CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Prime Minister, Gaston Browne
said while the situation with the cashstrapped
regional airline, LIAT, remains
“tenuous” it could resume flights to
some destinations even as the administrator
continues his work as part of the
reorganization of the airline.
Browne, who has been against any
plans to liquidate LIAT (1974) Ltd., said
interests are being shown in the airline
by investors, some as
far away as Africa.
He said there is one
entity that has offered
US$25 million investment
for 51 percent of
the shares and there is another airline,
a regional airline that offered to invest
about US$25 million for about 60 percent
of the shares in LIAT and there
are at least three governments who
have shown some interest in investing
in LIAT.
“So there are some prospects that
the administrator is pursuing and we
believe that ultimately on the basis that
the administrator is successful in getting
the cooperation of creditors LIAT
will be reorganized and be back in the
air and take its pole position,” Browne
said.
Bahamas
Bahamas Prime Minister, Dr. Hubert
Minnis, Deputy Prime Minister, Turnquest
and Minister of Education, Jeff
Lloyd have entered voluntary self-quarantine
after their offices were exposed
to COVID-19.
In a statement, the Cabinet Office
announced the Cecil Wallace-Whitefield
Center, which houses the Office of the
Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance
and their agencies, has
been closed for cleaning
and sanitization
following the exposure
to the virus.
The statement said the Ministry of
Health’s Surveillance Unit has initiated
contact tracing in an effort to determine
the level of exposure to employees
and visitors to the Cecil Wallace-Whitefield
Center.
It also said other employees of the
centrr have been encouraged to selfquarantine
until further instructions
are issued by the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, The Bahamas has recorded
more than 1,000 cases of the virus
as of last week. Government offices
continue to shut down due to the exposure.
Jamaica
The main opposition People’s National
Party (PNP) has vowed if elected a
referendum will be held on whether or
not to remove Queen Elizabeth II as the
county’s head of state.
Caribbean L 4 ife, August 21-27, 2020
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Dr. Peter Phillips is seen here being greeted by supporters during a campaign event on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006 in Kingston, Jamaica.
PNP Opposition leader, Phillips is preparing for general elections on Sept. 3, 2020. Associated Press / Collin Reid
Jamaica will go to the polls on Sept.
3, 2020.
This is according to party president
and opposition leader, Dr. Peter Phillips,
who was speaking during a recent
meeting at the University of the West
Indies (UWI), Mona campus.
In the past, both the PNP and the
ruling Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) spoke
of having a referendum to replace the
Queen, which was also suggested by
former Prime Minister, Portia Simpson
Miller in 2002.
Meanwhile, the
opposition party, also
outlined other issues
to be addressed if the
party is victorious in
the next general election.
According to Phillips, some issues
on the list of priorities include change
to the education sector and providing
access free or affordable health care
through a universal health insurance
scheme.
Guyana
Law enforcement authorities in Guyana
say they are working with their
counterparts in Germany after the largest
single cocaine haul in that European
country in recent years had recently
been seized.
German officials said that 1.5 tons
of cocaine were found stashed in a
container with a shipment of rice from
Guyana and the container arrived on
board the container vessel CMA CGM
Jean Gabriel. It had a street value of
euro 300 million.
Guyana’s Customs
Anti-Narcotics Unit
(CANU) is aware of the
bust and is working
along with the Guyana
Revenue Authority’s
Customs Department to get details on
the rice shipment that was loaded on
the container.
Investigators believe that the cocaine
was destined for Poland where it would
have been sold in bulk.
German investigators said this was
among the largest quantities of cocaine
ever seized in Hamburg.
Haiti
The Central Intervention Fund for
Humanitarian Emergencies (CERF),
a United Nations organization, has
donated US$4 million to support and
strengthen the response in the fight
against Covid-19 in
vulnerable communities
in the Frenchspeaking
Caribbean
Community (Caricom).
The allocation will support the two
national NGOs, the Development of
Health Centers and the Association for
the Promotion of the Haitian Family
and three international NGOs, Humanity
and Inclusion and Habitat pour
l’Humanite’. Grants will range from
$400,000 to $1,200,000.
The projects selected in collaboration
with the Haitian authorities on the
basis of a careful needs assessment, will
benefit more than 265,000 people in
the department of North, North-West,
South East and Grand’ Anse.”
This fund will specifically target
responses in the areas of health, water,
sanitation and hygiene, in accordance
with the humanitarian response relating
to COVID-19.
Habitat for Humanity will use the
grant to renovate and equip isolation
centers and clinics to better protect
patients, healthcare workers and communities
from the spread of the virus.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines
The ruling St. Vincent and the Grenadines
government has announced
plans to pay farmers near the resort
in Buccament Bay, to the north of the
island, EC$12 per square foot for lands
it acquired to be sold to Sandals Resort
International.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves
made the announcement
on his weekly
program on the stateowned
NBC Radio.
The Catholic
Church had initially
earmarked the land for the construc-
Continued on Page 16
THE NEWS FROM BACK HOME
Jamaica prepares for elections
/www.caribbeanlifenews.com
/www.caribbeanlifenews.com
