in conjunction with Dr Steven Ward of the University of California, has now produced an updated model that predicts more accurately the size of the tsunami and the areas it will impact.
The model predicts that after the landslide the tsunami would travel a distance of almost 155 miles in just 10 minutes and would reach the Caribbean and Florida in eight or nine hours.
The forecast goes on to predict that a wall of water 164ft high could smash into the coasts of the Caribbean and Florida, while Brazil’s northern coast could be hit by a wave more than 130ft high.
According to Dr Day: “The collapse will occur during some future eruption after days or weeks of precursory deformation and earthquakes.
“An effective earthquake monitoring system could provide advanced warning of a likely collapse and allow early emergency management organisations a valuable window of time in which to plan and respond.
“Eruptions of Cumbre Vieja occur at intervals of decades to a century or so and there may be a number of eruptions before its collapse. Although the year-to-year probability of a collapse is therefore low, the resulting tsunami would be a major disaster with indirect effects around the world.
“Cumbre Vieja needs to be monitored closely for any signs of impending volcanic activity and for the deformation that would precede collapse.”
Source-Caribbean 360
Italian PM Enrico Letta to tender resignation on Friday
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has said he will resign on Friday after his Democratic Party backed a call for a new administration.
Party leader Matteo Renzi had earlier called for a change of government at a party meeting, saying the country could not go on in "uncertainty".
Speculation has been rife that Mr Renzi wants to take over as prime minister.
He is eight years younger than Mr Letta and was elected leader of the party in December.
Mr Letta said in a statement that his decision followed "the decision taken today by the national leadership of the Democratic Party".
He said he would formally submit his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano at the presidential palace on Friday.
Relations between Mr Letta and Mr Renzi had become increasingly fraught, the BBC's Alan Johnston reports from Rome.
The Democratic Party now hopes that Mr Renzi will be able to replace him, and form a new administration, correspondents added.
Mr Renzi has previously accused Mr Letta of a lack of action on improving the economy, with unemployment at its highest level in 40 years and the economy shrinking by 9% in seven years.
Correspondents say that although the prime minister has kept a careful lid on public expenditure, he has not been able to carry out much-needed administrative reforms and stimulate economic growth.
The latest political turmoil has so far had little impact on financial markets, in contrast with the volatility seen before the current coalition was formed.
Mr Letta did not attend Thursday's party meeting, which had been brought forward from next week.
At the meeting, Mr Renzi thanked Mr Letta for his "remarkable work" but said the country could not go on in "uncertainty".
He said his proposal - a new government to take over until the end of the current parliamentary term in 2018 - was a way out of the "morass"
Source-BBC
North, South Korea Resume Rare High-Level Talks
North and South Korea are holding a second round of high-level talks, with both sides looking for a compromise that would allow for the resumption of the reunion of families separated by the Korean War.
The talks Friday at the Panmunjom border village are a continuation of the highest level talks in seven years between the two foes, which technically remain in a state of war following their 1950s conflict.
At the first round of talks Wednesday, North Korea demanded Seoul and Washington delay joint military drills scheduled to occur around the same time as the family reunions later this month.
The North, which views the drills as preparations to invade, had previously called for the exercises to be cancelled. The U.S. and South Korea has said the drills are not aggressive in nature and must go on.
South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do on Friday echoed his government's position that the two issues remain separate.
"As we've already expressed several times, we reiterate the government's firm stance that the reunion of separated families and the U.S.-South Korean military drills are completely separate issues that cannot be linked," said Kim.
The war drills, known as Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, are set to begin February 24 and last for weeks. The family reunions are scheduled to occur between February 20-25.
In addition to its concern over the drills, the North also wants to resume lucrative South Korean tours to its Mount Kumgang resort area.
This is the first time senior North and South Korean officials have met since 2007.
The meeting was requested by Pyongyang, which has recently signaled it is ready to improve ties.
However, the South has insisted it will not do so unless North Korea agrees to take steps towards dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
It is not known whether the nuclear issue was among the topics to be discussed at this week's talks.
Source-VOA