New Home Test For HIV May Cut Down New Infections
By Richard Knox:
No infectious disease has ever been detectable by a test that consumers can buy over the counter and get quick results at home. But HIV isn't just any infection. It's a stubborn pandemic virus that's still making people sick and killing them 31 years after it first appeared – even though infection is easily prevented and effectively treated.
The Food and Drug Administration's approval of the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test carries the hope that it can help identify some of the nearly quarter-million Americans infected by HIV who don't know it.
These unknowingly infected people are one reason there are something like 50,000 new HIV infections a year in this country. HIV testing centers haven't been able to make a dent in this persistent problem, because many of those at risk of HIV infection don't seek out testing.
That might be true of home test kits too, of course. But U.S. health officials hope that privacy, convenience and easy access might induce many people to test themselves at home.
There's already an approved home HIV test kit, but it requires consumers to stick a finger to collect a few drops of blood and then send the sample in to a laboratory and wait for results.
Taking the newly approved test will be simple. Consumers are directed to swab their gums, upper and lower, and put the swab into a vial. Twenty to 40 minutes later, if a single horizontal line appears on the front of the vial, the result is negative. Two lines mean the user may have HIV.
But not necessarily. Interpretion of the test gets a little tricky.
One negative out of 12 is actually a false result – the person may actually be infected by HIV but the test didn't pick it up. A positive result is much less likely to be wrong: Only 1 in 5,000 positives are false. But a positive still requires the user to go to a professional lab for re-testing before jumping to the conclusion that he or she actually has HIV.
And then there's the "window" problem. For the first three to six months after becoming infected with HIV, a person hasn't made enough antibodies to be picked up by the test during that window. So people who get a negative result will be advised to take another test a few months later if they have reason to believe they've been exposed to the virus.
Clearly, consumers who buy the OraQuick test kits may have questions – about the test, about what they should do about a result. So the FDA is requiring OraSure, which makes the test, to set up a 24/7/365 hotline staffed by live humans who can answer questions and refer consumers to health professionals in their zip codes for followup care.
These complications explain the muted enthusiasm among some HIV experts toward the new home test.
Dr. Judith Aberg, chair of the HIV Medicine Association, says in a statement that the test "holds great promise as a self-directed tool for people to learn their HIV status."
But she goes on to say that there needs to be more research and education about how the test is used – especially among low-income and minority populations that are disproportionately affected by HIV. For both those who test positive and those who test negative, proper followup is crucial, she says.
Douglas Michels, president and CEO of OraSure, told Shots that the company takes seriously the need for consumer guidance. And he predicts that the new test will make a difference in slowing the epidemic.
"For every million people who take the test," Michels says, "we'll identify an additional 5,000 new HIV infections. And through that identification, we will be avoiding more than 700 future transmissions of HIV infection."
Michels says the test will be available around October at most pharmacies, retailers such as WalMart and Kroger, and online.
He declined to say how much test kits will cost. But he said it would be in excess of the $17.50 list price of the version currently used in hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices. That's because of more elaborate packaging, education and customer support.
July 03, 2012
NPR.org
An International Caribbean Online Log about the news and opinions in the Americas and World. This Caribbean Blog of global reach and appeal is maintained by Bahamian Blogger - Dennis Dames with all readers and subscribers in mind.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Food and Drug Administration's approval of the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test carries the hope that it can help identify some of the nearly quarter-million Americans infected by HIV who don't know it... ...These unknowingly infected people are one reason there are something like 50,000 new HIV infections a year in the USA
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Coups 2.0 in the Americas
By Gonzalo Fernández - ALAI:
Everybody is familiar with the complexity of understanding the
alternative processes that are taking place in the Americas, where
multiple topics and agendas intersect, in the common will to break with
the history of domination and exclusion of the subcontinent. On the one
hand, the 21st century has been accompanied by the arrival of
anti-neoliberal governments in various countries, with an unequal
record of transformation, but which are the response to the popular
majorities being fed up with their reality of poverty, inequality and
external dependence. On the other hand, precisely taking advantage of
this favorable context, many social movements - and many societies in
movement - have raised the need for progress in the implementation of
emancipative political agendas, that once and for all get beyond the
colonizing and subordination logic to which the region and the
population have historically been subjected.
So, after a few starts in which institutional and social actors
walked hand in hand, tensions between governments and movements have
emerged, as well as strained relations between old and new social
movements: how slowly or quickly processes of change is taking place;
the short life of governments or the long life of emancipation;
developmentalism or a determined transition towards good living; the
urgent need to overcome the patterns of dependency or the impossibility
to do so in such a short period (in historical terms). These are
precisely the debates that baffle and enrich the reality of Latin
America. The answers to these situations are not simple, nor are they
categorical, and deepening reflection on them is one of the great
challenges of all the Left, including the European left.
However, something that cannot be denied, regardless of where we
are positioned, is that all these processes initiated with the new
century have torn open gaps, have allowed for spaces of accumulation of
forces, spaces for the interconnection of struggles, spaces for the
exercise of citizenship rights by large majorities. And nobody can
capitalize that, it is part of the action path taken by both governments
and movements. The Right knows it well: it attempts to put an end to
this new exciting stage by any means. Thus, attacks of the oligarchies
and their media - hegemonically aligned with them - do not cease in
their effort of discrediting governments and social struggles, with the
aim of destabilizing the region and returning to the previous situation
of absolute control of the subcontinent. To do so, they are willing to
do anything, including coups d'état.
