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November 2004 News Archives
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Montserrat to be represented at World Travel Market 2004 - Nov 5th 2004
Flags to fly at half-mast Friday for Funeral of Princess Alice - Nov 4, 2004
Crown Counsel prepares for Alternative to Custodial Sentences workshop -BVI - Nov 5, 2004
CM Osborne to attend major Caricom and OECS meetings in T'dad and Tortola - Nov 5, 2004
Quality education is a holistic process, says local parliamentarian - Nov 9, 2004
Exco members tour new prison - Nov 10, 2004
- Montserrat Granted more time to prepare for the CSME - Nov 12, 2004
- Community Services Dept gears up for International Children's Day on Nov 20 - Nov 17 2004
- New Prison facility dedicated - Nov 19th 2004
- Local entrepreneur releases her first publication - Nov. 24 2004
- Star Clipper cruise vessel to visit Montserrat - Nov. 30 2004
Press Release from Montserrat Tourist Board - Nov 5th 2004
MONTSERRAT TO BE REPRESENTED AT WORLD TRAVEL MARKET 2004
Montserrat will be represented at
World Travel Market 2004 to be held
in London from November 8th to the
11th this year. This trade show is
held annually and is the global
event for the travel industry. It is
held at the Excel Trade Show Grounds
located at the Royal Victoria Docks.
The show accommodates about 5,000
exhibitors covering some 190
countries and offers visitors an
opportunity to identify and interact
with new markets, learn about the
latest trends and developments,
network and most importantly, do
business.
As is customary, Montserrat will
have a booth, which will be
decorated with posters pictures,
banners, and a few small craft items
depicting the natural charm of the
island.
In attendance at World Travel Market
will be representatives from the
Government’s Montserrat UK Office,
the Montserrat Tourist Board,
including the Director of Tourism,
Ms. Ernestine Cassell, member of the
Board of Directors, Miss Veronica
Hickson, and Mr. Paul Ridoutt,
Project Manager, who will be meeting
with tour operators, public
relations representatives and other
media and travel trade personnel.
The Airport Project Manager will
also be on hand to update visitors
to the booth with regard to airport
opening and services.
Press
Release
For more information contact
Montserrat Tourist Board
P.O. Box7
Brades
Montserrat
Tel: 664-491-2230/8730
Fax: 664-491-7430
e-mail:
mrattouristboard@candw.ag
Website:
www.visitmontserrat.com
Flags to fly at half-mast Friday for Funeral of Princess Alice
BRADES, (Montserrat) Nov 4, 2004
(GIU): Flags will fly at half-mast
at the
Governor's Office and Government
Headquarters Friday on the day of
the official
funeral for HRH Princess Alice,
Duchess of Gloucester.
Mark Patterson, Staff Officer in the
Governor's Officer (Lancaster House,
Olveston) confirmed the funeral and
mourning arrangements for the late
Princess Alice in a memo addressed
to the Office of the Hon. Chief
Minister.
Crown Counsel prepares for Alternative to Custodial Sentences workshop -BVI
BRADES, (Montserrat) Nov 5, 2004
(GIU): Jean Dyer, Crown Counsel in
the Attorney General's Chambers,
will be the lone representative from
Montserrat at the Caribbean Overseas
Territories (OTs) workshop on
Alternatives to Custodial Sentences
at the Prospect Reef Resort, British
Virgin Islands on November 9-10.
The primary objective of the
workshop is to explore ways to help
reduce prison overcrowding in the
OTs by implementing alternative
sentencing options, according to
press release from the Information
and Public Relations Department in
the BVI.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth
Office is sponsoring the two-day
workshop.
Representatives are also expected to
attend from Anguilla, Bermuda,
Cayman Islands and the Turks and
Caicos Islands.
CM Osborne to attend major Caricom and OECS meetings in T'dad and Tortola
BRADES, (Montserrat) Nov 5, 2004
(GIU): Hon. John Osborne,
Montserrat's Chief Minister will be
among his regional counterparts at
the special Heads of Government
meeting scheduled for Trinidad and
Tobago this weekend.
The recovery and rebuilding
programmes in Grenada and other
Caribbean states affected by
hurricane Ivan will be feature
prominently in the talks by the
Caricom Heads.
CM Osborne will be accompanied
during his visit to Port-of-Spain by
Claudia Skerritt, Regional Affairs
Officer.
From Trinidad, Mr Osborne will head
to the British Virgin Islands to
participate in the 40th meeting of
the Authority of the Organisation of
Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
John Skerritt, Hon. Financial
Secretary and Crown Counsel Jean
Dyer will form part of the official
Montserrat delegation in Tortola for
the sub-regional leaders conference.
