Rationing hours extended

The water company in St Vincent is considering rationing water for longer hours, because of the ongoing drought.

Other Caribbean islands have been forced to take similar action.

In the past few weeks the Central Water and Sewerage Authority has been turning off the water supply from 11 pm to 5 am.

But Public Relations Officer, Joan Ryan, says due to critical levels in the main catchment area, they have reviewed the shut-off time to 9 pm to 4:30 am.

Anti-AIDS campaign for women launched

A campaign has been launched to accelerate worldwide action to stop women and girls from contracting HIV/AIDS – still the leading cause of death and disease among those of child-bearing age.

The UN AIDS agency said at a conference in New York, that their five year plan would address issues such as the inequalities and human rights violations that put women and girls particularly at risk.

It said that up to 70% of women worldwide were at some point forced to have unprotected sex.

In Southern Africa, young women are about three times as likely to have HIV than men of the same age.

Status wrangling affecting economy

Puerto Ricans have told a White house task force that persistent wrangling over the island’s political status was affecting solutions to its worsening social and economic challenges.

The population appears evenly divided between those happy with the status quo as a commonwealth and those who want Puerto Rico to become the 51st US state.

Unemployment in the US Caribbean territory is now over 14% – caused by a four-year recession.

Economist Jose Villamil said the island’s present situation is much worse than a recession, as the economy has lost its capacity to generate growth.