This is the key to understanding the coup d'état in Venezuela in 2002 and the coup d'état in Mexico in 2006 - via electoral fraud -. But it is also useful for understanding the coups d’état 2.0
in Honduras (2009) and Ecuador (2010), where new formulas of coup are
being tested, seeking for the international community and the population
not to assimilate them as such (but with identical results). In this
way, instead of the pure and simple military coup, new ways are
emerging, ranging from social destabilization generated by the police
to the fraudulent use of judicial and even constitutional resources.
This new coup scheme 2.0 is still very present in America
today. Last week, the President of Paraguay was dismissed on the basis
of a political trial, a legal figure of the Constitution which makes it
possible to remove a President from office based on a manifest
disability to perform his duties. In this sense, a legal staging was
orchestrated for an illegitimate and anti-democratic event, where a
President elected by popular vote was fulminated in a summary trial in
which he only had two hours to exercise his defense, unable to prepare
it properly, and against a very serious accusation. The ultimate goal of
the coup: that one of the most retrograde oligarchies of the
continent could put a stop to the timid processes of change engendered
in recent years, and prevent the Left from accumulating enough forces to
face the presidential elections in 2013.
On the other hand, since the past weekend, all the media of the
world echoed the turmoil generated by the police strike in Bolivia -
illegal in many countries - and which is perhaps a prelude of further
attempts of destabilization in the Andean country. Finally, we'll see
what happens in the Mexican elections, where a broad student movement
has gained significant momentum against the possibility that the PRI
returns to power (with the full support of the Right and large media
conglomerates.)
We must remain very much on the alert for these new realities, and
denounce without palliatives, both here and there, the abuses
perpetrated against democracy in the Americas. Regardless of the views
we hold about one government or the other, or their greater or lesser
commitment to the emancipation of the continent, we must be clear about
one thing: we cannot allow what has been achieved in the last decade to
be reverted, and we must join forces to prevent anti-democratic
regressions, not only because of international solidarity, but also
given the importance of the region as a source of inspiration to raise
proposals that allow us to envision other paths to overcome this crisis
of civilization that affects us all. Our paths are deeply intertwined,
their democracy is also ours.
(Translation FEDAEPS).
- Gonzalo Fernández is a member of the Internationalist Working Group of Alternatiba, Basque Country.
Source: ALAI
July 04, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
...the need for a new tax system in The Bahamas ...Value added tax, or VAT, has emerged as the frontrunner to supplement or completely replace the Bahamian system of customs duties
Value added tax, part 1
By CFAL Economic View
Nassau, The Bahamas
Much has been written in the press recently on the need for a new tax system in The Bahamas. Value added tax, or VAT, has emerged as the frontrunner to supplement or completely replace our system of customs duties.
In this first of a two-part article, we will examine why we need to change our tax regime in the first place, give an example of how VAT taxes work in practice and describe the basic structures that will be needed by both the government and private sector to make VAT work.
Next week we will highlight Barbados’ experience in moving to a VAT system in the late-1990s and continue with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities of moving to a similar system here in The Bahamas.
Finally, we will review other tax methods that can potentially raise government revenues and increase competitiveness for a key segment of our economy, financial services.
So why all the fuss over taxes? Quite simply, our government’s spending is outpacing our tax revenue by a greater and greater amount, especially since the recession of 2008. In other words, we have been running increasingly large government deficits and borrowing the difference. According to the Central Bank, our deficit has increased from $182m in fiscal year 2006/2007, hitting $361m in 2008/2009 and is now estimated to be over $550m for 2012/2013.
As former Central Bank governor and Minister of State for Finance James Smith remarked in a recent article, this revenue gap now appears “structural” in nature, meaning it will not correct itself on its own through normal reduced spending or increased collection of the existing taxes on the books.
What ultimately is needed is a concerted effort to either cut public spending, raise more revenue or some combination of the two. Both Moody’s and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have warned that our growing financial deficit at approximately 4.7 percent of GDP is unsustainable. Central Bank statistics show that government debt has ballooned from $3 billion in 2007, or about 31 percent of GDP, to over $4.3 billion in 2011, or 53 percent of GDP.
Studies have shown that as debt approaches 60 percent of GDP, the need to service that debt and pay the interest begins to slow the growth rate of the economy. With official unemployment at almost 16 percent and over 40,000 people unemployed, the last thing The Bahamas needs is to have its already anemic growth rate slow even further.
So what is wrong with our current tax system based on customs duties? Most obviously, it is not providing the government with the revenue it needs to support current expenditure (of course, this could also be framed as a government spending problem – more on this next week). According to the CIA World Factbook, The Bahamas ranks 167th out of 210 countries in terms of tax revenues paid to the government as a percentage of GDP.
Our government takes in about 19 percent in taxes versus the global average of 29 percent. By comparison, Jamaica takes 27 percent, Barbados 28 percent, Trinidad & Tobago 34 percent, Canada 39 percent, Brazil 40 percent and most of Europe between 40 percent and 60 percent. The United States, with the largest economy in the world, takes a tax haul of 15 percent of GDP, highlighting the “fiscal space” it still has to address in contrast to Europe which is looking increasingly “maxed out”. It is clear that we are lightly-taxed in this country by global standards.
