Guyana - Muslims pray for rain in drought-hit Guyana
Tomado de:
http://www.pnuma.org/informacion/noticias/2010-03/29/index.htm?fecha=#12
03 – 29 – 10
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (Reuters).- Muslims across Guyana prayed for rain on Saturday to end a drought that has battered the tiny South American nation's rice and sugar exports and caused food shortages in indigenous communities.
The government of the former British colony of about 750,000 people is struggling to irrigate farmland, with water at storage points reaching dangerously low levels.
The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), which represents Muslims in 145 mosques across the multiethnic nation, organized a day of prayers for rain.
"This activity is consistent with the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammad beseeching the Creator to cause the rain to descend and alleviate sufferings," said one CIOG leader, Shaykh Moeenul.
Muslims make up about 7 percent of Guyana's population, with Hindus at 28 percent and Christians making up most of the rest across various denominations.
Guyana is one of several countries in the region, including neighboring Venezuela, that have been parched by drought since the end of last year.
"The Amerindian communities are really badly hit," President Bharrat Jagdeo said on Friday of the indigenous people who make up nearly a 10th of Guyana's population. "We have been supplying food to some communities but I need to increase that significantly."
The state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation said this week that cane growth and development had been affected at five of its eight estates. Replanting had to be cut back on four estates, it said.
Guyana Sugar said the full impact on sugar production would not be known until the end of the second crop of 2010.
Export earnings from sugar fell 10.2 percent in 2009 to $119.8 million from a year earlier and rice export earnings fell 3.3 percent to $114.1 million.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-22319--13-13--.html
Haiti - Haitians watching the sky with dread
03 – 26 – 10
SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica (IPS). – With the spring rains and hurricane season just around the corner in Haiti, some 600,000 people are still living in camps, many in areas prone to flooding. And plans to provide solutions for the survivors of the devastating January 12th earthquake are moving forward slowly.
Experts from Central America and the Caribbean met Monday through Thursday in the Costa Rican capital at the multi-hazard early warning system workshop, to discuss how to reduce impacts of extreme weather and water events in the region. A special session was held on implementing early warning systems in Haiti.
The head of Haiti's meteorological service, Ronald Semelfort, said he could only hope that this year's hurricane season is mild.
An estimated one million people were left homeless by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake, which had a death toll of at least 230,000.
The 218,000 people living in makeshift camps in Port-au-Prince, which was hit hardest by the quake, are the most vulnerable, according to the United Nations.
Many of the camps in the capital are in areas at risk of flooding. The central and municipal governments are working together in search of places to relocate the survivors, but finding large suitable spaces at short notice is no easy task.
Canada, France and Britain, along with Haiti's civil protection agency, are working to rebuild the national meteorological network, which collapsed in the quake, in order to provide early warning capability in case of storms and hurricanes.
"The most important thing is making the systems operational, to warn the local population," Jean-Noel Degrace, regional director of France's meteorological service, Météo-France, told IPS.
"Preparedness must be achieved, no matter what the cost," said Degrace, who is based in Martinique. The problem is that the first stage, the ability to predict storms and issue watches and warnings, might not be completed until May, while the rains are set to begin in late April.
The United States, meanwhile, is setting up an Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN), a "simple, autonomous, reliable and rapid system that can supply information to the civil defence authorities," Abdoulaye Harou, acting director of Canada's meteorological service, remarked to IPS.
EMWIN and the meteorological system will act independently in Haiti, although they will be coordinated by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which organised this week's four-day meeting that was co-hosted by Costa Rica's national meteorological institute and national commission for risk prevention and emergency response.
Money is not a problem, thanks to the outpouring of international aid. But time is running out fast.
"The earthquake hit just when we were getting ready for hurricane season," Abel Nazaire, deputy coordinator of the Haiti civil protection bureau, told IPS.
At that time, one of the tasks was to identify public buildings that could serve as shelters during a hurricane. But today, many of those buildings are no longer standing.
