Windies cricket falls on hard times

To many people, the 2007 World Cup was a huge disappointment.

Xavier Marshall is one of many West Indians to have struggled recently

Apart from a farcical finish to the final and regulations which robbed many matches of a true Caribbean atmosphere, the real cost of the whole fiasco can be seen now.

The tournament was supposed to reverse a sharp decline in West Indian cricket, which had devastated the grass roots of the sport within the region.

And even though the competition itself did not pan out favourably, surely the future would be bright with some marvellous new stadiums in place, coaching structures to help young players and a programme to revive domestic first-class cricket?

Not so. The sad truth is that the passion for the game seems to be continuing its downward spiral.

It did not help that when the West Indies Cricket Board [WICB] received US$50m from the ICC, all the cash was instantly lost on paying off an existing debt, and then writing cheques to the various World Cup local organising committees.

Now, sponsors are pulling out of West Indian cricket at every level, and the team itself is struggling to bed in newcomers who are not well equipped for the demands of international cricket.

Tony Becca, one of the most respected Caribbean cricket writers, first covered a West Indies series in 1974.

He witnessed the likes of Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall leave an indelible mark on the game - and some of their opponents.

Becca, now semi-retired, offers a withering assessment of the current state of Caribbean cricket.

Becca told BBC Sport: "Everything is really pathetic. West Indies cricket seems to have lost a lot of ground in terms of supporters and in terms of financial support.

"The World Cup was a big disappointment. Ticket prices were too high for the Caribbean people and [the organisers] seemed to spend too much money building these gigantic stadiums, which were half full."

Whether they are cutting their purse-strings due to the global downturn, or believe there is little future in throwing money at cricket in the Caribbean, the lack of interest from sponsors is a massive issue.

There was no financial backer for the regional one-day tournament - and the first-class competition is similarly sponsor-free.

"It's more expensive to run this time. Each team is playing 12 matches in the tournament, rather than six, so it's going to be more expensive," says Becca.

"It's happening at regional level too - in Jamaica we didn't have a sponsor for our local competition last year and up to now we don't know if we'll have any for this year."

With the WICB now having to meet the costs of these tournaments from its own funds, it is little wonder that cricket is essentially an amateur sport at regional level.

Becca explains: "The problem now is that the only cricketers in the West Indies who get a salary are the ones in the West Indies side, so a guy drops out of cricket by the time he's 25 because he can't get a salary.

"But some guys in the West Indies team have only scored one century or something before being picked. You look at some of the batsmen in their early 20s, Xavier Marshall, Shawn Findlay, Kieron Pollard - they have had very limited experience beforehand."

Marshall is certainly a fascinating case. After 24 one-day internationals, he is averaging less than 20, but the feeling is that youngsters have to be selected and then persevered with before they drop out of the sport altogether.

A rare high point - winning last November's Stanford Super Series

However, Dr Donald Peters, chief executive of the WICB, is determined to bring salaries back into the first-class game.

He told BBC Sport: "The cricketers should not have to live with that situation but sometimes they are their own worst enemy. The West Indies Players Association [WIPA] has worked against them in terms of expanding the realm of professional cricket.

"I believe they should be paid because we cannot operate with a group of 15 professional cricketers. We want a professional league in 2010 and if we can get our proposal through then we are convinced our level of cricket will move up."

But hang on a minute. Is there not a rich sugar-daddy out there solving all the financial woes of West Indian cricket? Is Sir Allen Stanford not making millionaires out of all the finest players in the Caribbean?

Well, yes and no. While the Stanford Super Series last November did take place, and the home team's players netted US$1m each for thrashing Kevin Pietersen's feeble England team, certain events before and after that week in Antigua have soured the Stanford candy.

About a month beforehand, an almighty row between the WICB and Digicel, who sponsor the West Indies cricket team, flared up over whether Digicel had branding rights to the Stanford match.

The "Stanford Superstars" were, the WICB insisted, a separate entity to the team representing the West Indies in Tests and one-day internationals.

But the High Court in London ruled in favour of Digicel, the WICB had to pay huge legal costs, and Stanford was forced to hurriedly place Digicel hoardings around his ground in Antigua.

According to some reports, the US$3.5m the WICB was entitled from the Stanford jackpot has been withheld by the Texan billionaire as a result of the inconvenience.

