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Showing posts from September, 2015

World Tourism Day 2015

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The Caribbean Is One Nation. Submitted by the Mahogany Coconut Group                                                           Once more we offer comment on a day designated to a particular event. Today, September 27 th , is World Tourism Day, under the theme: “One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities”. This day should be of considerable interest to almost all the countries in our region that have pinned their economic hopes on the mighty tourist dollar. We can expect the repetitive messages from the Ministers of Tourism and there will be the usual chat shops that these special days attract. Ever since the demolition of the agricultural sector, we have looked for a savior and the tourist industry has been the preferred choice of many governments. Unfortunately, tourism earns foreign exchange and then gobbles  it up  to sustain itself. In other words, we do not retain a great proportion of the money earned by the industry. This leads to a constant battle to maint

Caribbean Peace

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The Caribbean Is One Nation. Submitted by the Mahogany Coconut Group In 1981 The United Nations General Assembly, established International Day of Peace, September 21 st . We in the Caribbean have been spared the ravishes of war and the loss of life, limb and other collateral damage that result from acts of war. We do not believe that our region needs or will be drawn into any international conflict, which will require mighty armies. We are therefore a zone of peace in a world riddled with all types of conflict. However, in its broadest context, the International Day of Peace seeks to call a ceasing of all conflict be it war or that engendered by social dislocation and other concerns. As we write this article, we therefore call on our citizens to use peace and dialogue as tools of conflict resolution. Too many of our citizens, especially those under the age of forty, are resorting to brutal violence to solve disputes and conflict. In many instances they have abandoned the ques

Road Tennis Takes Off In Brooklyn

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The Caribbean Is One Nation. By Michael Headley Saturday  ,   August 29 ,  2015  was an historic day in Brooklyn  New York   as Barbados'Creamof the  C rop  Pro  R oad  T ennis   tournament  final s   were  played at Parkside Playground,  between Rogers and Bedford Avenue   .        This was the first time that the finals were ever played outside of Barbados and they were covered by Caribvision.  Preceding the finals, t he spectators were treated to exhibition game   s   and mixed doubles.      Mark, Venom Griffith and Dario Hinds  competed in the finals   .  Venom won the three best in five series, winning three games outright and he received the coveted cash price  .  This  was presented by Mr. Dale Clarke, President of Barbados Pro  Road (PRTA) T ennis association and  Dr, Mathiew  Eugene , a Haitian-born, New York City Council   man   , who represents the 40th district.  Mr.    Eugene, is the founder of the Youth Education and Sports, (YES) community group.  He  participat

Trinidad and Tobago Elections Comment

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The Caribbean Is One Nation. Submitted by the Mahogany Coconut Group Dr Keith Rowley The Mahogany Coconut Group joins the region in congratulating Dr. Keith Rowley and the Peoples National Movement (PNM) on their victory in Monday’s (September7th, 2015) Trinidad and Tobago General Elections. We are extremely relieved to see Ms. Kamla Persad- Bissessar removed from the office of Prime Minister and equally relieved with the removal of Mr. Jack Warner from public office. We remain by our position that Persad- Bissessar and Warner were nothing more than embarrassments to the good people of Trinidad and Tobago. We also stand by our declaration that the outgoing administration was the most corrupt to emerge since the post independence era in the region. Within sixteen months of its election under the coalition of the Peoples Partnership, we were gathering information about blatant corruption and the favoring of one race over the other in granting various government contracts and o

Citizens and Good Governance

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The Caribbean Is One Nation. Submitted by the Mahogany Coconut Group Throughout the Caribbean there have been calls for good governance. Unfortunately we continue to look to the political management class for the answer. We are afraid that seldom do the perpetrators of any wrongdoing seek to effect change to curb their transgressions. While we wait for the introduction of integrity legislation and other instruments, to deter improper behavior on the part of the political management class, we sink further into the cesspool that we are trying to escape. We firmly believe that the real engines for proper governance must be those who are governed. In other words, the citizens are the best weapon against corruption and graft. They are also the best engines for social and economic change and must be in the forefront demanding change. However, we often find that while the citizens criticize the political class and are vehement that it changes its ways, the citizens themselves are also