Demerara Bank
2024, 04/25
Chairman of the DDL Group of Companies, Komal Samaroo, says Demerara Bank opened a subsidiary in St Lucia taking advantage of legislation allowing financial institutions to focus on investment banking.
“We do have a subsidiary in St Lucia but that is for the purpose of investment and looking at opportunities in the region so it is at the very beginning stage of widening the footprint of the bank,” Samaroo told media.
The 32-year old financial institution, though small, was holding “some investments regionally and globally” and was exploring options such as corporate lending and searching for investment opportunities but had not reached the stage of planning a branch. .
“We’re establishing a presence and we’re managing some investments through that branch for the wider Caribbean but St Lucia is the focal point; it’s where everything will be based.”
St Lucia’s laws “allow for this kind of operation” and so the corporate decision makers wanted to widen the base of the bank outside Guyana, “not to have it in one location but to start looking at the wider region.”
Known as DB St Lucia Incorporated, the investment subsidiary has already received “regulatory approval from the St Kitts-based Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB),” he said, adding “it’s incorporated and it’s holding some investments that the bank has”.
In contrast to Guyana, St Lucia “especially created this kind of regulation that allows for investment companies to be based there.”
“We believe that Guyanese companies should not confine their thought process to Guyana but should look outside and the first step in the region to see how we can start positioning ourselves to go after opportunities in the region.”
Demerara Bank was incorporated in January, 1992 and declared open in 1994.
CDB
2024, 04/25
Asked if he agreed that the leadership of the Barbados-based CDB (Caribbean Development Bank) is an internal matter to the institution that the regional heads of government should not be involved in, the interventionist T&T Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley retorted,
“No I don’t agree with that at all. The CDB, as a regional institution, falls to be looked at by the regional leaders. When I was in Guyana at the last Heads of Government meeting, a significant part of our discussion had to do with the CDB.
And if there is anybody who is indicating that the regional heads have no business in being concerned or being moved by what is happening at the CDB, then they are very wrong.”
Debating whether CDB leadership is an internal matter, media quoted a letter from Arnold & Porter, a multinational American law firm, which represents the management of the CDB in its industrial relations dispute with Dr Hyginus “Gene” Leon. St Lucia-born Dr Leon resigned as president of the institution with immediate effect in a legal letter dated April 21.
Arnold & Porter headlined its February 1 letter, addressed to the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew, ‘Internal actions of the Caribbean Development Bank.’
Dr Drew addressed a letter on January 22, 2024, to the current chairman of the CDB board of governors, Canada’s Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, on the issue of Dr Leon’s suspension.
In his letter, Dr Drew pointed to an obvious shortfall in the CDB’s action against Dr Leon, which was that the role of the Oversight and Assurance Committee (OAC) of the CDB’s board of directors was limited to making recommendations to the board of directors.
Arnold & Porter responded to Dr Drew’s letter, on behalf of Mr Hussen, the current chair of the CDB board of governors, stating in the last paragraph of its letter: “This is an internal Bank matter and is not within the jurisdiction of the OECS Commission. Therefore, to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the investigation, we recommend you cease from commenting on this matter publicly and from contacting the board of governors regarding the investigation.”
An American law firm, paid by the Caribbean Development Bank, tells a Caribbean prime minister that the suspension of a noted Caribbean economist is “an internal Bank matter,” and “not within the jurisdiction” of Caribbean leaders and recommends that he “cease from commenting on this matter publicly and from contacting the board of governors regarding the investigation.”
Dr Leon’s three-page letter of resignation dated April 21, contains a footnote that reveals an exchange of correspondence between Davis Polk and the St Lucian law firm representing the former president of the Bank.
That exchange comprises a letter from David Polk dated March 8, 2024, a response from Dr Leon’s law firm dated March 19, a letter from Davis Polk to Dr Leon’s law firm dated March 21, 2024, and a response dated March 22.
Davis Polk is noteworthy for two reasons: It is the American law firm that was retained by the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) board of governors in April 2022 to lead the independent investigation into allegations made by a whistleblower against the bank’s president, Mauricio Claver-Carone. Those allegations include that he conducted an intimate relationship with a subordinate and increased the subordinate’s salary on several occasions;
Mr Claver-Carone continued to serve as the IDB president, during the investigation by Davis Polk, until he was dismissed by the IDB’s board of governors in September 2022.
