Banana reforms
Problems with fruit quality have prompted St Vincent’s Ministry of Agriculture to announce changes in the operations of local banana farmers. The ministry says the changes are part of an initiative to restructure the regional banana body, Winfresh. Agriculture Minister Montgomery Daniel says Winfresh has faced a number of challenges in recent months because of the poor quality of bananas from the Windward Islands. He says that from January 2011, farmers will be organised into core groups to export bananas to international markets.
PDM abandons talks
The People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) of the Turks and Caicos Islands, says it is abandoning reform talks with British officials. PDM leader Doug Parnell says the party will stick to that position until a guaranteed date is set for an election restoring self rule. Parnell said the PDM discontinued the talks because none of the recommendations given by islanders during recent meetings have been included in constitutional amendments proposed by British officials.
On Tuesday, Britain’s minister for overseas territories announced that elections to return self-governance for the Turks and Caicos Islands would be delayed indefinitely, to allow time for anti-corruption and good government reforms to take effect.
More fraud charges
The US government says it intends filing new charges against several executives involved in Texan financier Allen Stanford’s multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. A US Security and Exchange official said they had notified a number of former Stanford executives of the pending charges.
Those likely to be charged include former high level executives and financial advisors, as well as the former Head of Antigua’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission, Leroy King.
