Essential Afro-Latino/ Caribbean Current Events
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Tropical Fantasy
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Miguel Vargas
One of the biggest crooks on this planet. Im not surprised he's open to work with Trump, both dudes are cut from the same cloth. Greedy nitwits with no backbone or integrity.
Dr. Charles Gourzong: Costa Rica’s visionary medicine man
NATASHA GORDON-CHIPEMBERE | 20 HOURS AGO
Dr. Charles Gourzong. Natasha Gordon-Chipembere/The Tico Times
Years ago, when I lived in Brooklyn, New York, one of the highlights of the summer´s end was the Annual Caribbean-American Labor Day Parade which was held on the first Monday of every September. Like its Canadian counterpart, Caribana, the Labor Day Parade was a giant, colorful mash-up of people from all over the Caribbean. Always loyal to Costa Rica, I would happily wave my flag in time with the pounding rhythms of soca music along Eastern Parkway. Most years, Costa Rica has a small contingency marching in the parade, reflecting a hesitancy in claiming the country as part of the larger Caribbean.
It was at one of these fetes that I bumped into several Afro-Costa Rican women who stopped me in recognized kinship because of my proud Costa Rican flag. After quick greetings, the exchange immediately focused on who we knew in Costa Rica. The minute I said my family name was Gourzong, from Limón, gasps emerged – along with the question, “Is Dr. Charles Gourzong your relative?”
When I explained that we were indeed close cousins, a barrage of testimonies to his transformational medical care came flooding out. One woman confided that she still flew to Costa Rica to consult Dr. Charles. Jr., as he was the only physician she trusted.
I recently had the chance to sit with Dr. Charles Jr., and share these marvelous stories of his patients abroad: testaments to his profound service as a medical doctor and humanitarian. As an Afro-Costa Rican pioneer of medicine in Costa Rica, Dr. Charles Gourzong Jr., has an incredible life history. He shared how he helped build many aspects of Costa Rica’s exemplary medical system, all while struggling within the confines of race and class.
I was fortunate enough to ask him a few questions about his life as a physician in Costa Rica as he is now happily retired, yet a much sought-after consultant on medical issues and training.
Charles William “Billy” Gourzong Taylor Jr. was born in Limón to parents who were also Limonenses but with Jamaican origins. His father, Charles Gourzong Sr., was the payroll director for the Northern Railway Company. Charles Jr. was the second of seven children. By the age of nine, he had declared that he wanted to be a physician.
Only years later did his father recount the story of his own failed attempt at being a medical doctor. As a graduate of Calabar High School in Jamaica, Charles Sr. won the first scholarship for students to study medicine at Cambridge University in England, but there was a condition: upon the completion of the degree, he would have to provide 16 years of medical service in Nigeria, far away from his family. Charles Sr. turned down the opportunity and created an impressive life in Puerto Limón, while having his dream fulfilled through his eldest son, Charles Jr.
In the mid-20th century, students in Costa Rica who wanted to attend medical school and had the wealth to do so traveled abroad to study in Mexico, Chile and Belgium, as there was no medical school in Costa Rica at the time. In 1961, the first Medical School at the University of Costa Rica was inaugurated in San José. By 1965, the Northern Railway Company created the first 10 scholarships for the top students in Limón, and Charles Jr. secured one of the ten, which covered the five years of medical school. Charles Jr. was the first Afro-Costa Rica to enter the Medical Faculty of the University of Costa Rica in 1966.
He hoped to become a medical doctor and return to the Tony Facio Hospital in Limón to work in support of the local Afro-Costa Rican community, as many only had second-class medical care. People with serious medical issues had to be taken (usually by road, a journey many did not survive) to hospitals in San José, because the Limón hospital did not have the equipment or staff to provide the emergency care.
Once he graduated from UCR, Dr. Charles got his wish: he was given a position at the Tony Facio Hospital in January 1974. He was the only Afro-Costa Rican medical doctor there. His following within the Afro-Costa Rican community was instantaneous and large.
However, his time in Limón was short-lived. He returned to San José a year later to begin a residency at the Hospital México so he could become a specialist in Internal Medicine. Today, Dr. Charles Jr. is considered one of Costa Rica’s pioneers in that field. In addition, when the hospital built the first Intensive Care Unit in Costa Rica, Dr. Charles Jr. was the first resident physician to do rounds there.
1n 1978, he returned to Limón to live and work there as a specialist, along with his growing family: his wife Ana; three sons, Charles, Michael and John Paul; and daughter Gretchen. It was a natural (and logical) progression for the doctor to establish the country´s second Intensive Care Unit in Limón in 1986, though not without a fight!
His critique of Limón’s second-class medical services was in direct conflict with the Directive Board of Social Security (Caja) back in San José. When the Unit was threatened with a reduction in funding, Dr. Charles Jr. mobilized support from the local Black unions in Limón, including the railway workers, the gas station workers and those at the port. Through his perseverance and community support, the Intensive Care Unit in Limon remains one of the best in Costa Rica.
With his children’s education in mind and wanting to stay current with medical advances, Dr. Charles Jr. decided to move his family back to San José once more in 1989. In 1990, he became the Head of the Department of Internal Medicine as the Hospital Calderón Guardia until his retirement in 2009. He trained some of today’s top Costa Rican physicians and was the leading researcher in the cure for Rickettsiosis, a tick-based disease which caused the deaths of many Ticos, as for years doctors were stumped on a cure. He trained many doctors in his successful treatment, including doctors from the Children’s Hospital, as many children were getting tick bites which had previously been incurable.
Dr. Charles Jr.’s illustrious career, not only as a leading specialist and researcher, but also as a professor of medicine for over 29 years, has yielded countless honors, awards and recognitions. He has been invited to present his research on snake bites, hypertension, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, has attended medical conferences around the world, and was a guest physician at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital for his work on HIV/AIDS, as well as at Toronto’s McGill University. Not only does he have a teaching room dedicated to him at the Calderón Guardia Hospital in San Jose, but he also holds a revered space within Limón. There, he has been honored by the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); received the Asociacion AfroCostarricense award in 2002 and a gold medal for Humanitarian Assistance in 2003; and was the guest of honor for Limon´s Dia de La Cultura Negra in 2004.
The renowned doctor never forgot his roots. Every two weeks, even as the Chief of Internal Medicine at the Caldeón Guardia, Dr. Charles Jr. would return to Limón and provide medical service to his community, which consisted mostly of house calls. Multi-talented and deeply religious, Dr. Charles Jr. has been the pianist for the Baptist Church in Limón and the First Baptist Church in San José for a combination of forty years.
As a proud grandfather of six, Dr. Charles Jr.´s living legacy is his humility, perceptiveness and human compassion. He has saved countless lives and even today, as he is recognized around San José and especially within the medical community, there is a hush of awe from the younger physicians who one day wish to walk in the footsteps of a man of such gentle elegance.
Read more from Natasha Gordon-Chipembere here.
Natasha Gordon-Chipembere holds a PhD in English. She is a writer, professor and founder of the Tengo Sed Writers Retreats. In June 2014, she moved to Heredia, Costa Rica with her family from New York. She may be reached at indisunflower@gmail.com. Her column “Musings from an Afro-Costa Rican” is published monthly.