Authorities have continued identifying the few buildings still fit to serve as shelters during heavy rains. "They wouldn't withstand another earthquake, but they would survive a hurricane," Semelfort said.
Another undertaking is obtaining prefabricated housing, and land, in order to relocate people from the camps. The first 200 prefab cabins, donated by Colombia to the community of Cabaret in the north, are about to arrive.
The project will be the first of many such efforts, which will be insufficient, however, because officials in Haiti estimate that a maximum of 200,000 people could be settled in prefab housing. Moreover, they would not be in place in time for the rainy season, in the country that was already the poorest in the hemisphere prior to the quake.
Even before January 12th, many Haitians were living in slums, or were homeless, Semelfort pointed out. "There was already a high level of vulnerability before, and since the earthquake it is almost total," the Haitian meteorologist said.
While the authorities and experts attempt to come up with solutions, survivors of the earthquake pray that this year, the rainy and hurricane season will start late and will be mild.
http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/haitians_watching_the_sky_with_dread.html
Jamaica - NEPA warns against illegal trade in Jamaican parrots
03 – 28 – 10
The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is reminding the public that it is illegal to buy and/or sell Jamaican parrots locally or trade in them internationally.
"The Yellow-billed Parrot (Amazona collaria) and Black-billed Parrot (Amazona agilis) are protected under the Wild Life Protection Act as well as the Endangered Species (Protection, Conservation and Regulation of Trade) Act," the agency said in a release to the media.
Anyone found in possession of a live Jamaican parrot or any parts of it can be fined up to $100,000 or serve 12 months in prison under the Wild Life Protection Act. He/she can be fined up to $2,000,000 and/or be sentenced to two years in prison if caught trading in or exporting these birds without a permit under the Endangered Species Act.
"Jamaica's parrots are very important to the environment. They feed on fruits and disperse the seeds over large areas, contributing to forest regeneration. They are also important to our natural heritage as they are endemic to the island, that is, they are found only in Jamaica," the environmental regulatory agency noted.
The island's parrots are threatened with extinction and therefore need to be protected. They are listed on the World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species. The main threats to the parrots are loss of habitat due to deforestation, and poaching for sale as pets.
"Persons who purchase Jamaican parrots contribute directly to the decline of the species as the poachers not only reduce the numbers for future generations but often cut down the nest tree to capture the young birds, thus reducing the availability of nesting sites. This is very critical as Jamaican parrots do not excavate nest holes, but instead modify existing holes in old rotting trees to form nests," said NEPA.
The population sizes of the two Jamaican parrots are very small and the nesting sites are limited. The public is being urged to contact NEPA at 754-7540 or 1 888 991 5005 to report any poaching or sale of parrots as we strive to conserve these threatened species.
Nota del editor del blog: Al referenciarse a la República Cooperativa de Guyana se deben de tener en cuenta los 159.500Km2, de territorios ubicados al oeste del río Esequibo conocidos con el nombre de Guayana Esequiba o Zona en Reclamación sujetos al Acuerdo de Ginebra del 17 de febrero de 1966.
Territorios estos sobre los cuales el gobierno Venezolano en representación de la Nación venezolana se reservo sus derechos sobre los territorios de la Guayana Esequiba en su nota del 26 de mayo de 1966 al reconocerse al nuevo Estado de Guyana .
“...por lo tanto, Venezuela reconoce como territorio del nuevo Estado, el que se sitúa al este de la margen derecha del río Esequibo y reitera ante la comunidad internacional, que se reserva expresamente sus derechos de soberanía territorial sobre la zona que se encuentra en la margen izquierda del precitado río; en consecuencia, el territorio de la Guayana Esequiba sobre el cual Venezuela se reserva expresamente sus derechos soberanos, limita al Este con el nuevo Estado de Guyana, a través de la línea del río Esequibo, tomando éste desde su nacimiento hasta su desembocadura en el Océano Atlántico...”
