Haiti's northern city of Gonaives was flooded by Tropical Storm Hanna

The death toll from tropical storm Hanna in Haiti continues to rise, with officials estimating the latest figure to be in the dozens.

Haiti had already suffered scores of deaths due to flooding caused by Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav in late August.

Among the hardest hit areas in its path was the northern city of Gonaives, which was said to be submerged after being drenched by torrential rain.

The Haitian Interior Minister called the situation in Gonaive a catastrophe, with substantial damage to housing and roads as well.

A police officer was quoted as saying that a convoy carrying Prime Minister, Michele Pierre-Louis, had to abandon efforts to reach Gonaives when one of the cars was nearly swept away.

Hanna is now expected to cut through or near the central and northeastern Bahamas over the next couple of days.

Ike now a hurricane

Tropical Storm Ike strengthened into a hurricane in the open Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday.

The US National Hurricane Centre said that by late Wednesday afternoon, Ike was packing winds of 80 miles per hour.

The storm was moving west-northwest on a path that would take it north of the Leeward Islands by Friday.

Meanwhile, the centre said that Josephine, the other storm way out in the Atlantic, had weakened.

JLP government is one year old

The Bruce Golding administration in Jamaica is one year old on Wednesday.

The Jamaica Labour Party took up office on September 3 last year, ending the People's National Party's 18-year rule.

The JLP has had to deal with natural disasters, an increasing murder rate and a weakening economy.

Political scientist, Professor Neville Duncan of the University of the West Indies, told BBC Caribbean that so far the government has done a reasonably good job.

Civil society to protest construction project

The Civil Society Network of Saint Lucia, an alliance of civic groups, has organised a protest against a controversial construction project near the famous Pitons.

Environmentalists are concerned that the project could endanger the area's World Heritage status, that was conferred by UNESCO.

The President of the Civil Society Network, Flavia Cherry, says Friday's planned protest is intended to demonstrate that the people must have a voice in the matter of governance.

The construction has been mired in controversy, with the current and former St Lucian governments each blaming the other for approving it.

Guyana counts sugar losses

Guyana's sugar company says it has lost over US $1 million in revenue, as a result of a crippling five day strike, coupled with unseasonal rainfall.

The workers stayed off the job last week to press for higher wages, and their action forced the closure of all eight sugar estates run by Guysuco.

The company says it is now unable to meet its export quotas, but it still hopes to sell at least 231,000 tonnes of sugar to Europe by year-end.