31 January 2018

Puerto Rico Sees No Debt Payment Ability Until 2022

Governor Rossello issued revised fiscal turnaround plans, painting a bleak picture of an island struggling after its worst natural disaster in 90 years.

Puerto Rico’s governor has projected Thursday his bankrupt, hurricane-ravaged U.S. territory will run a budget deficit for the next four fiscal years, requiring new financing while leaving next to nothing to repay the island’s US$72 billion debt until 2022.

The announcement is supposed to justify Rossello’s decision to privatize the power utility, PREPA. Rossello's plan also predicted a minimum of US$35.3 billion in federal aid to help recover from Hurricane Maria that devastated Puerto Rico in September, as “external liquidity support” to maintain basic services.

READ THE FULL REPORT IN telesur.

28 January 2018

DOCUMENTARY ON WESTERN SAHARA OPENS IN GERMANY



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Despite threats of censorship, documentary filmmakers show human rights violations in 

Western Sahara


Stories about life in Western Sahara — a disputed territory controlled by the Moroccan government — are rarely told by people who live there. In a militarized environment with aggressive controls on media and citizen reporting, few stories of Western Sahara reach audiences beyond the immediate region. But a new documentary film that charts one independent media group’s struggle to document human rights violations in Western Sahara has the opportunity to change this.


READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

25 January 2018

VIRGIN ISLANDS LONDON OFICE DIRECTOR NAMED POLICY FELLOW AT UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

Caribbean News Now




LONDON, England — The British Virgin Islands’ London Office director, Benito Wheatley, has been selected by the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) as a 2018 Policy Fellow. As the BVI’s United Kingdom and European Union representative, Wheatley will engage University of Cambridge scholars and the CSaP’s network of senior UK government and EU public servants and business leaders in a series of meetings on the future of the UK’s relationship with the Overseas Territories (OT).

Among other things, he will discuss UK-OT relations in regard to security, climate change, natural disasters/recovery, international business and Brexit.

Commenting on his selection as a Policy Fellow, Wheatley said, “It is an honour to be selected by Cambridge as a CSaP Policy Fellow, which is complementary to my role as the BVI’s UK and EU Representative. The devastation caused by the two Category 5 hurricanes in 2017 that hit Anguilla, BVI, Turks and Caicos and other islands in the Caribbean, brought into clear focus the importance of Britain’s relationship with the Overseas Territories. There is an urgent need to comprehensively review UK-OT policy with a view to reframing the relationship at this point in time to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.”

Wheatley is the first official from the Caribbean and a British Overseas Territory to be selected as a CSaP Policy Fellow. He is also the co-chair of the OCT-European Union Partnership Working Party on Financial Services.

He holds a Master of Science degree in International Strategy and Diplomacy from the London School of Economics and Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Morehouse College (USA). He is also a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Institute of Directors (IOD) and an alumnus of CSC Leaders.

23 January 2018

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REPORT ON NORTHERN MARIANAS

COMMONWEALTH 
OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 
2018–2022

OVERVIEW 

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is one of five inhabited United States island territories. It spans 464 square kilometres and comprises four inhabited islands (Saipan, Tinian, Rota and Pagan) and 10 uninhabited ones. The population was 53 883 in 2010, with 90% of people living in the capital of Saipan. The Constitution of the Commonwealth was adopted in 1977. The three branches of the Government are Executive (headed by the governor), Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial. The Commonwealth’s gross domestic product rose by 3.5% in 2015, a 0.7% increase on 2014, according to data compiled by the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis. Economic growth is attributed to flourishing tourism, the gaming industry and the amusement sector. 

HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT 

Public Law 16-51 (2009) transferred the national health system to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC), a public entity that is headed by a chief executive officer. The Corporation consists of a primary hospital, a modernized haemodialysis facility, a community health centre, rural health centres in Rota and Tinian, public health services, and behavioural health services. There are also four private health clinic groups. The majority of the physicians are from the United States of America, and there are five times more nurses than physicians. The Government is supportive of increased training opportunities for local health-care staff. The Medicaid programme, a federal–state shared insurance for the poor, covers only American citizens. Poverty is a major determinant of health. The 2010 population census found that 34% of the population were uninsured for health care. Almost the same percentage holds true at the present time. The Medical Referral programme provides logistical and other support to people needing off-island tertiary care, for example in the Philippines or Hawaii. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were the leading causes of death from 2011 to 2014. Diseases of the circulatory system accounted for 252 deaths (33%), cancers accounted for 133 (18%), endocrine, nutritional and metabolic disease accounted for 54 (7%), and diseases of the respiratory system accounted for 52 (7%).

