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PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE P AID MIAMI, FL PERMITNO. 7315 Vol.18 No.4 MARCH 2007 Tel: (305 1-800-605-7516editor@caribbeantoday .com ct_ads@bellsouth.net Jamaica: 654-7282 W e cover your world INSIDEHaitian medicalpractitionerMathieu Eugene cre-ated histor y by becom ing the first ever nation al fr om the French-speaking Caribbean countr y to hold elective office in New Y ork City, page 4. CARICOM leaders like Dr . Ralph Gonsalvesleft lastmonth’ s mid ter m summit with avision of2008 as a “date with destiny” and set the Caribbean’s focus on 2015 for the regional integration move-ment, page 11. Boxer O’Neil Bell r etur ns to the ring this month for his first fight in mor e than a year. His title of undisputed world cruiserweight champion is onthe line, but the Jamaicansays he is r eady to r umble, page 23. News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7V iewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Tourism/Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Ar ts/Enter tainment . . . . . . . . .13 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Business/Tax Planning . . . . .17 Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ~ Billions across the globe will see Brian Lara lead the West Indies teaminto historic Cricket World Cup battle on home soil, the biggest international sporting spectacle to hit the nations of the Caribbean, page 2. THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING NEWS MAGAZINE CALL CARIBBEAN TODAY DIRECT FROM JAMAICA 654-7782 CALL CARIBBEAN TODAY DIRECT FROM JAMAICA 654-7782 CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 1 

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GORDON WILLIAMS Cricket, a spor t the Caribbean inherited fr om its colonial past but which bonds its people to this day, will, beginning this month,showcase its grandest spectacle when the region hosts the ulti-mate championships for theone-day version of the game. The Inter national Cricket Council’ s (ICCorld Cup (CWC 16 countries, including the Caribbean’s representative the West Indies, will be playedin eight countries acr oss the region. Of ficial activities begin with the Mar. 11 opening ceremony in Trelawny, Jamaica. The first match is on Mar. 13,when host W est Indies plays Pakistan at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. The tourna-ment culminates with the finalon April 28 at Kensington Ovalin Barbados. A total of 51 of ficial games will be played, with an estimated live and broadcast audience of close to two billion world-wide. It will be the lar gest sporting event ever held in the Caribbean. The winning team is set to earn $2.2 million andthe ICC expects to generatemor e than $230 million in revenue fr om the tour nament. Administrators in the Caribbean have long expressedconfidence in delivering an exciting, safe and well-organizedtournament. e do rise to the occasion,” CWC’ s Chief Executive Officer Chris Dehring told Caribbean Today earlier in the pr eparations. e’re very confident that we’re going to deliver,” he would add later. FEVER The CWC fever has been steadily heating up over thepast few months in theCaribbean. Host countrieshave spent millions of dollars getting match venues ready while also spr ucing up tourist attractions for the expected mas-sive influx of visitors. Teams began arrivinglate lastmonth.Caribbeanleaders havealso bondedfor the event with wide-spr ead cooperation in many areas,including the delicate area of security, forwhich help has been sought from international agenciesworldwide. It also appears most peo ple fr om the region are expecting grand success as well, although some recognize that there are still doubters whomay not believe the Caribbean can put on an efficient show. “(CWC 2007 the greatest spectacle we would have had here for many a year ,” Clive Lloyd, who cap tained the West Indies to the first two CWC titles in 1975 and1979, told the Caribbean Media Corporation late last month. “It is a situation wher e weLaw enforcement authorities said last month that several suspects held in connection with a multi-million dollar lottery scam in Jamaica could be extradited to the United States. “The scam is becoming wider and mor e intense than we first anticipated...there is a dis-tinct possibility that some ofthese persons who have been charged could be extradited to U.S.residents conned in Jamaica lotto scam ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC Billionair e American investor Sir Allen Stanfor d has extended the proverbial “olive branch” to end his verbal feud withAntigua and Barbuda’ s Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer. Both men have been engaged in a recent war of words over Sir Allen’s decision to takehis plans to develop the of f-shore Guiana Island into a top class resort and launch a communitydevelopment initiative in selectconstituencies including that of the prime minister. A CCUSATIONS Spencer accused Sir Allen of political meddling and branded him “haughty , obnoxious and arrogant” to which Sir Allen said the outburst was designed “to deflect the attention of the citizens of our nation away from your inept leadership.” Sir Allen has published an apology in his Antigua SUN newspaper and the Daily OBSEVER newspaper, calling for an end to the public squabble. “My only desir e is to see Antigua and Barbuda be devel-oped to its fullest potential”, the statement read in part. “I recognize the need for cooperation toattain that goal and in that spiritapologize to those who may have deemed my actions offensive”. Up to pr ess time Spencer had not yet responded to the latest development. 2 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com Despite doubters, Cricket World Cup’s Chief Executive Officer Chris Dehring, left,and WICB President Ken Gordon are confident the Caribbean can pull off a grand sho w for the world. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4) (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4) Caribbean aims to stage spectacular CWC 2007 Spencer Stanford American investor apologies to Antigua’s prime minister CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 2 

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KINGSTOWN, St. V incent, CMC Venezuela PresidentHugo Chavez has accused theUnited States of wanting tokeep the Caribbean and Latin Americadivided andimpr ovised. Speaking at arally to signalthe end of his24hourworking visit to St. Vincentand theGr enadines last month, Chavez said the Caribbean and Latin American did not know where it stood and unless there was unity the region would remain under the control of “the American Empire”. e need to make a huge ef fort to put back together those pieces so that we become again a powerfulLatin America and a power ful Caribbean. As long as we do not do that we will remain under the control, we will con-tinue being dominated andimpr ovised,” Chavez said. NEW YORK, CMC A Haitian medical practitionercr eated history last month by becoming the first evernational fr om the Frenchspeaking Caribbean country to hold elective of fice in New York City. With the strong backing of newly-elected Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, Dr. Mathieu Eugene, 54, convincingly won the special election for the 40thCouncilmanic District seat in Brooklyn that was vacated byClarke after she was elected tothe United States House of Representatives in last November’s general elections. “This is the Haitian sensation,” shouted Eugene,flanked by the Clarkes. “This victor y is not only my victory, it’s our victory. This is going to give hope to all the children, no matter their background. It was not easy,” he continued, referring to his campaign. “This is proofthat what money cannot do,people can do.” ‘LANDSLIDE’ Eugene, who is also a youth counselor, beat ninechallengers including four Caribbean nationals, for the seat in the heart of theCaribbean community in cen tral Br ooklyn. In what some political observers considered to be a “landslide”, he secured 1,982 votes, or 33.6 percent, of the5,898 ballots cast. His closest rival was Costa Rican-born Jennifer James. James, a former finance campaign manager for Clarkeand her mother , Jamaicanborn, ex-New York City Councilwoman Una Clarke, the first Caribbean woman to hold elective office in the city,r eceived 887 votes, or 15.07 per cent. Jamaican-bor n educator and entrepreneur Wellington Sharpe placed thir d with 719 votes, or 12.19 percent, while Harry Schiffman, who observers had predicted could be a “spoiler” in the race, received 454 votes, or 7.69 percent. African American lawyer Jesse Hamilton, a district leader in Brooklyn who traces his roots to Barbados, placedfifth with 433 votes, or 7.34 Chavez accuses U.S. of dividing Caribbean have got to be pr oud that we can host something of this nature, it is the third largest event in the world (behind soccer’s World Cup and the Olympic Games), there will be two billion people watch-ingand they will be lookingfor all the little nasty things,” the 62-year-old Lloyd added. “They are not going to be looking at too many of the gr eat things, but let’s hope we can surprise them and show that we can perform and put on a great spectacle.” UP AND DOWN The r egion’ s top cricket administrators have also admitted that there are people anx-ious to see the Caribbean fail inCWC – on and of f the field. The West Indies has had an up time in recent years, and despitepossessing one of the gr eatest batsmen of all time in captain Brian Lara and a host of pr om ising youngsters, the former two-time CWC champions is not currently ranked among thetop thr ee one-day inter national teams in the world today. The team has also been plagued by inter nal political issues, involving players and the W est Indies Cricket Boar d (WICB over into the region’s general political arena. At times theissues sur r ounding the r egion’ s cricket have caused bitter divisions. However, many are looking at CWC as a shot at r edemption for the Caribbean as a whole. e have a propensity to shoot ourselves in the foot,” WICB President Ken Gordontold Caribbean Today just over a year ago. “We’ve got to real-ize that this (CWC opportunity to rise above that.” In many corners of the Caribbean, the team’s on-thefield performance will deter-mine the ultimate success rateof CWC 2007. “It would be magnificent effort to do so (win the WorldCup),” said Lloyd. “People ar e calling other teams but they are still thinking that West Indies have a very good chance. Itwould give us that type of boost that is needed in the region.” No nation has ever won CWC while serving as hosts.For Lara, now 37 and likelyplaying his final CWC tour nament, there could be no more fitting end for the r egion than raising the winner’s trophy on April 28. Yet while the batting genius is confident the WestIndies will do well in its back yard, he acknowledged the best approach would be a bit more caution. e have a ver y good r ecord at home,” Lara said recentlye are looking tomake the semi-finals and then take it from there.” Gordon W illiams is Caribbean Today’s managing editor. Caribbean aims to stage spectacular CWC 2007 the United States of America,” said Inspector Steve Br own, the spokesman for Operation Kingfish, the task force to deal with drug trafficking and criminal or ganizations in Jamaica. Br own said that local law enforcement officials had been holding discussions with their U.S. counterparts “and people who have been fleeced have been giving us some useful infor mation.” Police uncovered the multimillion racket in sections of western Jamaica and held several suspects. Police said that as a result of the scam U.S. citizens were tricked into sending lar ge sums of money to Jamaica after being told that they had won the lottery. U.S. residents conned in Jamaica lotto scamHaitian wins council seat, creates history in New York 4 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 Eugene Yvette Clarke Chavez NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 2) (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 2) (CONTINUED ON P AGE 6) CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 4 

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W ASHINGTON – The World Bank has launched a disaster insurance plan that will benefitat least 18 Caribbean countries in the event of natural disasters. The bank said that the “Caribbean Catastrophe RiskInsurance Facility” (CCRIFlaunched late last month, would be restricted to hurricanes and earthquakes. “The facility will allow CARICOM gover nments to purchase coverage akin to business inter ruption insurance that would pr ovide them with immediate cash payment after the occur-r ence of a major ear thquake or the passing of a hur ricane”, it said in a statement. The W orld Bank said last month’s donor meeting in Washington, involving theEur opean Union, Britain, France and Japan, would seek to raise between $30 million and $50 mil-lion in r eserves for the CCRIF. Most Caribbean community (CARICOMwill be beneficiaries of the fund,the W orld Bank said, pointing out that they would be r equired to pay a “one-of f, non-refundable entry fee and an annual premium”. “Countries still need to engage in mitigation and improve territorial buildingcodes and emer gency services,” said senior W orld Bank urban specialist Francis Ghesquiere. The Caribbean countries have been har d hit by hurricanes in recent years, withGr enada’ s economy being devastated two years ago when hur ricanes Ivan and Emily lashed the island. Caribbeancountries have also complainedin the past of the slow pace ofimmediate r elief to their reconstruction efforts in the wake of natural disasters. NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC Prime Minister Perry Christielast month accepted the r esignation of his Immigration Minister Shane Gibson, who had become embroiled in a controversy involving the lateUnited States Playboy modelAnna Nicole Smith. Christie described Gibson’ s resignation as “the cor r ect course of action.” Gibson had been facing severe criticism and calls for him to step down after a news-paper published a photo show ing him in bed with the late model, who died last month in a hotel room in the U.S. Gibson had also been accused of favorably fast tracking Smith’s immigration appli-cation for a r esident’s permit. “I unconditionally deny that I ever abused my ministe rial office by granting Anna Nicole Smith any per mit of which she was undeserving or for which she was not quali-fied under the laws of TheBahamas,” Gibson said in atelevision br oadcast announcing his r esignation. APOLOGY Gibson apologized “to all persons who may in any way have been offended by any-thing that I have said, done or perceived to have said ordone.” He was critical of those “mischievous” persons, who inthe political season had sought to create an impression that did not exist. “I didn’t have an individual relationship with her, itwas a family r elationship,” Gibson said, telling viewersthat family members wer e pr esent when the pictures wer e taken out with Smith. Christie is preparing to call general elections later this year. Meanwhile, Smith’s body was flown back to TheBahamas for burial. World Bank launches first ever Caribbean disaster insurance plan Angela King, former assistant secr etar y-gen eral of the United Nations and special adviser to the secretary general of the U.N. on gender issues and advancement of women, died last month at New Y ork’ s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centr e. King had been battling cancer for sometime. King, who retired from the U.N. in April 2004 for health reasons, after 40 years of service, was born in Kingston, Jamaica and attended St. Hilda’ s High and W olmer s High schools. As assistant secr etar y general, she made histo ry in being the first woman and first Jamaican to hold that post. Besides advising the secretary general on women’s affairs, King was also chairperson of the U.N. Inter national Committee on W omen’ s Rights. “Angela King led theUnited Nations’ ef for ts for the empower ment of women with knowledge, passion and courage”, read a statement issued r ecently by the spokesper son for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. Angela King,former U.N. diplomat, dies NEW YORK, CMC The Speaker of New York City Council last month said she is seeking legal advice from theNew Y ork state’ s attor ney general regarding the appointment of the council’s first-ever elected Haitian legislator. Speaker Christine Quinn said that she had sent a letterto Attor ney General Andr ew Cuomo requesting his opinion on the fate of Dr. MathieuEugene, who convincingly won last month’s special elec-tion, in a 10-way race, for the predominantly Caribbean40th Councilmanic District seat in Brooklyn. “Is it your view that a council member must be a resident on the date of the elec-tion?” she asked Cuomo, cit ing the Public Of ficers Law . RESIDENCY New Y ork City Boar d of Elections officials said last month that the city council is the one to determine Eugene’s residency in order for him to be formally sworn-in as the duly elected representative forthe district. The council lastmonth postponed Eugene’ s official swearing-in ceremony amid reports that he does notlive in the district. City council officials, however , said they expected to swear -in Eugene early this month after confusion about his residency is clarified. The seat was vacated by newly-elected Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, who replaced retired veteran African American Congressman Major Owens as representative forthe 11th Congr essional District in Brooklyn. Paul Wooten, Eugene’s lawyer , said he had asked the council to postpone his client’s swearing-in ceremony until the election results are certi-fied. He claimed that Eugenehad moved into the districtbefor e the elections. “It wasn’t a factor from our point of view,” Wootensaid, alluding to questionsabout Eugene’ s r esidency out side the district. N.Y.City Council challenges status of newly elected Haitian legislator per cent, and Pakistani Mohammad Razvi got 420 votes, or 7.12 percent. Jamaican-born community activist Leithland “Rickie” Tulloch received 299 votes, or 5.06 percent. Former Vincentian United Nations Ambassador Joel T oney fell close to the bottom of the race, receiving only 369 votes, or 6.25 percent, while Panamanian entr epreneur Zenobia McNally secured 269 votes, or 4.56 percent withJamaican domestic violence counsellor Karlene Gordon inthe cellar position, r eceiving just 66 votes. COMING OF A GE Eugene ur ged his rivals to work with him for the advancement of the community. e’re blessed with another extraordinary constituency,” CongresswomanClarke said. e have demonstrated that we have come of age, socially and economically, and, as we take our seat at the table, no one will be leftbehind.” 6 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 Quinn King Gibson Smith NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com Haitian wins council seat, creates histor y in New Y orkBahamas government minister resigns in Anna Nicole Smith controversy (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 4) CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 6 

