News In Brief
Minister for Agriculture, Lands, Housing and the Environment, Honourable Crenston Buffonge has made a public apology after voting against His Government's Social Security Amendment Bill .
At the start of Wednesday’s continuation of Parliament, Minister Buffonge apologised to Premier, the Honourable Joseph Farrell and his colleagues for his negative vote in the previous day's sitting.
Minister Buffonge voted “No” in a 6-5 division on the Social Security Amendment Bill which was later passed into law.
The Standing Orders of the House makes provisions for members who vote negative to give reasons for their vote.
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Her Majesty the Queen’s representative on island has expressed his own views on the topical Social Security Fund matter.
While acknowledging that the government of Montserrat has its own processes for dealing with social security issues, Governor, His Excellency Andrew Pearce admits that in general terms, countries and territories around the world have challenges.
He says there are challenges with being able to meet the burden of pensions’ obligations and social security support for the community…….hence the need for, in Montserrat’s case, social security reform.
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The ability for Montserrat and other members of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) to access climate change financing has been enhanced.
The ECCB has announced that it has joined the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN),which is a member of the World Bank.
The ECCB is therefore the first partner of the SBFN from the English-speaking Caribbean.
Its experience working with small islands, will be key in supporting the ECCB with climate risks management and climate finance within the group of eight island economies.
These include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, and Montserrat, helping them in capacity-building and in developing national sustainable finance frameworks.
ECCB Governor, Timothy Antoine says member states must address the paucity of climate finance to the region with great urgency.
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The elder statesman in the Montserrat Rotary Club Cedric Osborne has paid tribute to the organization Rotary International for celebrating 117 years of existence.
Osborne, who was an original charter member in 1971,hailed the volunteer organization for its work in serving humanity worldwide.
He also paid tribute to the Montserrat Rotary Club for its groundbreaking achievements including being among the first to accept women as members.
Osborne describes other notable achievements by the organization.
The first Rotary Club was formed in February 23, 1905, four men met in a downtown office building in Chicago, Illinois.
Wednesday was also observed as World Rotary Day.
President Siobhan Tuitt says the organization can be proud of what it has achieved over the last 50 years.
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Governor, His Excellency Andrew Pearce has been giving his thoughts on the power of collective responsibility especially in times of crises and disasters.
He was at the time sharing on the Breakfast Show Wednesday on Radio Montserrat.
Governor Pearce says t the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has thrown up some real challenges which needs everyone on board to bring about resolutions.
He started out by highlighting some of his own experiences being involved in major challenges including natural disasters