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GRENADA TO CELEBRATE 31 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

Preparations are moving full speed ahead for the staging of Grenada's 31st Anniversary of Independence, February 2 - 7, 2005.

  Since Grenada is now in the rebuilding process, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan, there are tremendous financial constraints.

The theme chosen for this year's celebration is Rebuilding with a vision for a better Nation.

The Ministry of Tourism has released the planned activities on the islands.

Petit Martinique's National Rally - Wednesday, February 2, 2005

Carriacou's National Rally - Thursday, February 3, 2005

        Individual School's Programme and School Treat January 31, - February 4, 2005

           Forum for the Diplomatic  Corps - Friday, February 4, 2005

           Independence Church Service - Sunday,  February 6, 2005

           Military Parade and Rally - Monday, February 7, 2005    

The Embassy of Grenada in Washington, DC will celebrate Grenada's 31st Anniversary of Independence by coordinating a series of activities.

These include an Art Exhibition featuring Grenadian artists, to be held at the OAS Headquarters in Washington, DC, beginning on February 5^th and continuing at the Embassy through the month of February.

The Embassy will participate in the 11th Screen Actors Guild Awards. Proceeds of these awards, during which screen actors vote for fellow actors, will benefit the reconstruction efforts in Grenada, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan.

The Embassy is collaborating with the Grenada Board of Tourism on a tourism presentation display of Grenada and also providing a door prize of spices and products from Grenada for auction.

The annual Church Service and Brunch will be held on February 6^th 2005 at the Holy Comforter Church in Washington, DC.

A Round Table Discussion on the theme "Rebuilding with a vision for a better Nation" has been planned for the month of March to continue the dialogue and engagement of the community on Grenada.

The Mayor of Washington DC, the Honourable Anthony Williams, will proclaim January 31st through February 7th Grenada Week in Washington, DC.

As part of the celebration, the Consulate General of Grenada in Toronto, in collaboration with Grenada Associations, will host a reception on January 22, 2005 to thank everyone who assisted Grenada during the relief effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.

The flag raising ceremony will be held at Nathan Phillips Square on Friday February 4th at 12 noon.

This year the church service will be at The Caribbean Catholic Church & Center, 867 College Street (College/Ossington) on Sunday February 6th and will commence at 12 noon.

On February 12th, The Grenada Association will host the 31st Anniversary of Independence Dinner/Dance under the patronage of the Honorary Consul General of Grenada, Mr. Conrad Gibbs. This event will be held at the Spirale Banquet Hall, 888 Don Mills Road commencing at 6.30 p.m.  

PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES NEW YORK

Saturday January 22nd

YOUTH PROGRAMME - Medgar Evers College, Carroll Street, Brooklyn, NY Time: 4.00 p.m.

Sunday January 30th

ECUMENICAL SERVICE - St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church 331 Hawthorne St. (Bet. Nostrand & New York Avenues) Brooklyn, NY Time: 3.00 p.m.

Saturday February 5th

AWARDS, DINNER & BALL- Antun's, 96-43 Springfield Blvd, Queen's NY Time: 9.00 p.m. to 3.00 a.m.

Sunday February 13th CULTURAL SHOW - Wingate High School, Brooklyn, NY Time: 4.00 p.m.

4 Million Passengers And Counting To The Bahamas

Discovery Cruise Line, the largest tour operator to Grand Bahama Island, announced that on January 28, 2005 the cruise line recognized the four millionth person it has carried between Fort Lauderdale and the island destination.

The lucky person, actually a couple, was Mr. and Mrs. Roger Forget from Sunrise, Florida. To celebrate the event, Discovery refunded the winners' cruise and stay vacation cost, including the cruise and their accommodations at The Westin Beach & Golf Resort at Our Lucaya. In addition, the couple was awarded a certificate entitling them to cruise free on Discovery every year for the rest of their lives. The certificate also includes seven-course dining in Discovery's award-winning Grand Bahama Grill. Upon their arrival in Grand Bahama, the Forgets were introduced to the Minister of Tourism of The Bahamas, The Honourable Obediah H. Wilchombe, at the conclusion of the National Tourism Conference.

The recognition of the four-millionth passenger also triggered the start of a new advertising campaign by Discovery, which offers passengers traveling now through August 15, 2005, a discount of $40 per couple off the regular published rate for Cruise 'N Stay Vacation Packages for travel between August 16, 2005 and January 31, 2006. In addition, each passenger will receive a commemorative beaded necklace affixed with a tag that reads "4 Million Passengers and Counting." Select retailers on the island are offering people wearing the necklace a gift-with-purchase at their stores on island. The promotion is currently under way and expires August 15, 2005.

Source: Discovery Cruise Line

GRENADA'S INDEPENDNENCE AWARDS

The Government of Grenada will recognize groups and individuals in its 2005 Independence Awards for voluntary and selfless acts during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan. The selection Areas and Criteria for Awards are:

1. Provision of shelter.

 Persons nominated for this award would have provided shelter, food and clothing to at least one family (who are not relatives of the nominee) for a period of two weeks or more.

