Health authorities enforcing 1952 legislation to combat mosquito breeding

By Linda Straker

THE confirmation of five cases of chikungunya in the island has pushed health authorities to enforce a 1952 law, which makes its mandatory for home and business owners to rid of all forms of containers that can cause the continuous breeding of mosquitoes.

Called the Mosquito Destruction Act, it came into effect on June 28, 1952 during a period when Grenada was a British Colony, and some 22 years before Grenada again Independence.

In a continuous running public service announcement aired on radio stations, the Ministry of Health is warning people that failure to keep their surroundings clean can result in Health Sanitation Officers taking legal proceedings in accordance with the Mosquito Destruction Act.

The regulations of that act were approved by Cabinet in 2003,and says that an owner or occupier, as the case may be, of premises, who contravenes any of the provisions of the regulations, shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of EC$250 in the case of a first offence, and, in the case of a subsequent offence, to a fine of EC$500. The 1952 legislation has a general fine of EC$500.

According to the regulations, evidence of offence is the presence of mosquito larvae in any collection of water on premises shall be evidence that the provisions of the last two preceding regulations have not been obeyed.

Last week, health authorities in Grenada confirmed that there are five cases of Chikungunya in the island, but its presently confined to two small communities in Carriacou.

In a statement, the Ministry called on persons  to be vigilant in combating the threat of the Chikungunya Virus that is present in the region and said it’s  committed to keeping the pubic informed on any new developments as they arise.

With this new development, we continue to appeal to the public to co-operate with us and to do their part in combating the spread of this virus, said a statement from the Ministry, which called on the general public to:

1. Use mosquito nets.

2. Use insect repellents.

3. Wear long sleeves and long pants, especially in the night.

4. Most importantly, to clean your surroundings to eliminate breeding sites for mosquitoes.

5. Equip your doors and windows with mosquito screens.

6. Continue to support our vector control programmes.

Billions needed to modernise Caribbean infrastructure

THE Caribbean needs US$30 billion of infrastructure investment if it is to compete on a global scale, reduce poverty and drive sustainable growth.

This is according to President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith. In his address the UK-Caribbean Business Conference recently, he revealed that over the next 10 years, some US$30 billion will be required to modernise and enhance the efficiency of the power, transportation, telecommunications, and water and wastewater sectors.

He said that in the energy sector alone, massive investment will be needed to replace obsolete and inefficient generating plant over the next five years, and to transform the electricity infrastructure so that the region’s vast renewable energy potential can be exploited.

According to the president, CDB is actively promoting a new Green Economy paradigm for sustainable growth, noting that renewable energy, coupled with energy efficiency, would create opportunities for the growth of new non-traditional businesses, lower electricity costs and boost foreign exchange reserves by reducing energy imports.

“Our small, open, island and/or coastal countries are extremely vulnerable to both economic and weather-related shocks. The probability of our region being hit, each year, by a natural disaster is as high as 10-24 per cent; and the annual economic cost of damage from natural hazards is around 1 per cent of GDP.”

“Most of our countries are highly dependent on imported fossil fuels for power generation. This vulnerability to volatile oil prices has contributed hugely to the competitiveness challenges of Caribbean industries. It has also been a principal cause of unsustainable balances of payments and sovereign indebtedness problems,” he said.

The CDB is promoting this transformation through both development financing and technical assistance, and assisting to mobilise private sector participation through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). (TL)

Growth required in region to combat poverty

It is believed that the Caribbean needs to grow much faster if the unemployment and poverty rates are to fall substantially.

Addressing the Fifth Caribbean Microfinance Forum, President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith pointed out that the growth rates in the Caribbean have been, on average, very low for several decades, and have remained below 3 per cent since the most recent global recession.

“Such low rates of growth have contributed to the persistently high levels of unemployment and poverty in our region. With more than 21 per cent of our population living below the poverty line, accelerating and sustaining inclusive growth is, arguably, one of the most pressing development challenges confronting our region’s leaders, today.”

Speaking on the topic, “Building Growth into The Caribbean Sustainability Agenda – The Role of Entrepreneurship,” Dr. Smith acknowledged that while Governments can have a profound impact on the enabling environment for business, he also believes that the ability of entrepreneurs to grasp opportunities and to convert them into viable business ventures is equally important for economic growth to reach sustainable levels.

According to him, there are several key requirements for successful business ventures.

