Archives for Thursday, October 30, 2003:

Cayman Islands opposition party calls Cabinet Status grants a scandal

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands: The Executive Council of the People's Progressive Movement (PPM) issued a statement this week in response to a Government press release stating that the Cayman Islands' Cabinet had made one final batch of 540 Status grants. That release also said that the Cabinet was giving the Immigration Board another quota of status grants to be filled through their procedures this year, and then one final quota for 2004... read more...

Remains examined in case of missing Grand Bahama boys

FREEPORT, Bahamas: Bahamian investigators are trying to identify and establish the cause of death of human remains discovered Sunday on a beach near Freeport and believed to be those of some of the five boys who disappeared in Grand Bahama over the last six months... read more...

U.S. likely to keep Cuba travel ban

WASHINGTON, USA: A legislative provision to relax the ban on travel to Cuba that recently passed both the House and Senate is very likely headed for failure... read more...

Tourism sector under review in St Vincent

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent: The St Vincent Ministry of Tourism and Culture is embarking on a programme of aggressive marketing and training in order to increase the competitive edge of the country... read more...

Opinion divided in Miami about benefits of FTAA

MIAMI, USA: Next month, Miami will host the eighth round of trade negotiations among representatives of all North, Central and South American countries and the Caribbean except Cuba. The goal is to create a common market by 2005 that would rival the European Union. The proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas would affect all 800 million residents of its 34 Western Hemisphere nations if it is created... read more...

St Maarten cruise arrivals likely to top 1.2 million this year

PHILIPSBURG, St Maarten: This year's cruise passenger arrivals in St Maarten are on track to top the targeted 1.2 million mark. This would represent a 19 percent increase over last year's arrivals of 1,067,861... read more...

Canadian visa officials to increase visits to Grenada

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada: Canadian Immigration Officials will increase annual visits to Grenada from two to three times, starting in 2004.  The decision to increase the number of visits from two to three was in response to a request by Prime Minister Keith Mitchell to have the officers visit Grenada more often... read more...

BUSINESS NEWS

Caribbean poultry farmers alarmed by deadly diseases

KINGSTON. Jamaica: Caribbean poultry farmers are bracing for a potentially devastating attack on their US$305 million industry by a deadly combination of the Avian Influenza (AI) and Newcastle diseases which have wiped out commercial flocks in large parts of the United States, Italy and Chile... read more...

Dominican Republic government to sell off financially troubled electricity companies

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic: Amid power cuts and public protests, the government of the Dominican Republic has announced that it will sell shares in cash-strapped electricity companies... read more...

LEGAL NEWS

Monserrat A-G speaks out on participation in Caribbean Court

BRADES, Montserrat: Ms Esco Henry-Greer, Montserrat's Attorney General, says Montserrat's participation in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will become relevant only when the island executes the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas... read more...

Guyana short of judges

GEORGETOWN, Guyana: The functioning of the judicial system is Guyana is suffering severely from inadequate staff at almost every level. According to Chancellor Desiree Bernard, one of the most affected areas is the backlog of cases awaiting trial. She noted however that every effort is being made to reduce this... read more...

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity select BlackBerry for wireless access

MIAMI, USA: Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises have announced that the two cruise lines have selected BlackBerry® to help increase efficiency and enhance customer service through wireless connectivity... read more...

TRAVEL NEWS

30,000 pledge to boycott Royal Caribbean

WASHINGTON, USA: International advocacy organization Oceana today officially launched a pledge campaign encouraging people to tell Royal Caribbean Cruises that they will not spend their vacation dollars with the company until it ends its practice of dumping inadequately treated sewage into the oceans... read more...

Latest Caribbean cruise ship is a one-of-a-kind art experience

MIAMI, USA: Neo-pop art sensation Romero Britto has completed one of his most ambitious and colorful works to date - the 25,000-square-foot pool deck of Royal Caribbean's new Mariner of the Seas, which was delivered to the company Wednesday by the Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Turku, Finland... read more...

SPORTS NEWS

2007 World Cup doubts denied

MELBOURNE, Australia: According to an ICC spokesman, there is no substance in a report, published in a Melbourne newspaper The Age, that Australia is on stand-by in case the ICC, world cricket's governing body, decides the West Indies are incapable of playing host to the 2007 World Cup... read more...

Nevis racetrack to be ready for Thanksgiving Races

CHARLESTOWN, Nevis: Horseracing fans in St. Kitts and Nevis and the neighbouring islands have been assured by the Nevis Turf and Jockey Club that the Indian Castle Racetrack, which has been undergoing extensive renovations will be ready to host the Thanksgiving Races on Sunday November 23... read more...