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  • St Lucia launches US$22.83 million project to strengthen water supply

    St Lucia launches US$22.83 million project to strengthen water supply

    Against a backdrop of growing pressure on aging public utilities and rising climate-related risks, the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia has launched a major $22.83 million infrastructure initiative designed to shore up the country’s drinking water supply and cut down on service disruptions caused by decades-old failing pipelines.

    Officially named the Ninth Water Project, and also referred to as the John Compton Dam Raw Water Pipeline Replacement Project, the initiative is the result of a multi-stakeholder partnership bringing together the Government of Saint Lucia, local utility provider Water and Sewerage Company Inc. (WASCO), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), France’s state development lender Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the Government of Italy.

    Per a public statement released by CDB, the core scope of work centers on replacing and modernizing roughly five kilometers of aging raw water pipeline that runs between the Millet and Vanard pumping stations, a critical link in Saint Lucia’s main water transmission network. Beyond pipeline replacement, the project includes a series of complementary upgrades: it will install bulk water metering across the network and roll out a modern Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to enable real-time remote monitoring of the entire transmission network. These additions are expected to cut down on unaccounted-for water loss, boost overall operational efficiency for WASCO, and strengthen the utility’s long-term network management capabilities.

    When fully completed, the upgrade is projected to improve water services for more than 58 percent of WASCO’s total customer base, encompassing more than 56,000 residential and commercial accounts across the island. The benefits will extend far beyond household use, supporting core sectors of Saint Lucia’s economy — most importantly the critical tourism industry, which depends on consistent, high-quality water access to serve visitors.

    A key design goal of the project is to reduce the frequency of unplanned outages caused by recurring leaks and full pipeline failures, two common issues plaguing Saint Lucia’s outdated water infrastructure. By addressing these vulnerabilities, the initiative will boost consistent access to potable water for communities across the service area.

    Cavon White, CDB’s Portfolio Manager for the Economic Infrastructure Division, emphasized that the investment does more than fix immediate infrastructure problems. It strengthens Saint Lucia’s overall water security and climate resilience by modernizing critical public infrastructure, he explained, better preparing both local communities and national economic activity to face intensifying climate risks in the coming years.

    Keithson Charles, Saint Lucia’s Minister of Physical Development and Public Utilities, framed the project as a people-centered investment. At its core, he noted, the initiative is focused on improving daily quality of life for residents, eliminating the chronic uncertainty many families face over whether clean water will flow from their taps on any given day.

    Shanda Lee Harracksingh, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, who represented Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre at the launch, called the large-scale infrastructure investment a tangible demonstration of the current administration’s commitment to the well-being of the Saint Lucian people.

    WASCO Chief Executive Officer Zilta George echoed that long-term perspective, noting that projects of this scale extend far beyond solving immediate operational challenges. “These are not just repairs — they are investments in our country’s future communities, businesses, and generations,” she said.

    The full financing package for the project draws from multiple international and domestic sources. CDB is contributing $10.69 million from its Ordinary Capital Resources, alongside an additional $5 million from its Special Development Fund (SDF 10). AFD is providing $5 million through CDB’s Second Credit Facility, while the Government of Italy has contributed €2.01 million (equivalent to roughly $2.14 million). The Government of Saint Lucia and WASCO are covering the remaining $7.16 million in joint counterpart funding.

    CDB noted that the project builds on decades of collaborative work between the regional development bank and Saint Lucia’s water sector, combining flexible financing, specialized technical expertise, and end-to-end implementation support. Ultimately, the initiative aligns with Saint Lucia’s national goals for climate adaptation, inclusive sustainable development, and long-term water security, moving the country closer to a more resilient, modern water system that can meet the needs of current and future residents.

  • Warm, vochtig en een mix van zon en wolken

    Warm, vochtig en een mix van zon en wolken

    # Weather Forecast for Suriname: September 18 Brings Steamy Warmth and Isolated Rain Chances
    Released on September 18 at 04:52, this official weather forecast outlines conditions across Suriname for the day, highlighting the typical late-season warm and humid pattern that has defined the current period.

    The day kicks off across most regions carrying the seasonal traits that have become common at this time of year: already mild warmth paired with high atmospheric moisture, building steadily through the morning hours. By early morning, temperatures across low-lying areas quickly climb toward 28°C, with relative humidity holding steady around 80% that creates a close, brooding feel across outdoor spaces. A layer of broken cloud cover softens the force of the early sun, holding back the most intense heat for the first half of the day. In the capital city of Paramaribo, the opening hours of Friday September 18 will bring a shifting mix of bright sunshine and scattered cloud cover.

