St Lucia wants Barbados and Trinidad to join the OECS

Saint Lucia's Prime Minister Stephenson King has issued an invitation to Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago to join the OECS.

The move comes as doubts are being raised over a proposal from Trinidad's Prime Minister Patrick Manning that Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the twin Island republic in a political union.

Mr Manning has said that Trinidad and Tobago is prepared to enter into a political union arrangement with any country or countries in the region.

However Mr King expressed some concerns about the proposal to BBC Caribbean.

“If it is going to be another LIAT I’m not interested in it.

"I believe that Caricom itself has mushroomed into such a massive organisation of councils that ministers and prime ministers are called upon to travel so frequently to attend to meetings."

Mr King said he did not think it is the way to go.

“We need to consolidate what we have to ensure that what is already working, works better."

Prime Minister King said Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados should come in and strengthen the OECS as a sub-region of Caricom.

Banana row continues

The head of the Windward Islands Farmers Association, Renwick Rose, says those growers who wish to sell bananas at world market prices are free to do so.

But he says they have to be prepared for competition from some of the leading global producers.

“WINFA is the only organisation in the Windward Islands which can sell fair trade bananas.

“Anyone who doesn’t want to sell through WINFA can compete with Ecuador and Costa Rica, Ivory Coast and Cameroon”, he said.

The Farmers Association has won the favour of Wibdeco, the marketers of windward bananas, because they have embraced fair trade label which offers above market prices.

The issue has divided the growers in the Windward Islands since Wibdeco announced that it had terminated the supply contract of the dominant banana company in St Lucia because it was slow to take up the fair trade label.

The St Lucia firm won a temporary court injunction against the move but failed to prevent Wibdeco from buying bananas instead from the Windwards Farmers Association.

Rice price hike to follow flour increase

As high food prices continue to bite, rice is expected to go up shortly in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The East Caribbean Flour Mills company announced Thursday that the retail price of a pound of flour would increase by sixteen percent.

Senior company official Martin Laborde says rice too, will have a price hike shortly.

Meanwhile British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on the G-8 group of industrialised nations to work out a strategy for combating rising food prices.

He wants the group to work together with other international organisations to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy.

Mr Brown also called for support for food-importing developing countries.

Fast track US visas for some Cubans

	US is fast-tracking visas to some Cubans

The United States has begun issuing fast track visas to Cubans who have relatives living in America.

Two families with young children were among the first to receive travel permits on Thursday, to join their relatives in the US.

Their visas were granted under a new scheme called the Cuban Family Reunification Programme.

As many as 40 thousand Cubans could be eligible under the scheme.

The head of Immigration Services at the US Interest section in Havana, James McCament, says the scheme is aimed at the thousands of people who left Cuba who still have wives, husbands and children left behind.

Do you know your Munich from your Monaco

Well, two Dominican women in Italy have learnt the hard day.

They led themselves on a wild goose chase from Italy to the German city of Munich after arranging to meet their niece in Monaco -- which in Italian can mean either the tiny principality on the French Riviera, or the German city.

The problem was they thought Munich was Monaco, according to police in Munich.

The two women, originally from the Dominican Republic, had driven across the continent to collect the 14-year-old from the Paris-Munich train.

But they started to panic and went to the police when the girl failed to appear.

Well, the mistake was discovered and the two aunts had to drive another 840 kilometres (or 523 miles) to Monaco.