When asked about the nomination, band member Richard “Rugs” Daley responded, “To respond by saying we are enthused would be an understatement.  We have been so well received since announcing our 35^th Anniversary Celebration tour and now this.  It is just such an honor to be recognized.  It makes doing what we do that much more rewarding.”  The nomination comes on the heels of the band’s 35^th Anniversary celebration which commenced with a performance on January 30, 2010 at Turn-Key Productions 14th staging of Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival.  The band will celebrate their milestone anniversary with a tour that will take them to Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada, the United States and Caribbean.

In addition, the band will release their upcoming album “Patriot” featuring artists such as Damian Marley, Stephen Marley, Dean Frazier, Junior Reid, Marcia Griffith, Tessanne Chin, Michael Rose, Taurus Riley, and Toots.

One of the longest running Reggae band – Third World is an institution that produces and performs music that is cutting edge, positive, progressive and internationally relevant. Formed in 1973, the group has released a total of 22 albums as well as solo projects from Lead Singer Bunny Rugs and Guitarist Cat Coore.  This does not include their new unreleased album entitled “Patriots” which will be released in early 2010.  They have received numerous awards, including an Award in 2009 from Brooklyn Academy of Music (“BAM”), the 1986 “United Nations Peace Medal,” 1992 and 1996 Jamaica Music Industry Awards for Best Show Band and 10 Grammy nominations.  Additionally, the group has worked and collaborated with top acts such as the Jackson Five, Bob Marley and The Wailers and Stevie Wonder.

James Prospere was the lucky winner of LIME’s Frisky February Text & Win promotion last year, copping the prize of a week-long romantic cruise for two aboard Royal Caribbean International, with airfares to Miami courtesy of Carib Travel.

He was randomly selected in a draw which was held at the Wave studios in Vide Boutielle. A team from LIME also surprised James at work, where he was treated to a bottle of champagne with his colleagues.

James’ dream cruise took him to Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Bahamas and Turks & Caicos. He and his companion were also treated to limousine rides to and from the airport, courtesy of LIME and Carib Travel.

“The cruise became a reality during the period February 7 -14, 2010. It was truly out of this world and was thoroughly enjoyed and greatly appreciated. You need to be part of it to really understand the feeling of joy, relaxation and freedom we experienced. It was in fact my first overseas vacation and it could not have been any better. I have been rewarded from staying with Lime,” said James.

The newly formed Association challenged itself to organize a fundraising event on Saturday February 27 at the National Cultural Center with two objectives:

1. To celebrate St Lucia’s 31^st Independence Anniversary
2. To raise funds all of which will be contributed to the Haiti Relief Fund.

The event was held under the patronage of His Excellency Earl Huntley, CARICOM Ambassador to Haiti, in collaboration with the 2010 Independence Committee.

Calypsonians from around St Lucia rallied to the call of the Association providing their services pro-bono. The result was a bumper crowd of happy and satisfied patrons at the NCC on February 27. In addition to patrons at the NCC on that night fans of St Lucian calypso all around the world were able to lock on to www.stluciacarnival.net via Scruffy TV to view the exciting happenings live.

The Association had indicated from the outset that all proceeds from the sale of 800 tickets would go towards the Haiti Relief Fund. The cheque presentation will take place on Tuesday March 16, 2010 at the Conference Room of the Cultural Development Foundation (one of the partners of the Association in this venture).

The company which owns the popular online Television service Scruffy TV are putting things in place for the showcasing of  St. Lucia’s biggest Cultural Events to include Carnival, Calypso and Soca. Partnerships have been made with all Carnival Bands, The Calypso Association and the Cultural Development Foundation to make this year’s coverage a great one.

St. Lucia’s 2010 Carnival is schedule to commence sometime in June and end in July.  Persons unable to travel will be able to sit in the comfort of their homes and watch LIVE all of this years events.

Carpet Media SLU through its network of websites is committed to the promotion of St. Lucia’s Culture, Arts, Music and People.

Everyone can log on to http://www.stluciacarnival.net or http://www.scruffytv.com to watch live.

Keep it locked baby!…

Carpet Media SLU

At least thirteen Heads of Government have confirmed that they will attend the two-day Twenty-First Intersessional Meeting being convened under the Chairmanship of the Hon Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica.