Dr. Charles Gourzong: Costa Rica’s visionary medicine man
NATASHA GORDON-CHIPEMBERE | 20 HOURS AGO
Dr. Charles Gourzong. Natasha Gordon-Chipembere/The Tico Times
Years ago, when I lived in Brooklyn, New York, one of the highlights of the summer´s end was the Annual Caribbean-American Labor Day Parade which was held on the first Monday of every September. Like its Canadian counterpart, Caribana, the Labor Day Parade was a giant, colorful mash-up of people from all over the Caribbean. Always loyal to Costa Rica, I would happily wave my flag in time with the pounding rhythms of soca music along Eastern Parkway. Most years, Costa Rica has a small contingency marching in the parade, reflecting a hesitancy in claiming the country as part of the larger Caribbean.
It was at one of these fetes that I bumped into several Afro-Costa Rican women who stopped me in recognized kinship because of my proud Costa Rican flag. After quick greetings, the exchange immediately focused on who we knew in Costa Rica. The minute I said my family name was Gourzong, from Limón, gasps emerged – along with the question, “Is Dr. Charles Gourzong your relative?”
When I explained that we were indeed close cousins, a barrage of testimonies to his transformational medical care came flooding out. One woman confided that she still flew to Costa Rica to consult Dr. Charles. Jr., as he was the only physician she trusted.
I recently had the chance to sit with Dr. Charles Jr., and share these marvelous stories of his patients abroad: testaments to his profound service as a medical doctor and humanitarian. As an Afro-Costa Rican pioneer of medicine in Costa Rica, Dr. Charles Gourzong Jr., has an incredible life history. He shared how he helped build many aspects of Costa Rica’s exemplary medical system, all while struggling within the confines of race and class.
I was fortunate enough to ask him a few questions about his life as a physician in Costa Rica as he is now happily retired, yet a much sought-after consultant on medical issues and training.
Charles William “Billy” Gourzong Taylor Jr. was born in Limón to parents who were also Limonenses but with Jamaican origins. His father, Charles Gourzong Sr., was the payroll director for the Northern Railway Company. Charles Jr. was the second of seven children. By the age of nine, he had declared that he wanted to be a physician.
Only years later did his father recount the story of his own failed attempt at being a medical doctor. As a graduate of Calabar High School in Jamaica, Charles Sr. won the first scholarship for students to study medicine at Cambridge University in England, but there was a condition: upon the completion of the degree, he would have to provide 16 years of medical service in Nigeria, far away from his family. Charles Sr. turned down the opportunity and created an impressive life in Puerto Limón, while having his dream fulfilled through his eldest son, Charles Jr.
In the mid-20th century, students in Costa Rica who wanted to attend medical school and had the wealth to do so traveled abroad to study in Mexico, Chile and Belgium, as there was no medical school in Costa Rica at the time. In 1961, the first Medical School at the University of Costa Rica was inaugurated in San José. By 1965, the Northern Railway Company created the first 10 scholarships for the top students in Limón, and Charles Jr. secured one of the ten, which covered the five years of medical school. Charles Jr. was the first Afro-Costa Rica to enter the Medical Faculty of the University of Costa Rica in 1966.
He hoped to become a medical doctor and return to the Tony Facio Hospital in Limón to work in support of the local Afro-Costa Rican community, as many only had second-class medical care. People with serious medical issues had to be taken (usually by road, a journey many did not survive) to hospitals in San José, because the Limón hospital did not have the equipment or staff to provide the emergency care.
Once he graduated from UCR, Dr. Charles got his wish: he was given a position at the Tony Facio Hospital in January 1974. He was the only Afro-Costa Rican medical doctor there. His following within the Afro-Costa Rican community was instantaneous and large.
However, his time in Limón was short-lived. He returned to San José a year later to begin a residency at the Hospital México so he could become a specialist in Internal Medicine. Today, Dr. Charles Jr. is considered one of Costa Rica’s pioneers in that field. In addition, when the hospital built the first Intensive Care Unit in Costa Rica, Dr. Charles Jr. was the first resident physician to do rounds there.
1n 1978, he returned to Limón to live and work there as a specialist, along with his growing family: his wife Ana; three sons, Charles, Michael and John Paul; and daughter Gretchen. It was a natural (and logical) progression for the doctor to establish the country´s second Intensive Care Unit in Limón in 1986, though not without a fight!
His critique of Limón’s second-class medical services was in direct conflict with the Directive Board of Social Security (Caja) back in San José. When the Unit was threatened with a reduction in funding, Dr. Charles Jr. mobilized support from the local Black unions in Limón, including the railway workers, the gas station workers and those at the port. Through his perseverance and community support, the Intensive Care Unit in Limon remains one of the best in Costa Rica.
With his children’s education in mind and wanting to stay current with medical advances, Dr. Charles Jr. decided to move his family back to San José once more in 1989. In 1990, he became the Head of the Department of Internal Medicine as the Hospital Calderón Guardia until his retirement in 2009. He trained some of today’s top Costa Rican physicians and was the leading researcher in the cure for Rickettsiosis, a tick-based disease which caused the deaths of many Ticos, as for years doctors were stumped on a cure. He trained many doctors in his successful treatment, including doctors from the Children’s Hospital, as many children were getting tick bites which had previously been incurable.
Dr. Charles Jr.’s illustrious career, not only as a leading specialist and researcher, but also as a professor of medicine for over 29 years, has yielded countless honors, awards and recognitions. He has been invited to present his research on snake bites, hypertension, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, has attended medical conferences around the world, and was a guest physician at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital for his work on HIV/AIDS, as well as at Toronto’s McGill University. Not only does he have a teaching room dedicated to him at the Calderón Guardia Hospital in San Jose, but he also holds a revered space within Limón. There, he has been honored by the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); received the Asociacion AfroCostarricense award in 2002 and a gold medal for Humanitarian Assistance in 2003; and was the guest of honor for Limon´s Dia de La Cultura Negra in 2004.
The renowned doctor never forgot his roots. Every two weeks, even as the Chief of Internal Medicine at the Caldeón Guardia, Dr. Charles Jr. would return to Limón and provide medical service to his community, which consisted mostly of house calls. Multi-talented and deeply religious, Dr. Charles Jr. has been the pianist for the Baptist Church in Limón and the First Baptist Church in San José for a combination of forty years.
As a proud grandfather of six, Dr. Charles Jr.´s living legacy is his humility, perceptiveness and human compassion. He has saved countless lives and even today, as he is recognized around San José and especially within the medical community, there is a hush of awe from the younger physicians who one day wish to walk in the footsteps of a man of such gentle elegance.
Read more from Natasha Gordon-Chipembere here.
Natasha Gordon-Chipembere holds a PhD in English. She is a writer, professor and founder of the Tengo Sed Writers Retreats. In June 2014, she moved to Heredia, Costa Rica with her family from New York. She may be reached at indisunflower@gmail.com. Her column “Musings from an Afro-Costa Rican” is published monthly.
Dr. Charles Gourzong: Costa Rica’s visionary medicine man
Black History Month’s Meaning in Belize
Wed, February 1, 2017
It’s the first day of Black History month in the US and there will be a host of events and TV shows throughout the month. Even President Donald Trump said a few words about the celebrating black history. But what about in Belize? What does it mean to us a people? Courtney Weatherburne had a special sit down conversation with the National Kriol Council’s Cultural Attache Myrna Manzanares. Here is that discussion.
Black History Month’s Meaning in Belize
Wed, February 1, 2017
It’s the first day of Black History month in the US and there will be a host of events and TV shows throughout the month. Even President Donald Trump said a few words about the celebrating black history. But what about in Belize? What does it mean to us a people? Courtney Weatherburne had a special sit down conversation with the National Kriol Council’s Cultural Attache Myrna Manzanares. Here is that discussion.