Economic and legal matters are
expected to dominate the agenda of
the November 10-12 conference which
will be chaired by the St Lucian
Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable
Kenny Anthony.
The OECS was formed on June 18,1981
when seven countries signed the
Treaty of Basseterre in St Kitts.
The BVI and Anguilla joined the OECS
as associate members in 1984 and
1995 respectively. The OECS
Authority is the highest decision
making body in the sub-regional
grouping and traditionally meets
twice a year.
BVI last hosted the OECS Heads
meeting in 1998.
Quality education is a holistic process, says local parliamentarian
BRADES, (Montserrat) Nov 9, 2004
(GIU): Roselyn Cassell-Sealy,
Executive
Director of the St Patrick's
Co-operative Credit Union, says
quality education is a
holistic process.
The local parliamentarian made the
comment as she delivered the keynote
address at the 2004 Montserrat Union
of Teachers Convention held at the
Brades
Primary School Tuesday morning.
Cassell-Sealy told the gathering
which included Agriculture Minister
Margaret
Annie Dyer-Howe and Sir Howard
Fergus that quality education is
about
understanding the needs of the
society.
The theme for this year's teachers
convention is 'Quality Teachers for
Quality
Education.'
She notes that " hand education
cannot exist without head education"
and that
quality teachers never give up on
their students.
The opposition MP challenged
teachers to adopt different teaching
techniques,
pursue higher level training and to
be creative and innovative.
" Quality teachers cannot deliver
quality education in a
vacuum....teachers must
be given the resources to do their
jobs properly," Cassell-Sealy said.
She says the government and the
community must play a key role in
the
development of quality teachers and
quality education.
Meanwhile, in the annual report
Edith Duberry, Vice President of the
Montserrat
Union of Teachers spoke about the
need to recruit other members and
holding
more meetings to discuss union
affairs.
Duberry says the union should not
only be seen as a bargaining agent
for wages.
There are only 23 registered members
of the Montserrat Union of Teachers,
but
the teacher population is closer to
50.
Three recently retired teachers -
Jeanelda Howson, Oeslyn Jemmotte and
Rosamund Meade received special
plaques for the service to education
on
Montserrat.
The convention also featured
messages from other labor union
bodies on the
island including the Civil Service
Association and Hylroy Bramble,
General
Secretary of the Montserrat Allied
Workers Union (MAWU).
1. 2.
Photos
1. Teachers and other education officials present at the convention.
2.Gregory Julius - Principal of the
Brades Primary School chaired the
convention
BRADES, (Montserrat) Nov 10, 2004
(GIU): Members of the Montserrat
Executive Council have visited the
new prison that will be formally
opened and dedicated at Brades next
Tuesday.
The delegation was spearheaded by
British Governor Deborah
Barnes-Jones and Chief Minister John
Osborne. Other government ministers
and the Attorney General completed
the party. The Financial Secretary
was missing because of duties
overseas.
The officials were taken on a full
tour of the new prison facility
built by funds from both the United
Kingdom and Montserrat governments.
They visited the prison cells and
workshops and looked at the prison
farm, according to Prison
Superintendent Peter. W.A. White.
He explained that the Exco members
were told about some of the other
projects to be set up by the prison
including a gymnasium, concrete
block making plant, fencing the
prison farm and a hydroponics (crop
production) system.
White told the GIU that the
officials used the opportunity to
speak to the inmates and signed the
visitors book.
He said that they took note of the
shortcomings at the prison and
pledged their support to have them
rectified.
Meanwhile, Caribbean delegates are
scheduled to begin arriving here
next Monday for a conference of
heads of prison from the British
Caribbean Overseas Territories and
Jamaica.
The opening of the three-day
conference on November 16 has been
planned to coincide with the formal
dedication of the new prison.
A similar meeting involving prison
superintendents from the independent
Caribbean states stretching from St
Kitts and Nevis to Guyana on the
South American mainland was held in
Antigua earlier this week.
Local prison chief White was a
specially invited guest at the
Antigua meeting where he made
presentations on disaster
preparedness and management for
prisons and the regionalization of
the prison service.
White spent one week in Grenada
assisting prison officials following
the passage of hurricane Ivan in
September which damaged the main
prison at Richmond Hill outlooking
the Grenadian capital St George's.
The regionalization proposal,
according to White, follows a study
conducted for the OECS Secretariat
by Wendy Singh, a regional human
rights and prison reform advocate.
Montserrat Granted more time to prepare for the CSME
SALEM, (Montserrat) Nov 12,:
Montserrat has been granted more
time to prepare for the Caricom
Single Market and Economy (CSME),
according to a government radio
broadcast.
