CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
The Police Service Commission
(PSC) in Antigua has said it will appeal
a High Court’s decision that the firing
of former Commissioner of Police,
Wendell Robinson and the appointment
of his successor were both unconstitutional.
The PSWC issued a statement after
Justice Ann-Marie ruled, in the constitutional
motion filed by Robinson,
that his termination
and the appointment
of current Commissioner
of Police Atlee
Rodney was unlawful,
null and void.
She had also set April 30 as the date
for the award of damages to the former
top cop.
Robinson was fired in November
2019 and stripped of his pension, gratuity
and other allowances he would have
accumulated during almost 35 years of
service in the Royal Police Force of Antigua
and Barbuda, after being suspended
amidst allegations of misconduct in
April 2018. The Dominican-born Rodney
took up duties in February 2020.
After Justice Smith’s ruling recently,
the PSC applied for a stay on the judgement
pending an appeal.
The PSC will ask the Court of Appeal
to review Justice Smith’s decision to
determine if such a decision was right
in law.
The decision of the court means that,
technically, Robinson is still the commissioner
of police.
Barbados
Two teachers’ unions in Barbados
are opposing the April 20 resumption
of face-to-face classes as announced
by Minister of Education, Santia Bradshaw,
insisting the decision was premature,
despite a reduction in new COVID-
19 cases.
The Barbados Union
of Teachers (BUT) and
the Barbados Secondary
Teachers’ Union
(BSTU) both said that
it was too soon for schools to reopen.
At a news conference recently, Minister
Bradshaw announced there would
be a phased reopening of schools for
physical classes in the third and final
term of the current academic year.
Under the phased opening, students
preparing to sit the Barbados Secondary
School Entrance Examination and
the Caribbean Examinations Council
(CXC) exams will return to the classroom
at least three days weekly, with
online instruction in the other two
days.
The minister said the resumption of
in-person classes was critical, as many
students had a difficult time adjusting
to virtual learning over the past
Caribbean L 4 ife, April 9-15, 2021
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In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012, a Caribbean Airlines jet leaves the gate at Miami International Airport in Miami. Associated
months.
BUT President, Pedro Shepherd said
it would be better for children to go
back into the classrooms at the start of
the new school year in September.
“The BUT chose September for
a number of reasons. We took into
account that there is community spread
in Barbados and the facts to date have
not suggested that it is under control,”
he said.
More than 3,000 teachers were vaccinated
last month, which was the last
of the first phases of the National Vaccination
Program that saw more than
63,000 Barbadians and permanent residents
receiving the first shot of the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine since the
rollout began in February.
Caribbean
Caribbean business leader and entrepreneur,
Angela Lee Loy has been
selected from more than 500 nominations
globally to be part of the Multi-
Stakeholder Task Force for the 2021
United Nations High-Level Meeting on
HIV.
Lee Loy is the lone
private sector representative
in a group
which comprises civil
society members from
16 countries.
The High-Level Meeting on HIV will
be held virtually from June 8 to 10 and
will review the progress made in reducing
the impact of HIV 40 years since
the first cases emerged a UNAIDS statement
said.
The role of the Multi-Stakeholder
Task Force is to ensure the involvement
of civil society and an open, transparent
and participatory process before and
during the High-Level Meeting.
Lee Loy is the chair and founder
of Aegis Business Solutions Ltd., said
to be the largest business outsourcing
and advisory company in the English
speaking Caribbean and chairman
of recruitment agency Eve Anderson
Recruitment Ltd.
Grenada
A 33-year-old Grenadian woman has
become the first person to be charged
recently with presenting a fake Covid-19
test result since Grenada enforced the
requirement of a mandatory negative
PCR test to obtain an entry certificate
to the island.
Gillian Fletcher, a
resident of the parish
of St Andrew, was
slapped with charges
of deceit of a public
officer and uttering a forged document.
She has been granted EC$10,000
(US$3,700) bail and is set to appear in
court in May. Fletcher had tested positive
for Covid-19 after she arrived from
New York. The charges were laid after
she was medically cleared.
Reports are that a doctor, who reviews
the results presented to health officials
by travelers at Maurice Bishop International
Airport observed some “medical
inconsistencies” with the result
the woman presented when she arrived
from New York.
Investigators contacted the lab in
New York where the PCR test was purportedly
done. It was discovered that
Fletcher’s name was not in the system
as one of the people who had a Covid-19
test conducted at the facility.
All persons entering Grenada must
not only present a negative PCR test
conducted no fewer than 72 hours
before arrival, but must also have a
mandatory test conducted on the fifth
day after arrival in the island.
Guyana
Businesses in Guyana are being
warned that they will face the full force
of the law if they continue with the illegal
practice of imposing value added tax
VAT) on various commodities, including
construction materials.
Senior Minister in
the Office of the President
with Responsibility
for Finance in
Guyana, Dr. Ashni
Singh said it had come to his attention
through reports from members of the
public that a number of hardware stores
have since refused to comply and are
still unscrupulously charging VAT on
several items.
He noted that following the passage
of the national budget last month, several
measures, including the VAT zerorating
or reduction on a number of
commodities, had been removed.
Press/Lynne Sladky, fi le
Continued on Page 16
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