COUNTRY CLEARANCE FOR PAUL BONICELLI

UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 001476 SIPDIS USAID/AA/LAC FOR SUZETTE ROSIER SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ASEC OTRA BB XL SUBJECT: COUNTRY CLEARANCE FOR PAUL BONICELLI REF: STATE 159973 ¶1. Embassy Bridgetown warmly welcomes and grants country clearance to Paul J. Bonicelli, Assistant Administrator, to travel to Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua December 9 to 14, 2007 to conduct program oversight. ¶2. Embassy point of contact is USAID Representative, James L. Goggin at tel. 1-246-227-4395 or 227-4118, fax. 1-246-228-8589; cell: 246-243-1499. Email: jgoggin@usaid.gov ¶3. Traveler has confirmed hotel reservations in Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis. ¶4. Dr. Bonicelli will be met at the airport by Jim Goggin. The exchange rate is approximately 2.02 Barbados Dollars for 1 U.S. Dollar. The exchange rate for Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis is approximately 2.70 xcd (Eastern Caribbean) dollars for 1 U.S. dollar. U.S. currency, traveler's checks, and credit cards are routinely and widely accepted here. ¶5. Entry requirements: A valid U.S. passport is required to enter Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis. No visa is required if your stay is under six months, including those travelers arriving with diplomatic or official passports. For further information, travelers may contact the Embassy of Barbados, 2144 Wyoming Avenue N.W., Washington D.C. 20008, tel. 1-202-939-9200; The Embassy of Antigua and Barbuda, 3216 New Mexico Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016, tel. (202) 362-5122). The Embassy of St. Lucia, 3216 New Mexico Avenue, N.W. 20016 and the Embassy of St. Christopher and Nevis, 3216 New Mexico Avenue, NW 20016 Tel: 202-268-2636/Fax 202-686-5740. ¶6. Restrictions: The laws of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, Grenada and St. Kitts and Nevis prohibit non-military personnel from wearing any articles of camouflage clothing. Immigration officers in these countries randomly check visitor's baggage on arrival at the airport; if items of restriction are found, you will be asked to surrender them to the officers. ¶7. Persons traveling with diplomatic passports are exempt from departure taxes. ¶8. ICASS TYD Policy: Each visitor, regardless of length of stay, must bring/forward fiscal data to pay for direct costs of the visit. Each agency, organization or visiting delegation will be charged for the actual costs attributed to its visit. Direct charge costs include, but are not limited to: airport transportation and expediting; driving services; American and LES overtime (for such services as airport expediting, cashier accommodation exchange, control room staffing, representational event support); travel and per diem costs incurred by post personnel in support of visitor's field travel; rental of vehicles and other equipment; long distance telephone calls; office supplies, procurement/small purchasing; departure tax and other airport fees. Post will not provide service if fiscal data is not provided for the direct charges. For TDYers remaining at post over 30 days, there is a charge for ICASS support services. This charge is for the following ICASS services: Basic Package, CLO and Health Services. Agencies will not be billed until the accumulated invoice cost for TDY support exceeds $2,500 for the fiscal year. If your sponsoring agency is not signed up for ICASS services at post, please be prepared to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for ICASS support services upon arrival. The agency should provide post with a written communication, generated by the traveler's headquarters, that confirms the agency will pay ICASS charges for the TDYer, provides the agency ICASS billing code to which the TDY support charges should be applied, and authorizes the traveler to sign the ICASS invoice generated by the TDY module. Where travel is urgent, the TDYer should bring this documentation with him/her to ensure there are no interruptions in the provision of service. Post will not provide any service to a TDYer staying in excess of thirty days without provision of this documentation before day 31 of the TDY." ¶9. The following is general information pertaining to security and health considerations throughout the Eastern Caribbean: Security -------------- In the Eastern Caribbean, foot travel outside of well-established tourist areas is not generally recommended, especially at night. Be vigilant when using public telephones or ATM machines near roadsides or quiet areas. As in many U.S. metropolitan areas, wearing expensive jewelry, carrying expensive objects, or carrying large amounts of cash should be avoided. Visitors should also safeguard valuables while at the beach. While hotels are generally safe, many visitors have experienced loss of unattended items. Hotel burglaries are not uncommon and all valuables should be locked in room safes if possible. Health Information -------------- Throughout the Eastern Caribbean, the most likely threat to a visitor's health is sunburn. It takes several weeks to become accustomed to the heat and humidity. Prolonged exposure to the sun, without protection, causes sunburn and may ultimately result in sun-damaged skin or even skin cancer. Sunscreens should be used for protection. In Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent the major health threat is dengue fever, transmitted by mosquito. Dengue cases are most often seen in the summer months. Persons should therefore protect themselves with insect repellant. There is also a growing number of HIV/AIDS cases reported. The Eastern Caribbean enjoys clean and safe drinking water. Only routine boosters for immunizations (i.e. tetanus, diphtheria, and oral polio vaccine) are required when traveling to this region. Barbados has the best medical facilities of all the islands in the region and most of the medical specialties have practitioners here. HOWARD