Perhaps more importantly, future Stanford events - both the tournament against England and the regional Twenty20 - are in serious doubt.

But Becca believes the Stanford angle is, in any event, slightly irrelevant.

"I don't think Sir Allen is the answer because I don't honestly believe that he is interested in West Indies cricket more than his own interests," he said.

"Sir Allen could have sat down with the board and could have talked about a working relationship that could have actually helped West Indies but he didn't."

For Becca, the future remains bleak.

"Cricket is really losing its appeal. I never believed it when people said soccer was pushing cricket into the background, but when you look at how many people support a big football match in Jamaica it's fantastic compared to the turnout for cricket.

The way they were - West Indies fans celebrate in England in 1984

"The WICB and the other people who love cricket and are passionate about cricket in the region have to look at themselves and make a pledge to promote and spread the gospel of cricket around the region.

"I have friends who have surrounded themselves in cricket all their life, and if you ask them 'did you watch the cricket last night' they say 'what cricket?'"

So does Becca believe there will ever be another West Indies team to terrorise opponents with their fast bowlers, and produce batsmen like Richards and Brian Lara?

"Sometimes when I see some of these young guys like Jerome Taylor and Denesh Ramdin I have hope that we will get back, but we need to start again and develop our cricketers.

"Maybe then the time will come when we have a team we can be proud of, but right now I'm not proud," he adds.

Peters, however, paints a slightly brighter picture.

He says the relationship with Digicel remains a strong one despite last October's fallout and he is about to hire a commercial manager to seek other big-name sponsors.

Peters also wants to add under-19 cricketers into the pool of contracted players and wants to bring cricket back into schools.

"We know that we have not been doing too well, but with the right administration and plan we will address some of the difficulties," he adds.

The WICB has certainly faced a barrage of criticism in recent months, not just from the likes of Tony Becca, but Peters sounds like he is prepared to acknowledge the problems and do something about them, rather than hide behind denials and smokescreens.

He should be given a chance to do so, and a Test series win against a divided England team would be the perfect springboard for a renaissance in West Indies cricket.

--BBC Caribbean.com

Caribbean News in Brief

Stimulus package for Belize












The Belize government has announced that it plans to spend about US$100 million on an economic stimulus package.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow said the funds will go toward road building and other infrastructural projects.

The Belize economy has been hit by lower tourism and oil revenues.

Mr Barrow said the money was being raised from international and regional institutions.

They include the IMF, the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and the Caricom Petroleum Fund.

+ + +

Minister praises government's record
The finance minister of Antigua and Barbuda is talking up the country's economic performance ahead of general elections expected within weeks.

Errol Cort told a campaign rally that the governing United Progressive Party (UPP) had more than doubled the pace of economic growth in its first term of office.

Under the multi-term Antigua Labour Party (ALP), he said economic growth averaged 3 percent.

The UPP, which gained power 2004, had presided over a 7 percent expansion in that time, Dr Cort added.

He was speaking in his constituency where his opponent, the former Prime Minister Lester Bird, is holding his own Antigua Labour Party meeting on Thursday night.

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England arrive in Caribbean
It is rare that a Prime Minister turns up to welcome a visiting cricket team.

But that's what happened in St Kitts when England landed to begin their tour of the West Indies.

Prime Minister Denzil Douglas, who is also tourism minister, greeted the tourists at the airport.

His minister of state, Ricky Skerrit, said the government was keen to increase the number of visitors from the UK.

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Spanish queen visits Haiti
Queen Sofia of Spain has met Haiti's President, Rene Preval, in Port au Prince at the start of a two-day official trip.

During her visit, the Queen will tour several Spanish development projects.

From the Haitian capital, the Spanish monarch is due to travel on to Gonaives, where thousands of people were left homeless by four powerful hurricanes that struck the city last year.

The queen had earlier toured similar Spanish projects in the neighbouring Dominican Republic.

--BBC Caribbean.com

Roots & Culture: Duke passes

Legendary Trinidadian calypsonian, The Mighty Duke, passed away on Wednesday after a long battle with a rare blood cancer.

He was 75 years old.

“Born a Pope, crowned a King, named a Duke...” is the opening line of a 2007 tribute song celebrating Kelvin Pope, aka The Mighty Duke.

Duke started performing in 1960, and between 1968 and 1971 he was almost unstoppable.