At the top of the agenda is the critical situation in Haiti following the 12 January earthquake which left more than 200 000 persons dead and more than a million injured and displaced. The Community’s prompt response to the disaster was led by Jamaica, which is the sub-regional focal point for the area including Haiti under the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) arrangements.

CARICOM’s primary focus in Haiti is in the area of health and it has relocated its mission to Leogane on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. The Community’s Health Initiative involves some 14 health personnel who will be rotated initially every 14 days. The Community has lent tangible assistance in other areas such as providing relief supplies, conducting relief supply operations and mobilizing resources with some US$9.4M pledged to date.

The Intersessional Meeting will also feature an exchange of views with the Heads of the International Financial Institutions. Mr. Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank is confirmed for the meeting with the Heads of Government in Roseau while the President of the Inter American Development Bank and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund have also been invited.

H.E. Edwin Carrington, Secretary General of CARICOM said last week CARICOM will seek to articulate its positions on the major challenges it faced when it holds talks with Mr. Zoellick. Those discussions, he anticipated, will result in the identification of new and viable approaches to the treatment of some of the major challenges facing the Community including the crippling debt burden being carried by Member States which do not now qualify for concessionary debt reduction following their graduation from middle income status. Representatives of the World Bank met with CARICOM Finance Ministers in Trinidad and Tobago last Monday to prepare for the meeting with Mr. Zoellick.

The Heads of Government will hold discussions with H.E. Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organisation of American States.

Key matters related to external trade that the Meeting will address include the negotiations for a CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement; the status of implementation of the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement and the renewal of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act.

Consideration will also be given to climate change in the context of the Region’s follow-up action to the Copenhagen Summit held last December 2009

The meeting will also consider follow-up to and preparations for upcoming summits including a CARICOM-Brazil Summit in April.

The traditional St Lucian Lavéyé has its roots in African tradition. Normally, friends and family gather at the home of the deceased to tell stories, share their condolences and memories, sing hymns and sanngki, play games, eat food and drink together. In the old days, the Lavéyé was quiet and reserved but in more recent times, it became very lively and animated. It was widely believed that, at a wake, the spirit of the deceased gathered food and drinks and said goodbye to everybody before continuing on to its final resting place. Unfortunately, however, the traditional Lavéyé is fast disappearing as more and more families express the desire to be allowed to mourn in private maybe as a counter to undesirable traits that had crept into the activity.

Insofar as Pat Charles left her indelible mark on both FRC as an organization and on the members of the organization and that very few who actually had the privilege of encountering this paladin would not have been positively impacted, FRC invites everybody to participate in this event. The intention, as well, is to promote an aspect of our folk culture which is fast disappearing. FRC, therefore, encourages guests to bring eats and drinks and to be prepared to participate in traditional storytelling, games and singing.

The Lavéyé is expected to begin at 7pm.

The Cuban Eye Centre of Excellence is currently staffed by seventeen (17) Cuban volunteers. In addition the Cuban Government is also committed to providing medical supplies and equipment as well as maintenance services to facilitate the functioning of the Centre. To date some Five Hundred (500) persons have been screened for surgery operations. The Staff of the Centre are committed to attending to most of these cases during the current calendar year.

Some four (4) patients have been benefited from Cataract surgery since the history making procedure on March 3^rd, 2010. The Governments of Saint Lucia and Cuba signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2008 during an official visit to Cuba by Minister of Health Hon. Keith Mondersire.  The Memorandum of Understanding stipulates responsibilities and  guidelines related to the Cuban Miracle Eye Care Programme in Saint Lucia.

THE CARICOM NEWS ROUND UP IS A SERVICE BROUGHT TO YOU WITH THE COURTESY OF THE CARICOM SECRETARIAT’S PUBLIC INFORMATION UNIT

As part of her terms of reference, Dr. Rosina Wiltshire will be required to coordinate the research on Gender Based Violence (GBV) within the Caribbean Region and raise awareness of the need for further action to develop and strengthen integrated responses that will “address all social and legal sectors for the purposes of protection, provision of services; justice; and prevention.”