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WASHINGTON – United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS has issued a r edesigned travel booklet as part of ongoingsecurity impr ovements to update agency documents. The identification booklets, which the USCIS claims are fraud resistant, include dig-ital photographs and signatur es and other enhanced security featur es to deter potential counterfeiting schemes. Additional improvements include a new teal blue coverand color images of patrioticsymbols of the U.S., such as the Statue of Liberty and theAmerican flag. e intend to periodically update our documents to capitalize on advances in security technology and to stay aheadof ef for ts to cir cumvent our legal immigration system,” said USCIS Dir ector Emilio Gonzalez in a press release issued in mid-February. PERMITS The personalized pass por t-style booklets contain either a Per mit to Reenter the United States (For m I327); or a Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571 The reentry permit establishes that permanent or conditional r esidents do not abandon their legal status when they travel outside the U.S. for mor e than one year . A person with r efugee or asylum status who wishes to travel abroad should carry the Refugee Travel Document to r etur n and maintain their sta tus. In most cases, a refugee may use the document for travel purposes in place of a passport. Travel documents currently in circulation are valid until the expiration date in the booklet. USCIS issues approx-imately 200,000 travel book lets each year. USCIS said it has notified federal and inter national law enforcement and homeland security agencies of enhanced forensic security featuresincluded in the booklet so that agents and inspectors may recognize and validate the redesigned documents. Permanent and conditional legal r esidents may find mor e infor mation on the reentry permit on the USCIS web site at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/B5.pdf. Details on how to apply for a refugee travel documentis available online at: http://www .uscis.gov/files/arti cle/d4_english.pdf. On Mar . 1, 2003, the USCIS became one of three former Immigration and Naturalization Service components to join theU.S. Department of Homeland Security . USCIS is charged with transforming and impr oving the deliver y of immigration and citizenship ser vices, while enhancing the integrity of our nation’s security. Photogra ph by Sharon BennettHoward Dodson,left,executive director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,explains aspects of the transatlantic slave trade route (“Middle Passage”) to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon,who earlier this month declaredopen an exhibition commemora ting the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade at U.N.headquarters in New York. The exhibition,entitled “Lest We Forget – The Triumph Over Slaverand scheduled to run through Mar.30,covers the Caribbean’s link to the slave trade.Some 35 such pieces are on display at the U.N.Visitor’s Lobby in Manhattan,including a freshly mintedJamaican $500 bank note fea turing National Hero Nanny of the Maroons,as a heroine of the abolition movement. The exhibition is being presented with the coopera tion of CARICOM,the Permanent Mission of India to the U.N.,UNDPI, UNESCO and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York.It is the first in a series of events leading up to Mar.26,2007 when member states of the U.N.will recognize the day with a global celebration New York. U.S. reveals new travel booklets with enhanced security features QUESTION:I was wondering if someone who is a United States citizen can file for a child that is not biologically hisbut names him as the father on the birth certificate? ANSWER: The only means that this can happen legally is throughadoption, says attor ney Kerry W illiam Bretz of the Manhattanbased law firm of Bretz & Coven, LLP . A U.S. citizen can bring his/her adopted child to live per manently in the U.S.,but note that merely naminga U.S. citizen on the birth certificate does not satisfy the complex rules regarding overseas adoption, added theattor ney. Your best option to make thiswork isto consult a competent immigration attorney. Note that U.S. law allows the adoption and immigration of childr en who are under 16 years of age, with two exceptions: bio logical siblings of a child adopted by the same parents may beadopted if under 18 years of age;and orphans over the age of 16may be adopted, as long as theI-600 petition was filed on their behalf before their 16th birthday, or in the case of an orphanwho is the sibling of a child adopted by the same par ents, before their 18th birthday. QUESTION:I would like to work and live legally in the U.S. but do not ha ve a work permit/visa.I have a valid 10year visitor’s visa,but do notwant to spoil it by o ver staying. What avenues can I use to seek employment legally in the U.S.? ANSWER: You cannot work in the U.S. when you are present on a B1/B2 non-immigrant visa, advises attor ney Courtney Smith of the Bronx-based law firm of Palma & Smith. The avenues you can seek to obtain employment legally in the U.S. are to apply for aH-1B and H-2B non-immi grant visa, he added.You should seek the advice of animmigration attor ney before applying for a H-1B or H-2Bnon-immigrant visa. Additionally, where an immigrant visa petition hasbeen filed on your behalf – example, through a parent, spouse or sibling sponsorship and a visa is immediately avail-able, you can apply for work authorization.But note that it is of the utmost importance that you do not over stay on your cur rent visa, Smith added. Compiled by Felicia Persaud T he above column is created How to adopt a non-U.S. resident; and getting a job or work permitSTRUGGLE AND TRIUMPH March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 7 LOCAL LOCAL www .caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8) CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 7 

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especially for immig rants concerned or unsure of issues per taining to United States immigration law.It aims to answer some of our readers’ frequently asked questions and provide responses from qualified immigration attorneys and advocates lobb ying for the U.S . immig ration cause.The answer s provided here are for information pur poses only, and does not create attorney-client relationship, nor is it a substitute for “le gal advice”, w hic h can only be given by a competent attorney after reviewing all the facts of the case. WASHINGTON Antigua and Barbuda has called for greater efforts so that there would be “more tangible” results for women. In her first address before the Per manent Council of the Organization of AmericanStates (OAS esident of the Inter -American Commission (CIM and Barbuda Labor, PublicAdministration and Empowerment Minister Jacqui Quinn-Leandro saidthese r esults should make women “enjoy their rights to the fullest extent.” The OAS Per manent Council, which comprisesmember state diplomats, is chaired by Uruguay’s Permanent Representative Mar’a del Lujn Flores. Quinn-Leandro said the empowerment of women andgender equality “ar e pr erequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security amongall peoples.” In quoting a statement at the historic 1995 World Conference on Women, inBeijing, China, QuinnLeandro said “the advance-ment of women and theachievement of equality between women and men arematters of human rights andconditions for social justice.” She said every effort should be made to ensure thatwomen play a pivotal r ole in the decision-making process in the public and privatedomains, and that they have access to resources and benefits of development, an OAS statement said. “The CIM objectives of equality must be fulfilled, not only because they are mandates butalso because they are anindispensablecomponentof the devel opment process of our coun-tries,” saidQuinnLeandro,who was elected last November to headCIM for a two-year ter m. Photograph by Sharon BennettF ive recipients were cited for outstanding service to the community at the annual Sons & Daughters of Jamaica (S&DoJAncestral Herita ge Awards presented during last month’s celebration of Black History Month (BHMt the Jamaican Consulate in Manhattan, New York.Photograph shows,from left,Junior Jawara Blake,radio host of The Meeting In The African Village Square-WVIP,93.5 FM; Hyacinth Simms,president of Simms Tax Services of Flatbush Avenue,Brooklyn,N.Y.; Violet Russell-Forrest,fashion designer; Aubrey Campbell,from the Jamaica Information Service,N.Y.,who represented recipient Dr.Basil K.Bryan,Jamaica’s consul general; and E.Wayne McDonald,artistic director of the Caribbean Cultural Theatre,Inc.,Brooklyn.The BHM celebration was co-spon-sored by the Jamaican Consula te and S&DoJ,Inc. With tax season well on its way , millions of taxpayers in the United States are busy gathering all the forms and docu-ments needed to file federal, state and local tax returns. Some people who receive Social Security may have topay taxes on a por tion of their benefits. For them, a Social Security Benefit Statement (Form SSA-1099tant tax document. The SSA-1099s for tax year 2006were all automatically mailedto beneficiariesby Jan. 31, 2007. Anyone whor eceives Social Security but has not yet received a Form SSA-1099 for 2006 can request a replacement online at www .socialsecurity .g ov BENEFITS The SSA-1099 shows the total amount of benefitsr eceived in the pr evious year and is used to find out if any benefits are subject to tax, andto complete a federal incometax r etur n. Basically , the fed eral tax laws about Social Security benefits state that: Up to 50 percent of Social Security benefits may be sub-ject to income tax for individ uals with a combined income between $25,000 and $34,000, or for couples with a com-bined income between $32,000and $44,000; and Up to 85 percent of Social Security benefits may be sub ject to income tax for individuals with a combined incomeabove $34,000, or for coupleswith a combined income above$44,000. (Note: “Combinedincome” means adjusted gr oss income, plus nontaxable interest, plus one-half of SocialSecurity benefits.) Less than a third of curr ent Social Security beneficiar ies have incomes that exceed the thresholds, requiring them to pay taxes on a portion oftheir Social Security benefits. For more information on taxation of Social Security benefits, call the IRS’s tollfree telephone number, 1-800829-3676 and ask for Publication 554, “Older Americans’ Tax Guide”. Thepublication is also available from the IRS website at www .ir s .g ov F or more information about Social Security,or to request a replacement SSA1099,visit www.socialsecuri-ty .gov Or call Social Security’s toll-free number , 1-800-7721213 (TTY1-800-325-0778 and ask for a re placement SSA-1099. How to adopt a non-U.S. resident; and getting a job or work permitAntigua demands ‘tangible results’ for world’s womenHONORING OUR HERITAGE Go online for your 1099 tax form 8 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 LOCAL LOCAL www.caribbeantoday.com ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN Photograph by Derrick A.ScottLissette Wade,left,a Jamaican who resides in Lake Park,Florida,shows off an award he recently received from United States President George W.Bush to Jamaica’ s Ambassador to the U.S. Professor Gordon Shirley. Wade was the only Jamaican among the 100 African Americans who were honored as business and community leaders for “Black Histor y Month” a t a recep tion held at the White House in Washington D.C. Street Address: 9020 SW 152nd Street, Miami, FL33157 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6010 Miami, FL 331 16-6010. T elephone: (305 (305305 1-800-605-7516 Jamaica: 654-7282 E-mail: caribtoday@earthlink.net Send ads to: ct_ads@bellsouth.net V ol.18,Number 4 MAR.2007 PETER AWEBLEY Publisher GORDON WILLIAMS Managing Editor DAMIAN P. GREGORY Deputy Managing Editor SABRINAFENNELL Graphic Artist DOROTHY CHIN Account Executive SUNDA YSELLERS Account Executive JULISSA RAMOS Accounting ManagerCaribbean Media Source Media Representatives T OM JONAS 353 St. Nicolas Street, Suite 200 Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y2P1 T el: (514514 E-mail: tom@cmsworldmedia.com Jamaica Bureau MARIE GREGOR Y (876 P .O. Box 127, Constant Spring Kingston 8, JamaicaOpinions expressed by editors and writers are not necessarily those of the publisher. Caribbean T oday , an independent news magazine, is published every month by Caribbean Publishing Services, Inc. Subscription rates are: US$20 per year (Bulk. Caribbean T oday is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photos. To guarantee return, please include a selfaddressed stamped envelope. Articles appearing in Caribbean Today may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor . (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7) Quinn-Leandro CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 8 