The Radio Montserrat bulletin notes
that regional leaders at their just
concluded summit in Trinidad have
decided to delay the full
implementation of the CSME until
2008.
Reports from the Trinidadian capital
Port-of-Spain indicate that the CSME
will be implemented in phases with
the first phase the single market to
be implemented by December 2005.
A single economy will come in effect
three years later.
Montserrat's Chief Minister John
Osborne, speaking in Trinidad, said
he was confident that Montserrat
would meet the new deadline.
Montserrat, a British colony, is
still awaiting the entrustments or
legal documents to join the economic
grouping.
Leaders at the meeting agreed that
all member states will use the extra
time to put the necessary
legislative, administrative and
regulatory machinery in place to
allow for the inception of the CSME
during the set time.
Montserrat is expecting more help
from the Guyana-based Caricom
Secretariat. It could be one of the
islands in line to benefit from the
creation of the Caribbean
Development Fund (CDF) designed to
assist weaker economies in the
region.
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
is preparing the outline of the CDF
which will come into effect in
December 2005.
Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur
says he is happy that Montserrat is
willing to come on board the CSME
given its own circumstances.
Montserrat has been severely
hampered by the volcanic eruptions
which started in 1995.
" I am really happy that a country
of Montserrat's circumstances has
been able to come to this meeting to
say we are now ready to honour our
commitment," Arthur said.
Montserrat has formally applied to
the UK Government for the necessary
legal documents in order to fully
participate in the Caricom Single
Market and Economy and the Caribbean
Court of Justice in its original
jurisdiction.
Montserrat is a founding member of
the Caribbean Community (Caricom) ,
having joined in 1974.
BRADES,
(Montserrat) Nov 16, 2004 (GIU):
Montserrat's new prison at Brades -
a stone's throw away from the
island's Police Headquarters - was
dedicated here on Tuesday in a short
ceremony held in the arrival area of
the facility.
British Governor HE Deborah Barnes
Jones cut the blue ribbon to
officially open the correctional
centre - which was previously a
remand area.
Among the officials and dignitaries
attending the function were Hon.
Chief Minister of Montserrat John
Osborne, members of his Cabinet, two
former Prison Superintendents James
Greenaway and Richard Allen,
delegates here for the British
Caribbean Overseas Territories,
Jamaica and Bermuda Heads of Prison
Conference, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office officials and Christopher
Gibbard, the UK Prison Advisor for
the Overseas Territories and
Jamaica.
Governor Barnes Jones, in her brief
remarks, said that while the new
prison still needs some finishing
touches, it will serve as a place
where offenders are looked after
with humanity and where inmates are
prepared for re-entry back into the
society.
Gibbard said the new prison has been
long in the planning, noting that
prisoners from Montserrat have had
to relocated overseas to the UK,
British Virgin Islands, Cayman
Islands, Jamaica and the Turks and
Caicos Islands.
" There's a lot more to do. But it's
an enormous achievement so far,"
Gibbard told the gathering.
He said rehabilitation for inmates
will be one of the key areas of
focus. The UK Prison Advisor also
raised the issue of alternatives of
prison sentences.
Peter W.A. White, Montserrat's
Prison Superintendent said the
island is proud to host the regional
conference for the first time since
March 1994 due to the volcanic
situation.
He said delegates will exchange
ideas and review procedures in the
various prisons.
White also noted that the conference
would benefit from the coordinating
efforts of the Prison Advisor.
Some of the key areas of discussion
during the conference will include
alternatives to custody, the UK's
international obligations that
extend to prisons in the Overseas
Territories and Disaster
Preparedness and Management from a
prison perspective.
" We all share similar goals to
provide a safe environment for the
community," White said.
He also indicated that the prison on
Montserrat has been relocated eight
(8) times since the onset of the
volcanic eruptions in 1995.
The local prison chief also
disclosed that since 1995 to present
there have been one hundred and five
(105) movements of inmates overseas.
"Overseas movements (inmates) have
been quite expensive over the
years," White said in his note of
thanks to the prison authorities in
the Caymans, Turks and Caicos, BVI
and Jamaica for assisting with the
movements and accommodation of the
inmates from Montserrat.
The dedication of the prison was
conducted by Rev. Rudolph Smitten,
Dean of the Anglican Cathedral of
St. John Divine ( Antigua).
Rev. Rosalind Morgan of the
Methodist Church started with the
Invocation, while Ruel Hixon, Deputy
Superintendent of Prison introduced
the Chairperson Ann Marie Dewar,
Permanent Secretary, Department of
Administration.