Secondly, by putting most of the tax burden on imports, our tax base is fairly narrow and completely leaves out our dominant service-based economy. It also requires merchants to pay their taxes upfront, prior to making the final sale to consumers, thereby tying up capital unnecessarily.
Therefore, if we can broaden the tax base we can tax everyone at a lower rate and still provide the government with the revenue it needs to help balance the books and even start paying down its debt.
A final reason for changing our tax system is the fact that The Bahamas has entered into a number of international trade agreements, including the Economic Partnership Agreement, or EPA, with Europe. Moreover, the current administration continues to work towards full membership for The Bahamas in the World Trade Organization, or WTO. Our high rates of duties will most likely be viewed as a barrier to trade by these bodies, forcing us to either reduce them or eliminate those tariffs completely. So the clock is already ticking – The Bahamas’ EPA obligations with Europe require us to reduce tariffs on EU imports by 2014.
What is VAT?
So what exactly is a value added tax? VAT is a consumption-based tax, much like a sales tax, but it is collected “in pieces” along the production chain. It is estimated that over 70 percent of the world’s population live in countries which apply VAT.
Unlike customs duties, it is applied on all sales, including goods and services. VAT tax rates generally vary between 10 percent and 20 percent and the final rate selected for The Bahamas would depend on how much revenue needs to be raised to replace other taxes as well as to close the deficits mentioned earlier.
Let us look at an example of how VAT actually works, taken from The Atlantic Magazine, May 2010. Consider a loaf of bread you buy in a grocery store for a dollar. You have a farmer, a baker, and a supermarket along the production chain. Finally, let’s set the VAT rate at 10 percent:
1. The farmer grows the wheat and sells it to the baker for 20 cents. The VAT is two cents. The baker pays the farmer 22 cents, and the farmer sends two cents in VAT to the government.
2. The baker makes a loaf and sells it to the supermarket for 60 cents. The VAT is six cents. The supermarket pays the baker 66 cents, of which six cents is VAT. The baker sends the government four cents, which is the six cents in VAT on the bread sale less a two cent credit from the government for the VAT he paid when he bought the wheat.
3. The store sells the loaf to me for a dollar which costs me $1.10, including tax. The store sends the government four cents total – the 10 cents it collected in VAT on its sales, minus the six cents it paid to the baker in VAT, which it gets back in a credit. In total, the government gets two cents from the farmer, four cents from baker, and four cents from the store. That equals 10 cents on a final sale of a dollar for a 10 percent VAT.
If that sounds overly complicated, you might be asking yourself why not simply add a sales tax on the final transaction? Believe it or not, it is easier to collect VAT than a sales tax because of these various stages and built-in paperwork along the chain.
A retail sales tax would have been very easy to avoid because there’s no counterparty to the transaction besides the end consumer.
Look at the baker in the VAT. The baker may want to avoid paying the VAT to the government but he knows the grocery store will report the purchase in order to claim its VAT credit. If it is paying attention, the government should be able to go to the baker and say “you forgot to report your 60 cents of sales and six cents of VAT which you owe”.
That mechanism represents the system of checks and balances within the VAT system. A lot of research suggests that sales taxes are difficult to enforce when you get to rates above six to 10 percent because people find ways around them, such as under-invoicing or unreported cash sales that occur under the table.
From the example above, it is clear that the introduction of a VAT system will require significant changes on the part of the government, as well as from the private sector, which would be forced to assume the role of tax collector.
Government would need to address organizational issues such as setting up a separate VAT or Tax Office, staffing requirements and training, deciding how much lead-in time is necessary and informing the general public of the transition.
Companies involved with VAT administration will face significant invoicing and bookkeeping requirements, will have to coordinate filing and payment requirements and will ultimately be subject to VAT audits, refunds and penalties.
Next week we will look at the Barbados experience with implementing VAT and the lessons learned for The Bahamas. We will also make the argument for why a modest corporate tax should be included in the discussion.
• CFAL is a sister company of The Nassau Guardian under the AF Holdings Ltd. umbrella. CFAL provides investment management, research, brokerage and pension services. For comments, please contact CFAL at: column@cfal.com
Jul 04, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Jamaica's future in CARICOM
Ja's future in CARICOM
Jamaica Gleaner:After three days of talks with Jamaican political and private-sector leaders, Irwin LaRocque, secretary general of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), was convinced that there is no threat of Kingston walking out of the regional union.
Among the leaders with whom Mr LaRocque met, and who would have contributed to his perception of Jamaica's commitment to the community, was Andrew Holness, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
That is significant. It suggests that, just as much as Jamaica needs to determine what place it wants to have in CARICOM, the JLP has to resolve its own position on regional integration. For whatever the signal Mr Holness may have left with the secretary general, regional integration and CARICOM are subjects on which there is a clear lack of cogency, coherence or consensus on the part of the Opposition.
Indeed, even as Jamaica has its own conversation on regional integration, it may be worthwhile for the rest of CARICOM to question whether Kingston is an inevitable part of the Community and what shape the process might take in its absence. In other words, CARICOM should begin to contemplate the same questions the West Indies Federation had to deal with half a century ago when Jamaica opted out of the union.