Black History Month’s Meaning in Belize
loyola llothta
☭☭☭
Trinidad and Tobago Rejects US Accusations of Terrorism Link
Trinidad and Tobago Rejects US Accusations of Terrorism Link
Full article:
"Such accusations are not backed by facts and ignore the solid cooperation between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago regarding national security."
Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Keith Rowley rejected the accusation by U.S. commentator Malcolm Nance that the Caribbean nation has extensive links with terrorism, media outlets published today.
Rowley said the statement by the former U.S. Navy officer was simplistic and unbearable. "Such accusations are not backed by facts and ignore the solid cooperation between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago regarding national security," said the prime minister, quoted by the Guardian
Trinidad and Tobago Rejects US Accusations of Terrorism Link
This Afro-Cuban Masterpiece From Sara Gomez, Cuba’s First Female Director, Is Screening in Brooklyn
By Andrew S. Vargas | 2 hours ago
Making a feature film is never easy, but across the world few would-be filmmakers have encountered as many institutional barriers as black women. In fact, it wasn’t until 1991’s Daughters of the Dust, written and directed by Julie Dash, that a black female director found widespread distribution in the United States (for those counting, that’s over a century after the invention of the motion picture camera.)
So, to celebrate a long-overdue restoration and re-release of that classic of American independent cinema, the Brooklyn Academy of Music has decided to pay homage to the pioneering directors who broke glass ceilings both in the US and abroad with the series One Way or Another: Black Women’s Cinema 1970-1991. And of course, any film retrospective of this nature would have to include Latin America’s very own radical Afro-Cubana, Sara Gómez.
Trained as a musician and ethnographer, Sara Gómez came from the folkloric Havana neighborhood of Guanabacoa — traditionally viewed as one of the epicenters of Afro-Cuban popular culture. After entering the state film studio in 1961 as an apprentice, she worked as assistant director on several films including Agnes Varda’s Salut les cubains! and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s Cumbite. Though Gutiérrez Alea was a good friend and mentor to Gómez, he later admitted that “Sarita” was a disastrous assistant director: a minor defect she made up for with her uncanny originality, passion, and strength of character.
After completing several shorts, Sara set about making her first feature, De cierta manera. Ingeniously combining documentary and fiction, De cierta manera tells the story of a forward-thinking female schoolteacher who strikes up a relationship with a traditionally minded machista bus driver. Celebrated as a masterpiece of Cuban cinema, the film brings a penetrating criticism of racism, sexism, classism, and their persistence in Cuba’s revolutionary society.
Unfortunately, Gómez’s tragic death due to an asthma attack at the tender age of 31 left the film incomplete. Thankfully Gutiérrez Alea, together with filmmaker-theorist Julio García Espinosa, ultimately finished the film in 1974 according to Gómez’ original vision and brought Cuba one of its unequivocal masterpieces of film art. Catch De cierta manera at BAM Rose Cinemas, and be sure to check out the rest of this worthy program for works by directors like Julie Dash, Camille Billops, and Kathleen Collins.
De cierta manera screens at BAM Rose Cinemas on Saturday, February 18, 2017. Get tickets here.
This Afro-Cuban Masterpiece From Sara Gomez, Cuba's First Female Director, Is Screening in Brooklyn
By Andrew S. Vargas | 2 hours ago
Making a feature film is never easy, but across the world few would-be filmmakers have encountered as many institutional barriers as black women. In fact, it wasn’t until 1991’s Daughters of the Dust, written and directed by Julie Dash, that a black female director found widespread distribution in the United States (for those counting, that’s over a century after the invention of the motion picture camera.)
So, to celebrate a long-overdue restoration and re-release of that classic of American independent cinema, the Brooklyn Academy of Music has decided to pay homage to the pioneering directors who broke glass ceilings both in the US and abroad with the series One Way or Another: Black Women’s Cinema 1970-1991. And of course, any film retrospective of this nature would have to include Latin America’s very own radical Afro-Cubana, Sara Gómez.
Trained as a musician and ethnographer, Sara Gómez came from the folkloric Havana neighborhood of Guanabacoa — traditionally viewed as one of the epicenters of Afro-Cuban popular culture. After entering the state film studio in 1961 as an apprentice, she worked as assistant director on several films including Agnes Varda’s Salut les cubains! and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s Cumbite. Though Gutiérrez Alea was a good friend and mentor to Gómez, he later admitted that “Sarita” was a disastrous assistant director: a minor defect she made up for with her uncanny originality, passion, and strength of character.
After completing several shorts, Sara set about making her first feature, De cierta manera. Ingeniously combining documentary and fiction, De cierta manera tells the story of a forward-thinking female schoolteacher who strikes up a relationship with a traditionally minded machista bus driver. Celebrated as a masterpiece of Cuban cinema, the film brings a penetrating criticism of racism, sexism, classism, and their persistence in Cuba’s revolutionary society.
Unfortunately, Gómez’s tragic death due to an asthma attack at the tender age of 31 left the film incomplete. Thankfully Gutiérrez Alea, together with filmmaker-theorist Julio García Espinosa, ultimately finished the film in 1974 according to Gómez’ original vision and brought Cuba one of its unequivocal masterpieces of film art. Catch De cierta manera at BAM Rose Cinemas, and be sure to check out the rest of this worthy program for works by directors like Julie Dash, Camille Billops, and Kathleen Collins.
De cierta manera screens at BAM Rose Cinemas on Saturday, February 18, 2017. Get tickets here.
This Afro-Cuban Masterpiece From Sara Gomez, Cuba's First Female Director, Is Screening in Brooklyn
St Elizabeth farmer insists... ganja is the answer
Grower explains herb’s direct link to guns trade
BY KIMBERLEY HIBBERT Staff reporter hibbertk@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, February 05, 2017
(In order to get this interview the reporter had to agree to anonymity for the subjects)
Some ganja farmers believe Jamaica is a country of real wealth, which could be manifested if those who govern it knew the true value of the herb.
According to one ganja farmer interviewed by the Jamaica Observer, although their informal industry is illegal, it brings in big money, and if there could be a way to legalise ganja, Jamaica would easily become a leading economy.
When the Sunday Observer visited St Elizabeth, one of the known parishes for massive ganja farming, a young ganja farmer from Southfield who only agreed to speak on the basis of anonymity explained the rudiments of his job — planting the herb to preparing it for sale or export.
“If I’m planting weed and planting it the right way to get the right quality, professionals can’t make the money I’m making per month in one year. A man can plant a crop of weed and make a million dollars in three months,” he said.
“It’s easy... plus, man nuh really stick out on price for weed — $3,000 per pound and wi alright. So if I can produce 700 pounds of weed; 700 times $3,000 is $.2.1 million. All you do is hire two people to pick it, few people to reap it — which include drying and all. Worse if I had an acre of land, I would be a multimillionaire. Sometime mi wonder how dem seh nuh money nuh deh a Jamaica,” he said.
But, who are the buyers? According to the farmer, most buyers in St Elizabeth come from Lacovia in the parish. However, Kingstonians and Portlanders are big buyers of the herb.
“Dem people deh really come in and buy it. Big professionals come in and make demands too, because dem seh dem use it to relax. With all the stress and everything, they need something. Plus, from yuh smoke, yuh buy, so that’s another market,” he stated.
Of note, the farmer further pointed out that the ganja is grown in a particular pattern, where a farm is divided into three areas — one for the high grade, one for the middle grade, and one section for the bulky weed.
“So of course, high grade is big money. Middle grade is the one most people smoke, and the bulky, majority of it is for trade. When you hear them say they make a drug bust [of] compressed ganja bound for Haiti, a nuh high grade weed enuh. Dem weed deh a some weed weh full a seed, and no Jamaican market want it,” he said.
