"Overwhelming" Volume of Ganja Cases Prompts Shift in Jamaican Courts
Flights

This Bahamas Island Is Just Off the Coast of Florida. And It’s Having a Moment

 bimini island in the bahamas

There aren’t many places in the Caribbean where you can leave Miami after breakfast and be standing on a white-sand beach before lunchtime. Bimini has always occupied a unique place in The Bahamas: close enough for a spontaneous escape, yet far enough away to feel like you’ve crossed into another world. The water is startlingly […]

Grenada, Germany Sign Climate Deal

By the Caribbean Journal staff Grenadian Environment Minister Joseph Gilbert signed a $6.89 million “concept agreement” for projects in climate change with the German government. The aims of the new programme are to deliver funds to local communities in Grenada to help fight climate change’s adverse effects, like droughts and sea level rise. Michael Scholze […]

Jamaican MP Switches Parties, Renounces United States Citizenship

Above: Sharon Hay-Webster (JIS Photo) By the Caribbean Journal staff Jamaican Member of Parliament Sharon Hay-Webster has switched from being an independent to a member of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, along with renouncing her United States citizenship, something that had been the subject of controversy. The Jamaican constitution has been construed to prohibit members […]

Ilio Durandis: The Affair Belizaire and What it Means for Haiti's Rule of Law

Above: Arnel Belizaire By Ilio Durandis Op-Ed Contributor Haiti’s 1987 constitution is supposed to be the supreme law of the land. However, in Haiti, the rule of laws means different thing to different people at different times. I often say that Haiti does not lack laws; on paper, there are more laws than there are […]

Jamaican MP Switches Parties, Renounces United States Citizenship

 By the Caribbean Journal staff Trinidad and Tobago stands ray to assist Africa in the development of its oil and gas industries, Trinidad Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine said in a speech at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Perth, Australia. Trinidad is already positioning its energy exports in that direction, with approximately 22 percent of its […]

Barbados Has Caribbean's Highest Life Expectancy: United Nations Report

 Above: Harrismith Beach in Barbados (Photo: Barbados Tourism) By the Caribbean Journal staff Barbados has the highest life expectancy in CARICOM, according to a report released by the United Nations Population Fund. The report, “State of World Population 2012,” was sent out on the eve of the expected birth of the planet’s 7 billionth inhabitant. […]

S&P Explains Bahamas Downgrade

 Above: downtown Nassau (Photo: CJ) By Alexander Britell On Monday, ratings firm Standard & Poor’s announced it had lowered the Bahamas’ sovereign credit rating from BBB+/A-2 to BBB/A-3, citing a heavier weight its new sovereign credit rating criteria places on economic factors, along with what it called a dependence on tourism and the US market. […]

Antiguan to Lead UN Budget Talks

 By the Caribbean Journal staff Ambassador Conrod Hunte, Antigua and Barbuda’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, has been appointed the chair of the United Nations budget negotiations in the Fifth Committee. Hunte will oversee budget talks for the two-year period from 2012-2013. Last week, Secretary General Bank Ki-moon unveiled a budget proposal of […]

IDB to Increase Caribbean Funding

Above: IDB headquarters in Washington, DC The Caribbean will see a nearly $5 billion jump in annual financing from the Inter-American Development Bank. Funding for the region has moved from $7 billion to $12 billion. According to Ancile Brewster, the IDB’s representative in Jamaica, regional integration and private sector development in the Caribbean are among […]

The Big Youth Interview

 Emerging from Kingston’s Trenchtown in the 1970s, Big Youth became one of the pioneers of reggae – as arguably one of the first deejays and, as he says, the first Rastafarian to do so. In a four-decade career, in which he has worked with everyone from Lee Perry to Bunny Wailer, Big Youth has overseen […]