Tomado de:
http://www.pnuma.org/informacion/noticias/2010-03/29/index.htm?fecha=#12
03 – 29 – 10
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (Reuters).- Muslims across Guyana prayed for rain on Saturday to end a drought that has battered the tiny South American nation's rice and sugar exports and caused food shortages in indigenous communities.
The government of the former British colony of about 750,000 people is struggling to irrigate farmland, with water at storage points reaching dangerously low levels.
The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), which represents Muslims in 145 mosques across the multiethnic nation, organized a day of prayers for rain.
"This activity is consistent with the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammad beseeching the Creator to cause the rain to descend and alleviate sufferings," said one CIOG leader, Shaykh Moeenul.
Muslims make up about 7 percent of Guyana's population, with Hindus at 28 percent and Christians making up most of the rest across various denominations.
Guyana is one of several countries in the region, including neighboring Venezuela, that have been parched by drought since the end of last year.
"The Amerindian communities are really badly hit," President Bharrat Jagdeo said on Friday of the indigenous people who make up nearly a 10th of Guyana's population. "We have been supplying food to some communities but I need to increase that significantly."
The state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation said this week that cane growth and development had been affected at five of its eight estates. Replanting had to be cut back on four estates, it said.
Guyana Sugar said the full impact on sugar production would not be known until the end of the second crop of 2010.
Export earnings from sugar fell 10.2 percent in 2009 to $119.8 million from a year earlier and rice export earnings fell 3.3 percent to $114.1 million.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-22319--13-13--.html
Haiti - Haitians watching the sky with dread
03 – 26 – 10
SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica (IPS). – With the spring rains and hurricane season just around the corner in Haiti, some 600,000 people are still living in camps, many in areas prone to flooding. And plans to provide solutions for the survivors of the devastating January 12th earthquake are moving forward slowly.
Experts from Central America and the Caribbean met Monday through Thursday in the Costa Rican capital at the multi-hazard early warning system workshop, to discuss how to reduce impacts of extreme weather and water events in the region. A special session was held on implementing early warning systems in Haiti.
The head of Haiti's meteorological service, Ronald Semelfort, said he could only hope that this year's hurricane season is mild.
An estimated one million people were left homeless by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake, which had a death toll of at least 230,000.
The 218,000 people living in makeshift camps in Port-au-Prince, which was hit hardest by the quake, are the most vulnerable, according to the United Nations.
Many of the camps in the capital are in areas at risk of flooding. The central and municipal governments are working together in search of places to relocate the survivors, but finding large suitable spaces at short notice is no easy task.
Canada, France and Britain, along with Haiti's civil protection agency, are working to rebuild the national meteorological network, which collapsed in the quake, in order to provide early warning capability in case of storms and hurricanes.
"The most important thing is making the systems operational, to warn the local population," Jean-Noel Degrace, regional director of France's meteorological service, Météo-France, told IPS.
"Preparedness must be achieved, no matter what the cost," said Degrace, who is based in Martinique. The problem is that the first stage, the ability to predict storms and issue watches and warnings, might not be completed until May, while the rains are set to begin in late April.
The United States, meanwhile, is setting up an Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN), a "simple, autonomous, reliable and rapid system that can supply information to the civil defence authorities," Abdoulaye Harou, acting director of Canada's meteorological service, remarked to IPS.
EMWIN and the meteorological system will act independently in Haiti, although they will be coordinated by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which organised this week's four-day meeting that was co-hosted by Costa Rica's national meteorological institute and national commission for risk prevention and emergency response.
Money is not a problem, thanks to the outpouring of international aid. But time is running out fast.
"The earthquake hit just when we were getting ready for hurricane season," Abel Nazaire, deputy coordinator of the Haiti civil protection bureau, told IPS.
At that time, one of the tasks was to identify public buildings that could serve as shelters during a hurricane. But today, many of those buildings are no longer standing.