“First, the operations must be well-managed. A successful enterprise must differentiate itself from its competitors, both in the nature and the quality of the goods and services provided. It should strive to be unique and take advantage of the brand recognition peculiar to its country or region of origin.”

“Second, recognising the small size of regional economies and the inherent difficulties of achieving economies of scale in that environment, our entrepreneurs will need to exploit opportunities in the export markets by forging strategic partnerships with other firms. All businesses in today’s Caribbean must think globally if they are to survive and grow, and if our countries are going to be able to earn the foreign exchange necessary to provide the quality of life to which we all aspire.

If local and export markets are to be retained, and the business is to grow on a sustainable basis, arrangements have to be in place to guarantee a consistency of product quality and a regularity of supply,” he said.

Part of the competitive advantage of small enterprises, the CDB Head added, is their agility and flexibility; their capacity to respond quickly and to adjust to changing tastes and preferences in the market; and their ability to meet the unique requirements of their customer base.

“To sustain this competitive advantage, small firms need to stay close to their customers; have a deep understanding of their requirements; and to identify innovative and cost saving options for continuously meeting their needs.” (TL)

CDB President: Countries lagging with recovery efforts

THE region’s progress has been hindered by inconsistent adherence to sound macro-economic management and to insufficient attention to the development of business-friendly conditions, says Dr. Warren Smith, President of the Caribbean Development Bank.

Addressing the UK-Caribbean Business Conference recently on the “Economic Prospects for the Caribbean”, he acknowledged that coming out of the Great Recession, recovery in global tourism has been slow, also highlighting that many of the region’s tourism-dependent economies have been adversely affected and are lagging in their recovery efforts, with very low, or no economic growth.

“Several borrowing member countries (BMCs) in this category also face challenges with new developments in their off-shore financial sectors. For CDB’s BMCs, as a whole, fiscal deficits currently average around 4 per cent of GDP; and sovereign indebtedness is about 70 per cent of GDP and need to be addressed with greater urgency.”

Turning to the business climate, Dr. Smith indicated that all of credible sources confirm that Caribbean countries, in both the services and commodity categories, do not compare well with other countries.

He pointed out that inadequate transportation, telecommunications and logistics infrastructure; insufficient access to affordable credit; bureaucratic red-tape; low productivity; and high energy costs are the biggest constraints to our region’s competitiveness. (TL)

More integration necessary, says Venner

Sir Dwight Venner, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank & Chairman of the UWI Open Campus Council, has raised two points for development for the region – that is integration and a new model of development is needed.

At the University in the Community Lunchtime Lecture Series at the Frank Collymore Hall he tackled the topic ‘The Idea of the OECS in the Context of a Developing Caribbean’, he outlined the trajectory of both Barbados and Jamaica. In the context of Barbados, he said: “Barbados has achieved a very high level of education, high ranking on human development indices of United Nations, political and social stability and a high level of per capita income. Despite the current difficulties these achievements can be considered to be fairly outstanding among developing countries. Barbados has advanced to a much higher level of development as judged by international standards in spite of its small size, it raises the question where do we go from here in the post-crisis era and what is the new paradigm that will lead to further progress for the region as a whole?”

Furthermore, “It seems to be an act of faith that for the region integration is the answer to this problem, despite the treaties both CARICOM and OECS, it appears the deep level of integration required to achieve this outcome has not been contemplated ... perhaps no successful model has prevailed. The Jamaica brand has not led to self-sustaining growth and the Barbados model has stalled or reached its zenith. What are we doing? The idea of the OECS is different, it has a vision of the future for an all encompassing Caribbean which would give the region the possibility of achieving its full potential.”

Mature regionalism

Dr. Venner added, “The region itself must come to grips and get over the hurdle fragmentation and accept not only the idea but the actual existence of the OECS countries as equal members of the regional arrangement. In UWI education and cricket the small island for the last several decades have been on the outside looking in and this does not augur well for the future of the region.

“The global crisis has had an impact on all countries with different consequence, the Caribbean as a whole has been hit quite hard with the structural weakness of the countries being further exposed and exacerbated. The OECS countries have experienced three consecutive years of negative growth, it is clear that like Barbados we have reached a cross roads in our development and we have to find a new model of development to ensure our survival and progress.