The establishment of an Office of the Special Advocate against GBV underpins the strategy to reduce the high incidence of violence against women in the Caribbean.

Funded under the CARICOM / Spain Cooperation Agreement, the two-year project seeks to develop a more coordinated and integrated approach to reducing Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the CARICOM region.

With more than 25 years of postgraduate teaching, research and evaluation, Dr Wiltshire has garnered a wealth of experience in Gender and Development – complemented by a range of requisite skills in leadership and development, advocacy and team building, strategic planning, resource mobilisation, donor coordination and media management -  which make her an ideal person to assume the responsibility  of Special Advocate.

In addition, Dr Wiltshire has further honed her skills and applied her experience at the national, regional and international levels: She served for 14 years in various capacities at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), most recently as the UN Resident Coordinator/ UNDP Resident Representative for Barbados and the OECS Prior to this, Dr Wiltshire worked as the Coordinator for gender and sustainable development at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.

A prolific writer, Dr Wiltshire has published in the areas of Foreign Policy, Caribbean Regional Integration, Migration and Development, Social Dimensions of Structural Adjustment, Gender and Development and Women, Environment and Development.

Her skills and professional experience are underpinned by a brilliant scholastic profile, including her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

As Special Advocate, Dr Wiltshire will also propose specific recommendations aimed at enhancing Member States’ compliance with their international and regional priority obligations of equality and non-discrimination. As such, the Advocate will be expected to influence policy development on GBV in the Caribbean through advocacy and knowledge provision.

On Monday, March 8, which is observed globally as International Women’s Day, Dr Wiltshire will be introduced to the regional media at a press conference at the CARICOM Secretariat where she will make her first presentation as the CARICOM Advocate for Gender Justice.

The Minister for Communications, Works, Transport and Public Utilities, Hon. Guy Joseph stated recently that importation of water was not an option at this juncture and that the situation was sufficiently under control. The Minister further stated that importation of water was an extremely expensive option which would have to be avoided at all cost. The claims therefore within the local Press of water was being imported into the island is completely unfounded and is  only contributing towards the unnecessary heightening of anxiety and alarm.

Enquiries by the Office of Government Press Secretary with the General manager of the Water and Sewage Authority, Mr. John Joseph, President of the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association, Mr. Anthony Bowen, and the General Manager of the Dominica Water and Sewerage Company (DOWASCO), Mr. Bernard Etinoffe confirm that no such process involving water importation from Dominica had been set in motion.

The Government of Saint Lucia would like to inform the public that there are certain requirements, which MUST be met in relation to the importation of water into Saint Lucian. This would involve the following:

1. The submission of a certificate by the local interest to the Public Health Department of the Ministry of Health from the source of the water confirming that the water has met required standards.
2. Provision of information to the Public Health Department of the Ministry of Health on the mode of transportation to Saint Lucia including date and Port of arrival.
3. Imported water would have to be tested on arrival at the particular port to ascertain its suitability for consumption before it can be approved for consumption on the island.

The Water and Sewage Company has made it clear that it would not be prepared to add water from external sources into its supplies for fear of possible contamination. The Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association on the other hand has declared that for the time being they are satisfied with the effort of the local Water and Sewage Authority in meeting their needs and managing the current situation. Mr. Bowen explained that the SLHTA had simply made what he described as an exploratory move in writing to the DOWASCO to determine their willing to assist if required. During a telephone conversation between the Mr. Bernard Etinoffe, DOWASCO’s General Manager and Government’s Press Secretary, the Head of the Dominican water company confirmed that he did receive a letter from the SLHTA but that there were no discussions about actual shipment of water to Saint Lucia.

The Government of Saint Lucia assures the public that measures are being put in place to effectively manage existing supplies and to ensure that future demands are met. Cabinet is currently reviewing proposals involving the initiation of exploration for ground water sources.  Government encourages all Saint Lucians to cooperate with the measures currently in place under the recently issued Declaration of Water Related Emergency and further to employ necessary water conservation measures in their day to day activities. Government reminds all Saint Lucians that the current situation is one of national concern that requires understanding and cooperation at all levels. Government therefore calls on all interest to desist from politicizing and or sensationalizing the current water situation.