Category: CANA News

The main opposition Progressive Reform Party (VHP) Friday said it recognizes the important historical contribution the Maroons have made in Suriname at various points in the country’s history as the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country observes Maroon Day.

Maroon Day is largely commemorated in the interior villages by descendants of the Maroons, who dress up in colorful ‘pangi’ to celebrate independence with everyone else in Suriname.

The VHP, headed by former president Chandrikapersad Santokhi, said that since October 10, 1974, Maroon Day has been commemorated here, dating back to 1760, when the Okanisi tribe was the first to make peace with the colonial rulers in Paramaribo.

It said that in the years that followed, three more peace treaties with other Maroon tribes followed, putting an end to the bloody hunt for escaped slaves.

‘This day is commemorated as a national holiday due to its great historical significance. It symbolises not only the peace that was concluded at that time, but especially the heroic struggle waged by the Maroon ancestors against oppression and slavery.’

The VPH said that while it recognises the ‘important historical contribution’ of the Maroons, at the same time, it ‘acknowledges that many Maroon communities still face difficult living conditions, both inland and on the coastal plain.

‘This group, which has lived largely in tribal groups along the major rivers of our interior for hundreds of years, holds a special position within our Surinamese community. They live traditionally and maintain customs, rituals, and traditions that are invaluable to Suriname’s cultural diversity.’

The party said that in recent years, several villages have been provided with clean drinking water and electricity by the previous government led by Santhoki.

‘They also worked hard to bring quality education to the interior of the country. Given the enormous backlog, this was no easy task, but improving the quality of life in the interior remains a priority for the VHP,’ it said, adding ‘this day remains a powerful symbol of freedom, resistance, and cultural richness, values that continue to inspire Surinamese society today’.

Guyana’s ambassador to the United Nations, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Friday said that the Caribbean ‘treasures the region as a zone of peace’ even as it supports efforts by the United States to deal with narco-trafficking.

She told the United Nations Security Council discussing the Unites States’ military actions in the Caribbean that Guyana has joined several Caribbean countries in strengthening its response ‘to new and emerging drug threats by launching an early warning system designed to detect, assess and respond swiftly to new active substances and strengthen our overall public health and national security frameworks’.

She said while international regional and bilateral cooperation has been crucial in dismantling the trafficking networks that exploit Guyana as a trans-shipment point for cocaine and ither narcotics.

‘it is in this spirit that Guyana continues to advocate for strengthen partnerships and cooperation among countries and regional and international organizations. Such partnerships must be rooted in the rule of law and international legal frameworks ensuring a unified and lawful approach to combating drug trafficking and related crimes.

Former prime minister Dr. Keith Rowley Friday suggested that the Kamla Persad Bissessar administration should eat ‘humble pie’ and seek to hold talks with the Venezuelan government on the Dragon Gas deal, now that the United States has provided Port of Spain with a new Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licence.

‘I would say in international relations countries sometimes are very far apart, but when they examine their interests, they eat humble pie and .ensuring that their interests take priority over their egos. Countries have to do that from time to time,’ Rowley told a news conference, less than 24 hours after the government said it had received the OFAC licence from Washington.

‘If you misstep you have a duty to walk it back and you now have to rely on your counterpart, accepting as a new convert, but to come and try to pretend your arrangement that you settle with somebody else is a new improvement is just to be gas lighting a whole nation, everybody with their eyes wide open,’ Rowley said.

On Thursday, Attorney General, John Jeremie said that the the United States Treasury Department had granted a six-month window under a newly OFAC licence, allowing the Kamla Persad government and the National Gas Company (NGC) to formally engage in negotiations with Venezuela on the development of the Dragon Gas project.

Jeremie told reporters that the new OFAC licence was ‘issued under certain executive orders and it authorises US persons, including employees, affiliates, contractors and service providers employed by or acting on behalf of or for the direct or indirect benefit of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd, Shell, PLC, Futura Clara Limited, and their subsidiaries and their affiliates and contractors to engage in transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to negotiations with the government of Venezuela and Petroleos, the Venezuela executives in connection with the Dragon gas project.’

He said that the licence was awarded after an application was made by the government, which came to office following the April 28 general election, Government and the NGC on May 19.