That is important because Dr Leon was sent on “administrative leave” on January 15, 2024, at the start of the investigation into his conduct, while Mr Claver-Carone stayed in office during his investigation.
What explains the difference in treatment?
Dr Leon’s resignation letter discloses that his law firm wrote to the CDB’s board of governors on February 11, 2024 (that letter was described as reissued); on April 1 and April 15. The letter of resignation also stated:
“In all of these circumstances and despite our client’s continued efforts spotlighting these breaches of governance and encouraging the Bank to treat him fairly, the Bank continues to break its own rules, regulations and policies, which were enshrined to ensure ‘honesty, integrity, transparency and mutual respect’ in its duty to its employees and their protection, culminating in the humiliating manner of his extended leave.
“In all the circumstances, our client is convinced that he will never be treated fairly. It is also evident that the Bank has lost all trust and confidence in our client by the failure of the board of governors to prevent the continued violations of its charter, policies, rules and regulations with regard to its elected president.”
It is clear that one of the reasons for Dr Leon’s resignation, perhaps the main reason, was
“the failure of the board of governors to prevent the continued violations of its charter, policies, rules and regulations with regard to its elected president.”
In effect, what Dr Leon is saying, in my view, is that the board of governors of the CDB, should have stepped in, or stepped up, and asserted its role as the highest-ranking body of the CDB, one of whose main functions is the election of its president.
In asserting its role, the CDB’s board of governors should have forcefully rejected the impertinence of the February 1, 2024 letter from Arnold & Porter, that the issue of the suspension of the CDB president “is an internal Bank matter and is not within the jurisdiction” of the region’s political leaders.
The CDB’s board of governors should have forcefully rejected that letter’s recommendation to the St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Dr Terrance Drew that he “cease from commenting on this matter publicly and from contacting the board of governors regarding the investigation.”
Instead, the Caricom chairman at the time, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali expressed the “immense concern” of the region’s political leadership at the CDB situation on the last day of the meeting of Heads of Government on February 28.
Following the four-day Caricom summit, President Ali told reporters that this “was a matter that was dealt with by heads. This is a regional institution and of course when a regional institution is going through any trauma or any situation it is of concern for the heads. This is of immense concern for the heads because at the end of the day, our priority is ensuring that the institution remains strong, stable and the credible nature of the institution is kept intact.”
Given the argument that the role of the CDB board of governors on the issue of the suspension of Dr Leon was usurped, was Dr Ali’s response on February 28 adequate?
Was Dr Rowley’s response to the question at the news conference, one week ago, adequate?
Was it enough for Dr Rowley to affirm that Caricom leaders are “concerned” or “moved” by the “carryings-on” at the CDB and to disagree that the leadership of the CDB is an internal issue?
The CDB scandal shows that corruption is rife from top to bottom across the region in all sectors.
The USA can offer the only solution – acquire CARICOM as UNINCORPORATED TERRITORY
CDB President resigns
2024, 04/23
President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon, has resigned with “immediate effect” from the regional financial institution. According to a three-page letter sent to the Bank by his St. Lucia-based lawyers, Leon is of the opinion that “he will never be treated fairly” after he had been sent on administrative leave in January.
“It is also evident that the Bank has lost all trust and confidence in our client by the failure of the board of governors to prevent the continued violations of its Charter, policies, rules and regulations with regard to its elected President.
“Our client has therefore made the extremely difficult decision to resign his elected position of the President of the Bank with immediate effect”.
The lawyers have given the Bank until May 4 “to negotiate an amicable separation” indicating also that their correspondence should be viewed “as our client’s pre action protocol letter” regarding the entire situation.
In the letter, dated April 21, 2024, and headlined “Re: Dr. Hyginus “Gene”Leon, Resignation and Constructive Dismissal, , Leon’s St. Lucia-based lawyers said they would be moving to the courts in Barbados “or any other jurisdiction more appropriate, to enforce our client’s legal and constitutional rights”.
In January it was disclosed that Dr Leon, had been sent on administrative leave until April this year, as “an ongoing administrative process” continued at the region’s premier financial institution.
The CDB has remained mum on the circumstances surrounding the decision to send the St. Lucian-born economist on administrative leave, with the acting president Isaac Solomon, confirming at a bank news conference in February that “there is an internal administrative process involving the president.”
