Caribbean Report 07-03-2002
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Date
2002-03-07
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The British Broadcasting Corporation
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Table of Contents
1. Headlines (00:00-00:27)
2. Political talks to convene parliament in Trinidad and Tobago collapse and the parties appear to be on an elections footing. Former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday walks out of the talks saying that Prime Minister Patrick Manning is not serious about power sharing, while Prime Minister Manning is hoping a UNC member will cross the floor thereby giving the PNM government a majority. Tony Fraser reviews the political environment in Trinidad and Tobago (00:28-02:44)
3. Reuters News Agency reports from Havana that a group of Cuban dissidents has gathered a petition of ten thousand signatures calling for the Cuban parliament to hold a referendum of political reforms. Such a campaign has been unheard of since President Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. His government scorns dissidents as counter-revolutionary pawns of the United States and anti-Castro Cuban-American groups in Miami Florida (02:45-03:11)
4. Jamaican police shoot and kill four robbery suspects in central St. Catherine. No police officers are injured or killed. International Human Rights groups complain about killings by police in Jamaica and Jamaica’s National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips visits London and meets with British officials on how they can help Jamaica stem the violence (03:12-06:41)
5. Bermuda’s Ministry of Telecommunications and E-Commerce commissions a survey after criticisms from the United States that American companies are relocating their offices to Bermuda because of its tax breaks and favourable regulatory system. Rosie Hayes reports (06:42-08:19)
6. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announces that Montserrat, Dominica and Saint Kitts and Nevis will be deleted from its list of uncooperative tax havens. Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas tells Ken Richards that although it has signed on to the OECD tax initiative it will approach information sharing with care. He also discusses his country’s dialogue with the Financial Action Task Force which deals with money laundering (08:20-11:34)
7. The head of the US Central Bank, Alan Greenspan now seems to be confident that the US recession is over (11:35-12:16)
8. A meeting of accountants mounted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados, concludes that the Enron collapse in the US was a severe blow for the accountancy profession across the Caribbean. Colin Soo Ping Chow of Ernst & Young Caribbean confirms this, Patrick Toppin, Managing Partner with Pannell Kerr Forster (Barbados), says audit committees can assist, while Lecturer in Management Studies with The University of the West Indies, Dr. Justin Robinson makes other recommendations. David Ellis reports (12:17-14:10)
9. And in a follow-up to that report, President Bush announces proposals to protect shareholders from misconduct by corporate executives following Enron’s collapse. One of the measures is that chief executives will be held personally responsible for the accuracy of their financial statements. The proposals have disappointed consumer groups who say they do not contain enough powers to protect investors or punish wrongdoers (14:11-14:37)
10. The head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Ace Hutchinson says consumption of the drug Ecstasy is on the rise worldwide with traffickers focussing on new markets such as Latin America and the Caribbean. The growth in Ecstasy consumption is partly due to a misconception among young people that the drug is harmless (14:38-15:24)
2. Political talks to convene parliament in Trinidad and Tobago collapse and the parties appear to be on an elections footing. Former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday walks out of the talks saying that Prime Minister Patrick Manning is not serious about power sharing, while Prime Minister Manning is hoping a UNC member will cross the floor thereby giving the PNM government a majority. Tony Fraser reviews the political environment in Trinidad and Tobago (00:28-02:44)
3. Reuters News Agency reports from Havana that a group of Cuban dissidents has gathered a petition of ten thousand signatures calling for the Cuban parliament to hold a referendum of political reforms. Such a campaign has been unheard of since President Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. His government scorns dissidents as counter-revolutionary pawns of the United States and anti-Castro Cuban-American groups in Miami Florida (02:45-03:11)
4. Jamaican police shoot and kill four robbery suspects in central St. Catherine. No police officers are injured or killed. International Human Rights groups complain about killings by police in Jamaica and Jamaica’s National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips visits London and meets with British officials on how they can help Jamaica stem the violence (03:12-06:41)
5. Bermuda’s Ministry of Telecommunications and E-Commerce commissions a survey after criticisms from the United States that American companies are relocating their offices to Bermuda because of its tax breaks and favourable regulatory system. Rosie Hayes reports (06:42-08:19)
6. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announces that Montserrat, Dominica and Saint Kitts and Nevis will be deleted from its list of uncooperative tax havens. Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas tells Ken Richards that although it has signed on to the OECD tax initiative it will approach information sharing with care. He also discusses his country’s dialogue with the Financial Action Task Force which deals with money laundering (08:20-11:34)
7. The head of the US Central Bank, Alan Greenspan now seems to be confident that the US recession is over (11:35-12:16)
8. A meeting of accountants mounted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados, concludes that the Enron collapse in the US was a severe blow for the accountancy profession across the Caribbean. Colin Soo Ping Chow of Ernst & Young Caribbean confirms this, Patrick Toppin, Managing Partner with Pannell Kerr Forster (Barbados), says audit committees can assist, while Lecturer in Management Studies with The University of the West Indies, Dr. Justin Robinson makes other recommendations. David Ellis reports (12:17-14:10)
9. And in a follow-up to that report, President Bush announces proposals to protect shareholders from misconduct by corporate executives following Enron’s collapse. One of the measures is that chief executives will be held personally responsible for the accuracy of their financial statements. The proposals have disappointed consumer groups who say they do not contain enough powers to protect investors or punish wrongdoers (14:11-14:37)
10. The head of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Ace Hutchinson says consumption of the drug Ecstasy is on the rise worldwide with traffickers focussing on new markets such as Latin America and the Caribbean. The growth in Ecstasy consumption is partly due to a misconception among young people that the drug is harmless (14:38-15:24)