‘First of all, it allows us to enter into negotiations with Venezuela, which at the present time would be prohibited under sanctions. We have six months to negotiate. Within parameters,’ Jeremie said, adding that the six month period is valid until April 2026.

Jeremie, however, declined to share details about the commercial terms, adding that the government has already begun to take the permitted steps pursuant to the licence to advance the project.

‘We have a window of opportunity and the government is moving assiduously to exploit that,’ he reiterated without providing details.

In April, the United States government revoked the OFAC licence granted to Trinidad and Tobago to allow Shell, the National Gas Company (NGC), and contractors to explore, produce, and export natural gas from the Venezuelan Dragon Gas Field.

The licence was valid until October 31, 2025, and enabled Trinidad and Tobago to pay for gas in various currencies and through humanitarian measures. On December 21, 2023, Trinidad and Tobago also secured a 30-year exploration and production license from the government of Venezuela for the Dragon gas field.

Washington had also revoked the Cocuina-Manakin license granted to Port of Spain on May 31, 2024.

Port of Spain had been planning to request an extension from Washington for a licence granted to Shell and the NGC to develop the Dragon gas project in Venezuela.

The license, issued in early 2023, allows the companies to plan the project. The project aims to supply gas to Trinidad by 2027. The Dragon Field is located in Venezuelan waters near the maritime border with Trinidad.

Persad Bissessar, when in opposition had been critical of the then People’s National Movement (PNM) decision to pursue the Dragon gas deal and soon after coming to office in April, declared the the project was ‘dead’.

In addition, the then opposition had been critical of the Nicolas Maduro administration urging Washington to impose sanctions on Port of Spain for seeking to engage the Maduro government on the gas project.

Rowley told reporters that he had been involved in the negotiations with Caracas dating back to 2016 after Trinidad and Tobago had been experiencing a gas shortage to provide support to many projects ongoing here.

He dismissed a statement by Jeremie on Thursday that the last government had spent in excess of 100 million dollars (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) in trying to get the Dragon Gas deal going, saying the present government should make clear the conditions included in the new OFAC licence.

Jeremie had told reporters that the Drago Gas project is ‘alive’ adding ‘you have to hit commercial targets for US companies. We don’t think those targets are hard to meet.

‘They are reasonable . It’s a commercial win-win for all of the parties. The United States benefits from this arrangement. There are terms and conditions in the licence which ensure that US companies benefit and there are tiers as to exactly how they should benefit. Trinidad obviously stands to benefit and to a certain extent, of course, the people of Venezuela will benefit.’

Rowley said he is confident that the population ‘would see where we are at now as against where we were or could have been and what is required now is for the government of Trinidad and Tobago to do no further harm.’

Rowley, who traced the project’s timeline from 2016 and the involvement of his then energy minister Stuart Young in the negotiations, said the Drag field with its four trillion cubic feet of gas, is very much a necessity for the future development of Trinidad and Tobago.

He told reporters that the Attorney General was ‘very careful ‘ not to tell the general public what the government had always been calling for when in opposition, ‘which is transparency.

‘We told the country what the two year OFAC licence had contained, we told the country why we had to go and renegotiate when the Americans said you can’t pay for the gas in cash. We told the country when we got that settled.

‘I cannot say after that moon show yesterday that I know what the term of that OFAC licence is. I know the AG was very cagey in not telling us what the details are and if I am to believe him, it is for six months and there is no way a six month licence could be an improvement on a two-year licence.

‘There is no way a licence that was broad covering all the bases could be inferior to one that you are now out on a leach and you walk in step and you get permission to go through the next step if you meet certain bench marks,’ Rowley said, adding ‘I don’t know what the bench marks are.

‘So I don’t know enough about the details of that to comment further,’ he said reiterating that his administration had not spent the estimated 120 million dollars as statement by Jeremie on advancing the Dragon Gas project.

Asked by reporters to comment on the government providing its ‘full support’ to the United States in its war on dugs in the Caribbean, while also indicating that it has nothing against the people of Venezuela, Rowley, who said he was forced to break his silence on the Dragon Gas deal issue, said ‘as a former prime minister who lived this situation before, especially one that led the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) position on this issue, I would reserve my comments’.

Rowley said he was doing so ‘because I don’t want to further inflame or embarrass anybody. I simply want to state that this little nation must be aware that nobody owes us lunch and everybody we deal with have their interest to protect and our skills and our success will be determined by whether we protected our interest.