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The right man for her is so elusive, for women are never satisfied, as men ar e loved, hated, r eviled, cursed, despised, wanted, sought after, chased away, yet chased after by women. Women seem to be so confused when it comes to men, that either they don’ t know what they want, or don’t want it when they have it. As usual, many New Year’s Eve and Valentines’nights saw many attractive women out at functions, eitherby themselves, or in a collec tive herd. Whatever, there they wer e, all dr essed up on per haps the most r omantic nights of the year , with no man beside them. It is a com mon scenario, and while I would not dare to ask themabout their plight on that occasion, I have spoken to them at different times about their manless existence. For some it was by fate, for others it was by choice. Usually the r esponse was the same, “I just can’ t find the right man, why can’t the right man come into my life?” One lady, who was divorced twice, even told me that she wants to get married again, and that if the thir d one failed, she’d go at it a four th time. “You see, I’m not one of those women who can live alone, I have my needs and Ineed a man to fulfill them, so I won’t stop looking until I find the right man.” The right man, there goes that ter m again. But what makes a right man, what sets him apart from other men,what makes him dif fer ent? MADE MAN W ell, the right man is rarely born, but is made. A young man growing uphas to be molded the right way, steered in the right direc-tion if he is to become the future right man. Ther e are a few parents who recognize this andpass on these values to their sons. The mothers make sure that the boys are able to cook, sew on buttons if needs be,wash and ir on, and generally take care of themselves. Asone old time mother told me, “I made sur e that he could do all those things, so that he’d not be at the mer cy of any woman.” Can you imagine the fiasco if a man marries a woman who is as helpless as a fish on dry land? There they are, both of them in the house and neither of them can do a damn thing to help themselves, not even water they can boil, but have to depend on a maid or fast food for every single thing that passes through their mouth. It starts with simple chor es, that eventually leads to independence, which thenleads to self-confidence. The right man has man ners, and that too has to be lear ned and cultivated fr om an early age. Over the pastfew months I chatted with a lot of people, and I hear d sto ries of young men coming to pick up young women that were simply horrific. One par-ent told me how this young man drove up to his gate toattend his daughter s sweet 16 party. The lad was dressed in a washrag type of tee shirt, torn r olled up jeans, uncombed hair, and more rings through ever y part of his body than a circus freak. “Yow, yow dads, is Lisa party this, a ya so me and my crew a buss!” Now that must be every parents’ nightmare, and he is cer tainly not the right man that most women are always seeking. But he wasn’t bornthat way , so the twig is bent it grows, they say. RESPECT The right man respects his woman. I always find it strange how American blackmales have this habit of call ing their women bitches and ho’s. Our men don’t use those said ter ms, but the lyrics of some of the songs are oftimes worse. This lack of r espect towards women makes you wonder if those guys were spawned in a test tube. But then again, you’ll say that some women respond to it and even call for it. No matter , it should not be done, and Right man for her March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 9 VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT www .caribbeantoday.com TONY ROBINSON “They expect us in the Caribbean to fail” Carib bean soccer administrator Austin acWarner expressing hisview on what the world believes will happen at Cricket World Cup in theregion. e have come here to the Caribbean to win it, otherwise it wouldn’t havemade much sense coming” Australian captain Ric ky Ponting after arriving in the Caribbean for Cricket World Cup. e’ve got a good catch” David Wimhurst,spokesman for MINUST AH, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti,on successfully completing the first phase of a crackdown on armed gangs in one of the violence-ridden neighborhoods in Port au Prince last month. ou ha v e to look out for what is best for you as a country” Mary Ourisman,the newly-appointed United States ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Carib bean, last month sa ying that Caribbean states were free to develop relationships with any country they saw fit,including Venezuela. e remain concerned by the le v el of violence that curr ently threatens our way of life” – Barbados’ s Police Commissioner Darwin Dottin last month expressing alarm at the country’s rising crime rate. “Merger is not the panacea people like to think it is and the ne xt time somebody throws the merger word out,you should ask them for a copy of the plan as to how it all will come together” Air Jamaica’s President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Conwayoffering his views on a proposed single airline for the Caribbean. “Down with U.S.imperialism! Long live the people of this w orld” V enuzuela’s President Hugo Chavez during a visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines last month. “Europe has apologized to several other peoples across the w orld so why can’t they apologize to us?” – Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit last month backing a call from Caribbean community (CARICOM) Chairman Dr.Ralph Gonsalves for European coun tries to issue an unqualified apology for slavery. “The event is too important for an yone to think of disturbing it” Trinidad Islandswide Cane F armers Association Chairman Raffique Shah last month dispelling talk that the organization would participate in a protest during the Trinidad leg of the 2007 Cricket World Cup to seek com-pensation from the go vernment to get out of the sugar industry . e (are) going to shut the island down” – Lester Bird, Opposition leader in Antigua and Barbuda,last month threatening action to protest the government’s introduction of a new sales tax. “It seems,however,that things ha v e literally fallen a part and we are not surprised at this because they were not done properly in the first place” – Jamaica’s Opposition spokesman on Energy Clive Mullings criticizing a deal between his country’ s go vernment and Trinidad and Tobago. Compiled from CMC and other sources. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 10) CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 9 

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perhaps if more parents stressed the need to respect women from an early age,then the cycle would stop. Attimes this lack of r espect stems fr om the man’s own low self esteem. So, to big up him self, he tears down women. The right man has manners. Now I know that many nowadays youth have no ideawhat I’m talking about, butgood manners goes such a farway and is so sought after bywomen. All the ladies whoI’ve spoken to have expr essed this, how it’ s so refreshing when a man takes them out and displays good manners. He opens the car door, holds the door open for her when entering a building, pulls out her chair, offers her food anddrink, generally makes her feel comfortable and secure. “Those ar e the qualities that I look for in a man, believe it or not, good man ners,” this lady told me. Some may not know the term, but know when a man shows it to them. “Him treat me right, mek me feel good, me check fi him.” And that’sanother thing, a good man takes out his lady, and it doest have to be anywhere fancy either , but most women love to dr ess up and go out once in a while. That’ s why movies are still so popular, even though we have cable and satellite dish. Women still love to dress up and go out, and the right man recognizes this. And I don’t mean taking out a new woman just to impress hereither , but taking out your wife or long time woman. The right man has eyes only for his woman. Okay , let’s get realistic and rephrase that. The right man has eyes only for his woman when he’s ar ound her. She must feel special, he can’ t be with her yet ogles other women. As long as he’ s with her, she must be the one. Which leads naturally into the next prerequisite of the right man, fidelity. Theright man must deal with onlyhis woman and nobody else. Now I know that’s a tall order, but it’s what women want inthe right man. “I want my man to only be with me alone, I don’t want to share him with any other woman,” so manyladies have told me. Others qualified it by saying, “As long as him don’t dash it in my face and disrespect me and have woman calling me and tracing me of f, I won’ t mind, although I would rather he didn’t, butman is man I suppose.” The right man commits, no stringing along business, but really commits. Oh, the right man is so har d to find. HIT AND MISS W omen ar e for ever seek ing the right man, this elusive being that somehow keepsslipping fr om their grasp. Some women meet the right men who eventually turn out to be wrong, while others just can’t seem to meet even a hintof a right man. Others caught the right man but couldn’t hold on to him, as their jealousy and insecurity dr ove him away . Still, ther e ar e others who will never stop looking for the right man, the man who will fulfill all their needs, their desires, their wants, their obligations. “I won’t settle for any and anybody , I want the right man for myself.” “Why can’t Ifind the right man, either they’r e mar ried, gay , too young, too old, worthless, thieves, liars or unemployed.” But still, so many women find men but also find faults in all of them, so they are forever seeking this elusive impossible person and end up alone. That seems to be the fate of many women who are seeking the right man. And anyway, ar e you the right woman for the right man? seido1@hotmail.com Right man for her 10 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT www.caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9) CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 10 

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PATRICK KNIGHT BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Caribbean community (CARI COM) leaders left last month’ s mid term summit in St. Vincent and the Grenadines with avision of 2008 as a date withdestiny even as they fir mly set the region’s focus on 2015 as the marker for a new milestone in the r egional integration movement. In many r espects Chairman Dr . Ralph Gonsalves, the St. V incent and the Gr enadines prime minister, was accurate when he identified 2008 as “ther egion’s date with destiny,” as that year will see the ushering in of the CARICOM Single Economy and the start of new trade r elationships with Europe, the United States andglobally thr ough the World T rade Organization. But while the first feeble steps towards the Single Economy – the second compo-nent of the CARICOM SingleMarket and Economy – will betaken in 2008, it will not beuntil seven years later in 2015that the long held vision of afully integrated Caribbean community could become ar eality . While some regional commentators view the 2015 date as a delay, Barbados Prime Minister Owen Ar thur , the man char ged with the r esponsibility for overseeing the CSME, said it was never the intention of r egional leaders to implement the Single Market as a “done deal” in 2008, butonly to have the framework in place to start the complex task. “Do not expect to see the Single Economy coming in onefell swoop, we have sequenced the activity in two phases, that which will take place between 2008 and 2009 and then up to 2015,” Arthur said, noting that the plan was not about offering“quick fix” solutions. REALISTIC OR NO T? But is the seven-year window to achieve the CSME a realistic target? Ar thur believes that once the timelines in the Professor Norman Girvan study – “Towards a Single Economy and a Single Development Vision” are strictly adhered to, the SingleEconomy can become a Caribbean reality by the 2015 tar-get. “The Single Economy will not simply appear. We are seeking to take 15 separateeconomies and put them together, developing the sectors together, have similar policies, have regional institutionsthat suppor t the functioning of the sectors, addr ess matters relative to whether we are going to have a monetar y union or not and have social institutions to make the economy function,” Arthur said. “This is now spelt out for the first time in the Girvan paper but it does not mean that the economy comes into existence merely because this document has been prepared and approved, but it now means that we have set out how we are going to approach it.” The paper by Girvan, a former secretary general of theAssociation of Caribbean States, sets out the sequencing for the implementation of the Single Market in two phases – up to the end of 2008 and from 2009 2015. Key areas included in the first phases to be implemented by mid-2008 are: Political approval for the br oad outline of the develop ment vision and regional development strategy; Extension of the categories of CARICOM nationals bene fiting fr om fr ee movement; Full implementation of the free movement of servicepr oviders; The implementation of legal status for the CARICOM Charter for Civil Society. The establishment and com mencement of the Regional Development Fund; Establishment of the Regional Stock Exchange; Political approval of the CARICOM Investment Regime and CARICOM Financial Services Agreement; and Collaboration with stake holders on regional policy frameworks for energy related industries, agriculture, sustainable tourism and agro-tourism, new export services, transport and small and medium enter-prises. AGREEMENT Needing political agreement by July 2008 and to be implemented no later than Jan. 1, 2009 are: Negotiation and political approval of the protocol on enhanced monetary cooperation; Agreement among central banks on CARICOM currency numeraire (generally a commodity in terms of which all goods are valued); Implementation schedule for harmonization of taxation regimes and fiscal incentives; and Implementation schedule for har monization of financial regulatory environment. PHASE TWO Phase two 2009 – 2025 provides for the consolidation andcompletion of the Single Economy through: Implementation of common sectoral policies, e.g. tourism,transpor t, energy etc.; Har monization of taxation systems, incentives and regulatory environment; Harmonization of fiscal and monetary policies; Implementation of regional competition policy and regional intellectual policy regime; and Implementation of CARICOM Monetar y Union. ‘MYSTIFIED’ While leaders emer ging fr om the summit appeared happy with the staged implementation scheduled, regional political scientist Professor Neville Duncan told the Caribbean Media Corporation he is “mystified” that gover nments still feel they have some major hurdles to overcome before full implementation of the CSME. “If you have established a development fund which is supposed to ease the challenges and burdens to countries which are likely to be initially disadvantaged by the single market and economy why then should one have to wait until 2015?” Prof Duncan asked. “But I guess 2015 is another magical date because that’swhen ther s a hope that the millennium development goals will be fulfilled, but that doest look the case for many countries,” the director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute ofSocial Economic Studies (SALISESpus of the University of the West Indies added. He said Caribbean people wer e fully supportive of the integration movement and suggested that if they wer e unsure of where the region’s people story, CARICOM leaderscould engage an agency such as SALISES to conduct a regional survey to gauge the region’s position on the matter. “Maybe then they would be persuaded but clearly thestudy done in Jamaica shows conclusively the str ong com mitment of Jamaican people in general towar ds integration and we see from Caribbean business people that they are not laggar d in what needs to be done,” Pr of. Duncan said. As they continue the march towards the 2015 vision, the words of Dr. Gonsalves, a poet as much as a prime minister, will remain relevant to Caribbean leaders: e, who have come with our limiting burdens of yesterday, face today with immense possibilities, amidst an amazing grace for our glorious tomorrows. We remember, we know, we dream, and we act for our people and for generations unborn. It is our destiny CMC CARICOM eyes 2008 as Caribbean’s ‘date with destiny March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 11 FEATURE FEATURE www .caribbeantoday.com Duncan Gonsalves CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 11 