In their letter, the lawyers wrote that “On April 16, 2024, 40 hours after our client’s leave expired, our client received a letter of notification of leave extension signed by the chairman of the OAC, but stating that it was from “the board of directors of the Bank (currently carrying out the functions of the OAC with respect to the investigation…).
“We are uncertain at this stage of the significance of this as the OAC is not the board of directors and the board of directors is not the OAC. The meeting on April 162024, was another breach of the Bank’s by-laws, the Charter and its policies.”
In their letter, the lawyers noted that the board of governors has “never responded” to them regarding “our letters of complaint about the manner in which the investigation has been initiated, and allowed to continue.”
“Our many letters consistently complained that the Bank has breached and is in violation of its own charter, laws, rules, regulations, and policies as regards the conduct of an investigation pertaining to the elected president”.
Central to the complaint is that their client ”has only been informed of the general, barebones nature of the wide complaints levelled against him. These complaints continue to be bare, nonspecific, allegations without condescending to any particulars of the circumstances of the complaints including but not limited to dates, subjects, places or references to the evidence to support the grave and serious allegations made against our client”.
The initiation of the investigations “was and continues to be in violation of Annex 10 of the ICA Procedures for Special Investigations, the Code of Conduct for Directors, and Uniform Principles and Guidelines for investigations and many other policies of the Bank and its Charter”.
In their view, the conduct of the investigation has been “unconventional, does not follow due process, and does not adhere to the best practices reflected in the more established Multilateral Development Banks. All of these complaints have been maliciously set out in our previous letters,” they said, adding “we are therefore of the opinion that the grave procedural irregularities fatally taint the initiation and continuation of the investigation, rendering it null and void ab initio”.
Leon’s “wrongful suspension” ended on April 14 this year and he endeavoured to return to work the following day “despite the embarrassment of his forced and unlawful leave and the humiliation of not having received any communication prior to the expiration of leave.
They said Leon also wrote the Director of Human Resources to have his access to the Bank restored and to have returned to him, his lap top, Ipad and Iphone ”so that he could carry out his duties as President.
“We also sent a letter to the Board of Governors suggesting an orderly process for our client’s return to work, consequent on the termination of the “forced” leave and wrongful suspension imposed on him.
“Our client received an email after the end of the working day from the director, human resources, stating that he had no authority to so act, to restore our client’s access to the Bank, and the return of his devices”.
IDB
IDB Invest and Jamaica’s largest electricity company, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), will embark on a US$100 million project that aims to modernise the grid and increase the use of climate-friendly technologies.
JPS provides electricity services to close to 700,000 residential and business customers. The utility company will use the new financial agreement to improve its services to these clients, boost its digital transformation program, and support the company’s electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure development.
A US$15 million financial package provided by IDB Invest will help Jamaican product distributor Derrimon Trading create innovative supply chain solutions in the country, while reducing its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions through increased use of renewable energy.
Derrimon plans to expand its operations and increase market linkages from regional imports, especially from Guyana and Suriname. This will help to increase intraregional trade. The company also intends to increase its purchases from local suppliers by 25%.
Haiti
2024, 04/27
The United Nations says that following the installation of a transitional council in Haiti, seven countries officially notified the UN Secretary-General of their intention to contribute personnel to the Security Council-backed support mission for the crisis-wracked nation.
Kenya offered to lead the multinational mission that aims to provide backup to the national police in a bid to regain control of the streets from gang rule, which plunged the country into chaos in recent months. Kenya was joined by the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica in pledging support.
The UN Spokesperson’s Office said “other countries have expressed interest, including publicly, but have not yet notified the Secretary-General .”
US$18 million has been deposited in the support mission’s Trust Fund, provided by Canada (US$8.7 million), France (US$3.2 million) and the United States (US$6 million).
Armed violence continues, with Port-au-Prince and the Ouest department the worst hit.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said he situation remains volatile at the national port,
“The Varreux fuel terminal is now closed after several attacks by gangs. However, on a more positive note, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that in the past three weeks, more than 100 humanitarian containers were retrieved at the Caribbean Port Service.”
The UN said the humanitarian response continues, and the World Food Program (WFP) has provided daily food assistance to displaced people in Port-au-Prince, and in other departments. UN health agency the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) set up mobile clinics at displacement sites to provide medical consultations. The migration agency, IOM, is providing basic medical and psychosocial services to people displaced.
