IMF: High debt constrains OECS

The IMF has said that member countries of Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have little room for fiscal stimulus packages because of high public debt levels.

An International Monetary Fund team is visiting OECS nations during this month. A statement from the Fund, issued after a series of meetings in St Kitts and Nevis, cited the two-island federation as an example of carrying “formidably high" debt.

The island's debt stands at 170 percent of its Gross Domestic Product. The IMF said that growth in Eastern Caribbean nations would remain flat during this year, because of the global economic downturn. The islands experienced 2.5 percent growth last year.

Social Club donates cafeteria to SPRCS

The San Pedro Social Club recently donated the funds for a cafeteria at the San Pedro Roman Catholic Elementary School. An old wooden classroom that hadn’t been used for several years was torn down and is getting a new life as a concrete cafeteria. The structure had the concrete posts and pilings so Mossiah Construction had to remove the old crumbling wood to replace the walls and floor with the new concrete and fit in the plumbing needs for a kitchen area.
Inside the building several items have already been donated to help furnish the cafeteria. Harmouch Center has donated a sink prep area, along with Crazy Canucks has a commercial microwave oven to add to the space. Ms. Jan Brown has some shelving she donated and Mossiah Construction will adding cupboards for storage. Please contact the school at 226-2550 if you have any items you wish to donate to the cafeteria.
Read more on this story and more in Thursday's edition of The San Pedro Sun Newspaper!

Tourist's throat cut in Caye Caulker robbery

Jacqueline Godwin reporting: A visitor to Caye Caulker nearly lost her life when her throat was cut by an armed robber. Fortunately she lived and will recover but with such a bold attack, the question is can Belize’s tourism product take the injury in such a tenuous time? She told me her story today.

Sofia Stefaniw, Victim of Brutal Assault/Robbery: “I am just in shock. I guess, I would have preferred for this not to have happened. God willing I will recover. It will take a while for the swelling to go down and…but as far as the doctors are saying it is just a matter of time.”

Twenty four hours after only just arriving in Belize on Monday night sixty six year old Canadian nurse and tourist Sofia Stefaniw was helicopter to Belize Health Care Partners Limited where she is recovering from a deep chop wound to the left side of her neck. Earlier that night Sofia and her Canadian friend fifty five year old Valerie Walker a resident of Caye Caulker were held up and attacked by a man holding a machete and knives.

Sofia Stefaniw: “We had come back from a place called the Sandbox, we biked back and then we arrived into her yard and it was quite dark. There are a few lights but it is quite dark and out of the bushes this guy just came out with a machete and a knife, one in each hand. He said I want your money. I remember that, ‘I want your money,’ and I said I will give you my money and I believed that is when he whacked me and then Valerie was trying to get the money out of her pocket and he stabbed her with the knife. I think he used the knife on her, hers was just on the side but mine was a laceration and it nipped an artery.”

Jacqueline Godwin,Because you are a nurse by profession, you knew it was a serious injury?

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Source: Channel 7 News

Ship with treasure found at sea

A British ship laden with precious treasure has been reportedly found off the coast of Guyana. The ship, which sunk in 1942, was spotted by the American Sub Sea Research Company, which specializes in undersea research and surfacing of valuable remainder of shipwrecks, the Maritime Bulletin stated.
`The Blue Baron`, as the ship has been nicknamed, apparently sunk with gold, platinum, and diamonds worth 2,600 million pounds sterling. It is about 250 meters below the sea.
It is believed the ship was scuttled by a German U-87 submarine about 40 miles from the coast of Guyana, where it had stopped over.

Haiti hosts ministers

Foreign ministers of member countries of the Association of Caribbean States are meeting in Haiti this week to discuss tourism, natural disasters and climate change.

Haitian Foreign Affairs Minister Alrich Nicholas said that the meeting would have a positive impact on improving his country's image in the world.

Haiti has been under the oversight of a 7,000-strong Brazilian-led UN mission since 2004 amid extended political and social turmoil.