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Caribbean has much to gain by developing its sport tourism potential, an expert inthis field has said. “Ther e are considerable economic, spor t and community benefits to be gainedthr ough developing the niche market that is sport tourism,” said Andrew Preece, a director of the consultancy firm PMP. Preece explained last month that sport tourism can take several forms, but primarily involves hosting sports events like the International Cricket CouncilCricket W orld Cup (CWC which begins in the Caribbeanthis month – which bring bothcompetitors and spectators whospend money in the community generally, and in tourism amenities such as hotels and restaurants in particular. Preece, who has been part of the PMP team working onlegacy planning for theBarbados leg of the CWC, willbe a panelist at the thAnnual Caribbean Confer ence on Sustainable T ourism Development”, other wise called the “Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC-9 Cayman Islands in May.The general session, “Securing Environmentaland HumanCapital”, takesplace on May 23.Pr eece’s presentation will be oncommunity spor t tourism. “Community sport tourismcan lead to improved sportdevelopment, enhanced com-munity pride, and more active populations,” Preece said. EFFECTIVE APPROACH Preece’s presentation is expected to examine theappr oach to effective planning for community sport tourism in order to maximize the benefits, and will include as a case study, the four step “Community Sport Tourism Planning Program”developed by 2010 LegaciesNow and T ourism British Columbia. Themed “Health and Wellness: Communities,Envir onments & Economies”, STC-9 will be held May 21-24 at the W estin Casuarina Resor t & Spa in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands. General sessions include: Health and Wellness Tourism: Opportunitiesand Challenges; Securing Environmental and Human Capital; Defining the Way Forward and StakeholdersSpeak Out featuring discussionsabout “Developing V aluable T ourism Resources Within Our Communities: the GrandCayman Go East Initiative,” “Preserving Our Culture: Preserving a Caymanian Identity,” “Raising the Bar:Customer Ser vice Standar ds for the T ourism Sector ,” and “The Role of the National Trust in T ourism Development.” KINGSTOWN, St. V incent, CMC Caribbean community(CARICOMput a hold on plans to expandthe categories of Caribbean nationals enjoying free movement across the region. Antigua Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC that r egional leaders, during their 18th inter-sessional meeting here last month,decided against expanding thelist to include ar tisans as was originally planned at a previous summit. “It was felt that member states who are in a position toimplement that immediately (free movement of artisansshould so do, but it was alsofelt that it was necessar y to look at individual situationsemanating fr om the various territories in terms of howsoon and this matter obviously will be reviewed when next we meet,” said Spencer . “In July hopefully the situation would have undergone some change in terms of someter ritories implementing and others being in a position to report how far they have reached in terms of the implementation of artisans as part of the free movement.” WORK IN PROGRESS He told CMC the year-old CARICOM Single Market(CSM progress and most countries were yet to implement all leg-islative changes necessar y to allow for the free movement of the six categories pr evious ly approved to benefit from free movement across CARI-COM states. “One of the things that ought to be bor ne in mind is that in every territory certainlegislative underpinnings haveto be put in place and all of us have not completed that exer cise, for example in the case of Antigua and Barbuda, although we passed the freemovement of skills legislationther e was some problem attendant to that so we haveto go back to Parliament now,” Spencer explained. “Countries ar e updating their legislative agenda and doing the things that are necessar y, so yes the CSM is in place as it stands but every aspect of it is not likely to come on board in every terri-tor y at the same time because there are different considerations, but we are all commit-ted to the idea.” Spencer said the leaders had also agreed to mandatethe Guyana-based CARI COM Secretariat to conduct a study on the free movementexer cise in Antigua and Barbuda befor e the countr y was asked to implement the free movement of teachersand nurses. SPECIAL C ASE At last July’s summit it was agreed that all membersstates, with the exception ofAntigua, would add nursesand teachers to the categories of persons enjoying freemovement. But Spencer saidAntigua was a special case since 40 per cent of its workforce originated from other Caribbean countries even before CSM. “Clearly this r epr esent a significant percentage and while it is true that we will continue to play our part and we will continue to haveCaribbean nationals coming to Antigua living and workingand so on, we have to look atthe impact that it is going tohave on Antigua and Barbudain a compr ehensive and a r eal istic way and for us to make decisions based on that studyhe said. Presently university graduates, media workers, ath letes, performing artistes, teachers and nurses are cov-er ed under the free movement initiative. Caribbean has much to gain from sport tourism ~ expert Caribbean free mo vement e xpansion plans put on hold 12 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 Spencer Enthusiastic fans will often follow their teams to other countries,including those in the Caribbean. TOURISM TOURISM / / TRAVEL TRAVEL www.caribbeantoday.com SWIMSUIT SPLASH SI.com photogra phs Some of the world’s most beautiful models visited the Caribbean recently to shoot photographs for the pages of Sports Illustrated magazine’s 2007 swimsuit issue. The models,including Bar Refaeli,Marisa Miller,Anne V.and Selita Ebanks,graced the property at The Caves hotel in Negril,Jamaica,using the ocean-side bluffs,Caribbean sunsets and lush tropical flora as the setting for their work. The photographs above,taken by Raphael Mazzucco,appear at SI.com.At left model Selita Ebanks wears a swimsuit by Amare.At right,Bar Refaeli shows off swimwear by Pompei Beach. CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 12 

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LOS ANGELES, CMC Ziggy Marley, the eldest son of the late legendary Jamaican reggae superstar Bob Marley, last month captured the “BestReggae Album” at the 49thAnnual Grammy A wards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Ziggy won the award with his “Love Is My Religion”solo-studio album, eclipsingcompatriot Buju Banton, Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu,Sly and Robbie, and the Britishgr oup, UB 40. “Love Is My Religion” was released on the Tuff GongW orldwide label. It was Ziggy Marley’s fourth Grammy award. Ziggy’s previous win in the “Best Reggae Album” category was in 1997 for “Fallen IsBabylon” by Ziggy Marley &the Melody Makers. Prominent Caribbean artistes are listed among those scheduled to perform at the two-day “Jazz in the Gardens” music festivalthis month in Miami, Florida. Jamaican singer/song writer Luciano, and renowned saxaphonist Dean Fraser andthe Jah Messenjah Band willbe joined during the secondannual jazz and R&B festival by India Arie, Sergio Mendes,Boney James, W ill Downing, Paquito d’Rivera and Piecesof a Dr eam, Mar .24-25 at Dolphin Stadium. e want people to know ‘Jazz in the Gardens’ as a celebration of the music and culture that lives and grows in Miami Gardens,” the city’sMayor Shirley Gibson said ina r ecent press release. While Luciano is known for a soulful, articulate blendof “r oots reggae”, India Arie is a neo soul icon, and Ser gio Mendes is often touted as the undisputed king of Brazilianjazz. Boney James, whose latest release “Shine” rose rapidly on the BillboardContemporar y Jazz char ts, is also scheduled to perform along with the inter national contingent that includes Cuban legend Paquito D’Rivera. For more information about the event visit www.jazzinthegardens.com or call the event hotline at 305-622-8043 . PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Soca artiste Iwer George was crowned the 2007 “International Power SocaMonar ch” after outclassing his rivals in the finals of thecompetition at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Trinidadlast month. Bajan ar tiste, Biggie Irie, captured the “Groovy Soca Monarch” title in that competition. Both competitions wer e part of annual carnival celebra-tions. Iwer, singing “Fete After Fete”, and Irie per for ming “Nah Going Home”, each wr ested the respective titles from Shurwayne Winchester, who placed third inthe Power Soca Monar ch with “Open The Gate” and fourth in the Groovy Soca Monarchsinging “Alequa”. Winchester, who captured the People’ s Choice A wards for both competitions, deliv ered elaborate presentations that featured troupes of dancers, additional musicians and several stylized props. Iwer and Irie kept their presentations simple, depend-ing mainly on raw talent and synergy with the audience to pull off their respective victories. Iwer took homeTT$400,000 ($63,994ef for ts, while Irie received TT$150,000 ($23,998 Iwer George is T&T’ s new ‘Soca Monarch’Caribbean performers to feature at Miami’s ‘Jazz in the Gardens’ March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 13 ARTS ARTS / / ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT www .caribbeantoday.com Marley Iwer Luciano ENTER T AINMENT BRIEFS Stephen Marley’s tour kicks off in March Stephen Marley will launch his much anticipa ted tour this month, kicking off on Mar.30 in the United States and runningthrough more than 40 cities. The three month tour of the U.S. and Canada,billed as the “Mind Control”North Americantour , will also feature special guest “Jr.Gong”Marley, Stephen’s brother,and K’naan.It will include performances at the World Ski and Snowboard Championships in Whistler,British Columbia on April 15,Coachella Music F estival in Indio, California on April 27,and Jazzfest in New Orleans on May 5. ‘Best of the Best’ reggae Some of the biggest names in reggae/dancehall music arescheduled to perform a t the “Best of the Best” show on May 27 a t Bicentennial Park in downtownMiami, Florida. Buju Banton,Shaggy,Bounty Killer,Elephant Man,Lady Saw,Ca pleton and Barrington Levy are among the top acts.For more information,call 305-438-9488 . Compiled from CMC and other sources. Ziggy Marley captures ‘Best Reggae Album’ at Grammy Awards CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 13 

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TITLE: JABARI AUTHENTIC JAMAICANDICTIONAR Y AUTHOR: RAS DENNIS JABARI REYNOLDS REVIEWED BY: GORDON WILLIAMS Ther e is a never-ending quest to captur e the flavor of Jamaica’s popular patois or cr eole language in writing. Reading publications whichattempt that taskwill make mostJamaicans chuckle,because they do notbelieve anyone can fully capture that fla-vor in writing. Not down pat anyway. But it is worth a try, especially sincethe language has been spread globally, mostly through reggae music.People outside Jamaica ar e always interested in the words, how they are pronounced andexactly what they mean. “Jabari Authentic Jamaican Dictionar y of the Jamic Language” offers another attempt to tame the slippery patois. The book makes its ownbold claim to snar e “Jamaican Patwa and Rasta Iyaric Pronunciations and Definitions” in “The First Jamic Dictionary” right there on the black, greenand gold cover complete withthe Jamaican flag. In 142 pages and more than 3,000 entries, it goes quite a distance to try andback up the claims. In some ways, it succeeds admirably. In others, like spelling – there is no ‘correct’ spelling of patois words – it is not as convincing. AID The thumbnail pronunciation guide on every other page is useful. First, it offers the reader a quick glance while going through the various words and phrases on each page. There is no need to goback and for th from the page in question to another section of the book just to figure out how to pronounce a word. Also, the bold print of each word or phrase, followed by thenon-bold meaning, makes thedictionar s contents easy to follow . And the “Guide To The Dictionary”, near the fr ont of the book, which offers, for example, explanations and pr onunciation tips, is helpful as well. But after that, the tame, academic stuff ends and the rollicking ride through Jamaica’s delicious home spun language begins. From taunt of “a-bey” to the insulting “zuttupek”, “Jabari” dives into pat-ois head first. Most of what’s delivered in the book is not unique, but it is definitely infor mative and interesting. It could prove quite useful this month and next when thousands of tourists are expect-ed to flock to Jamaica for Cricket World Cup as severalmatches will be played in the Caribbean island. Maybethey should take the “JabariAuthentic Jamaican Dictionar along with them. More than likely they will need it. PUBLISHER:Around the Way Books,Waterbury,Connecticut. Gordon Williams is Caribbean T oday’s managing editor. Visitors to Cricket World Cup 2007 will have a colorful guide to some of the most attrac-tive spots in theCaribbean. W ant to know the best r estaurants, places to party and what’s happening while they’re intown for the eventduring this month and next? Try getting“The ICC CWC2007 Of ficial V isitor’s Guide”, a fan companion,especially for first-time guests from outside the region. The full-color pocket reference of the Caribbean features 140 pages of information whichvisitors will find useful as they traverse the nine host venues, following the ICC CricketW orld Cup. SHO WCASE Produced by Jamaicabased companies Great House Publishing and MAPCO Printers, it showcases many elements r egarding the countries staging CWC matches, including: Overview of the territories; ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 match schedule and related information; things to see anddo; r estaurants and bars; beaches in the r egion; carnival attractions; historic sites, museums, etc.; entertainment and nightlife; environmental/wildlifeattractions; and essential tele phone dir ectories (taxis, emergency , etc.). The guide, being sold in bookstores and other retailers throughout the Caribbean, will also be available through concessionaires, as well as itiner-ant vendors at CWC matches. The guide to the W est Indies is being distributed inJamaica by Novelty T rading and MAPCO Printers and in the Eastern Caribbean by Trinidadian style magazine,MACO, and its distribution company, Moving Magazines Caribbean Limited. A neat little pocket piece when setting out for Yard’Colorful guide to the Caribbean for Cricket World Cup 2007 14 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 BOOKS BOOKS www.caribbeantoday.com Resource guide available for parents in Miami-Dade The Miami-Dade County Public Schools and TheEducation Fund have co-published a fr ee Parent Resource Guide 2006-2007 forthe public. The 88-page guide, sponsored by global financial serv-ices pr ovider ING, gives parents infor mation they need to know about their child’ s school, curriculum and student requirements. The guide is printed in three languages -English, Spanish and Haitian cr eole. Each school in the system will r eceive additional copies for use in parent-teacher meetings. The guide may also be viewed online at www.educationfund.org (under “Our Publications”) and www.dadeschools.net (under “Resources” The 2006-2007 guide pr ovides a wealth of infor mation including revised curriculum r equirements, test schedules, immunization requirements, student ser vices, legal rights and par ental involvement. CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 14 

