Caribbean RoundUp

Barbados

The Barbados government is looking at the possibility of negotiating payment for reparations with the British owners of the Drax Hall Plantation with reference to the inhumane treatment of enslaved African ancestors for centuries.

Drax Hall, a sugar cane plantation, has been described by historian and University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor, Sir Hilary Beckles as a “killing field” for the enslaved. An estimated 30, 000 enslaved people is said to have died on the Drax estates over a span of 200 years.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley government had sought to acquire the plantation for a housing project, but has no intention of breaching the Constitution by taking up anybody’s land without paying them.

Some have suggested that the government should confiscate the property as reparations rather than enriching the pockets of the owner, British MP Richard Drax, a descendant of Colonel Henry Drax who introduced sugar cultivation to Barbados within a decade of settlement.

But, Mottley said that having already met with Drax believes the focus should be on pushing for a she reasonable settlement for reparations.

Mottley said she did not take lightly the concerns of many Barbadians who may feel that they have been robbed of the opportunity of having an appropriate settlement that ought to be made as a result of the blood, sweat and tears of Barbadians over centuries.

Dominica

High Court judge, Justice Kimberly Cenac-Phulgence recently ruled that sections of the Sexual Offenses Act contravene the Dominica Constitution as she ruled in favour of a “gay man” who challenged legislations that criminalises buggery and other sexual activity between consenting partners, including, partners of the same sex.

In a 40-page ruling, the judge said that sections 14 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act contravene Sections 1 and 10 of the Dominica Constitution and their rights to liberty as enshrined in the Constitution.

The unnamed person (“gay man”) had brought the lawsuit and is declaring that the law violates “numerous rights guaranteed in the Constitution of Dominica” with his lawyers making particular reference to sections 14 and section 16 of the Sexual Offences Act.

Section 14 is a sweeping law criminalising gross indecency described as any act by anyone “involving the use of the genital organs, breast or anus to arouse or gratifying sexual desire.”

Guyana

The Guyana government defended its decision to file an appeal against a High Court ruling in favour of striking teachers, saying it wanted to “make it clear” that pursuing the action is intended to protect all workers in the country.

But Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton dismissed the government’s position, saying “We note that the government has announced its intention to appeal the High Court’s ruling “to the CCJ (Caribbean Court of Justice), if necessary. Teachers and workers must view this as a further demonstration of a government that is obsessed with authoritarian power”.

Justifying the decision to appeal the ruling by Justice Sandil Kissoon, the Irfaan Ali government said that it “wishes to make it clear that pursuing the recourse of an appeal is not in any way whatsoever intended to detract from its unwavering commitment to address.”

“The appeal will be pursued for the larger implications the decision will have on the industrial climate in our country and to attempt to restore the law to its proper course,” it added.

The High Court ruled that the strike by teachers was legal and that the government cannot deduct or withhold their salaries.

In addition, Justice Kissoon said the government acted arbitrarily and illegally when it stopped deducting the union dues from the salaries of teachers represented by the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU).

The GTU had gone to court to challenge the government’s decision to deduct pay from striking teachers and the government’s intention to cease deductions of dues from teachers’ pay in favor of the union. On March 4,  2024, court-ordered mediation succeeded in bringing a four-week-old teachers’ strike to an end. Talks then ensued between the union and the Ministry of Education but these later collapsed.

The High Court judge said also that any deduction or withholding of remuneration by the government from the salaries of teachers who were engaged in industrial action between Feb. 5 and March 4 would be arbitrary, unlawful, unreasonable or unconstitutional and without legal basis.

The High Court deemed the strike from Feb. 5 to March 4, 2024, as “lawful and legitimate.”

Haiti

Ariel Henry officially resigned last week as prime minister of Haiti, as a transitional government was sworn in and a new leader, Michel Patrick Boisvert, will become the country’s interim prime minister.

Boisvert, who will work with a nine-member transitional presidential council, will attempt to quell the gang-fuelled turmoil that has taken over Port-au-Prince.

Boisvert became Haiti’s minister of economy and finance in 2020, he was the director of tax inspection in the country from 2010 to 2018 prior to becoming director of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Henry previously stated that he would officially resign once a transitional government was put in place. The installation of the presidential transition council that will take over from Henry has been delayed for weeks amid intense behind-the-scenes jockeying for control among various political factions.

The establishment of the council is seen as a key first step towards ending the chaos that has engulfed the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) member state.

Henry presented his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles, dated April 24, and was released by his office on the same day that a council tasked with choosing a new prime minister and Cabinet for Haiti was sworn in.

Boisvert said that Haiti’s crisis had gone on too long and that the country now found itself at a crossroads. The members of the transitional council stood behind him, as well as the country’s top police and military officials.

“After two long months of debate … a solution has been found,” Boisvert said. “Today is an important day in the life of our dear republic.” He called the transitional council a “Haitian solution” and directing his remarks towards them, Boisvert wished them success, adding “I believe the determination is there.”

Jamaica

The Jamaica government says it will spend an estimated J$150 million to facilitate the trucking of water and procurement and distribution of water tanks to areas as the island combats persistent drought.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the House of Representatives that Jamaica is in the throes of a meteorological, hydrological and agricultural drought with the western parishes of Hanover and Westmoreland particularly affected. He said an initial amount of J$1.5 million will be allocated to each of 50 constituencies with J$2.5 million each going to the parishes of Hanover, Westmoreland, Clarendon and St. Elizabeth.

Holness told legislators that the municipal corporations in Clarendon, St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland will each receive five million dollars while the Hanover Municipal Corporation will receive $7.5 million.

He said the funding will allow the government, through the National Water Commission (NWC) and other stakeholders to respond to needs for critical infrastructure, and the worst affected communities, over the next four weeks.

“I wish to assure citizens of Westmoreland and Hanover, particularly Negril and environs, that we will continue beyond this allocation if as projected, dry conditions persist into the summer,” said Holness, noting that the impact of the drought on the citizens of some parishes had been compounded by system failure with the virtual collapse of the existing well system.

He told Parliament that the NWC had been mandated in March to allocate J$30 million to facilitate emergency response in the areas of Hanover, Westmoreland and Brown’s Town, St. Ann.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has written to the World Bank opposing a move to increase its interest rate and shorten repayment period for loans to countries.

In his letter, Gonsalves is also promising to “fight” the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) in an effort to get it to back away from the changes. The letter was also sent to 193 leaders around the world.

“And one of the issues which I want to address which is being dealt with is, where there is going to be a specific meeting on, is the question which I had raised before about leading a campaign globally against the reports which we had that the World Bank Group and IDA is initiating this — basically pitting the most vulnerable countries against the poorest,” Gonsalves told radio listeners.

“So I’ve written every single head of government in the world — 193 of them.

“I’ve written the United Nations Secretary General, I’ve written, naturally, Caricom (Caribbean Community) and OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) and I’ve written the president of the World Bank.”

Gonsalves noted that small island economies (SIEs), such as St. Lucia, Dominica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines that have access to IDA financing currently get 10 years’ grace period and up to 40 years to repay a loan. The principal payments are two percent interest for years 11 to 20 and four percent for the period 21 to 40 years.

However, the World Bank is proposing to reduce this to 30-year maturity and five years grace period.

— Compiled by Devika Ragoonanan