    The afternoon shift will bring the day’s most intense heat, with thermometers climbing steadily across the entire country. In Paramaribo, forecasts predict highs will reach a sweltering 37°C, while other inland and regional areas including Onverwacht will see nearly matching highs around 36°C. High humidity remains the norm through the afternoon, with bright sunlight breaking through puffy cumulus cloud banks. Light wind will blow from the northeast to east for most of the day, doing little to offset the steamy conditions.

    While most of the country will stay dry through the day, there is a small chance of short, cooling rain showers for some regions. Paramaribo is expected to remain entirely dry all day, with overnight temperatures holding at a mild 26°C after the daytime heat. For regions such as Smalkalden, the chance of afternoon precipitation climbs to roughly 60%, though any rain that develops is expected to be quick, intense thunderstorms that pass through the area rapidly, clearing out quickly after they arrive.

    As evening approaches and night falls, temperatures will gradually cool to a low of 26°C across most populated areas. Even with the dropping thermometer, high humidity will remain locked in around 80%, leaving a sticky, muggy feel for evening outdoor activities. Light easterly winds will continue through the overnight hours, with little change in speed or direction.

  • Cayo Levantado Resort launches first Atelier Yubarta Artist Residency

    Cayo Levantado Resort launches first Atelier Yubarta Artist Residency

    Tucked away on a quiet island in Samaná Bay, the luxury five-star all-inclusive Cayo Levantado Resort has ushered in a groundbreaking new cultural initiative, launching the first edition of Atelier Yubarta, an artistic and artisan residency program developed through a strategic partnership between resort owner Piñero and the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Culture.

    The core mission of this one-of-a-kind residency is to reimagine Cayo Levantado as a dynamic hub for contemporary artistic creation, one that weaves together three critical threads: the island’s fragile coastal ecosystem, centuries of Dominican cultural heritage, and the vibrant surrounding local communities. Unlike generic artist retreats, the program is rooted in place, centering local voices and encouraging creators to draw inspiration from the natural and cultural landscape that surrounds them.

    After opening a national call for applications in July, a panel of industry jurors conducted a rigorous selection process, ultimately naming Nina Francesca Castillo Díaz as the program’s first resident artist. Hailing from Santiago de los Caballeros, Castillo Díaz is a multidisciplinary creative whose practice spans visual art, design, and handcrafted artisan work. Her creative exploration centers on the interconnected relationship between nature, marine biodiversity, and the evolving cultural identity of the Dominican Republic. A hallmark of her work is a commitment to sustainability: she produces wearable art, delicate watercolor miniatures, and sculptural handcrafted pieces almost exclusively using materials recovered from Dominican coastlines, turning ocean waste into meaningful cultural objects.

    Over the course of her 8 to 12-week residency, the resort will provide Castillo Díaz with full complimentary accommodation, a dedicated private workspace, all necessary production materials, and ongoing technical guidance from industry professionals. A key requirement of the residency mandates that she develop and lead at least one public engagement activity open to local community members, regional art students, or resort guests, creating a bridge between the creative process and the public.

    When the residency concludes, the program will cap off with a hybrid exhibition that combines an in-person display at the resort with a digital showcase accessible to audiences around the world. Importantly, Castillo Díaz will retain full commercial rights to all works created during her time in the program, reflecting the initiative’s commitment to supporting artists’ long-term careers. Three selected works will be added to Piñero’s permanent institutional art collection, ensuring the residency’s legacy is preserved on-site.

    Resort leadership emphasized that Atelier Yubarta is designed to grow into a sustained, annual platform for contemporary Dominican art, with broader goals beyond supporting individual creators: advancing national cultural identity, building public environmental awareness, and strengthening mutually beneficial ties between the resort and nearby local communities. This aligns with the property’s existing long-term sustainability commitments, which already include investments in renewable energy infrastructure, comprehensive zero-waste management systems, and native plant landscaping, as well as a deliberate policy of partnering with local designers, architects, and supply chain businesses to embed community support into every layer of operations.

  • Een broeierige donderdag met een verfrissende bui

    Een broeierige donderdag met een verfrissende bui

    A warm, sticky weather pattern is set to unfold across the Netherlands this Thursday, starting from the earliest hours of the morning, according to the latest local weather update published September 17.

    When dawn breaks on Thursday, initial temperatures will already hover between 23 and 29 degrees Celsius. What makes the conditions feel more oppressive than the numbers suggest is the unusually high atmospheric humidity, which pushes perceived temperatures well above the actual readings shown on thermometers.

    As the day progresses into midday and afternoon, the heat will ramp up dramatically. Depending on the region across the country, maximum actual temperatures will surge to between 33 and 39 degrees Celsius. When combined with the persistent high humidity, it will feel as hot as 40 degrees Celsius or even higher in many areas. Skies are expected to be partly cloudy through most of the day.