‘This is a serious matter where the facts and the facts alone should guide us. Policies, diplomacy, diplomatic moves are matters for the governments. If our government finds itself ina situation where it cannot do what is required.then you know you have a problem with the government’.

But he recalled when Maduro was given eight days in office and the western countries were seeking his removal and regime change was spoken about as the objective, CARICOM took the matter before the United Nations so as to determine ‘just who should we deal with in Caracas.

‘The way these things go you need support, a small area like the CARICOM when you get on the international stage .you can’t allow to be brushed off and our position was we might be small but we are not insignificant.’

Rowley said that when the situation arose, Trinidad and Tobago had already began lobbying for a position on the United Nations Security Council to replace St. Vincent and the Grenadines, adding ‘I want to ask the government if they are still pursuing that and how it is going’.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Persad Bissessar says she remains optimistic after holding talks with representatives from three major energy companies on Thursday.

In a statement on Friday, the Energy Ministry said the prime minister met with high-level representatives from BPTT, Proman, and Woodside to engage in discussions on matters of mutual interest and to explore new avenues for collaboration. It said that Jeremie, Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal and Minister in the Energy Ministry, Ernesto Kesar, also participated in those talks.

‘These strategic meetings underscored the vital importance of strong partnerships in advancing Trinidad and Tobago’s energy sector and ensuring lasting benefits for our citizens,’ Persad Bissessar said according to a statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister.

‘Government continues to deepen energy security by strengthening our partnerships with major energy companies, ensuring that TT remains a competitive and attractive destination for investment.

‘ By building and maintaining these vital international partnerships, my Government is ensuring that TT continues to harness its energy resources strategically and responsibly, securing a stronger and more prosperous future for all,’ she added.

The Jamaica-based United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Multi Country Office has announced a strategic collaboration with the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI)that will enhance the Caribbean representation and expand youth engagement opportunities on climate action.

It said that the collaboration will allow for greater participation at Bermuda’s fifth annual Youth Climate Summit (YCS) being hosted by BUEI from November 17 – 22 this year.

The conference will follow the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and according to officials YCS, one of BUEI’s most impactful signature educational programmes, is now positioned as one of its COP30-affiliated dialogues in the region.

The UNDP said that this innovative partnership combines YCS’s proven record of empowering young climate advocates with UNDP’s Climate Promise global programme to advance scaled-up climate action whilst promoting the UNDP Multi Country Office’s Ready Set Great initiative, an empowerment and advocacy movement facilitating youth-led solutions to the greatest challenges facing young people.

‘The impactful collaboration between BUEI and UNDP paves the way for Caribbean youth ages 13 to 22 years who live outside Bermuda to register as virtual delegates in the Bermuda Youth Climate Summit via UNDP’s readysetgreatja.com website. As virtual delegates, participants will gain access to YCS virtual sessions scheduled for the first three days of the Summit, plus alumni masterclasses scheduled on day four,’ it added.

‘This partnership significantly broadens YCS’s reach throughout the Caribbean, with UNDP encouraging virtual participation in the Summit from Ready Set Great participants and young people engaged in environmental programmes across their network.

‘The collaboration creates new opportunities to build meaningful connections between like-minded students within the region while maintaining YCS’s authentic, youth-driven approach,’ the UNDP said, adding that ‘the partnership also reflects the growing recognition of YCS’s impact in the youth climate space whilst providing UNDP with a platform to continue engaging young environmental advocates across the Caribbean and beyond’.

UNDP Resident Representative Dr Kishan Khoday said the critical nature of the climate emergency facing island nations and communities requires strategic youth engagement and mentorship for a climate ready future.

‘As the world looks to COP 30 for an ambitious vision, our youth advocates must be proactive and forward thinking, ensuring their voices are heard in corridors of power. UNDP therefore welcomes this opportunity to work with the powerful Bermuda Youth Climate Summit on amplifying youth advocacy and action on climate change throughout the region.

‘By facilitating the partnership between the Bermuda event and the Ready Set Great platform we are creating synergies that can only strengthen youth action, youth voices and youth impact in the Caribbean. UNDP feels it is vitally important to provide these opportunities, listen, learn and support, to advance the important cause of climate resilience within vulnerable island communities,’ Khoday said.

