STORIES

Page 18 ISSUE 125 Friday 25th SEPTEMBER, 2015
CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES AMONG 22 IDENTIFIED AS
MAJOR DRUG PRODUCING NATIONS AFFECTING US
Several Caribbean
nations have been
identified in the
2015 list of major illicit
drug producing countries
or drug-transit countries
that “significantly affect
the United States”.
Under the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act
(FRAA), the American
president is required each
year to notify Congress of
countries that fall into that
category.
On this year’s list are: the
Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica,
Haiti, the Dominican Republic,
Venezuela, Panama,
Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma,
Colombia, Costa Rica,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, India,
Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua,
Pakistan and Peru.
Of those President Barack
Obama has determined that
Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela
“failed demonstrably”
during the last 12 months
to make sufficient or meaningful
efforts to adhere to
their obligations under international
counternarcotics
agreements.
“In accordance with provisions
of the FRAA, the
President has also determined
that support for programs
to aid the promotion
of democracy in Burma and
Venezuela remains vital to
the national interest of the
United States and therefore
grants Burma and Venezuela
National Interest Waivers,”
a statement from the
U.S State Department said.
A country’s presence on
the list does not necessarily
reflect its counternarcotics ef-
forts or its level of cooperation
with the United States on
illegal drug control, the State
Department explained. The
designation may just be a reflection
of a combination of
geographic, commercial, and
economic factors that allow
drugs to be produced and/or
trafficked through a country.
However, when a country
on the list does not fulfill
its obligations under international
counternarcotics
agreements and conventions,
the President can impose
sanctions.
JAMAICA AND HAITI POLICE TEAM UP
- to fight guns and drug trade
Jamaican police officers are
heading to Haiti to help
clamp down on the drugs
for guns trade between the two
countries.
Police Commissioner Dr Carl
Williams disclosed the move to
strengthen collaboration between
law enforcement in the two countries
in their drug and gun fight, as
he officially launched the ‘Get the
Guns’ campaign aimed at taking
illegal guns out of the hands of
criminals.
“Arrangements are in place, as
we speak, to dispatch police officers
to Haiti to consult with the
Haitian police,” he said yesterday.
“The purpose of the campaign
is to significantly reduce the number
of illegal guns and ammunition
that are used by criminals to
wreak havoc in our society.”
In addition to tackling the drugs
for guns trade, the campaign will
also involve increasing islandwide
search and seizure operations;
heightening police presence
on the roads; increasing the monitoring
of coastlines; and making
greater use of police intelligence
resources.
Incentives are to be provided to
police stations and police personnel,
who have seized the largest
number of guns.
The commissioner, who first
announced the campaign in July,
said the police are now ready to
act on the initiative in order to reduce
gun violence in the country.
Firearms were used in more
than 10,300 murders committed
in Jamaica over the last 10 years.
“That is approximately 75 per
cent of the 13,780 plus murders
The recent death of Rev.
Conrad Howell near his
home on Providenciales,
the most populated island of
the Turks and Caicos Islands
(TCI), has raised many questions
locally as to the reasons
and cause of death. Howell was
a talk show host on a local radio
show. He also hosted a local
television show, which featured
interviews from other prominent
people.
Howell was reported missing
on Friday night, September 11, by
his wife who had retired before
Howell and then awoke in the
early hours of the next morning to
find him missing. She found the
front door of their residence unlocked
and a glass of liquid on top
of his vehicle in the yard.
The next day, Saturday, a massive
search found Howell’s body
in some bushes 200 yards from
his home. Locals involved in the
search report that Howell’s remains
were “all messed up”.
Many stories circulated this last
week as to the reasons and means
of Howell’s death. Statements
from the police have added to the
confusion.
Police spokespersons initially
indicated the death might not be
a homicide. A week later, the police
reported that an autopsy indicated
that Howell had repeatedly
stabbed himself in two places of
his abdomen. Rumours also had
Howell taking poison, some of
which was left in the glass on
top of his vehicle. Police reports
have not ruled this out, saying
they are awaiting a toxicology
report.
Howell, who has been a member
and supporter of the ruling
Progressive National Party
(PNP), was once married to current
Cabinet minister Porsha
Stubbs Smith. Howell was also a
former member of the Turks and
Caicos Baptist Union.
recorded over the period. During
the same period, an additional
9,000 Jamaicans were shot and
injured resulting in a heavy burden
in our health services,” he
said.
Williams further noted that
20,598 people were robbed at
gunpoint with many of them
killed during the course of the
robbery.
“During the same period, guns
featured in the rape of some 1,200
defenceless women and girls,” the
police chief added.
He urged citizens to take a
stand against illegal guns in their
communities and report what they
know.
Commissioner Williams also
called on the church to assist in
the effort to get illegal guns off
the streets.
HIGH PROFILE DEATH RAISES
QUESTIONS IN TURKS AND CAICOS
Howell’s death brought tributes
from current Premier Dr Rufus
Ewing, who said Howell was a
patriot that in recent AFTER weeks had
been pushing for a vote on independence
for the British Overseas
Territory.
Howell was also credited by
Ewing with authoring the Turks
and Caicos National Song. “This
Land of Ours”. However, Wikipedia
gives Howell credit for
only the TCI lyrics and credits
Leila Ross-Shier (1886-1968), a
Cayman Islander, for writing the
melody for Howell’s song when
writing the Cayman Islands National
Song in 1930, long before
Howell’s birth.
The TCI has been suffering
a growing crime wave and has
many unsolved homicides. Howell’s
death was succeeded by a
gunshot homicide in the Five
Cays area of Providenciales,
when a long term resident was the
unwitting victim of a robbery.