PM Thomas announces Cabinet changes

Address by Grenada's Prime Minister Tillman Thomas regarding Ministerial Portfolio Adjustments.

Pro netballer tells PM she’s remaining in top shape for second UK stint

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas
meets netballer Lottysha Cato

St. George’s, September 30, 2011 (GIS) – Prime Minister, Honourable Tillman Thomas, has congratulated national netballer Lottysha Cato on her accomplishments in the sport.

Cato, who paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister on Thursday, September 29, is Grenada’s first professional netball player. She is contracted to the Celtic Dragons, which competes in the English Professional League.

Prime Minister Thomas, in welcoming Cato to his office, said that he and the country are proud of her performances over the years at the Junior and senior levels.

The six-foot-six-inch tall Cato led Grenada to back-to-back wins in the OECS Under-23 tournament in 2008 and 2009, and has also been a top performer at the senior level.

The Prime Minister said Grenada is heartened by the “sterling accomplishments’’ of Cato, who is from La Mode in St. Patrick.

He wished her good health and strength, along with another bumper season when she goes off to England to play for Celtic Dragons for a second season next year.

The government and people of Grenada are thrilled at the “excellent performances’’ of athletes like Cato, Kirani James and others,’’ said Prime Minister Thomas, who is also MP for St. Patrick East.

 He added that structures are being put in place to reward the nation’s star athletes.

Cato, who spoke with the Prime Minister for about 20 minutes, said she is heartened to have interacted with Mr. Thomas, noting that both hail from the same parish.

She assured him that she was doing all in her powers to excel by training diligently and trying to remain in top shape for her next outing in England.

Cato, who is popularly known as Timmy, is a former member of local champion team, Arley Gill Fun City.

She told the Prime Minister that since her return from professional netball work in the U.K. last year, she has been involved in coaching in an attempt to help develop the sport in Grenada.

A goal-shoot, Cato played superbly to propel the Celtic Dragons to fifth position in the English Professional League. It’s the team’s best position to date in the annual competition.

Cato was among the leading players with a shooting average of 88 percent.

Athletes' Ceremony9

Ceremony to honour Grenada's Team which participated in the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The ceremony was held at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday September 25, 2011.

Athletes' Ceremony8

Ceremony to honour Grenada's Team which participated in the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The ceremony was held at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday September 25, 2011.

Athletes' Ceremony7

Ceremony to honour Grenada's Team which participated in the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The ceremony was held at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday September 25, 2011.

Athletes' Ceremony6

Ceremony to honour Grenada's Team which participated in the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The ceremony was held at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday September 25, 2011.

Athletes' Ceremony5

Ceremony to honour Grenada's Team which participated in the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The ceremony was held at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday September 25, 2011.

Athletes' Ceremony4

Ceremony to honour Grenada's Team which participated in the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The ceremony was held at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday September 25, 2011.

Athletes' Ceremony3

Ceremony to honour Grenada's Team which participated in the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The ceremony was held at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday September 25, 2011.

Athletes' Ceremony2

Ceremony to honour Grenada's Team which participated in the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The ceremony was held at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday September 25, 2011.

Athletes' Ceremony1

Ceremony to honour Grenada's Team which participated in the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The ceremony was held at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday September 25, 2011.

Campaign for healthier lifestyle supported by Grenada’s Kirani James

LONDON, England -- The campaign for a healthier Grenada -- spearheaded by ‘Sport for Health in the Caribbean,’ with the support of the government of Grenada and the Grenada National Olympic Committee -- will be given added impetus as a result of national research findings involving 500 Grenadians, on their motivation for leading a healthier lifestyle. 

This was announced in London by Dr Calum Macpherson, director of WINDREF (Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation), the research institute at St George’s University, Grenada. 

A major objective of the campaign is to confront the challenges of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension and obesity. The announcement, made at the conclusion of the United Nations NCD Summit in New York, “will enable us to develop a national database and measure results on whether the campaign has made a lasting impact among different age and sex populations throughout Grenada. And, if not, what needs to be done.”

Macpherson pointed out that “a recent study, in collaboration with Grenada’s Ministry of Health and the Grenada Heart Project, has shown that 80 percent of Grenadian women over the age of 25 are classified as obese. We seek to galvanise Grenadians in the battle for a healthier lifestyle and pass on the lessons learned to other Caribbean countries.”