    There is one potential refreshing break in the hot conditions, however. Forecasters note a considerable chance of rain showers or thunderstorms developing through the afternoon and early evening. These storms could bring heavy downpours that are intense in localized areas. Winds will blow from the east to northeast, and they will remain mostly calm for the duration of the event.

    Once the sun sets and the day moves into evening and overnight, temperatures will gradually cool down to a range between 23 and 27 degrees Celsius. High humidity will remain in place, leaving the evening warm and somewhat stuffy for most of the country.

  • FCL: Join our creative and professional team!

    FCL: Join our creative and professional team!

    Facilities Consulting Limited, commonly known as FCL, is currently accepting applications from qualified candidates for multiple skilled trade positions. Available roles include HVAC technician, labourer, landscaper, OSH (Occupational Safety and Health) specialist, and plumber. Job seekers interested in joining FCL’s team can find full information about the roles, requirements, and application procedures by visiting the company’s official career page at www.fcl.gd/career. To formally apply, candidates must submit their curriculum vitae along with a professional portfolio to the email address [email protected].

    This job announcement is featured on the NOW Grenada platform. NOW Grenada clarifies that it is not liable for the opinions, statements, or any media content shared by contributing organizations or individuals. If users encounter content that violates platform guidelines or constitutes abuse, they can initiate a report by clicking the designated reporting link provided on the page. This post is tagged with relevant keywords including facilities consulting limited, FCL, HVAC, labourer, landscaper, OSH, and plumber to help interested candidates easily locate the listing.

  • Een zonnige tot halfbewolkte woensdag

    Een zonnige tot halfbewolkte woensdag

    On Wednesday, September 16, Suriname will grapple with unseasonably warm, muggy conditions that will push perceived temperatures well above the actual mercury reading, according to the country’s Meteorological Service.

    The day will kick off on a calm, largely dry note. Localized patches of mist or light fog are possible in the early morning hours, but the service predicts these low-visibility conditions will clear gradually as the morning progresses. Cloud cover will build incrementally through the rest of the day, but forecasters do not expect widespread heavy downpours to hit the country. The overall chance of precipitation remains low: while isolated light showers could pop up here and there in the afternoon, the vast majority of Suriname will stay dry through the end of the day.

    Official temperature projections put maximum readings between 33 and 34 degrees Celsius across nearly all of the country’s administrative districts. Coastal districts, including the capital district Paramaribo and neighboring Wanica, are expected to hit the top end of that range at 34 degrees. In the southern interior, the district of Sipaliwini could see actual temperatures climb as high as 36 degrees Celsius. Even overnight will offer little relief, with minimum temperatures hovering between 22 and 24 degrees Celsius that keep conditions sweltering through the night.

    Winds will blow from the east-northeast to east, and are expected to remain mostly weak to moderate, with sustained speeds ranging from 11 to 24 kilometers per hour. Localized slightly stronger gusts are possible, but forecasters have ruled out dangerous wind events for the day. The main source of discomfort remains high humidity, which will push perceived temperatures to between 36 and 40 degrees Celsius across the country, creating a stuffy, oppressive feeling for most residents through the day.

  • Typische tropische dag, warm, benauwd met mix van zon en wolken

    Typische tropische dag, warm, benauwd met mix van zon en wolken

    On September 15, Suriname will face a day defined by sweltering tropical heat paired with high atmospheric humidity, according to local weather forecasts.

    In the capital city Paramaribo and its surrounding districts, the day will open with extensive cloud cover, and the early morning hours may bring thin haze or light fog that reduces visibility slightly for early commuters.

    Temperatures will climb steadily through daylight hours, peaking between 34 and 35 degrees Celsius. Overnight temperatures will remain mild, dropping only to 23 to 24 degrees Celsius, meaning little cooling relief after sundown. The combination of high heat and thick humidity will push the apparent temperature, or how hot conditions actually feel to the human body, as high as 37 degrees Celsius – far above the actual thermometer reading.

    Winds across most of the country will blow predominantly from the east to southeast, with sustained speeds ranging from 10 to 25 kilometers per hour. As the afternoon progresses into the evening, the chance of scattered rain showers and thunderstorms will increase significantly, with inland areas facing the highest risk of storm activity. For Paramaribo, the probability of precipitation sits at around 39 percent, though forecasters do not expect heavy or widespread downpours that would cause flooding or major disruption.