READ THE FULL REPORT AT THE WHO WEBSITE.

21 January 2018

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REPORT ON GUAM

GUAM
WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 
2018–2022
OVERVIEW 

Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States of America in the western Pacific Ocean. Guam has an estimated population of 162 000 spread across 19 villages. The majority of people live in the northern part of the island. Guam is one of five Pacific island jurisdictions of the United States of America with a civilian government and a governor elected by popular vote. Guam’s economy is forecasted to continue a moderate expansionary trend, driven by military-related activities, tourism, construction, trans-shipment services, food processing and textiles. 

HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT 

The Department of Public Health and Social Services is responsible for public health policies. Guam Memorial Hospital, which is located in the village of Tamuning, provides a broad range of health-care services to residents and people from neighbouring islands, such as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia. The United States Naval Hospital Guam provides health services primarily to military personnel, but also provides voluntary community services to the civilian community. The Guam Regional Medical City, a private hospital, started its service in 2015 in the north of Guam. Non communicable diseases (NCDs) and communicable diseases were identified as important health challenges in the Guam community health assessment in 2014. The rate of NCDs continues to increase. In 2014, around half of deaths in Guam were attributed to heart disease (31%) and cancers (18%) such as lung and cervical cancer. However, fewer people are opting for cancer screening. Many people suffer from heart disease or are living with diabetes. Tobacco use is a major risk factor for these NCDs. Incidence of tuberculosis (TB) also remains high. 

READ THE FULL REPORT AT THE WHO WEBSITE .

15 January 2018

CARIBBEAN BANK FUNDING TO VIRGIN ISLANDS DISASTER RECOVERY




CDB approves US$65.5mn in loans, grants to support disaster recovery efforts in BVI

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The board of directors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved US$65.5 million in loans and grants to the government of the British Virgin Islands to assist with the recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction of social and economic infrastructure, resulting from the cumulative effects of recent severe weather events.
Daniel Best, director, Projects Department, CDB noted, “The government of the British Virgin Islands’ preliminary assessment report estimates US$3 billion in damage and losses — the equivalent of three times the annual gross domestic product, from the passage of Hurricane Irma.”
“This project is a reflection of our commitment to providing and mobilising resources for recovery and reconstruction, and to improve climate resilience and socially inclusive infrastructure and institutions in our borrowing member countries,” Best added.
The rehabilitation and reconstruction project aims to strengthen the socio-cultural and economic preparedness and resilience of the population of the British Virgin Islands to future climate-related hazards, while supporting the population in re-establishing sustainable livelihoods. This will be achieved through:
  • The rehabilitation and reconstruction of critical social and economic infrastructure in the country’s transport, water and sewerage, governance, education and national security sectors;
  • The provision of technical assistance in design and construction supervision services; and
  • Institutional strengthening for psychosocial support and disaster mitigation.
The project will be supported through a US$65.2 million loan and a US$300,000 grant.
It comprises several components, including:
  • Rehabilitation and reconstruction of critical climate-resilient social and economic infrastructure;
  • Enhancement of institutional capacity for: psychosocial support and disaster risk reduction;
  • Upgrade/reconstruction of 3.9 kilometres of roads;
  • Construction of approximately 900 metres of coastal defences;
  • Construction/upgrade of 12 educational institutions and recreation facilities;
  • Rehabilitation of nine public infrastructures;
  • Rehabilitation of ten water and sewerage facilities;
  • Provision of information and communication technology equipment and other resources for 29 institutions; and
  • Training of 80 persons in providing psychosocial support services.
In October and November 2017, CDB approved three immediate response loans on highly concessionary terms, totalling US$2.25 million and an emergency relief grant of US$200,000 to the British Virgin Islands after the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and Tropical Storm José. These funds assisted the government in the provision of emergency relief supplies and humanitarian assistance, cleaning and clearing debris, as well as restoring critical infrastructure and essential public services.
The project is consistent with the bank’s strategic objective of promoting environmental sustainability and disaster risk management in its borrowing member countries, and its corporate priority of promoting disaster risk management and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