He won the calypso monarch title four consecutive years with hits such as “What is Calypso”, “Black Is Beautiful” and “Brotherhood of Man”.

In 1987, his hit “Thunder” not only won the Road March title in Trinidad but was a massive hit throughout the Caribbean.

Although his output might not have been as prolific in recent years, Duke nevertheless kept up a busy schedule despite suffering from Myleofibrosis.

In one of his last interviews in December last year, Duke revealed that he penned hundreds of songs in his lifetime.

He said this put him among the top five calypso writers of all time.

For Duke, the role of calypsonian was part entertainer and part chronicler/commentator on socio-political events.

He lamented what he saw as the decline of the art form in recent years.

--BBC Caribbean.com

The Mighty Duke
"Don't Destroy Calypso Music"

Roots & Culture: Obama Inspires Caribbean Americans

Caribbean-born immigrants are swelling with pride as Barack Obama prepares to take office on Jan 20 as president of the United States.

As the first non-white to lead the US, Mr Obama is fulfilling the dreams and promise of the civil rights era.

But his is a story that provides inspiration among for black immigrants and their children.

We bring three opinions from Miami's Caribbean immigrant community:

RAY GONGORA
The Belize-born naturalized citizen emigrated to the US in 1986 and is regarded by census authorities as Hispanic based on the geography of his birth.


"I am black, so to speak - a brown-skinned Caribbean person," he told the Associated Press.

"You cannot identify yourself as a black American because our cultures are so totally different."

Speaking of Mr Obama's election, he said: "It's an individual accomplishment for each of us."

The 53-year-old postal worker has scheduled a vacation day Jan 20 to watch the inauguration on television at home.

His hope for his US-born children is that no one will question their citizenship in an Obama administration, even with a Honduran mother and a Belize-born father.

"I said to my (17-year-old) son, 'You are natural born, you were born here. You can be president even if your parents were both born in different countries'," he said.

JEAN-MARIE DENIS
"Obama is my brother!", beams the 67-year-old Haitian-American.

"Martin Luther King's movement was a continuation of Toussaint L'Ouverture's dream. Obama is, 40 years later, the realization of Martin Luther King's dreams," said Denis. "Toussaint L'Ouverture didn't work in vain."

Haiti is home of the world's first successful slave rebellion, led by former slave L'Ouverture.

Denis, a naturalized citizen whose runs a bookstore in Miami's Little Haiti, also sees himself in Mr Obama's father, who left a poor African village to study in the United States.

"Now his son is president," Denis said. "He's just like me. I came to this country with $50 in my pocket and now look at me, with two doctors in my family."

MARLON HILL
Marlon Hill, a Jamaican-born Miami attorney, made Mr Obama's election official as a member of Florida's Electoral College.


"It felt like carrying tons of history on my shoulder," the 37-year-old said.

But he said the inauguration should be about more than reflecting.

"It's beyond just being about Obama and him being a president who is black. It is about our circumstances and, whether we are black or black immigrants, can we do more with our circumstances?

"Can we provide for our families around us? . We have fewer excuses now because of an election of an Obama-like person."

--BBC Caribbean.com

Roots Sports Report

The Black Flash - the story of Gillie Heron

	Heron was the first black person to play professional football in the US and Scotland

Jamaican Gilbert ‘Gillie’ Heron, who died in November aged 86 in Detroit, was the first black person to play professional football in the United States and in Scotland, too.

Signed by Celtic F.C. in 1951, Heron, a striker, scored a goal on his debut.

“Right now he is Scottish football’s Golden boy” said a newspaper of Heron, who was discovered by Celtic while on a tour of the US in 1951.

“Fifty thousand supporters hail him as the greatest thing seen at Celtic Park since goalposts.”

Heron, who was extraordinarily quick, was called the ‘Black Flash’ by Celtic fans.

For Heron, who had spent most of his sporting career at small clubs in the US, the chance to play for Celtic was a dream come true.

“Gee, I was tickled,” the Jamaican told a Scottish newspaper in 1951 after arriving at Celtic from Detroit where, after a stint in the Canadian armed forces during the war, he took a job in an auto plant while playing football.

“Glasgow Celtic was,” Heron said, “the greatest name in football to me.”

America

In the US, Heron had played for a host of teams.

