BBC Caribbean News in Brief

Floods hit Suriname

Reports from Suriname say heavy rains are flooding some areas and forcing businesses and schools to close.
Most of the flooding so far has occurred in the capital of Paramaribo, where more than half of the country’s residents live.
A spokesman for the meteorological service told the Associated Press news agency that the heavy rains will continue until Saturday, with communities in the interior also at risk of flooding.

New federal funds for USVI

The governor of the US Virgin Islands says $8 million for special projects in the territory was included in a bill President Obama signed on Wednesday.
Governor John deJongh said the bill includes funding for a new emergency communications system, a solid waste system, highway construction, and land acquisition for the USVI national park.
He said: “These projects will go a long way in creating a better and safer Virgin Islands for all our people.”

Haitian, Dominican
presidents to meet

President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic and his Haitian counterpart René Préval are due to meet on 24 March.
A government official said they will meet in Comendador, on the border of the two countries.
He said the presidents will discuss cooperation in education and agribusiness and the Haitian import ban on chicken and eggs from Dominican Republic.
The ban was imposed in 2007 after claims that Dominican poultry had been infected with bird flu.