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC Regional trade nego tiators have identified the cul tural industr y as a sector which could give Caribbean community (CARICOMcountries clear comparativeadvantages in a global tradingenvir onment. W ith this in mind, Dr. Richar d Bernal, director general of the Caribbean Regional Negotiation Network (CRNM said the region’s ability to lever-age benefits for the sector would be boosted greatly by a new study on the cultural indus tries, which would be pr esented to all CARICOM gover nments and cultural stakeholders. “The creative sectors hold tremendous potential for pro-moting the development andeconomic diversification ofthis r egion. This study is ther efore critical as it will assist the region in formulating the policies that addressthe key issues and challenges currently affecting this region,” Bernal said recently. Accor ding a CRNM r elease, the study, titled “The Cultural Industries in CARI COM: Trade and Development Challenges”, concluded that investing in the cultural indus-tries would be beneficial toCaribbean countries as it wouldgenerate new , high valuedadded and indigenous for ms of employment, production and exports”. DA WN A. DAVIS The mention of Port Royal conjures up images of swashbuckling pirates, hidden treasures, lewd and las-civious lifestyles, and murderous debauchery. But in its heyday in the 17th and 18th centuries Port Royal was an important commercial center colo nized by the English. It was the center of the slave trade, imported goods and naval power. But its “wicked” past lives on in folk tales as many believe that the massive ear thquake that swallowed up the city onJune 7, 1692 was punishment for its evil histor y. An exhibition at Miami’s Historical Museum of Southern Florida, opened recently in collaboration with the Institute of Jamaica’ s Museums of Histor y and Ethnography, showcases this infamous city . The display of over 150 unique artifacts, some discover ed by historians and underwater archeologists, representing life in the port city then and now, will be on display until through June 3, 2007. The elegant pewter tablewar e, dishes, hair combs and chamber pots (“chimmey” going about their daily lives. NOT ‘DIBBY DIBBY’ In declaring the exhibition officially opened, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture Aloun Assamb, reminded the au dience: “Our findings reaffirms that tourism to our shores is much more than beaches. More and more tourists come for ourcultur e and to learn about our way of life.” “Port Royal is no dibby dibby place,” she added. The audience, including Jamaicans, Americans, and other Caribbean islanders, were drawn to a series of old Spanish coins with unique symbolsand numbers still intact. A large map of Port Royal depicted the shor eline as it was before and after the earthquake. A 19th century picture of Port Royal shows a city strikingly similar to the Port Royal of today. Pictures taken by Jamaica’s noted photographer Maria LaY ocona, show a vibrant city teeming with life amidst buildings still standing from the pirates’ days. This por t city that has rebounded from disaster, once again rose from the ashes after Hurricane Charley destroyed it in 1951. Today it comes alive for people who come to sample the famous fish and bammy, the old fort with itsgrand canons, and the giddy house, a structure half sunken in the ear th after the gr eat earthquake. Dawn A.Davis is a freelance writer for Caribbean Today. Port Royal exhibit offers more than ‘wicked’ past One of the Caribbean’ s biggest cultural attractions,the Trinidad and Tobago carnival,was staged last month.The streets of Port of Spain were filled with revelers dressed in colorful costumes and sequins like these ladies. The 2007 carnival drew an estima ted 45,000 visitors,most of whom participated in the festivities,enjoying music,sunshine and the chance to play mas. FUN AND FROLIC Caribbean trade negotiators push culture as new creative sector March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 15 CULTURE CULTURE www .caribbeantoday.com Assamba CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:53 PM Page 15 

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SUZYCOHEN QUESTION: Sometimes I ha ve to take muscle relaxers, which mak e me sleepy and dizzy.Getting to the pharmacy as frequently as I need to is a challenge,but I’m scared of using my credit card online. Do I have other choices to getm y toiletries and refills? ANSWER: Yes, you can send a friend or family member in to purchase your medication,but they will be asked a few personal questions at the register before your medicine ishanded over . I know you’re scared about shopping online and, with so many bogus pharmacies and counterfeit pills sold off the Internet, who could blame you? But trust me;ther e are respectable pharmacies that of fer safe and secur e shopping. Big-name r etailers would not risk your security and they encrypt credit card information. If that doesn’tpersuade you, I’ll give you another secret shortly. Now, you will want to make sure your online phar-macy has VIPPS cer tification, another level of authenticity. Look at the home page; thereshould be VIPPS emblemclearly visible. LESS STRESS Personally , I feel ver y comfortable shopping with discount chain phar macies that have web sites. Buying online reduces stress because you don’t have to wait in long phar-macy lines, which means you don’t have to breathe in germs. Hey, who wants to get sneezedon while waiting in line? Shopping over the Inter net is private, too. Y ou can buy your tampons and toi let paper (and, ahem, private goodies) without the cashieryelling, “Price check, aisle 6, Preparation H” or “Manager, is Vagisil buy one, get one?” You can get your medications with just a few clicks of a button. Most pharmacies will deliver everything to yourdoor for a small shipping fee, including prescriptions, unless they are Class II narcotics or other non-shippable drugs. SECRET Now, here’s that secret I alluded to. If you call your bank (or go to its web site will issue a temporary credit card number you can use on the computer. This service isfr ee, so consumers have a safe way to shop online without ever revealing their true credit card number. I can’ t possibly list all the phar macies that have online pharmacy web sites, but here are a few reputableones: www.cvs.com;www.walg reens.com;www.costco.com; www.riteaid.com; www .kmart.com; www.albertsons.com;www.duanereade.com; www .samsclub.com; www .eckerd.com; www .walmart.com; www.kroger.com;www.drugstore.com;www.target.com;www .medicineshoppe .com This information is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose your condition.Suzy Cohen is a re g istered pharmacist. T o contact her , visit www.dearpharmacist.com . 2007 Dear Pharmacist, inc. Distributed by Tribune Media Ser vices , Inc. Feel secure shopping for medication online Pr ofessional basketball player Alonzo Mourning, who has overcome serious kidney problems, has agreed tobecome a spokesman pr omoting a new Florida specialtylicense plate, designed to pr omote or gan and tissue donor awar eness and fund research, transplant patient services and education. Created and sponsored by The Transplant Foundation, affiliated with the MillerSchool of Medicine at theUniversity of Miami, the spe cialty tag Donate or gans. Pass it on is now available at County Tag Agencies, Tax Collector offices and online through the Transplant Foundation at www.transplantfoundation.org . “I owe my livelihood, and mor e importantly my life, to the fact that someone donated an organ to replace the onethat had failed me,” theMiami Heat player said in a recent press release. Mour ning was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2000and had a kidney transplant in 2003. “Now Floridians have the opportunity to help save someone else’s life,” he added. “And who knows? Maybesome day their own.” For more information, contact T ransplant Foundation at 1-866-901-3172 or visit www .transplantfoundation.org. Jamaica bans blood from countries with mad cow Jamaica is maintaining a ban on blood dona tions from persons who have lived for over a year in countries where “mad codis-ease or a variant of theCreutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD which causes dementia in cows, have been found. St.Lucia trying to avoid ‘Bird Flu’ outbreak The St.Lucia government has announced measures to protectthe island from the spread of the avian influenza (Bird Flu this month’s Cricket World Cuptha t is likely to a ttract visitors from Britain and other countries affected by the disease. T&T recruit doctors, nurses from Cuba More than 100 health professionals, inc luding 40 doctors, are scheduled to arrive from Cuba to begin working in T rinidad and Tobago,Health Minister John Rahael announced recently. Compiled from CMC and other sources. Basketball’s Mourning teams up with Florida’s organ,tissue donorsHEALTH BRIEFS 16 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 Mourning www.caribbeantoday.com HEALTH HEALTH CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 16 

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DENNIS GINSBURG & MICHAELROSENBERG In Dec. 2004, we wrote about the changes in theUnited States tax law that had then been made in theU.S. “expatriation” tax r ules that apply to U.S. citizens and certain long-term permanentr esidents who give up their citizenship or “gr een car d”. Instead of completely overhauling the expatriationtax r egime (as had often been proposed), the U.S. Congress instead attempted to close theper ceived loopholes that existed under prior law. Now, Congress is again considering a major r evision in these r ules and, even if no immediate change is made, ithas been made clear thatthese changes might be made “soon” as a source of revenue that would allow for other “tax cuts” that Congr ess wantsPlanning for the financial future of children withdisabilities will be the focus of a confer ence this month hosted by the Universityof Miami-Nova Southeaster n University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities(UM/NSU CARD The conference will be held fr om 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mar.31 at Health Professions Division Nova Southeaster n University Steele Auditoriumin Davie, Florida. It will feature a variety of topics related to planning for the financial future of your child living with a disability,including Social Security ben efits, Med W aiver, estate planning, guardianships, special needs tr usts, etc. Registration is free, but required.To register, contactMaria Lis de Gisperi at 305-284-5263 . UM/NSU CARD pr ovides fr ee family support, outreach, and educational suppor t services to children and adults of all levels ofintellectual functioning who have autism and autistic-like disabilities. Services for families thr oughoutMiami-Dade, Br oward and Monroe counties in Florida include family suppor t, technical assistance and consultation, par ent and pr ofessional training programs, and public education activities. Reconsidering U.S.citizenship or long term residency rulesConference to focus on financial planning for disabled children March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 17 BUSINESS BUSINESS / / TAX TAX PLANNING PLANNING www .caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED ON PAGE 18) CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 17 

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Businessman Vincent HoSang,left,receives a special award from Albert Lettman, president of the Grea ter Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce,during the GCACC’s annual banquet and officer installation ceremony last month in Florida. HoSang is the president and chief executive officer of Caribbean Food Delights Inc., a division of Royal Caribbean Bakery Inc.He was born in Jamaica and dropped out of high school to help in the family business.He migrated to Bronx,New York in the 1960s and began his first job in the U.S.earning $1.60 an hour assembling briefcas-es in a factor y.HoSang currently owns and operates two factories with multi-million dollar sales. He was the guest speaker at the function. to put in place. Therefore, we think that it is time for all who have everconsider ed expatriation to go thr ough the analysis once again. OVERVIEW The following is a general over view of some of the major aspects of the expatriation taxr egime and the major change that is pr oposed. As an initial matter , an “expatriate” is generally defined as: 1) a U.S. citizen who renounces his or her U.S. citizenship; or 2) a long-termlawful per manent resident alien (a so called “green card”holder) who has held such sta tus for eight of the prior 15 years and who then relinquishes his or her “green card”. In either situation, an expatriate is not automaticallysubject to the expatriation tax ation regime, but instead,must violate cer tain qualifying tests meant to determinewhether or not he has as one of his or her principal purpos-es in expatriating the avoid ance of U.S. taxes. Under current law, an expatriate needs to violateone of thr ee tests to be con clusively considered to have a tax avoidance purpose the “Net Income Tax Test”, the “Net Worth Test”, or the“Failur e to Comply Test”. Under the r elevant law , the only exceptions to these objective standards are forcer tain adult and minor indi viduals with dual citizenship. CAVEAT However, these exceptions have a significant caveat,in that such an individual can not have any “substantial contacts” with the U.S. at thetime of expatriating, meaninggenerally that the individuala) never was a r esident alien (RAweighted average substantial presence test; b) never held aU.S. passpor t; and c) was not present in the U.S. for more than 30 days during any calen-dar year which is one of the 10 calendar years preceding theindividual’ s loss either of U.S. citizenship or his or her green card. Once it has been determined that an individual has atax avoidance purpose inexpatriating fr om the U.S., the individual then becomes sub ject to the “Alter native Tax Regime”for the 10-year period subsequent to the taxpayer’s expatriation (the “tainted period”) where he will betaxed, generally speaking, in asomewhat “hybrid” manner that is both more comprehen-sive than the taxation scheme for taxing a typical nonresident alien/nonresident alien domiciliary (NRA/NRAD but less comprehensive thanthe worldwide tax scheme that applies to a U.S. citizen or resident alien/resident alien domiciliary (RA/RAD However, even if an individual has given up his or her U.S. citizenship or green card,that individual will continue to be taxed as a U.S. citizen or RA until he or she gives pr oper notice to certain prescribed U.S. agencies and files an information statement with the Internal Revenue Service on IRS Form 8854.The indi-vidual is then r equir ed to file the same form for each year during the “tainted period”. W ith a limited exception, should the expatriate during the “tainted period” be physi cally pr esent in the U.S. on more than 30 days in any calendar year, the individual willbe taxed as a U.S. citizen or as an RA/RAD during that year, and will, therefore, be subjectto worldwide taxation for U.S.income, estate, and gift taxpurposes for such year . RULES REVISION The U.S. Senate has now pr oposed a major r evision of these rules. Under the Senate bill, generally , a “cover ed expatriate” will, with certain exceptions, pay tax on the net unrealized gain in all of theirpr oper ty as if the pr oper ties were sold at fair market value on the day beforeexpatria-tion. The first $600,000 of gain would be exempted from tax. Special r ules ar e pr ovided for interests in trusts and retirement plans as well as certain U.S. real propertyinter ests. While, in order to avoid immediate payment of the tax,it would be possible to make aspecial election to continue tobe taxed as a U.S. citizen withr espect to the property owned, that election would“lock in” continuing U.S. income, estate, gift and generation skipping transfer tax liability with respect to the property and require the posting ofsecurity for the payment ofthe defer red tax (including interest, penalties and certainother items). An individual would alternatively be permitted to elect to defer the pay-ment of the mark-to-market tax on any one or more prop-er ties for which the election is made. Interest would be charged and security would need to be posted. The deferral would end upon the disposition of the property or the death of the taxpayer. Obviously , these rules would be a marked change inthe way in which expatriates are taxed. Most importantly,outlasting the 10-year “tainted period” or restructuring assets so that they would not be subject to the alternative taxwould no longer be suf ficient to avoid the new tax regime. However, as proposed, these r ules would only apply after the date of enactment and, as of the date this ar ticle was written, it appear ed as though the House of Representatives would notinclude this pr ovision in the tax provisions they were proposing. In any case, as we noted at the beginning, it wouldappear that this mark-to-mar ket tax r egime is being looked at as a future source of funds that can be used to offset taxcuts elsewher e. Ther efor e, for anyone who has or would at all consider expatriating, it becomes critical to reconsider that action now. Dennis Ginsb urg and Michael Rosenberg are shareholders with the CoralGables , Florida law firm of Packman,Neuwahl & Rosenberg and can be reached at 305-665-3311. RAGS TO RICHES Financial experts have a myriad of tools andr esour ces at their disposal – detailed reports, economic outlooks and market analyses that can be too complicated for the rest of us to comprehend. But for your own personal finances, the most useful toolis actually one of the easiest tounderstand – and often over looked. It’ s the personal budget. A document that simply meas-ur es the amount of money that comes in, and the amount of money that goes out. Mike Sullivan, director of education for Take Charge America, says you don’t have to be afinance gur u to cr eate a work able budget. EASY “Budgets are easy to create, especially with the fr ee templates that ar e available online,” he said.“Putting your budget on paper helpsyou track your expenses, r ec ognize poor spending patterns and establish a savings plan.” In the United States, where the average household has racked up more than $9,000 in high-interest debt, it’sobvious that many consumersar e living well outside their means.Sullivan says a workable budget can help con sumers pr event financial blun ders, such as acquiring excessive credit card debt and notsaving. He of fers four tips: Establish goals – Before you cr eate a budget, establish short and long-term financial goals.Are you trying to getout of debt? Do you hope tor etir e early? Do you want to put your children through college?Are you a travel enthu-siast? It’ s impor tant that your budget provides for avenues to accomplish these goals. The sooner you start working toward your goals, the easierthey will be to accomplish. La y out – A budget can be easy to understand and create. The xtras” – Y ou budget needs to include “extras” outside of monthly bills.This includes entertainGetting back to budget basics ~ Tips to create a realistic,workable budget Reconsidering U.S.citizenship or long term residency rules 18 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 BUSINESS BUSINESS / / TAX TAX PLANNING PLANNING www.caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17) (CONTINUED ON P AGE 20) CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 18 