In 1946, his team, the Wolverines, won the North American Professional Soccer League’s championship.

The Jamaican - the only black player in US professional football at the time - was the league’s top goal scorer with 29 goals. Two years later he was on the US’ All Star team.

	Top billing for the football great

In a 1947 profile, Ebony magazine described Heron as the ‘Babe Ruth of soccer.’

“The ancient Old-World game of soccer boasts a New-World star,” Ebony said.

All-rounder

Gillie Heron was a sporting renaissance man.

In 1940, he was the Golden Gloves welterweight champion of Michigan. He played pro cricket in Scotland and was a top long jumper, high jumper and sprinter, as well.

As a schoolboy in Jamaica, Heron defeated Herb McKinley, who would go on later to become a world record holder and an Olympic gold medalist.

In 1937, aged 15, he led his Jamaican school, St George’s, to victory in the Manning Cup and later won a place on the Jamaica Football Association XI, which in 1952, played a series against the Caribbean Combined XI, which featured Trinidad star Delbert Charleau.

Still, though he’d been a success in the Caribbean and the US, Gillie Heron’s time in Scotland was brief.

He stayed only a year at Celtic, playing only four first team games and scoring only twice.

It’s claimed the club felt Heron was not robust enough for the Scottish game with its tough tackles and rough play.

He was criticized in newspapers, according to sports historian Phil Vasili, as "lacking resource when challenged."

Heron was demoted to the reserves. And though he scored 15 times in 15 matches he left Celtic a year after he first arrived there, for the lowly Scottish side, Third Lanark.

In 1953, he moved to Kidderminster Harriers, a semi professional club in England.

There Heron got off to a good start, scoring “a goal worthy of inclusion in any FA text book” a newspaper reported.

Detroit

In 1954, Gillie Heron returned home to Detroit. With a family to support, he took a job on the assembly line at the Ford Motor Car Company. Any dreams he had of football as a career were over.

There are several reasons why Gillie Heron’s time at Celtic was so brief.

He was far too stylish a player for the rough and tough football played in Britain in the 1950s and aged 29 when he arrived at Celtic, Heron was probably past his best.

Frank Dell’apa, an American sportswriter, believes Heron was unlucky to have been born when he was.

Today Heron, whom he calls ‘the forgotten pioneer of US soccer’, would, Dell’apa says, have had a long career at Celtic and then earned a good living playing in the North American Soccer League.

	The forgotten pioneer of US soccer?

Dell’apa also suggests that Gillie Heron was hamstrung by racism.

Though Heron was the top goal scorer in the North American Professional Soccer League in 1946 he was paid only 25 dollars a game compared with the 100 dollars a game paid to white player Pete Matevich, who scored far fewer goals than Heron.

Gayle Heron, who along with the singer Gil Scott-Heron, is one of Gillie Heron’s four children, said her father was not bitter he received so little recognition.

“He knows he was a pioneer,” she says.

Leslie Goffe’s book on Gillie Heron and Gil Scott Heron, will be published in 2010.

--BBC Caribbean.com

Roots & Culture: The Mighty Sparrow

Mighty Sparrow or Birdie (born Slinger Francisco, July 9, 1935, in Grandroy Bay, Grenada,

West Indies) is a calypso singer, songwriter and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World," he is one of the most well-known and successful calypsonians. He has won Trinidad's Carnival Road March competition nine times and has been named Calypso Monarch eight times.

Sparrow was born in Grenada on July 9, 1935, but moved to Trinidad when he was one year old. He was first exposed to music through the choir in Catholic school, and became interested in calypso at 14 when he joined a steel band composed of neighborhood boys. He received his performing name during his early career:

“Your calypso name is given to you by your peers, based on your style. In the old days they tried to emulate British royalty. There was Lord Kitchener, Lord Nelson, Duke. When I started singing, the bands were still using acoustic instruments and the singers would stand flat footed, making a point or accusing someone in the crowd with the pointing of a finger, but mostly they stood motionless. When I sing, I get excited and move around, much like James Brown, and this was new to them. The older singers said ‘Why don't you just sing instead of moving around like a little Sparrow.’ It was said as a joke, but the name stuck.” -Mighty Sparrow.

