Barbados
A new governor of the Barbados Central Bank (BCB) took up office from Jan. 1, 2018.
Finance Minister Christopher Sinkler announced that Christopher Haynes has been appointed as governor of the Central Bank of Barbados effective Jan. 1.
The new governor, who has acted in the position since Feb. 24 last year, has more than 37 years experience in central banking, with emphasis on macroeconomic policy and bank regulations.
He was deputy governor from February 2009 until early last year.
He authored and co-authored several publications, principally on economic policy, debt and financial sector issues.
Dominica
The Dominica Business Forum (DBF) is calling for a public inquiry into the looting that followed the Sept. 18 devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.
DCF chairman, Severin Mc Kenzie, said the issue had been raised with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit last month where the private sector group discussed “the building of confidence particularly as it relates to the looting that took place after Hurricane Maria.”
McKenzie said questions have been asked about what mechanisms are being put in place to give local investors a certain level of confidence that they should re-invest in the Dominican economy.
Last month, Prime Minister Skerrit said a review would be held to determine what went wrong with security on the island following the passage of the category 5 hurricane that killed at least 29 people and left millions of dollars in damage.
McKenzie said the private sector, which employs in excess of 15,000 people wants to know what went wrong, not only with the police, but what went wrong generally in the aftermath of the hurricane.
Guyana
Oil and gas giant ExxonMobil is expected to start oil production in Guyana by March 2020.
This was disclosed by Exxon’s Country Manager Rod Henson during a recent press conference in Guyana where contents of the Stabroek Petroleum Agreement between the oil company and the government were shared.
Guyana and ExxonMobil entered into an agreement in July 2016, which will see the South American country receiving a 50 / 50 profit and a two percent royalty.
Oil from just the Liza Phase One could be more than US$1.5 billion after five years and more than US$7 billion over the life of the project.
Henson told journalists it is estimated when production starts around March 2020 it will be somewhere between 100, 000 and 120,000 barrels a day.
The oil production in 2020 will represent only a fraction of the Liza field, Henson said.
St. Kitts
The devastating hurricanes Irma and Maria have disrupted record growth by the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union last year.
This is according to Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (EECB) Governor Timothy Antoine who said before the hurricanes hit, the ECCU was on the way to record its fastest growth in a decade.
He said the welcomed development was rudely interrupted and reversed by the passage of the two hurricanes, two of the most powerful storms ever recorded.
Five out of the nine-member countries were impacted with three receiving direct hits.
Antoine said despite the impact of the hurricanes, the ECCB made significant strides “of which we can justifiably be proud,” which include return to profitability and the launch of “our strategic plan.”
The 2017 – 2021 strategic plan “Transforming the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union Together” focuses on economic transformation.
Jamaica
A Jamaican delegation of top security officials led by National Security Minister Robert Montague recently attended the 9th Citizen Security Week in Colombia where they were provided with helpful information and suggestions regarding technological solutions available to deal with Jamaica’s crime problem.
The 9th Citizen Security Week was organized by the Inter-American Development Bank with support from the Colombian government.
The aim of the Security Week was to provide public security policymakers and directors of violence and crime prevention with a platform for dialogue and inform them of main challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The discussions were on the challenges that states face to establish legitimacy and trust in the implementation of citizen security public policies, through the exchange of experiences.
National Security Advisor, Major General Antony Anderson, who was a member of the delegation visited the Police Unit for Peace, the intelligence unit and the Telematics Directorate of the Colombian National Police, while in Bogota.
Trinidad
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley in a televised address to the nation on Sunday night has called on law-abiding citizens to continue to support the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) in their fight against crime.
With 18 murders recorded in the first week of 2018, Rowley said he is appealing to citizens to keep hope alive in this war against the heartless family members and career violent criminals.
“We must and will, win this war on crime. New approaches are at work in the Strategic Service Agency (SSA) and a new energy is beginning to infect the ranks of the TTPS and already we are seeing improvements in response and detections, he said.
The prime minister also re-emphasized his commitment to weed out corruption in the public service.
— Compiled by Azad Ali