BUEI chief executive officer, Traci Burgess, said BUEI is excited to expand YCS throughout the Caribbean and connect like-minded young people, many of whom face similar climate challenges living in small island nations that are on the front lines of battling climate change.

‘Partnering with UNDP allows BUEI and YCS to expand our educational impact and make greater contributions to developing change makers who will be better prepared to use their voices in advocating for a healthier future. This significant collaboration provides substantial opportunities for youth from Bermuda and around the region to connect, educate, and inspire each other’.

The European Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) says Latin America and the Caribbean must embrace a new vision of productive development policies (PDPs) to escape the trap of low capacity for growth in which it is mired and to be able to tackle the challenges imposed by the new global geopolitical context.

In a new report titled ‘Panorama of Productive Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean 2025: How to escape the trap of low capacity for growth’, was presented by ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

He told a news conference that the trap of low capacity for growth can be attributed largely to a slow productive transformation and more than a decade of corresponding stagnation, and even decline, in the region’s labour productivity rate, which has fallen below average global productivity since 2017.

ECLAC warns that although the document indicates a 2.2 per cent rise in the region’s labour productivity between 2023 and 2024, that increase is not enough to surmount the overall lag.

The study points to great diversity regarding productivity levels and growth between countries, territories, companies of different sizes and sectors in the region, with the lowest-productivity sectors accounting for the largest share of employment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The lowest productivity rate is seen in the agriculture, livestock and forestry sector, representing just 44 per cent of the region’s average productivity, according to data from 2023. It is followed, among the sectors with the lowest productivity, by commerce, with 69 per cent, and construction, with 77 per cent.

Meanwhile, microenterprises account for a mere 12.5 per cent of the productivity of the region’s large companies, which is a much bigger gap than what is seen in more developed economies.

‘The quandary facing Latin America and the Caribbean is substantial: either we begin a new era of high, sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth, or we head for a third lost decade,’ said Salazar-Xirinachs.

He said to avoid the latter scenario, countries must scale up and improve their productive development policies based on a new vision that includes, among other things, working on strategic agendas around driving sectors, multilevel and multi-stakeholder.

‘Let’s raise the political profile of these policies and delve deeper into the ‘hows,’ meaning how to carry out these transformations in practice,’ Salazar-Xirinachs said, recalling that the Panorama’s 2025 edition being presented today joins other documents and projects by ECLAC that aim to provide practical guidance on how countries and their territories can use PDPs to accelerate their productive transformation.

The report analyses various productive development policy efforts being carried out in the region in light of the recommendations that ECLAC has been formulating, which include sector prioritization, resource allocation, leadership at the highest level, collective construction, the territorialization of policies, the utilization of cluster initiatives, and monitoring and evaluation.

ECLAC said that although progress has been made, there are significant opportunities for improvement in the way the region has been developing PDPs, the Commission affirms.

According to the report, the ability to scale up and improve productive development policies depends, in part, on the way in which countries and their territories align their science, technology and innovation (STI) efforts with their economies’ productive transformation.

ECLAC sats the region is clearly lagging on STI investment, with investment levels in research and development of around 0.56 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), far below the countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (three per cent), the United States (3.6 per cent) and China (2.6 per cent).

ECLAC said however, the impact of STI policies depends not only on greater resources, but also on the design, operation and coherence of the strategies, institutions and instruments involved.

For that reason, ECLAC recommends strengthening multi-stakeholder coordination and governance, bolstering the technical, operational, political and prospective (TOPP) capabilities of the entities in charge of STI policies; diversifying and scaling up tools; increasing the financing of STI while also enhancing its direction and quality; and harnessing opportunities for regional and extra-regional cooperation in this area.

In addition, the Commission stresses that cluster initiatives and other productive articulation initiatives are a powerful tool for the multi-stakeholder and multilevel articulation that new-generation productive development policies require, which means they should play a leading role.

To date, ECLAC has identified 712 active cluster and productive articulation initiatives in 20 of the region’s countries. The most highly represented sectors in these initiatives are agriculture, manufacturing industries, tourism, and information and communications technology.

It said of this total, 58 per cent receive financing from national governments, 51% from subnational governments and 39 per cent from the private sector.

