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Volume No. 1 Issue No. 87 - Wednesday September 11, 2006 |
The News in Brief from The Dominican.net News Desk
Roseau, Dominica � September 23, 2006
House Speaker Part of Observer Team for Zambia Elections
Speaker of the Dominica House of Assembly, Hon. Alix Boyd Knights, is now in Zambia as part of a Commonwealth Observer Group to observe the 2006 Presidential, National Assembly and Local Elections in Zambia. The Group is led by former Prime Minister of Mauritius, Hon. Paul Berenger.
The Observer Group consists of ten eminent persons, supported by five Commonwealth Secretariat staff. The Observer Group will start work today, Tuesday, September 19, 2006 and will hold a press conference on Thursday, September 21, 2006 in the Zambian capital, Lusaka.
The Terms of Reference for the 2006 Observer Group are:
�The Group is established by the Commonwealth Secretary-General at the request of the Election Commission of Zambia. It is to observe relevant aspects of the organisation and conduct of Presidential, National Assembly and Local Elections, scheduled to take place on September 28, 2006, in accordance with the laws of Zambia. It is to consider the various factors impinging on the credibility of the electoral process as a whole and to determine in its own judgement whether the conditions exist for a free expression of will by the electors and if the results of the election reflect the wishes of the people.
The Group is to act impartially and independently. It has no executive role; its function is not to supervise but to observe the process as a whole and to form a judgement accordingly. It would also be free to propose to the authorities concerned such action on institutional, procedural and other matters as would assist the holding of such elections.
The Group is to submit its report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General, who will forward it to the Government of Zambia, the Electoral Commission, the leadership of the political parties taking part in the elections and thereafter to all Commonwealth Governments.�
Roseau � September 13, 2006
Former Deputy Leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) Joins the Skeritt Administration
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skeritt has announced the appointment of former Deputy Leader of the opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Julius Timothy as minister of Economic Development and Planning.
Timothy, a former finance minister from 1995 � 2000 will have special responsibility for revamping the country�s offshore sector, and will be responsible for remaking Dominica�s economic citizenship program. In making the announcement to a live radio audience, Prime Minister Skeritt told the Nation that the new ministry would �avoid the mistakes of the past� and would be �clean and vibrant.�
When Timothy served as finance minister, Dominica was blacklisted by the international community after the government aggressively pursued the building of the offshore sector. Dominica was finally taken off the list after the labour government made substantial changes to offshore legislation and vowed to fight money laundering, and in the process virtually destroyed that sector.
It was also under the tenure of Timothy as finance minister that Dominica�s Economic Citizenship Program came under international scrutiny after over three hundred Russians were granted Dominica passports. Under the program, non Dominican nationals can become citizens after paying USD $50 000. It was not clear if Timothy�s appointment signaled a return to the policy adopted under the UWP administration.
In December of 2005, Timothy a founding member of the UWP resigned from the party after failing to gain membership support for leadership of the party. Earl Williams, a former communications and works minister was selected to replace Edison James as party leader.
San Juan � September 10, 2006
American Eagle to Add an Additional Flight to Dominica
American Eagle has announced an increase in its flights to five Caribbean destinations.
"The additional flights are part of our continuous efforts to solidify American Eagle as the premier airline in the Caribbean," said Peter Bowler, President of American Eagle. "These increased flights strengthen our San Juan hub and provide passengers with increased choices to reach some of the area's most popular and scenic destinations."
The airline will offer additional flights from its San Juan hub to Antigua, Dominica, Anguilla, St. Thomas and St. Croix, using the ATR72 turbo-prop aircraft with capacity for 64 passengers.
American Eagle announced one additional round trip between San Juan and Dominica, three days a week, beginning Nov. 16 through Dec. 1, and again from Dec. 14 to Jan. 31.
Roseau � September 5, 2006
Additional Students to Enroll at Dominica�s Second Offshore Medical School
More than one hundred medical school students are expected in Dominica to begin classes at the off shore All Saints Medical School.
The new arrivals will bring the enrolment to 140 students. Attorney David Bruney who is the legal advisor to the school said that the new arrivals will serve to generate much needed economic activity in the southern part of Dominica.
The All Saints Medical School is Dominica�s second offshore medical school following the establishment more than twenty-five years ago of the hugely successful Ross University, which is situated in Portsmouth at the Northern end of the country.
The new offshore medical school is located in Loubiere and opened earlier this year.
Roseau � August 29, 2006
This Day in History � Remembering Hurricane David
Twenty-seven years ago this day, Hurricane David tore through Dominica with winds upwards of 150 miles per hour leaving 32 persons dead and several hundred injured.
