GRENADA

Farrakhan on Caribbean tour

ST. GEORGE'S — Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan visited Grenada meeting with Acting Prime Minister Nazim Burke and delivering the main address at a weekend forum.

Regional Nation of Islam representatives said the visit to the island and other parts of the Caribbean were an extension of a regional tour launched last year when Farrakhan spoke on themes of black nationalism and religion during stops in Jamaica, Trinidad, Antigua and other islands.

Barbados, Dominica, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Belize and the Bahamas were among other countries also on the itinerary of the more recent tour.

HAITI

Tax collection project starts

PORT-AU-PRINCE — An officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development said a new program was helping cities collect taxes.

Noel Bauer of USAID said in an interview that a tax collection effort in the densely packed city of Carrefour generated significant revenue. The amount in taxes collected jumped 482 percent from 2011 to 2012, or from $309,000 to $1.8 million.

Organizers first did a census on built property in Carrefour. Then they approached property owners about the importance of paying taxes. Payment was voluntary.

USAID did a smaller project in the port city of St. Marc. The amount in taxes collected jumped 242 percent from 2010 to 2011, or from $95,000 to $325,000. USAID said it hoped to introduce the tax collection program to other cities.