Haiti transitional presidential council
2024, 04/17
Haiti named the members of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) paving the way for the French-speaking country to continue efforts at holding fresh elections to end the political and socio-economic crisis.
In a decree published in the official official gazette “Le Moniteur” , the members are former diplomat Smith Augustin, ex-senator Louis Gerald Gilles, former central bank governor Fritz Alphonse Jean, ex-Senate president Edgard Leblanc Fils, entrepreneur Laurent Saint-Cyr, lawyer Emmanuel Vertilaire and Leslie Voltaire, a former minister and diplomat. Evangelical pastor Frinel Joseph and former World Bank official Regine Abraham have been appointed as non-voting observer members.
The publication of the decree came less than 24 hours after the government said no decree regarding the appointment of members of the CPT had been published. In a statement, denying the publication, the Ministry of Communication, said that contrary to the rumours circulating on social media that a “supposedly authentic” decree had been published, it wanted to inform the population in general and the Haitian press in particular, ”that the official newspaper “Le Moniteur” has not published any decree relating to the appointment of members of the CPT.
Prime Minister Dr Ariel Henry, who was sworn in as prime minister with the backing of the international community after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, has already indicated that he would step down once the CPT is officially installed and a new prime minister sworn in ahead of the fresh elections.
Henry is stranded in Puerto Rico having been unable to return home from Kenya where he witnessed the signing of an agreement that would allow the African country to lead a United Nations Security Council sanctioned Multinational Security Mission (MSS) to restore peace and security.
Earlier this week, the members of the CPT had called for it to be installed “as soon as possible” while accusing the Henry government of seeking to introduce “major modifications” that could further stall the process of bringing about peace and security.
Political, economic, religious and civil society organizations also want the Council to be installed in “the form and content defined in the Political Agreement for a Peaceful and Orderly Transition of April 3, 2024”.
They are “deeply shocked” upon learning of the decree published last Friday by the Henry government and “denounce the introduction of major modifications which distort the consensual project of a two-headed executive carried by the Presidential Transitional Council, consensus patiently and laboriously built between Stakeholders from March 11, 2024”.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the 15-member CARICOM group welcomed establishment of the CPT.
Guterres urged all Haitian stakeholders to continue making progress in putting in place transitional governance arrangements, including the timely appointment of an interim Prime Minister and government, and the nomination of the members of the Provisional Electoral Council.
Aid-addict Haiti remains trapped in a hell of its own making and should accept the offer to repatriate to AU ancestral homelands after over 2 centuries of chaos. Gangs of outlaws spread across the region commit violent crime daily, with homicides approaching 200 in once peaceful Trinidad & Tobago.
Haiti agree on Presidential Transitional Council
April 10th 2024
Criminal groups control over 80% of Port-au-Prince hindering supply of food and medicines
Political forces agreed on the formation of a 22-month Presidential Transitional Council to lead the violence-torn country to fresh democratic, credible, and participatory elections through which to restore normality. The communiqué read,
“The political agreement expresses a shared vision of the transition built by the sectors and represents a responsible commitment to the Haitian people.”
The transitional body will have three priorities: “Security, constitutional and institutional reforms, and elections.” The roadmap agreed will be implemented by the Presidential Council in collaboration with the next consensus government to restore stability, peace, unity, and progress. The document also sets out guidelines for the political governance of the transition, along with its mission, vision, and the responsibilities of its institutional structures.
This transition is based on values and principles such as inclusion, citizen participation, integrity, peace, respect, and protection of national sovereignty.
The agreement will be signed by the parties involved and then officially transmitted to the Government through the Caribbean Community (Caricom) which acted as a mediator in the dialogue process.
None of the council members will be able to run in the elections.
The new authorities will replace Ariel Henry, the questioned Haitian prime minister, who announced his resignation on March 11. The situation has worsened since late February when outlaw gangs attacked police stations, prisons, government headquarters and the main airport.
Police recover hijacked ship off Haiti’s coast
2024, 04/09
Haitian National Police recovered a hijacked cargo ship laden with rice following a fierce gun battle with gangs.
Two officers sustained injuries while an undisclosed number of gang members were reportedly killed during the confrontation , just off the coast of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The authorities said that the hijacking had been orchestrated by the notorious 5 Seconds and Taliban. The gunmen seized control of the transport ship Magalieas it was departing the port of Varreux.