ECLAC said productive articulation initiatives do not occur spontaneously but rather require deliberate policies, which is why the report offers multiple recommendations grouped into 11 guidelines, such as utilizing these initiatives to work on strategic agendas around prioritised sectors under national and subnational PDPs; increasing the resources invested and ensuring the continuity of productive articulation initiatives.

The report also analyses the opportunities for the region’s productive transformation arising from climate change and the energy transition.

According to ECLAC’s calculations, between US$2.1 and US$2.8 trillion dollars in investments are needed in the region, cumulatively by 2030, in order to fulfill climate commitments while simultaneously driving economic growth.

Rising track star Naomi London has become the second Saint Lucian track and field athlete to ink a sponsorship deal with German sportswear giants PUMA.

The 18-year-old London made the announcement on Friday, joining Olympic gold medalist and World Championship bronze medalist Julien Alfred as an ambassador at the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world.

In a post on social media, an excited London said, ‘Oh to be a PUMA GIRL. Blessed and thankful to join the PUMA family.’

It is the latest major accomplishment by the young sprinter, who is having a breakout season.

London, a 2023 double CARIFTA silver medalist, broke Alfred’s national junior record in March when she clocked 11.23 seconds in the 100 metres at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.

Two months later she ran a wind-aided 11.09 at the Texas State Twilight Last Chance Meet to become the fifth-fastest teenager in the world under all conditions for 2025.

Earlier this year London became a brand ambassador for the nation’s biggest bank, Bank of Saint Lucia.

She is already among the early favourites for gold in the Under-20 girls’ 100m at the 2026 CARIFTA Games after missing the last two editions through injury.

A 41-year-old father will return to a magistrate court on December 10 for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to beating his 10year-old child over a bad grade at school.

The father appeared before Magistrate Abigail Farrington on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to charge of cruelty to children that occurred earlier this monnth.

The court heard that on October 7, the teacher had noticed that the child was not standing up properly during the pledge and took him to the guidance counselor.

He told the teacher that his father had beaten him, and she noticed bruises to his forearms.

The father told the magistrate that he had been called to the school repeatedly concerning his son’s poor performance.

The magistrate has ordered a social inquiry report before sentencing the father, who has been released on his own recognizance, on December 10.

The Guyana government has welcomed the United Kingdom Export Finance’s (UKEF) decision to increase its financing capacity for Guyana from £2.1 billion to £3 billion (One £=US$1.32 cents).

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni K. Singh, has hailed the significant increase as a powerful signal of London’s ‘strong and growing confidence’ in Guyana’s robust economic trajectory.

The announcement by the UK government follows a recent high-level meeting between President Irfaan Ali, and a visiting delegation that included representatives from UKEF and the Deputy Trade Commissioner for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jonathan Knott.

‘The enhanced support from UKEF is expected to assist in ramping up development in priority sectors identified by the Government of Guyana over the next five years. Furthermore, Guyana’s private sector is also expected to benefit from additional financing to expand their operations and form strategic partnership with British companies,’ according to a government statement issued here.

It quoted Singh as expressing gratitude on behalf of the Guyana government for Britain’s support over the years, ‘which has been instrumental in fostering collaboration between the two nations, as Guyana continues to accelerate its development and solidify its position as a leading investment hub in the region’.

Belizean says it has become aware of individuals requesting donations of expired veterinary medications from international donors, and of unregistered online businesses selling unregistered, unpermitted veterinary products and animal feed.

The Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) said that it wanted to inform the public that all veterinary drugs, veterinary pesticides, veterinary biologics (vaccines), hygiene and care products, and animal feed are regulated by legislation.

It said that all the products require registration with the Veterinary Drugs Control Unit and valid Import Permits.

‘The importation, distribution, and sale of expired, unregistered, unpermitted veterinary drugs, veterinary pesticides, biologics, hygiene and care products, and animal feed are not allowed,’ the BAHA said warning of the maximum fine prescribed ‘will be imposed for violations of this regulation’

It said that safeguarding Belize’s agricultural health ‘is our priority, and compliance with importation regulations is essential for maintaining agricultural health’.

India reached 318 for two against the West Indies at the close of play on the opening day of the second Test here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday.

INDIA 318-2 in 90 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 173 not out, Sai Sudharsan 87, KL Rahul 38, Shubman Gill 20 not out; Jomel Warrican 2-60).