Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BRIDGETOWN593
2006-04-05 20:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Bridgetown
Cable title:  

THE WINDIES - SPOT REPORTS FROM THE EASTERN

Tags:  PGOV PREL CPAS CVIS EAID EAIR ETRD PHUM PINS 
pdf how-to read a cable
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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 052016Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2231
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0240
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0355
RUEHCV/USDAO CARACAS VE
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J5 MIAMI FL
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BRIDGETOWN 000593 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR
SANTO DOMINGO FOR FCS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL CPAS CVIS EAID EAIR ETRD PHUM PINS
SMIG, SNAR, KCRM, CH, CU, FR, HA, XL
SUBJECT: THE WINDIES - SPOT REPORTS FROM THE EASTERN
CARIBBEAN - MARCH 2006

BRIDGETOWN 368
BRIDGETOWN 60

REGIONAL

- Caribbean Development Bank President Re-elected
- European Union/Caribbean Trade Negotiations
- British Airways Shuts Caribbean Call Centers

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

- Former Prime Minister Sued Over Corruption Allegations

BARBADOS

- Two More Large Drug Seizures

DOMINICA

- Passport Scam for Haitians But No Visas for Dominicans
- LIAT Ends Flights to Canefield Airport

GRENADA

- Newspaper Editor Detained by Police
- No Tolerance for Police Corruption

ST. LUCIA

- EU to Provide US$24.2 Million for Hospital
- St. Lucia Warns Chinese Contractors on Wages

--------
REGIONAL
--------

Caribbean Development Bank President Re-elected
--------------------------------------------- --

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BRIDGETOWN 000593

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR
SANTO DOMINGO FOR FCS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL CPAS CVIS EAID EAIR ETRD PHUM PINS
SMIG, SNAR, KCRM, CH, CU, FR, HA, XL
SUBJECT: THE WINDIES - SPOT REPORTS FROM THE EASTERN
CARIBBEAN - MARCH 2006

BRIDGETOWN 368
BRIDGETOWN 60

REGIONAL

- Caribbean Development Bank President Re-elected
- European Union/Caribbean Trade Negotiations
- British Airways Shuts Caribbean Call Centers

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

- Former Prime Minister Sued Over Corruption Allegations

BARBADOS

- Two More Large Drug Seizures

DOMINICA

- Passport Scam for Haitians But No Visas for Dominicans
- LIAT Ends Flights to Canefield Airport

GRENADA

- Newspaper Editor Detained by Police
- No Tolerance for Police Corruption

ST. LUCIA

- EU to Provide US$24.2 Million for Hospital
- St. Lucia Warns Chinese Contractors on Wages

--------------
REGIONAL
--------------

Caribbean Development Bank President Re-elected
-------------- --


1. (U) Dr. Compton Bourne was re-elected to a second five-
year term as President of the Caribbean Development Bank
(CDB),beginning May 1, 2006. Although generally seen as an
effective leader of this organization that lends funds to
Caribbean development projects, Bourne has endured criticism
for the CDB's slow disbursement of money to the borrowing
countries in the region. (Note: Members of the Barbados-
based CDB include several non-borrowing states from outside
the region, including the U.K., Germany, Italy, China, and
Venezuela, which contribute funding to the bank and take
part in its decisionmaking. The U.S. has contributed
funding to the CDB but is not a member. End note.)

European Union/Caribbean Trade Negotiations
--------------


2. (U) Representatives of CARIFORUM (CARICOM plus the
Dominican Republic) and the EU met in Barbados March 27-28
to negotiate a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that would
replace the existing Cotonou Agreement, which grants the
African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states preferential
trade status with the EU. (Note: The EU is calling this
FTA an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) to avoid the
sometimes unpopular term "free trade." End note.) Not much
concrete came of the negotiations, which appear to still be
in a preliminary stage. The next step is for both sides to
prepare a draft text of the agreement for the December 2006
Ministerial meeting in Santo Domingo.


3. (SBU) Comment: The two sides are running up against a
deadline in 2007 - the year when the Cotonou Agreement comes
up for review in the WTO, which is likely to rule against
it. The CARIFORUM/EU negotiations are worth watching as the
U.S. could encounter similar positions on preferential
treatment for the Caribbean if the USG and CARIFORUM
eventually negotiate a FTA. End comment.

British Airways Shuts Caribbean Call Centers
--------------


4. (U) British Airways (BA) announced the closure of all its

BRIDGETOWN 00000593 002 OF 004


Caribbean call centers. In a rebuff of the trend toward
outsourcing call centers to low-wage countries, BA decided
that the calls handled by its Caribbean facilities will now
go through its existing call center in Jacksonville,
Florida. (Comment: While BA's move will impact only a
small number of employees, this could hurt Eastern Caribbean
efforts to attract call centers and other information and
communication technology outsourcing operations to the
region. End comment.)

--------------
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
--------------

Former Prime Minister Sued Over Corruption Allegations
-------------- --------------


5. (U) Three former government ministers, including ex-Prime
Minister Lester Bird, have been named in a lawsuit filed by
the Government of Antigua and Barbuda (GOAB) alleging
corruption in the repayment of a loan that allowed the
Government to purchase a desalination plant in 1984.
Attorney General Justin Simon filed the lawsuit alleging
that Swiss investor Bruce Rappaport was overpaid more than
US$14 million for re-negotiating the loan. This lawsuit is
the third filed against Lester Bird by the GOAB as it
attempts to reclaim millions of dollars in public funds
allegedly lost to corruption during Bird's reign as PM from
1994 to 2004.