14 January 2018

GUAM TOURISM AFFECTED BY U.S-NORTH KOREAN TENSIONS

Newsweek

NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR MISSILE THREAT WRECKS GUAM’S HOPE FOR 2018 TOURISM BOOM

North Korea’s threats to launch a nuclear missile strike against the U.S. territory of Guam are expected to take a toll on the island’s tourism industry in 2018.
At least 40,000 fewer tourists are expected to visit Guam in the year ahead compared with 2017, according to local media reports confirmed by the Guam Visitors Bureau.
The fiscal year of 2017 was deemed to be the island territory’s best year in tourism, with as many as 1.56 million visitors from South Korea and Japan alone.
That number is expected to drop significantly, however, in the wake of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s renewed threats to target the Pacific island.
READ FULL ARTICLE IN NEWSWEEK 

12 January 2018

U.S. NUCLEAR TESTING "PUT THE POPULATION OF GUAM IN HARM'S WAY KNOWINGLY AND WITH TOTAL DISREGARD FOR THEIR WELL BEING"

The impact of nuclear testing in the region, according to (a 2012 U.S. report), “was the largest ecological disaster in human history."
________________________________________________

PACIFIC ISLAND TIMES






While North Korea renews its nuke strike threat, Guam renews its call for radiation exposure compensation

Three weeks after carrying out a powerful nuclear test in its own testing site on Sept. 3, North Korea warned it might detonate a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean. If Pyongyang makes good on its constant threats, civil defense officials say, residents will have 14 minutes to duck and/or run for their lives. The Office of Civil Defense has thus renewed its guidelines on how to survive a possible nuclear strike, giving the community a crash course on the danger of exposure to radioactive elements. “Do not look at the flash or fireball—it can blind you. Take cover behind anything that might offer protection. Remove your clothing to keep retroactive material from spreading,” state the guidelines.

If North Korea’s hydrogen bomb detonation did come about, it certainly wouldn’t be the ocean’s first nuclear blast.

READ THE FULL REPORT IN PACIFIC ISLAND TIMES.




11 January 2018

VIRGIN ISLANDS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HEAD COMPARES BRITISH, FRENCH, DUTCH AND U.S. DISASTER RELIEF TO CARIBBEAN COLONIES

BVI NEWS.COM

UK further criticised for low-grade treatment


Chairman of the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association (BVICCHA) Louis Potter has joined the growing number of critics who have accused the United Kingdom (UK) of not doing enough for Overseas Territories.

He criticised the UK government for not implementing adequate measures to ensure the British Virgin Islands had relief funding in the event of a disaster such as Hurricane Irma.

“That [is something] they should have accomplished or they should have been working on long time,” Potter said in a recent interview with BVI News.


READ THE FULL REPORT IN BVI NEWS .




09 January 2018

CHALLENGE TO MEDIA'S DEFENCE OF COLONIALISM IN TERRITORIES


Pacific Daily News


As we crawl out of the dumpster fire that was 2017 for much of the United States and its territories, we inch cautiously into 2018 and hope for the best. As someone who has been working over the past few years to elevate the community consciousness about decolonization, I am most interested in what the coming elections and federal cases will bring in terms of changing the island’s political status.
What occupies my thought process is the role of the media in helping build that consciousness or impede it. The media institutions in any society don’t just exist to report or investigate. These institutions also, often in less perceptible ways, promote values and norms, usually on behalf of elite segments of society.
In a colonial context, these roles gain a colonial dimension. Both institutions and individuals often will be compelled to defend and naturalize the colonial status quo. In both explicit and implicit ways, the media will promote notions of the greatness of the colonizer and propagate a fantasy of American political belonging that may not really exist.
We see this in the media landscape in Guam. Guam isn't a state, yet the media functions in such a way as if Guam is just like any other part of America. You can replace certain words in your average story and suddenly it'll be set in Arkansas or Kansas.
This does a disservice to those who consume that media, as it promotes a mis-recognition of reality. It encourages them not to recognize the truth of our relationship to the U.S., but proposes patriotism and pride as appropriate responses to living in a contemporary colony.
The media isn't alone. We see the same inconsistency from both Adelup and the Legislature. One day there’ll be a press release condemning U.S. colonialism, the next day a resolution promoting the fiction that we are just like any other part of America.
The educational system is one of the most problematic sites for this type of intellectual framing. So much of what is taught is wishful American-centric lessons that range from stupid to harmful. There are many things that would overlap in curriculum on Guam and any corner of the U.S., but if the foundation of your curriculum is they are one in the same, colonial problems will emerge.
This can change, if only the media landscape of Guam take up resolutions like the rest of us. For instance, not every story has to highlight Guam’s colonial status, but this has to be a silent yet still fundamental fact. The media often portray Guam’s relationship to the U.S. as something we are failing to live up to, as if we are some rebellious and corrupt piece of American real estate.
We are owned by the U.S., a immoral relationship that shouldn’t be glossed over in today’s world. As such, the focus on decolonization not happening because of local leaders and problems misses the point. The U.S. has an obligation to assist in this movement, but for decades has largely been unhelpful or obstructionist. Any coverage of the delayed decolonization has to assign the karabao’s share of blame at Uncle Sam’s feet.
Let us hope that in the coming year the media resolves to abandon its role as defenders of the colonial status quo and work to become real guardians of truth. 