2. Provision of services.

 Persons or organizations nominated for this award would have provided service in the areas of transport, provision of equipment, clean up campaigns, road clearance, work brigades (rebuilding of homes) and other such volunteer work in the community.

3. Provision of sustenance.

 Individuals or groups nominated for this award would have provided sustenance to the less fortunate either through the provision of food baskets and/or soup kitchens.

4. Acts of heroism

 Individuals nominated for this award should have performed selfless acts of heroism which could have endangered their own safety while rescuing others in distress or relocating them to safer areas.

5. Service to the Public

 Individuals or groups nominated for this award would have performed above and beyond the call of duty while providing service to the public in the following areas:-

o Medical (doctors and /or nurses)

o Security(Police and Prison officers, security guards)

o Civil (including initiatives by Public Sector employees)

o Media (Electronic and print)

The Awards Ceremony takes place on Thursday, February 24, 2005 at the Grenada Trade Centre at 7.00 p.m.

Ching Chong Go Home

Grenada's Tourism Minister, Hon. Charles Savarin, describes as "racist and xenophobic" the campaign being waged by Hon. Edison James to have the Chinese Ambassador recalled.

In a statement to the media, the Leader of the Dominica Freedom Party, Hon. Charles Savarin criticized what he described as a campaign being waged by the Leader of the Opposition and the United Workers Party against the Government and people of the PRC and its Ambassador to Dominica, His Excellency, Ye Dabo.

Mr. Savarin highlighted an example of the racist and xenophobic tendencies of the Leader of the Opposition. He said that in 1993, when the United Workers Party was in Opposition, they mounted a demonstration in Roseau against the Taiwanese Chinese in Dominica, chanting, "Ching Chong Go Home".

The Tourism Minister concluded: "Racism and xenophobia in all its forms and all its manifestations must be condemned before it takes root in our society. There is no place for hate, racism and xenophobia in our politics or our international relations."

The Chinese Ambassador to Dominica, Mr. Ye Dabo has come under a barrage of criticism from Hon. Edison James in recent weeks. At a rally of his United Workers Party in Portsmouth recently, Hon. Edison James called for Mr. Ye Dabo to be recalled.

Mr. Savarin also accused the Leader of the Opposition of attempting to sabotage the cooperation agreement between Dominica and the People's Republic of China citing the flying of the Taiwanese flag by the Opposition United Workers Party. The Statement in part: "The flying of the flag of the Republic of China on Taiwan by the United Workers Party is a deliberate act of provocation which no responsible political organization, particularly one which was recently in government and which hopes to regain government, should engage itself in:

As a nation state we have the duty and responsibility to recognize the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states with whom we establish diplomatic relations and must recognize also the inviolability of the person of all Ambassadors accredited to Dominica and all embassies established on Dominican soil. To do otherwise is to interfere in the internal affairs of the state in question, in this case, the People's Republic of China."

Filming in Dominica - Pirates of the Caribbean II

The filming of Pirates of the Caribbean II in Dominica by Disney should begin in mid-April 2005 on the island of Dominica. Although Disney has not confirmed that the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean will be filmed in Dominica, government officials and officials in the tourism industry as a whole are quietly confident that the sequel to the multimillion dollar epic will be filmed in Dominica.

Representatives of Disney have made several visits to Dominica since August 2004 and have visited several locations on the island. Within the next week, thirty people from Disney including the Director of the Film are expected on island for a technical scouting trip.

Over the last several months, the Government of Dominica through the Ministry of Tourism, the National Development Corporation and several other Dominican Government Departments have been doing everything possible to secure the filming of the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean. The economy is expected to get a boost and so far thirty-five Dominicans are employed by Disney in Dominica in preproduction.

Disney has rented floor space in the Financial Centre in Roseau. To date a number of contracts have been signed by Disney with a number of local companies in the transportation, construction and security sectors in Dominica.

Hotels, restaurants, guest houses, bars and suppliers of local produce are bracing themselves for brisk business from mid-April as a film crew of over 400 is expected to boost demand for local products and services.

Dominica's Tourism promotion also stands to benefit from the tremendous opportunities expected as a result of the film being shot on location in Dominica.

GONSALVES LASHES OUT AT INSULARITY

by Jeff Trotman

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, has criticized the Parliamentary opposition political parties in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines for condemning his role of heading a Trinidad and Tobago mission to Colombia and Ecuador to lobby for Trinidad and Tobago to become the headquarters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

Speaking at a press conference in Kingstown on Monday 31 January, Dr. Gonsalves expressed amazement that the opposition UNC Party in Trinidad and Tobago and the opposition NDP in St. Vincent and the Grenadines have criticized his role in leading the five member mission.

According to him, they ignored or down played that Foreign Ministers from other CARICOM countries had headed similar missions, which had been sanctioned by CARICOM.

