Bizbriefs: Regional

Barbados central bank governor gets injunction

The Governor of the Central bank of Barbados, Dr Delisle Worrell, has been granted an injunction amid continued media speculation that he could be fired from his job.

Worrell had gone to the High Court in an unprecedented move on Sunday to obtain the injunction against Finance Minister Chris Sinckler.

The Barbados Today online publication reported Monday that pressure was mounting on Worrell, who was appointed for a second five-year term in October 2014 after he was initially appointed on November 1, 2009, to either step down or be fired.

The publication reported that Sinckler has since met on at least two occasions with the governor, who has apparently been resisting all moves to force him out of office.

Worrell has apparently run afoul of both Sinckler and his fellow members on the central bank board who verbally communicated their dissatisfaction in a formal meeting with Sinckler, Barbados Today reported.

During a live television discussion on state-run CBC at the start of the month, the central bank governor had urged the government to stop the recent practice of printing money.

"We cannot continue to have a deficit and we cannot continue to have a wage bill as high as we are, simply because the only way we are able to do that is by the central bank providing financing," he said then.

Dominica to spend millions more on geothermal energy project

The Dominica government says it will spend an estimated EC$45 million on the further development of the geothermal energy sector.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, addressing a private sector forum, last weekend, said that the funds will come from the controversial Citizenship by Investment Programme through which foreign investors are provided with Dominican citizenship in return for making a significant investment in the socio-economic development of the country.

"We have invested millions thus far and will make a further investment of EC$45 million in the development of the geothermal plant. I am sure you all look forward to the significant reduction in the cost of energy that will follow," Skerrit said.

Last December, Energy Minister Ian Douglas said Dominica was moving closer to harnessing geothermal energy, through a corporate vehicle called Dominica Geothermal Company.

"The Dominica Geothermal Company has been duly registered, and plans for the construction of the power plant are progressing satisfactorily," said Douglas. "The government has invested further EC$15-million into this phase of the project. And we have commitments from our friends in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and the World Bank, to assist us with the completion of this project."

This follows a decision made by the Skerrit administration to run the geothermal project as a company solely owned by the government and people of Dominica.

CMC reports