08 January 2018

JUNK FOOD AID IN PUERTO RICO DISASTER AFTERMATH

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When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, the Houston food bank put out a list of most needed items for people to donate. On the list were foods like granola bars, peanut butter, protein in easy to open pouches or pull-top cans like tuna and canned chicken, as well as ready to eat canned items with pull-tops like fruit. Presumably, they were thinking that in a natural disaster people need food that is calorie and protein rich for maintaining energy. They also need food that is not too salty so as to make people thirsty (remember, access to clean drinking water can be an issue in these circumstances) and food that people will actually want to eat. 
This is worth noting—particularly because the exact opposite has been happening in Puerto Rico. While individuals and organizations have been trying to get all kinds of desperately needed food and supplies to the hurricane ravaged island, one company seems to think that any old junk food will do. 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN DAILY KOS

05 January 2018

COOK ISLANDS, AS A FREELY ASSOCIATED STATE, JOINS AIIB


                                                        PACNEWS


The Cook Islands Government has welcomed confirmation by the Board of Governors of Cook Islands membership in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Confirmation of membership follows months of advocacy for membership by the Government, most recently in the margins of the Forum Leaders meeting held in Apia in September.

This brings total approved membership of the AIIB to 84 which include countries such as China, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

AIIB is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes within Asia and beyond. Conceived in 2014 as an initiative of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, in 2016, the AIIB invested $1.73billion in 9 projects across Asia.

At present, options available to the Cook Islands Government for development finance include the Asian Development Bank (which the Cook Islands has been a member of since 1976), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Export-Import Bank of China. The Cook Islands isn’t yet a member of the World Bank (WB) or the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The obstacle being United Nations membership a prerequisite for WB/IMF membership.

The 2015 Cook Islands National Investment Infrastructure Plan (NIIP) outlines the Cook Islands infrastructure investments and maintenance priorities for the next 10 years. The plan outlines strategic priorities for all major infrastructure sectors – air, marine and road transport, water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, energy, telecommunications and information technology, education, health and other infrastructure.

“Pending ODA graduation requires our Government continue to diversify development finance options to support our country’s development agenda, including as relate to infrastructure,” said Finance Minister Mark Brown.
“Our approach to development finance will necessarily continue to be a blend of our own finances with ODA including climate finance, borrowing and equity investment. Membership of the AIIB offers us another option for that mix,” said Brown.

The Ministries of Finance and Economic Management and Foreign Affairs and Immigration will follow through with the AIIB Secretariat in the new-year to complete the necessary processes and documentation and it is intended the Cook Islands will participate in the 3rd Annual Meeting of the AIIB in June 2018.
AIIB membership is contingent on support from the existing membership. “We appreciate the support for our membership as confidence in our Government’s ability to meet our obligations as a member and contribute meaningfully to the shared objectives of improving social and economic outcomes for the people of member countries of AIIB,” said Brown.


04 January 2018

WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION HEAD CALLS FOR END TO 'PLANTATION' TOURISM


Stop Promoting Modern Day Plantations Called Exclusive Resorts, Says Rifai

Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Taleb Rifai, has strongly urged Caribbean tourism stakeholders to stop promoting modern-day plantations called exclusive resorts.
He made the call in a no holds barred speech during day two of the UNWTO Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth, now on at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
Rifai was obviously not concerned about ruffling feathers as he warned against the practice of building five-star resorts in three-star communities, where the citizens were not part of the transformation.
He insisted tourism stakeholders cannot continue to have their visitors in bubbles, where there are walls between the visitor and the community.
Rifai emphasised that it was not the model that the UNTWO was looking for.
According to him, the opportunities in tourism should carry the end result of inclusive economic growth, more decent jobs, the distribution of wealth, shared prosperity and respect for each other.
His comments were made in the presence of several all-inclusive hotel operators, the country’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, president of the Dominican Republic, Danilo Medina, tourism minister Edmund Bartlett and several other dignitaries representing the industry.

