The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the People's Bank of China (PBC) approved the China Co-financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean to support public and private sector projects that promote sustainable economic growth in the region.

The fund, the first of its kind established by China and a multilateral development bank, will provide capital to complement the IDB's own resources for projects seeking to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality, boost private sector investment, improve competitiveness and social welfare, and support programs to mitigate the impacts of climate change and promote greater gender equality.

"China is a key partner for the bank's mission to alleviate poverty and inequality in the region," said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. "This partnership is another example of our efforts to promote greater South-South cooperation to narrow funding gaps in sectors with high developmental impact and enhance the social and economic impact of our projects. It will serve as a benchmark for future models of cooperation with China and other countries."

U.S. based Ross University which operates a medical school in Dominica and a School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts and Nevis has reportedly implemented plans to expand the school in the latter Caribbean nation.

Last week the college broke ground on an EC$67.5 million expansion program in St. Kitts and Nevis. President of the Healthcare Group at DeVry Inc., the parent company of Ross University, Bill Hughson, speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony highlighted the fact that the company had confidence in its investment of over EC$84 million in St. Kitts and Nevis with the location of the veterinary school there.

Hughson said the new investment affirmed the company's relationship with the Caribbean twin nation, a relationship which justified the further development of the campus of the school. Last year DeVry and the government of St. Kitts and Nevis signed a Partnership Renewal Agreement, and the company purchased 24 acres of land that it previously leased from the government. Hughson said that purchase signified the commitment the company had to St. Kitts and Nevis.

For several nights last week residents of East Flatbush in Brooklyn, NY, a predominantly Caribbean community angrily protested the police shooting death of a 16 - year old youth whose parents are Jamaican and Guyanese. According to reports some twenty of the protestors were arrested as they clashed with the police.
Some 200 protestors had originally planned a peaceful vigil along Church Avenue in Flatbush on learning that the youth, Kimani "Kiki" Gray was shot in the back by the police. The reports said some of the people participating in the vigil, marched and threw bottles and other missiles at police officers who were monitoring the proceedings.
The police claim an officer was hit by a brick and a police car was damaged in the ensuing disturbance. Among the protestors arrested was Gray's sister, Mahnefeh.
The police has also tried to defend the shooting of the youth by alleging he pointed a gun at two plainclothes officers, and one reacted by shooting him. However, the youth's autopsy report indicated he was shot seven times, including three shots in the back.He was killed on his way from a birthday party.

Last week some potential good news broke for Jamaicans at home and in The Diaspora who lost their investment with the infamous "Ponzi" investment scheme Cash Plu. The scheme was extremely popular in 2007 and 2008, especially with middle and working class people. Although the program was often referred to as a "scam," in its heyday the founder and operator of the scheme, Carlos Hill was regarded as the "Pied Piper of the financial world" according to an investor. He was supposedly leading investors to extremely high interest returns and financial bliss.

However, in 2008, an increasing number of investors experienced difficulty in getting their promised interest returns, and eventually that year the scheme crashed and Hill and two of his associates were arrested on allegations of fraud for running a Ponzi scheme. Hill appeared in court last week for his long delayed trial, but the trial date was advanced to March 11. He has been on bail for J$1.5 million.

After the scheme crashed, it left thousands of borrowers in financial distress, especially those who had used their life savings, redundancy payments, and the proceeds from the sale of fixed assets to invest in Cash Plus. Although the bankrupt scheme was handed over to the trustee in bankruptcy it has been difficult for the trustee to ascertain the exact amounts that was owed to investors.