    Along the nation’s coastline, including the district of Nieuw Nickerie, conditions will remain warm but slightly more bearable. Coastal temperatures will hover between 25 and 29 degrees Celsius, tempered by steady, strong onshore winds blowing in from the ocean. In the southern and eastern regions of Suriname, including the areas around Stoelmanseiland and Sipaliwini, light rain is expected to develop later in the day.

  • EBS introduceert dagelijkse planning voor loadshedding

    EBS introduceert dagelijkse planning voor loadshedding

    Suriname’s national power utility De Energie Bedrijven Suriname (EBS) has rolled out a new structured system to manage rolling power cuts, giving consumers the ability to check daily if their electricity connection is scheduled for shutdown during periods of generation deficit. The update comes after weeks of unplanned load shedding that disrupted communities across the country, replacing ad-hoc outages with a pre-planned, transparent framework that uses a custom-built digital portal for consumer access.

    To use the service, customers simply enter their meter number or connection ID on the portal to see if their address appears on the updated list of potential outages. EBS updates the schedule twice daily: an initial version is released for morning and afternoon hours, followed by a revised schedule for evening outages posted later in the day. Utility officials have advised customers to check the portal two times per day to stay informed of any changes to their potential outage status.

    Importantly, inclusion on the schedule does not guarantee a power cut. EBS emphasized that the daily list serves only as an indicative planning tool, and shutdowns will only be implemented if load shedding is deemed necessary to maintain overall stability of the national grid.

    The new scheduling system was introduced in response to ongoing power supply challenges that began in late August. On August 25, EBS announced that electricity consumption during the current dry season had grown far faster than initial projections, leaving available generation units under extreme strain with no reserve capacity to meet unexpected demand spikes. At that time, the utility warned that rolling outages lasting a minimum of three hours per rotation would be implemented across the EPAR network, which covers most of Suriname’s coastal region and supplies power to the vast majority of the country’s households, businesses, and public institutions.

    Over the past weeks, persistent power deficits and rotating outages have sparked widespread public debate over Suriname’s current generation capacity and the large-scale investments needed to strengthen the country’s power infrastructure long-term. Energy sector analysts and advocates have also called for greater public transparency around the root causes of the shortages and the utility’s long-term mitigation plans.

    Compounding the current supply crunch is a temporary capacity reduction at the Brokopondo hydropower plant, one of the country’s largest generation sources. Ongoing maintenance work on the facility’s turbines has cut available output, with EBS currently able to draw a maximum of just 130 megawatts from the plant, down from the full 160 megawatts generated when all six turbines are operational. To partially offset the lost hydropower output, EBS has increased thermal power generation from the Tout Lui Faut facility.

    With the launch of the new digital portal and daily scheduling system, EBS aims to bring much-needed predictability to households and businesses navigating potential outages, allowing them to plan work, personal activities, and critical operations around potential disruptions. The utility has also stressed that voluntary energy conservation by consumers can reduce overall demand enough to eliminate the need for scheduled shutdowns, urging the public to cut non-essential electricity use during the current supply crunch. Consumers can access the load shedding portal at any time to check their daily outage status using their connection or meter information.

  • Benauwd, bewolkt en kans op onweersbuien in de middag

    Benauwd, bewolkt en kans op onweersbuien in de middag

    On Sunday, September 13, Suriname is forecast to experience a sweltering, oppressive day marked by thick cloud cover and an increasing risk of intense thunderstorms moving into the afternoon and early evening, the country’s meteorological service has confirmed.

    Temperatures will climb well into the mid-30s Celsius across most populated regions, with the capital Paramaribo and its surrounding districts expecting a range of 23 to 36 degrees Celsius. Coastal areas and parts of the country’s interior will see even higher mercury levels, peaking near 37 degrees Celsius. Compounding the uncomfortable heat is high atmospheric humidity, which will make the actual temperature feel far hotter than the reading on standard thermometers.

    For most of the day, overcast or mostly cloudy conditions will dominate. While occasional breaks may allow brief glimpses of sunlight, the day will not be fully clear or sunny. Winds will stay light, blowing primarily from the east or northeast at speeds below 3 on the Beaufort scale. This calm wind pattern will trap heat close to the surface, preventing any significant cooling throughout the day.

    Meteorologists are highlighting the late afternoon and early evening as the period requiring the most attention. During this window, the chance of thunderstorms will rise substantially, with the highest risk of heavy rain concentrated in the interior and northwestern parts of the country. The developing storms are expected to form quickly, bringing severe conditions that include lightning strikes and short, strong wind gusts.

  • NEW MUSIC VIDEO for Cancer Prostate Awareness Month – Check Your Prostate Health

    NEW MUSIC VIDEO for Cancer Prostate Awareness Month – Check Your Prostate Health

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