For while we agree with Ambassador LaRocque that the proximate cause of Jamaica's unease with CARICOM is Kingston's US$957-million deficit in visible trade with the community - most of which is the result of imports from Trinidad and Tobago - Jamaica's historic ambivalence towards integration runs deep.
Consistent with his party's historic posture, Mr Holness is less than effusive about matters regional, recently evidenced by his waffle on if, and how, Jamaica should accede to the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Further, Mr Holness faces pressure on the regional issue from senior JLP officials. The former trade minister, Karl Samuda, and the current shadow of that portfolio, Gregory Mair, recently stopped just short of calling for Jamaica's withdrawal from the Community because, supposedly, Kingston gains nothing from it.
Such perceptions, allied with Jamaica's real fiscal problems, underpinned the suggestion from the influential and usually sober Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica that tariffs be imposed on imports from Trinidad and Tobago, a move that would strike at the heart of the concept of CARICOM as a single market.
This newspaper appreciates the logic of regional conglomeration and understands that Jamaica's economic crisis is not of CARICOM's making. Indeed, tariff and non-tariff barriers to regional imports might earn some more taxes. But the greater impact, most likely, will be to shift the deficit to third-country economies.
The bottom line: Jamaica is the natural political leader of CARICOM and can carry far greater weight economically if it gets its house in order. But an absence of political consensus, and deep uncertainty about the region, cause mood swings over CARICOM that are not evident in the Eastern Caribbean.
Beyond signals of the kind to Ambassador LaRocque, Jamaica has to seriously ask itself if it wants to be part of CARICOM, and the rest of the community must decide if Jamaica can be engaged on the terms it demands. This may mean Kingston deciding to go it alone, or a dual-track community with Jamaica on the periphery.
July 03, 2012
Jamaica Gleaner
Monday, July 2, 2012
Commonwealth Caribbean getting intense attention - who are the beneficiaries?
By Ian Francis
In recent weeks, Caribbean Commonwealth nations have been the centre of attention and recipients of many donated national security resources that received media coverage and repeated Government Information Services (GIS) announcements in recipient nations.
Donations ranged from fast patrol boats for drug interdiction; donations
of firearm identification equipment; un-named donor sources to assist
many regional nations to participate in the Rio Summit; the United
States of America resident Ambassador to the Cooperative Republic of
Guyana visit to the CARICOM IMPACS Secretariat in Trinidad, which is
currently embroiled in civil litigation with its former executive
director and Canada’s recent decision to establish a military hub in
Jamaica, which has been formalized in a bilateral treaty between the two
nations that was recently signed in Kingston between Canada’s Defence
Minister, Peter MacKay and Jamaica’s National Security Minister, Peter
Bunting.
The Canada military hub initiative should not draw any excitement or anxiety, as Canada has no intention of colonizing the region or trying to govern and influence the governance process in the region. The Canadian initiative should be viewed as positive, as Canada continues to recognize its special status with the region. Unfortunately, those in political leadership continue to misunderstand such status and see this wonderful nation as a cheque writer. While Canada continues to hand out cheques, regional decision makers must understand that Canada is a nation of plenty, blessed with resources and capacity building tools. The military hub is a step in the right direction.
Given all the above initiatives, there seems to have been a sudden awakening in the Caribbean Division of the European Union (EU) whose director, John Calochirou, recently announced in Jamaica that the EU is planning to pump in 10 million pounds into the region to fight drug trafficking. While this announcement might be encouraging news to many of our regional multilateral outfits, who no doubt have begun to jockey for project management of these funds, there remains an interesting and imbalanced indictment that the Caribbean region remains a source for drug transshipment into North American and European shores. This is probably why such attention continues and mass investment of resources geared primarily to fight drug trafficking. This is why it is reasonable to ask who will the EU initiative benefit?
The Caribbean region has been under the microscope of many powerful nations as a major geographical passage for illegal drug transshipment. It is also well known that Caribbean political leaders remain extremely concerned about the existing indictment but have apparently bought in to the notion or belief that beefing up the regional coast guard and being the recipients of fast patrol interdiction boats might alter or eliminate the existing concerns.
This is why I have consistently expressed in this medium that, while the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) is a step in the right direction, there is 1) pressing and urgent need for the Washington-based Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to accept and recognize that the donation of fast interdiction speed boats might not be enough to address the situation; and 2) our current regional leaders must show responsibility and application of governance common sense by clearly telling DHS that, while they are grateful to receive such donations, there is an abundance of other needs that are required to address national security capacity building and sustainability.
This is why I am closely watching the EU’s intended move in the region. While they remain short on specifics, given their past colonial deeds in the region, there is no doubt that they have a much better understanding of national security in the region. It is sincerely hoped that if the EU approaches the situation as a true and sustainable partner, then much can be achieved with the amount to be invested by the EU. However, effective deliverables can only be realized if EU officials fully commit themselves to addressing the true and realistic situation about national security in the Commonwealth Caribbean and recognition that the rebuilding of police forces is of prime importance supported by a strong and effective IT mechanism..
