CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Bahamas
The Bahamas government is closely
monitoring the situation in the United
Kingdom following reports of a virulent
strain of the coronavirus emerging in
that country.
According to Minister for Health and
Wellness, Renward Wells there is no
immediate plans to impose a travel ban
against the UK, but currently, there are
no direct flights from
the UK to the Bahamas.
He said those are
expected to start in
February and are currently
being observed
adding, “we are seeking to ensure that
we maintain the health protocols that
we have in place that anyone who’s
coming into the country has to be able
to take the RT-PCR test before they
come in, so we’re seeking to deal with
this particular strain at the borders.”
Caribbean
The Pan American Health Organization
(PAHO) has called for support for
the CARICOM Regional Organization
for Standards and Quality (CROSQ)
proposal to put on front-of-package
nutritional warnings on food products,
which have been shown to help people
make healthier dietary choices.
The labeling allows consumers to
correctly, quickly and easily identify
foods that are excessive
in fats, sugar,
sodium (salt) — all
of which are linked to
non-communicable
diseases such as heart
disease, stroke and diabetes.
The CROSQ proposal, which is under
review by CARICOM Member States,
suggests adopting front-of-packaging
labeling that meets PAHO thresholds of
excessive fats, sugar and sodium.
Director of PAHO’s Department of
Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental
Health, Anselm Hennis said, “in the
Caribbean about one third of the population
is at such a risk, they must be
extra careful to avoid products excessive
in sugars, sodium, saturated fats, trans
fat or total fats.”
Turks and Caicos Islands
The Turks and Caicos House of
Assembly was dissolved last week, paving
the way for general election by
March 2021.
Premier Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson
in making the announcement
said that she had advised the territory’s
governor to dissolve the House immediately.
She said: “Our legislative work has
been done, and so the people will get
to decide on who will form the next
legislature.”
Caribbean L 4 ife, JANUARY 8-14, 2021
The premier, who was speaking at
the end of the year press conference,
said the people of the Turks and Caicos
will get to decide their
government by the
end of the first quarter
of 2021.
General elections
were last held in this
British Overseas territory on Dec. 15,
2016.
The result was a victory for the
People’s Democratic Movement led by
Cartwright-Robinson who became the
island’s first female premier.
Guyana
EXXONMOBIL Guyana is celebrating
its first year of oil production from the
Liza field offshore.
Last month, the Liza Destiny Floating
Production Storage and Offloading
(FPSO) vessel reached capacity of
120,000 barrels of oil per day and successfully
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
commissioned the gas injection
system.
The company began production less
than five years after
the first discovery of
hydrocarbon, which
is well ahead of the
industry average for
deep water developments.
ExxonMobil Guyana President, Alistar
Routledge said, “we are incredibly
proud of the tremendous work our team
has done in overcoming the challenges
of the past year and safely bringing us
to where we are today.”
He said in a statement: This resilient
group, which includes a growing
number of Guyanese professionals, continues
to persevere through the COVID-
19 pandemic and initial startup challenges
to deliver a world-class project.”
More than 6,000 persons have been
transferred offshore without a safety
incident or case of COVID-19 on the
offshore facilities. Overall, the Liza Destiny
IPSO team has achieved one year
and more than one million hours of
work without a recordable safety incident.
ExxonMobil and its key contractors
have spent one million more than
GUY$69 billion with more than 700
local companies since 2015.
Grenada
Health officials in Grenada have
expressed concern that seven tourists,
who recently tested
positive for COVID-
19, recently left the
island without receiving
medical clearance
to do so.
Health officials disclosed that the
nine visitors, all of whom stayed at the
Sandals Resort, tested positive.
The resort which is located in close
proximity to the Maurice Bishop International
Airport was identified as the
location for a cluster of positive cases
involving guests and employees.
However, the Ministry of Health
issued a statement informing the public
that only two guests who tested positive
are currently at the resort- which has
since stopped admitting new guests.
The number of positive cases currently
on the island is now 128 as of the
last update on Dec. 28 but no deaths.
Since then one death has been recorded
of a Grenadian national who returned
from the USA with his wife for the
Christmas holidays.
The Government Information Service
said the seven guests at Sandals who
were tested positive have since left the
island. They did so before the results
were obtained.
Grenada has recorded 128 positive
cases of COVID-19 since the first was
confirmed in March 2019.
St. Lucia
Governor of the Eastern Caribbean
Central Bank (ECCB), Timothy Antoine
has said the currency in
the sub region, remains
“very strong” amid the
economic fallout from
the current COVID-19
pandemic.
In his Christmas message, Antoine
pointed to the currency’s strength and
highlighted it among “many achievements”
for which the ECCB can be justifiably
proud of.
He said the EC dollar remains very
strong. Its current backing in reserves
is 97 percent noting that the bank
recorded its highest ever-$63.1 million.
However, the ECCB governor said
the currency union is experiencing its
largest shock, on record.
Turks and Caicos Premier, Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson. Government of the Turks
and Caicos Islands
Continued on Page 22
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Turks & Caicos prepares for elections
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