CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister,
Gaston Browne has written to US
President, requesting that CARICOM
countries be included in the provision
of AstraZeneca vaccines to Canada and
Mexico.
Pointing out that the Caribbean is
the third border of the United States,
Browne argued that as the safety of the
US would be imperiled if Mexico and
Canada are not inoculated
to achieve herd
community, similarly
the US would remain
at high risk if CARICOM
countries are
neglected.
Browne explained to Biden that the
Caribbean region “is among the worst
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by
the COVID pandemic.”
Consequently, he said, “our economies
have experienced shrinkage of
up to over 50 percent in some cases;
poverty has expanded everywhere; our
revenues have declined precipitously,
forcing us to increase debt which we
have had to incur at higher rates of
interest.”
Describing the economic impact of
the pandemic as overwhelming, Browne
said: “Many Caribbean countries are in
danger of collapsing from a massive
economic sclerosis.”
Barbados
Caribbean Export Development
Agency (Caribbean Export) has provided
funding to provide much-needed
financial support to small- and medium
sized enterprises (SMEs) across 15
countries from the region.
Support was provided to SMEs
engaged in vital sectors
such as agriculture,
agro-processing,
manufacturing and
creative industries and
the program is in collaboration with the
European Union.
More specifically, it has awarded
some US$1.1 million in grant funding
to SMEs in the Caribbean via its Direct
Support Grant Program ( DSGP) to help
mitigate the impact of the coronavirus
pandemic.
The initiative is driven by the results
of a survey conducted in partnership
with the Caribbean Development Bank
(CDB) to assess the impact of COVID-19
pandemic on firms’ operations ascertain
the level and areas of support
required to assist SMEs during the
crisis and better position businesses to
cope with the economic fallout.
Initially, a total of US$607,000 was
made available to the DSGP through
the European Union as part of the 11th
European Union Development Fund.
Caribbean L 4 ife, APRIL, 2-8, 2021
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Revelers dance on a street during the Jamaica Carnival Road march in Kingston April 12, 2015. The march is on the fi nal day of festivities
of the Carnival season. Picture taken April 12, 2015. REUTERS/Gilbert Bellamy, fi le
Caribbean
India High Commissioner to Trinidad
and Tobago, Arun Kumar Sahu said
India has donated a total of 495,000
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to 10
Caribbean countries through its Vaccine
Maitri program.
His comments came after T&T Prime
Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley’s denial of
knowledge of any such gift from India
to the region.
However, delivering a speech during
“Memories of India” event hosted last
week at the Mahatma
Gandhi Institute for
Cultural Cooperation,
in Mt. Hope, Trinidad,
Sahu said India had in
fact gifted 495,000 vaccines
to the region, in keeping with the
age-old tradition of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
(The whole world is one family).
He noted that many countries,
including T&T, also benefitted from
gifts of medication last year.
Sahu said of great satisfaction that
only vaccines that have come to the
region, however, small, are from India.
From the gift, Barbados received
100,000 doses of vaccines, Dominica,
70,000 doses, St. Lucia, 25,000 doses,
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 40,000,
Antigua and Barbuda, 50,000 doses,
Suriname, 50,000 doses and Jamaica,
50,000 doses.
Barbados donated 2,000 of its vaccines
to T&T.
Guyana
Parliamentarian Charrandas Persaud,
whose vote toppled the thenruling
A Partnership for Alliance for
Change (APNU+ AFC) administration
in Guyana in 2018, has been accredited
as the country’s new High Commissioner
to India.
A government statement said Persaud,
who had supported the thenopposition
People’s Progressive Party
(Civic) motion of no confidence in the
David Granger government, presented
his credentials to India’s President,
Ram Nath Kovind.
The statement said the ceremony
was held at India’s Ministry of External
Affairs.
Persaud, a then-government backbencher,
voted with the opposition PPP
legislators to win the no-confidence
motion in the 65-seat National Assembly
after several hours of debate.
The APNU had won the 2015 general
election by a one-seat majority and
despite repeated urges
by fellow parliamentarians
to change his vote,
Persaud declined.
He fled the country
for Canada soon after and returned last
October, a few months after the PPP/C
was declared the winner in a controversial
election, the results of which are
being challenged by the APNU-AFC in
the courts.
Jamaica
Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett
has announced that due to the
challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,
the organizers of carnival in
Jamaica will forgo the annual road
march and related activities for April
2021, until further notice.
He said after several consultations
with the relevant stakeholders, “we
can now announce
that Jamaica will not
be hosting carnival
in April this year. We
strongly believe it is
in the best interest of our people and
will aid in the government’s fight to
preserve lives and livelihoods, as we
continue to see a rise in cases due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.”
Minister Bartlett said the governement
was mindful of the significant
economic loss the carnival cancellation
will have on the country, as the event
generates billions annually, with many
small and medium-sized enterprises
benefitting from the celebrations.
The road parade was initially postponed
in 2020, due to the threat of the
spread of the novel coronavirus with
Sunday, April 11, 2021 announced as
the new date.
The tourism minister said the decision
to forego hosting the event in April
this year was made after consultations
Continued on Page 16
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Jamaica cancels carnival
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