He said, when the UNC was in government, just before the 18-18 election stalemate, it had expressed the desire for Trinidad and Tobago to host the FTAA headquarters, and the succeeding PNM administration "took that ball and is running with it."

"Now, if we can't work together on matters like these why are we talking about CSME and regional integration if we are going to allow the partisan politics to pollute something which is regional and something which is patriotic?"

Dr. Gonsalves further stated that Miami is the principal competitor to Trinidad and Tobago in the bid to host the FTAA, and that Miami is using all the resources at its disposal.

Noting that Miami is in Florida, and that the Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, is the brother of the President of the United States of America, Dr. Gonsalves said that the wife of the Governor of Florida is of Latin descent, and she is mobilized to help Miami.

Dr. Gonsalves added that he thought that Caribbean support of Trinidad and Tobago's bid would have been applauded by all within the region but it seems as if some people cannot get rid of the chauvinism, which partisan politics in the islands seem to engender.

SVG'S OAS SUPPORT OF MEXICO NO CONTRADICTION

by Jeff Trotman

SVG's Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said that there is no contradiction that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has committed its support for the Mexican candidate for the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) without seeking a common CARICOM position. According to him, CARICOM did not have a common position on a candidate to succeed Sir George Alleyne as head of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Dr. Gonsalves said that he has informed Chile that St. Vincent and the Grenadines had established very good relations with the Mexican candidate, Luis Ernesto Derbez even before he indicated his interest in the post. He said that Derbez visited St. Vincent and the Grenadines two years ago during a tour to cement relations with CARICOM. Prime Minister Gonsalves said that Derbez had then agreed on behalf of the Mexico government to give St. Vincent and the Grenadines 140 university scholarships over a period of five years.

"It was not a question that he gave the scholarships in anticipation that he would have been a candidate for the office of OAS Secretary General because at that time Caesar Gaveria was in office as the OAS Secretary General, and the entire CARICOM agreed to support Miguel Rodriguez from Costa Rica, who had to resign after taking up the job."

HELPFUL

According to Dr. Gonsalves, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is in a good position to assist Trinidad and Tobago in its bid for the FTAA headquarters because "the issue of candidacy of the OAS is obviously related to the issue of the Free Trade Area of the Americas candidacy."

"Mexico has two locations for the FTAA headquarters, Cancun and Pueblo. We have declared support for Mexico for the OAS Secretary Generalship. We have not declared support for Mexico for the Free Trade Area of the Americas. As you know, we're supporting Trinidad and Tobago. "The Mexicans know our position that they cannot have both the FTAA headquarters and the OAS, and clearly the federal government in Mexico is pushing the OAS candidacy."

The Prime Minister added that he does not anticipate that any of the Mexican cities will stand a serious chance of being a real competitor for the Free Trade Area of the Americas headquarters.

Reiterating that Mexico's Foreign Minister Derbez is a very good candidate, Dr. Gonsalves said that he has equally stated openly that Jose Miguel Insulza of Chile is also a good candidate but he can only support one candidate.

USA  OUT OF STEP ON CUBA

by Jeff Trotman

The United States of America is out of step with the rest of the world when it comes to dealing with Cuba.

Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, expressed the view at a press conference on Monday 31 January, 2005 when he was asked what he and the rest of CARICOM are doing to bring Cuba within the embrace of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

Dr. Gonsalves said that the United States of America has used its influence to keep Cuba out of both the OAS and the FTAA but CARICOM has been trying to make Cuba more involved in hemispheric matters.

"The point, though, is that the US government and this current government in the US have made its position even clearer - that it doesn't see any reason why any relations should be established with Cuba or why anybody should have anything to do with Cuba. The fact of the matter is this; they are out of step with mainstream views on international relations because every European country has relations with Cuba. Canada has relations with Cuba."

Prime Minister Gonsalves further stated that although Canada, the US, and Mexico are in the North America Free Trade Area (NAFTA), the US has not brought reprisals against Canada and Mexico because of their association with Cuba.

He added that Mexico has had unbroken relations with Cuba from the time of the revolution even when other countries in the OAS broke relations with Cuba in 1959.

According to him, some people say that he should not go for the establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba but they make up a small minority in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Stating that Cuba is a Caribbean country, Dr. Gonsalves asserted that successive administrations in St. Vincent and the Grenadines have strengthened relations with Cuba.

"All I'm doing and all the ULP administration is doing, is consolidating on the work done by the Founding Father of the Nation, Robert Milton Cato, and by Sir James Mitchell; and I think that most people will agree that if I stand in consolidation to both of them, I'm standing in consolidation to mainstream opinion in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I'm not going out on any excursion of my own.

" Stressing that he is acting on behalf of and in the interest of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Gonsalves said: "That is what I'm elected to do. That is what I'm sworn to do, and I will do it."

Prime Minister Gonsalves added that the United States of America and CARICOM countries have agreed to disagree on the issue of Cuba.