Authorities have continued identifying the few buildings still fit to serve as shelters during heavy rains. "They wouldn't withstand another earthquake, but they would survive a hurricane," Semelfort said.
Another undertaking is obtaining prefabricated housing, and land, in order to relocate people from the camps. The first 200 prefab cabins, donated by Colombia to the community of Cabaret in the north, are about to arrive.
The project will be the first of many such efforts, which will be insufficient, however, because officials in Haiti estimate that a maximum of 200,000 people could be settled in prefab housing. Moreover, they would not be in place in time for the rainy season, in the country that was already the poorest in the hemisphere prior to the quake.
Even before January 12th, many Haitians were living in slums, or were homeless, Semelfort pointed out. "There was already a high level of vulnerability before, and since the earthquake it is almost total," the Haitian meteorologist said.
While the authorities and experts attempt to come up with solutions, survivors of the earthquake pray that this year, the rainy and hurricane season will start late and will be mild.
http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/haitians_watching_the_sky_with_dread.html
Jamaica - NEPA warns against illegal trade in Jamaican parrots
03 – 28 – 10
The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is reminding the public that it is illegal to buy and/or sell Jamaican parrots locally or trade in them internationally.
"The Yellow-billed Parrot (Amazona collaria) and Black-billed Parrot (Amazona agilis) are protected under the Wild Life Protection Act as well as the Endangered Species (Protection, Conservation and Regulation of Trade) Act," the agency said in a release to the media.
Anyone found in possession of a live Jamaican parrot or any parts of it can be fined up to $100,000 or serve 12 months in prison under the Wild Life Protection Act. He/she can be fined up to $2,000,000 and/or be sentenced to two years in prison if caught trading in or exporting these birds without a permit under the Endangered Species Act.
"Jamaica's parrots are very important to the environment. They feed on fruits and disperse the seeds over large areas, contributing to forest regeneration. They are also important to our natural heritage as they are endemic to the island, that is, they are found only in Jamaica," the environmental regulatory agency noted.
The island's parrots are threatened with extinction and therefore need to be protected. They are listed on the World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species. The main threats to the parrots are loss of habitat due to deforestation, and poaching for sale as pets.
"Persons who purchase Jamaican parrots contribute directly to the decline of the species as the poachers not only reduce the numbers for future generations but often cut down the nest tree to capture the young birds, thus reducing the availability of nesting sites. This is very critical as Jamaican parrots do not excavate nest holes, but instead modify existing holes in old rotting trees to form nests," said NEPA.
The population sizes of the two Jamaican parrots are very small and the nesting sites are limited. The public is being urged to contact NEPA at 754-7540 or 1 888 991 5005 to report any poaching or sale of parrots as we strive to conserve these threatened species.
Nota del editor del blog: Al referenciarse a la República Cooperativa de Guyana se deben de tener en cuenta los 159.500Km2, de territorios ubicados al oeste del río Esequibo conocidos con el nombre de Guayana Esequiba o Zona en Reclamación sujetos al Acuerdo de Ginebra del 17 de febrero de 1966.
Territorios estos sobre los cuales el gobierno Venezolano en representación de la Nación venezolana se reservo sus derechos sobre los territorios de la Guayana Esequiba en su nota del 26 de mayo de 1966 al reconocerse al nuevo Estado de Guyana .
“...por lo tanto, Venezuela reconoce como territorio del nuevo Estado, el que se sitúa al este de la margen derecha del río Esequibo y reitera ante la comunidad internacional, que se reserva expresamente sus derechos de soberanía territorial sobre la zona que se encuentra en la margen izquierda del precitado río; en consecuencia, el territorio de la Guayana Esequiba sobre el cual Venezuela se reserva expresamente sus derechos soberanos, limita al Este con el nuevo Estado de Guyana, a través de la línea del río Esequibo, tomando éste desde su nacimiento hasta su desembocadura en el Océano Atlántico...”
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