C.B.U. 55th Annual A.G.M. Officially Opens

The Caribbean Media Awards Ceremony is being held tonight in Placencia. Media workers from across the region will find out later if their submissions will receive an award. We begin with Monday night’s opening ceremony for the C.B.U.’s Annual General Meeting. The environment took center stage at the ceremony, with a keynote address from Prime Minister John Briceño. News Five’s Paul Lopez is in Placencia. He filed the following report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

The Caribbean Broadcasting Union officially opened its Fifty-fifth Annual General Meeting on Monday Night at the Naia Resort in Placencia. The opening ceremony saw several presentations that captured the diverse ethnicities and cultures in Belize. But the environment took center stage, as the theme for this year’s A.G.M. is “Media and the Environment”.

 

Dr. Claire Grant, President, C.B.U.

“There is so many parts of the country that are protected. You can’t just go around burning down trees and cutting down trees and that just struck me, but maybe people in Belize does not know but that is not everywhere in the Caribbean. It is not like that. The fact that you have by law protected your environment with policy is not something that tis common across the region and I am praying you do not take it for granted.”

 

 

Prime Minister John Briceño was the keynote speaker at the opening event. He highlighted several government policy initiatives undertaken by his administration to safeguard the country’s natural heritage.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“We here in Belize are deeply committed to environmental sustainability and preservation. I am pleased that you all decided to focus this year’s meeting on such a crucial issue, the media and the environment. Today I will share with you some of the work that is being done by my government, the work of preservation and conservation. As a government we are deeply committed to safeguarding our natural heritage and promoting sustainable practices that will ensure the long term health and viability of our environment. As a journalist I hope that you all did your research and you would know that Belize is home to a rich diversity of eco systems, including pristine rain forest, vibrant coral reef and abundant wildlife.”

 

The Caribbean is on the frontline of the negative effects of climate change. Unpredictable weather patterns brought about by fossil fuel emissions have caused significant damage to vital ecosystems. The media plays a key role in helping to inform the public, tell the stories of those affected, and hold authorities accountable.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Claire Grant

“If you have all of these mangoes and suddenly somebody starts sending mangoes into your country that are cheaper than your mangoes and they send lots of them, after a while people may not remember the taste of your local mangoes or they see it and it is hardly there and they begin to think about the mangoes they get form outside. That is the same thing that happens with content. To the extent there is so much important content that is proliferating the entire region. It challenges how local people are able to see themselves because they are now like, I want to be like that, I want to speak like that.”

 

Monday night’s opening ceremony also saw the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center receive the CBU’s President Award. Additionally, the late Oliver Clarke from Jamaica was inducted into the C.B.U.’s Hall of Fame.

 

Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, 5Cs

“You are an indispensable partner Dr. Grant. You and your team reaching almost five million people across the region there is no other entity that has the expertise, that has the reputation, the reach, the know-how, stories told by us for us, by the C.B.U. and linking arms with you over the last two years is paying rich dividends by encouraging our journalist, media professionals to showcase the plight of our people.”

 

Stewart Krohn, C.B.U. Hall of Fame Awardee, 2011

“With your financial prowess and strong business instincts you turned around the fortunes of the Grand Dame and Caribbean print media the Gleaner Company, establishing it as a financially strong organizations now celebrating its one hundred and nineteenth anniversary boasting the accolade of being the longest continuing publication in the Americas. But most of all, you were known at home and abroad for your commitment to press freedom. In the late nineteenth seventies spurred by the government of the day to bring pressure on the gleaner to influence editorial policy or to close the company you launched a campaign to protect the free press which you regarded as an important pillar to democracy.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.