Funds for the campaign were raised at the WINDREF dinner at the House of Lords last November, hosted by WINDREF’s president, Lord Soulsby of Swaffham Prior, and Baroness Howells of St David’s, the only Grenadian in the House of Lords. 

At the dinner Lord Coe, chairman of the London Olympic Games Organising Committee, spoke of the “power of the Games to inspire change, particularly for young people.”

The role model and first sporting ambassador for the campaign is Kirani James, Grenada’s first gold athletics winner at the recent World Athletics Championships. 

With the formation of the Sport for Health Committee in Grenada, including former Governor General Sir Paul Scoon, and George McGuire, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the campaign was formally launched in Grenada in March. Sporting ambassadors were appointed in Grenada’s 22 secondary schools to support sporting activities in their schools and local communities. The most successful sporting ambassador will be invited to attend the Olympic Games in London, a major incentive for the newly appointed ‘ambassadors.’

“The research study will involve the sporting ambassadors in selecting suitable participants” said Macpherson, “We will also work with three fitness centers, or boot camps, run by the police, and students in the School of Arts and Sciences at St George’s University. The idea is that there should be a competitive element behind the data collection from the various sources – with participants regularly weighed and measured and the figures being released to Grenada’s national news media.”

The campaign is being supported by leading former Caribbean sportspeople, including Olympic gold medallist Tessa Sanderson, former leading footballers Cyrille Regis and Garth Crooks, and Jason Roberts from Grenada, who plays for Blackburn Rovers.

Grenada says its real challenge is transforming its health sector from a curative to a preventive-based system

NEW YORK, September 22, 2011 - Non-communicable Diseases constitute a major public challenge for all countries, developed and developing alike.

And, according to Grenada’s Health Minister Anne Peters, Grenada, like many other CARICOM countries, recognizes the growing threat, posed by NCDs on its small, fragile economy and the need to take decisive action to reduce the burden of the disease and protect the sustainable development of the country in the future.

The Grenadian Minister told the General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases that Grenada believes that primary prevention and promotion are the most cost -effective, equitable and sustainable strategies to fight NCDs.

“In this regard, Grenada approved a new policy framework for the revitalization of primary health care. We have adopted a multi-agency approach to addressing CNCDs. We have established the National Chronic Diseases Commission; comprising representatives from a range of sectors including health, education, agriculture, youth, sports, private sector, NGOs, churches and the media to advise on strategies to reduce risk factors of NCDs,” she said.

The Minister said that Grenada has implemented the Chronic Care Passport, a healthy lifestyle initiative, which is aimed at providing a method for the systematic monitoring and evaluation of patients with chronic diseases and the empowerment of patients to take charge of their health.

She said that a national CNCD’s Risk Factor Survey (STEPS) was concluded to support the planning of health promotion and prevention campaigns.

The Health Minister said the real challenge for Grenada lies in transforming its health sector from a curative to a preventive-based system; and implementing reform in the midst of a global economic crisis and escalating costs of medical care.

She said greater effort is needed to influence the global food industry to join the fight against NCDs.

And she said Grenada believes that the United Nations can play a more important role in that respect.

Grenada calls for strategies to curb terrorist financing

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

NEW YORK, September 21, 2011 - Grenada believes that there is a need to develop strategies to curb terrorist financing and its perceived and actual relationship to drugs, weapons and human smuggling.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Karl Hood told a High Level Symposium on International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation that as a small island developing state, Grenada does its share of counter-terrorism in the world today.

Minister Hood, who addressed Monday’s meeting at the United Nations’ Headquarters, said that Grenada will continue to partner with small and developing states to prevent safe havens and avenues for terrorists and strengthen air and sea port security of vulnerable states with links to targets nations and destinations.

He also said that there is need for global intelligence linkages among partnering states for the sharing of real time intelligence.

“As difficult as it may be, we must find avenues to address the problem at its core, by meeting the social and human needs of young persons and minimising the spread of the ideological concepts that drive terrorist activities,” said Minister Hood, who was speaking in his capacity as Chair of the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE).

CICTE is the sole counter-terrorism hemispheric body comprising all the independent nations of the Americas.

