AIR JAMAICA VALUED IN JAMAICA
The government certainly has no intentions from keeping Air Jamaica from “soaring to new heights”, as they’ve put a lot of emphasis in the future of the company. Known for its great service and its beautiful presence amongst the clouds, the federal government feels that the maintenance of Air Jamaica is not only good for tourism, but for economic prosperity. Air Jamaica in fact showed just how valuable it is to its home country as its excellent contributions, especially after Hurricane Ivan helped Jamaica recover further and faster than ever expected. Sectors such as tourism and manufacturing are also getting back to normal better than expected. Air Jamaica, as its importance continues to shine across the nation, can arguably assert themselves as the heart and pride of Jamaica.

BARBADOS-SEWAGE – A HEALTH CONCERN
It’s decision time in Barbados, as the BWA (also known as the Barbados Water Authority), the Ministry of Housing along with the Ministry of health, have been given a short deadline with the shutdown of the Bridgetown Sewage plant at stake. All three agencies would have to come up with a good enough reason to allow residents to remain despite the problems being experienced with their sewage plant. Failure to respond would indefinitely result in a court order against the three government agencies, and all residents would be relocated. Apparently, time is running out.

GUYANA: AIDS CRISIS
They say you never know how valuable something can be until it’s gone. Children are being forced to understand how important their parents were in their lives, a staggering 7000 in fact, as these were the amount of children in Guyana that have lost one or both parents as a result of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). The statistics don’t seem to be declining either but continue to increase, as more and more adults are dying because of AIDS, with the orphanage stats in tune with the AIDS numbers as well. Up to 33,000 children are estimated to be orphans. It’s easy to see that things aren’t getting any better, whether it’s in Guyana, Africa, or other parts of the world. The only thing anyone can hope for is a cure, and fast.

HAITI: CELEBRITY POWER
Loyal to his native homeland, Singer and producer Wyclef Jean retreated to Haiti to help restore peace among the nation. The hip-hop artist met with local residents and village leaders once loyal to the overthrown president Jean Bertrand Aristide. He also met with rebel army commanders who helped expel the former President out of office. Wyclef greatly understands that Haiti is in great need of help, and that peace is the first step to a better country. As if the violence that’s been tearing the country apart wasn’t a ‘hurricane in itself’, Haiti soon eventually faced a bigger problem. Tropical Storm Jeanne completely ripped the country to shreds, killing 2000 in one area and many more losing there lives as a result of the storm all across the nation. Haiti is currently in such a bad state, that not even the word depression can come close to describing the conditions and issues they face today. As Wyclef Jean does, all Haitians can do is hope for a solution to their many crises.

By: Andrea Daley
Intern: Andre Brown