+ + +

Calypso Monarch

In 1956, Sparrow won Trinidad's Carnival Road March and Calypso Monarch competitions with his most famous song, "Jean and Dinah". His prize for the latter was $40. In protest of the small sum, he wrote the song "Carnival Boycott" and attempted to organize other singers to boycott the competition. About half of the singers followed. Sparrow claims credit for succeeding improvements in the conditions of calypso and steelband musicians in Trinidad, as well as the formation of the Carnival Development Committee, a musicians' assistance organization. Sparrow refused to participate in the competition for the next three years, but he continued to perform unofficially, even winning another Road March title in 1958 with "P.A.Y.E."

+ + +

Taking calypso abroad

Calypso music enjoyed a brief period of popularity in other parts in the world during the 1950s. Trinidadian expatriate Lord Kitchener had helped popularize calypso in England, and Sparrow also found some success there. In the United States, interest in calypso was sparked largely by Harry Belafonte's 1956 album Calypso, the first LP to sell over one million copies. In January 1958, Sparrow, along with longtime rival Lord Melody, traveled to New York City seeking access to the American music audience. Sparrow had already been recording with Balisier and Cook Records, and with Belafonte's help he also began to record for RCA Victor. He did not achieve the success he had hoped for; he said in a 2001 interview, "When nothing happened for me, I went back to England and continued on with my career."

In 1960 Sparrow returned to the Calypso Monarch competition, winning his second Kingship and third Road March title with "Ten to One Is Murder" (an autobiographical song about an incident in which Sparrow allegedly shot a man) and "Mae Mae." He also began recording for his own label, National Recording. He continued to enjoy great popularity in Trinidad throughout the 1960s.

+ + +

Soca

As soca began to supplant calypso in popularity in Trinidad during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sparrow embraced the hybrid of Calypso and Local (Chutney) music. In 1984 he won his eighth Road March title with the soca-influenced "Doh Back Back." Also around this time he began to spend at least half the year in New York City, finding an apartment in the heavily West Indian neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens. Sparrow continues to write, perform, and tour into the 21st century; in a 2001 interview he mentioned that he had been singing and performing a "Gospel-lypso" hybrid. In 2008, he released a song supporting Barack Obama's presidential campaign, "Barack the Magnificent". He also did a remake of his "Congo Man" song with fellow Trinidadian Machel Montano on the Flame on album.

+ + +

Lyrics

Sparrow's lyrics are famous for being witty, ironic, and ribald. He sings flirtatiously of the attractions of Hispanic women in "Magarita," and of East Indian women in "Marajhin." He tells some outrageously frank tales of sexuality in "Mae Mae," "The Lizard" and "Big Bamboo." And there is humorous commentary on West Indian culture to be found in "Obeah Wedding" and "Witch Doctor." Robert Christgau called his controversial song "Congo Man" "a wildly perverse piss-take on African roots, interracial revenge, interracial sex, male-female relations, and cannibalism"; the 1965 song was also criticized for its attitudes toward women and Africans, and was banned from radio airplay until 1989.

Sparrow also frequently comments on social and political issues in his songs. During his early career he was a supporter of Eric Williams and his People's National Movement (PNM), which formed in 1955 and led Trinidad and Tobago to independence in 1962; songs such as "Leave The Damn Doctor Alone" and "William the Conqueror" mentioned Williams directly, while others such as "Federation" (blaming Jamaica for the breakup of the short-lived West Indies Federation), "Our Model Nation" (celebrating Trinidadian independence), and "PAYE" (supporting the PNM's pay-as-you-earn tax system) echoed PNM positions. Sparrow did express discontent in 1957's "No, Doctor, No," but it was comparatively mild, and aimed at holding PNM politicians to their promises rather than replacing them.

His mid-1960s hit "Sir Garfield Sobers", celebrating the great Barbadian all-rounder cricketer, who starred for West Indies teams, anticipated by a decade the knighthood which Garfield Sobers would actually receive in 1975. Sobers is generally regarded as the greatest all-rounder in cricket history. This song's first verse:

"Who's the greatest cricketer on Earth or Mars? Anyone can tell you, it's the great Sir Garfield Sobers! This handsome Barbadian lad really knows his work. Batting or bowling, he's the cricket King, no joke! Three cheers for Captain Sobers!"