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March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 19 CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 19 

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Mar.31 is the last day for Broward County, Florida property owners, which includes hundreds of Caribbean Americans, to pay 2006 property taxes with-out inter est and penalties. Pursuant to Florida statute, taxes become delin quent on April 1, at which time interest and penalties are assessed. Taxes not paid byMay 23, 2007, will have a tax certificate (lienthe delinquent taxes. To make a payment via the Internet, using a credit card or electronic check, visit www.broward.org/revenue . A fee will be assessed for creditcar d payments, but no fee is char ged for electronic checks. T o make a payment via the Integrated Voice Response System using a credit card, call 1-800-601-1069 (a fee will be assessed for credit card pay-ments). ment, child care, education, r etir ement and savings, among other specific interests, activities and goals.Savings are vitally important.Even $25 amonth can be a big help. A little cash cushion can prevent you from falling deeper intodebt when emer gencies occur . Monthly evaluations – A budget shouldn’ t be set in stone.As incomes andexpenses fluctuate, budgets need to be adjusted accordingly.Take a close look at yourbudget at the end of each month.Have you noticed anypoor spending habits? Ar e there areas where you can trim funding?As you track your spending, you willinevitably come acr oss ar eas where you can free up money to use more effectively. T o locate a r eputable financial advisor, visit the Better Business Bur eau at www.bbb.org or visit www.takechargeamerica.org for mor e infor mation. Information obtained from Take Charge America,a nonprofit organization which offers a variety of servicesincluding financial education,credit counseling and debt management. Property tax deadline for Broward County NEW YORK, CMC Gr oss long-ter m borrowing by Latin American and Caribbean countries will increase slightly in 2007, the international financial ratings company, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services stated in a report issued last month. The r eport, entitled “Borrowing By Latin American And Caribbean Sovereigns To Expand In 2007”, is Standard & Poor’s third annual survey of gover nment debt issuance in the region. “Standar d & Poor’s finds that gr oss long-term borrowing, including official and commercial debt, by 25 Latin American and Caribbean sovereigns should reach US$427 billion in 2007,” said the company’s creditanalyst Joydeep Mukherji. “Gr oss borrowing by local and regional governments inLatin America and the Caribbean is also expected to grow verymodestly in 2007.” Caribbean will borrow more in 2007 ~ study KINGSTOWN, St. V incent, CMC Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur says the much-touted Regional Development Fund (RDFtion by July and called onr egional countries to pay up their contributions. The anticipated $250 million fund is a critical componentof the Caribbean community(CARICOMand Economy (CSME thur said. However , he explained that all CARICOM states must now be prepared to honor thecontribution schedule, whichwould see countries collectivelycontributing $120 million to theRDF over a four -year period. The RDF is designed to support development projects in thesub-r egional Or ganization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS Regional Development Fund operational by July ~ Arthur This month, the Miami-Dade Enterprise Community Center will conduct its “Emergingand Expanding BusinessSeminars Series”. The seminars, which are free and open to the public,ar e expected to offer information on local business taxes, cer tificates of use, tangible per sonal property taxes, sales and use taxes, Miami-Dade County business incentives, business contracts, loans, lines of credit, business technology, how tostar t a successful business and a business plan lab series. Those that register can r eceive the ECC Certificate Program upon completing the seminar series. The seminars are to be held at 3050 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 201 in Miami and are to be divided into two parts consisting of the “EmergingBusiness” and the “ExpandingBusiness” series. For more information, 305-579-2730 or visit the ECC at www.ezonetrust.org Miami-Dade to conduct free business,counseling seminars 20 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 www.caribbeantoday.com CRICKET BUSINESS Several business interests attended last month’s luncheon session to promote trade and investment opportunities between a group of New York-based Pakistani entrepreneurs and the Caribbean during Cricket World Cup in the region.They included,from left,Junaid Mirza,director of Travel Treat,Inc.; Mahmood Shaukat,chief executive officer,Digital TV; Kirk Kennedy,executive director of JAMPRO,Jamaica’s trade agency; and Dr.Basil K.Bryan,consul general of Jamaica to New York.A group of New York Pakistani entrepreneurs will be attending the CWC which begins this month. Getting back to budget basics ~ T ips to create a realistic,workable budget (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 18) BUSINESS BUSINESS / / TAX TAX PLANNING PLANNING CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 20 

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Increased use of mega containerships in trans-ocean trades is forcing the development and use of lar ge transshipment hubs serving as container distribution and collection centers for large trading areas. The Caribbean, though small in population and econom ic activities except for tourism, constitutes a major crossroads for international trade. This is not only because of its proximityto the Panama Canal, but also asa major focal point for north/south Atlantic trades and trades with the east and northern coasts of South America. The major pr oblem for lines serving Northern and Easter n South American countries are the lengths of their coastlines and the resulting huge inter-port distances, com-bined with significant but not large container trades, mostly foreign trades. This makes itdif ficult to justify direct shipping by large containerships. Similarly , the large distances to their principal trading partner ports make the use of smaller, less efficient container shipsunattractive. This has led to thedevelopment of transshipment ports in the Caribbean designed to serve South America and theGulf of Mexico. OBJECTIVES The objectives of trans shipment are not only to reduce the total cost of collecting and/or distributing the con-tainers car ried by a megamainline container vessel from and to numer ous origin and destination ports, each of which only contributes a part of the mainline vessel cargo,but also to impr ove just-in-time delivery of cargo, reduce in transit inventory, and make thetotal origin-to-destinationmovement of containerized car go more seamless. In other words, the purpose is not just to reduce origin-to-destination transportand handling or transfer costs,but to make the whole supplychain, including all involved transactions, more efficient andmor e responsive to the everchanging market place. T ransshipment also offers oppor tunities for cargo consolidation or deconsolidation and value added activities such as assembly, calibration, and cus-tomizing to meet specific local or time varying demands. To make transshipment attractive the economic and operationalbenefits must outweigh addedeconomic and operational costssuch as additional handling costs, port dues, and possibly extra voyage distances or devi-ations. At the same time, transshipment is often necessar y to attain economies of scale in shipping as well as the overall logistics chain. During recent years transshipment has caught on in the Caribbean and a large number of transshipment ports have been developed. Additionaltransshipment por ts are under construction or being planned. The above article was edited from a paper written by Ernst G.Frankel. ~ A Caribbean Today feature March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 21 TRANSPORT TRANSPORT & & CARGO CARGO www .caribbeantoday.com LOVEBIRD’S 25-YEAR AFFAIR Photogra ph by Derrick A.ScottSue Rosen,left,Air Jamaica’s senior vice president of customer service,accepts a proclamation from Maryland’s Secretary of Transport John Porcari,on behalf of the U.S.state’s Governor Martin O’Malley,in recognition of Air Jamaica’s 25 years of service toBaltimore W ashington Interna tional Airport.Sharing in the presentation are,from right,Basil Smith,Jamaica’s director of tourism; Will Rodgers,recently retired vice president of Air Jamaica; Sharon Miller,deputy chief of missions,Embassy of Jamaica; and George deMercado, the airline’s vice president of sales.The presentation was held recently at the Baltimore Hyatt Hotel.Over the last 25 years the airline claimed it has carried more than a million passengers into Jamaica from the airport while maintaining an average load factor of over 79 percent. Air Jamaica began ser vice out of the airport on F eb. 16,1982. Caribbean transshipment emerges at crossroads for trade CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 21 

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC A top r egional airline of ficial is defending the pricing str ucture now in use by Caribbean carriers for the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup (CWC2007 which r uns through April 28. Michael Conway, president and chief executive officer of Air Jamaica, said whilethe airline is seeking to make apr ofit from the venture, it could not be accused of price gouging. “Any time you have fewer entities providing the goods and services by definition there is less competition. And it’s opposite ofwhat a fr ee market place is. The more people providing the goods, the better deal the con-sumer will get,” Conway said. COMPLAINTS In recent months there have been complaints from passengers that the prices of airline tickets and accommoda tion have increased significantly as a result of the World Cup games that begin this month.Conway said he was not about to defend the char ges now in use for r egional hotel rooms, but explained ther e was a logical r eason for the recent hike in r egional airfares. “Any time you have a high demand for something that isgoing to drive prices up. Ithink the airlines will be full. I know we will be full on our trips from Jamaica to Barbados for the final. So what does one do? Do they keep the same prices or do you match your pricing with the demand? I think that’s what people aredoing,” Conway said. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – United States Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection operations in San Juan, Puerto Rico, along with other members of the Caribbean CorridorInitiative, announced Feb. 28 theseizur e of appr oximately 396 kilos of cocaine and 123.1 kilos of heroin with an estimated str eet value of $15,056,400. Six people were arrested in the operation. After coor dination between the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Northland and CaribbeanCor ridor par ticipating agencies, Coast Guard intercepted a fast boat about 92 nautical milesnor th of V enezuela. The boat had six people onboard and 18 bales containing narcotics. Coast Guard apprehended the crew and narcotics, and transported them to the base where Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies provided addi-tional assistance in the operation. GET A W A Y ATTEMPT While the Northland Cutter was on its way to the base itencounter ed another fast boat that attempted to elude the cutter. The Coast Guard disabledthe engines and r escued five peo ple that were onboard the fast board. The captain of the vesselfailed to abide federal r egula tions when attempting to outrun the cutter. All five crewmemberswer e detained and wer e also transported the base for questioning and processing. Intelligence sources place high-caliber drug traffickers moving tons of drugs, and money through the Caribbean. The Caribbean Corridor Initiative is a Drug Enforcement Strike Force that includes agen-cies such as Customs and Bor der Protection (CBP Guard, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bur eau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S.Attor ney’ s Of fice. “The Caribbean Corridor Initiative has once again proventhat compiling r esour ces pr ovides results,” said Marcelino Borges, director of field opera-tions in the r egion for CBP . Regional carriers defend pricing system for CWC To ensur e shipping and car go security at its bor ders, the United States has implemented a Container Security Initiative (CSI consists of four cor e elements. These are: 1) establishing security criteria to identify highrisk containers; 2) pre-screening those containers identified as high-risk befor e they ar rive at United States ports; 3) using technology to quickly pr e-scr een high-risk containers; and 4) developing and using smart and secure containers. To be eligible to participate in CSI, the Member State’ s Customs Administration andthe seapor t must meet the following thr ee r equir ements: The Customs Administration must be able to inspect car go originating, transiting, exiting, or being transshipped through a countr y . Non-intrusive inspectional (NII) equipment (including gamma or X-ray imaging capa bilities) and radiation detection equipment must be available and utilized for conducting suchinspections. This equipment is necessary in order to meet theobjective of quickly scr eening containers without disrupting the flow of legitimate trade. The seaport must have regular , direct, and substantial container traffic to ports in the United States. RISK MANAGEMENT As part of agreeing to participate in CSI, a Member State’s Customs Administration and the seapor t must also: Commit to establishing a risk management system to identify potentially high-risk containers, and automating that system. This system should include a mechanism for vali dating thr eat assessments and targeting decisions and identifying best practices. Commit to sharing critical data, intelligence, and risk management information with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in order to do collaborative tar geting, and develop ing an automated mechanism for these exchanges. Conduct a thorough port assessment to ascer tain vulnera ble links in a port’s infrastructur e and commit to r esolving those vulnerabilities. Commit to maintaining integrity pr ograms to prevent lapses in employee integrity and to identify and combat br eaches in integrity . Edited from the U.S . De partment of Homeland Security’s website. Tighter security demands at U.S. borders, portsU.S.authorities seize $15 million worth of narcotics in CaribbeanMAN IN THE MIDDLE 22 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 Photograph by Sharon BennettJamaica’s Minister of Transport Robert Pickersgill,center,is greeted on arrival at the Crowne Plaza Hotel,Queens,New York by Sabrina Hosang,left,daughter of Vincent Hosang,director of operations at Caribbean Food Delights/Royal Caribbean Bakery; and AnnMarie Grant-Brown,executive director,American Foundation for the University of the West Indies.Pickersgill was the keynote speaker at last month’s Anniversary Charity Ball organized by the Children of Jamaica Outreach (COJOInc.,held at the hotel.Dr. Basil K.Bryan,consul general of Jamaica,served as patron of the gala,proceeds from which will benefit charities in Jamaica and the United Sta tes. Conway TRANSPORT TRANSPORT & & CARGO CARGO www.caribbeantoday.com ~ A Caribbean Today feature CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 22 