Mr Hood said that CICTE has become an effective mechanism to prevent terrorist acts that threaten the security, safety, freedom and overall well-being of our peoples and our nations.

“As Chair of CICTE, Grenada wishes to assure this forum that under its leadership CICTE will continue to pursue constructive collaboration with the United Nations and its various agencies, as well as with the private sector in order to sustain this optimum harmonized approach and unified front to countering terrorism,” he said.

In his opening remarks to the symposium, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the creation of a UN Centre for Counter Terrorism (UNCCT). Saudi Arabia will contribute $10 million over the next three years to set up the centre, which will be based in New York and support the implementation of the strategy, as well as foster international cooperation, strengthen individual countries’ capacity-building efforts and build up a database of best practices to counter terrorism.

“What I see here today is the start of a new era in counterterrorism cooperation," Ban said. "States recognize that they cannot do it alone."  He added, “Let us chart a course that reflects our determination to defeat terrorism and build a safer, more just and peaceful world for all.”

Minister Hood was accompanied to the meeting by Permanent Secretary Sybil Alexander and Grenada’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Dessima Williams.

Momentum building for ceremony to honour Team Grenada

NEW YORK, September 19, 2011 – Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, Foreign Affairs Minister Karl Hood, New York City Council Member Jumaane Williams and other elected city officials have confirmed their attendance at a ceremony here on Sunday to honour the Grenada team which recently participated in the World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea.

World Men’s 400 metres champion Kirani James, 400m finalist Rondell Bartholomew, Women’s 200m semi-finalist Janelle Redhead and track and field coach Albert Joseph will arrive in New York on Saturday for the ceremony.

Both James and Bartholomew have been going through light training sessions this week while Redhead has returned to classes at Wayland Baptist University in Texas.

Presentations from Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, Council Member Williams, Caribbean Consular Corps in New York, other city officials and New York-based Grenadian Alumni Associations will form part of an evening of celebrations at the Wingate High School in Brooklyn.

Grenadian entertainers and poets will also serenade the athletes and official who will be guests of the Consulate-General of Grenada in New York.

A contingent of mainly Caribbean-American students from Wingate High School will also attend the ceremony which begins at 5:00 p.m. and is free to the public.

When James won gold at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics on August 30, 2011, he became the youngest 400m world champion at the age of 18.

Team Grenada plays SVG on Sunday

 Craig Rocastle has joined the Grenada team for its CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying game against St Vincent and the Grenadines on Sunday. 

Both teams are yet to register a point and is a must win for Grenada to maintain a chance of securing the only berth in the group.

In their opening round of matches, Grenada went down 3-0 to Belize in St George's and St Vincent and the Grenadines were trounced 4-0 by Guatemala in Guatemala City.

No.	Names	D.O.B (dd/mm/yy)	Club	Position
1	Shemel Louison	9/8/1990	Fontenoy	Keeper
2	Junior Williams	23/11/1987	QPR	Midfield
3	Josh Charles	29/11/1990	Hard Rock	Keeper
4	Kareem Joseph	21/11/1992	Hurricane	Defender
5	Lyndon Joseph	10/3/1990	Ball Dogs	Forward
6	Clive Murray	5/12/1990	Paradise	Forward
7	Shane Rennie	14/12/1986	Paradise	Midfield
8	Elliot Charles	11/2/1990		Forward
9	Michael Mark	21/4/1986	ESS	Defender
10	Desmond Noel	28/11/1974	QPR	Keeper
11	Marcus Julien	30/12/1986	ESS	Forward
12	Lancaster Joseph	27/8/1982	Hurricane	Midfield
13	Cassim Langaigne	27/2/1980	Hurricane	Defender
14	Dwayne Leo	28/6/1982	GBSS	Midfield
15	Marc Marshall	24/12/1985	GBSS	Defender
16	Anthony Augustine	16/9/1980		Midfield
17	Craig Rocastle	17/8/1981	Kansas City	Midfield
18	Nicko Williams	24/10/1989	Hard Rock	Defender
19	Ashton Henry	27/09/1983		Midfield
20	Raymond Alleyne	10/11/1991	Fontenoy	Defender
21	Marvin Frederick	16/7/1979	Ball Dogs	Defender