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            [post_date] => 2016-12-17 16:44:01
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            [post_content] => In an unfortunate turn for many of its fans, the St. Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival will no longer be an event to look forward to as it has been cancelled. In a public announcement, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet shared that they are pulling the plug on the show festival.

The St. Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival is held in St. Lucia yearly for two weeks. The concert has drawn visitors from all over the world to the Eastern Caribbean island for the past 25 years. According to Prime Minister Chastanet, they will be scrapping the show because it carries a $14 million price tag that they have found to be overbearing.

Although the festival will be thrown out, Prime Minister Chastanet said that they'll be replacing the event with a Summer Festival. This festival will be a series of events that will include not only music, but food and arts. It will begin with Jazz Week in May, then go into St. Lucia Carnival which is now expanded, and culminate with the Creole and Heritage Festival in November.
            [post_title] => St. Lucia Pulls The Plug On St. Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival
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            [post_modified] => 2016-12-17 22:29:30
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            [post_date] => 2016-12-16 15:39:30
            [post_date_gmt] => 2016-12-16 20:39:30
            [post_content] => Prisoners in Guyana were not so happy to learn that they will not be granted a presidential pardon by their President for this Christmas. Recently, President David Granger shared that there will be none this time around as he hasn't seen a candidate who is qualified for the privileged. In his weekly interview programme, Public Interest, Granger said that the nominations which were brought before him were unacceptable. Among the other prisoners to not receive his grace, he clearly expressed that murderers and drug traffickers were not be given the privilege.

President David Granger said: "I didn’t pardon anyone at Independence because many of the persons who would normally be eligible for pardon were in fact convicted for trafficking in cocaine, not possession of a few grams of marijuana, and I am not going to tolerate trafficking. I am not going to tolerate murder. I am not going to pardon anybody who has got blood on their hands.”

Since taking office last May, the former army general has defied strong criticism, issuing presidential pardons to some 100 people. A major amount of these issues included non-violent first time offenders. He also expressed his view that he thinks the youth belonged in colleges and universities, and not in prison.

President Granger touched on minor offences, where he said that someone who was incarcerated for a minor offence for a long period may become a habitual criminal. In response to this, he argued that this could be prevented if the accused is pardon and given an early release so that they could have an opportunity to turn their life around and make a meaningful contribution to society.

This past Monday, Granger make it clear that he would maintain the tradition of presidential pardons for convicts who meet his criteria, but would still hold a firm hand on hardened criminals who must pay the full price for their acts.

“I don’t pardon people for the sake of pardoning people. I pardon people to give them a second chance in life,” he insisted.
            [post_title] => No Guyanese Prisoners Granted Christmas Pardons By President Granger This Year
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            [post_date] => 2016-12-14 11:02:21
            [post_date_gmt] => 2016-12-14 16:02:21
            [post_content] => The shipment of rice to Jamaica from Guyana and Suriname was placed on a temporary halt following a discovery that was made by the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) of plastic rice entering the local market. The clearance of rice was stopped at all ports of entry. A meeting which included the Bureau of Standards (BSJ), the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), and the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) was held on Monday to verify whether the artificial rice had made its way into the country.

The first report of the affair was made on Television Jamaica, on Sunday, with a video that demonstrated a woman cooking the product. The Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Karl Samuda, however found that there was no evidence of plastic rice in the recent testing done by the BSJ. He said: "The BSJ was provided with samples… and, so far, I can assure the people of Jamaica that there is absolutely no evidence of any contamination of plastic within the samples tested."



Paying no heed to the results of the BSJ, the minister said an island wide investigation of the rice source for supermarkets will be done so that samples can be taken in for more testing. The Jamaica Observer shared that Jamaica imports rice from Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam, India, United States, Guyana, Thailand, China, and Suriname. On Tuesday, Samuda said that rice originating from Guyana and Suriname would be cleared to enter the island.

“The reason for this is very simple: Guyana and Suriname are considered to be a part of our domestic market. They are members of CARICOM and we have never had incidents of any kind of contamination or otherwise. So, there is no justifiable reason for us to hold those shipments of rice,” he explained.

The minister also expressed concern about the importation of rice from section of the Far East.

“In three instances, we have been advised of fake labeling, and we are in the process now of confirming the allegations. We have to be very certain of the source of food that enters this country,” he said.
            [post_title] => Jamaica Facing "Plastic Rice" Troubles As Minister Tries To Locate Bad Source
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