He explained that there are the male and female ganja plants, as well as one they call “muffy”, which is a hybrid of male and female, and ultimately the problematic one.
“Because that plant exists, you have to search the ground and rid it of the muffy and the male plant. Those have seeds. When the male one’s seeds burst, it breeds the female crop. For the muffy, meanwhile it’s breeding itself, it breeds other plants. When your crop is full of seeds it is no good. It only can sell to Haiti market. The only type of weed that goes to Haiti is the seedy ones. Lower grades go to Haiti,” the young farmer said.
The biggest problem with his profession, he said, is the reality that not all farmers sell for money. Instead, some sell for guns and contribute to the guns for drugs trade and crime.
“Every community is different. If mi fi call name right now, people weh mi know, I can come up with more than 300 guns. A man just have it, but it’s not even for protection anymore. If a man have a gun him happy fi kill. Police pick up two man, dem nuh plant weed, but dem have gun. So what happen? Dem buy the weed from the farmer, carry it to who have the gun, and exchange it,” he said.
“This business of drugs for gun is a bigger business than you being a journalist and if I was a lawyer. Is a big business, and it all comes down to money. A man lose him life — money. You think a man a shoot a man and is just so? A man a spend big money fi a man head. All about money.”
The young ganja farmer, however, made it clear that not all farmers are involved in the dangerous exchange. Instead, some cultivate ganja in order to make a better life.
“Some men just want money, cause dem want bike. We can plant a ground and get 80 pounds of weed from it. Eighty pounds times $3,000, which is $240,000 per month, is the amount of money I would make now. Some areas you can plant and take two months to get it. Certain areas in St Elizabeth have too much land there to work for people to kill anyone, like down in more western parishes. All Orange Hill, Westmoreland, that is like the capital for weed in Jamaica. If I go there and plant, in the space of three months I’m a millionaire, but some of the guys are buying it for guns. The thing is, if you don’t have a gun and not making a duppy and can’t call yourself a badman, dem seh yuh nuh ready, and it’s those ones who make the weed look a way,” the young ganja farmer said.
He said that in order to clamp down on the illegal trade, Jamaica’s territorial waters need to be better patrolled.
“Jamaica Defence Force cannot monitor the entire coastline. Yuh see from dem mek it out of the Jamaican water, dem good. Once dem catch yuh in Haitian or Honduras waters dem good... Is a technique to how it’s done. Say they’re going in with 1,000 pounds, they just calculate it and say 500 a fi dem. If the man dem hold yuh a nuh nothing fi dash 500 gi dem, because dem done put that down as clearance fee,” he alleged.
Additionally, he said, another big part of the trade is meat.
“Dem man deh nuh only want to smoke, dem want something to eat, so dem a move with the meat too. If a man weh trod the waters tell you some things, you probably black out when you hear it,” he said.
Regarding regularisation, the young farmer said that the Cannabis Licensing Authority needs to make a few things clearer to them.
“What I don’t understand... first thing they say it’s a different kind of weed they want, they come in with that now. Nuff of the man planting weed, nuff of them no literate. So when they come and talking in big words dem no really understand, so small farmers will say it’s all about the big man, wi nuh have nothing to benefit,” he said.
“They kept a meeting down by Treasure Beach some time ago and plenty of the original weed farmers didn’t go, cause they don’t know one critical thing. How is it going to be bought? Will they buy it from us green or dry? None of us know the procedure for buying. That’s the clarity we don’t have,” he said.
Ganja farming, he said, will remain his livelihood, but his ultimate wish is to see the informal industry cleaned up.
St Elizabeth farmer insists... ganja is the answer
Grower explains herb’s direct link to guns trade
BY KIMBERLEY HIBBERT Staff reporter hibbertk@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, February 05, 2017
(In order to get this interview the reporter had to agree to anonymity for the subjects)
Some ganja farmers believe Jamaica is a country of real wealth, which could be manifested if those who govern it knew the true value of the herb.
According to one ganja farmer interviewed by the Jamaica Observer, although their informal industry is illegal, it brings in big money, and if there could be a way to legalise ganja, Jamaica would easily become a leading economy.
When the Sunday Observer visited St Elizabeth, one of the known parishes for massive ganja farming, a young ganja farmer from Southfield who only agreed to speak on the basis of anonymity explained the rudiments of his job — planting the herb to preparing it for sale or export.
“If I’m planting weed and planting it the right way to get the right quality, professionals can’t make the money I’m making per month in one year. A man can plant a crop of weed and make a million dollars in three months,” he said.
“It’s easy... plus, man nuh really stick out on price for weed — $3,000 per pound and wi alright. So if I can produce 700 pounds of weed; 700 times $3,000 is $.2.1 million. All you do is hire two people to pick it, few people to reap it — which include drying and all. Worse if I had an acre of land, I would be a multimillionaire. Sometime mi wonder how dem seh nuh money nuh deh a Jamaica,” he said.
But, who are the buyers? According to the farmer, most buyers in St Elizabeth come from Lacovia in the parish. However, Kingstonians and Portlanders are big buyers of the herb.
“Dem people deh really come in and buy it. Big professionals come in and make demands too, because dem seh dem use it to relax. With all the stress and everything, they need something. Plus, from yuh smoke, yuh buy, so that’s another market,” he stated.
Of note, the farmer further pointed out that the ganja is grown in a particular pattern, where a farm is divided into three areas — one for the high grade, one for the middle grade, and one section for the bulky weed.
“So of course, high grade is big money. Middle grade is the one most people smoke, and the bulky, majority of it is for trade. When you hear them say they make a drug bust [of] compressed ganja bound for Haiti, a nuh high grade weed enuh. Dem weed deh a some weed weh full a seed, and no Jamaican market want it,” he said.
He explained that there are the male and female ganja plants, as well as one they call “muffy”, which is a hybrid of male and female, and ultimately the problematic one.
“Because that plant exists, you have to search the ground and rid it of the muffy and the male plant. Those have seeds. When the male one’s seeds burst, it breeds the female crop. For the muffy, meanwhile it’s breeding itself, it breeds other plants. When your crop is full of seeds it is no good. It only can sell to Haiti market. The only type of weed that goes to Haiti is the seedy ones. Lower grades go to Haiti,” the young farmer said.
The biggest problem with his profession, he said, is the reality that not all farmers sell for money. Instead, some sell for guns and contribute to the guns for drugs trade and crime.
“Every community is different. If mi fi call name right now, people weh mi know, I can come up with more than 300 guns. A man just have it, but it’s not even for protection anymore. If a man have a gun him happy fi kill. Police pick up two man, dem nuh plant weed, but dem have gun. So what happen? Dem buy the weed from the farmer, carry it to who have the gun, and exchange it,” he said.
“This business of drugs for gun is a bigger business than you being a journalist and if I was a lawyer. Is a big business, and it all comes down to money. A man lose him life — money. You think a man a shoot a man and is just so? A man a spend big money fi a man head. All about money.”
The young ganja farmer, however, made it clear that not all farmers are involved in the dangerous exchange. Instead, some cultivate ganja in order to make a better life.
“Some men just want money, cause dem want bike. We can plant a ground and get 80 pounds of weed from it. Eighty pounds times $3,000, which is $240,000 per month, is the amount of money I would make now. Some areas you can plant and take two months to get it. Certain areas in St Elizabeth have too much land there to work for people to kill anyone, like down in more western parishes. All Orange Hill, Westmoreland, that is like the capital for weed in Jamaica. If I go there and plant, in the space of three months I’m a millionaire, but some of the guys are buying it for guns. The thing is, if you don’t have a gun and not making a duppy and can’t call yourself a badman, dem seh yuh nuh ready, and it’s those ones who make the weed look a way,” the young ganja farmer said.