The current national security structure in the region clearly indicates that Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana and Barbados are well advanced in national security initiatives. Jamaica has an excellent military and police structure that relies heavily on its constabulary for all investigations and apprehension of criminals, the Jamaica Defence Force also plays a vital role in intelligence gathering and other aspects of public order and safety when called upon. I can only assume that the other Caribbean nations mentioned above have adopted a similar practice.
There are currently several national security initiatives underway in the Caribbean region. It is understood that Washington’s much touted CBSI has gained flagship status; the government of Canada soon to be established military beachhead in Jamaica, which will serve the region in disaster preparedness and national security; the OAS/IADB firearms registration and identification program and the EU’s pending investment of 10 million pounds for combating drug trafficking. There might be many more but this is what have been publicly shared with the people of the region.
National security continues to be a topic that consumes my interest and this is why I am supportive of the EU initiative. While the EU has my critical support, I would be remiss by not making the following suggestions that might result in some successful outcomes:
• The EU initiatives should focus on the OECS nations, as it is extremely urgent to rebuild national security capacities.
• The EU must understand that an effective drug combating program in the Caribbean region must be supported by a strong national security intelligence structure. The current Special Branch structure is outdated, irrelevant, weak and does not possess any capacities that will effectively address the drug trafficking concerns.
• Those involved in drug smuggling are better equipped with resources, including equipment, cash and local sources.
• EU assistance should go to rebuilding the local police training schools, revamping the training curriculum and having good facilities at these training outlets that will give a sense of pride and appreciation.
• The OECS and EU must work together in building a well-equipped national intelligence structure, well trained with demonstrated linguistic, analytical and global affairs capacity.
• The EU should refrain from retaining an execution agency in the region, as most of the funds will go to project management fees and little or no benefit to those who should receive it.
• Drug trafficking is not the only crime or national security concern in the region. Therefore foreign agencies who have expressed the desire to assist the region must expand their narrow thoughts that the Caribbean region is only faced with a drug trafficking problem. This is not the case and our regional leaders are obligated to show contempt and resistance.
• An effective and sustainable national security infrastructure in any CARICOM state must be inclusive, non-corrupt, ability to collaborate with other stakeholders regionally and international, have adequate resources and be diverse.
The rush of foreign governments and their outlandish agencies that are bent on dumping certain Latin American models on regional governments must be rejected. What might have been successful in some of our neighbours gang infested streets should not be dumped in CARICOM nations. Our needs are different and this must be clearly understood. Donating a few dollars or hosting a regional security meeting of law enforcement officials will not bring relief to the region’s national security problems or eliminate the drug trafficking. It is an outright fallacy and trickery by certain Washington and European bureaucrats, who simply want to tell their bosses that they are getting results.
Finally, snitching and other forms of cooperative initiatives between the region and foreign governments seem to be paying off. About one month ago, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in New Brunswick and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) were successful in stopping a shipment of imported food from Guyana to a destination in Ontario that was laced with cocaine.
In spite of the Commonwealth of Dominica’s recent misguided vote in ALBA with Cuba and Venezuela to vilify the United States Agency For International Development (USAID), a few days later they were quite successful in working with the governments of the United States and Colombia to halt a major cocaine transshipment. This is a heroic act by the government of Dominica and they must be commended for their efforts.
Let me conclude by saying yes for foreign assistance to regional governments to address national security issues. However, it is important and mandatory that donor and recipient understand the importance of building sustainable security and intelligence structures. If these necessities are ignored, then no amount of outlandish grants and contributions will bring about a resolution to effective national security management in the region.
July 02, 2012
Caribbeannewsnow
In recent weeks, Caribbean Commonwealth nations have been the centre of attention and recipients of many donated national security resources that received media coverage and repeated Government Information Services (GIS) announcements in recipient nations.
The Canada military hub initiative should not draw any excitement or anxiety, as Canada has no intention of colonizing the region or trying to govern and influence the governance process in the region. The Canadian initiative should be viewed as positive, as Canada continues to recognize its special status with the region. Unfortunately, those in political leadership continue to misunderstand such status and see this wonderful nation as a cheque writer. While Canada continues to hand out cheques, regional decision makers must understand that Canada is a nation of plenty, blessed with resources and capacity building tools. The military hub is a step in the right direction.
Given all the above initiatives, there seems to have been a sudden awakening in the Caribbean Division of the European Union (EU) whose director, John Calochirou, recently announced in Jamaica that the EU is planning to pump in 10 million pounds into the region to fight drug trafficking. While this announcement might be encouraging news to many of our regional multilateral outfits, who no doubt have begun to jockey for project management of these funds, there remains an interesting and imbalanced indictment that the Caribbean region remains a source for drug transshipment into North American and European shores. This is probably why such attention continues and mass investment of resources geared primarily to fight drug trafficking. This is why it is reasonable to ask who will the EU initiative benefit?
The Caribbean region has been under the microscope of many powerful nations as a major geographical passage for illegal drug transshipment. It is also well known that Caribbean political leaders remain extremely concerned about the existing indictment but have apparently bought in to the notion or belief that beefing up the regional coast guard and being the recipients of fast patrol interdiction boats might alter or eliminate the existing concerns.