The gang members, not only hijacked the ship but also kidnapped its occupants and looted 10,000 sacks of rice from the cargo, which originally carried 60,000 sacks bound for the northern coastal city of Cap-Haitien.
Gang violence continued on Monday, with police using megaphones to order the evacuation of the Champ de Mars area near the National Palace in the capital as heavy gunfire erupted nearby.
In recent weeks, the gunmen have been targeting key government infrastructure, burning down police stations, forcing the closure of the main international airport and storming the two biggest prisons, releasing over 4,000 inmates.
Haitians await announcement from the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) as to who will be appointed to head the transitional government ahead of fresh elections.
Prime Minister Dr Ariel Henry, who remains in the United States, having been prevented from returning to the country, said he will step down once the process is completed. The CPT said that it had finalised the political agreement between all stakeholders involved in the establishment of the Council.
“This agreement, which has been harmonized with the decree document on the organization and operation of the CPT, will be immediately signed by the stakeholders and then the two documents will be officially transmitted to the Government, via CARICOM, the body facilitating the dialogue process.”
CCJ
Almost half the inaugural members of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) died without seeing this regional court come into its fullest fruition. The CCJ, established in 2005, is already the highest court in four Caricom states.
TT is yet to subscribe to it – even though it signed the accord setting it up, submitted to its authority as it relates to treaties, pumped over $200 million into its funding mechanism, and hosted its headquarters for decades.
The death of Mr. de la Bastide in particular has renewed appeals for the abolition of the Privy Council and signing on to the CCJ. The former chief justice served as a member of both – he was the CCJ’s first president – but used his good offices to advocate for reform.
Israel Khan, SC, suggested a street should be named after him but a more fitting tribute may be replacing the UK law lords. Yet the calls currently being made are like flogging a dead horse.
The Opposition UNC, whose founder Basdeo Panday was instrumental in seating the CCJ here, looks set to maintain its objection. The position of the party is that abolishing the Privy Council would somehow undermine judicial independence.
But are these fears borne out by the experiences of countries like Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and Guyana, all of which have made the CCJ their highest court? Are those countries currently falling apart? And should independence not be what matters most, judicial or otherwise?
It is not often appreciated that TT has already partially abolished the Privy Council. The Court of Appeal is our highest court as it relates to election matters. Has any evidence ever been produced proving interference with the affairs of that court? In fact, it was the Court of Appeal that famously quashed a conviction against Mr. Panday in 2007.
There is a way to break the curse of the non-implementation of the CCJ. For a start, more judges could be appointed; the full complement of the court has never been met. Judgeships could rotate, terms could be fixed, and insulation mechanisms at the regional appointing body bolstered. At the very least, politicians in this country need to take a page from Mr. de la Bastide’s book and leave judges alone.
The Rowley regime should, as part of its constitutional reform exercise, put politics aside and seriously engage with Opposition MPs. Consensus on the CCJ might seem, today, like a pipe dream. But it is a dream worth keeping alive.
Racial envy drives crime in Trinidad, with its polyethnic, cosmopolitan population. The last election in Guyana exposed the tension between similar communities. Governments and courts simply cannot be trusted to be impartial.
Caribbean-China trade
28 MARCH 2024
UWI Prof Roger Hosein says the region can explore economic opportunities with China, during a virtual seminar on China Caribbean Trade Trends and Implications for Regional Growth.
“There is still tremendous scope for Latin America and the Caribbean to engage China in a greater amount of economic activity via trade.”
Hosein identified tourism as an opportunity which could have potential benefits for the Caribbean and China.
“One of the areas that I think that Caribbean people will have to pay much more attention to is those travellers from China.. growing significantly in terms of numbers. This may be the right time to challenge the Chinese (tourism) market and the Indian (tourism) market, because those are markets that are high and growing.”
Virgin Islands University’s Assistant Prof (economics) Dr Mark Werner agreed about potential economic opportunities for the Caribbean with China. He said while China has traditionally been a country of tea consumers, this has changed over time to facilitate people who like coffee.
This was an opportunity for Jamaica to promote its Blue Mountain coffee brand to the Chinese market. The same argument could be made for Trinidad and Tobago and Carnival, which many Chinese people like. The steeldrum fascinated the Chinese and could create opportunities for Chinese to be taught to play pan or have steelpans manufactured in China.