He said that in order to clamp down on the illegal trade, Jamaica’s territorial waters need to be better patrolled.
“Jamaica Defence Force cannot monitor the entire coastline. Yuh see from dem mek it out of the Jamaican water, dem good. Once dem catch yuh in Haitian or Honduras waters dem good... Is a technique to how it’s done. Say they’re going in with 1,000 pounds, they just calculate it and say 500 a fi dem. If the man dem hold yuh a nuh nothing fi dash 500 gi dem, because dem done put that down as clearance fee,” he alleged.
Additionally, he said, another big part of the trade is meat.
“Dem man deh nuh only want to smoke, dem want something to eat, so dem a move with the meat too. If a man weh trod the waters tell you some things, you probably black out when you hear it,” he said.
Regarding regularisation, the young farmer said that the Cannabis Licensing Authority needs to make a few things clearer to them.
“What I don’t understand... first thing they say it’s a different kind of weed they want, they come in with that now. Nuff of the man planting weed, nuff of them no literate. So when they come and talking in big words dem no really understand, so small farmers will say it’s all about the big man, wi nuh have nothing to benefit,” he said.
“They kept a meeting down by Treasure Beach some time ago and plenty of the original weed farmers didn’t go, cause they don’t know one critical thing. How is it going to be bought? Will they buy it from us green or dry? None of us know the procedure for buying. That’s the clarity we don’t have,” he said.
Ganja farming, he said, will remain his livelihood, but his ultimate wish is to see the informal industry cleaned up.
St Elizabeth farmer insists... ganja is the answer
Imagining justice for ethnic communities in Colombia
HELEN KERWIN 8 February 2017
Reparations for conflict-related harms as set out in the peace accords are only a fraction of many pending debts owed to Colombia’s ethnic communities. Español
In the implementation of the recent peace accords in Colombia, a key question will be how to make collective reparations to indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities that have been disproportionately affected by the conflict. Yet a future ethnic reparations program need not reinvent the wheel; recent precedent from Colombia in the form of land restitution to ethnic communities since 2011 offers important lessons for the present moment.
Collective reparation for conflict-related harms is not the only pending debt the Colombian government has to ethnic communities, however: ethnic communities are also disproportionately likely to be deprived of basic social rights (whether owing to discrimination or to lack of state services in their territories) and constitutionally-guaranteed ethnic rights. These groups still have not received reparations for violence, exploitation, genocide, and slavery they have historically suffered. The “Ethnic Chapter” of the revised peace accords with the FARC, published on November 14, 2016 explicitly acknowledges this historical violence as a context and justification for taking a differential approach to reparation for ethnic communities. Failure to recognize and remedy historical discrimination and violence against minority groups as part of transitional justice efforts prevents the transformation of material conditions that characterized the previous unjust political context. Such an omission calls into question to what extent such processes can be said to mark a true transition. In other words, repairing ethnic and racial injustice must be a critical focus of transitional justice efforts in the coming years, if they are to be truly “transitional” for minority communities in more than just name.
Pixabay/ShonEjai (Some Rights Reserved) Colombia's indigenous and afro-colombian communities still have not received reparations for violence, exploitation, genocide, and slavery they have historically suffered.
The Colombian experience to date has demonstrated that in practice, conflict reparations, historical reparations, indigenous rights, and social rights must be coordinated through policy and addressed simultaneously to ensure the survival and empowerment of ethnic communities. Colombia has already made some limited collective reparation to ethnic communities in the form of land restitution under Decrees 4633 and 4635, which supplement the “Law on Victims and Land Restitution” (Law 1448 of 2011) with special provisions for the reparation of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. To date, five such court decisions have been handed down to restore the territorial rights of four indigenous communities and one Afro-descendant Consejo Comunitario (“Community Council”).
These cases demonstrate the promise of holistic programs that address material and symbolic measures together, but also highlight problems that can be caused by failures of institutional coordination and political will, and failures by judges and functionaries to account for cultural differences (such as linguistic differences and forms of traditional authority and social organization) in writing and implementing the decisions.
These land restitution decisions are striking because in many ways they resemble structural social rights litigation, reflecting an understanding that restoring territorial rights to ethnic communities requires resolving serious structural injustices. These injustices commonly include the continuing presence of armed groups; illegal mining; lack of infrastructure, adequate health services, housing, and education; and severe food insecurity, all of which prevent these communities from living securely in their territories. The decisions order national and departmental institutions to coordinate to remedy these problems, generally with close court oversight.
Consider the case of the Embera Katío people, subjects of the first ethnic land restitution decision, which was handed down in 2014. About 1,450 families make up the Embera Katío community of the Alto Andágueda indigenous reservation (resguardo indígena) in Chocó. Since the 1980s, their territory has been used as a hideout and transit zone for paramilitaries, drug traffickers, and paramilitary successor groups commonly known as “bacrims”. Since the massive entrance of drug traffickers into the area in the late 1990s, violence, homicides, and forced displacement have skyrocketed; as recently as 2012, the military bombed a community inside the resguardo, causing the displacement of over 2,000 residents.
Their traditional territory is also rich in gold, a source of conflict in the region since colonial times. Since 2008, the Colombian government has granted mining concessions over as much as 62% of the territory of the resguardo; by law, these concessions should be subject to a process of free, prior and informed consultation (FPIC) with the community. But they have not been. Although the land restitution judge ordered that the contracts be suspended until they could be properly consulted with the community, illegal mining continues. Furthermore, those who currently live in the resguardo suffer from serious food insecurity largely caused by military aerial fumigation with glyphosate in recent years, and malnutrition is common.
In such cases, the land restitution judge’s task is considerably more complex than issuing a declaratory judgment that the land in question belongs to the community—indeed, in this particular case the community’s legal title to the land was never in question. Rather, in order to return to and live peacefully on their land, the Embera Katío need guarantees: more than just a legal declaration of ownership, they need physical security from armed actors, social security (including adequate food, housing, and health care), and support for the “life plans” (planes de vida) of community members that allow their communities to thrive in their traditional lands. The judge’s orders in the decision reflect these needs, including, among others: orders to create individual and collective security plans, end fumigation, carry out FPIC, build health clinics and hire doctors, and hold workshops to identify inter-ethnic conflicts and work toward peaceful conflict resolution.
Despite the wide range of legal guarantees the community received in the decision, however, the implementation of the decision has been slow and difficult. A lack of institutional coordination has hampered the creation of health infrastructure and housing, still incomplete more than two years later. Illegal mining inside the resguardo is ongoing, and local authorities who oppose it continue to receive threats. In addition, linguistic and cultural differences between the community and government functionaries present serious challenges for the implementation of educational, vocational, and welfare programs. Many Embera Katío families still remain displaced in cities like Bogotá and Medellín, and the families in the resguardo continue to live in precarious conditions.
This case, like the other ethnic land restitution cases, seems to reflect an emergent ethnic public policy that considers not just the need for collective reparation, but also for guaranteed social rights and ethnic rights in order to ensure the survival and wellbeing of ethnic communities in their traditional lands. Nonetheless, lack of institutional coordination, high-level policy conflicts between respect for ethnic rights and other governmental priorities (most prominently, resource extraction), and government agencies’ still-minimal capacity to work with ethnic communities pose serious barriers to the success of these cases in practice. By evaluating both the successes and challenges of ethnic land restitution to date, Dejusticia hopes to provide insights that will improve both the design and implementation of collective reparations to ethnic communities in the future, embodying a broader vision of ethnic justice.
