The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will lose “an important voice” as a result of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said today.
He made the observation as he expressed “great concern” about the EU’s move to adopt a “differentiation” principle to determine support for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General, Irwin LaRocque on Monday said the recent climatic events that affected Haiti, The Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic emphasized the need to intensify efforts to maximise the Region’s renewable energy potential.
Organisers are putting the final touches on preparations for the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) to be held in the Cayman Islands later this month.
The CWA, the Region’s premier agriculture event, will be held in Grand Cayman, 24-28 October, 2016, under the theme ‘Investing in food and agriculture’. This is the first time that an Associate Member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will hold the CWA.
The CARICOM Secretariat will be getting an upgrade of its IT infrastructure and associated software through a project funded by the Government of India.
By Joseph Guyler Delva | PORT-AU-PRINCE
Haiti started burying some of its dead in mass graves in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, a government official said on Sunday, as cholera spread in the devastated southwest and the death toll from the storm rose to 1,000 people.
Six (6) experts from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) drawn from the CDEMA Coordinating Unit and the Participating States of Saint Lucia and Jamaica are now stationed in Haiti to provide operational support to the Civil Protection Directorate (CPD) in response to the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew. The experts are members of the CARICOM Operational Support Team (COST) and will provide support to coordination efforts in Jérémie and Les Cayes, two settlements most affected by Matthew.
CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has expressed sadness with the loss of lives, homes and property during the passage of hurricane Matthew, and he gave the assurance that CARICOM is fully engaged in assisting affected countries with their recovery and rebuilding efforts.
The presidential elections in Haiti, which were scheduled to be held on Sunday 9 October, have been postponed and an announcement is to be made on a new date next week.
Category Four Hurricane Matthew pummeled Haiti earlier in the week leaving in its wake death, destruction and displacement of persons. Assessments and the mobilisation of assistance are now underway.
CARICOM last week had announced the mounting of an observer mission to Haiti.
CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) is preparing to make a payout to the Government of Haiti as a result of the passage of Hurricane Matthew which triggered payments on the country’s Tropical Cyclone policy. Based on preliminary calculations, Haiti will receive a little over US$20 million – the largest payment ever made by CCRIF. This was revealed this afternoon by CCRIF Chairman Milo Pearson at the IMF/World Bank Group Annual Meetings.
The islands of The Bahamas and Haiti suffered severe impact from the passage of Hurricane Matthew. In efforts to assist these countries in dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) has deployed 2 sets of specialized response teams to Haiti and The Bahamas. At the request of the Government of Haiti and based on priority needs identified, CDEMA will deploy a 6 member CARICOM Operational Support Team (COST) to Haiti on Friday, October 7, 2016.