There can be no doubt that China is both an emerging economic and military player in global affairs. This is vastly different from 1949-1976, when China, under premier Mao Zedong, focused on communist and nationalist priorities in governance and world affairs.
China’s world outlook with a louder voice in the global conversation changed dramatically with the launch of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. The objective of the BRI is to boost global infrastructural development by investing in infrastructure in countries PRC chooses to partner with. As of August 2023, 155 countries partnered with China through the BRI, including Trinidad and Tobago where the new Phoenix Park Industrial Estate, opened in Pt Lisas in January, is a BRI project.
Liberians in Barbados
2024, 04/27
Over 250 Liberians will visit Barbados from May 6 to 13, in recognition of the 159th Anniversary of the Migration of 346 Barbadians to the Africa’s first and oldest modern republic.
Under the theme Sankofa: The Pilgrimage to Barbados, the historic visit is being coordinated by a team from Liberia, headed by Ambassador Llewelyn Witherspoon, and the Division of Culture, Prime Minister’s Office.
Other stakeholders involved in the venture include Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., The University of the West Indies, Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Export Barbados, and Barbados Tourism Investment Inc.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, who expressed pleasure about the upcoming visit, stated: “This pilgrimage to Barbados represents a reunion of family. Barbados and Liberia have long held a close genealogical and cultural connection. This trip represents an opportunity for us to now connect in a new way, while still paying respects to the past. I sincerely welcome Ambassador Witherspoon and former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and look forward to the positive developments that will no doubt come.”
The pilgrimage presents a unique opportunity to broaden Barbadians’ knowledge of Liberia and to explore the possibility of cultural cooperation and knowledge exchange between the two countries.
It also provides an opportunity for investment and business prospects as well as to learn more about the work in research and genealogy being undertaken by the Department of Archives and the University of the West Indies (The UWI) chronicling the Barbados/Liberia experience.
During the eight-day visit, the Liberians will engage in a number of educational and cultural heritage events that include a Heritage and Island Tour hosted by the Division of Culture and The UWI’s Faculty of History and Humanities; an Archives Genealogy Marketplace, hosted by the Department of Archives and the Prime Minister’s Office; and a Liberia-Barbados Business Roundtable and Exhibition.
The highlight of the pilgrimage will be the commemoration of the 159th Anniversary of the Departure to Liberia, dubbed the Sankofa Moment Commemorative Plaque Laying Ceremony, opposite Government Headquarters, Bay Street, in recognition of the signal moment when the ship Brig CORA sailed from Bridgetown to Monrovia, Liberia, on April 6, 1865.
Following Emancipation, Barbadians, who returned to Africa as missionaries or in search of freedom, responded to the offer of citizenship and fertile land by the then President of Liberia to the “brethren of the Antilles”, as the Caribbean was called. This led to the first and only recorded post-Emancipation organised mass emigration of African Barbadians to Liberia in 1865.
Many of the early settlers and their descendants contributed to the development of Liberia. Two of Liberia’s earliest Presidents, Arthur Barclay, and his nephew, Edwin Barclay, were of Barbadian descent, as well as Liberia’s longest-serving First Lady of the 20th Century, Antoinette Padmore Tubman.
Founded in 1822 as a homeland for African-Americans and afro-Caribbean diaspora, Liberia created wealth from US investment. Repatriation of diaspora to 1.2 billion acres of arable land, free from natural disasters, abounding in energy, minerals and other resources would be more valuable than reparation and end the scourge of cancel culture, statue stunts, identity arguments and diversity demands.
Barbados seeks reparation
2024, 04/24
While all leaders and most citizens of CARICOM profited and continue to benefit from slavery, rum republic Barbados plans to negotiate payment for reparations with British owners of Drax Hall plantation. Spurred by Barbados-born Sir Hilary Beckles, cantankerous chair of extortionate CARICOM Reparations Commission, while Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, the homeland of famous cricketers continues to benefit from British sport, aid, tourists, culture, services, medicine, ideas and education
Prime Minister Mia Mottley, whose debt-ridden regime sought to compulsory acquire the plantation for housing , has no intention of breaching the Constitution by taking land without paying owners. Critics of the acquisition suggested the government confiscate the property as reparations rather than enriching the owner, British MP Richard Drax, a descendant of Colonel Henry Drax who introduced sugar cultivation to Barbados within a decade of settlement.