About the author
Helen is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Texas School of Law (expected May 2017), and holds an M.A. and B.A. in International Studies from the University of Oklahoma. Her work at Dejusticia focuses on indigenous and Afrodescendant rights and land restitution.
Helen es estudiante de doctorado en Derecho en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Texas. También es investigadora en Dejusticia; su trabajo se centra en la restitución de tierras y los derechos de la población indígena y afrodescendiente.
Imagining justice for ethnic communities in Colombia
HELEN KERWIN 8 February 2017
Reparations for conflict-related harms as set out in the peace accords are only a fraction of many pending debts owed to Colombia’s ethnic communities. Español
In the implementation of the recent peace accords in Colombia, a key question will be how to make collective reparations to indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities that have been disproportionately affected by the conflict. Yet a future ethnic reparations program need not reinvent the wheel; recent precedent from Colombia in the form of land restitution to ethnic communities since 2011 offers important lessons for the present moment.
Collective reparation for conflict-related harms is not the only pending debt the Colombian government has to ethnic communities, however: ethnic communities are also disproportionately likely to be deprived of basic social rights (whether owing to discrimination or to lack of state services in their territories) and constitutionally-guaranteed ethnic rights. These groups still have not received reparations for violence, exploitation, genocide, and slavery they have historically suffered. The “Ethnic Chapter” of the revised peace accords with the FARC, published on November 14, 2016 explicitly acknowledges this historical violence as a context and justification for taking a differential approach to reparation for ethnic communities. Failure to recognize and remedy historical discrimination and violence against minority groups as part of transitional justice efforts prevents the transformation of material conditions that characterized the previous unjust political context. Such an omission calls into question to what extent such processes can be said to mark a true transition. In other words, repairing ethnic and racial injustice must be a critical focus of transitional justice efforts in the coming years, if they are to be truly “transitional” for minority communities in more than just name.
Pixabay/ShonEjai (Some Rights Reserved) Colombia's indigenous and afro-colombian communities still have not received reparations for violence, exploitation, genocide, and slavery they have historically suffered.
The Colombian experience to date has demonstrated that in practice, conflict reparations, historical reparations, indigenous rights, and social rights must be coordinated through policy and addressed simultaneously to ensure the survival and empowerment of ethnic communities. Colombia has already made some limited collective reparation to ethnic communities in the form of land restitution under Decrees 4633 and 4635, which supplement the “Law on Victims and Land Restitution” (Law 1448 of 2011) with special provisions for the reparation of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. To date, five such court decisions have been handed down to restore the territorial rights of four indigenous communities and one Afro-descendant Consejo Comunitario (“Community Council”).
These cases demonstrate the promise of holistic programs that address material and symbolic measures together, but also highlight problems that can be caused by failures of institutional coordination and political will, and failures by judges and functionaries to account for cultural differences (such as linguistic differences and forms of traditional authority and social organization) in writing and implementing the decisions.
These land restitution decisions are striking because in many ways they resemble structural social rights litigation, reflecting an understanding that restoring territorial rights to ethnic communities requires resolving serious structural injustices. These injustices commonly include the continuing presence of armed groups; illegal mining; lack of infrastructure, adequate health services, housing, and education; and severe food insecurity, all of which prevent these communities from living securely in their territories. The decisions order national and departmental institutions to coordinate to remedy these problems, generally with close court oversight.
Consider the case of the Embera Katío people, subjects of the first ethnic land restitution decision, which was handed down in 2014. About 1,450 families make up the Embera Katío community of the Alto Andágueda indigenous reservation (resguardo indígena) in Chocó. Since the 1980s, their territory has been used as a hideout and transit zone for paramilitaries, drug traffickers, and paramilitary successor groups commonly known as “bacrims”. Since the massive entrance of drug traffickers into the area in the late 1990s, violence, homicides, and forced displacement have skyrocketed; as recently as 2012, the military bombed a community inside the resguardo, causing the displacement of over 2,000 residents.
Their traditional territory is also rich in gold, a source of conflict in the region since colonial times. Since 2008, the Colombian government has granted mining concessions over as much as 62% of the territory of the resguardo; by law, these concessions should be subject to a process of free, prior and informed consultation (FPIC) with the community. But they have not been. Although the land restitution judge ordered that the contracts be suspended until they could be properly consulted with the community, illegal mining continues. Furthermore, those who currently live in the resguardo suffer from serious food insecurity largely caused by military aerial fumigation with glyphosate in recent years, and malnutrition is common.
In such cases, the land restitution judge’s task is considerably more complex than issuing a declaratory judgment that the land in question belongs to the community—indeed, in this particular case the community’s legal title to the land was never in question. Rather, in order to return to and live peacefully on their land, the Embera Katío need guarantees: more than just a legal declaration of ownership, they need physical security from armed actors, social security (including adequate food, housing, and health care), and support for the “life plans” (planes de vida) of community members that allow their communities to thrive in their traditional lands. The judge’s orders in the decision reflect these needs, including, among others: orders to create individual and collective security plans, end fumigation, carry out FPIC, build health clinics and hire doctors, and hold workshops to identify inter-ethnic conflicts and work toward peaceful conflict resolution.
Despite the wide range of legal guarantees the community received in the decision, however, the implementation of the decision has been slow and difficult. A lack of institutional coordination has hampered the creation of health infrastructure and housing, still incomplete more than two years later. Illegal mining inside the resguardo is ongoing, and local authorities who oppose it continue to receive threats. In addition, linguistic and cultural differences between the community and government functionaries present serious challenges for the implementation of educational, vocational, and welfare programs. Many Embera Katío families still remain displaced in cities like Bogotá and Medellín, and the families in the resguardo continue to live in precarious conditions.
This case, like the other ethnic land restitution cases, seems to reflect an emergent ethnic public policy that considers not just the need for collective reparation, but also for guaranteed social rights and ethnic rights in order to ensure the survival and wellbeing of ethnic communities in their traditional lands. Nonetheless, lack of institutional coordination, high-level policy conflicts between respect for ethnic rights and other governmental priorities (most prominently, resource extraction), and government agencies’ still-minimal capacity to work with ethnic communities pose serious barriers to the success of these cases in practice. By evaluating both the successes and challenges of ethnic land restitution to date, Dejusticia hopes to provide insights that will improve both the design and implementation of collective reparations to ethnic communities in the future, embodying a broader vision of ethnic justice.
About the author
Helen is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Texas School of Law (expected May 2017), and holds an M.A. and B.A. in International Studies from the University of Oklahoma. Her work at Dejusticia focuses on indigenous and Afrodescendant rights and land restitution.
Helen es estudiante de doctorado en Derecho en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Texas. También es investigadora en Dejusticia; su trabajo se centra en la restitución de tierras y los derechos de la población indígena y afrodescendiente.
Imagining justice for ethnic communities in Colombia
Afro-Uruguayans Celebrate Carnival
Published 11 February 2017
IN PICTURES: Afro-Uruguayan dance troupes celebrated their heritage in a procession with traditional candombe music.
This week thousands of Uruguayans and tourists took to the streets of Montevideo to celebrated Carnival and the roots of the South American nation's Afro-Latino community.
Uruguay's Carnival celebrations last up to 40 days, but the main attraction is often the "Las Llamadas" parade that took place Feb. 9 and 10.
In the "Las Llamadas" processions, music and dance troupes pay homage to the king Momo and evoke the customs of the Blacks that lived in Uruguay in colonial times, when they used to meet with a pair of drums and to cross the streets of the Barrio Sur and and Palermo neighborhoods.