The devastation was complete with the banana crop completely wiped out along with nutmeg, cocoa, coffee, coconuts and several other plants and in some cases bird species.
David was the worse hurricane in the country�s history and was recorded as the 18th most destructive storm in all of recorded history. In that storm, 2 068 souls were lost in Dominica, the Dominican Republic and the United States.
Hurricane David Remembered
Tracing the Destructive Power of Hurricanes
Georgia � August 28, 2006
Dr. Eric Buffong and Daughter Dies in Vehicular Accident
A Dominican physician practicing in Columbus, Georgia and who pled guilty earlier this year to sexual battery has been killed in a car accident.
Dr. Eric Buffong and his daughter were killed in an early morning car crash on Saturday August 26 in Clayton County, Georgia.
According to authorities, the car Buffong and his 22-year old daughter were traveling in crashed into the back of a tractor trailer. It happened around three am on Interstate 285.
Both victims were thrown from the car on impact, killing them instantly.
Bridgetown � August 23, 2006
Powerful Tropical Storm Could Threathen Windward Islands Over the Weekend
A vigorous tropical wave located 400 miles east of the Windward Islands is slowly organising and a tropical depression could form before weekend, said the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, posing a new tropical threat for the southern Windward Islands.
The system which looks totally disheveled on satellite imagery this morning is said to have cyclonic turning the low- and mid-level clouds with a possible 1010-millibar centre located near 10.5 degrees north and 52.5 degrees west. The system is attempting to organise and develop into a cyclone. It is moving into favourable waters close to the southern Caribbean and thunderstorms are popping up close to the centre.
Tracking and intensity computer models run Tuesday and again at 8 am Wednesday are projecting that this disturbance will develop into a strong tropical storm before reaching the southern Windward Islands on the weekend. The initial forecast track by the majority of models is for it to cross the islands somewhere between Tobago and St Lucia. One lone model takes it into the northern Caribbean in the vicinity of Dominica and Guadeloupe. These models change every 12 hours and are subject to huge margins of error.
The system is presently traveling westward near 20 miles hour and at 8 was estimated to be about 400 miles east of Barbados.
The National Hurricane Centre said that residents in the southern and central Lesser Antilles should follow the progress of this system closely.
Marigot � August 22, 2006
Official Funeral for Honorable Pattison Alexander Stevens
The Government of Dominica has decided that Mr. Pattison Alexander Strathmore Stevens will be given an Official Funeral on Friday, August 25, 2006.
The Dominican Flag shall be flown at half staff on all public buildings in the State from today, Monday, August 21, 2006.
Mr. Pattison Alexander Strathmore Stevens entered Parliament as an Independent candidate in the by-election of 1973, winning the North Eastern Electoral District. In 1975, he won the newly created Marigot Constituency, again sitting as an Independent member in Parliament.
After having joined the Dominica Freedom Party under the leadership of Miss Mary Eugenia Charles in 1978, Mr. Stevens won the Marigot Constituency in the 1980 and 1985 General Elections on a Dominica Freedom Party ticket. He retired from active politics prior to the 1990 General Elections.
Official Mourners at the official funeral service shall include His Excellency the President and Mrs. Liverpool, the Prime Minister and other Members of Cabinet, the Honourable Speaker and other Members of the House of Assembly, former Presidents and Prime Ministers and other Government Officials.
Public viewing of the body shall be from 3.30pm at the Marigot Methodist Chapel and the Official Funeral Service will begin at 4.00pm.
The late Pattison Alexander Strathmore Stevens will be buried at the Methodist Cemetery.
All Official Mourners are requested to be in their seats no later than 3.45pm.
Roseau � August 14, 2006
Festival Commission Names Line-up of Performers for 2006 World Creole Music Festival
The Dominica Festival Commission has announced the line-up for this year�s World Creole Music Festival.
The show will begin on Friday October 27 with acts by Shaggy (Jamaica), T-Vice (Haiti), Royalty Band (United States), WCK (Dominica) and Zouk Flam � Kravan (Guadeloupe).
On Saturday, October 28 it will be the turn of Wyclef Jean (United States), Triple Kay (Dominica), Djacout (Haiti), Swinging Stars (Dominica), and Sakis (West Africa).
For the final day of performances, it will be Byron Lee (Jamaica), Impromptu (Dominica), Tabou Combo (Haiti), Carimi (Haiti) and Admiral T (Guadeloupe).
For this year�s festival, BET, RFO Guadeloupe and RFO Martinique will be producing various features for television viewers. Complete information can be found at World Creole Music Festival
Read more of the EARLIER NEWS IN Brief
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