Caribbean Times 100th issue - Friday 29th April 2016

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12 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g Friday 29th April 2016 PM Skerrit hints at relocating Douglas Charles Airport ROSEAU - Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has hinted the government’s intention to relocate the Douglas-Charles Airport to a safer location. The airport, located in Melville Hall, has suffered from floodwaters in recent times. “Clearly, we have to address the issue of the airport and the location of the airport because while we will build the retainer walls, where we will mitigate against any potential hazards, we have to look at a new and safer site for our airport,” Skerrit said on Kairi’s Heng Program recently. BASSETERRE - Over the years, and even before the birth of CARICOM, Guyana and St. Kitts and Nevis have been enjoying fruitful relations and the government of the South American country is now endeavoring to further strengthen bilateral ties. Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Carl Greenidge told media representatives at the recently concluded ECLAC meeting held in St. Kitts that his government would be looking intently at past relationships and uses them as a launching pad for future development. The Minister pointed to the movement of skilled labour in the past as part of the bilateral relationship that exists between the two countries. Going forward, the South American nation would be looking at several areas of interest where trade and other relations can be fostered. “There are opportunities I think for cooperation on a variety of fronts that “And, this is a firm commitment on the government’s behalf.” During the passage of Tropical Storm Erika, last year, the Melville Hall River, causing every piece of equipment at the facility to be destroyed, flooded the airport. The fencing, runway, taxiway, apron, and access roads were also damaged. The government said the airport suffered damages in excess of $41-million. On March 15, the airport was again flooded due to heavy rains. Meantime, the Prime Minister pledged the government’s support for the construction of a much talked-about international airport on the island. However, he stated that the government is incapable of funding the venture by itself. “We’ve never been opposed to an international airport,” he said. “We’ve always articulated our support for the international airport; but, we’ve always put a caveat on our support for the international airport by saying that it would be impossible for the government, on its own, to finance the airport.” Skerrit hinted that the government has been exploring different avenues to achieve the venture. “And, this is why have fallen away; the sharing of expertise, access to markets and the likes. And so we would be taking up with St. Kitts and Nevis what the possibilities are,” Greenidge said. The Minister also told the media that Guyana could partner with the sharing of artifacts to further boost the Federation’s booming tourism industry. “You have a vibrant tourism industry and we can look at the supply more carefully of artifacts and materials. Guyana has a very large indigenous community, a we’ve been looking at different mechanisms towards the realization of the international airport; and, we are pursuing those opportunities,” he explained. “And once we are in a position to report to you firmly, then we will report back to you firmly.” Stated PM Skerrit. (Dominica News Online). Guyana to build on bilateral relations with SKN vibrant community, the only one that has grown continually since 19th Century.” Guyanese, like many others from CARICOM member states, have utilized the free movement under the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), which has allowed for professionals to move throughout the region, while business owners can establish entities within the region as well. Greenidge noted that in the long term Guyana’s market is open to the Federation, pointing out that when an airline arrangement is in place, the two countries could work towards an arrangement within the tourism sector that would benefit both nations. The Federation is part of a partial scope agreement with both Guyana and Brazil that would allow for the movement of goods from St. Kitts and Nevis into the Portuguese-speaking South American market without a heavy tariffs. (SKNVibes).
Friday 29th April 2016 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g 13 Air strikes on Aleppo hospital kill doctors and children BEIRUT - Air strikes destroyed a hospital and killed dozens of people in rebel-held areas of Aleppo, including children and doctors; in an attack that a U.S. official said appeared to be solely the work of the Syrian government. The city of Aleppo is at the center of a military escalation that has undermined peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the five-year-old war. U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura appealed to the presidents of the United States and Russia to intervene to salvage a ceasefire that was “barely alive”. The truce is intended to allow an opportunity for peace talks and delivery of humanitarian relief. Six days of air strikes and rebel shelling in Aleppo, which is split between government and rebel forces, have killed 200 people, two-thirds of PARIS - Twenty-four police officers have been injured, three of them seriously, during protests against a proposed labour law change in France. More than 100 protesters were arrested as tens of thousands gathered on the streets of major cities. Some burned tyres and threw bottles and stones at police. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said protest organisers should “condemn these excesses by a handful of hooligans”. One of the police officers is in a critical condition, he said. \ The demonstrations took them on the opposition side, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say. The “catastrophic deterioration” in Aleppo over the last 24 to 48 hours has jeopardised the aid lifeline that supplies millions of Syrians, said Jan Egeland, chairman of the U.N. humanitarian task force. “I could not in any way express how high the stakes are for the next hours and days.” The U.S. State Department said Syria’s air strike on the hospital in Aleppo was “reprehensible,” and it called on Russia to use its influence to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government to stop the attacks. “Once again we call on the regime to cease these absolutely senseless attacks, which are of course violations of LONDON - British police have charged two men and a woman from Birmingham with terrorism-related offenses in a probe that began after the extremist attacks on Paris and Brussels. West Midlands Police said Thursday the three have been charged with a variety of offenses. They are Mohammed Ali Ahmed, 26, Zakaria Boufassil, 26, and Soumaya Boufassil, 29. They were among five people arrested April 14-15 in Birmingham and at London’s place in several cities, including Paris, Rennes and Marseille. Some of the fiercest clashes were in capital. The proposed law, which will be debated in parliament next week, would remove some of the protection workers enjoy against being laid off, in a bid to encourage businesses to hire more people. It is billed as a measure to combat chronic unemployment but opponents say the cessation of hostilities,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. A State Department official said there were indications that solely the Syrian government conducted the bombing of the hospital. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia had an urgent responsibility to press the government of its ally Assad to stop attacking civilians and observe the ceasefire. (Reuters). French police injured in labour law protest it will let employers bypass workers’ rights on pay, rest time and overtime rates. There have been repeated protests against the proposed changes over the past two months. Further protests are planned for May 1 st . UK police charge 3 with terrorism offenses Gatwick Airport. The arrests were made one week after Belgian authorities arrested a prime suspect in the deadly March 22 attack on Brussels Airport. That suspect, Mohamed Abrini, was also wanted in the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris. One European security official told The Associated Press that Abrini had made multiple trips to Birmingham last year, meeting with other suspected extremists. (Fox News).
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Caribbean Times 100th issue - Friday 29th April 2016

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