Uruguay's Carnival celebrations can last up to 40 days. Photo:Reuters
Dancers celebrate their African heritage in the Las Llamadas procession. Photo:Reuters
Tourists and Uruguayans gather to see the celebrations to the sound of traditional candombe music. Photo:Reuters
Members of a comparsa, a Uruguayan carnival group, play the drums during the Llamadas parade, a street fiesta with traditional Afro-Uruguayan roots in Montevideo, Feb. 9, 2017. Photo:Reuters
Members of a comparsa, a Uruguayan Carnival group, dance during the Llamadas parade, a street fiesta with traditional Afro-Uruguayan roots in Montevideo, Feb. 9, 2017. Photo:Reuters
Members of a Uruguayan Carnival group, carry flags during the Llamadas parade, a street fiesta with traditional Afro-Uruguayan roots, in Montevideo, Feb. 10, 2017. Photo:Reuters
Eight percent of Uruguayans are of African descent, according to a 2011 census. Photo:Reuters
During colonial times in Uruguay, Black communities used drums to call gatherings. Photo:Reuters
In recent years, Uruguayan Congress has passed laws to correct the historical discrimination Afro-Uruguayan people have faced. Photo:Reuters
Members of a Uruguayan Carnival group, carry flags during the Llamadas parade, a street fiesta with traditional Afro-Uruguayan roots, in Montevideo, Feb. 10, 2017. Photo:Reuters
Afro-Uruguayans Celebrate Carnival
Published 11 February 2017
IN PICTURES: Afro-Uruguayan dance troupes celebrated their heritage in a procession with traditional candombe music.
This week thousands of Uruguayans and tourists took to the streets of Montevideo to celebrated Carnival and the roots of the South American nation's Afro-Latino community.
Uruguay's Carnival celebrations last up to 40 days, but the main attraction is often the "Las Llamadas" parade that took place Feb. 9 and 10.
In the "Las Llamadas" processions, music and dance troupes pay homage to the king Momo and evoke the customs of the Blacks that lived in Uruguay in colonial times, when they used to meet with a pair of drums and to cross the streets of the Barrio Sur and and Palermo neighborhoods.
Uruguay's Carnival celebrations can last up to 40 days. Photo:Reuters
Dancers celebrate their African heritage in the Las Llamadas procession. Photo:Reuters
Tourists and Uruguayans gather to see the celebrations to the sound of traditional candombe music. Photo:Reuters
Members of a comparsa, a Uruguayan carnival group, play the drums during the Llamadas parade, a street fiesta with traditional Afro-Uruguayan roots in Montevideo, Feb. 9, 2017. Photo:Reuters
Members of a comparsa, a Uruguayan Carnival group, dance during the Llamadas parade, a street fiesta with traditional Afro-Uruguayan roots in Montevideo, Feb. 9, 2017. Photo:Reuters
Members of a Uruguayan Carnival group, carry flags during the Llamadas parade, a street fiesta with traditional Afro-Uruguayan roots, in Montevideo, Feb. 10, 2017. Photo:Reuters
Eight percent of Uruguayans are of African descent, according to a 2011 census. Photo:Reuters
During colonial times in Uruguay, Black communities used drums to call gatherings. Photo:Reuters
In recent years, Uruguayan Congress has passed laws to correct the historical discrimination Afro-Uruguayan people have faced. Photo:Reuters
Members of a Uruguayan Carnival group, carry flags during the Llamadas parade, a street fiesta with traditional Afro-Uruguayan roots, in Montevideo, Feb. 10, 2017. Photo:Reuters
Afro-Uruguayans Celebrate Carnival
Diaspora ecstatic about historic flight into new airport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
February 12, 2017
NEW YORK, Feb 11, CMC – Howie Prince, is the Consul General of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines diplomatic office in the’ United States.
Celia Ross, who shares the building with him is the United States Director of Sales and Marketing at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority.
Both are ecstatic that on Valentine Day, they will be among several passengers making an historic and romantic journey back to their homeland. Only this time, instead of having to ensure several stopovers, they will be flying directly to the newly built Argyle International Airport (AIA).
“First of all, it’s the fulfilment of many years of wishful things,” Prince told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), adding “we can now boast of an international airport, where we can move people and goods and services to bolster our development.
“It’s an historic moment. Those of us landing on Valentine’s Day, it’s both very exciting, and, at the same time, a great prospect from the standpoint of having seamless travel. And to have seamless travel, it’s the fulfilment of many dreams.
“With the ground-breaking for hotel development, tourism should take off, agricultural development should take off, and we can see the return of the brain power. The development of the airport can help in our economic development.”
The international airport was built with a tag price of EC$700 (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) and is considered a major political achievement of the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) and Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves in particular, who had come under intense criticism at home over the project, which is six years behind schedule.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is among those expected to attend and address the ceremonial opening of the facility on February 14.
Venezuela and Cuba were among those countries that helped Gonsalves fulfil his dream of building an international airport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Ross, whose office space is shared with the Consulate General, said that, as the tourism representative for many years, the AIA is “definitely a most welcome addition to all the good things the destination has to offer.
“For many years, I have listened to travel agents and consumers talk about the beauty of the destination and, at the same time, lament the difficulty in getting there because of inadequate airlift. We expect AIA will boost our tourism industry, bringing many more visitors to our shores.
“In addition to boosting tourism, the international airport will improve the performance of other critical sectors, like agriculture and fisheries.
“To everyone joining us on the Caribbean Airlines charter on February 14, I welcome the opportunity to be with you on this very historic flight, when one lucky person will have the opportunity to win an exciting package for two at the Bequia Beach Hotel on Bequia,” she added.
The chartered flights on Caribbean Airlines and Dynamics Airline will leave New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, on February 14, for AIA, returning on February21.
Lennox Joslyn – chairman of the Fundraising Committee of the Brooklyn-based umbrella Vincentian group in the United States, Council of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Organizations, U.S.A., Inc. (COSAGO) – said he can’t wait to land at AIA.
“It’s an historic flight, and I can’t miss this for the world. I think it’s a significant milestone for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and all Vincentians should embrace it, as we move forward.
“I want all Vincentians to move on this [welcome AIA],” added Joslyn, a member of the Brooklyn-based Striders Social and Cultural Organization, who was born at Diamond, a short distance from AIA.
“Forget about politics,” he insists.
The long-standing president of the Brooklyn-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines ’Ex-Teachers Association, Jackson Farrell, has expressed similar views.
Addressing the 34th Anniversary Luncheon of his group, in Brooklyn last month, he told the audience “the airport, whether we like it or not, is coming on stream,”
“When the Comrade (Prime Minister Gonsalves) passes on, the airport will still be there. So, let us stop the ‘dotishness’ and opposition to the international airport].”
In his remarks, in the souvenir journal, Farrell, who taught elementary and secondary schools in St.Vincent and the Grenadines before migrating to New York, said the opening of the AIA “brings with it “blessings and challenges” and that his association has been “an integral part” of the Brooklyn-based Friends of Argyle International Airport that has been raising funds to assist construction of the airport.
“We have stated clearly that we recognize certain projects purely through the prism of national interest and not as any political partisan objective,” Farrell said.
Prince, who also addressed the ceremony, said he had been receiving a number of inquiries about the AIA’s official opening and charter flights on the opening day and that an overwhelming number of Vincentians in the Diaspora were looking forward to landing at home.
“One stop! SVG (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) we coming!” he exclaimed. “One stop! SVG we coming!”