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa, CMC – The InternationalCricket Council has suspend ed the membership of the United States of AmericaCricket Association(USACA An ICC release said the suspension was as a r esult of the USACAs failure to meet “the agreed and subsequently extended deadlines for theadoption of the new USACAconstitution and the holdingof elections”. The West Indies Cricket Board, the only full member in the ICC Americas region,has been asked to monitor the progress of the USACA and subsequently make a recommendation on the lifting ofthe suspension. “It gives the ICC Board no pleasur e to r e-enact this suspension but given the lack of progress towards a func-tioning administration of USACricket it has been left with little alternative,” ICC Chief Executive, Malcolm Speed said. Under the suspensions, the USACA will be hit byseveral sanctions. The team will be withdrawn from the World Cricket League Division Three Series sched-uled for Australia in May and relegated from that division. Additionally, the grant used to prepare for that eventwill be withheld along with the direct funding support fromthe ICC Americas Region Development Program. The USACA will also miss out on the annual ICC grant due onApril 15. The following is a listing of matches to be played during Cricket W orld Cup 2007, Mar . 13-28, in the Caribbean. All ma tches start a t 9:30 a.m.local time. GROUP STAGE GAMES Group A – St.Kitts and Nevis Mar.14 – Australia v.Scotland Mar .16 – South Africa v.The Netherlands Mar.18 – Australia v.The Netherlands Mar . 20 – South Africa v.Scotland Mar . 22 – Scotland v . The Netherlands Mar.24 – Australia v.South Africa Group B – Trinidad and Tobago Mar . 15 – Sri Lanka v . Bermuda Mar.17 – India v.Bangladesh Mar .19 – India v.Bermuda Mar . 21 – Sri Lanka v.Bangladesh Mar.23 India v.Sri Lanka Mar . 25 – Bermuda v . Bangladesh Group C – St. Lucia Mar .14 – Kenya v.Canada Mar.16 – England v.New Zealand Mar.18 – England v.Canada Mar.20 – New Zealand v.Kenya Mar.22 – New Zealand v.Canada Mar . 24 – England v.Kenya Group D – Kingston,Jamaica Mar.13 – West Indies v.Pakistan Mar .15 – Zimbabwe v.Ireland Mar.17 – Pakistan v.Ireland Mar . 19 – W est Indies v.Zimbabwe Mar . 21 – Zimbabwe v . P akistan Mar.23 – West Indies v.Ireland SECOND ST AGE – SUPER EIGHT .TOP TWO TEAMS FROM EACH GROUP ADV ANCE MARCH Mar.27 – Second place in Group D v. winner of Group A in Antigua and Barbuda.Mar . 28 – Second place in Group A v . winner of Group B in Guyana. Mar.29 – Second place in Group D v. winner of Group C in Antigua and Barbuda. Mar.30 – Winner Group D v.second place in Group C in Guy ana. Mar . 31 – Winner in Group A v.second place in Group B in Antigua and Barbuda. APRIL April 1 – Second place in Group D v.winner of Group B in Guy ana. April 2 – Second place in Group B v.winner of Group C in Antigua and Barbuda. A pril 3 – Winner of Group D v.second place in Group A in Guyana. A pril 4 – Second place in Group C v .winner of Group B in Antigua and Barbuda. April 7 – Second place in Group B v.second place in Group A in Guyana. April 8 – Winner of Group A v.second place in Group C in Antigua and Barbuda.A pril 9 – Winner of Group D v.winner of Group C in Guyana. April 10 – Second place in Group D v. second place in Group A in Grenada. A pril 11 – Second place in Group C v . second place in Group B in Barbados. April 12 – Winner of Group B v.winner of Group C in Grenada. April 13 – Winner of Group A v.winner of Group D in Barbados. A pril 14 – Second place in Group A v. winner of Group C in Grenada. A pril 15 – Second place in Group B v . winner of Group D in Barbados. April 16 – Winner of Group A v.winner ofGroup B in Grenada. April 17 – Second place in Group A v. second place in Group C in Barbados. April 18 – Winner of Group D v.winner ofGroup B in Grenada.A pril 19 – Second place in Group D v . second place in Group B in Barbados. A pril 20 – Winner of Group A v . winner of Group C in Grenada. A pril 21 Second place in Group D v. second place in Group C in Barbados. SEMI FINAL ROUND JAMAIC A April 24 – Second v.third St.LUCIA April 25 – First v.fourth FINAL April 28 BARBADOS USA Cricket Association suspended by world bodyICC Cricket World Cup 2007 match schedule GORDON WILLIAMS Two more Caribbeanborn soccer players are hoping to boost their professional careers with Miami F.C., a Florida-based club which competes in theUnited Soccer Leagues (USL in the United States. Club sources confirmed to Caribbean T oday late last month that Jamaican Sean Barrett and Ger ghiny Obas of Haiti were among less than a dozen players who survived the cut at open tryouts with the club last month. Beginning this month, they willtrain with the team with the hope of making Miami F .C.’s 22player official roster for opening day in mid-April. Barrett, a forward, and midfielder/defender Obascompeted for the coveted noncontract “walk-on” spots with mor e than 300 players at the tr youts. They are hoping to emulate the feats of countr ymen Sean Fraser and Stephane Guillaume, who wer e both signed by Miami F .C. based on their performance at tryoutslast season. Fraser, from Jamaica, and Guillaume of Haiti both had fairly successful seasons play ing alongside Brazilian World Cup gr eats Romario and Zinho at Miami F.C., which advanced to the play-of fs in its first USL season. Both players started numerous games and later r eceived contract extensions at Miami F.C. They were also selected for their national team to play in the Digicel Caribbean Cup. Fraser’s career earned an added boost when he wasselected for a loan spell withtop Brazilian club Boavista. He is set to rejoin Miami F.C. for the star t of the USL season. TRIAL According to club sources, Bar rett and Obas will be on trial when they participate in pre-season training, which was scheduled to star t earlier this month. “The pr e-season is an excellent oppor tunity to further analyze the players who already signed with Miami F.C. and also the ones chosen at the tryouts, especially the latter said Chiquinho de Assis, head coach for Miami F.C. Miami F.C.boosts Caribbean soccer players GORDON WILLIAMS Jamaican-born O’Neil “Supernova” Bell willdefend his undisputed world cr uiserweight boxing crown against Jean-Marc Mormeck in Paris, France this month. Bell, with a ring record of 26 wins with 24 knockouts,wrapped up the bulk of histraining in Califor nia late last month and returned to hisAtlanta, United States homeconfident that he is in the best shape to defend the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles he took from Mormeck when the two first met in Jan. 2006. “I couldn’ t be more ready Bell told Caribbean Today. The much-anticipated Mar. 17 rematch in the 200-pound weight class will be Bell’s first bout since knocking out Mormeck in New York’sMadison Squar e Gar den. He has since been stripped of his International Boxing Federation belt for failing to defend that title last year. Bell said he was unable to make the mandatory IBF fight against AmericanSteve Cunningham because of a medical pr oblem. FIT ,READY However , he claimed he is now fit and ready for Mormeck. Bell stepped up pr eparation during a month-long training stint at Big Bear, California where he also had to overcome a legal problem. Last month the champion was charged with assaulting one of his sparring partners, but the char ge was later dropped. Bell claimed the incident has only ser ved to rev him up for the Mor meck fight. “It was definite motivation for me,” he said. Bell’ s camp said he spar red mor e rounds for the rematch than when he first fought Mor meck. With the physical aspect of his training now com plete, the champion, who plans to leave the U.S. for France around Mar. 12, said he is currently working on sharpening his mental appr oach. s just to focus, make sure everything is perfect,” he said. For the r eturn fight Bell told Caribbean Today he expects Mormeck to be in muchbetter physical shape, but he does not see the Frenchmanchanging ring tactics. Neither does he plan to change his own appr oach. “It will be like two freight trains clashing head on,” Bell said. “I don’t expect him to box and I don’t want to box him.” Gordon Williams is Caribbean Today’s managing editor. Jamaica’s O’Neil ‘Supernova’ Bell defends cruiserweight crown Mar.17 March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 23 SPORT SPORT www .caribbeantoday.com Bell CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 23 

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BROOKLYN, New York – Guyana’s world-rated light-welter weight boxer Vivian Har ris is now awaiting confirmation of an Inter national Boxing Federation (IBF shot against champion Junior Witter of Britain. Harris qualified for the world title bout by defeatingMexico’ s Juan Lazcano in an IBF eliminator in Las V egas last month. It is expected that Harris and Witter will meet later this year for Witter’s belt and the Caribbean 140-pound pugilist is waiting patiently while hispr omoter negotiates the fight ar rangements. “I leave that up to Gar y Shaw. He’s a great promoter and I am happy to have him as a promoter,” Harris said in an interview recently on the BoxingTalk web site. “I know he (Shaw going to come back to thetable with what’ s best for me,” Harris added. IMPRESSIVE Harris boasts a ring record of 27 wins (18 knock-outs) against two losses andone draw , while Witter has 35 wins (20 knockoutsone loss and two draws. In acompetitive bout withLazcano on Feb. 10 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Harris secured a unanimous points decision victory. A former World Boxing Association (WBA ter weight champion, Harris was classy early in the bout and dominated Lazcano, but the Mexican rallied with a strong third round and Harris was forced to fend off sustained aggression in some of the middle and late r ounds en route to a victory, 115-112 (twice “I am pleased with my performance (against Lazcano and ready to move on to the next one,” Harris said of his latest win. NEW CHAPTER The 28-year-old Harris recently married his long-timepar tner and hopes this new chapter in his life will enhance his boxing car eer . e finally tied the knot at a small servicethis is the woman I want to spend ther est of my life with. That’ s what life is, when the family is strong, everything else isstr ong,” Har ris said. In Oct. 2002, Harris beat Cuba-born Diosbelys Hurtado in two rounds to win theWBA belt, becomingGuyana’ s third world boxing champion – after Andrew Lewis and Wayne Braithwaite. He defended the crown three times befor e losing to Colombian Carlos Maussa. Photograph and story from CMC. Guyana’s Harris awaits boxing world title shot The Caribbean’ s hopes of sending a team to soccer’s under-20 world championships this summer in Canada fizzled badly lastmonth. Jamaica and St. Kitts and Nevis were both knocked out of the finals after sufferingtwo losses in the last r ound of qualifiers in Mexico. Jamaica was beaten 2-0 by both Costa Rica and the hosts during group play. St.Kitts and Nevis lost 2-0 toMexico and 3-2 to Costa Ricato be eliminated. The two Caribbean teams drew 1-1 in the final group game to secure a point each,but it was not good enough toadvance to the world champi onships. Mexico and CostaRica finished in the first two places of the four-team group and will represent the CONCACAF r egion in the tournament. BEST BOYZ IN HONG KONG 24 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 Harris Jamaican player Kavin Bryan tries to deceive his Chinese opponent with the ball during last month’s final of the Lunar New Year Cup 2007 in Hong K ong. Jamaica drew 0-0 with China,but the Reggae Boyz won the four-team soccer tournament by defeating the Chinese five to four on penalty kicks after extra time. Australia finished third after beating the Hong Kong League XI also in a penalty shootout. It was the first time that Jamaica had been invited to the tournament,which also marked the debut assignment for the Reggae Bo yz’ new technical director Bora Milutinovic. Earlier in the tournament Jamaica tied 1-1 with Australia, but advanced to the final by defea ting the Aussies in a penalty shootout. SPORT SPORT www.caribbeantoday.com Jamaica, St.Kitts youth soccer world championship bids fizzle CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 24 