--------------
BARBADOS
--------------

Two More Large Drug Seizures
--------------


6. (U) Barbados police made two major drug seizures on March
16 and 17, seizing 847 and 228 pounds of marijuana,
respectively. The March 17 operation was conducted by
members of the police drug squad and marine unit working
with the Coast Guard and customs officials. The marijuana
was discovered hidden in metal containers attached to the
underside of a ship from Jamaica that was docked in the
Barbados capital, Bridgetown.


7. (SBU) Comment: These two seizures top the 137 pounds of
marijuana confiscated in January and February, suggesting
that while law enforcement remains vigilant, traffickers may
be increasing their activity in the region. One concern is
that the limited capacity of law enforcement in the small
island states of the Eastern Caribbean could result in their
being unable to adequately monitor and intercept drug
trafficking during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, when tens of
thousands of people are expected to travel to the region.
End comment.

--------------
DOMINICA
--------------

Passport Scam for Haitians But No Visas for Dominicans
-------------- --------------


8. (U) Authorities in Dominica have charged three
individuals with using forged documents to illegally obtain
Dominican passports for Haitian citizens. Several passports
appear to have been wrongly issued to members of the
substantial Haitian community in Dominica, many of whom are
in the country without documentation, hoping to use it as a
transit point to other Caribbean islands (ref B). Dominica
and France, meanwhile, reached an agreement that would allow
Dominican citizens to travel to the French Departments in
the Caribbean without first having to obtain a visa.

LIAT Ends Flights to Canefield Airport
--------------


9. (U) Leeward Islands Air Transit (LIAT) decided to end
service to Dominica's small Canefield Airport March 12,

BRIDGETOWN 00000593 003 OF 004


shifting all flights to the larger Melville Hall Airport.
Canefield sits next to the capital, Roseau, while Melville
Hall is on the other side of Dominica, a grueling hour-and-a-
half drive through the mountainous interior of the island.
A spokesman for LIAT said the company switched the flights
to Melville Hall because they were losing money on the
Canefield routes. (Comment: Tiny Canefield Airport does
not appear to have much of a future. Melville Hall is
likely to become the island's sole airport after completion
of an EU/Venezuelan/Cuban assistance project to expand the
existing runway and terminal (ref A). End comment.)

--------------
GRENADA
--------------

Newspaper Editor Detained by Police
--------------


10. (U) Grenada police detained newspaper editor George
Worme on March 14 to question him about an article printed
in his paper, Grenada Today, which was considered
potentially libelous. The article was related to the
Government's ongoing effort to have opposition member Peter
David removed from Parliament for holding both Grenadian and
Canadian citizenship. The Association of Caribbean Media
Workers and the Media Workers Association of Grenada
criticized the authorities for seeking to intimidate the
media and demanded that the Government investigate the
matter. The media workers noted that in 2004 the police
also detained a journalist who was investigating allegations
of corruption against Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.

No Tolerance for Police Corruption
--------------


11. (U) Reacting to allegations of wrongful activity by
Grenada police officers, Einstein Louison, Minister of State
for National Security, warned new police cadets that there
would be "zero tolerance" of illegal activity or police
brutality. Among the recent charges against police was an
incident in which a member of the Prime Minister's personal
security detail shot a civilian over a personal dispute and
a case of a police officer stealing another officer's
service weapon. The Minister also announced that Acting
Police Commissioner Winston James had been named
Commissioner.


12. (SBU) Comment: The recent allegations of wrongdoing
have continued to batter the reputation of the Grenada
police, which has yet to recover from the force's inability
to maintain order after Hurricane Ivan devastated the
country in 2004. Their ineptitude was underscored by
reports that police officers participated in the widespread
looting that followed the storm. End comment.

--------------
ST. LUCIA
--------------

EU to Provide US$24.2 Million for Hospital
--------------


13. (U) The EU will provide a US$24.2 million grant to St.
Lucia for construction of a new general hospital that will
replace the existing, 100-year-old facility. The new
hospital will house a cancer care center that will treat
patients from throughout the Eastern Caribbean.
Construction is expected to begin at the end of 2006 as part
of a multi-year plan to reform the nation's health care
system that includes the introduction of national health
insurance. Staffing at the hospital will include 70 new
doctors who are expected to return to St. Lucia from Cuba,
where they are presently attending medical school.

St. Lucia Warns Chinese Contractors on Wages
--------------


14. (U) The Government of St. Lucia publicly warned Chinese
contractors engaged in construction projects on the island

BRIDGETOWN 00000593 004 OF 004


that they cannot pay local workers less than the required
minimum wage of 50 Eastern Caribbean dollars (US$18.50) per
day. The Government received reports that local workers
were receiving as low as 35 Eastern Caribbean dollars
(US$12.90) per day on several construction projects carried
out by Chinese companies as part of the Government of
China's assistance to St. Lucia. It is not clear, however,
if the legal minimum wage also applies to the typically low-
paid Chinese laborers brought to St. Lucia by the
contractors specifically to work on the aid projects.


15. (SBU) Comment: By offering rare criticism of the manner
in which Chinese aid is delivered to St. Lucia, the
Government appears to be responding to the opposition's
complaints about the negative impact Chinese workers are
having on local wages. End comment.
KRAMER