CASTRIES, St. Lucia (CMC):

Taiwan's Ambassador to St. Lucia has expressed concern over reports of a planned visit to China by a St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) delegation.

While the SLP, which is the political party in opposition, has not confirmed the planned visit, Taiwan's Ambassador to St. Lucia, Tom Chou, said any visit to China by a St. Lucia delegation could have implications for this Eastern Caribbean country and its relationship with Taiwan.

"We are concerned about the potential involvement of China in St. Lucia," he said.

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

The opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP) has criticised the Baldwin Spencer administration's management of the criminal justice system and has pledged to pursue a new strategy if returned to office.

ALP leader and former prime minister, Lester Bird, accused the government of exerting its influence on the investigative arm of the police force and said measures needed to be put in place to ensure that there was a good relationship between the police and the public.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

The Guyanese government has described as "very disrespectful" the decision of the regional airline, LIAT, not to participate in meeting to discuss the treatment of Guyanese nationals using regional and international airlines.

"I am very disappointed with LIAT. They were invited to a meeting I had with several airlines but they did not show up. We asked them to come and talk with us and they refused to show up. That was very disrespectful," said Tourism Industry and Commerce Minister Manniram Prashad. "The persons who did not show up are the same ones that are most guilty. Those are the ones we get the most complaints about."

BELMOPAN, Belize (CMC):

The Belize government says it has confiscated nearly 5,000 pounds of fish imported from countries in Asia that were not "transparent in their reporting of fish diseases".

An official statement said that the Quarantine and Inspection Services of the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA) also confiscated and destroyed the 4,492 pounds of fish because the importers had been given permission to bring in the commodity from the United States and not from Asian countries such as China, India and Vietnam.

It said that the fish also represented a "high risk for the introduction of diseases to the aquaculture sector".

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

Guyana and the United States have signed a two-year US$6.7 million agreement to boost the country's performance on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) fiscal policy indicator.

"The MCC threshold programme with Guyana is our second in the Americas (and) overall we have committed US$316 million in threshold programmes worldwide," MCC deputy chief executive officer, Rodney Bent said at Thursday's signing ceremony.

"We commend the efforts and reform exhibited by the government and people of Guyana. The president has made abundantly clear his commitment, enthusiasm and. dedicated efforts to doing all these things," Bent later told reporters.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank says it will provide emergency relief grants to regional countries affected by the passage of Hurricane Dean earlier this month.

The bank said it is discussing assistance to those countries and that "elements of CDB assistance could be in place by the end of this week".

BARBADOS, Bridgetown (CMC):

As the world marked the International Day of the commemoration of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade on Thursday, an effort is on to determine just how much reparations are due to Caribbean people and others exploited during slavery.

A Bicentennial Global Dialogue at an African Diaspora Global Conference being held in Barbados next week will start the process of determining that compensation.

Dr. Ikael Tafari, director of the Pan African Commission in Barbados, which is organising the event, told the Caribbean Media Corporation that a reparation caucus will be set up, chaired by Professor Hilary Beckles of the University of the West Indies and others who have played a prominent role in the move for reparations.