#Basseterre, February 28, 2019 – St. Kitts and Nevis – Maybe the reported tens of thousands of Turks and Caicos Islanders who live outside of the territory can be added to the voter register to build from a mere 8,000 electors, maybe lines at government offices and banks would be completely eliminated because transactions and applications could be seamlessly entered online; could we imagine an end to traffic stops as police officers could access onboard computers for relevant data or perhaps information and personal security could become totally impenetrable!
These are the possibilities because these are just some of the
astounding feats of Estonia, home to just over 1.3 million people in northern
Europe. Estonia is hailed as the most digitally
advanced country on the planet and the TCIs Deputy Premier, Sean Astwood was
impressed by her message at the 30th Inter-Sessional Meeting of
CARICOM.
“Estonia is an example that a country can go from nearly zero to 100 in less than 15 years. They were a client state of the Soviet Union, and they developed a vision and strategy and actually executed it,” the Deputy Premier replied via WhatsApp while on a flight; following the conclusion today of the CARICOM meeting hosted in St. Kitts and Nevis.
We asked: Does Estonia’s e-Governance model provide potential
solutions for TCI?
The Deputy Premier responded with: “Yes. First, they are the example I just spoke of. Second, there are aspects of Estonia’s success which are best practices for small nations in my view. Third, it’s not a question of just looking at Estonia and trying to copy. But looking at ourselves and deciding what of their success applies to us.”
In a near 28-minute presentation at the CARICOM meeting which ran
February 26-27, the President of Estonia made quite an impression on the group
when she challenged the region to ‘do it together’ in order to ‘leap frog’ over
regional counterparts for a Digital Caribbean.
The DP, who is also minister of Border Control and Employment assured us
that this gesture by Estonia is not only amazingly intriguing but amazingly
generous.
Magnetic Media asked; “Is this a service they are selling? Is it cost effective for SIDS or Small Island Developing States?”
“No. There is no selling. Estonia is doing what smart nations do. They use their intelligence and skill to develop from zero to the most wired nations in the world. Sharing this success is part of their foreign policy; they are developing global networks of collaboration. In my view, it’s a new good kind of globalisation.”
#Palestine#Guyana, April 24, 2024 – A cheque of over GY$110 million which is USD$500 thousand, was presented to President Irfaan Ali, at a handover ceremony on April 23, in support of Palestine for Humanitarian efforts, according to reports.
The money, raised by Muslims and non Muslims, comes after an appeal by the National Ramadan Village during the month of Ramadan.
It will be sent to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) to help the victims of the ongoing war.
#Haiti#RoyalCaribbean, April 26, 2024- Royal Caribbean has decided to cancel all of its trips to Labadee, a popular destination in Haiti due to the worsening crisis, putting further strain on the country’s tourism sector. Cancellations were initially set to last until mid March but now they have been extended through the summer into September, according to a post by Royal Caribbean. A spokesperson for the organization is reported saying the Global Security and Intel team is monitoring the situation in Haiti, further expressing that the cancellations come as the safety and security of its guests are top priority.
#Haiti#TransitionalCouncil#ArielHenry, April 26, 2024 – Haiti’s de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry officially resigned, following the swearing in of the nine member transitional presidential council on Thursday April 25, 2024. He publicly announced his resignation in a post on Facebook. This follows Henry’s promise last month to exit office after gang members blocked his return to Haiti from Kenya.