In more recent times Sparrow continues to incorporate social issues into his music. "Crown Heights Justice" is a plea for peace and understanding in the wake of the 1991 Crown Heights Riot in Sparrow's adopted home of New York City. The themes of peace, tolerance, and concern for the poor show up repeatedly in songs such as "Human Rights" (1981), "Capitalism Gone Mad" (1983), and "This Is Madness.

--Wikipedia

Kalypso Cricket Report

England in West Indies 2009

January
21: England team arrives
25-27: v St Kitts XI, St Kitts
29-31: v West Indies A, St Kitts
____

February
4-8: 1st Test, Jamaica_Play starts 1500 GMT
13-17: 2nd Test, Antigua_Play starts 1400 GMT
21-22: v BCA President's XI, Barbados
26-2: March 3rd Test, Barbados_Play starts 1400 GMT

____

March
6-10: 4th Test, Trinidad_Play starts 1400 GMT
14: v WIPA President's Select XI, Trinidad
15: Twenty20 international, Trinidad_Play starts 1600 GMT
20: 1st ODI, Guyana_Play starts 1330 GMT
22: 2nd ODI, Guyana_Play starts 1330 GMT
27: 3rd ODI, Barbados_Play starts 1330 GMT
29: 4th ODI, Barbados_Play starts 1430 BST
____

April
3: 5th ODI, St Lucia (d/n)
Play starts 1930 BST

Roots Report: Soca's "lack of success"

	Kevin Lyttle has had an international hit with 'Turn Me on

Why has calypso/soca not done well internationally?

One Barbadian artiste believes he has the answer.

John King, a former island calypso king, says it might be the result of a conspiracy among major music labels to keep soca at bay.

Soca, calypso's party sister, has managed a few hits internationally but a real breakthrough has proved elusive.

"Hot Hot Hot" by Arrow is, quite remarkably, still a staple of the international circuit after it was first recorded in 1982.

He can lay claim to putting soca on the international map.

It was 21 years ago that Buster Poindexter's cover version of Arrow's hit carried it into the American charts.

	Machel Mantano is one of soca's more popular and better known performers

In 2000, there was more success with Baha Men's soca-tinged "Who Let the Dogs Out", another cover of Anslem Douglas' Trinidad carnival hit.

Four years later Rupee and Kevin Lyttle also made it to the Billboard Hot 100 with "Tempted to Touch" and "Turn Me On," respectively.

But these are rare forays into the mainstream -- and soca remains without a truly genuine international star.

John King feels the road has been made difficult, deliberately so, by music labels.

He told the Barbados Nation newspaper: "I have tried over the years to get this music to the mainstream American radio stations and all you butt up on is: that the quality of the recording is not good; there is no format that we have that can play it; all sorts of stumbling blocks."

However another soca star, Antigua's Onyan, offers a different view.

He told BBC Caribbean that it's a matter of how to music is marketed: which brand of soca is targeted at specific audiences.

Listen to Onyan in this Marie-Claire Williams report

Montserrat-born soca veteran, Arrow, told BBC Caribbean last year that when his 'Hot, Hot, Hit' hit the scene, international labels were willing at that time to embrace soca.

But he said short-sighted producers and promoters in the region resisted over fears they would be shunted aside.

An opportunity was therefore lost, in the Montserratian's view.

Machel Montano, like his fellow Trinidadian David Rudder, is one of the leading lights of the genre.

Machel admits to a dream to see soca become a global musical force.

	Sparrow is the uncrowned king of calypso but his subjects are regarded abroad as a subculture

Billboard reported in August that he had yet to make an impact despite collaborations with Wyclef Jean, Busta Rhymes and Shaggy.

The magazine said he'd signed international deals with Delicious Vinyl and Atlantic and recorded two albums which remain unreleased.

Rupee and Kevin Lyttle are also signed with Atlantic but their careers seem to have stalled somewhat.

Rupee has more than once been forced to deny he has been dropped from the label, amid suggestions that interest may have cooled.

--BBC Caribbean.com

Roots Report

Closer Caricom Central American ties proposed

The new chairman of Caricom - Prime Minister Dean Barrow of Belize - says his country will use its position as head of the regional grouping and a member of the Central American Integration System, to enhance the alliance between the two organisations.

Mr Barrow took over the chairmanship of Caricom on New Year's day.

Caricom heads want to see the single market and economy take root

He's urging Caricom member states to urgently consolidate the operations of the Caribbean single market.