Verna West, Chairperson of the
Prison Visiting Committee concluded
the ceremony with the
acknowledgments.
1. Delegates and Officials at the British Caribbean Overseas Territories, Jamaica and Bermuda Heads of Prison Conference
2. New prison facility (Front)
Work starts on new EOC Media Centre
BRADES,
(Montserrat) Nov 16, 2004
(GIU): Work has started on the
new Media Centre for the
Emergency Operations Centre
(EOC) in St John's, according to
EOC Director Captain Horatio
Tuitt.
Captain Tuitt told the GIU Tuesday that the work is being carried out by the local construction firm L and B Construction.
" The new media centre will have permanent home at the EOC headquarters," Capt. Tuitt said in a short interview.
The EOC Media Centre previously operated out of a Portakabin located next to the main building in St John's.
He said the new Media Centre will will be fully equipped to facilitate media briefings including audio and video presentations.
" It will be able to provide live radio and television feeds simultaneously," according to the head of the EOC.
Capt. Tuitt said it will also serve as a boost for the EOC's public education and information outreach programmes.
The media centre is due for completion by April 2005. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) is providing the funding for the project.
Tuitt said approved funds for the media centre total a little over EC$300 thousand and forms part of the EOC Enhancement Project.
1. The EOC Headquarters in St. Johns
2. Workmen working on the new media centre at the EOC
Community Services Dept gears up for International Children's Day - Nov 20
BRADES, (Montserrat) Nov 17,
2004 (GIU): The rights of the
child will feature prominently
during a National Symposium here
Friday at the Government
Training Centre to mark
International Children's Day on
November 20.
Among the topics for discussion
during the symposium are
Montserrat's status in relation
to its Laws and Policies for the
protection of children, what
more needs to be done to ensure
that children's rights are
fulfilled and how do the
authorities ensure that children
are aware of their rights and
responsibilities.
Hazel Thompson-Ahye, attorney
and senior tutor at the Eugene
Dupuch Law School, will be the
main facilitator at the
symposium. Other activities
planned for mark International
Children's Day include a story
writing/telling and poster
competition.
Participants from the nursery
schools, special needs unit,
primary and secondary schools
and the Montserrat Community
College will be involved the
activities.
Universal Children's Day was
first celebrated on Montserrat
on November 20, 2003 under the
theme ' The Promise of Tomorrow
is here today.'
The day was commemorated by an
educational programme
highlighting the rights of the
child and apprising children of
the responsibilities attached
the rights.
The programmes are being
coordinated by the Community
Services Department.
Local entrepreneur releases her first publication
Brades (Montserrat) Nov. 24 2004
(GIU) Catherine Weekes Barzey a
former Montserrat Government
Employee, has officially
released her first publication.
The 44 page booklet entitled “
stretching your dollars” hit the
newsstands on Wednesday
incidentally the birthday of the
author.
The publication is a
consolidation of tips and hints
for consumers. It includes items
such as consumer tips for salt
use, onion and garlic tips,
kitchen safety tips, budgeting
tips and shopping for shoes
The book is dedicated to all
conscious consumers who seek
value for their money in
shopping wisely on today's tight
budget," wrote Catherine Weekes
Barzey.
She further notes that "this
guide has been compiled with
citizens of Montserrat and
nationals at heart. Catherine
Weekes Barzey spent 24 years in
the Montserrat Public service
before she voluntarily left the
civil service earlier this year.
She worked in most of the
Government departments and
ministries including the Cheif
Ministers office, Governors
Office, Community Services,
Ministry of Finance, Tourist
Department and the Montserrat
Technical College.
Her last position before she
quit the public service was
Senior Clerical Officer in the
Price Control Unit.
Star Clipper cruise vessel to visit Montserrat
BRADES, (Montserrat) Nov 30,
2004 (GIU): Officials at the
Montserrat Tourist Board (MTB)
are gearing for the visit here
on Thursday of the 'Star
Clipper' with 130 tourists.
The boat with the German
visitors is scheduled to dock at
Port Little Bay at 10.30 a.m.
Tourist Board officials will be
on hand at the port to welcome
the visitors.
Last year, the Star Clipper with
scores of tourists from Europe
and North America also visited
Montserrat.
Ground operations for the German
tourists are being handled by
Mrs. Gloria Margetson of Runaway
Travel Ltd.
It is expected that the visitors
will be taken on sightseeing
trips near the abandoned capital
Plymouth - virtually buried in
volcanic ash and rubble from the
Soufriere Hills volcano which
erupted here in July 1995 after
being quiet for well over 300
years.
## ENDS
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