Trade & export incentives in Caribbean Netherlands

Trade & export incentives in Caribbean Netherlands

by OCTA Communication

Trade and export incentives for entrepreneurs of the Caribbean Netherlands and the Caribbean countries within the Kingdom.

As of 1 January 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened up the instruments for trade and export promotion to all entrepreneurs in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom. Entrepreneurs with export ambitions from Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius and Sint Maarten can now take part in these instruments.

More information. 

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Workshop in St Eustatius

Workshop in St Eustatius

by OCTA Communication

Great interest of the local participants and significant experience of the expert Christian Harel made workshop in Sint Eustatius very intensive and successful. Follow up of this workshop is coming. Water collection must be considered as the main problem to be solved, for the already existing greenhouses as well as the pilot greenhouse project.

The other priority is the roaming goats which are devastating the vegetation and resulting with severe erosion of the soil. This can be considered as a priority. Irrigation of forage crops with a conservation and storage system (hailage) could be very innovative and would pave the way for a more intensive breeding system and starting to ban the roaming animals.

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Sint Eustatius agriculture news
‘Sustainable Caribbean’ tastes like more!

‘Sustainable Caribbean’ tastes like more!

by OCTA Communication

“Sustainable Caribbean”, a meeting on sustainability in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.

Around forty students and fifteen other guests came on January 12th 2018 to the ‘Sustainable Caribbean’ meet-up, an initiative of WeConnect Foundation in collaboration with Wageningen University & Research.

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More information in the Press Release.

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Sustainable Caribbean

Sustainable Caribbean

by Jezic von Gesseneck

WeConnect , Dutch educational foundation in cooperation with Wageningen University & Research (WUR), is organising the meet-up ‘Sustainable Caribbean’ on Friday January 12, 2018.

The focus is on green and sustainable initiatives on the Caribbean islands and on how to liaise Antillean and Aruban students and young professionals with these projects. It is one of WeConnect’s initiatives to turn the brain drain on the islands into a brain gain and thus reinforcing the local employment market with homegrown talents.Read more

 

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The Caribbean after Irma

The Caribbean after Irma

by Jezic von Gesseneck

It is the cost of the region’s unimaginable natural beauty that, by the caprice of fate, there is the periodic risk of ruin. There is nothing to be said of this past week’s tragedies that has not yet been said, and our hearts go out to the people who died.What needs to be said is this: the Caribbean will rebuild. Caribbean people: they cannot be defeated. They rebuild, they restore and they live again.

It will not be easy, it may not be quick, but it will happen.

Read more

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Equine viruses in the West Indies

Equine viruses in the West Indies

by OCTA Communication

The equine industry is having an increasing economic impact worldwide nowadays. Equines in the West Indies are used for recreational purposes, tourism industry, racing and agriculture or can be found in feral populations. With the rapidly changing nature of infectious diseases, knowledge on equine diseases (some with zoonotic potential) in a certain area plays a pivotal role in designing biosecurity measures. Little is known in the Caribbean basin about the prevalence of some major equine infectious diseases.

We are very proud of the scientific work of Dr Teresa Leslie, Doctor in Biological Anthropology, one of the key innovation stakeholders in Sint-Eustatius. Please find herewith attached the article Detection of West Nile Virus and other common equine viruses in three locations from the Leeward Islands, West Indies which illustrates how vector control needs to have an integrated approach and needs an interdepartmental effort.

Sint Eustatius health news Science
Knowledge on mosquito-borne disease

Knowledge on mosquito-borne disease

by OCTA Communication

In the Caribbean, mosquito-borne diseases are a public health threat. In Sint-Eustatius, dengue, Chikungunya and Zika are now endemic. To control and prevent mosquito-borne diseases, the Sint Eustatius Public Health Department relies on the community to assist with the control of Aedes aegypti mosquito. Community based interventions are not always simple, as community perceptions and responses shape actions and influence behavioural responses.

The aim of this study was to determine how the Sint-Eustatius population perceives the Aedes aegypti mosquito, mosquito-borne diseases and prevention and control measures and hypothesized that increased knowledge of the virus, vector, control and prevention should result in a lower AQ1 prevalence and incidence of mosquito-borne diseases.

We are very proud of the scientific work of Dr Teresa Leslie, Doctor in Biological Anthropology, one of the key innovation stakeholders in Sint-Eustatius. You may find herewith attached the article. An analysis of community perceptions of mosquito borne disease control and prevention in Sint Eustatius Caribbean Netherlands

Sint Eustatius health news Science
Dr. Teresa Leslie, biological anthropology in Statia

Dr. Teresa Leslie, biological anthropology in Statia

by OCTA Communication

Dr Teresa Leslie, a Doctor in Biological Anthropology, is the Head of the Eastern Caribbean Public Health Foundation in Sint-Eustatius. She worked previously as Director of Research and Scientific Development at the University of Sint-Eustatius, School of Medicine and as Research Associate and Senior lecturer at the University of Maryland College Park.

Dr. Teresa Leslie is also the project director of Sint-Eustatius OCTA Innovation Pilot project “Statia Blue” through the EU funded beneficiary Sint-Eustatius Foundation. The projects aims at creating sustainable practises for fisheries in Sint-Eustatius. The proposed solution is a mobile application that puts buyers of fish in touch with suppliers on a “real-time” basis. Find out more on the project.

Sint Eustatius news