Prime Minister Owen Arthur is pushing for the restoration of some of the country’s main heritage sites.

Last Saturday night the Prime Minister promised that the houses of the country's leaders and those of slaves "can and will be restored" for future generations.

He also called on all patriotic Barbadians "and friends of the island" to identify houses which merit salvaging.

Arthur was speaking at the opening of the George Washington House and Museum, located in the parish of St Michael.

The museum has been founded at a house where a young Washington stayed before going back to America where he emerged as its first president.

Jamaica's former ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union, Evadne Coye, has been appointed High Commissioner to Canada.

The announcement was made by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Anthony Hylton who said the new envoy will assume office in Ottawa on January 22.

A career Diplomat, Coye succeeds High Commissioner Carl Marshall who demitted office last year.

While resident in Brussels, Ambassador Coye was also Ambassador to France, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands as well as high Commissioner to Botswana and South Africa.

She received her first posting as Head of Mission in 1992 when she was appointed resident Ambassador to Mexico while being accredited to Belize, Central America and Panama.

She joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in 1975 and worked in a number of positions and departments.

She is the recipient of several awards including the Corrdon del Aguila Azteca which she received in 1996 from the President of Mexico for excellence in diplomatic

Montserrat would benefit from CSME – Economic Study

A new economic study has determined that it would be to Montserrat’s benefit to participate in the Caribbean Community Single Market and Economy (CSME).

Grenadian trade specialist Dr. Patrick Antoine, who was contracted by the Montserrat government to conduct the economic study, said the results showed that the benefits to the British overseas territory joining the regional movement far outweighed the costs.

"Really the exercise has never been so easy because when you look at the cost and benefits there is in fact a mismatch. The benefits far outweight the cost for Montserrat," Antoine told the Caribbean Media Corporation

It is understood that the results of the study would provide the technical basis for upcoming talks between Montserratian and British officials.

Antoine said the study supported the view that Montserrat's future was bound up with that of the rest of the Caribbean.

"Montserratians are all over the CARICOM working and contributing to the building of sound regional society. So when you put all of those things down and you look at the concrete economic measures and we have done a very, very good economic study," he said.

Caribbean-Americans in Florida have mixed reaction to the news that Democratic Illinois Senator Barack Obama has indicated that he will be definitely making a bid for the position of president of the United States in 2008. Earlier this week, Obama, in a brief Internet video announcement declared that he has formed an exploratory committee. The committee will, among other things, examine the feasibility of Obama’s campaign, seek critical campaign staff and get a handle on the candidates fund raising potential.

There is no question that Obama has great popularity among the Caribbean population, not just because he is a Democrat, but as CNWeekly observed when he addressed an audience at Miami’s Gusman Theater last November, because of his outstanding articulateness, his seeming humility, and his outstanding charisma; people like Yvette Billings, a Grenadian in Fort Myers, believe that Obama, “is a God-send. He is like an angel sent by God to heal this quarrelsome nation. The fact that he is the child of white and black parents is very significant. It is like he is being sent to be the unifier.” George Rhodd, a St. Lucian living in Kendall shares this view, but is cautious. “Obama does represent a fresh change in American politics, but will white-America accept him? I really can’t see that happening. White America will try to block his campaign every step of the way.” A caller to the WAVS (Caribbean radio) talk show expressed the opinion that Obama would not be nominated to run for president in 2008, perhaps much later, but there would be a black president, in the person of Condoleeza Rice.

The entire Caribbean tourism sector is very nervous regarding the new passport regulations. A study undertaken by the Caribbean Hotel Association in 2005 indicated that the passport innovation could cost the Caribbean tourism industry as much as $2.6 billion in revenue and 188,000 in jobs. The study showed that some 80 percent of visitors to Jamaica and 50 percent to other Caribbean destinations traveled without a passport.

Under a sweeping new United States immigration policy, called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, all travelers, including Americans, will need passports to re-enter the US by plane when traveling from most Caribbean countries and Canada and Mexico, effective January 23. In December, the US State Department announced a two-week delay in the measure’s earlier implementation date.

In the past, US travelers only required a driver’s license or a valid form of identification to re-enter the country. Currently, returning Americans at both Miami International and Fort Lauderdale Airports lacking passports are receiving notices advising them of the new requirements effective January 23.