Mr Ban wants jobs for Haiti
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on donor countries to create at least 100,000 jobs in Haiti over the next two years.
Mr Ban told a donors conference in Washington on Tuesday that he believes Haiti is poised to make more progress in the next two years than it has in the last two decades. “For all of us, this is a moment, a breakout moment to help one of the poorest nations lift itself towards a future of real economic prospects and genuine hope,” Mr Ban said.
International donors have agreed to an aid package of $324 million to help Haiti recover from last year’s hurricanes and food shortages.
Jamaica redundancies
on the increase
The number of redundancies in Jamaica has reached 15,000, Labour Minister Pearnel Charles has said.
That’s 2000 more than was reported last month.
Mr Charles told parliament on Tuesday that the increase in the unemployment rate has serious implications for the National Insurance Fund.
The fund manages the National Insurance Scheme, that finances the pensions for retired Jamaicans.
He said a falloff in inflows is expected since most of those whose jobs have been made redundant were contributors to the scheme. The mining, shipping, media and manufacturing sectors are some of the areas which have seen job losses in recent months.
TCI parliament reconvenes
Parliament reconvened in the Turks & Caicos Islands on Tuesday for what is expected to be the last time in two years, pending the return to British rule.
The UK is to seize control of the Caribbean dependency after investigators found widespread corruption coupled with rampant abuse of public funds.
Recently sworn in Premier Galmo Williams fronted a new Cabinet with the shamed former ministers relegated to the back bench.
Among them was disgraced leader Michael Misick, whose multi million dollar lifestyle formed much of the basis of the probe.
Mr Williams spoke of an urgent need to unite citizens of the scandal-plagued Islands whom he described as “deeply divided”.
