Caribbean Report 31-03-1999

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1. Headlines with anchor Keith Stone Greaves (00:28)
2. Chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Saint Lucia Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony denounces the poor state of the organisation finances and identifies defaulting countries. He pledges to discontinue financial support for the OECS Secretariat. OECS Director General Swinburne Lestrade responds by elaborating on plans to rebuild the image of the Secretariat in face of the crisis and expresses confidence that defaulting countries will take steps to pay outstanding debts. Pete Ninvalle reports (00:29 – 05:14)
3. Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj reviews procedures to ratify the statute of the international court. Trinidad and Tobago is the second country to sign the accord which was formalised in a meeting held in Rome last year . Senegal is the first country to ratify the accord. Maharaj discusses the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the former British territories (05:15 – 07:28)
4. The World trade Organization (WTO) fails to appoint a new Director General to succeed Renato Ruggiero of Italy. There are two nominees contesting the position and the organization will continue to meet and come to a consensus on its new leader (07: 29 – 08:01)
5. One of the world’s biggest banana producing companies Chiquita is celebrating its 100 year anniversary. Larry Burns, the Director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a Washington think-tank speaks on Chiquita dark history. Spokesperson for the Economic Strategy Institute, a conservative Think Tank in Washington contends that Chiquita will be the losers in the current banana war having lost its credibility in the ongoing dispute. BBC Leslie Garth reports (08: 02 - 10:09)
6. Two senior journalists Louis Daniel and Horace Helps dismissed by management of the Sun Newspaper in Antigua has indicated that they intend to fight the matter in court. The two journalists received letters charging that they were guilty of misconduct and breach of contract of employment. The conflict began with the paper’s perceived interference in changing articles and headlines ahead of the March 9 elections to reflect support for Prime Minister Lester Bird political party (10: 10 - 10:58)
7. Trinidad and Tobago appears to be leading the rest of Caribbean in ensuring that the country is 2000 compliant and able to avoid the Millennium bug. Computers and systems are reported to be in shape to avoid systems crash and collapse on the eve of the Millennium. Richard Young head of a government appointed team on Millennium comments on major private sector response to combatting system failure. The public sector has been slow to respond (10: 59 - 12: 07)
8. The West Indies team cricket bounced back after winning the second test against Australia. Ken Richards reports on the match winning performance of Brian Lara. Brian Lara speaks on the victory and work of the cricket team. Australia captain Steve Waugh comments on his team losing the match (12: 08 - 15: 26)

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