Having already met Drax, Mottley believes the focus should be on a reasonable settlement for reparations.
“And the government has expressed itself of wanting to find a settlement that would be just for the people of St George and for the people of Barbados. Given the conversation, I believe that it is appropriate for us to pause the acquisition, to allow for greater conversation to take place, and also for us to see where we are in terms of being able to get reasonable settlement with Mr Drax, recognising that in our conversations, without prejudice to anything else, he is aware that the Government of Barbados feels strongly about this, and will pursue these matters.”
Drax, 66, a parliamentarian in the ruling Conservative Party, was set to receive an estimated three million British pounds (One GBP=US$1.24 cents) from the land purchase.
Mottley did not take lightly the concerns of Barbadians who may feel that they have been robbed of the opportunity of having an appropriate settlement as a result of the reparations that ought to be made.
“The Tenantries Freehold Purchase Act was enacted and dealt with by successive governments because we recognise the need for the government of Barbados, to be able to make reparations for people whose ancestors were forced to live in some of the harshest conditions and who were deprived of all opportunities to make the best for themselves and their families.
“So, we get the concept of reparations domestically, but also as we have been doing, internationally. The reality is that we have been at the forefront in making the call for reparations, against those who contributed to the decimation of this country while enriching themselves and building the climate crisis caused by the greenhouse gases and emissions coming from the industrial revolution. ”
Governed by the rule of law, “We have never made it a habit, where we have expropriated people’s land. When land is the subject of compulsory acquisition, by law we are due to pay for it. .. that does not preclude us from going aggressively to pursue, both through our advocacy and as we are seeking to do , through our preparation through what are our legal options, with respect to being able to take action.”
Mottley said that such action would not only be against the owner of Drax Hall but against all who contributed to modern racism in the Americas, including African-American descendants of slave owners. Her government believes there is a justifiable case for it to continue to mount.
“We in fact met Mr Drax some time ago. I am not happy with the pace at which these discussions have continued. But we will, as we are required to do, pause, and listen to understand what is really at stake here, recognising that we do not cut off our nose to spoil our face… we should not deny ordinary Barbadians e in need of housing, the opportunity to have housing, but at the same time, that we pursue with greater alacrity, the issue of reparations with Mr Drax and with respect to any other with whom there is a case and a chain of custody that we can justify.”
Drax Hall is one of the few estates whose chain of custody can be traced back to the 17th century.
“I hope that this explains matters , recognising that even though we believe that a wrong has been perpetrated to us, we were always taught as children that two wrongs don’t make a right. And those who sought to ignore the law or who sought to make the law…and root it in immoral purposes cannot be our moral compass today as to how we act.
“Having said that, we will go after all legitimate actions that we can take through advocacy and legal issues to be able to justify our claim for reparations, while finding ways to meet the day-to-day and immediate needs of Bajans who are in need either of housing or who see this as a platform, like through free education, to bring themselves out of poverty.
“And that which was done in earnest to perpetuate the profits of a previous generation cannot now be the inclination for us to expropriate land in breach of the Constitution. So, we will do what we have to do, but always recognise that as a country governed by the rule of law, people have their rights safe and can be justified in feeling confident that they are dealing with a serious country who does not act arbitrarily and capriciously.”
Repatriation to AU domiciles may be the answer to the reparation campaign. Liberia is the place to be.
Robert Bermudez retires as UWI chancellor
The University of the West Indies announced at the council meeting on April 26 that Trinidadian Robert Bermudez, the sixth chancellor , has concluded his seven-year term, which began in 2017. The chancellor is the highest-ranking official in the university which will announce the selection of the new chancellor.
Offshore Technology Conference May 6-9
The first-ever Trinidad and Tobago country pavilion at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2024 will be hosted by The National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago. This pivotal event, running from May 6th to 9th in Houston, Texas, will spotlight Trinidad and Tobago’s prowess in the global energy landscape.
Joining National Energy are prominent exhibitors such as Ramps Logistics Ltd., El Dorado Offshore, Dumore Enterprises Ltd., Tembladora Energy Logistic, and Inland Offshore Contractors Ltd. We hope to secure media coverage to maximize our global impact.