03 January 2018

U.S. TO INVESTIGATE IMPACT OF CHINESE ECONOMIC INFLUENCE IN FORMER TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

The $700 billion 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Trump in mid December, calls on the Department of Defense (DOD) to investigate the growing role of China in former US territories in the Pacific. That is a recognition both of the islands’ importance to US global strategy, as well as the latest indicator that America’s decades long relationship with its former dependencies is a partnership under stress.
Strung across the Western Pacific, today’s Republic of Palau (ROP), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) were liberated from the Japanese in the Pacific War and governed by the US as a UN authorized “trust territory” until the early 1980s. Since that time, these sovereign nations have enjoyed a unique status of “Free Association,” with the US, which provides for their defense as well as sending US bilateral aid that sustains public sector driven economies in the isolated, under-resourced, islands and atolls. Locals can, and in large numbers do, enlist in the US military.
The Compacts of Free Association (COFA) also provide easy entry for islanders coming to study, work, or simply live in the US. Their “eligible non-citizen status” affords them most rights, privileges -and even entitlements- otherwise reserved for native born Americans.
Because of their strategic location at the crossroads of the Pacific, the islands have a history of foreign rule, changing from Spanish to German to Japanese to US hands over the first five decades of the twentieth century. Today they are a defining feature of the Chinese “Second Island Chain” strategic concept of area denial, just as they once comprised the outer ring of imperial Japan’s similar pre-war “Line of Advantage.”
While DOD planners have long sought to control, or at least deny others access to, the islands, in practice US development policies have been criticized by Congressional watchdogs as wasteful, shortsighted, and ineffective. US funding, small compared to US foreign aid provided to other nations -but massive when tallied on a per-person basis for the tiny islands- mostly consists of block grants overseen by the Office of Insular Affairs at the US Department of the Interior.
Critics maintain the monies don’t always build local capacity, but rather tend to foster dependency by sustaining public services (and jobs) year-to-year. That has lead to frustration, even resentment, on both sides. Increasing aid and investment by the Chinese, on the other hand, is given with few obvious strings attached, and framed as a way for islanders to trade in “U.S. government handouts, which are scheduled to end in 2023 [for Micronesia and the Marshalls,] for the wide-open promise of Chinese-style capitalism.” The massive increase in migrants from these Freely Associated States (FAS) to Guam and Hawaii are seen as an indicator of the lack of educational, employment, and healthcare opportunities throughout the FAS.
“Congress and the Administration are to be commended,” said Neil Mellen, founder of Habele, a US educational nonprofit operating across Micronesia. “America is best served when her allies’ support comes from a position of strength, sovereignty, and real partnership, rather than mere dependency. Careful examination of our nation’s track record in the post-war Pacific, as well as the increasingly caustic role played by others, is long overdue.”
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DOD Budget Sec 1259D -- "Study and assessment of United States security and foreign policy interests in the Freely Associated States of the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia."

01 January 2018

AGENT ORANGE USE BY U.S. MILITARY IN GUAM TO BE INVESTIGATED


RNZ

Soil tests for Agent Orange in Guam to start early 2018


The United States' joint military command in Guam is to begin collecting soil samples in early 2018 to investigate recent claims Agent Orange was used on the island.
A U.S. Air Force Boeing B-52G-125-BW Stratofortress (s/n 59-2582) from the 72nd Strategic Wing (Provisional) waits beside the runway at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam (USA), 15 December 1972.

The Guam Daily Post reports officials from the Government Accountability Office visited the territory last week to speak with veterans and Guam's Environmental Protection Agency about the allegations that the highly toxic herbicide was used and or stored by the military on Guam during the Vietnam War.
Guam's Environmental Protection Agency had also been gathering information from veterans about where Agent Orange might have been used in order to pinpoint sampling sites.
A spokesperson for the joint US military command Lt. Ian McConnaughey told the Guam Daily Post the US Department of Defense keeps historical records of all its testing and storage of Agent Orange and none of the information indicates its storage or use on Guam.
However, he said Joint Region Marianas was working with the Guam Environmental Protection Agency and the US Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the claims that it was.
The Government Accountability Office findings are expected by May 2018.