Nevis News

Nevis news – local Nevis news, and regional Caribbean news.

Waive Visa Regulations Longer, Says Caribbean Tourism Group

Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer

Tourism interests want the United States to further relax requirement for visas to enter countries.

Reeling from a marked decrease in United States visitors to the region, the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) wants an extension to the temporary relaxation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) announced by the American government last week.

Representing 32 Caribbean countries, the organisation, headed mainly by tourism ministers, is urging a full waiver of these requirements until July 2009, when the rules are scheduled to come into effect for cruise passengers travelling into the region.

At the close of the week-long Caribbean Week celebrations in New York City on Friday, the CTO ministers called on their heads of governments to broach the proposal at the CARICOM 20/20 Vision meeting with President George Bush in Washington, D.C., this Wednesday.

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Caribbean Region Could Be Blind To Hurricanes

MIAMI (AP):

An ageing United States weather satellite crucial to accurate predictions on the intensity and path of hurricanes could fail at any moment, and plans to launch a replacement have been pushed back seven years to 2016.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) chief said the failure of the QuikScat satellite could bring more uncertainty to forecasts and widen the areas that are placed under hurricane watches and warnings.

If the satellite faltered, experts estimate that the accuracy of two-day forecasts could suffer by 10 per cent and three-day forecasts by 16 per cent, which could translate into miles of coastline and the difference between a city being evacuated or not. The satellite covers about 90 per cent of the globe’s oceans, experts say.

“We would go blind. It would be significantly hazardous,” said Wayne Sallade, emergency manager in Florida’s Charlotte County, which was hit hard by Hurricane Charley in 2004.

In the letter to a Florida congressman, NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher blamed the delays on technical and budget problems. Scientists said if QuikScat failed, they may have to rely on less accurate satellites.
Bill Proenza, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said authorities “may have to err on the side of caution” in future forecasts.

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“Sugar Bowl” To Be Part Of Soca Madness 2007

Basseterre,St.Kitts (June 13th 2007) Popular DJ and Radio personality Leslie “Sugar Bowl” Morton is the latest entertainer to be added to the SOCA MADNESS artiste line-up. Sugar Bowl was signed on today and is expected to compliment the already packed …

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Nevis Planning Minister Says Land Use Plan Important

Charlestown, Nevis (June 12, 2007)

Junior Minister with responsibility for Physical Planning on Nevis the Hon Carlisle Powell underscored the need for proper planning and the important role which the Nevis Physical Development Plan, once completed, would play in the development of Nevis.
 
The Minister made the comment during a press conference hosted by the Department of Physical Planning, at the Red Cross Building conference room in Charlestown on Tuesday June 12, to launch a series of public consultations with regard to a draft Nevis Physical Development Plan Project.
 
“Nevis is 36 square miles and that is a shrinking number”¦The information I have, suggests that whereas right now we have, in terms of households there are around 5,000. By 2021 you are looking at close to 7,000 and that is a significant increase. We are also looking at a population growth of up to 46 percent in that period.
 
“Whereas in 2005 there were less than 4,000 vehicles, by the end of the study period you are looking at 9,000 so it means that we have to plan properly”¦I want to suggest that this Physical Development Plan, as it is at this time, is coming at a very significant time in the development of Nevis,” he said.
 
While Mr. Powell noted the assistance of the Organisation of American States through Director Mr. Starret Greene who is based in St. Kitts, he urged Nevisians to take part in the consultations and to make their comments and contributions so that when the Plan became effective the public would be supported by the public.

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