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KINGSTOWN, St. V incent, CMC T rinidadian Edwin Carrington has been reappointed secretary general ofthe Caribbean community(CARICOM term, according to the official communiqu issued at the end of the 18th Inter-Sessional summit her e last month. Carrington, the former secr etary general of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACPappointed to the post in 1992.He is the fifth CARICOMsecr etar y general and heads the Guyana-based secretariat. His new five-year term will begin Aug. 1. The r egional leaders also agreed to re-appoint Jamaican-bor n Ambassador Richar d Bernal as directorgeneral of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNMfur ther two-year ter m. The CRNM coordinates the region’s negotiations at international forums. KINGSTOWN, St. V incent, CMC Caribbean community(CARICOM nment have agreed to fully implement the single economy component of the regional integration movement on a phased basis by 2015 and allow for the full free movement of the community’ s nationals by 2009. Chair man, St. Vincent and the Gr enadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Trinidadand T obago Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur said these were some of the major decisions coming out of an “extremely productive” 18th Inter -Sessional CARICOM Heads of Gover nment conference which concluded here last month. “It was a very positive three days of work done in a ver y joyous, warm spirit without rancour, with camaraderie and withlove,” Gonsalves said at the closing press conference. PHASING IN Ar thur said while the framework for the single market the second component of the CARICOM SingleMarket and Economy (CSME would be on target for the 2008 schedule, it was agreed to accept the recommendation of a report on the CSME which suggested the phased implementation of the schedule. “Do not expect to see the single economy coming in one fell swoop, we have sequencedthe activity in two phases, that which will take place between 2008 and 2009 and then from 2010 up to 2015,” said Arthur, who has lead prime ministerial r esponsibility for the CSME. He said while “simpler” components would be appr oached in the earlier period, more complex issues such as harmonization of fiscal and monetary policy and eventually a single currency would be in the last period. Manning, the prime minister with lead r esponsibility for security issues, also announced that effective Feb. 16, CARICOM nationals traveling thr oughout the Single Domestic Space would not need to use passports. He, however, suggested that people still traveled with their passpor ts as there would be random security checks. CARICOM re-appoints Carrington,Bernal CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC Prime Minister Sir JohnCompton has said that whileSt. Lucia achieved a lot in 28years of Independence, he isnot happy with life in the country. In a national addr ess to mark Independence Day, Feb. 22, Sir John lamented that ther e was gr eat reason to be concerned about crime, security of person and property and general attitudes in the country. “It is said of us that it is much easier to accumulate wealth that to acquire good manners, as it is in our stan dard of behavior and personal consideration for others thatwe have fallen sor t. W e have not necessarily prepared ourselves to get ahead but always to push to get in front,” Sir John said. C A UTION He cautioned against allowing the saying to become a fact “that the childr en of St. Lucia have gone forth into the wilder ness of materialism, wher e nothing is consecrated, nothing is ordained.” Sir John, who was addressing the nation on the occasion of the anniversary of Independence for the first time in 10 years, also regretted the fact that St. Lucia was not prepared for the Caribbean com-munity (CARICOM Market and Economy. Additionally, the prime minister said the education system was in shambles and the Universal SecondaryEducation “so hur riedly r ushed into operation without preparation, would be a disaster if left in its current form.” He said that the free movement of skilled persons had already been agreed to by all CARICOM governments, but ther e was no cer tification process in St. Lucia. CHALLENGE The prime minister said that the challenge now was to educate, train and improve the nation’s work force and repeated his intention to investigate what he said was millions of dollars in cost overruns under the previous administration. “If we fail to inquire into these matters, this new gov er nment would be accom plices and would be just as guilty for not exposing, condoning the shortcoming and the conduct of government affairs,” he said. Sir John said that despite the many challenges facing the country, there were also opportunities available, adding that the nation must be prepared to take advantage of these opportunities. W ith the Independence theme “Rising to the Global Challenges”, Sir John urgedhis countr ymen to pr epare themselves through education and skills training for the local and regional job markets, adding that the countr s exports must be of the quality to meet global competition. Activities for the obser vance of Independence included a national parade, competitions among schools in various educational, sport-ing and cultural events, and a major national concert. P.M.marks Independence by urging St.Lucians to rise to global challengesCARICOM leaders agree on key economic issues March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 25 REGION REGION www .caribbeantoday.com Arthur Manning Gonsalves Compton CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 25 

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC Leader of the governing People’s National Movement(PNM Manning, has told supporters toput their houses in or der and await his announcement of gen eral elections. “As we face the electorate in a little while, your responsibility as a political party is to be ready,” Manning urged party faithful, following his walkabout in the Sangre Grande area in east Trinidadlate last month. Party members have been touring several parts of the country as the country waitson Manning to signal hisintention to go to the polls. Sangr e Grande now falls within the ambit of a new con stituency of Cumuto-Manzanilla in one of the five new electoral boundaries created by theElections and Boundaries Commission. With the changes,the number of constituencies has now moved from 36 to 41. AYBACK’ Manning described the pending general elections as “payback time” for the 33-3defeat of the PNM in 1986 bythe National Alliance for Reconstruction. He said thepar ty needed to put a “special” constitution in placebefor e calling the elections, noting that he wanted a special majority in Parliament. Manning warned supporters to not be complacent evenas its main political rival the United National Congress (UNCtious political divisions andleadership squabbles. TheUNC was split last year when its political leader Winston Dookeran walked out to start his own party Congress ofthe People. Analysts havear gued that this will benefit the governing party and lead it to a return to office in the elections due this year. The PNM was expected to hold a special general councilearlier this month to discuss matters relating to both thelocal and general elections. GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC Guyana last month marked the 37th anniversary of being a republic, with the Bhar rat Jagdeo gover nment appealing to the multi-racial nation to unite in the inter est of accelerating national development. President Jagdeo, accompanied by senior members of his Cabinet including Prime Minister Samuel Hinds; Cultur e, Youth and Sport Minister Dr . Frank Anthony , as well as the acting Police Commissioner Henry Greene, and the Chief of Staff Brigadier Edward Collins, attended the flag raising ceremony at Parliament Buildings in the capital on Feb. 23. Jagdeo took the presidential salute, inspected the Guar d of Honor, which comprised more than 100 members of the Joint Services, befor e the National Flag was raised to the traditional 21-gun salute. Racial and political polarization have historically dogged this Caribbean community (CARI COM) country and Human Services and Social Security Minister Priya Manickchand, in a speech to mark the republican celebration, reminded the population that “each Guyanese has a r ole to play in the develop ment of their country GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC A Caribbean communi ty (CARICOM observed the general electionsin the T urks and Caicos last month said the results reflectedthe will of the electorate, evenwhile calling for better voter education programs in the Overseas British T er ritor y . In a preliminary assessment released here, the threemember team headed by Carson Raggie, the chief elections of ficer in St. Lucia, noted that the preparations for the conduct of the elections wereadequate, “despite concer ns raised about the Voters List in relation to registration of vot-ers.” Premier Michael Misick and his r uling Pr ogr essive National Party were re-elected to office. IVAN CLIFFORD HAMILTON, Bermuda – All 22 of the governing Progressive Labour Party (PLP of Parliament are black in an island where 40 percent of the population is white. But the political landscape couldchange considerably in the next general elections, which is due by 2008 but widely expected to be called this summer. Businesswoman Jane Correia, a former commodoreof the Royal Ber muda Yacht Club, once a bastion of whitemale supr emacy, is the latest white person to confirm she wants to run for the PLP, whichhas been in power since ending 30 years of uninterrupted rule by the United Ber muda Party (UBP. 1998. The bi-weekly Bermuda Sun newspaper said 43-year-old Correia’s plan to run for thePLP “will be seen by many as symbolic of our island’s shifting political power base.” TURMOIL The UBP had 14 MPs, six of them white, elected at the last elections, but has been in turmoil in recent weeks follow-ing two high-pr ofile r esignations and, according to opinion polls, now trails a distant second behind the PLP, which has been given fresh impetus by Ewart Brown since he oustedAlex Scott in the par ty’ s leader ship battle last October . “Br own’ s elevation to the top post is said by PLP sour ces to have attracted new members, including whites, drawn by his r eputation for getting things done”, the Sun r eported. The newspaper earlier reported that construction com-pany boss Zane DeSilva, a close friend and golfing buddy of the premier, who is also tourism and transport minister, will be a PLP candidate at the next polls, while for mer UBP Senator Wendell Hollis is now a PLP supporter, although he says he has too many commitments to run for Parliament. Both are white. ‘WHITE F ACE’ “The newly emerging ‘white face’ of the PLP might skew the widely-held belief that the PLP exists solely to serve black interests”, the Sun stated. Correia, a friend of Brown, a 60-year-old physician, and his wife Wanda, said she joined the PLP after Brown became pre-mier . Asked by the Sun why she wanted to run, Correia said: “I feel it is impor tant to be pr oac tive in a community. I believe in the dir ection that the PLP is going.” She said she had never pr eviously been a member of either political party but it wasimpor tant to “become involved instead of sitting back and com plaining about issues.” Addr essing the issue of race, she said: “I think it is timerace is put aside. I believe the way forward for all Bermudians is to respect each other The UBP body blows came when Pembroke West MP Jamahl Simmons, at 35 the youngest member of the House of Assembly, and party Chairwoman Gwyneth Rawlins both resigned in protest against alleged manipulation and contr ol of the party by the island’ s white elite. UBP veteran Maxwell Burgess then stuck the knife in by claiming the party was divid-ed and ailing and called on party leader, black businessman Wayne Furbert, to resign. But Furbert dug his heels in, stating: “W e are not down and out. W e expect to win. We have r eached rock bottom, the only way is up.” The PLP has had only one white face in Cabinet, TourismMinister David Allen, who died of cancer five years ago. At thelast election the PLP ran onlyone white candidate – hotelier Leopold Kuchler – who was heavily defeated in the UBPstr onghold of Paget W est. The UBP, which in the past r eceived vir tual blanket suppor t from white voters, was finally driven fr om power when the black middle class deserted the par ty at the 1998 election. CMC Manning puts T&T on election alertGuy ana celebrates republican statusT urks re-elects PNP Whites ready to run for Bermuda’s ruling Progressive Labour Party 26 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 Bro wn Ja gdeo POLITICS POLITICS www.caribbeantoday.com CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 26 

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WOMEN’S HISTORY LUNCHEON Pioneering women interred in the Miami City Cemetery will be honoredduring the ninth annual Women’s History Luncheon noon Mar.19 at City of Miami Legion Park 6447 N.E. 7th Ave. in Miami. During the event, pr esented by The African American Committee of Dade Heritage Trust in Florida, the women’s lives will be portrayed in a skit written by Leome Culmer andper for med by members of The Singing Angels a community gr oup under the dir ection of Dr. Richard Strachan. The 2007 honor ees ar e: Margaret Gilbert Amason, Vera Parks Albury, Monica Hanna, Bessie Forbes, Arlean McKenzie, and Olive F.Scavella. For tickets and more information, call Enid Pinkney at 305-635-5130 or 305-635-5800 . SERVICE AWARDS The Consulate General of Jamaica will pr esent its first Community Service Awards Cer emony and High T ea at 3:30 p.m.Mar.25 at the Biltmor e Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. Jamaica’s Governor General Kenneth Hall is theguest of honor . For more information, call the consulate at 305-3748431. KNOWING GOV’T Starting this month, residents of Broward County, Florida are being invited to participate in a new program that offers them an opportunity to learn about the county’s government. During the fr ee eightweek program, called the Broward County Academy, residents will learn how county government delivers services to enhance and promote the quality of life for resi-dents, businesses and visitors.The goal is to raise public awareness about county pro-grams and ser vices, and to increase community involvement and par ticipation in local government. The academy will run through Mar.29 . All county residents age 18 or older ar e eligible to apply. There is a limit of 25 students for each academy , and two academies will be offered each year. Acceptancewill be granted on a first come, first serve basis. There is no registration fee or cost to participants. Applications for the Broward County Academy are available on the Broward Countyweb site www.broward.org/ academ y , by e-mailing publicinfo@broward.org or by calling the Broward County Public Communications Office at 954-357-6990 . PASSPORT REMINDER The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTIef fect in Januar y . The WHTI requires all those United States citizens traveling by air to the Caribbean to have a passport. For information about applying for a U.S. passport,visit http://usps .com/passport or call 800-ASK-USPS . P ASSPORT APPLICATION The National Passpor t Information Center (NPIC the United States Department of State’s single, centralizedpublic contact center for U.S. passpor t infor mation, is of fering a toll free service and has expanded its ser vice availability/options. Persons with questions or need status checks on pending passport applications can call 1-877-487-2778 . Customer service representatives are available from 8 a.m.to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday , excluding Federal holidays.Automated infor mation is available 24 hours a day , seven days a week. For e-mail access, visit: npic@state .gov W ebsite of passport and other international travel information isavailable at travel.state.gov ‘GREEN CARD’FILING The United States Citizenship and ImmigrationSer vices (USCIS announced that aliens mustmail applications to r enew or r eplace permanent resident cards, commonly known as “Green Cards”, directly to the Los Angeles Lockbox. The Lockbox is a processing facility used by USCIS toaccelerate the collection of applications and petitions. The announced change allows the agency to improve the processing of Form I-90 (Application to ReplacePer manent Resident Card) by electronically capturing data and images and by performingfee r eceipting and depositing fr om one central location, rather than at the local district of fice, ser vice center , or appli cation support center (ASC Aliens filing a Form I-90, regardless of their state of residence, must mail those applications with an application fee of $185 and a biometrics feeof $70 to one of the following addresses: For U.S. Postal Ser vice (USPS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, P.O.Box 54870 Los Angeles, CA 90054-0870; Or for non-USPS deliveries (e.g. private couriers U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Attention: I-90, 16420 ValleyV iew Ave., La Mirada, CA 90638 Applicants should not include initial evidence and supporting documentation when submitting the Form I-90 to the Los AngelesLockbox. Applicants will r eceive a notice for a biometrics pro-cessing appointment at an ASC and will submit their ini tial evidence during that appointment. Applicants will receive their biometrics appointmentin the mail. P AGEANT ENTRY Par tners for Youth Foundation is accepting applications the “Miss Jamaica Florida 2007 Pageant” to beheld on J une 24 at the Coral Gables Center for the Arts. The pageant is open to Jamaican-bor n females or those of Jamaican par entage. The categories are “Little Miss” (ages five to eight “Junior Miss” (nine to 12 “Miss Teen” (13-16“Miss Jamaica Florida” (17-21). The deadline for applica tions is April 30 . For mor e infor mation, call Marcia Baker at 954-600-0334 . March 2007CARIBBEAN TODAY 27 FYI FYI www .caribbeantoday.com FALLING IN LINE Photogra ph by JIS/NYWith the recent implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTImandating all air travelers returning to the United States to have a valid passport on arrival at all ports of entry,the Jamaican Consulate has seen a sharp rise in the number of persons applying for passports at its midtown,Manhattan,New York location.The rise in applications may also be attributed to those persons tra veling to the Caribbean for Cricket World Cup 2007 which begins this month.Here,walk-in applicants wait in the cro wded lobby area of the passport/visa section of the consulate to turn in paperwork for a passport that now takes anywhere from four to six weeks to be processed. CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 27 

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28 CARIBBEAN TODAYMarch 2007 CTMar07.qxd 3/11/07 10:54 PM Page 28