Danae Dennie and Deandrea Hamilton

Editorial Staff

#TheBahamas, June 25, 2024 – ‘Ready or Not’ AfreximFest is sizzling finale, capping of concert spectacular with Haitian superstar, Wyclef Jean.

This year, AFREXIMFEST 2024 was held for the first time in the Caribbean region, The Bahamas hosting the three days of meeting in Nassau at the Baha Mar resort.

It is a rich tradition for the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to celebrate the rich cultural contributions throughout the various industries and the orange economy is a major highlight.

The concert was MC’d by Nigerian radio personality and television presenter IK Osakioduwa and featured artists from The Bahamas, the continent of Africa and Trinidad and Tobago.

Nigerian Artiste, Flavour brought spunky afro beats, Fanshawn delivered on the down home Bahamian rake n scrape sound with impeccable showmanship; Oudun drummers from Brazil were a pulsating show stopper and Trinidad and Tobago’s KES the Band thrilled the audience with performances of its wildly popular soca hits including ‘Savanah Grass’.

Making a dramatic entrance with his Fugees hit, ‘Ready or Not’ was Grammy Award winning Wyclef Jean.  The Haitian rapper, singer, producer and songwriter, set the audience in a frenzy with his rendition of  Fugees version of the Roberta Flack remake of ‘Killing me Softly’; Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman, No Cry’ and hits he authored for Carlos Santana and Shakira, namely: ‘Maria Maria’ and ‘Hips don’t Lie’. However, it was arguably, ‘911’ his chart topping duet with Mary J. Blige that set the audience ablaze, joining in singing of the song as he wowed onlookers with his salacious guitar solo which showed off Wyclef’s enviable skills on the instrument.

The event and its amazing line up of singers, dancers, comedians and master DJs forged further, the message of solidarity and partnership which became recurring  pitch phrases at the meetings.  Music proved an ultimate unifier yet again, as AAM2024 wrapped up with stellar reviews from those who packed the concert hall.

Danae Dennie

Staff Writer

#Haiti, June 25, 2024 – UN Secretary-General’s Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said that the alarm is still being sounded on the deteriorating situation in Haiti’s southern regions, as hundreds of thousands of people are now displaced.

According to the International Organization for Migration, between March and June this year, the number of people displaced across the country increased by 60 per cent, from 362,000 to more than 578,000 people.

It highlighted that more than half of all people uprooted from their homes are children.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs shared that aid organizations continue to support people displaced by violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince. As of June 12 2024, the World Food Programme (WFP) distributed more than 40,000 hot meals to over 9,000 displaced people in Port-au-Prince.

On June 7, 2024, a cargo flight operated by the WFP landed in Cap-Haïtien, carrying more than 11 metric tonnes of products for water, hygiene and sanitation activities, as well as educational materials for  the organization ‘Save the Children’.

“Hundreds of thousands of children and their families live in some of the most dangerous and besieged communes ……. A shocking 2 in 3 children need humanitarian aid in Haiti,” says Catherine Russell, Principal Advocate for Haiti for the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, and UNICEF Executive Director.

“Each day, children are being injured or killed. Some are being recruited, or they are joining armed groups out of sheer desperation,” said Russell at  the UN Security Council meeting in April.

“Recent UNICEF data indicates that anywhere from 30to 50 percent of armed groups in Haiti currently have children within their ranks,” she added.

The Secretary-General has called for the swift deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti to support the Haitian National Police in addressing the security situation. He appealed to Member States to ensure the MSS mission urgently receives the financial and logistical support it needs to succeed.

Troops from Kenya, who will lead the multinational security mission began arriving in Haiti on Tuesday, June 25.

CAPTION:

KEYANS BEGIN LANDING IN HAITI – Tuesday June 25, saw the arrival of the first of 1,000 members of a Kenyan Forces deployment to lead the uprooting of gangs which have dangerously planted themselves in Port au Prince, the capital of the Republic of Haiti. Training in Jamaica has been underway for weeks now, as CARICOM is also partnered with the US and Canada on the UN Security Council sanctioned mission announced for activation in July 2024.

#MontegoBay, June 25, 2024 – Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness has informed that the government is looking to redevelop the town of Ocho Rios in St. Ann, to accommodate its rapid growth.

“In terms of the size of the investment we are looking to make, it’s in the billions of dollars. So, it is a huge investment, and the reason for that is because the entire town of Ocho Rios is being looked at for redevelopment,” Mr. Holness said.

“I know you [the citizens] see that your town is growing, a lot of people are coming into your town, a lot of housing developments are going on around the town, and just outside of the town, we see some other areas developing as well,” he added.

Mr. Holness further stated that “the infrastructure that is here cannot carry all the activities that you have, so we are going to have to do some really serious investments, and the first investment that we need to make in improving your town, is improving the market”.

The Prime Minister was addressing vendors and other stakeholders during a tour of the Ocho Rios market on Friday (June 21).

Mr. Holness said the plans to upgrade the market and transportation centre, will be put into effect in short order.

“For the last five years, we have been refining a plan which will see the upgrade of the market [and] the upgrade of transportation centre and not just the clothes and the food [market], but we also have to do something for the craft markets,” he outlined.

“My tour here is to see the actual physical conditions on the ground, so that I can reconcile what we have on paper, versus what actually exists,” Mr. Holness added.

The Prime Minister assured stakeholders that they will start to see significant changes soon.

“We have a comprehensive plan which we are going to start to put into effect very shortly to do some simple things, first to improve the sanitary facilities in this market, and then to improve some of the street areas to create exclusive pedestrian zones,” he informed.

The tour of the market formed part of a working visit to the parish by Mr. Holness, which included a tour of a new classroom block being constructed at Exchange- All – Age School and a tour of the Ocho Rios Pier to examine recent damage.

He also visited Pimento Walk Road to look at road work in the area and toured Little Dunn’s River.

Accompanying the Prime Minister on the tour were Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda; Mayor of St. Ann’s Bay, Councillor Michael Belnavis; Deputy Mayor of St. Ann’s Bay, Councillor Dallas Dickenson and Senior Strategist and Advisor in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright.

Contact: Serena Grant

Release: JIS