This is why I have consistently expressed in this medium that, while the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) is a step in the right direction, there is 1) pressing and urgent need for the Washington-based Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to accept and recognize that the donation of fast interdiction speed boats might not be enough to address the situation; and 2) our current regional leaders must show responsibility and application of governance common sense by clearly telling DHS that, while they are grateful to receive such donations, there is an abundance of other needs that are required to address national security capacity building and sustainability.
This is why I am closely watching the EU’s intended move in the region. While they remain short on specifics, given their past colonial deeds in the region, there is no doubt that they have a much better understanding of national security in the region. It is sincerely hoped that if the EU approaches the situation as a true and sustainable partner, then much can be achieved with the amount to be invested by the EU. However, effective deliverables can only be realized if EU officials fully commit themselves to addressing the true and realistic situation about national security in the Commonwealth Caribbean and recognition that the rebuilding of police forces is of prime importance supported by a strong and effective IT mechanism..
The current national security structure in the region clearly indicates that Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana and Barbados are well advanced in national security initiatives. Jamaica has an excellent military and police structure that relies heavily on its constabulary for all investigations and apprehension of criminals, the Jamaica Defence Force also plays a vital role in intelligence gathering and other aspects of public order and safety when called upon. I can only assume that the other Caribbean nations mentioned above have adopted a similar practice.
There are currently several national security initiatives underway in the Caribbean region. It is understood that Washington’s much touted CBSI has gained flagship status; the government of Canada soon to be established military beachhead in Jamaica, which will serve the region in disaster preparedness and national security; the OAS/IADB firearms registration and identification program and the EU’s pending investment of 10 million pounds for combating drug trafficking. There might be many more but this is what have been publicly shared with the people of the region.
National security continues to be a topic that consumes my interest and this is why I am supportive of the EU initiative. While the EU has my critical support, I would be remiss by not making the following suggestions that might result in some successful outcomes:
• The EU initiatives should focus on the OECS nations, as it is extremely urgent to rebuild national security capacities.
• The EU must understand that an effective drug combating program in the Caribbean region must be supported by a strong national security intelligence structure. The current Special Branch structure is outdated, irrelevant, weak and does not possess any capacities that will effectively address the drug trafficking concerns.
• Those involved in drug smuggling are better equipped with resources, including equipment, cash and local sources.
• EU assistance should go to rebuilding the local police training schools, revamping the training curriculum and having good facilities at these training outlets that will give a sense of pride and appreciation.
• The OECS and EU must work together in building a well-equipped national intelligence structure, well trained with demonstrated linguistic, analytical and global affairs capacity.
• The EU should refrain from retaining an execution agency in the region, as most of the funds will go to project management fees and little or no benefit to those who should receive it.
• Drug trafficking is not the only crime or national security concern in the region. Therefore foreign agencies who have expressed the desire to assist the region must expand their narrow thoughts that the Caribbean region is only faced with a drug trafficking problem. This is not the case and our regional leaders are obligated to show contempt and resistance.
• An effective and sustainable national security infrastructure in any CARICOM state must be inclusive, non-corrupt, ability to collaborate with other stakeholders regionally and international, have adequate resources and be diverse.
The rush of foreign governments and their outlandish agencies that are bent on dumping certain Latin American models on regional governments must be rejected. What might have been successful in some of our neighbours gang infested streets should not be dumped in CARICOM nations. Our needs are different and this must be clearly understood. Donating a few dollars or hosting a regional security meeting of law enforcement officials will not bring relief to the region’s national security problems or eliminate the drug trafficking. It is an outright fallacy and trickery by certain Washington and European bureaucrats, who simply want to tell their bosses that they are getting results.
Finally, snitching and other forms of cooperative initiatives between the region and foreign governments seem to be paying off. About one month ago, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in New Brunswick and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) were successful in stopping a shipment of imported food from Guyana to a destination in Ontario that was laced with cocaine.
In spite of the Commonwealth of Dominica’s recent misguided vote in ALBA with Cuba and Venezuela to vilify the United States Agency For International Development (USAID), a few days later they were quite successful in working with the governments of the United States and Colombia to halt a major cocaine transshipment. This is a heroic act by the government of Dominica and they must be commended for their efforts.
Let me conclude by saying yes for foreign assistance to regional governments to address national security issues. However, it is important and mandatory that donor and recipient understand the importance of building sustainable security and intelligence structures. If these necessities are ignored, then no amount of outlandish grants and contributions will bring about a resolution to effective national security management in the region.
July 02, 2012
Caribbeannewsnow
Saturday, June 30, 2012
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) needs clear position on Jamaica's accession to the criminal and civil jurisdictions of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)
JLP needs clear position on CCJ
Jamaica Gleaner Editorial
It is time for Andrew Holness to end his party's cat-and-mouse game on Jamaica's accession to the criminal and civil jurisdictions of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
If the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) doesn't want the court, it must assert its position with clarity, including saying why. If, however, it supports the court, but genuinely believes that the final decision on it ought to rest with the Jamaican people in a referendum, we expect to hear a commitment from the JLP to campaign for a 'yes' vote in a plebiscite.
We, however, sense that the JLP stands for neither position. It hopes, it seems, to engineer a referendum, then leverage the vote not as a test on the public's opinion on the specific matter, but the broad performance of the Government. Which is why governments are often shy of referenda.
