Sunday April 15, 2018
Kaieteur News
Brazil state seeks to shut Venezuelan border to stop refugee flow BRASILIA (Reuters) - Leaders of Brazil’s northern state of Roraima on Friday asked the Supreme Court for permission to temporarily close the only land border crossing with neighbouring Venezuela to halt the massive and disorderly arrival of refugees. Brazil’s President Michel Temer, attending the Summit of the Americas in Lima, said closing the border was “unthinkable.” Roraima Governor Suely Campos petitioned the high court to order the federal government to step up assistance for her state to deal with what she called a humanitarian crisis. She also asked that the border be closed until orderly immigration procedures could be put in place.Campos said she had to resort to the top court because the federal government had not acted on her state’s requests. It is not clear if the court with take up her plea. More than 50,000 Venezuelan refugees have arrived in Roraima since last year, fleeing an economic crisis and political strife in their country, the governor told reporters. The influx was nearly equal to 10 percent of the state’s population of 520,000 inhabitants. The refugees have overloaded health, housing and education services, Campos said, bringing the threat of disease and social disorder. Many of the refugees have walked hundreds of kilometers (miles) to reach the state capital Boa Vista and have been sleeping in squares and other precarious areas in the city. Campos said every day more than 500 Venezuelans crossed the open border, where immigrants are allowed to enter with no visa,
A Venezuelan woman shows her passport (L) and identity card at the Pacaraima border control, Roraima state, Brazil. REUTERS/Nacho Doce just by showing a Venezuelan document.“We have to require more documents, vaccination cards, criminal background checks, the inspection of cars. There has to be a way to contain this influx,” Campos said.The federal government declared an emergency in February to boost funding for Roraima and doubled the number of troops at the border.
Jamaica PM says his administration supports public-private partnership LIMA, Peru - CMC – Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness has told an international meeting here that his administration remains focused on building greater public-private partnerships (PPP) as it works to achieve economic growth. “PPPs have emerged as an important commercial modality to secure economic growth. The mutual benefit that public-private partnerships offer is of great value,” Holness told delegates attending the Third Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Summit of the Americas. He said that a robust PPP allows for unlocking the value of assets; reducing debt; and mobilisation of local and foreign direct investments in the economy.Holness said that this is crucial as the government works to quicken the pace at which it delivers jobs, improves infrastructure, and increases training opportunities that match labour market demands.In recognition of the PPPs’ significant role, Holness said his administration is cognisant that it “must act as the enablers of growth by making it easier to do business, supporting private sector-lead entrepreneurship and partnering with the private sector for greater utilisation of public assets and provision of public goods and services.”He said the govern-
ment has been working to improve this arrangement through several measures including the Privatisation and Public-Private Partnership Policy, which seeks to facilitate increased private-sector participation in economic development activities by utilising private-sector skills, innovation and capital to create more competitive and efficient enterprises and provide critical infrastructure or services.Holness told the Organisation of American States (OAS) sponsored event that Jamaica has undertaken several structural reforms to address its macroeconomic vulnerabilities, noting that strengthening of the country’s economic institutions “is one of the ways we are able to engage in PPPs that promote fair risk-sharing and enhance accountability and transparency”. Additionally, he said Jamaica is the only Caribbean country with a legally binding fiscal rule.“This and other related reforms aimed at improving our economic institutions have all contributed to increased business confidence in the Jamaican economy. Sound institutional reforms are critical for economicindependence.”Holness said Jamaica was ranked fourth in the 2017 Infrascope PPP Programme Index for Latin America and the Carib-
bean, saying “this index demonstrates that Jamaica is among the best prepared for PPP in Latin America and the Caribbean”.The Prime Minister said the government now has a different type of relationship with the private sector that allows for open, transparent processes for engagement, and a level playing field and fair competition. He noted that the goal is to transform the public sector, so that it is able to facilitate the private sector as the main organ of growth. “By utilising partnerships, we signal that all partners are committed to upholding accountability, transparency and integrity as the hallmarks of welldesigned institutions and democratic governance,” Holness said.The Summit is the most important business forum of the Americas and brings together leading chief executive officers and government leaders from the region to analyse the opportunities to promote economic growth and investment, through unprecedented public-private interaction under the Americas Business Dialogue mechanism. Holness was to leave yesterday for Brussels where he will address a special session of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Committee of Ambassadors and meet with Donald Tusk, President of the European Council.
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