Last year, the International Airport Development Company (IADC), a private limited liability company wholly owned by the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said that work on the AIA was “winding down.”
“Since construction started in August 2008, Vincentians have waited in anticipation of the completion of this project,” said IADC on its website, adding that, after several missed dates, “completion is on the horizon.”
Chief executive officer of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority, Glen Beache, said in a statement that the AIA boasts a runway that is 9,000 ft. long and 250 ft. wide, and is “capable of accommodating aircrafts as large as Boeing 747-400’s.”
He said the 171, 000 sq. ft. terminal building is designed to accommodate 1.5 million passengers annually.
Beache, a former tourism minister, in the Gonsalves administration, said AIA is further enhanced with two jet bridges, restaurants, bars and other shops – “all designed to provide passengers and airport employees with a pleasant experience.”
“Tourism has been the major economic earner for St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the last two decades, and it is expected that the new international airport will increase earnings in this sector, as well as other critical sectors, including agriculture, fisheries,” Beache said.
Diaspora ecstatic about historic flight into new airport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
February 12, 2017
NEW YORK, Feb 11, CMC – Howie Prince, is the Consul General of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines diplomatic office in the’ United States.
Celia Ross, who shares the building with him is the United States Director of Sales and Marketing at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority.
Both are ecstatic that on Valentine Day, they will be among several passengers making an historic and romantic journey back to their homeland. Only this time, instead of having to ensure several stopovers, they will be flying directly to the newly built Argyle International Airport (AIA).
“First of all, it’s the fulfilment of many years of wishful things,” Prince told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), adding “we can now boast of an international airport, where we can move people and goods and services to bolster our development.
“It’s an historic moment. Those of us landing on Valentine’s Day, it’s both very exciting, and, at the same time, a great prospect from the standpoint of having seamless travel. And to have seamless travel, it’s the fulfilment of many dreams.
“With the ground-breaking for hotel development, tourism should take off, agricultural development should take off, and we can see the return of the brain power. The development of the airport can help in our economic development.”
The international airport was built with a tag price of EC$700 (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) and is considered a major political achievement of the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) and Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves in particular, who had come under intense criticism at home over the project, which is six years behind schedule.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is among those expected to attend and address the ceremonial opening of the facility on February 14.
Venezuela and Cuba were among those countries that helped Gonsalves fulfil his dream of building an international airport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Ross, whose office space is shared with the Consulate General, said that, as the tourism representative for many years, the AIA is “definitely a most welcome addition to all the good things the destination has to offer.
“For many years, I have listened to travel agents and consumers talk about the beauty of the destination and, at the same time, lament the difficulty in getting there because of inadequate airlift. We expect AIA will boost our tourism industry, bringing many more visitors to our shores.
“In addition to boosting tourism, the international airport will improve the performance of other critical sectors, like agriculture and fisheries.
“To everyone joining us on the Caribbean Airlines charter on February 14, I welcome the opportunity to be with you on this very historic flight, when one lucky person will have the opportunity to win an exciting package for two at the Bequia Beach Hotel on Bequia,” she added.
The chartered flights on Caribbean Airlines and Dynamics Airline will leave New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, on February 14, for AIA, returning on February21.
Lennox Joslyn – chairman of the Fundraising Committee of the Brooklyn-based umbrella Vincentian group in the United States, Council of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Organizations, U.S.A., Inc. (COSAGO) – said he can’t wait to land at AIA.
“It’s an historic flight, and I can’t miss this for the world. I think it’s a significant milestone for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and all Vincentians should embrace it, as we move forward.
“I want all Vincentians to move on this [welcome AIA],” added Joslyn, a member of the Brooklyn-based Striders Social and Cultural Organization, who was born at Diamond, a short distance from AIA.
“Forget about politics,” he insists.
The long-standing president of the Brooklyn-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines ’Ex-Teachers Association, Jackson Farrell, has expressed similar views.
Addressing the 34th Anniversary Luncheon of his group, in Brooklyn last month, he told the audience “the airport, whether we like it or not, is coming on stream,”
“When the Comrade (Prime Minister Gonsalves) passes on, the airport will still be there. So, let us stop the ‘dotishness’ and opposition to the international airport].”
In his remarks, in the souvenir journal, Farrell, who taught elementary and secondary schools in St.Vincent and the Grenadines before migrating to New York, said the opening of the AIA “brings with it “blessings and challenges” and that his association has been “an integral part” of the Brooklyn-based Friends of Argyle International Airport that has been raising funds to assist construction of the airport.
“We have stated clearly that we recognize certain projects purely through the prism of national interest and not as any political partisan objective,” Farrell said.
Prince, who also addressed the ceremony, said he had been receiving a number of inquiries about the AIA’s official opening and charter flights on the opening day and that an overwhelming number of Vincentians in the Diaspora were looking forward to landing at home.
“One stop! SVG (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) we coming!” he exclaimed. “One stop! SVG we coming!”
Last year, the International Airport Development Company (IADC), a private limited liability company wholly owned by the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, said that work on the AIA was “winding down.”
“Since construction started in August 2008, Vincentians have waited in anticipation of the completion of this project,” said IADC on its website, adding that, after several missed dates, “completion is on the horizon.”
Chief executive officer of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority, Glen Beache, said in a statement that the AIA boasts a runway that is 9,000 ft. long and 250 ft. wide, and is “capable of accommodating aircrafts as large as Boeing 747-400’s.”
He said the 171, 000 sq. ft. terminal building is designed to accommodate 1.5 million passengers annually.
Beache, a former tourism minister, in the Gonsalves administration, said AIA is further enhanced with two jet bridges, restaurants, bars and other shops – “all designed to provide passengers and airport employees with a pleasant experience.”
“Tourism has been the major economic earner for St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the last two decades, and it is expected that the new international airport will increase earnings in this sector, as well as other critical sectors, including agriculture, fisheries,” Beache said.
Diaspora ecstatic about historic flight into new airport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Jamaica signs agreement with Atlanta airport
The Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) yesterday signed an Airport Co-operation Agreement with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The AAJ operates the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
The Transport ministry says under the Agreement, airports in Jamaica and the Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Atlanta will exchange ideas and information pertaining to cargo and passenger traffic development.
This will include sharing information on historical statistical data, planned infrastructure developments and general marketing research, all aimed at increasing passenger and cargo traffic at all three international airports in Jamaica and Hartsfield Jackson.
The ministry also said the partnership will provide for capacity building in aviation competency in Jamaica through training and talent development of technical and managerial airports personnel locally.
Transport Minister, Mike Henry who was present at the signing, says the Agreement will increase trade and technical co-operation between Jamaica and Atlanta.
Henry says geographically, Jamaica is strategically placed to do business with Atlanta, adding that the city has become a preferred destination for many Jamaicans.
The Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) yesterday signed an Airport Co-operation Agreement with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The AAJ operates the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
The Transport ministry says under the Agreement, airports in Jamaica and the Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Atlanta will exchange ideas and information pertaining to cargo and passenger traffic development.
This will include sharing information on historical statistical data, planned infrastructure developments and general marketing research, all aimed at increasing passenger and cargo traffic at all three international airports in Jamaica and Hartsfield Jackson.
The ministry also said the partnership will provide for capacity building in aviation competency in Jamaica through training and talent development of technical and managerial airports personnel locally.
Transport Minister, Mike Henry who was present at the signing, says the Agreement will increase trade and technical co-operation between Jamaica and Atlanta.
Henry says geographically, Jamaica is strategically placed to do business with Atlanta, adding that the city has become a preferred destination for many Jamaicans.