Prime Minister Barrow says this should be followed by the establishment of the single economy, a move he wants pursued with deliberate haste.

He replaces Antiguan prime minister Baldwin Spencer as head of the regional grouping.

--BBC caribbean.com

From BBC Caribbean.Com

BBC Caribbean News in Brief

	Cuba has offered 480 scholarships to Caricom

Stronger ties

Caricom leaders have ended their talks with the Cuban leader Raul Castro, with a commitment for further cooperation.

On Monday, Cuba promised to open new eye surgery clinics in Jamaica, St Lucia and Guyana, as well as 10 "health diagnostic" facilities in Haiti and one in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

It also said it would offer 480 regional scholarships next year.

Caricom has enjoyed 36 years of diplomatic relations with Cuba.

And Jamaica's Prime Minister Bruce Golding said despite the US trade embargo, Havana has provided valuable assistance to the region.

Residents 'not neglected'

Police in Jamaica say they did not neglect residents of one community in Spanish Town, who were forced by gunmen to leave their homes last weekend.

More than 400 residents fled the community after gunmen, apparently fighting for turf, threatened to kill those who disobeyed their evacuation order.

Deputy police commissioner in charge of crime, Mark Shields, told BBC Caribbean the lawmen are dealing with a delicate situation.

US resumes deportations to Haiti

US immigration officials have resumed deportations to haiti.

The Immigration department temporarily stopped returning residents to Haiti in September, after hundreds were killed in four storms in Port-au-Prince.

But congressman Kendrick Meek says this decision only complicates the Haitian government's ongoing recovery effort.

Some South Florida congressional members who represent the largest Haitian community in the US, have said they were disappointed that Haitians were not granted temporary protected status.

"Roots Runnins...In de mix..."

Greetings to all. I am deBongoman, coming to you live and direct from St. Paul, Minnesota...

"Cool-Runnins."

I've created this blog to network and communicate with people involved in the progressive, forward movement of the Caribbean community -- culturally, economically and socially.

As a broadcast journalist, I've been involved in the media (television and radio) for more than 30 years.

What is "irie media?"

Irie Media is positive journalism.

I look forward to the dialogue and communication I hope to inspire with Roots Journal.

--Rbj

About home...

All the signs pointed towards Antigua. The island had warm, steady winds, a complex coastline of safe harbors, and a protective, nearly unbroken wall of coral reef. It would make a perfect place to hide a fleet. And so in 1784 the legendary Admiral Horatio Nelson sailed to Antigua and established Great Britain's most important Caribbean base. Little did he know that over 200 years later the same unique characteristics that attracted the Royal Navy would transform Antigua and Barbuda in one of the Caribbean's premier tourist destinations.

The signs are still there, they just point to different things. The Trade Winds that once blew British men-of-war safely into English Harbour now fuel one of the world's foremost maritime events, Sailing Week. The expansive, winding coastline that made Antigua difficult for outsiders to navigate is where today's trekkers encounter a tremendous wealth of secluded, powdery soft beaches. The coral reefs, once the bane of marauding enemy ships, now attract snorkelers and scuba divers from all over the world. And the fascinating little island of Barbuda -- once a scavenger's paradise because so many ships wrecked on its reefs -- is now home to one of the region's most significant bird sanctuaries.

Location:

Antigua (pronounced An-tee'ga) and Barbuda are located in the middle of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, roughly 17 degrees north of the equator. To the south are the islands of Montserrat and Guadaloupe, and to the north and west are Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Barts, and St. Martin.

Size:

Antigua, the largest of the English-speaking Leeward Islands, is about 14 miles long and 11 miles wide, encompassing 108 square miles. Its highest point is Boggy Peak (1319 ft.), located in the southwestern corner of the island. Barbuda, a flat coral island with an area of only 68 square miles, lies approximately 30 miles due north. The nation also includes the tiny (0.6 square mile) uninhabited island of Redonda, now a nature preserve. The current population for the nation is approximately 68,000 and its capital is St. John's on Antigua.

Climate:

Temperatures generally range from the mid-seventies in the winter to the mid-eighties in the summer. Annual rainfall averages only 45 inches, making it the sunniest of the Eastern Caribbean Islands, and the northeast trade winds are nearly constant, flagging only in September. Low humidity year-round.

--From Antigua Barbuda Dept. of Tourism