Caribbean Report 20-02-2002
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Date
2002-02-20
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Publisher
The British Broadcasting Corporation
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Table of Contents
1. Eight of the ten political parties in the Netherlands Antilles agree to form a new Central Government Coalition that might be the last Federal Administration. Neil Nunes reports the two parties that will not join the new coalition government are: Prime Minister Miguel Pourier’s Antillean Restructuring Party, the PAR, and the People’s National Party. Sarah Westcot-Williams, Leader of Government on St. Martin outlines some key issues which should be part of the governing accord to be agreed on by the coalition members (00:00-01:51)
2. Vincentian Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves refers to his country as a mecca of Eastern Caribbean integration and cites one issue that he is pushing for - the free movement of people within the sub-region. Parliament in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is expected to pass legislation for easier travel and discuss other issues critical to a closer union of Eastern Caribbean States. Ken Richards reports that while St. Kitts’ Prime Minister, Denzil Douglas, says the issue of free movement of peoples is receiving appropriate attention, Primer Vance Amory is not keen on this initiative as Nevis already has problems with illegal immigration (01:52-04:57)
3. Antigua and Barbuda and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announce that St. Johns will not be on the forthcoming international list of uncooperative tax havens. The administration of Prime Minster Lester Bird has made a commitment to transparency and effective exchange of information in its off-shore financial system with the OECD. Antigua and Barbuda joins several other Caribbean nations in being removed from the blacklist though eight Caribbean countries are still there (04:58-05:39)
4. Queen Elizabeth II spends the final hours of her three-day visit to Jamaica in the north coast tourist resort of Montego Bay, after undertaking a number of civil engagements with husband Prince Phillip. Her visit to Jamaica has reopened the debate on whether the island should dispense with the monarchy and become a republic. The Secretary of Jamaica’s Constitutional Reform Unit, Neville Gibbs comments on the impact her visit would have on the public vote (05:40-08:11)
5. British police charge a Jamaican born Muslim cleric with soliciting others to commit murder. Scotland Yard sources say Abdullah el-Faisal has been travelling around Britain urging followers to kill Jews and non-believers. He has denied similar accusations in the past. The charge carries the maximum sentence of life in prison. Britain launched a crackdown of suspected religious extremists after the September 11th attacks in New York and Washington (08:12-08:39)
6. Caribbean immigrants in the US are closely studied in a recent court decision which challenges the inflexibility of the American immigration law, while courts in Philadelphia and Brooklyn intervene to stop or delay the deportation of nationals of Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago. Orin Gordon interviews Trevor Warton, a Trinidadian born lawyer in the New York and asks him for his assessment of a ruling by Judge Weinstein that American officials cannot deport a felon unless they first consider the impact on a child he would leave behind in the US (08:40-13:05)
7. A delegation from the Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the Organization of American States (OAS) arrives in Haiti to investigate reports of violence against the political opposition. The OAS has been trying to mediate an end to the political stand-off, following flawed local and legislative elections. Hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid are being withheld until issues are corrected. Emma Joseph reports (13:06-14:31)
8. Headlines (14:32-15:04)
2. Vincentian Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves refers to his country as a mecca of Eastern Caribbean integration and cites one issue that he is pushing for - the free movement of people within the sub-region. Parliament in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is expected to pass legislation for easier travel and discuss other issues critical to a closer union of Eastern Caribbean States. Ken Richards reports that while St. Kitts’ Prime Minister, Denzil Douglas, says the issue of free movement of peoples is receiving appropriate attention, Primer Vance Amory is not keen on this initiative as Nevis already has problems with illegal immigration (01:52-04:57)
3. Antigua and Barbuda and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announce that St. Johns will not be on the forthcoming international list of uncooperative tax havens. The administration of Prime Minster Lester Bird has made a commitment to transparency and effective exchange of information in its off-shore financial system with the OECD. Antigua and Barbuda joins several other Caribbean nations in being removed from the blacklist though eight Caribbean countries are still there (04:58-05:39)
4. Queen Elizabeth II spends the final hours of her three-day visit to Jamaica in the north coast tourist resort of Montego Bay, after undertaking a number of civil engagements with husband Prince Phillip. Her visit to Jamaica has reopened the debate on whether the island should dispense with the monarchy and become a republic. The Secretary of Jamaica’s Constitutional Reform Unit, Neville Gibbs comments on the impact her visit would have on the public vote (05:40-08:11)
5. British police charge a Jamaican born Muslim cleric with soliciting others to commit murder. Scotland Yard sources say Abdullah el-Faisal has been travelling around Britain urging followers to kill Jews and non-believers. He has denied similar accusations in the past. The charge carries the maximum sentence of life in prison. Britain launched a crackdown of suspected religious extremists after the September 11th attacks in New York and Washington (08:12-08:39)
6. Caribbean immigrants in the US are closely studied in a recent court decision which challenges the inflexibility of the American immigration law, while courts in Philadelphia and Brooklyn intervene to stop or delay the deportation of nationals of Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago. Orin Gordon interviews Trevor Warton, a Trinidadian born lawyer in the New York and asks him for his assessment of a ruling by Judge Weinstein that American officials cannot deport a felon unless they first consider the impact on a child he would leave behind in the US (08:40-13:05)
7. A delegation from the Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the Organization of American States (OAS) arrives in Haiti to investigate reports of violence against the political opposition. The OAS has been trying to mediate an end to the political stand-off, following flawed local and legislative elections. Hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid are being withheld until issues are corrected. Emma Joseph reports (13:06-14:31)
8. Headlines (14:32-15:04)