CARIBBEAN NEWS

JAMAICA

Venezuela to provide oil at discounted rate
MONTEGO BAY: Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has announced his country's participation in the Petrocaribe initiative, a plan that permits Venezuela to supply oil on favourable terms to countries throughout the Caribbean.

The announcement was made last week following a private meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Under the terms of the agreement, Venezuela will provide oil at a discounted rate of $40 per barrel, compared to over $60 it costs now on the world market. According to Patterson, the deal will initially include an estimated 22,000 barrels per day and permits Jamaica to pay Venezuela in goods and services, and through low interest, long-term loans.

Venezuela is providing assistance that is better than what has been offered by lending institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, said Chavez.

The Petrocaribe deal extends and improves financing arrangements under the past oil deals and calls for an expanded fleet of Venezuelan tankers to deliver fuel directly to bypass costly intermediaries.

Chavez and Patterson also signed a bilateral agreement committing Venezuela to upgrading a refinery's production capacity from 30,000 to 50,000 barrels a day. The South American nation will also contribute $60 million to a fund for socio-economic projects in Jamaica.

Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and the biggest in the Western Hemisphere. Jamaica is the first Caribbean nation to finalize the deal with Venezuela.

NEVIS

Better eyesight with free Cuban surgery
CHARLESTON: Cuban physicians are holding medical clinics for the visually impaired this week, providing care and selecting individuals with problems that can be corrected surgically.

Through Miracle for Sight, a program developed by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela, two Cuban eye specialists, Dr. Alexis Mendoza Aguirre and Dr. Hiram L. Mena Estevez, are providing medical attention and selecting candidates for surgery during a week-long clinic. The surgery, to be performed in Cuba, will be paid for by the Cuban government. The cost of travel, accommodation and medical treatment while in the country, is also courtesy of the Government of Cuba.

Patients considered for the surgery include people with crossed-eyes, cataracts, flesh growing on the eyeball and drooping eyelids. Laser surgery and cornea transplants are also on offer for selected patients.

A total of six clinics are being held at various locations around the island. So far, about 129 patients have been flown to Cuba from St. Kitts, where the Cuban team recently carried out similar exercises.

According to Cuban Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis, Orlando Alavarez, the government has waived visa requirements for travel to Cuba for those selected and said they would only be required to hold a valid passport.

The Miracle for Sight Program was started in Venezuela last year when over 38,000 Venezuelans received treatment. This year more than 50,000 Venezuelans have received treatment under the program, which has now been expanded to all friendly nations in the Caribbean, including St. Kitts and Nevis.

ST. LUCIA

Cocoa deal to benefit struggling farmers
CASTRIES: A new multi-million dollar deal between the country and one of the world's leading producers of chocolate is being seen as a golden opportunity for marginalized banana farmers to enter into a new field.

Under the terms of the three-year agreement to purchase all the cocoa beans that the country can produce, the St. Lucia Agriculturists' Association (SLAA) will supply World's Finest Chocolate Inc. of Chicago with half a million pounds of cocoa beans per year at a guaranteed price, plus an extra premium of two cents per pound to top quality producers.

According to Kerde Severin, CEO of SLAA , this deal "is quite favourable considering what obtains on the world market." Severin also stated that local banana farmers should see this as their opportunity to grow into new markets.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for all types of farmers and also persons who have been affected by the advent of the liberalization of the banana market…it's a good opportunity to actually put those lands back into production. And cocoa we believe, is a very, very good crop," Severin added.

The SLAA also agrees the new cocoa deal will be beneficial to local farmers who have seen a steady decline in banana revenues following the European Union trade reforms.

"This offers a multitude of opportunities. For example, in addition to just producing coca beans, there are a number of other things which can be produced; you can add another value to the cocoa," Severin said.