CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
ANTIGUA
The Antigua and Barbuda Hotel and
Tourism Association (ABHTA) says
many resorts on the island are reporting
a significant decline in occupancy
rates and the trend is likely to continue
until the COVID-19 pandemic is controlled
in the key source markets of
the United States, United Kingdom and
Canada.
ABHTA Executive Chairman, Vernon
Jeffers said, “should
cancellations continue
at this pace, we will see
the effects trickling
down to employees
on the sector where
reduced work weeks and rotations will
have to be employed. This fear we don’t
want to see realized.”
He said one hotel had already reported
more than US$2 million in losses
as a result in cancellations out of the
United States for December, January
and February, as well as a further US$1
million for visitors coming from the
United Kingdom.
But in a statement, the ABHTA said
there could be a “glimmer of hope with
potential visitors opting to re-book for
future dates.”
Jeffers also addressed the issue of Air
Canada’s decision to suspend flights to
the Caribbean, including Antigua and
Barbados adding “we cannot fully calculate
the loss of the pause in flights
from Air Canada, which will be effective
from Jan. 31.”
BARBADOS
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley
has called on all Barbadians to fight as
one nation against the expected surge
in cases of the Omicron coronavirus
variant in the coming
weeks.
She made the appeal
during a COVID-19
update recently at
IIaro Court, as health officials released
the findings of a University of the West
Indies’ modeling statistical exercise that
gave scenarios based on variables about
the likely disease burden in Barbados
when Omicron arrives.
The modeling showed a wave lasting
six to seven weeks, with a worse
case scenario of 3,500 cases per day at
its peak and a total of 91,000 cases, or
a shorter wave of a month with 1,200
cases per day and a caseload of 23,000
cases.
The prime minister acknowledged
that although the forecast don’t “always
necessarily come true, it was the government’s
view that it needed to be
frank and share with Barbadians at all
times what was known and what it was
planning for.”
Mottley contended that the modeling
helped the government to be prepared
Caribbean L 4 ife, JANUARY 21-27, 2022
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley speaks during the opening ceremony of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in
Glasgow, Scotland, Britain Nov. 1, 2021. Jeff J Mitchell/Pool via REUTERS
for the worst while hoping for the best,
by putting a dedicated facility in place
at Harrison’s Point to deal with COVID-
19 cases, which had served the country
well.
CARIBBEAN
The Association of Caribbean Media
Workers (ACM) has expressed shock
and horror at news of the savage, deadly
attack on two journalists in Haiti on
Jan. 6.
In a statement, the regional media
body said it was deeply
concerned about the
continuing violence in
the country and “the
climate of fear and
intimidation within
which media practitioners have had to
exercise their duties. ”
“Our sympathy goes out to the families
of our media colleagues, John Wesley
Amady, reporter for Ecoute FM radio
headquartered in Canada, and Wilguens
Louissant, local journalist, who lost
their lives as they conducted interviews
in the Laboule community, south-west
of Port-au-Prince, where armed gangs
are engaged in ongoing gun battles. The
journalists are reported to have been
burnt alive.
They were also reported to have been
investigating the death of Inspector
Dan Jerry Toussaint, who was shot dead
in Fees by members of the Ti Malak
gang.
The ACM has also called on the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the
Organization of American States (OAS)
and other international and international
agencies to press for action to
address the concerns.
GUYANA
US Energy multinational ExxonMobil
said it has more than tripled the
number of Guyanese supporting the
company’s operations.
In a news release outlining the company’s
performance in 2021, Exxon-
Mobil said there were now 3, 270 Guyanese
supporting the company’s petroleum
operations, an increase of more
than 1,000 since this time last year,
said President of ExxonMobil Guyana,
Alistair Routledge.
ExxonMobil and its prime contractors
have also spent more than US$540
million with over 800 unique Guyanese
vendors, the Texas-based company
said.
He said, “we expect
over the coming years
for more and more
benefits to reach more
people.”
Routledge made reference to the Gasto
Energy project, which is led by the
government as another such opportunity.
ExxonMobil also said 2021 has been
a safe year for the oil company noting
that there had been many days across
offshore operations without a recordable
safety incident.
There are six drill ships and two floating,
production, storage and offloading
vessels in the Stabroek Block offshore
off Guyana which are supported by
more than 1,000 people at any given
time and Routledge regarded 2021 as
an outstanding year for ExxonMobil
Guyana, despite the challenges of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
GRENADA
Grenada’s Citizenship
by Investment
(CBI) program earned
more than EC$150
million last year — an
increase of almost 40 percent, when
compared to the earnings from 2020.
That figure is expected to increase
this year, according to Karline Purcell,
acting chief executive officer of the CBI
Office.
“For 2022, we are looking to bring
this up closer to EC$300 million,” she
said during an end-of-the year interview
with the Government Information
Service.
Grenada offers two investment
options under its CBI program. An
investor can make a payment to the
National Transformation Fund or
invest in a local real estate development
project approved by the government
under either option, a CBI applicant
Continued on Page 34
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