The CCJ was conceived and established to be a final court for a number of Caribbean countries, replacing the United Kingdom-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Few courts in the world, in their governance structure, enjoy the CCJ's depth of insulation from potential political interference. Doubts about the quality of a regional court, which should never have been harboured, have long been put to rest.
Indeed, it was to this position that Bruce Golding, then the prime minister and JLP leader, appeared to have arrived 18 months ago in the face of a complaint from the UK's top judge that his justices were spending too much time on Privy Council cases at the expense of domestic ones.
Backing away from his party's formerly hard opposition to the CCJ - which was the basis of its moral leadership of a constitutional challenge to the manner in which the CCJ was being established as Jamaica's final court - Mr Golding said: "We have to dispense with the Privy Council."
He canvassed the possibility of a Jamaican final court, but that was deemed by many as part of a measured face-saving retreat. Mr Andrew Holness, Mr Golding's successor, appeared, prior to last December's general election, to have adopted a softer stance on the court.
Recently, though, the opposition leader and his shadow justice minister, Delroy Chuck, have adopted a tougher tone on the CCJ and their interpretation of the Privy Council's ruling of the constitutional route for it to be our final court. The law lords held that to amend the Constitution to institute the CCJ as a superior court to the Court of Appeal would require that it be similarly entrenched.
On the face of it, this merely requires the passage of the bill with two-thirds majority of all parliamentarians. But Mr Chuck insists that securing the entrenchment of the CCJ would mean amending - thus requiring a referendum - of the deeply entrenched Section 49 of the Constitution, which sets out the processes by which constitutional amendments are achieved.
Essentially, the change to Section 49 would be to list the clause covering the CCJ among those subject to its cover. There are, however, those who believe that the same effect can be achieved differently: for instance, by indicating in the new CCJ clause that any future amendments to it would be subject to Section 49.
In Jamaica's 50th year of Independence, the issue of a final court should be a matter of mature discourse, not a scramble for political advantage.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
June 29, 2012
Jamaica Gleaner Editorial
Jamaica Gleaner Editorial
It is time for Andrew Holness to end his party's cat-and-mouse game on Jamaica's accession to the criminal and civil jurisdictions of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
If the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) doesn't want the court, it must assert its position with clarity, including saying why. If, however, it supports the court, but genuinely believes that the final decision on it ought to rest with the Jamaican people in a referendum, we expect to hear a commitment from the JLP to campaign for a 'yes' vote in a plebiscite.
We, however, sense that the JLP stands for neither position. It hopes, it seems, to engineer a referendum, then leverage the vote not as a test on the public's opinion on the specific matter, but the broad performance of the Government. Which is why governments are often shy of referenda.
The CCJ was conceived and established to be a final court for a number of Caribbean countries, replacing the United Kingdom-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Few courts in the world, in their governance structure, enjoy the CCJ's depth of insulation from potential political interference. Doubts about the quality of a regional court, which should never have been harboured, have long been put to rest.
Indeed, it was to this position that Bruce Golding, then the prime minister and JLP leader, appeared to have arrived 18 months ago in the face of a complaint from the UK's top judge that his justices were spending too much time on Privy Council cases at the expense of domestic ones.
Backing away from his party's formerly hard opposition to the CCJ - which was the basis of its moral leadership of a constitutional challenge to the manner in which the CCJ was being established as Jamaica's final court - Mr Golding said: "We have to dispense with the Privy Council."
He canvassed the possibility of a Jamaican final court, but that was deemed by many as part of a measured face-saving retreat. Mr Andrew Holness, Mr Golding's successor, appeared, prior to last December's general election, to have adopted a softer stance on the court.
Querying constitutionality
On the face of it, this merely requires the passage of the bill with two-thirds majority of all parliamentarians. But Mr Chuck insists that securing the entrenchment of the CCJ would mean amending - thus requiring a referendum - of the deeply entrenched Section 49 of the Constitution, which sets out the processes by which constitutional amendments are achieved.
Essentially, the change to Section 49 would be to list the clause covering the CCJ among those subject to its cover. There are, however, those who believe that the same effect can be achieved differently: for instance, by indicating in the new CCJ clause that any future amendments to it would be subject to Section 49.
In Jamaica's 50th year of Independence, the issue of a final court should be a matter of mature discourse, not a scramble for political advantage.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
June 29, 2012
Jamaica Gleaner Editorial
Friday, June 29, 2012
Neocolonialism and economic imperialism in the Caribbean
By D. Markie Spring
Turks and Caicos Islands
When God created man, He did so in His own likeness!
Often, I refuse to use the word ‘race’ as I do not believe in ‘races.’ Conversely, I believe that there are people that happened to look differently on the outside, but on the inside the human body, regardless of differences on the outer layout of the person, our hearts, lungs, intestines and other body parts are shaped the same, located at the same dimensions of the body and have the same functions. Our blood is the same colour and it operates in the same areas of the body, transported by endless veins and arteries.
God is an omniscient Being and knew that the world would be one boring place without differences. Imagine a world filled with blacks or whites, or Asians. Visualize a world with one culture or language, or for that matter one climate. When fast forwarded in time, the world would seem like an austere, monastic, rootless ‘out-of-shape’ ball wriggling on its axis while it dances around the blazing hot sun, tormented into a monotonous brutish environment.
