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caribbean roundup BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) – Caribbean foreign ministers have said they would consider asking the Organi-zation of American States to investigate the circumstances surrounding Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aris-tide’s ouster. Previously, the Caribbean Commu-nity called for a U.N. investigation of Aristide’s departure from Haiti on Feb. 29. Aristide says he was forced to re-sign by the United States, which denies the claim. Several ministers have expressed that the 15-member regional bloc doesn’t have enough support at the U.N. Se-curity Council to force an investigation. "It is not an easy way to go because there are countries which have made public already their opposition to what Caricom would like to achieve,’’ Bar-bados Foreign Minister Billie Miller said. "We have no voice there.’’ Miller, who was chairwoman of the two-day meeting here, was referring to no Caribbean presence on the Security Council and statements by France and the United States in recent weeks dismissing Caricom’s calls for an investigation as a waste of time and resources. GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) – Authorities recently were investigating a firebomb attack against Guyana’s in-terior ministry that slightly damaged the wooden building, officials said. No one was injured in the Sunday night incident, police spokesman John Sauers said. The attackers hurled at least three Molotov cocktails at the building and guards reported seeing three men fleeing, he said. The government ministry is run by Interior Minister Ronald Gajraj who has faced allegations that he led an extra-judicial hit squad to go after crime suspects and escaped prisoners. The squad has been blamed for more than 40 unsolved killings in the past year. The government and Gajraj have denied any involvement in a hit squad, but they refused to open an independent inquiry until sources come forward with evidence and testimony. In the meantime, police are investigating under Gajraj’s ministry. Police said they don’t know if the accusations against Gajraj and the Molotov attack are connected. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – Chilean troops began patrolling Haiti’s strategically important city of Hinche, the first troops from a U.S.-led multinational force to deploy in the rebel-held Central Plateau where rebels launched a revolt to oust Jean-Bertrand Aristide. An interim U.S.-backed interim gov-ernment, meanwhile, announced plans to fire or transfer nearly 800 people who used to work for Aristide in the presidential palace. Only 125 of 620 security officials at the palace would be retained, and an-other 272 administrative employees would be fired, Cabinet director Michel Brunache said recently, without giving any reasons for the dismissals and trans-fers. Former palace security chief Oriel Jean, 39, was extradited from Canada to the United States last month on drug trafficking charges. Palace security of-ficers also have been accused of giving directions to street gangs that attacked Aristide’s opponents. KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) – Police detained 128 Haitians who arrived in Jamaica in two separate groups, the largest influx of boat migrants since Haiti’s recent rebellion, authorities said. The first group of 94 came ashore at dawn near Hector’s River, a small fishing town about 60 miles east of King-ston, Constable Debbie Douglas said. Shortly after, 34 more Haitians ar-rived a few miles south at the coastal farming town of Quaw Hill, police Sgt. Ricardo Myers said. The Haitians – 100 men, 17 women and 11 children – arrived in four rickety boats and were immediately detained, police said. One group told police they arrived late Sunday and slept in their boat be-fore coming ashore early Monday. The Haitians were being processed by health and immigration authorities before being taken to temporary shelters in eastern Port Antonio, police said. It was unclear where in Haiti they were from or why they left. The arrival brings to 429 the number of Haitians to land in Jamaica since a rebellion in February ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The uprising has prompted lawlessness after Aristide fled Feb. 29 as re-bels converged on the Haitian capital. Previous groups of migrants said they faced persecution by rebels. Haiti is about 100 miles east of Jam-aica. The migrants represent the largest influx of Haitians to Jamaica since thousands fled here in the mid-1990s after Aristide was ousted in a military coup. island signs us$19 million loan agreement to buy3 ships KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) – Jam-aica signed a US$19 million loan agree-ment with Dutch-owned ING Bank to purchase three naval ships for the Ca-ribbean island’s coast guard. The loan will cover 65 percent of the US$29 million (Jamaican $1.74 billion) cost of the ships, which will be built by Dutch company Damen Ship-yards, the government said. The additional cost will be financed by a US $10 million (J$600.5 million) grant from the Dutch government. The 42-meter (137-foot) vessels, to be delivered over the next 30 months, will be used to conduct surveillance and anti-drug missions off Jamaica’s coast, the government said. The Caribbean island’s fleet of three offshore vessels have been in service for up to 36 years and are ready to be retired. Finance Minister Omar Davies and ING Bank director Martin Preuss signed the loan agreement. It has a repayment plan of 12 years, with a two-year grace period. Amsterdam-based ING Bank is a subsidiary of the Dutch financial services company ING Group NV. CASTRIES, St. Lucia (AP) – Re-bounding from an economic slump two years ago, St. Lucia saw nearly 4 percent economic growth last year but still must survive on a thinner budget to stay on track, Prime Minister Kenny Anthony said in an address to legislators. Anthony spoke for more than three hours, presenting a 2004-2005 budget for Eastern Caribbean $769 million (US$285 million) that reduces public spending by nearly 10 percent. The economy expanded 3.7 percent last year, a relief following 5.4 percent negative growth two years ago. But cuts, mainly in communications and education, were necessary to see continued growth, Anthony said. The government proposed spending much of its budget on construction pro-jects, including road improvements, ho-tels, schools and housing. The projects could generate dozens of new jobs, Anthony said. Some 18 percent of the former British colony’s 160,000 residents are unemployed. ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) – A local telephone company has gone into re-ceivership just a few years after Do-minica opened its telecommunications market for competition, officials said. Marpin Telecoms & Broadcasting, the first company to challenge a four-decade monopoly by Britain’s Cable & Wireless, ran into trouble last year after one creditor attempted to collect a debt of Eastern Caribbean $8 million (US$3 million), former receiver Gordon Mo-reau said. Overall, the company owes EC$33 million (US$12 million), of which EC $500,000 (US$187,000) is owed to Ca-ble & Wireless, Moreau said recently. The creditor, First Caribbean Inter-national Bank, appointed Price Water-houseCoopers last week to audit Mar-pin just four months after they had ap-pointed Moreau. The bank "decided not to accept my business plan,’’ which included EC$5 million (US$1.87 million) in new debt for improving equipment among other expenses, Moreau said. It was unclear when Price Water-houseCoopers’ plan was to be submitted ST. JOHN’S, Antigua (AP) – A wealthy Texan temporarily suspended operations at his development company in Antigua amid allegations that employees stole materials and sabotaged equipment, the firm said. The announcement leaves about 500 construction workers and administrators at Antigua-based Stanford Develop-ment Co. Ltd. out of work, the company said in a statement. Allen Stanford of Houston, who al-so owns Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun airlines, said he temporarily closed the construction and real estate company "to facilitate ongoing investigations into discrepancies regarding company resources.’’ Stanford asked that employees come forward and assist the investigation. The statement did not mention estimates of company losses or detail the alleged actions. The company had been working on a project to build a pier on the northeastern end of the Caribbean island which would serve as a launching pad to Maiden Island, which Stanford purchased to build a home on. The Stanford Development Co. has built commercial buildings and homes as well as having done property management in Antigua for more than 10 years. Under Antigua’s labor laws, a company can lay off an employee for up to a month without providing severance.
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