CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Health authorities in Antigua are
reporting an outbreak of dengue fever
following an unprecedented spike in
cases of the mosquito-borne disease in
recent months.
Chief Medical Officer
(CMO) Dr. Rhonda
Sealy-Thomas said she
would consider the situation
an “epidemic.”
She said because it is an unexpected
increase in the number of cases she
would say there is an outbreak of the
disease.
Dr. Sealy-Thomas said towards the
end of last year (December 2018), “we
started seeing an increase in what you
call undifferentiated fever, persons coming
down with high fever and some of
the symptoms and did see an increase in
the number of cases of dengue,” she told
an Observer radio program.
She said that the situation continued
up until early 2019 when there was
actually a decrease in the number of
cases.
The CMO said that the cases increased
from two to three a week and “then in
August we started noticing an increase
going up to 20, 30 and 40 and peaked at
about 87.”
She said as a result, the authorities
have revived the Dengue Task Force,
an ad hoc committee, to combat the
situation.
Dr. Sealy-Thomas said the purpose of
the task force is to monitor the situation
and take control measures to reduce
mobility that is with the illness and
complications of dengue.
Bahamas
The Central Bank of Bahamas (CBB)
has recently introduced a digital version
of the Bahamian dollar, starting with a
pilot phase in Exuma and extending to
the first half of 2020 to Abaco.
The bank said that
this initiative has
acquired the name
Project Sand Dollar,
with the sand dollar
also being the names assigned to the
proposed Central Bank digital currency.
T
he CBB said in a statement: “this s a
continuation of the Bahamian Payment
System Modernization Initiative (PSMI)
which began in the early 2000s. The
Bahamian PSMI targets improved outcome
for financial inclusion and access,
making the domestic payments system
more efficient and non-discriminatory
in access to financial services.”
It said although average measures
of financial development and access
in country are high by international
standards, pockets of the population
are excluded because of the remoteness
of some communities outside of the
Caribbean L 4 ife, JANUARY 10-16, 2020
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Yolande Yvonne Smith, Ambassador, permanent representative of Grenada to the OAS at the Regular Meeting of the Permanent
Council, Dec. 18, 2019. OAS
cost effective reach of physical banking
services.
The bank said the public though will
need more assurances around the safety
of conducting online transactions. The
digital currency design and public education
will tackle these issues.
Caribbean
The United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) says
Washington is providing US$10 million
to improve local resilience to disasters
in priority countries in the Caribbean.
USAID Administrator
Mark Green in making
the announcement
said: “This new funding
will support community
level organizations, host-country
governments, regional institutions,
and the private sector to strengthen
local, national, and regional planning
and preparation for hurricanes, earthquakes,
and other calamities.”
For example, he said, USAID will
finance training for local first-responders,
harmonize disaster-preparedness,
standards and coordinate and facilitate
information-sharing among the governments
of the region and civil society.
Green said these new initiatives will
help to minimize the damage of disasters,
reduce the loss of life and enhance
response efforts in the Caribbean.
Through these investments, he said
USAID is “committed to helping our
partners across the Caribbean prepare
for the worst and avert disasters before
they occur.”
Guyana
Norway has released Guy$9.1 billion
to the Guyana REDD+ Investment
Fund, administered by the World
Bank for disbursement to Guyana for
approved projects.
Head of the Project
Management Office
of the Ministry of the
Presidency, Dr. Marlon
Bristol, said that the
release of the funds was made recently
to the World Bank.
He said the funds will be used for
project in areas such as renewable energy,
“green” tourism, and biodiversity,
strengthen of indigenous mechanisms,
and the European Union-FLEGT Voluntary
Partnership Agreement (VPA)
Partnership, which is a legally binding
trade agreement between the European
Union and a timber-producing country
outside of the EU.
Bristol said Guyana will also enter a
new round of talks with the Norwegians
to support President David Granger’s
Green State Development Strategy and
especially those environmental safeguards
that can realize a “green” economy.
A government statement said that the
transfer has been made possible following
a meeting between Minister of State
Dawn Hastings-Williams and Norway’s
Minister for Climate and Environment
Ola Elvestuen back in September on the
margins of the United States Climate
Summit in New York.
The statement said that in accordance
with the bilateral agreement between
the two countries, the two ministers
had agreed that Guyana has met its
commitments and therefore Norway
would disburse all final payments.
Grenada
Grenada’ Permanent Representative
to the Organization of American States
(OAS), Yolande Yvonne Smith, has
assumed the chair of the OAS’s Inter-
American Council for Integral Development
(CID).
Smith replaces Carlos
Trujillo, the US Permanent
Representative
to the OAS, who said
he used his tenure to
address key priorities of development in
the region including women’s entrepreneurship,
natural resources, migration
and education.
The OAS said CID is responsible for
promoting partnerships for integral
development with the objective of contributing
to the elimination of poverty.
In presenting her credentials to
US President Donald Trump last year,
Smith said that “Grenada continues to
enjoy steady progress in human and
Continued on Page 20
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Grenada chairs OAS CID
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