These facts have rejuvenated and given rise to modern day imperialism and colonialism. One would think that imperialism and colonialism have aged and that the world has rid these economic and financial, nonetheless, political exploitations – think again!
West Indians look around! The facts are surfacing and are evident like the shining stars in the night sky. Henceforth, the big regional cooperation are dominated, controlled and directed by mega metropolitan centres headquartered in the outer sphere of the Caribbean; and nonetheless, establishing and expanding settlements within the Caribbean Basin.
Furthermore, the colonizers are hiring liked-figured people, giving the impression that the regional boys and girls cannot perform certain categories of jobs, especially at management levels. West Indians are given the duties of the dirty jobs and lower end jobs when they are more experienced and qualified that the colonizers and their liked creatures; and their only experience and qualifications stems from their pale outlook.
They set up a ‘New World Order’ that is constantly and consistently merchandizing their kind into the work force; dodging all legality of the requirements, regulations and policies that directs the system. And for those of us who have made it to certain level, we ended up being paid at twice as lower than the non-West Indians on the jobs.
However, it must be noted that not all are the same, but there are the legitimate few who tend to contribute meaningfully to the regional economies and aid in lifting the standards of living for citizens.
Along this path, we cannot solely blame the imperialist-colonizers for their actions, but the local authorities, including our government, business entrepreneurs and lawmakers for solely concentrating on holding back one another especially those from neighboring islands and their constant disregard to neo-colonizers that are secretly spreading their empires.
Astoundingly, this fascist doctrine defeats the lure of economicinfrastructure, such as the ironic fate of the ‘Education Revolution’ in SVG, the surge for independence in the Turks and Caicos, or does it subjugate the strife for political and economic stability within the region?
Already, we are witnessing the aftermath of these two phenomena; impacts that are both immense and pervasive – and effects that are both instant and protracted on our societies from inequality, exploitation, enslavement, trade expansion and the creation of new literature and cultural institutions.
Our fall is subsequent to our failure in accepting our own while the rest take advantage of the vacuum within our system!
Wake up!
June 27, 2012
Caribbeannewsnow
Turks and Caicos Islands
When God created man, He did so in His own likeness!
Nowhere have I known that God breathed into a ‘black man,’ ‘white man,’ or an ‘Asian,’ or any other so-called races. Neither did He make any of these humans superior to the other. However, there are people of one
kind that devote their chief energies to thinking that they are superior to another.
Often, I refuse to use the word ‘race’ as I do not believe in ‘races.’ Conversely, I believe that there are people that happened to look differently on the outside, but on the inside the human body, regardless of differences on the outer layout of the person, our hearts, lungs, intestines and other body parts are shaped the same, located at the same dimensions of the body and have the same functions. Our blood is the same colour and it operates in the same areas of the body, transported by endless veins and arteries.
God is an omniscient Being and knew that the world would be one boring place without differences. Imagine a world filled with blacks or whites, or Asians. Visualize a world with one culture or language, or for that matter one climate. When fast forwarded in time, the world would seem like an austere, monastic, rootless ‘out-of-shape’ ball wriggling on its axis while it dances around the blazing hot sun, tormented into a monotonous brutish environment.
These facts have rejuvenated and given rise to modern day imperialism and colonialism. One would think that imperialism and colonialism have aged and that the world has rid these economic and financial, nonetheless, political exploitations – think again!
West Indians look around! The facts are surfacing and are evident like the shining stars in the night sky. Henceforth, the big regional cooperation are dominated, controlled and directed by mega metropolitan centres headquartered in the outer sphere of the Caribbean; and nonetheless, establishing and expanding settlements within the Caribbean Basin.
Furthermore, the colonizers are hiring liked-figured people, giving the impression that the regional boys and girls cannot perform certain categories of jobs, especially at management levels. West Indians are given the duties of the dirty jobs and lower end jobs when they are more experienced and qualified that the colonizers and their liked creatures; and their only experience and qualifications stems from their pale outlook.
They set up a ‘New World Order’ that is constantly and consistently merchandizing their kind into the work force; dodging all legality of the requirements, regulations and policies that directs the system. And for those of us who have made it to certain level, we ended up being paid at twice as lower than the non-West Indians on the jobs.
However, it must be noted that not all are the same, but there are the legitimate few who tend to contribute meaningfully to the regional economies and aid in lifting the standards of living for citizens.
Along this path, we cannot solely blame the imperialist-colonizers for their actions, but the local authorities, including our government, business entrepreneurs and lawmakers for solely concentrating on holding back one another especially those from neighboring islands and their constant disregard to neo-colonizers that are secretly spreading their empires.
Astoundingly, this fascist doctrine defeats the lure of economicinfrastructure, such as the ironic fate of the ‘Education Revolution’ in SVG, the surge for independence in the Turks and Caicos, or does it subjugate the strife for political and economic stability within the region?
Already, we are witnessing the aftermath of these two phenomena; impacts that are both immense and pervasive – and effects that are both instant and protracted on our societies from inequality, exploitation, enslavement, trade expansion and the creation of new literature and cultural institutions.
Our fall is subsequent to our failure in accepting our own while the rest take advantage of the vacuum within our system!
Wake up!
June 27, 2012
Caribbeannewsnow
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