“For the region there is much to be gained from a successful integration arrangement, the vision of the OECS would require the fullest implementation of the Treaty of Basseterre and a different model of development referred to as the aggregate co-ordination productivity model.” (NB)

Regional countries to benefit from capacity building

Caribbean countries stand to benefit from capacity building following the conclusion of a two-month course dealing with trade policy issues.

The course was organised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in collaboration with the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law Policy and Services at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill in Barbados.

Course Co-ordinator, Roberto Fiorentino (left), and
Phil Rourke who heads up the Shridath Ramphal
Centre at the UWI, Cave Hill in Barbados.

The entire class with the officials.

Co-ordinator of the course was Roberto Fiorentino, Counsellor at the WTO. Twenty-one persons pursued the course.

He said that participants came from the Caribbean and across Ministries and Departments that are actively engaged in trade policy matters.

It was an audience that included people working from the Ministry of Trade, Customs, Agriculture – a variety of areas.

The WTO official told Grenada Advocate that it is a course the WTO considers a generalist programme. Areas covered include Trade Theory, Market Access, Customs, Agricultural Trade, Trade in Services, Intellectual Property, Regional Integration and Dispute Settlement. There was also a trade negotiation simulation.

He said that apart from The Bahamas, all countries of the Caribbean are members of the WTO. “To operate in the system and to abide by the rules and the rights and obligations you get by being member of the WTO, government officials have the need to understand the rules,” Fiorentino said.

“Essentially the course is intended to provide training in capacity building to allow government to address issues at the WTO,” he explained.

“The course also covered the Doha Development Round negotiations and essentially the overall objectives, that is, to equip governments to be able to work better with the system,” he further explained.

The WTO official said also that without an understanding of the rules it will be very difficult to work with the WTO.

The official said some focus was placed on the so-called Small and Vulnerable Economies (SVEs) which embrace the Caribbean. According to him, a number of the sessions addressed what they called Special and Differential Treatment for countries such as small economies and how to better address those issues.

“[This is] an organisation that is trying to remove all kinds of obstacles but the point is showing governments how to operate within the rules,” he stated, noting that one should not forget the fact that developing countries account for about 80 per cent of the WTO membership.

He lauded the system, noting that it does give an opportunity to a small country to bring action against a big country within the WTO, the point of reference here being Antigua and Barbuda and the United States.

NEW MACHINE FOR UWI – first of its kind in region

Chemical and Biological researchers at the University of the West Indies (UWI) have benefited from the donation of hi-tech, multi-featured, advanced equipment that will dramatically increase research accuracy and make room for the commercialisation of research done at the campus.

The equipment, the BioSpectrum Imaging System 810 Machine, valued at US$35 000, was
officially donated by the UWI (Cave Hill) Co-operative Credit Union Ltd. during a small presentation ceremony held at the campus last month.

Deputy Dean of the UWI Cave Hill Science and Technology
Faculty, Dr. Thea Scantlebury-Manning (sitting), demonstrates
one of the analysis capabilities of the BioSpectrum Imaging
System 810 Machine, which was donated by the UWI (Cave Hill)
Co-operative Credit Union Ltd. Looking on are the Faculty’s
Dean, Dr. Colin Depradine (left), and President of the
donor institution, Patrick McDonald.

The equipment is a darkroom cabinet incorporating a light-tight darkroom with VisionWorksLS software and has the ability to achieve superior captured images with a high sensitivity, scientific grade cooled CCD camera carrying a 3296 x 2472 resolution.

Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Dr. Thea Scantlebury-Manning, during her presentation of the equipment and its benefits to research at the faculty, said that the machine would allow for greater automated and repeated imaging and research analysis of protein, DNA, RNA and any other derivatives of molecules, permitting researchers to tag them so that they could verify “where they are going, how they have changed, where they have ended up or how they have broken down”.

She remarked that in the absence of such a machine, the work researchers did to analyse tags containing chemiluminescent (Westerns, Northerns and Southerns), fluorescent, bioluminescent and colorimetric compounds was left with too much of a gap for human error and that there badly needed to be a way to reduce this through the use of research automation.

The BioSpectrum Imaging System is the first of its type in the region and, according to Dr. Scantlebury-Manning, would allow students to have the training and ability to do the level of research as was done in first world countries. “We now have the opportunity and the technology to do a lot of the cutting-edge molecular work for further advancement in the region...” she said.

The equipment allows researchers to do: ID lane analysis, Area density, Plant imaging, Molecular weights, Colony counting, Protein quantitation, and Western blot densitometry. (RS)